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DESCRIPTION New Derivatives of 10,11-dihydro-10-oxo-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide The present invention relates to new derivatives of 10,11-dihydro-10-oxo-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide, to the method of their preparation and to pharmaceutical compositions containing them. The compounds have valuable pharmaceutical properties in the treatment of some central and peripheral nervous system disorders. 10,11-Dihydro-10-oxo-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide (oxcarbazepine) is a well established agent in the management of epilepsy, trigeminal neuralgia and affective disorders (see e.g. Drugs 43(6), 873 (1992)). In some patients however, oxcarbazepine precipitates severe adverse reactions, particularly allergic reactions and it also produces a decrease in serum sodium levels. Another disadvantage of oxcarbazepine is associated with its rapid metabolism; as a consequence, the drug should normally be used in a three times per day regime. The invention aims to achieve an improvement in some of the above mentioned characteristics and relates to new compounds of general formula I; ##STR3## wherein: R is hydroxy, alkyl, cycloalkyl, alkylaryl, alkylcycloalkyl, alkylheteroaryl, benzoyloxy, 3-methoxybenzoyloxy or 2-chlorophenylsemicarbozono or R is the group --O--CO--R 1 wherein R 1 is hydrogen, alkyl, cycloalkyl, alkylcycloalkyl, alkylaryl, benzyloxy, alkoxy or heteroaryl or R is the group --O--R 2 wherein R 2 is alkyl, alkylaryl, benzyl or naphthoyl, or R is the group NHR 3 wherein R 3 is hydrogen, --CO--NH 2 , --CS--NH 2 , alkyl, phenyl, dinitrophenyl, alkylaryl, alkylcycloalkyl, alkylcarbonyl or arylcarbonyl; the term alkyl means a carbon chain, straight or branched, containing from one to six carbon atoms, optionally substituted by alkoxy, halogen, alkoxycarbonyl or hydroxycarbonyl groups; the term cycloalkyl represents an alicyclic group with three to six carbon atoms; the term aryl represents a phenyl or naphthyl group optionally substituted by alkoxy, halogen or nitro groups; the term heteroaryl represents a five or six membered aromatic ring incorporating an atom of oxygen, sulphur or nitrogen; and the term halogen represents fluorine, chlorine, bromine or iodine. Preferred compounds of general formula I include: 1. 10,11-dihydro-10-hydroxyimino-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide 2. 10,11-benzyloxyimino-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide 3. 10-acetyloxyimino-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide 4. 10,11-dihydro-10-propionyloxyimino-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide 5. 10-butyroyloxyimino-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide 6. 10,11-dihydro-10-pivaloyloxyimino-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide 7. 10,11-dihydro-10- (1-napthoyloxy)imino!-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide 8. 10-benzoyloxyimino-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide 9. 10,11-dihydro-10-succinoyloxyimino-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide 10. 10,11-dihydro-10-glutaroyloxyimino-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide 11. 10,11-dihydro-10-isobutoxycarbonyloxyimino-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide 12. 10,11-dihydro-10-methoxyimino-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide 13. 10,11-dihydro-10-(S)-(-)-camphanoyloxyimino-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide 14. 10,11-dihydro-10- (3-methoxybenzoyloxyimino)!-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide 15. 10,11-dihydro-10-nicotinoyloxyimino-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide 16. 10,11-dihydro-10-ethoxycarbonyloxyimino-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide 17. 10-butoxycarbonyloxyimino-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide 18. 10-benzyloxycarbonyloxyimino-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide 19. 10,11-dihydro-10-phenylhydrazono-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide 20. 10,11-dihydro-10-hydrazono-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide 21. 10,11-dihydro-10-(2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazono)-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide 22. 10,11-dihydro-10-semicarbozono-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide 23. 10,11-dihydro-10-thiosemicarbozono-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide 24. 10-(2-chlorophenylsemicarbozono)-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide 25. 10,11-dihydro-10-methoxycarbonylpropylimino-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide Another aspect of the invention relates to the method of preparation of compounds of formula I where substituent R is defined above, by reacting the compound of formula II ##STR4## with hydroxylamine or its derivatives of formula III H.sub.2 NOR.sup.2 III wherein substituent R 2 is defined above, or by reaction of a compound of formula II with semicarbazide, thiosemicarbazide or derivatives of hydrazine of formula IV H.sub.2 NNR.sup.3 R.sup.4 IV wherein substituents R 3 and R 4 are defined above, or by reacting the compound of formula V ##STR5## with acylating reagents of formula VI A--CO--R.sup.1 VI Wherein R 1 is the same as defined for general formula I; A is hydroxy, halogen or --O--CO--R' or --O--CO--OR', wherein R' is lower alkyl (C1 to C4), or by reacting the compound of formula V with acylating reagents of formula VII C1--CO--OR.sup.1 VII wherein R 1 is the same as defined for general formula I; the acylation reaction can be carried out in the presence of condensing agents which include dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, carbonyldiimidazole, ethyl or isobutylchloroformate and/or in the presence of organic or inorganic bases such as for example, pyridine, triethylamine or alkalic bicarbonates in inert solvents such as hydrocarbons, chlorinated alkanes, ethers or aprotic dipolar solvents or the reaction can be run in a mixture of the above mentioned solvents or in the absence of any solvent. Reactions as described above may be performed at various temperatures and pressures, e.g. between 0° C. and the boiling temperature of the reaction mixture at the pressure used. Compound II is known (see e.g. German Patent 2 001 087) and compounds of formulae III, IV, VI and VII can be made by those skilled in the art by methods described for example in the book "Comprehensive Organic Transformations" by R. C. Larock, VCH Publishers, 1989. Still another aspect of the invention comprises a method of making pharmaceutical compositions consisting of mixing a compound of formula I with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. The use of some compounds of formula I may be useful in the treatment of epilepsy, trigeminal neuralgia and affective cerebral disorders and alterations of the nervous function in degenerative and post-ischaemic diseases. Epilepsy is one of the most common afflictions of man with a prevalence of approximately 1%. Since the time of Hughlings Jakson more than 100 years ago, epileptic seizures have been known to represent "occasional, sudden, excessive, rapid and local discharges of nerve tissue". Epileptic seizures are divided fundamentally into two groups: partial and generalised. Partial seizures are those in which the discharge begins locally, and often remains localised. Generalised seizures involve the whole brain, including the reticular system, thus producing abnormal electrical activity throughout both hemispheres and immediate loss of consciousness. Partial seizures are divided in: (a) partial simple seizures, (b) complex partial seizures and (c) partial seizures secondarily generalised. The generalised seizures include: (1) tonic-clonic seizures (grand mal), (2) absence seizures (petit mal), (3) myoclonic seizures, (4) atonic seizures, (5) clonic seizures and (6) tonic seizures. Epilepsy, in contradistinction to seizures, is a chronic disorder characterised by recurrent seizures (Gastaut, H.: Dictionary of epilepsy. World Health Organization, Geneve, 1973). There are two ways in which drugs might abolish or attenuate seizures: (a) through effects on altered neurones of seizure foci to prevent or reduce their excessive discharge, and (b) through effects that would reduce the spread of excitation from seizure foci and prevent disruption of function of normal aggregates of neurones. The majority, if not all, of the available antiepileptic drugs work at least by the second mechanism, since all modify the ability of the brain to respond to various seizure-evoking stimuli. Convulsant drugs, such as pentylenetetrazol (metrazol) are often used, particularly in the testing of anticonvulsant agents, and seizures caused by electrical stimulation of the whole brain are used for the same purpose. It has been found empirically that activity in inhibiting metrazol-induced seizures and in raising the threshold for production of electrically induced seizures is a fairly good index of effectiveness against absence seizures. On the other hand, activity in reducing the duration and spread of electrically induced convulsions correlates with effectiveness in controlling other types of epilepsy, such as tonic-clonic seizures. The anticonvulsant effect of compounds of formulae I was studied in a model of electrically induced convulsions, the maximal electroshock (MES) test, and in a model of chemical induced convulsions, the metrazol test. The MES test allows the evaluation of the ability of drugs to prevent electrically induced tonic hindlimb extension in rats, the efficacy of which is thought to be predictive of anticonvulsant efficacy against generalised tonic-clonic seizures in man (grand mal). The metrazol test predicts the ability of potential antiepileptic agents to prevent clonic seizures and to be effective against absence seizures (petit mal). Materials and Methods Male Wistar rats obtained from the animal house of the Harlan Interfauna Iberica (Barcelona, Spain) and weighing 180 to 280 g were used. Animals were kept two per cage under controlled environmental conditions (12 hr light/dark cycle and room temperature 24 C). Food and tap water were allowed ad libitum and the experiments were all carried out during daylight hours. 1--MES Test MES stimulation was applied for 0.2 s, using a Ugo Basile ECT unit 7801, with a frequency of 100 Hz, pulse width of 0.6 ms and a current of 150 mA through bipolar corneal electrodes. A drop of electrolyte/anaesthetic, oxibuprocaine chloride, was applied in the eyes of all animals immediately before placement of corneal electrodes. Abolition of the hindleg tonic extensor component, was used as the endpoint. These experimental conditions produced tonic-clonic convulsions in 97% of animals tested and only rats showing typical tonic-clonic convulsions were used. All rats were submitted to a maximum of 3 MES sessions: the first MES session was performed to screen the animals and select those rats presenting a typical convulsive behaviour. The day after, rats were given the compounds to be tested or the vehicle and submitted to a second MES session 2 or 4 hours after the administration of test drugs. The third MES session was performed at 6, 8 or 12 hours after the administration of test drugs. The time interval between each MES session was at least 4 hours (rats tested at 2 hours were retested at 6 hours and rats tested at 4 hours were retested at 8 hours). The evaluation of the anticonvulsive profile of test drugs was based on the duration of the tonic phase (in seconds) being each rat its own control (internal control) as obtained in the first MES session. An external control group was also studied; in this particular case, rats were given the vehicle and submitted to the three MES sessions procedure, as described above. All drugs used were suspended in 0.5% carboxymethylcellulose (4 ml/kg) and given by stomach tube. 2--Metrazol Test Administration of compounds of formula I was performed 2 hours before the administration of metrazol. Metrazol (75 mg/kg) was given subcutaneously in the back; this dose of metrazol was found to produce convulsions in 95% of the animals. The parameters observed concern the duration of seizures in a 30 minute observation period following the administration of metrazol. ED 50 (mg/kg) is the dose giving 50% reduction of duration of the seizure. Results 1--MES Test At the highest dose tested (30 mg/kg), compounds of formula I produced a complete protection against MES after 2 hours of administration. At 4 and 8 hours the protection conferred by compounds of formula I was similar to that produced by the reference compound carbamazepine. At the highest dose tested (30 mg/kg), carbamazepine produced a complete protection against MES after 2 hours of administration; at 4 and 8 hours after administration the protection conferred was still above 80%. The ED 50 values for carbamazepine at 2, 4 and 8 hours after the administration was 5.6, 11.3 and 20.6. mg/kg, respectively. The ED 50 values for compounds of formula I at 2, 4 and 8 hours after the administration were 6.9, 19.8 and 18.9 mg/kg, respectively. Oxcarbazepine performed not so potently as did carbamazepine and compounds of formula I. The ED 50 values for oxcarbazepine at 2, 4 and 8 hours after the administration were 9.7, 20.2 and 22.3 mg/kg, respectively. 2--Metrazol Test Compounds of formula I were effective in protecting rats against convulsions induced by metrazol. The highest effective dose of compounds of formula I was 30 mg/kg and reduced the total seizure time by 44%. Carbamazepine at 30 and 60 mg/kg produced a 41% and 44%, respectively, decrease in total seizure time. Oxcarbazepine performed less potently than did carbamazepine. At 30 and 60 mg/kg oxcarbazepine a 3% and 32% decrease in total seizure time was observed, respectively. Conclusion Compounds of formula I possess valuable antiepileptic activity as screened in the MES and metrazol tests and are endowed with greater or similar anticonvulsant potency to that of reference compounds carbamazepine or oxcarbazepine. The utilisation of compounds of formula I may prove useful in man for the treatment of some other central and peripheral nervous system disorders, e.g. for trigeminal neuralgia and brain affective disorders nervous function alterations in degenerative and post-ischemic diseases. For the preparation of pharmaceutical compositions from the compounds of formula I, inert pharmaceutically acceptable carriers are admixed with the active compounds. The pharmaceutically acceptable carriers may be either solid or liquid. Solid form preparations include powders, tablets, dispersible granules and capsules. A solid carrier can be one or more substances which may also act as diluents, flavouring agents, solubilizers, lubricants, suspending agents, binders or tablet disintegrating agents; it may also be an encapsulating material. Preferably, the pharmaceutical preparation is in unit dosage form, e.g. packaged preparation, the package containing discrete quantities of preparation such as packed tablets, capsules and powders in vials or ampoules. The dosages may be varied depending on the requirement of the patient, the severity of the disease and the particular compound being employed. For convenience, the total daily dosage may be divided and administered in portions throughout the day. Determination of the proper dosage for a particular situation is within the skill of those in the medical art. The invention disclosed herein is exemplified by the following examples of preparation which should not be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure. Alternative pathways and analogous structures may be apparent to those skilled in the art. EXAMPLES Example 1 10,11-dihydro-10-hydroxyimino-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide A suspension of 4.0 g (15.86 mmol) of 10,11-dihydro-10-oxo-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide and 3.86 g (55.49 mmol) of hydroxylamine hydrochloride in 100 mL of absolute alcohol was treated with 3.76 g (47.57 mmol) of pyridine. The mixture was heated at reflux for 1 hour and then the ethanol was removed by evaporation under reduced pressure. The residue was partitioned between 150 mL of water and 150 mL of dichloromethane. The organic layer was separated and washed with 50 mL of 1M aqueous HCl, a saturated solution of NaHCO 3 and brine, then dried by sodium sulphate. Filtration and evaporation of the solvent under reduced pressure gave an off-white solid which was triturated with hot ethanol to give the desired compound as a white powder of m.p. 230.4° to 231.5° C. Example 2 Using a similar procedure to that described in the preceding example but employing the appropriate hydroxylamine, 10-benzyloxyimino-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide was prepared. Example 3 10-acetyloxyimino-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide A suspension of 0.5 g (1.87 mmol) of 10,11-dihydro-10-hydroxyimino-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide in 25 mL of dichloromethane and 0.72 g (9.16 mmol) of pyridine was treated with 0.57 g (5.61 mmol) of acetic anhydride. The resulting mixture was stirred at room temperature overnight and then diluted with 10 mL of dichloromethane. The organic phase was extracted with 20 mL of 1M aqueous HCl, a saturated solution of NaHCO 3 and brine, then dried by sodium sulphate. The solvent was then removed by evaporation under reduced pressure and the crude product was crystallised from a mixture of dichloromethane and ethyl acetate to give the desired product as white crystals of m.p. 175.8°-176.9° C. Example 4-11 By the application of the above described technique but using the appropriate anhydrides, the following compounds were prepared: 10,11-dihydro-10-propionyloxyimino-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide 10-butyroyloxyimino-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide 10,11-dihydro-10-pivaloyloxyimino-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide 10,11-dihydro-10- (1-naphthoyloxy)imino!-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide 10-benzoyloxyimino-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide 10,11-dihydro-10-succinoyloxyimino-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide 10,11-dihydro-10-glutaroyloxyimino-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide 10,11-dihydro-10-isobutoxycarbonyloxyimino-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide Example 12 10,11-dihydro-10-methoxyimino-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide To a suspension of 0.2 g (0.75 mmol) of 10,11-dihydro-10-hydroxyimino-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide in 2 mL of acetone cooled to 0° C. was added a solution of 0.065 g (1.16 mmol) of potassium hydroxide in 1 mL of water followed by 0.164 g (1.16 mmol) of iodomethane. The resulting mixture was stirred at room temperature overnight then 10 mL of water was added. The mixture was extracted with ether and the organic layer was washed with water and brine, then dried by sodium sulphate and filtered. The solvent was removed by evaporation under reduced pressure and the residue chromatographed on silica gel with a 3% methanol-dichloromethane mixture. Chromatographically homogenous fractions were pooled, the solvents were removed under reduced pressure and the residue was crystallised from toluene to give the product as off-white crystals of m.p. 157.9°-159.4° C. Example 13 10,11-dihydro-10-(S)-(-)-camphanoyloxyimino-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide To a suspension of 0.15 g (0.56 mmol) of 10,11-dihydro-10-hydroxyimino-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide and 0.01 g (0.08 mmol) of 4-dimethylaminopyridine in 5 mL of dichloromethane and 0.22 g (2.8 mmol) of pyridine was added 0.15 g (0.67 mmol) of (S)-(-)-camphanic chloride in portions. The resulting mixture was stirred for 2 hours at room temperature whereupon a further portion of 0.1 g, (0.46 mmol) of (S)-(-)-camphanic chloride was added. After stirring for a further 1.5 hours, 5 mL of dichloromethane followed by 5 mL of ice-water was added. The organic layer was separated and washed with 10 mL of 2M aqueous HCl, a saturated solution of NaHCO 3 and brine, then dried by sodium sulphate and filtered. The solvent was removed by evaporation under reduced pressure and the residue triturated with ether to give an off-white solid which was crystallised from a mixture of dichloromethane and ethyl acetate to give the desired product as white crystals of m.p. 187° to 187.9° C. Example 14-15 By the application of the above described technique but using the appropriate acid halogenides, the following compounds were prepared: 10,11-dihydro-10- (3-methoxybenzoyloxy)imino!-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide 10,11-dihydro-10-nicotinoyloxyimino-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide Example 16 10,11-dihydro-10-ethoxycarbonyloxyimino-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide To a suspension of 0.2 g (0.74 mmol) of 10,11-dihydro-10-hydroxyimino-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide and 0.01 g (0.08 mmol) of 4-dimethylaminopyridine in 10 mL of dichloromethane and 0.29 g (3.7 mmol) of pyridine was added 0.28 g (2.6 mmol) of ethyl chloroformate dropwise. The resulting mixture was stirred at room temperature for 2 hours whereupon it was extracted with 20 mL of 1M aqueous HCl and a saturated solution of NaHCO 3 , then dried by sodium sulphate and filtered. The solvent was removed by evaporation under reduced pressure and the residue was crystallised from a mixture of dichloromethane and ethyl acetate to give white crystals of m.p. 188.9°-190° C. Example 17-18 By the application of the above described technique but using the appropriate chloroformates, the following compounds were prepared: 10-butoxycarbonyloxyimino-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide 10-benzyloxycarbonyloxyimino-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide Example 19 10,11-dihydro-10-phenylhydrazono-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide A mixture of 0.2 g (0.8 mmol) of 10,11-dihydro-10-oxo-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide, 0.5 g (4.6 mmol) of phenylhydrazine and 0.5 g (6 mmol) of sodium acetate in a mixture of 5 mL of water, 5 mL of ethanol and 3 drops of concentrated hydrochloric acid was heated at 60° C. for thirty minutes and then allowed to cool to room temperature. The precipitate was then filtered and washed with cold water and dilute ethanol to give the desired product as yellow crystals of m.p. 220° to 220.8° C. Example 20-21 By the application of the above described technique but using the appropriate hydrazines, the following compounds were prepared: 10,11-dihydro-10-hydrazono-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide 10,11-dihydro-10-(2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazono)-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide Example 22 10,11-dihydro-10-semicarbozono-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide To a stirred solution of 0.4 g (3.59 mmol) of semicarbazide hydrochloride and 0.6 g (7.32 mmol) of sodium acetate in 4 mL of water was added 0.2 g (0.8 mmol) of 10,11-dihydro-10-oxo-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide. The resulting suspension was warmed on a water bath and 6 mL of ethanol was added until a solution was obtained. The solution was heated at 60° C. for 1.5 hours and then cooled to room temperature. The ethanol was removed by evaporation under reduced pressure and the the residue cooled to 5° C. for 2 hours. The crystalline precipitate was filtered and washed with cold water to give the desired product as pale yellow crystals of m.p. 247.2°-248.6° C. Example 23-24 By the application of the above described technique but using the appropriate semicarbazides, the following compounds were prepared: 10,11-dihydro-10-thiosemicarbozono-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide 10-(2-chlorophenylsemicarbozono)-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide Example 25 10,11-dihydro-10-methoxycarbonylpropylimino-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide To a suspension of 0.2 g (0.79 mmol) of 10,11-dihydro-10-oxo-5H-dibenz b,f!azepine-5-carboxamide and 0.1 g (0.67 mmol) of methyl-4-aminobutyrate hydrochloride in 5 mL of xylene was added 0.07 g (0.49 mmol) of boron trifluoride diethyl etherate. The resulting mixture was heated at 135° C. for seven hours and then allowed to cool to room temperature. The mixture was then filtered and the residue was extracted with toluene. The combined extracts were evaporated under reduced pressure and the residue chromatographed on silica gel using a 4:1 mixture of petroleum ether-ethyl acetate. Chromatographically homogenous fractions were pooled and the solvents were removed under reduced pressure to give the desired product as a yellow oil which crystallised on standing to give yellow crystals which decomposed on heating without melting.
Compounds of general formula I are described ##STR1## as is a process for their preparation which consists of reacting a compound of formula II ##STR2## with hydroxylamine or its derivatives of formula III H.sub.2 NOR.sup.2 (III) The compounds cited in the present invention have valuable pharmaceutical properties namely in the treatment of some disturbances in the central and peripheral nervous system.
2
This application is the U.S. national phase of International Application No. PCT/JP2011/054182 filed 24 Feb. 2011 which designated the U.S. and claims priority to JP 2010-066894 filed 23 Mar. 2010, the entire contents of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device and a method for producing the same. More specifically, the present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device provided with an alignment film for controlling liquid crystal molecule alignment; and a method for producing the same. BACKGROUND ART Liquid crystal display devices are thin and lightweight, and consume low power. For these properties, liquid crystal display devices are used in various fields. Known display modes for liquid crystal display devices include twisted nematic (TN) mode, super twisted nematic (STN) mode, vertical alignment (VA) mode, multi-domain vertical alignment (MVA) mode, and in-plane switching (IPS) mode. Although liquid crystal display devices are excellent in various properties, they tend to have problems such as a decrease in luminance and a decrease in contrast owing to a decrease in the voltage holding ratio (VHR). Liquid crystal display devices also tend to cause image sticking (DC image sticking) of display screens owing to residual DC voltage (for example, see Patent Literature 1). Patent Literature 2, for example, mentions a liquid crystal alignment agent containing a polymer with a polyamic acid and/or an imide structure, an epoxy group-containing compound, and a curing agent for the epoxy group-containing compound, as an approach for enabling formation of a liquid crystal alignment film for suppressing residual DC voltage while a high voltage holding ratio is maintained. Patent Literature 3, for example, mentions a liquid crystal alignment film on which a silane-based surfactant is chemically adsorbed via a resin film (positive resist), as an approach for enabling formation of a thin, uniform alignment film. CITATION LIST Patent Literature Patent Literature 1: WO 2007/141935 Patent Literature 2: JP 10-338880 A Patent Literature 3: JP 10-153783 A SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem The approach of Patent Literature 2 achieves a low reaction efficiency, and requires addition of an epoxy group-containing compound (epoxy-based additive) at a high concentration (specifically, 20 mol % of monomer units of the polymer with a polyamic acid and/or an imide structure) to the liquid crystal alignment agent. As a result, unreacted components of the epoxy-based additive remain in the alignment film to cause misalignment. This phenomenon is more likely to occur especially in the case where the alignment film is a vertical alignment film. The present inventors have made studies on the phenomenon, and have found that, as illustrated in FIG. 14 , the approach of Patent Literature 2 causes crosslinking of the polyimide by the tetraglycidyl groups in the epoxy-based additive. Therefore, application of the approach to a vertical alignment film can make the pretilt angle smaller than 90°. The approach of Patent Literature 3 includes a silane-based surfactant chemically adsorbed on a positive resist that is disposed on the inner side (liquid crystal layer side) than electrodes, and such an approach cannot be applied to a liquid crystal display device in which a positive resist is not disposed on the inner side (liquid crystal layer side) than electrodes. In the modes generally used today, such as the TN mode, MVA mode, and IPS mode, no positive resist is provided on the inner side than the electrodes. Also, since no alignment film made of polyimide is used, formation of a chemisorption film using a silane-based surfactant is not possible without, for example, forming a color filter on a transparent electrode (ITO) and further forming a resist film on the color filter, or forming an oxide film (e.g., silicon oxide film) in the case of forming a color filter under the transparent electrode. This is because ITO does not contain —OH groups and has a low oxidization degree thereon, and therefore does not react with the silane-based coupling agent. In a common liquid crystal display device, films such as a resist film are disposed at positions closer to a substrate than an electrode. If a resist film is formed between an electrode and the liquid crystal layer as in Patent Literature 3, impurities from the resist lead to an effect of decreasing the reliability of the liquid crystal display device. The present invention has been made in view of the above state of the art, and aims to provide a liquid crystal display device that can prevent a decrease in the VHR and image sticking on the display screen because of residual DC voltage, and also can achieve favorable alignment conditions; and a production method thereof. Solution to Problem The present inventors have made various studies on liquid crystal display devices that can prevent a decrease in the VHR and image sticking on the display screen because of residual DC voltage, and also can achieve favorable alignment conditions. As a result, the present inventors have focused on carboxyl groups (residual carboxyl groups) contained in an alignment film including a polyamic acid (polyimide precursor) or a polyimide with an imidization ratio of less than 100% (such an alignment film is hereafter also referred to as a polyimide-based alignment film) as illustrated in FIG. 15 . Then, the present inventors have found that increasing the imidization ratio to decrease the residual carboxyl groups improves the VHR but also increases the residual DC voltage which causes noticeable DC image sticking. Meanwhile, decreasing the imidization ratio has been found to decrease the residual DC voltage but also decrease the VHR to decrease the long-term reliability. Accordingly, long-term use of such an alignment film leads to image sticking. The present inventors have made further studies, and have found that disposing a monomolecular film on a polyimide-based alignment film allows adsorption of the monomolecular film to the residual carboxyl groups of the polyimide-based alignment film, whereby the concentration of the residual carboxyl groups can be lowered with the imidization ratio being maintained low, i.e., a high VHR can be maintained while the residual DC voltage is reduced. Also, since the monomolecular film can be formed after formation of the polyimide-based alignment film, the alignment film can be prevented from crosslinking, and also the material of the monomolecular film can be prevented from remaining in the alignment film. As a result, favorable alignment conditions can be achieved. Furthermore, use of a polyimide-based alignment film enables to achieve the above effects in liquid crystal display devices with various display modes. Thereby, the above problem has been solved admirably, leading to completion of the present invention. That is, one aspect of the present invention is a liquid crystal display device (hereinafter, also referred to as a first liquid crystal display device of the present invention) including: a pair of substrates; a liquid crystal layer that contains liquid crystal molecules and is disposed between the pair of substrates; and an alignment film that is disposed on a liquid crystal layer side of at least one of the pair of substrates, the alignment film containing a polyamic acid or a polyimide with an imidization ratio of less than 100%, the liquid crystal display device including a monomolecular film on the alignment film. In this way, the first liquid crystal display device of the present invention has a polyimide-based alignment film. The imidization ratio (imidization ratio in an alignment film state) in the first liquid crystal display device of the present invention is preferably in the range of 20 to 80%, more preferably in the range of 40 to 60%, and still more preferably about 50%. Thereby, a decrease in reliability caused by a low VHR and generation of DC image sticking can be prevented more effectively. The imidization ratio (%) in the first liquid crystal display device of the present invention can be calculated from the FT-IR spectrum of the post-baked alignment film using the following formula. Imidization ratio (%)=[As(C—N)/As(C═C)]/[Ar(C—N)/Ar(C═C)] Here, A(C—N) represents the absorbance for imide C—N stretching vibrations (up to 1370 cm −1 ), and A(C═C) represents the absorbance for aromatic C═C stretching vibrations (−1500 cm −1 ). “As” represents the absorbance of a sample of a coating film (alignment film in the present invention), and “Ar” represents the absorbance of a coating film for reference. The coating film for reference is an alignment film formed by changing the baking conditions of the sample of the coating film to 300° C. and 90 minutes, provided that the imidization ratio of the coating film for reference is 100%. Although a monomolecular film may of course exist uniformly and densely on an alignment film, the monomolecular film is only required to be at least on the residual carboxyl groups or a structure derived from the residual carboxyl groups on the alignment film, and may not exist uniformly and densely on the alignment film. Since the first liquid crystal display device of the present invention has a property (aligning ability) that the alignment film controls alignment of liquid crystal molecules, the monomolecular film itself may or may not have the aligning ability. In contrast, in the liquid crystal alignment film in Patent Literature 3, the silane-based surfactant itself needs to have the aligning ability. Since the alignment film in the present invention is not required to contain a resist film, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the reliability of the liquid crystal display device because of impurities coming out of the resist film. The display mode of the first liquid crystal display device of the present invention is not particularly limited, and various modes such as TN mode, STN mode, VA mode, IPS mode, and transverse bend alignment (TBA) mode can be employed. Also, a display mode such as 4 domain reverse twisted nematic (4DRTN) mode can be employed in which the alignment direction of the liquid crystals is divided into multiple directions such that a pixel is divided into multiple domains. As long as the first liquid crystal display device of the present invention essentially includes these components, the structure of the first liquid crystal display device of the present invention is not particularly limited by other components. For example, the first liquid crystal display device of the present invention may be provided with an electrode at positions closer to the substrate than the alignment film. In the following, a preferable embodiment of the first liquid crystal display device of the present invention is described in detail. The alignment film and the monomolecular film are preferably bonded by a covalent bond. Thereby, detachment of the monomolecular film can be effectively prevented. In the case that the alignment film and the monomolecular film are bonded by a covalent bond, the monomolecular film is on a side (i.e., on the opposite side of the main chain of the polyamic acid or the polyimide) closer to the terminal than the structure (COO group) derived from the carboxyl groups of the alignment film. The monomolecular film preferably includes a structure that is derived from a silane-based coupling agent, and the covalent bond is preferably a bond that is represented by the following formula (1) and is formed between a structure derived from a carboxyl group in the alignment film and silicon in the structure derived from the silane-based coupling agent. Thereby, as illustrated in FIG. 1 , a monomolecular film 113 can be formed on an alignment film 20 via the covalent bond represented by formula (1). It is therefore possible to prevent carboxyl groups from remaining in the alignment film. Also, a silane-based coupling agent easily reacts with carboxyl groups, which allows effective reduction of carboxyl groups in the alignment film. Hence, the VHR, i.e., the reliability, can be effectively improved. In FIG. 1 , E represents a linear alkyl group, for example. The silane-based coupling agent is preferably a silane-based surfactant. This is because hydrophobic groups in the silane-based surfactant contribute to favorable aligning ability. Also, in the case of applying the present invention to a vertical alignment film, for example, vertical alignment of the liquid crystals can be effectively maintained. That is, formation of a monomolecular film enables to prevent narrowing of the pretilt angle. The silane-based surfactant preferably contains a linear alkyl group represented by the following formula (2). Thereby, in the case of applying the present invention to a vertical alignment film, favorable vertical alignment can be achieved. Silane-based surfactants having a linear alkyl group represented by the following formulas (2) to (4) can be obtained comparatively easily. —(CR 1 2 ) n —CR 2 3   (2) In formula (2), R 1 s are the same as or different from each other, each representing a hydrogen atom or a halogen atom; R 2 s are the same as or different from each other, each representing a hydrogen atom or a halogen atom; and n represents an integer of 0 to 17. The above formula (2) includes 2n substituents represented by R 1 , and the substituents may be the same as or different from each other. Further, the above formula (2) includes 3 substituents represented by R 2 , and the substituents may be the same as or different from each other. Since a larger value of n leads to a lower anchoring strength of the alignment film, n in formula (2) is preferably an integer of 0 to 11 in terms of sufficiently maintaining the aligning ability of the alignment film. At least one of R 1 and R 2 in formula (2) is preferably a fluorine atom. Thereby, the alignment stability of liquid crystals can be improved, and also the residual DC voltage can be reduced effectively. Specific examples thereof include a CF 3 —(CH 2 ) 9 — group, a CF 3 —(CF 2 ) 7 —(CH 2 ) 2 — group, and a CF 2 —(CF 2 ) 7 —C 6 H 4 — group. Here, the CF 3 —(CF 2 ) 7 —C 6 H 4 — group has a phenyl group introduced therein, and all hydrogen atoms in an alkyl group are replaced by fluorine atoms. The silane-based surfactant preferably contains a linear alkyl group represented by the following formula (3) or (4). Thereby, a decrease in the solubility of the silane-based surfactant can be prevented, and the alignment stability of the liquid crystals can be effectively increased while the residual DC voltage is effectively reduced. In terms of sufficiently maintaining the alignment ability of the alignment film, n in the following formulas (3) and (4) is preferably an integer of 0 to 11. —(CH 2 ) n —CF 3   (3) —(CH 2 ) n-1 —CF 2 CF 3   (4) In formulas (3) and (4), n represents an integer of 0 to 17. The silane-based surfactant preferably contains a group represented by the following formula (5). Thereby, in the case of applying the present invention to a horizontal alignment film, favorable horizontal aligning ability can be achieved. Silane-based surfactants having a group represented by the following formula (5) can be obtained comparatively easily. In terms of sufficiently maintaining the alignment ability of the alignment film, n in the following formula (5) is preferably an integer of 0 to 11. —(CH 2 ) n —NH 2   (5) In formula (5), n represents an integer of 0 to 17. The silane-based surfactant preferably contains a SiCl 3 group. This is because such a silane-based surfactant more easily reacts with the residual carboxyl groups. A pretilt angle θ of the liquid crystal molecules may satisfy 0°<θ≦8°. Thereby, the concept of the first liquid crystal display device of the present invention can be suitably applied to a horizontal alignment liquid crystal display device. A pretilt angle θ of the liquid crystal molecules may satisfy 89°<θ≦90°. Thereby, the concept of the first liquid crystal display device of the present invention can be suitably applied to a vertical alignment liquid crystal display device. A pretilt angle θ of the liquid crystal molecules may satisfy 81°<θ≦89°. Thereby, the concept of the first liquid crystal display device of the present invention can be suitably applied to a vertical photo-alignment liquid crystal display device. The polyamic acid or the polyimide may contain a photo-reactive functional group. Thereby, the concept of the first liquid crystal display device of the present invention can be suitably applied to a photo-alignment liquid crystal display device. It is preferable that the polyamic acid or the polyimide includes a first monomer unit with a side chain and a second monomer unit with a side chain, the side chain of the first monomer unit includes a photo-reactive functional group, and the side chain of the second monomer unit does not include a photo-reactive functional group. Thereby, the composition ratio between the first and second monomer units can be adjusted to enable optimization of the pretilt angle under the photo-alignment treatment in a wide range. The photo-reactive functional group is preferably at least one selected from the group consisting of a cinnamate group, a chalcone group, a tolan group, a coumarin group, and an azobenzene group. Thereby, alignment division can be performed easily. Also, since these photo-reactive functional groups are excellent in the controllability of the pretilt angle, the display qualities can be improved regarding the 4DRTN mode. The liquid crystal display device preferably includes multiple pixels each preferably provided with two or more domains (regions with liquid crystal molecules aligned in different alignment directions from each other). Thereby, excellent viewing angle characteristics, i.e., a wide viewing angle, can be obtained. The number of the domains is preferably four. Thereby, viewing angle characteristics from four directions, i.e., a sufficiently wide viewing angle, can be obtained. Another aspect of the present invention is a liquid crystal display device (hereinafter, also referred to as a second liquid crystal display device of the present invention) including: a pair of substrates; a liquid crystal layer that contains liquid crystal molecules and is disposed between the pair of substrates; and an alignment film that is disposed on a liquid crystal layer side of at least one of the pair of substrates, the alignment film formed by a method that includes a step of applying, to at least one of the pair of substrates, a liquid crystal alignment agent that contains a polyamic acid or a polyimide with an imidization ratio of less than 100%, the alignment film treated by a method that includes a step of bringing a solution, containing a silane-based coupling agent adsorbable on the alignment film, into contact with the alignment film. Thereby, a silane-based coupling agent can be adsorbed on the residual carboxyl groups of the alignment film, and thus the concentration of the residual carboxyl groups can be decreased with the imidization ratio being maintained at a low value. That is, a high VHR can be maintained with the residual DC voltage being reduced. Since the silane-based coupling agent can be adsorbed on the produced alignment film, the alignment film can be prevented from crosslinking and the silane-based coupling agent can be prevented from remaining in the alignment film. As a result, favorable alignment conditions can be achieved. Furthermore, use of a polyimide-based alignment film enables to achieve the above effects in liquid crystal display devices with various display modes. The imidization ratio (the imidization ratio in the liquid crystal alignment agent) in the second liquid crystal display device of the present invention is preferably set such that the imidization ratio in the final alignment film state is 20 to 80% (more preferably 40 to 60%, still more preferably about 50%). Thereby, a decrease in the reliability caused by a low VHR and generation of DC image sticking can be prevented more effectively. The imidization ratio (%) in the second liquid crystal display device of the present invention can be calculated from the 1H-NMR spectrum of the solution containing polyimide. More specifically, the peaks near 9 to 11 ppm are taken as peaks ascribed to the polyamic acid, and the peaks near 7 to 9 ppm are taken as peaks ascribed to the polyimide. From the ratio between the peak areas (integral values), the imidization ratio can be calculated. Since the second liquid crystal display device of the present invention has a property (aligning ability) that the alignment film controls alignment of liquid crystal molecules, the silane-based coupling agent itself may or may not have the aligning ability. In contrast, in the liquid crystal alignment film in Patent Literature 3, the silane-based surfactant itself needs to have the aligning ability. Since the alignment film in the present invention is not required to contain a resist film, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the reliability of the liquid crystal display device because of impurities coming out of the resist film. The display mode of the second liquid crystal display device of the present invention is not particularly limited, and various modes such as TN mode, STN mode, VA mode, and IPS mode can be employed. Also, a display mode such as 4DRTN mode can be employed in which the alignment direction of the liquid crystals is divided into multiple directions such that a pixel is divided into multiple domains. As long as the second liquid crystal display device of the present invention essentially includes these components, the structure of the second liquid crystal display device of the present invention is not particularly limited by other components. For example, the second liquid crystal display device of the present invention may be provided with an electrode at positions closer to the substrate than the alignment film. The liquid crystal alignment agent usually contains a solvent commonly used for a liquid crystal alignment agent. From the same viewpoint as that for the first liquid crystal display device of the present invention, the second liquid crystal display device of the present invention may have the following structure. The liquid crystal display device of the present invention may have a monomolecular film formed from the silane-based coupling agent. The alignment film and the monomolecular film are preferably bonded by a covalent bond. The covalent bond is preferably a bond that is represented by the above formula (1) and is formed between a structure derived from a carboxyl group in the alignment film and silicon in the structure derived from the silane-based coupling agent. The silane-based coupling agent is preferably a silane-based surfactant. The silane-based surfactant preferably contains a linear alkyl group represented by the above formula (2). At least one of R 1 and R 2 in formula (2) is preferably a fluorine atom. The silane-based surfactant preferably contains a linear alkyl group represented by the above formula (3) or (4). The silane-based surfactant preferably contains a group represented by the above formula (5). Also, n in formulas (2) to (5) is preferably an integer of 0 to 11. The silane-based surfactant preferably contains a SiCl 3 group. A pretilt angle θ of the liquid crystal molecules may satisfy 0°<θ≦8°. A pretilt angle θ of the liquid crystal molecules may satisfy 89°<θ≦90°. A pretilt angle θ of the liquid crystal molecules preferably satisfies 81°<θ≦89°. The polyamic acid or the polyimide may contain a photo-reactive functional group. It is preferable that the polyamic acid or the polyimide includes a first monomer unit with a side chain and a second monomer unit with a side chain, the side chain of the first monomer unit includes a photo-reactive functional group, and the side chain of the second monomer unit does not include a photo-reactive functional group. The photo-reactive functional group is preferably at least one selected from the group consisting of a cinnamate group, a chalcone group, a tolan group, a coumarin group, and an azobenzene group. The liquid crystal display device preferably includes multiple pixels each preferably provided with two or more domains. The number of the domains is preferably four. A yet another aspect of the present invention is a method for producing a liquid crystal display device that includes a pair of substrates and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the pair of substrates, the method including: an alignment film formation step of forming an alignment film on at least one of the pair of substrates; and a monomolecular film formation step of forming a monomolecular film on the alignment film. Thereby, even in the case of using a polyimide-based alignment film, a monomolecular film can be adsorbed on the residual carboxyl groups of the polyimide-based alignment film, and thus the concentration of the residual carboxyl groups can be decreased with the imidization ratio being maintained at a low value. That is, a high VHR can be maintained with the residual DC voltage being reduced. Since the monomolecular film can be formed on the produced alignment film, the alignment film can be prevented from crosslinking and the silane-based coupling agent can be prevented from remaining in the alignment film. As a result, favorable alignment conditions can be achieved. Furthermore, use of a polyimide-based alignment film enables to achieve the above effects in liquid crystal display devices with various display modes. Although a monomolecular film of course may be formed uniformly and densely on an alignment film, the monomolecular film is only required to be formed at least on the residual carboxyl groups or a structure derived from the residual carboxyl groups on the alignment film, and may not be formed uniformly and densely on the alignment film. Since the method for producing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention achieves a property (aligning ability) that the alignment film controls alignment of liquid crystal molecules, the monomolecular film itself may or may not have the aligning ability. In contrast, in the liquid crystal alignment film in Patent Literature 3, the silane-based surfactant itself needs to have the aligning ability. Since the alignment film in the present invention is not required to contain a resist film, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the reliability of the liquid crystal display device because of impurities coming out of the resist film. As long as the method for producing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention essentially includes these components and the steps, the structure of the method for producing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention is not particularly limited by other components and steps. For example, the liquid crystal display device produced by the method for producing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention may be provided with an electrode at positions closer to the substrate than the alignment film. In this way, the method for producing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention may also include a step of forming an electrode on at least one of the pair of substrates before the alignment film formation step. In the following, a preferable embodiment of the method for producing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention is described in detail. The alignment film formation step preferably includes a substep of applying, to at least one of the pair of substrates, a liquid crystal alignment agent containing a polyamic acid or a polyimide with an imidization ratio of less than 100%. Thereby, a polyimide-based alignment film can be formed. The method of producing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention preferably includes an electrode formation step of forming an electrode on at least one of the pair of substrates before the alignment film formation step. Thereby, an alignment film can be formed on an inner side (liquid crystal layer side) than the electrode, and liquid crystals can be favorably aligned. The monomolecular film is preferably bonded to the alignment film by a covalent bond. Thereby, a monomolecular film can be more firmly arranged on the alignment film. The monomolecular film formation step preferably includes an immersion substep of immersing a substrate with the alignment film formed thereon in a solution containing a silane-based surfactant. Thereby, a monomolecular film can be formed from a silane-based surfactant. Also, hydrophobic groups in the silane-based surfactant contribute to favorable aligning ability. Also, in the case of applying the present invention to a vertical alignment film, for example, vertical alignment of the liquid crystals can be effectively maintained. That is, narrowing of the pretilt angle caused by formation of a monomolecular film can be prevented. The immersion substep includes heating the solution. Thereby, formation of a monomolecular film is promoted. Also, in the case of forming a polyimide-based alignment film, it is possible to react the silane-based surfactant and the carboxylic acid (carboxyl groups) in the polyimide-based alignment film at a high reaction rate in a short time. The solution preferably contains an environmentally safe solvent. Thereby, the immersion substep can be performed in an open system. In this way, the environmentally safe solvent is preferably one that does not adversely affect the human body even when the solvent as steam is inhaled. The environmentally safe solvent is specifically a solvent that does not correspond to the first to third class organic solvents defined under the ordinance of the Industrial Safety and Health Law. More specific examples thereof include water, ethanol, N-methylpyrrolidone, γ-butyrolactone, some of weak acid aqueous solutions, and some of weak alkali aqueous solutions. The solution preferably contains a solvent that contains at least one of water and ethanol. Since water and ethanol have almost no adverse effect on the human body or the environment, the immersion substep can be performed in an open system. Therefore, treatment for a large-sized substrate (e.g., eighth-generation mother glass) can also be performed at low cost. In contrast, in the case of using a harmful organic solvent, a sealed process and exhaust equipment are required for the heating treatment for the solvent, which requires equipment cost in the case of treating a large-sized substrate. The alignment film preferably contains a photo-reactive functional group, and the method preferably further includes, after the monomolecular film formation step, a step of performing alignment treatment of irradiating the alignment film with ultraviolet light from a direction oblique to a normal direction of the substrate with the alignment film formed thereon. Thereby, a photo-alignment type liquid crystal display device is easily producible. Further, since the photo-alignment treatment is performed after the monomolecular film formation step, the pretilt can be controlled more surely. In contrast, in the case that photo-alignment treatment is performed before the monomolecular film formation step and that immersion into a solvent and heating are performed in the monomolecular film formation step, the pretilt angle set by the photo-alignment treatment can be changed through the immersion into the solvent and the heating. Especially in the case of using an alignment film providing a pretilt angle by photo-isomerization, the possibility of change is high. Hence, the photo-alignment treatment is preferably performed after the monomolecular film formation step. The ultraviolet light is preferably linearly polarized light, elliptically polarized light, or circularly polarized light. Thereby, photo-alignment treatment can be effectively performed on alignment films providing a pretilt angle by photo-dimerization. Linearly polarized light is excellent in alignment stability, and elliptically polarized light or circularly polarized light is excellent in light utilization efficiency, shortening the treatment time. The ultraviolet light is preferably unpolarized light. It is possible with unpolarized light to effectively perform photo-alignment treatment on an alignment film providing a pretilt angle through photo-isomerization reaction. Advantageous Effects of Invention The first and second liquid crystal display devices of the present invention can prevent a decrease in the VHR and image sticking on the display screen because of residual DC voltage, and also can produce favorable alignment conditions, in various display modes. The method for producing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention enables to produce a liquid crystal display device of various modes which can prevent a decrease in the VHR and image sticking on the display screen because of residual DC voltage, and also can produce favorable alignment conditions. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating an alignment film and a monomolecular film according to embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a chemical reaction formula illustrating a covalent bond between the residual carboxyl group and silane moiety according to a first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the structure of the liquid crystal display device of the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the structure of a liquid crystal display device of a third embodiment. FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the structure of a liquid crystal display device of a fourth embodiment. FIG. 6( a ) is a schematic plan view illustrating a liquid crystal director direction in one pixel (or one sub-pixel) and photo-alignment treatment directions for a pair of substrates (top and bottom substrates) in the case that the liquid crystal display device of the first embodiment has a mono-domain structure; and FIG. 6( b ) is a schematic view illustrating absorption axis directions of polarizers provided in the liquid crystal display device illustrated in FIG. 6( a ) . FIG. 6( a ) illustrates the state where the photo-alignment treatment directions are perpendicular to each other between the pair of substrates, and AC voltage not lower than a threshold is applied between the pair of substrates. In FIG. 6( a ) , the solid line arrow indicates the photo-irradiation direction (photo-alignment treatment direction) for the bottom substrate, and the dashed line arrow indicates the photo-irradiation direction (photo-alignment treatment direction) for the top substrate. FIG. 7( a ) is a schematic plan view illustrating a liquid crystal director direction in one pixel (or one sub-pixel) and photo-alignment treatment directions for a pair of substrates (top and bottom substrates) in the case that the liquid crystal display device of the first embodiment has a mono-domain structure; and FIG. 7( b ) is a schematic view illustrating absorption axis directions of polarizers provided in the liquid crystal display device illustrated in FIG. 7( a ) . FIG. 7( a ) illustrates the state where the photo-alignment treatment directions are antiparallel with each other between the pair of substrates, and AC voltage not lower than a threshold is applied between the pair of substrates. In FIG. 7( a ) , the solid line arrow indicates the photo-irradiation direction (photo-alignment treatment direction) for the bottom substrate, and the dashed line arrow indicates the photo-irradiation direction (photo-alignment treatment direction) for the top substrate. FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a first arrangement relationship between the substrate and a photomask in a photo-alignment treatment process of the first embodiment for dividing alignment by a proximity exposure method using an alignment mask. FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a second arrangement relationship between the substrate and a photomask in a photo-alignment treatment process of the first embodiment for dividing alignment by a proximity exposure method using an alignment mask. FIG. 10( a ) is a schematic plan view illustrating an average liquid crystal director direction in one pixel (or one sub-pixel) and photo-alignment treatment directions for a pair of substrates (top and bottom substrates) in the case that the liquid crystal display device of the first embodiment has a four-domain structure; and FIG. 10( b ) is a schematic view illustrating absorption axis directions of polarizers provided in the liquid crystal display device illustrated in FIG. 10( a ) . FIG. 10( a ) illustrates the state where AC voltage not lower than a threshold is applied between the pair of substrates. In FIG. 10( a ) , the solid line arrow indicates the photo-irradiation direction (photo-alignment treatment direction) for the bottom substrate (driving element substrate), and the dashed line arrow indicates the photo-irradiation direction (photo-alignment treatment direction) for the top substrate (color filter substrate). FIG. 11( a ) is a schematic plan view illustrating an average liquid crystal director direction in one pixel (or one sub-pixel), photo-alignment treatment directions for a pair of substrates (top and bottom substrates), and the domain division pattern in the case that the liquid crystal display device of the first embodiment has another four-domain structure; FIG. 11( b ) is a schematic view illustrating absorption axis directions of polarizers provided in the liquid crystal display device illustrated in FIG. 11( a ) ; and FIG. 11( c ) is a schematic cross-sectional view along the A-B line in FIG. 11( a ) when AC voltage not lower than a threshold is applied between the pair of substrates. In FIG. 11( a ) , the solid line arrow indicates the photo-irradiation direction (photo-alignment treatment direction) for the bottom substrate (driving element substrate), and the dashed line arrow indicates the photo-irradiation direction (photo-alignment treatment direction) for the top substrate (color filter substrate). The dashed line in FIG. 11( c ) illustrates the interface between domains. FIG. 12 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the structure of a liquid crystal display device of a sixth embodiment. FIG. 13 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the structure of a liquid crystal display device of a seventh embodiment. FIG. 14 is a schematic view illustrating a polyimide crosslinked by an epoxy-based additive. FIG. 15 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a substrate and an alignment film according to a comparative embodiment. DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Pretilt angles, voltage holding ratios (VHRs), and residual DC voltages of the liquid crystal display devices (liquid crystal display cells) of the embodiments of the present invention were measured as described below. (Pretilt Angle) The pretilt angle was measured by the crystal rotation method using OMS-AF2 produced by CHUO PRECISION INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD. (VHR) The VHR was measured using the 6254 model liquid crystal physical property measuring system produced by TOYO Corp. More specifically, charges are charged between the electrodes at 60° C. under a voltage of 1 V for 60 μs, and then the potential between the electrodes during the open period (period for which no voltage is applied) of 16.61 ms was measured to determine the ratio of voltage to be retained. (Residual DC Voltage) The residual DC voltage was determined by the flicker elimination method (movement I) described in WO 2007/141935 (Patent Literature 1). More specifically, a direct current offset voltage of 5 V was applied to the liquid crystal cell for 20 hours. Then, the liquid crystal cell was driven under square wave voltage, and the direct current offset voltage applied was adjusted such that flickers would not be observed. The adjusted direct current offset voltage was taken as the residual DC voltage. The measurement was performed in a 50° C. oven, using an original device including a generator, a photo multiplier, an oscilloscope, and a computer for controlling these. The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the drawings based on embodiments which, however, are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. First Embodiment In the present embodiment, description will be made with an example of a TN-mode liquid crystal display device having horizontal alignment films that horizontally align liquid crystals. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the structure of the liquid crystal display device of the present embodiment. In FIG. 3 , a liquid crystal display device 100 is provided with a TFT array substrate 110 , a counter substrate 130 disposed to face the TFT array substrate 110 , and a liquid crystal layer 120 disposed between the TFT array substrate 110 and the counter substrate 130 . The TFT array substrate 110 has, on the liquid crystal layer 120 -side main surface of a glass substrate (supporting substrate 111 ), multiple gate signal lines parallel to each other, multiple source signal lines perpendicular to the gate signal lines and extending in parallel to each other, and thin film transistors (TFTs) disposed at each crossing portion of a gate signal line and a source signal line, although these components are not illustrated. The gate signal lines and the source signal lines are covered with a gate insulating film, and drain electrodes are formed on the gate insulating film. The drain electrodes are covered with an interlayer insulating film, and pixel electrodes 115 are formed on the interlayer insulating film in such a manner so as to correspond to the respective pixels. The pixel electrodes 115 and the drain electrodes are connected to each other via contact holes formed in the interlayer insulating film. Each TFT has a gate electrode connected to a gate signal line, a source electrode connected to a source signal line, and a drain electrode. The liquid crystal layer 120 is formed from nematic liquid crystals showing positive dielectric constant anisotropy. The counter substrate 130 is, for example, a color filter substrate. Here, a color filter layer is provided on the main surface of the glass substrate (supporting substrate 131 ), and a counter electrode 135 is disposed on the color filter layer with an insulation layer therebetween. The counter electrode 135 is formed from ITO or the like. Horizontal alignment films 112 and 132 are formed on the respective liquid crystal layer 120 -side surfaces of the TFT array substrate 110 and the counter substrate 130 which have the above structures. Furthermore, on the alignment films 112 and 132 , the monomolecular films 113 and 133 are respectively formed. The liquid crystal display device 100 having the above structure was produced as described below. First, the substrates 110 and 130 before alignment film formation were produced by a conventionally known method. Then, the following steps were performed. (1-1. Alignment Film Formation Step) A liquid crystal alignment agent containing a polyimide produced by imidizing a polyamic acid represented by the following formula (6) was applied to the liquid crystal layer 120 -side main surface of each of the TFT array substrate 110 and the counter substrate 130 . The polyimide is dissolvable in the state of polyamic acid. The polyimide is imidized by a conventionally known method (e.g., a heating method, a chemical method using a catalyst), and the imidization ratio was adjusted to 50 to 80%. Thereafter, prebaking and postbaking were performed, and thereby horizontal alignment films 112 and 132 for TN mode were formed. (1-2. Monomolecular Film Formation Step) A chlorosilane-based surfactant represented by a chemical formula Cl 3 Si—(CH 2 ) n —CH 3 was dissolved in a solvent containing at least one of water and ethanol, so that a solution was prepared. The solution was heated to 60° C., and the TFT array substrate 110 and the counter substrate 130 were immersed in the solution for 1 hour. Thereby, the monomolecular films 113 and 133 were formed on the alignment films 112 and 132 . At this time, as illustrated in FIG. 2 , the residual carboxyl groups derived from polyamic acid in the alignment films 112 and 132 are bonded to the chlorosilane groups of the chlorosilane-based surfactant by a covalent bond through dehydrochlorination reaction. Thereby, the residual carboxylic acid concentration can be decreased. Therefore, eliminating the residual carboxyl groups while maintaining the imidization ratio at a certain level to avoid an increase in the residual DC voltage enables to achieve a high VHR. In the monomolecular film formation step, heating the solution makes it possible to promote the reaction between the residual carboxyl groups in the alignment films 112 and 132 and the chlorosilane-based surfactant. Instead of immersing the substrates 110 and 130 in the solution, the solution may be applied to the substrates 110 and 130 . Thereafter, the substrates 110 and 130 were washed using a solvent containing at least one of water and ethanol. A chlorosilane-based surfactant containing a linear alkyl group represented by the above formula (2), including a chlorosilane-based surfactant represented by a chemical formula Cl 3 Si—(CH 2 ) n —CH 3 , is easily dissolved in a solvent such as water and ethanol. Hence, components of the chlorosilane-based surfactant which have not reacted with the residual carboxyl groups in the monomolecular film formation step can be easily removed by washing with a solvent. Thereby, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the qualities of the liquid crystal display device because of unreacted components of the chlorosilane-based surfactant. Since it is possible to use a very low-toxic solvent such as water and ethanol can be used, the monomolecular film formation step can be performed in an open system. For this reason, the capital investment can be made low compared to the step in a sealed system using a large-sized box and the like. (1-3. Liquid Crystal Display Device Formation Step) Subsequently, rubbing treatment was performed on the substrates 110 and 130 . A sealant (sealing agent) was applied to one of the substrates, beads were scattered on the other of the substrates, and the substrates were attached to each other in such a manner that the rubbing directions would form an angle of 90°. The sealant is not particularly limited, and ultraviolet curable resin, thermosetting resin, and the like can be used. Liquid crystals having positive dielectric constant anisotropy were injected between the substrates, and a polarizer was disposed on the surface of each of the supporting substrates 111 and 131 on the opposite side of the liquid crystal layer 120 , and thereby the TN-mode liquid crystal display device 100 including horizontal alignment films was produced. The liquid crystals may contain a chiral agent. In the following, the present embodiment will be described in detail based on examples and comparative examples. EXAMPLES 1 to 5 In the same manner as in the first embodiment, TN-mode liquid crystal display devices of Examples 1 to 5 were produced which included monomolecular films formed using chlorosilane-based surfactants having different linear alkyl chain lengths. Specifically, in Example 1, monomolecular films were formed using a chlorosilane-based surfactant with n in the above chemical formula=3. Similarly, monomolecular films were formed using chlorosilane-based surfactants with n=5 in Example 2, n=7 in Example 3, n=9 in Example 4, and n=11 in Example 5. The pretilt angle, VHR, and residual DC voltage of each of the liquid crystal display devices were measured. The obtained results are shown in Table 1. COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 1 No chlorosilane-based surfactant was used. That is, a TN-mode liquid crystal display device of Comparative Example 1 was produced in the same manner as in the first embodiment, except that monomolecular films were not formed and the residual carboxyl groups in the alignment films were not treated. The pretilt angle, VHR, and residual DC voltage of the obtained liquid crystal display devices were measured. The obtained results are shown in Table 1. TABLE 1 Compar- Exam- Exam- Exam- Exam- Exam- ative ple 1 ple 2 ple 3 ple 4 ple 5 Example 1 Alkyl chain 4 6 8 10 12 N/A length (n) (3) (5) (7)  (9) (11) Pretilt   1.5   1.5   2.5  4  8 1.5 angle (°) VHR (%)  99.5  99.5  99.5   99.5   99.5 98.5 Residual DC 50  50  50  50 50 170 voltage (mV) As shown in Table 1, the VHRs in Examples 1 to 5 were as high as 99.5%. In contrast, the VHR in Comparative Example 1 was 98.5%, which was inferior to the results of Examples 1 to 5. The residual DC voltage in Comparative Example 1 was 170 mV, whereas the residual DC voltage in each of Examples 1 to 5 was 50 mV which was lower than the result of Comparative Example 1. As above, the residual DC voltage could be maintained low while a high VHR was maintained in Examples 1 to 5. In this way, introduction of the step of treating the alignment film surface with a chlorosilane-based surfactant enabled to achieve a high VHR and low residual DC voltage. This is probably because the carboxyl groups remaining in the polyimide-based alignment films were treated, and thereby the residual DC voltage was reduced while a high VHR was obtained. Also, a longer alkyl chain led to a larger pretilt angle, which was probably because the long alkyl chain changed the alignment of liquid crystals from the horizontal direction to the vertical direction. Second Embodiment Monomolecular films were formed using a chlorosilane-based surfactant represented by the chemical formula Cl 3 Si—(CH 2 ) n —NH 2 instead of a chlorosilane-based surfactant represented by the chemical formula Cl 3 Si—(CH 2 ) n —CH 3 . Except for that, a TN-mode liquid crystal display device having horizontal alignment films was produced in the same manner as in the first embodiment. Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described in more detail based on examples and comparative examples. EXAMPLES 6 to 10 In the same manner as in the second embodiment, TN-mode liquid crystal display devices of Examples 6 to 10 were produced which included monomolecular films formed using chlorosilane-based surfactants having different linear alkyl chain lengths. Specifically, in Example 6, monomolecular films were formed using a chlorosilane-based surfactant with n in the above chemical formula=3. Similarly, monomolecular films were formed using chlorosilane-based surfactants with n=5 in Example 7, n=7 in Example 8, n=9 in Example 9, and n=11 in Example 10. The pretilt angle, VHR, and residual DC voltage of the obtained liquid crystal display devices were measured in the same manner as in Examples 1 to 5. The obtained results are shown in Table 2 together with the results of Comparative Example 1. TABLE 2 Compar- Exam- Exam- Exam- Exam- Exam- ative ple 6 ple 7 ple 8 ple 9 ple 10 Example 1 Alkyl chain 3 5 7 9 11 N/A length (n) (3) (5) (7) (9) (11) Pretilt   1.5   1.5   1.5    2 1.5 angle (°) VHR (%)  99.5  99.5  99.5  99.5   99.5 98.5 Residual DC 50  50  50  50  50 170 voltage (mV) Table 2 shows that, similarly to Examples 1 to 5, both the VHR and residual DC voltage values in Examples 6 to 10 were better than those in Comparative Example 1; that is, the residual DC voltage was made low while a high VHR was maintained. A longer linear alkyl chain led to a larger pretilt angle in Examples 1 to 5, whereas an increase in the linear chain structure did not change the pretilt angle much in Examples 6 to 10. In this way, introduction of the step of treating the alignment film surface with a chlorosilane-based surfactant enabled to achieve a high VHR and low residual DC voltage. Further introduction of an amino group (—NH 2 ) at an alkyl chain terminal to lengthen the alkyl chain changed the pretilt angle very slightly. This is probably because the compatibility between the terminal amino group and the liquid crystals is different from the compatibility between the methyl group and the liquid crystals. Third Embodiment The present embodiment is described based on an example of a VA-mode liquid crystal display device having vertical alignment films for vertically aligning liquid crystals. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the structure of the liquid crystal display device of the present embodiment. In FIG. 4 , a liquid crystal display device 200 is provided with a TFT array substrate 210 , a counter substrate 230 disposed to face the TFT array substrate 210 , and a liquid crystal layer 220 disposed between the TFT array substrate 210 and the counter substrate 230 . The TFT array substrate 210 has TFTs and various wirings on the liquid crystal layer 220 -side main surface of the glass substrate (supporting substrate 211 ) in the same manner as the TFT array substrate 110 in the first embodiment. Pixel electrodes 215 are formed to correspond to the respective pixels, and each of the pixel electrodes has multiple slits 214 for controlling the alignment of the liquid crystals. The slits 214 each have a V shape when the substrate surface is viewed from the normal direction, and are arranged at equal intervals. An alignment film 212 is formed on the liquid crystal layer 220 -side surface of the TFT array substrate 210 , and a monomolecular film 213 is formed on the alignment film 212 . The liquid crystal layer 220 is not particularly limited as long as it is used in a VA-mode liquid crystal display device, and nematic liquid crystals having negative dielectric constant anisotropy, for example, can be used. The counter substrate 230 includes a glass substrate (supporting substrate 231 ) and a counter electrode 235 disposed to face the pixel electrodes 215 , and has projections 234 forming ribs on the liquid crystal layer 220 -side surface. The multiple projections 234 are for controlling the alignment conditions of the liquid crystals, and are belt-like objects that have a V shape in a view of the substrate surface from the normal direction and are arranged at equal intervals. The counter substrate 230 is, for example, a color filter substrate. Here, a color filter layer is provided on the main surface of the supporting substrate 231 , and the counter electrode 235 is disposed on the color filter layer with an insulating layer therebetween. The counter electrode 235 is formed from ITO or the like. An alignment film 232 is formed on the liquid crystal layer 220 -side surface of the counter substrate, and a monomolecular film 233 is formed on the alignment film 232 . The slits 214 and the projections 234 are alternately arranged at equal intervals when the substrate surface is viewed from the normal direction. In such arrangement, liquid crystal molecules are aligned almost evenly in each pixel, and uniform display can be achieved in a wide viewing angle. The liquid crystal display device 200 having the above structure was produced as described below. First, the substrates 210 and 230 before alignment film formation were produced by a conventionally known method. Then, the following steps are performed. (2-1. Alignment Film Formation Step) To the liquid crystal layer 220 -side main surface of each of the TFT array substrate 210 and the counter substrate 230 , a liquid crystal alignment agent was applied which contained a polyimide produced by polymerizing (copolymerizing), by a conventionally known method, at least one of an acid anhydride represented by the following chemical formulas (7) to (13) and at least one of diamine monomers containing vertically aligning functional groups represented by the following chemical formulas (14) to (20). The polyimide is imidized by a conventionally known method (e.g., a heating method, a chemical method using a catalyst), and the imidization ratio was adjusted to 20 to 50%. Thereafter, prebaking and postbaking were performed, and thereby vertical alignment films 212 and 232 for VA mode were formed. (2-2. Monomolecular Film Formation Step) A chlorosilane-based surfactant represented by a chemical formula Cl 3 Si—(CH 2 ) n —CH 3 was dissolved in a solvent containing at least one of water and ethanol, so that a solution was prepared. The solution was heated to 60° C., and the TFT array substrate 210 and the counter substrate 230 were immersed in the solution for 1 hour. Thereby, the monomolecular films 213 and 233 were formed on the alignment films 212 and 232 . At this time, as illustrated in FIG. 2 , the residual carboxyl groups derived from polyamic acid in the alignment films 212 and 232 are bonded to the chlorosilane groups of the chlorosilane-based surfactant by a covalent bond through dehydrochlorination reaction. Thereby, the residual carboxylic acid concentration can be decreased. Therefore, eliminating the residual carboxyl groups while maintaining the imidization ratio at a certain level to avoid an increase in the residual DC voltage enables to achieve a high VHR. In the monomolecular film formation step, heating the solution makes it possible to promote the reaction between the residual carboxyl groups in the alignment films 212 and 232 and the chlorosilane-based surfactant. Instead of immersing the substrates 210 and 230 in the solution, the solution may be applied to the substrates 210 and 230 . Thereafter, the substrates 210 and 230 were washed using a solvent containing at least one of water and ethanol. A chlorosilane-based surfactant containing a linear alkyl group represented by the above formula (2), including a chlorosilane-based surfactant represented by a chemical formula Cl 3 Si—(CH 2 ) n —CH 3 , is easily dissolved in a solvent such as water and ethanol. Hence, components of the chlorosilane-based surfactant which have not reacted with the residual carboxyl groups in the monomolecular film formation step can be easily removed by washing with a solvent. Thereby, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the qualities of the liquid crystal display device because of unreacted components of the chlorosilane-based surfactant. (2-3. Liquid Crystal Display Device Formation Step) A sealant (sealing agent) was applied to one of the substrates, beads were scattered on the other one of the substrates, and the substrates were attached to each other. The sealant is not particularly limited, and ultraviolet curable resin, thermosetting resin, and the like can be used. Liquid crystals having negative dielectric constant anisotropy were injected between the substrates, and a polarizer was disposed on the surface of each of the supporting substrates 211 and 231 on the opposite side of the liquid crystal layer 220 , and thereby the VA-mode liquid crystal display device 200 including vertical alignment films was produced. Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described in more detail based on examples and comparative examples. EXAMPLES 11 to 15 In the same manner as in the third embodiment, VA-mode liquid crystal display devices of Examples 11 to 15 were produced which included monomolecular films formed using chlorosilane-based surfactants having different linear alkyl chain lengths. Specifically, in Example 11, a monomolecular film was formed using a chlorosilane-based surfactant with n in the above chemical formula=3. Similarly, monomolecular films were formed using chlorosilane-based surfactants with n=5 in Example 12, n=7 in Example 13, n=9 in Example 14, and n=11 in Example 15. The pretilt angle, VHR, and residual DC voltage of each of the liquid crystal display devices were measured. The obtained results are shown in Table 3. COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 2 No chlorosilane-based surfactant was used. That is, a VA-mode liquid crystal display device of Comparative Example 2 was produced in the same manner as in Example 11, except that monomolecular films were not formed and the residual carboxyl groups in the alignment films were not treated. The pretilt angle, VHR, and residual DC voltage of the obtained liquid crystal display devices were measured. The obtained results are shown in Table 3. TABLE 3 Compar- Exam- Exam- Exam- Exam- Exam- ative ple 11 ple 12 ple 13 ple 14 ple 15 Example 2 Alkyl chain 4 6 8 10 12 N/A length (n) (3) (5) (7)  (9) (11) Pretilt 90  90  90  90 90 90 angle (°) VHR (%)  99.5  99.5  99.5   99.5   99.5 98.5 Residual DC 70  70  70  70 70 220 voltage (mV) As shown in Table 3, the VHRs in the VA-mode liquid crystal display devices of Examples 11 to 15 in which the liquid crystal molecules were vertically aligned were as high as 99.5%. In contrast, the VHR in Comparative Example 2 was 98.5%, which was inferior to the results of Examples 11 to 15. The residual DC voltage in Comparative Example 2 was 220 mV, whereas the residual DC voltage in each of Examples 11 to 15 was as low as 70 mV. Similarly to the aforementioned other examples, the residual DC voltage could be maintained low while a high VHR was maintained in Examples 11 to 15. The pretilt angle in each of Examples 11 to 15 and Comparative Example 2 was 90°. That is, the linear alkyl chain in the chlorosilane-based surfactant did not affect the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules in the present embodiment in which the liquid crystal molecules were vertically aligned. In this way, introduction of the step of treating the alignment film surface with a chlorosilane-based surfactant enabled to achieve a high VHR and low residual DC voltage. This is probably because the carboxyl groups remaining in the polyimide-based alignment film were treated, and thereby the residual DC voltage was reduced while a high VHR was obtained. In the case of the VA mode, the pretilt angle is 90° regardless of the alkyl chain length. This is probably because the polyimide as a vertical alignment film component sufficiently maintains the vertical alignment. Fourth Embodiment The present embodiment will be described based on an example of an RTN-mode liquid crystal display device provided with a photo-alignment film having vertically aligning ability. FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal display device of the present embodiment. In FIG. 5 , a liquid crystal display device 250 is provided with a TFT array substrate 260 , a counter substrate 280 disposed to face the TFT array substrate 260 , and a liquid crystal layer 270 disposed between the TFT array substrate 260 and the counter substrate 280 . The TFT array substrate 260 has, on the liquid crystal layer 270 -side main surface of a glass substrate (supporting substrate 261 ), multiple gate signal lines parallel to each other, multiple source signal lines perpendicular to the gate signal lines and extending in parallel to each other, and thin film transistors (TFTs) disposed at each crossing portion of a gate signal line and a source signal line, although these components are not illustrated. The gate signal lines and the source signal lines are covered with a gate insulating film, and drain electrodes are formed on the gate insulating film. The drain electrodes are covered with an interlayer insulating film, and pixel electrodes 265 are formed on the interlayer insulating film in such a manner so as to correspond to the respective pixels. The pixel electrodes 265 and the drain electrodes are connected to each other via the contact holes formed in the interlayer insulating film. Each TFT has a gate electrode connected to a gate signal line, a source electrode connected to a source signal line, and a drain electrode. The liquid crystal layer 270 is formed from nematic liquid crystals showing negative dielectric constant anisotropy. The counter substrate 280 is, for example, a color filter substrate. Here, a color filter layer is provided on the main surface of the glass substrate (supporting substrate 281 ), and a counter electrode 285 is disposed on the color filter layer with an insulation layer therebetween. The counter electrode 285 is formed from ITO or the like. Horizontal alignment films 262 and 282 are formed on the respective liquid crystal layer 270 -side surfaces of the TFT array substrate 260 and the counter substrate 280 which have the above structures. Further, on the alignment films 262 and 282 , the monomolecular films 263 and 283 are respectively formed. As illustrated in FIG. 6( a ) , the liquid crystal display device of the present embodiment is formed through exposure of the alignment films and attachment of the substrates such that the photo-irradiation directions for a pair of substrates (top and bottom substrates 12 ) in a plan view of the substrates are substantially perpendicular to each other. Here, the pretilt angles of the liquid crystal molecules in the vicinity of the alignment films disposed on the respective top and bottom substrates 12 are substantially the same, and a liquid crystal material containing no chiral material is injected into the liquid crystal layer. If AC voltage not lower than a threshold is applied between the top and bottom substrates 12 , the liquid crystal molecules are twisted 90° in the normal direction of the substrate surfaces between the top and bottom substrates 12 , and the average liquid crystal director direction 17 under the application of AC voltage appears to be along a line that halves an angle formed by the photo-irradiation directions for the top and bottom substrates 12 in a plan view of the substrates 12 , as illustrated in FIG. 6 . FIG. 6( b ) illustrates that the absorption axis direction 16 of the polarizer (upper polarizer) arranged on the top substrate side is the same as the photo-alignment treatment direction for the top substrate. Also, the absorption axis direction 15 of the polarizer (lower polarizer) arranged on the bottom substrate side is the same as the photo-alignment treatment direction for the bottom substrate. The liquid crystal display device 250 having the above structure was produced as described below. First, the substrates 260 and 280 before alignment film formation were produced by a conventionally known method. Then, the following steps were performed. (3-1. Alignment Film Formation Step) To the liquid crystal layer 270 -side main surface of each of the TFT array substrate 260 and the counter substrate 280 , a liquid crystal alignment agent was applied which contained a polyimide produced by polymerizing (copolymerizing), by a conventionally known method, at least one of an acid anhydride represented by the above chemical formulas (7) to (13) and at least one of diamine monomers containing photo-reactive functional groups in their side chains represented by the following chemical formulas (21) to (44). The polyimide is imidized by a conventionally known method (e.g., a heating method, a chemical method using a catalyst), and the imidization ratio was adjusted to 20 to 50%. In addition to the diamine monomers containing photo-reactive functional groups in their side chains, a diamine monomer containing no photo-reactive functional groups in a side chain may be added to the monomer component. Thereafter, prebaking and postbaking were performed, and thereby vertical alignment films 262 and 282 for RTN mode were formed. (3-2. Monomolecular Film Formation Step) A chlorosilane-based surfactant represented by a chemical formula Cl 3 Si—(CH 2 ) n —CH 3 was dissolved in a solvent containing at least one of water and ethanol, so that a solution was prepared. The solution was heated to 60° C., and the TFT array substrate 260 and the counter substrate 280 were immersed in the solution for 1 hour. Thereby, the monomolecular films 263 and 283 were formed on the alignment films 262 and 282 . At this time, as illustrated in FIG. 2 , the residual carboxyl groups derived from polyamic acid in the alignment films 262 and 282 are bonded to the chlorosilane groups of the chlorosilane-based surfactant by a covalent bond through dehydrochlorination reaction. Thereby, the residual carboxylic acid concentration can be decreased. Therefore, eliminating the residual carboxyl groups while maintaining the imidization ratio at a certain level to avoid an increase in the residual DC voltage enables to achieve a high VHR. In the monomolecular film formation step, heating the solution makes it possible to promote the reaction between the residual carboxyl groups in the alignment films 262 and 282 and the chlorosilane-based surfactant. Instead of immersing the substrates 260 and 280 in the solution, the solution may be applied to the substrates 260 and 280 . Thereafter, the substrates 260 and 280 were washed using a solvent containing at least one of water and ethanol. A chlorosilane-based surfactant containing a linear alkyl group represented by the above formula (2), including a chlorosilane-based surfactant represented by a chemical formula Cl 3 Si—(CH 2 ) n —CH 3 , is easily dissolved in a solvent such as water and ethanol. Hence, components of the chlorosilane-based surfactant which have not reacted with the residual carboxyl groups in the monomolecular film formation step can be easily removed by washing with a solvent. Thereby, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the qualities of the liquid crystal display device because of the unreacted components of the chlorosilane-based surfactant. (3-3. Photo-alignment Treatment Step) The substrates 260 and 280 with monomolecular films 263 and 283 , formed on the alignment films 262 and 282 through the above alignment film formation step and the monomolecular film formation step, were irradiated with ultraviolet light from an oblique direction for alignment treatment. Ultraviolet light is preferably linearly polarized light, elliptically polarized light, or circularly polarized light in the case that alignment is made through photo-dimerization reaction. Unpolarized light is preferred in the case that alignment is made through photo-isomerization reaction. The photo-alignment treatment step may be performed before the monomolecular film formation step. Still, since immersion into a solution or heating at the monomolecular film formation step may possibly change the aligning ability, the photo-alignment treatment is preferably performed after formation of the monomolecular film. Especially in the case of providing alignment through photo-isomerization reaction, the photo-alignment treatment is preferably performed after formation of the monomolecular film. (3-4. Liquid Crystal Display Device Formation Step) A sealant (sealing agent) was applied to one of the substrates, beads were scattered on the other one of the substrates, and the substrates were attached to each other in such a manner that the alignment directions would form an angle of 90°. The sealant is not particularly limited, and ultraviolet curable resin, thermosetting resin, and the like can be used. Liquid crystals having negative dielectric constant anisotropy were injected between the substrates, and a polarizer was disposed on the surface of each of the supporting substrates 261 and 281 on the opposite side of the liquid crystal layer 270 , and thereby the RTN-mode liquid crystal display device 250 including vertical alignment films was produced. As illustrated in FIG. 7( a ) , the liquid crystal display device of the present embodiment may be formed through exposure of the alignment films and attachment of the substrates such that the photo-irradiation directions for the top and bottom substrates 12 in a plan view of the substrates are substantially parallel to each other and point opposite directions (i.e., they are antiparallel). Here, the pretilt angles of the liquid crystal molecules in the vicinity of the photo-alignment films disposed on the respective top and bottom substrates 12 may be substantially the same, and a liquid crystal material containing no chiral material may be injected into the liquid crystal layer. In this case, liquid crystal molecules 11 near the interface between the top and bottom substrates 12 and the liquid crystal layer under no voltage application between the top and bottom substrates 12 are in a homogeneous structure (homogeneous alignment) with a pretilt angle of about 88.5°. Also, the average liquid crystal director direction 17 under AC voltage application appears to be along a line along the photo-irradiation directions for the top and bottom substrates 12 in a plan view of the substrates, as illustrated in FIG. 7( a ) . As illustrated in FIG. 7( b ) , the absorption directions 15 and 16 of the polarizer on the top substrate side (upper polarizer) and the polarizer on the bottom substrate side (lower polarizer) are 45° off from the photo-alignment treatment directions of the top and bottom substrates in a plan view of the substrates. In the case of performing such an alignment treatment for the alignment film and arranging the polarizers, the liquid crystal display device of the present embodiment is in a vertical alignment electrically controlled birefringence (VAECB) mode in which the photo-alignment treatment directions are antiparallel to each other between the top and bottom substrates and the liquid crystal molecules are vertically aligned. The solid line arrow in FIG. 7( a ) indicates the photo-irradiation direction (photo-alignment treatment direction) for the bottom substrate, and the dashed line arrow indicates the photo-irradiation direction (photo-alignment treatment direction) for the top substrate. As illustrated in FIG. 10( a ) , the liquid crystal display device of the present embodiment may be in a so-called 4D-RTN mode in which each pixel is divided into four portions for alignment. In the exposure step for forming four domains in the liquid crystal display device of the present embodiment, exposure is performed using a photomask 13 that has light-shielding portions 14 each having a size of the half of one pixel (or one sub-pixel) so that halves of regions each corresponding to the half of one pixel (or one sub-pixel) are exposed in one direction (in FIG. 9 , from the side drawn in the figure to the depth), and the other halves of the regions are shielded from light by the light-shielding portions 14 . Next, as illustrated in FIG. 9 , the photomask 13 is shifted by a distance equal to about a half of a pixel (sub-pixel) pitch so that the exposed regions are shielded by the light-shielding portions 14 and the regions which have not been exposed (the unexposed regions in the step described using FIG. 8 ) are exposed in the reverse direction (in FIG. 9 , from the depth to the side drawn in the figure). Thereby, the regions, giving the pretilt angles for liquid crystals in the opposite directions from each other, are formed in a stripe arrangement in such a manner that each pixel (sub-pixel) is divided into two regions in the liquid crystal display device. In this way, each pixel (or each sub-pixel) is provided with a multi-domain alignment to halve each pixel (or each sub-pixel) in the substrates at equal pitches. Then, the top and bottom substrates 12 are arranged (attached) such that the alignment division directions (photo-alignment treatment directions) for the top and bottom substrates 12 are perpendicular to each other in a plan view of the substrates. Also, a liquid crystal material containing no chiral material is injected into the liquid crystal layer. Thereby, the four-domain alignment illustrated in FIG. 10( a ) can be provided in which the alignment directions of the liquid crystal molecules are different from (specifically, substantially perpendicular to) each other in the four regions (i to iv in FIG. 10( a ) ) near the center of the liquid crystal layer in the thickness direction. That is, as illustrated in FIG. 10( a ) , the average liquid crystal director direction 17 under AC voltage application appears to be along a line that halves an angle formed by the photo-irradiation directions for the respective top and bottom substrates 12 in each domain in a plan view of the substrates. FIG. 10( b ) illustrates that the photo-alignment treatment direction (in FIG. 10( a ) , dashed line arrows) for the top substrate (color filter substrate) is the same as the absorption axis direction 16 of the polarizer arranged on the top substrate side, and the photo-alignment treatment direction (in FIG. 10( a ) , solid line arrows) for the bottom substrate (driving element substrate) is the same as the absorption axis direction 15 of the polarizer arranged on the bottom substrate side, in a plan view of the substrates. On the boundaries between domains, the alignment direction of the liquid crystal molecules on one of the substrates is the same as the absorption axis direction of the polarizer, and the alignment direction of the liquid crystal molecules on the other of the substrates is almost perpendicular to the substrates. Therefore, the boundaries between the domains do not transmit light even under voltage application between the substrates in the case that the polarizers are arranged in crossed Nicols, and thus the boundaries appear to be dark lines. As described above, in the case that four domains in each of which alignment directions of liquid crystal molecules are different from (substantially perpendicular to) each other are formed, excellent viewing angle characteristics, i.e., a wide viewing angle, can be achieved. The layout of the domains in the liquid crystal display device of the present embodiment is not limited to the four-division pattern illustrated in FIG. 10( a ) , and may be the pattern illustrated in FIG. 11( a ) . In a method for forming such a pattern, the alignment in each pixel (or each sub-pixel) is divided in such a manner so as to halve each pixel (or each sub-pixel) in the substrates at equal pitches as illustrated in FIG. 11( a ) . The substrates are arranged (attached) in such a manner that the directions of the divided alignment (photo-alignment treatment directions) of the top and bottom substrates 12 are perpendicular to each other, and that the substrate (color filter substrate) is shifted at about ¼ pitch in the dashed line arrow direction in FIG. 11( a ) . Thereby, the four-domain alignment illustrated in FIG. 11( a ) can be provided in which the alignment directions of the liquid crystal molecules are different from (specifically, substantially perpendicular to) each other in the four regions (i to iv in FIG. 11( a ) ) near the center of the liquid crystal layer in the thickness direction. That is, as illustrated in FIG. 11( a ) , the average liquid crystal director direction 17 under AC voltage application appears to be along a line that halves an angle formed by the photo-irradiation directions for the respective top and bottom substrates 12 in each domain in a plan view of the substrates. FIG. 11( b ) illustrates that the photo-alignment treatment direction (in FIG. 11( a ) , dashed line arrows) for the top substrate (color filter substrate) is the same as the absorption axis direction 16 of the polarizer arranged on the top substrate side, and the photo-alignment treatment direction (in FIG. 11( a ) , solid line arrows) for the bottom substrate (driving element substrate) is the same as the absorption axis direction 15 of the polarizer arranged on the bottom substrate side, in a plan view of the substrates in the present embodiment. Under no voltage application between the top and bottom substrates, the liquid crystal molecules are aligned in a direction substantially perpendicular to the top and bottom substrates by the alignment force of the alignment films. In contrast, application of voltage not lower than a threshold value between the top and bottom substrates twists the liquid crystal molecules 11 about 90° between the top and bottom substrate, and thus four different alignment states exist in the respective four domains, as illustrated in FIG. 11( c ) . Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described in more detail based on examples and comparative examples. EXAMPLES 16 to 20 In the same manner as in the fourth embodiment, RTN-mode liquid crystal display devices of Examples 16 to 20 were produced which included monomolecular films formed using chlorosilane-based surfactants having different linear alkyl chain lengths. Specifically, in Example 16, a monomolecular film was formed using a chlorosilane-based surfactant with n in the above chemical formula=3. Similarly, monomolecular films were formed using chlorosilane-based surfactants with n=5 in Example 17, n=7 in Example 18, n=9 in Example 19, and n=11 in Example 20. The pretilt angle, VHR, and residual DC voltage of each of the liquid crystal display devices were measured. The obtained results are shown in Table 4. COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 3 No chlorosilane-based surfactant was used. That is, an RTN-mode liquid crystal display device of Comparative Example 3 was produced in the same manner as in Example 16, except that monomolecular films were not formed and the residual carboxyl groups in the alignment film were not treated. The pretilt angle, VHR, and residual DC voltage of the obtained liquid crystal display devices were measured. The obtained results are shown in Table 4. TABLE 4 Compar- Exam- Exam- Exam- Exam- Exam- ative ple 16 ple 17 ple 18 ple 19 ple 20 Example 3 Alkyl chain 4 6 8 10 12 N/A length (n) (3) (5) (7)  (9) (11) Pretilt  87.5  87.5  88.0   88.0   89.5 87.5 angle (°) VHR (%)  99.5  99.5  99.5   99.5   99.5 99.5 Residual DC 100  100  100  100  100  350 voltage (mV) Table 4 shows that the VHR in each of Examples 16 to 20 and Comparative Example 3 was 99.5%, which means that no difference was seen between the examples and comparative examples. In contrast, the residual DC voltage in Comparative Example 3 was 350 mV, whereas the residual DC voltage in each of Examples 16 to 20 was as low as 100 mV. Similarly to the above other examples, the residual DC voltage could be made low while a high VHR was maintained in Examples 16 to 20. Also, a longer linear alkyl chain led to a pretilt angle closer to 90° in Examples 16 to 20 and Comparative Example 3. In this way, introduction of the step of treating the alignment film surface with a chlorosilane-based surfactant enabled to achieve a high VHR and low residual DC voltage. This is probably because the carboxyl groups remaining in the polyimide-based alignment film were treated, and thereby the residual DC voltage was reduced while a high VHR was obtained. Further, in the RTN mode using a photo-reactive alignment film, a longer alkyl chain leads to a pretilt angle closer to 90°. The alkyl chain in the chlorosilane-based surfactant contributes to vertical alignment of the liquid crystals, and a longer chain length is considered to result in higher vertical-alignment ability. Hence, the pretilt angle can be adjusted by adjusting the alkyl chain length. Fifth Embodiment Monomolecular films were formed using a chlorosilane-based surfactant represented by the chemical formula Cl 3 Si—(CH 2 ) n —CF 3 was used instead of a chlorosilane-based surfactant represented by the chemical formula Cl 3 Si—(CH 2 ) n —CH 3 in the fourth embodiment. Except for that, an RTN-mode liquid crystal display device was produced in the same manner as in the fourth embodiment. Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described in more detail based on examples and comparative examples. EXAMPLES 21 to 25 In the same manner as in the fifth embodiment, RTN-mode liquid crystal display devices were produced which included monomolecular films formed using chlorosilane-based surfactants having different linear alkyl chain lengths. Specifically, in Example 21, a monomolecular film was formed using a chlorosilane-based surfactant with n in the above chemical formula=3. Similarly, monomolecular films were formed using chlorosilane-based surfactants with n=5 in Example 22, n=7 in Example 23, n=9 in Example 24, and n=11 in Example 25. The pretilt angle, VHR, and residual DC voltage of the obtained liquid crystal display devices were measured in the same manner as in Examples 16 to 20. The obtained results are shown in Table 5 together with the results of Comparative Example 3. TABLE 5 Compar- Exam- Exam- Exam- Exam- Exam- ative ple 21 ple 22 ple 23 ple 24 ple 25 Example 3 Alkyl chain 4 6 8 10 12 N/A length (n) (3) (5) (7)  (9) (11) Pretilt  88.0  89.0  89.5   89.7   89.7 87.5 angle (°) VHR (%)  99.5  99.5  99.5   99.5   99.5 99.5 Residual DC 100  80  50  50 50 350 voltage (mV) Table 5 shows that, similarly to Examples 16 to 20, the residual DC voltage in each of Examples 21 to 25 is lower than that in Comparative Example 3 in which no chlorosilane-based surfactant was used, and thus the residual DC voltage was made low while a high VHR was maintained. The pretilt angle in each of Examples 21 to 25 using a chlorosilane-based surfactant represented by a chemical formula Cl 3 Si—(CH 2 ) n —CF 3 was closer to 90° than the pretilt angles in Examples 16 to 20 using a chlorosilane-based surfactant represented by a chemical formula Cl 3 Si—(CH 2 ) n —CH 3 . In this way, introduction of a fluorine atom in an alkyl chain in the chlorosilane-based surfactant enables to bring the pretilt angle closer to 90 degrees with a shorter alkyl chain length than in Examples 16 to 20 in which no fluorine atom was introduced. Further, fluorine atom introduction contributes to a larger effect of reducing the residual DC voltage. These results show that fluorine atom introduction into an alkyl chain in a silane-based surfactant makes it possible to effectively control the pretilt angle under low residual DC voltage. Also, the results of Examples 21 to 25 show that, in terms of further reducing the residual DC voltage, n is preferably an integer of 5 to 11, and more preferably an integer of 7 to 11, in the present embodiment. Sixth Embodiment The present embodiment will be described based on a liquid crystal display device that employs a lateral electric field system and is in an IPS mode using horizontal alignment films. FIG. 12 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal display device of the present embodiment. In FIG. 12 , a liquid crystal display device 300 is provided with a TFT array substrate 310 , a counter substrate 330 disposed to face the TFT array substrate 310 , and a liquid crystal layer 320 disposed between the TFT array substrate 310 and the counter substrate 330 . The TFT array substrate 310 has, on the liquid crystal layer 320 -side main surface of a glass substrate (supporting substrate 311 ), multiple gate signal lines parallel to each other, multiple source signal lines perpendicular to the gate signal lines and extending in parallel to each other, and thin film transistors (TFTs) disposed at each crossing portion of a gate signal line and a source signal line, although these components are not illustrated. The TFT array substrate 310 has comb-like electrodes (pixel electrodes 340 , common electrodes 350 ) for applying lateral electric field to the liquid crystal molecules, and the counter substrate 330 does not have an electrode thereon. The liquid crystal layer 320 is formed from nematic liquid crystals showing negative dielectric constant anisotropy. Horizontal alignment films 312 and 332 are formed on the respective liquid crystal layer 320 -side surfaces of the TFT array substrate 310 and the counter substrate 330 which have the above structures. Furthermore, on the alignment films 312 and 332 , the monomolecular films 313 and 333 are respectively formed thereon. The liquid crystal display device 300 having the above structure was produced as described below, for example. First, the substrates 310 and 330 before alignment film formation were produced by a conventionally known method. Then, the following steps are performed. (4-1. Alignment Film Formation Step) A liquid crystal alignment agent containing a polyimide produced by imidizing a polyamic acid represented by the above formula (6) was applied to the liquid crystal layer 320 -side main surface of each of the TFT array substrate 310 and the counter substrate 330 . The polyimide is dissolvable in the state of polyamic acid. The polyimide is imidized by a conventionally known method (e.g., a heating method, a chemical method using a catalyst), and the imidization ratio was adjusted to 50 to 80%. Thereafter, prebaking and postbaking were performed, and thereby horizontal alignment films 312 and 332 for IPS mode were formed. (4-2. Monomolecular Film Formation Step) A chlorosilane-based surfactant represented by a chemical formula Cl 3 Si—(CH 2 ) n —NH 2 was dissolved in a solvent containing at least one of water and ethanol, so that a solution was prepared. The solution was heated to 60° C., and the TFT array substrate 310 and the counter substrate 330 were immersed in the solution for 1 hour. Thereby, the monomolecular films 313 and 333 were formed on the alignment films 312 and 332 . At this time, the residual carboxyl groups derived from polyamic acid in the alignment films 312 and 332 are bonded to the chlorosilane groups of the chlorosilane-based surfactant by a covalent bond through dehydrochlorination reaction. Thereby, the residual carboxylic acid concentration can be decreased. Therefore, eliminating the residual carboxyl groups while maintaining the imidization ratio at a certain level to avoid an increase in the residual DC voltage enables to achieve a high VHR. In the monomolecular film formation step, heating the solution makes it possible to promote the reaction between the residual carboxyl groups in the alignment films 312 and 332 and the chlorosilane-based surfactant. Instead of immersing the substrates 310 and 330 in the solution, the solution may be applied to the substrates 310 and 330 . Thereafter, the substrates 310 and 330 were washed using a solvent containing at least one of water and ethanol. A chlorosilane-based surfactant including a chlorosilane-based surfactant represented by a chemical formula Cl 3 Si—(CH 2 ) n —NH 2 is easily dissolved in a solvent such as water and ethanol. Hence, components of the chlorosilane-based surfactant which have not reacted with the residual carboxyl groups in the monomolecular film formation step can be easily removed by washing with a solvent. Thereby, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the qualities of the liquid crystal display device because of unreacted components of the chlorosilane-based surfactant remaining unreacted. (4-3. Liquid Crystal Display Device Formation Step) Subsequently, rubbing treatment was performed on the substrates 310 and 330 . A sealant (sealing agent) was applied to one of the substrates, beads were scattered on the other one of the substrates, and the substrates were attached to each other in such a manner that the rubbing directions for the respective substrates would be substantially parallel to each other and point opposite directions (i.e., they are antiparallel) in a plan view of the substrates. The sealant is not particularly limited, and ultraviolet curable resin, heat-curable resin, and the like can be used. Liquid crystals having negative dielectric constant anisotropy were injected between the substrates, and a polarizer was disposed on the surface of each of the supporting substrates 311 and 331 on the opposite side of the liquid crystal layer 320 , and thereby the IPS-mode liquid crystal display device 300 including horizontal alignment films was produced. Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described in more detail based on examples and comparative examples. EXAMPLES 26 to 30 In the same manner as in the sixth embodiment, IPS-mode liquid crystal display devices of Examples 26 to 30 were produced which included monomolecular films formed using chlorosilane-based surfactants having different linear alkyl chain lengths. Specifically, in Example 26, a monomolecular film was formed using a chlorosilane-based surfactant with n in the above chemical formula=3. Similarly, monomolecular films were formed using chlorosilane-based surfactants with n=5 in Example 27, n=7 in Example 28, n=9 in Example 29, and n=11 in Example 30. The pretilt angle, VHR, and residual DC voltage of each of the obtained liquid crystal display devices were measured. The obtained results are shown in Table 6. COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 4 No chlorosilane-based surfactant was used. That is, an IPS-mode liquid crystal display device of Comparative Example 4 was produced in the same manner as in Example 26, except that monomolecular films were not formed and the residual carboxyl groups in the alignment film were not treated. The pretilt angle, VHR, and residual DC voltage of the obtained liquid crystal display devices were measured. The obtained results are shown in Table 6. TABLE 6 Compar- Exam- Exam- Exam- Exam- Exam- ative ple 26 ple 27 ple 28 ple 29 ple 30 Example 4 Alkyl chain 3 5 7 9 11 N/A length (n) (3) (5) (7) (9) (11) Pretilt   0.5   0.5   1.0   1.0   1.0 0.5 angle (°) VHR (%)  98.0  98.5  98.5  98.5   98.5 98.0 Residual DC 150  100  100  70  50 200 voltage (mV) Table 6 shows that, similarly to the above other examples, both the VHR and residual DC voltage in each of Examples 26 to 30 were better than those in Comparative Example 4 using no chlorosilane-based surfactant, and the residual DC voltage was made low while a high VHR was maintained. Particularly, a longer linear chain structure was observed to lead to a lower value of the residual DC voltage. Here, a longer linear chain structure was observed to hardly affect the pretilt angle. In this way, introduction of the step of treating the alignment film surface with a chlorosilane-based surfactant enabled to achieve a high VHR and low residual DC voltage. This is probably because the carboxyl groups remaining in the polyimide-based alignment film were treated, and thereby the residual DC voltage was reduced while a high VHR was obtained. Also, the increase in the pretilt angle was small even with a longer alkyl chain. This is probably because an amino group was introduced to a terminal. Also, the results of Examples 26 to 30 show that, in terms of further lowering the residual DC voltage, n is preferably an integer of 5 to 11, and more preferably an integer of 9 to 11, in the present embodiment. Seventh Embodiment The present embodiment will be described based on an example of a TBA-mode liquid crystal display device that employs a lateral electric field system and have vertical alignment films. FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the liquid crystal display device of the present embodiment. In FIG. 13 , a liquid crystal display device 400 is provided with a TFT array substrate 410 , a counter substrate 430 disposed to face the TFT array substrate 410 , and a liquid crystal layer 420 disposed between the TFT array substrate 410 and the counter substrate 430 . The TFT array substrate 410 has, on the liquid crystal layer 420 -side main surface of a glass substrate (supporting substrate 411 ), multiple gate signal lines parallel to each other, multiple source signal lines perpendicular to the gate signal lines and extending in parallel to each other, and thin film transistors (TFTs) disposed at each crossing portion of a gate signal line and a source signal line, although these components are not illustrated. The TFT array substrate 410 has comb-like electrodes (pixel electrodes 440 , common electrodes 450 ) for applying lateral electric field to the liquid crystal molecules, and the counter substrate 430 does not have an electrode thereon. The liquid crystal layer 420 is formed from nematic liquid crystals showing positive dielectric constant anisotropy. Vertical alignment films 412 and 432 are formed on the respective liquid crystal layer 420 -side surfaces of the TFT array substrate 410 and the counter substrate 430 which have the above structures. Furthermore, on the alignment films 412 and 432 , the monomolecular films 413 and 433 are respectively formed thereon. The liquid crystal display device 400 having the above structure was produced as described below, for example. First, the substrates 410 and 430 before alignment film formation were produced by a conventionally known method. Then, the following steps are performed. (5-1. Alignment Film Formation Step) To the liquid crystal layer 420 -side main surface of each of the TFT array substrate 410 and the counter substrate 430 , a liquid crystal alignment agent was applied which contained a polyimide produced by polymerizing (copolymerizing), by a conventionally known method, at least one of an acid anhydride represented by the above chemical formulas (7) to (13) and at least one of diamine monomers containing vertically aligning functional groups represented by the above chemical formulas (14) to (20). The polyimide is imidized by a conventionally known method (e.g., a heating method, a chemical method using a catalyst), and the imidization ratio was adjusted to 20 to 50%. Thereafter, prebaking and postbaking were performed, and thereby vertical alignment films 412 and 432 were formed. (5-2. Monomolecular Film Formation Step) A chlorosilane-based surfactant represented by a chemical formula Cl 3 Si—(CH 2 ) n —CH 3 was dissolved in a solvent containing at least one of water and ethanol, so that a solution was prepared. The solution was heated to 60° C., and the TFT array substrate 410 and the counter substrate 430 were immersed in the solution for 1 hour. Thereby, the monomolecular films 413 and 433 were formed on the alignment films 412 and 432 . At this time, as illustrated in FIG. 2 , the residual carboxyl groups derived from polyamic acid in the alignment films 412 and 432 are bonded to the chlorosilane groups of the chlorosilane-based surfactant by a covalent bond through dehydrochlorination reaction. Thereby, the residual carboxylic acid concentration can be decreased. Therefore, eliminating the residual carboxyl groups while maintaining the imidization ratio at a certain level to avoid an increase in the residual DC voltage enables to achieve a high VHR. In the monomolecular film formation step, heating the solution makes it possible to promote the reaction between the residual carboxyl groups in the alignment films 412 and 432 and the chlorosilane-based surfactant. Instead of immersing the substrates 410 and 430 in the solution, the solution may be applied to the substrates 410 and 430 . Thereafter, the substrates 410 and 430 were washed using a solvent containing at least one of water and ethanol. A chlorosilane-based surfactant containing a linear alkyl group represented by the above formula (2), including a chlorosilane-based surfactant represented by a chemical formula Cl 3 Si—(CH 2 ) n —CH 3 , is easily dissolved in a solvent such as water and ethanol. Hence, components of the chlorosilane-based surfactant which have not reacted with the residual carboxyl groups in the monomolecular film formation step can be easily removed by washing with a solvent. Thereby, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the qualities of the liquid crystal display device because of the unreacted components of the chlorosilane-based surfactant. (5-3. Liquid Crystal Display Device Formation Step) A sealant (sealing agent) was applied to one of the substrates, beads were scattered on the other of the substrates, and the substrates were attached to each other. The sealant is not particularly limited, and ultraviolet curable resin, thermosetting resin, and the like can be used. Liquid crystals having positive dielectric constant anisotropy were injected between the substrates, and a polarizer was disposed on the surface of each of the supporting substrates 411 and 431 on the opposite side of the liquid crystal layer 420 , and thereby the TBA-mode liquid crystal display device 400 including vertical alignment films was produced. Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described in more detail based on examples and comparative examples. EXAMPLES 31 to 35 In the same manner as in the seventh embodiment, TBA-mode liquid crystal display devices of Examples 31 to 35 were produced which included monomolecular films formed using chlorosilane-based surfactants having different linear alkyl chain lengths. Specifically, in Example 31, a monomolecular film was formed using a chlorosilane-based surfactant with n in the above chemical formula=3. Similarly, monomolecular films were formed using chlorosilane-based surfactants with n=5 in Example 32, n=7 in Example 33, n=9 in Example 34, and n=11 in Example 35. The pretilt angle, VHR, and residual DC voltage of the obtained liquid crystal display devices were measured. The obtained results are shown in Table 7. COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 5 No chlorosilane-based surfactant was used. That is, a TBA-mode liquid crystal display device of Comparative Example 5 was produced in the same manner as in Example 31, except that monomolecular films were not formed and the residual carboxyl groups in the alignment film were not treated. The pretilt angle, VHR, and residual DC voltage of the obtained liquid crystal display devices were measured. The obtained results are shown in Table 7. TABLE 7 Compar- Exam- Exam- Exam- Exam- Exam- ative ple 31 ple 32 ple 33 ple 34 ple 35 Example 5 Alkyl chain 4 6 8 10 12 N/A length (n) (3) (5) (7)  (9) (11) Pretilt 90  90  90  90 90 90 angle (°) VHR (%)  98.5  98.5  98.5   98.5   98.5 98.0 Residual DC 150  150  150  150  150  300 voltage (mV) Table 7 shows that, similarly to the above other examples, the VHR and residual DC voltage in each of Examples 31 to 35 were better than those in Comparative Example 5 using no chlorosilane-based surfactant, and the residual DC voltage was made low while a high VHR was maintained. The pretilt angle in each of Examples 31 to 35 and Comparative Example 5 was 90°. That is, the linear alkyl chain in the chlorosilane-based surfactant did not affect the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules in the present embodiment in which the liquid crystal molecules were vertically aligned. In this way, introduction of the step of treating the alignment film surface with a chlorosilane-based surfactant enabled to achieve a high VHR and low residual DC voltage. This is probably because the carboxyl groups remaining in the polyimide-based alignment film were treated, and thereby the residual DC voltage was reduced while a high VHR was obtained. Also, since vertical alignment films were used, the linear alkyl chain did not affect the aligning ability. The present application claims priority to Patent Application No. 2010-066894 filed in Japan on Mar. 23, 2010 under the Paris Convention and provisions of national law in a designated State, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. EXPLANATION OF SYMBOLS 11 : Liquid crystal molecule 10 , 12 : Substrate (top and bottom substrates) 13 : Photomask 14 : Light shielding portion 15 : Absorption axis direction of polarizer arranged on bottom substrate side 16 : Absorption axis direction of polarizer arranged on top substrate side 17 : Average director direction under AC voltage application 100 , 200 , 250 , 300 , 400 : Liquid crystal display device 110 , 210 , 260 , 310 , 410 : TFT array substrate 111 , 131 , 211 , 231 , 261 , 281 , 311 , 331 , 411 , 431 : Supporting substrate 20 , 112 , 132 , 212 , 232 , 262 , 282 , 312 , 332 , 412 , 432 : Alignment film 113 , 133 , 213 , 233 , 263 , 283 , 313 , 333 , 413 , 433 : Monomolecular film 115 , 215 , 265 , 340 , 440 : Pixel electrode 120 , 220 , 270 , 320 , 420 : Liquid crystal layer 130 , 230 , 280 , 330 , 430 : Counter substrate 135 , 235 , 285 , 350 , 450 : Counter electrode (common electrode) 214 : Slit 234 : Projection
The present invention provides a liquid crystal display device that can prevent a decrease in the VHR and image sticking on the display screen because of residual DC voltage, and also can produce favorable alignment conditions; and a production method thereof. The liquid crystal display device of the present invention includes: a pair of substrates; a liquid crystal layer that contains liquid crystal molecules and is disposed between the pair of substrates; and an alignment film that is disposed on a liquid crystal layer side of at least one of the pair of substrates, the alignment film containing a polyamic acid or a polyimide with an imidization ratio of less than 100%, the liquid crystal display device including a monomolecular film on the alignment film.
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RIGHTS OF THE GOVERNMENT The invention described herein may be manufactured, used, and licensed by or for United States Governmental purposes without payment to us of any royalty thereon. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of Invention The present invention relates to a stabilization band and or a ring assembly for aligning a projectile in a gun tube. More specifically, the invention relates to a double ramped, saboted, kinetic energy projectile assembly which constitutes an improvement for modern sabot designs which automatically align an assembly in the gun tube and a method related thereto. 2. Description of the Prior Art One of the most efficient sabot assembly presently used to launch a kinetic energy projectile from a high performance gun is one constructed using the double ramp principle. An example is U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,220 to Bruce P. Burns, et al. which discloses a double-ramp sabot having a rear ramp 17, a central bulkhead 22 with an obturator 26, and a forward ramp 19 with a forward scoop 18. Other examples are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,284,008 and 4,372,217 to Richard D. Kirkendall, et al. which disclose a sabot having a double configuration and a centrally positioned obturator. Typical assemblages include a shell casing, propellant/ignition system, and a projectile. The shell casing may be fixed to or be separate from the projectile. The projectile either as a discrete element or as part of an assembly with the shell casing is normally inserted into the gun barrel through a rear opening mechanism or breech. The breech is closed, the propellant charge ignited and the projectile is propelled via the expansion of combustive products through the gun barrel until it exits the barrel at its muzzle. In order to insert or chamber the projectile there must inherently be clearances between the projectile and the gun barrel. A stabilizating band device on the projectile commonly know as an obturator provides a mechanism to maintain the combustive gases at or behind the projectile by providing a seal between the projectile and the wall of the gun barrel. Other than this sealing mechanism there is no continuous radial connection or contact between the projectile and the gun barrel. In a double ramp sabot the front bore-rider fulfills two functions. Firstly, after the projectile's exit from the gun barrel, the front bore-rider aids in sabot discard. Secondly, and more importantly, in regard to the present invention the front bore-rider provides support to the projectile assembly while it is in the bore. The bore rider's surface which makes contact with the gun wall may be an integral part of the sabot or an insert. The contacting surface is commonly cylindrically shaped and of a lesser diameter than that of the inner most surface of the gun barrel. This feature allows the projectile assembly to be inserted into the gun and reduces any pressurization within the saddle region of the sabot if there is leakage around the obturator. However, the clearance necessary for the operation of this type of bore-rider has negative effects. The clearances allow the projectile assembly to be positioned in the gun tube noncencentrically and noncolinearly with respect to the center line axis of the gun barrel. The actual position of the projectile with respect to the gun tube depends upon many factors and accumulated tolerances, gun tube wear, erosion, thermal expansion, and manufacturing quality. The initial position and possible misalignment tends to affect the accuracy of the projectile's impact with a target. 3. Advantages over the Prior Art The present invention prevents the projectile from being initially positioned out of alignment relative to the gun tube's center line. It also has the ability to prevent the projectile from becoming cocked, or misaligned, as it travels down the gun tube's length. Finally, the present invention allows propulsion gases, which may escape past the obturator, to move forward of the projectile assembly. OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a primary object of the present invention to provide an assembly having a stabilization band and or a ring assembly for aligning the assembly colinearly and concentrically in a gun tube and a method related thereto. It is another object of the invention to provide an improved assembly for existing double ramped, saboted, kinetic energy projectile apparatus which assembly will automatically align the projectile in the gun tube and a method related thereto. It is an additional object of the invention to provide double ramped, saboted, kinetic projectile energy assembly having a stabilization band assembly for automatically aligning the projectile during its traversal of the gun tube and a method related thereto. In summary, an assembly for use with double ramped, saboted, kinetic energy projectile apparatus aligns the projectile in the gun tube and a method related thereto. The assembly has a stabilization band and or ring for automatically aligning the projectile. The assembly is applicable to both smooth bore and rifled bore gun weapon systems. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The foregoing and other objectives, aspects, uses and advantages of the present invention will be more fully appreciated as the same becomes better understood when considered in connection with the following accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 shows an exploded cross sectional side view of a gun tubular muzzle, breech, and cartridge assembly having a shell casing, propellant, and projectile. FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the muzzle having a rifled bore gun barrel. FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the muzzle having a smooth bore gun barrel. FIG. 4 shows a cross sectional side view of a sabot, a sub- projectile, and an obturator assembly with the gun barrel in an initial or chambered position. FIG. 5 shows a cross sectional side view of the projectile with its forward end positioned above the centerline axis of the gun barrel. FIG. 6 shows a cross sectional side view of the projectile with its forward end positioned below the centerline axis of the gun barrel. FIG. 7 shows a cross sectional side view of ellipsoidal shaped protrusions on front bore-rider of the assembly. FIGS. 8 and 9 show enlarged views of the ellipsoidal shaped protrusions. FIGS. 10 and 11 show enlarged views of protrusions having a wedge configuration. FIGS. 12 and 13 show enlarged views of protrusions having a triangular configuration. FIGS. 14 and 15 show enlarged views of protrusions having a pyramidal configuration. FIGS. 16, 17 and 18 show enlarged views of protrusions having an interlocking wedge configuration. FIG. 19 shows a perspective view of a split centering ring in its initial position on the front bore-rider. FIG. 20 shows another view of the split centering ring in its final position. FIG. 21 shows a perspective view of a dovetail connection for the ring. FIG. 22 shows a perspective view of another connection for the ring. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, like reference numerals represent identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views. FIG. 1 discloses a shell casing 10 and a propellant charge 12 inserted in a gun tube 14. A breech 16 has a rear closure for the gun tube 14 through which a projectile assembly 18 will pass exiting from gun muzzle 20. The gun tube 14 may have a rifled bore 22 or a smooth bore 24 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The rifled bore 22 has a series of spiraling grooves and lands which force the projectile 18 to rotate as it traverses the gun tube 14. FIG. 4 shows the projectile assembly 18 and its components in the gun tube 14. A sub-projectile 26 which is contained by a double ramped sabot 28 comprises a front ramp section or air scoop 30, a front bore-rider portion 32, an intermediate saddle section 34, a rear bore-rider portion 36, and a rear ramp section 38. A rotating band member or an obturator 40 is mounted on the rear bore-rider 36. The obturator 40 provides a seal between the sabot 28 and the gun tube 14 and allows the combustive products of the propellant charge 12 to propel the projectile 18 in a straight aligned path within the gun tube 14. The obturator 40 provides a slidable contact with the projectile 18 within the gun tube 14 and controls the path and rotation of the projectile 18 via its engagement of either the rifled bore 22 or the smooth bore 24. The front bore-rider portion 32 may be an integral extended part of the front ramp section 30 and can be manufactured from a single material or from several materials. The front bore-rider 32 has radial clearance 42 with the gun tube 14. The clearance 42 allows the projectile 18 to be inserted into the gun tube 14. However, the radial clearance 42 may be nonconcentric with the gun bore 22 or 24, permitting the projectile 18 to be noncolinear and nonconcentric with the gun tube 14 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 where the clearance area or spacing between the front bore-rider 32 and the bore 22 or 24 is an additional or nonconcentric clearance 44. As a general rule the front bore-rider 32 has more clearance spacing within the gun tube 14 than the rear bore-rider 36. In FIG. 5 the sabot 28 is seen in a tilt up position with respect to the obturator 40. That is, the projectile 18 with its noncolinear, nonconcentric position is chambered with its forward end positioned above the centerline axis of the gun tube 14. In FIG. 6 the sabot 28 is seen in a tilt down position with respect to the obturator 40. That is, the projectile 18 with its noncolinear, nonconcentric position is chambered with its forward end position below the centerline axis of the gun tube 14. Thus, the additional clearance 44 can allow the sub-projectile 26 to seat slightly out of alignment. The clearance spacing 44 can be taken up or filled by incorporating a plurality of upwardly projecting protuberances or protrusion members mounted in circumferential manner on the front bore-rider 32. In FIGS. 7 to 9 protrusion members 46 are shaped as bubbles or ellipsoidal. The protrusions 46 assist the projectile 20 to seat in a more satisfactory operational position in the gun tube 14 and maintain interface contact between the front bore-rider 36 and the gun bore 22 or 24. The protrusions 46 are spaced apart from each other and are supported along the circumferential edge of the sabot 18. The protrusions 46 provide pathways for any combustive products of the propellant charge 12 which may have leaked pass the obturator 40 to pass by the front bore-rider 36 thereby preventing pressurization of the saddle region 34. The protrusions 46 can be made from a number of materials; for example, the material of the protrusions 46 may be polypropylene. The protrusions 46 should be sufficiently compliant as to allow the insertion of the projectile 18 while maintaining adequate contact forces between the projectile 18 and the gun bore 22 or 24 to permit concentric self alignment of the projectile 18 with the gun tube 14. FIGS. 10 to 18 show additional configurations for the protrusion members. However, the protrusion members are not considered to be limited to any of the particular configurations disclosed herein. FIGS. 10 and 11 disclose wedge shaped members 48; FIGS. 12 and 13, triangular shaped members 50; and FIGS. 14 and 15, pyramidal shaped members 52. In FIGS. 16, 17 and 18 the protrusion members are shown as a set of interlocking wedges elements; that is, a forward (top) wedge element 54a and a rearward (bottom) wedge element 54b. The forward wedge element 54a is fixedly mounted and the rearward wedge 54b is slidably mounted and is allowed to slide upwardly. The wedges 54a, 54b provide the additional advantage of maintaining the alignment of the projectile 18 throughout its travel along the gun tube 14. The shape of the interlocking wedges 54a, 54b constantly forces more material of the forward wedge 54a up the ramp of the rearward wedge 54b to maintain a slidable contact between the projectile 18 and the gun bore 22 or 24 although material of the forward wedge 54a, which is in contact with the gun tube 14, may have been worn away by friction. In lieu of or in addition to the protrusion members of FIGS. 7 to 17, the clearance spacing 44 can be filled, as seen in FIGS. 19 and 20, by a split centering ring member 56 which may be an integral part of the front bore-rider portion 32 or a separate insert thereto. The axisymmetric inclined plane 58 is slidably mounted on the ring 56. As the propellant combustive process is initiated, the projectile 18 begins to accelerate and to move within the bore 22 or 24 of the gun tube 14. The split centering ring 58 is driven to the rear by its own inertia to a final position as seen in FIG. 20, causing it to expand radially against the smooth surface of the bore 24 or the grooves of the rifled bore 22, thereby causing this part of the projectile 18 to be centered. The ring 56 is made of steel which has a hard, relatively dense characteristic which will substantially prevent engraving damage to the gun tube 14 during the frictional movement of the projectile 18. The axisymmetric inclined plane 58 may be constructed of a suitable material such as nylon to optimize projectile vibration and or damping characteristics. In order to ensure axial alignment of one portion of the split ring 56 with other protrusions and to provide some form of circumferential continuity, the parts can be interlocked with appropriately number of shaped mortises, such as dove tail male and female keyway members 60, 62, as shown in FIG. 21. The male keyway 60 interfaces with matching female keyway 62 which allows the split ring 56 to expand radially and to be released from the projectile 18 upon exit from the gun tube 14. Thus, the female keyway 62 serves as a receptor for matching and sliding male keyway 60, shaped so as to preclude unwanted disassembly, yet releaseable during sabot discard. Axially-oriented, similarly interlocking bayonet members 64, 66, as shown in FIG. 22, may be incorporated to retain proper circumferential alignment and allow for axial motion. Obviously numerous modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above disclosure. The protrusions can be located in other regions of the projectile 18 such as the rear bore-rider section 36. This would alter the positioning of the projectile 18 in the gun tube 14 and would modify the interfaces of the projectile 18 with the gun bore 22 or 24 as to affect the vibrational response of the projectile 18 to its propulsion through the gun bore 14. The control of the vibrational response of the projectile 18 through these interface protrusions could be used to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the sub-projectile 26. The split centering ring 56 may be mounted on the rear bore-rider portion 36 in the vicinity of the obturator 40 and would likewise center the mid or rear section of the projectile 18. Thus, it is to understood that the present invention can be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein and still will be within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
A double ramped, saboted, kinetic energy assembly automatically aligns a jectile in a gun tube. The assembly has an acceleration activated device consisting of a split centering ring causing alignment during the early phase of the shot motion of the projectile. The assembly also includes a series of small protrusions or a continuous expandable ring which forces and maintains the projectile into a straight aligned position during its traversal of the gun tube. The assembly may have either a smooth bore or a rifled bore gun tube. The disclosure also include a method related to the assembly.
5
RELATED APPLICATION INFORMATION [0001] This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 120 to U.S. Provisional application Ser. No. 60/515,311 filed Oct. 29, 2003, which is hereby incorporated by reference as if set forth fully herein. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] This invention relates generally to the field of mechanical devices used to perform compression, pumping, motoring, or expansion processes that are typically used in a myriad of different applications, for example, jet engines, refrigeration, air conditioning, etc. More particularly, the invention relates to a variable-volume positive-displacement device for performing compression, pumping, motoring, or expansion processes in any application that may require any one of these processes. [0004] 2. Background of the invention [0005] Various compression, pumping, turbine and hydraulic mechanisms are well known and commonly used in many mechanical applications. To better appreciate the advantages of the variable-volume positive-displacement device in accordance with the invention and to understand its operation in some exemplary applications, some conventional engines and their operations and drawbacks are briefly described. [0006] A piston engine comprises a tube or cylinder that holds a snugly fitting plug. The plug is free to move back and forth within this cylinder, pushed by pressure from hot gases. A rod is mounted to the moving plug and connects to a crankshaft, causing this crankshaft to rotate rapidly. The rod has a tendency to push the plug against the cylinder walls as it moves back and forth except when it is at the top or bottom of the cylinder and is aligned with the central point of the cylinder. Typically, a major disadvantage with this type of engine is that there is always substantial friction affecting the movement of the piston. In an aircraft engine, a propeller sits at the head of this crankshaft, spinning within the air. This type of piston engine powered all airplanes until the advent of later engines such as jet engines. Essentially, in a piston engine, the same volume of space (within the cylinder) alternately performs four different processes, those of intake, compression, combustion, and exhaust. Heat exchange between these processes reduces efficiency. [0007] The Wankel rotary-piston internal-combustion engine has an equilateral triangular orbiting rotor. The rotor turns in a closed chamber and the three apexes of the rotor maintain a continuous sliding contact with the curved inner surface of the casing of the closed chamber. The curve-sided rotor forms three crescent-shaped chambers between its sides and the curved wall of the casing. The volumes of the chambers vary with the motion of the rotor. [0008] In turning about its central axis, the Wankel engine rotor follows a circular orbit about the geometric center of the casing. The necessary orbiting rotation is achieved by means of a central bore in the rotor in which an internal gear is fitted to mesh with a stationary pinion fixed immovably to the center of the casing. The rotor is guided by fitting its central bore to an eccentric formed on the output shaft that passes through the center of the stationary pinion. This eccentric also harnesses the rotor to the shaft so that torque is applied when gas pressure is exerted against the rotor flanks as the fuel and air charges burn. [0009] Maintaining pressure-tight joints by suitable seals at the apexes and on the end faces of the Wankel engine rotor is a major design problem due to very high sliding speeds. Radial sliding vanes are fitted in slots at the three apex edges and kept in contact with the casing by expander springs. The end faces of the rotor are sealed by arc-shaped segmental rings fitted in grooves close to the curved edges of the rotor and pressed against the casing by flat springs. [0010] Engines built for airplanes had to produce plenty of power while remaining light in weight. At first, engines built for planes were similar to automobile engines that were heavy and complex because they used water-filled plumbing to stay cool. A rotary engine was introduced that adopted air cooling as a way to eliminate the plumbing and lighten the weight. The automobile type engines had been mounted firmly in supports, with the shaft and propeller spinning. One vintage rotary engine reversed that, with the shaft being held tightly and the engine spinning. Commonly, the engine is mounted firmly and the shaft turns. The propeller was mounted to the rotating engine, which stayed cool by having its cylinders whirl the open air. Although popular, rotary engines were limited in power, and ultimately lost favor. [0011] After many other improvements along the way, designed to make engines more efficient and powerful, and improvements in fuel, jet engines conquered aviation. Jet engines commonly use the Brayton cycle. According to the principle of the Brayton cycle, air is compressed in a compressor. The air is then mixed with fuel, and burned under constant pressure in the combustor. The resulting hot gas is allowed to expand through a turbine to perform work. Most of the work produced in the turbine is used to run the compressor and the rest is available to run auxiliary equipment and produce power. The gas turbine is used in a wide range of applications. Common uses include stationary power generation plants (electric utilities) and mobile power generation engines (ships and aircrafts). A jet engine powered aircraft is propelled by the reaction of thrust of the exiting gas stream. The turbine provides just enough power to drive the compressor and produce the auxiliary power. The gas stream acquires more energy in the cycle than is needed to drive the compressor. The remaining available energy is used to propel the aircraft forward. While jet engines gave dramatic increases in speed, they showed poor fuel economy. Although fuel economy has improved over the years, it remains a concern. [0012] typically, compressors and expanders used in jet engines must operate at high pressure ratios (at least a 10 to 1 ratio) and very high component efficiency (at least 90% efficiency), to reduce fuel consumption to practical levels. This is typically done with dynamical turbo devices involving high speed fluid flows in multiple small stages, limited by the need to avoid supersonic flows. [0013] Compression techniques are also used in refrigeration, which is another application that is briefly described here. Most common refrigerators have four parts to the refrigeration system, a compressor, condenser, expansion valve, and evaporator. In the evaporator section, a refrigerant (e.g. Freon-12 or Ammonia or other materials developed to replace Freon-12) is vaporized and heat is absorbed through the inside wall of the refrigerator, making it cold inside. An electric motor runs a small piston or rotary-vane or scroll compressor to pressurize the refrigerant, which raises the temperature of the refrigerant. The resulting super-heated, high-pressure gas is then condensed to a liquid in an air-cooled condenser. In most refrigerators, the compressor is on the bottom and the condenser coils are on the rear of the refrigerator. From the condenser, the liquid refrigerant flows through an expansion valve, in which its pressure and temperature reduce the conditions that are maintained in the evaporator. The whole process operates continuously, by transferring heat from the evaporator section (inside the refrigerator) to the condenser section (outside the refrigerator) by pumping the refrigerant continuously through this system. When the desired temperature is reached, the pump stops and so does the heat transfer. Freezers and air conditioners work is a similar way. Accordingly, to the extent the invention is used in jet engines and refrigerators, it may also be used in other applications such as freezers and air conditioners. [0014] Efforts are continuously being made to develop new engines that are more efficient, consume less fuel, and are less expensive to manufacture and operate. Even with respect to other applications such as those discussed above or any others requiring mechanical processes, more efficient methods and mechanisms are continuously sought. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0015] The device in accordance with the present invention is configured to achieve a positive displacement and variable volume during pumping or expansion processes. It can also be configured to minimize the dead volume ratio, making possible a volume as small as 1%. Large flow volumes are accommodated in the device that despite being compact and lightweight, maintains pressure ratios of over 10to 1 in a single stage of operation, with little loss of working fluid by leakage, due to optimum sealing configurations and extremely low seal- sliding speeds. [0016] The device is configured to accommodate a displacer or rotor within a closed chamber with opposing walls formed within a housing. The displacer maintains sliding contact with each of the inner wall surfaces of the chamber as it orbits (rotational movement), engaging each of the inner wall surfaces in sequence. The rotational movement of the displacer causes a series of compartments that surround the displacer on its four sides (in the preferred embodiment) to vary in volume depending upon the position of the displacer. The working fluid is introduced into the chamber via an inlet and discharged via an outlet. [0017] In accordance with one preferred embodiment of the inventive device, the displacer is mounted to a single crankshaft. Alternatively, in accordance with yet another preferred embodiment, the displacer is mounted to two tandem crankshafts. [0018] The inventive device may be used to replace conventional piston pumps, rotary pumps, scroll pumps, screw pumps, roots blowers, gear pumps and wankel displacers for pumping gases and liquids in applications requiring reduced frictional losses, tight sealing, and relatively large displacement in a small volume. With integral valve-operators, the inventive device replaces turbines used for expansion of gases with large pressure ratios. This invention is particularly useful for constructing Brayton cycle engines and refrigerators. The inventive device offers improved operation, functional characteristics, and lower cost of manufacture. [0019] Other advantages of the invention will become apparent and obvious from a study of the following description and the accompanying drawings, which are merely illustrative of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0020] FIG. 1A is a perspective view of one preferred embodiment of the variable-volume positive-displacement device in accordance with the present invention using a single crankshaft; [0021] FIG. 1B is a top lavational view of the embodiment with a single crankshaft, illustrating solid, fixed seals in the housing and compliant-vane-type tip seals on the displacer; including a partial cross sectional view of one of the valve mechanisms; [0022] FIG. 2A is a schematic representation (cross sectional representation of only one) of the displacer or rotor within the housing of the variable-volume positive-displacement device using twin crankshafts instead of one (shown in FIG. 1 ), illustrating the manner in which the displacer is spaced from the inner wall of the housing at the initial stage of engagement when the device is performing a pumping or compression stroke; [0023] FIG. 2B is a cross sectional side view of the displacer or rotor within the housing of the variable-volume positive-displacement device shown in FIG. 2A , illustrating the manner in which the displacer engages the inner wall of the housing at the conclusion of the pumping stroke (when the enclosed volume between the displacer and the inner wall is squeezed to a minimum); [0024] FIG. 2C is a top view of a crankshaft link (to maintain two crankshafts rotating together) used in the twin crankshaft embodiment of the variable-volume positive-displacement device; [0025] FIG. 2D is a top view of the twin crankshafts driven by the displacer in the variable-volume positive-displacement device; [0026] FIG. 2E is a cross sectional side view of the variable-volume positive-displacement device shown FIG. 2D , taken along the line E-E; [0027] FIG. 3A is a cross sectional view of the twin crankshaft embodiment of the variable-volume positive-displacement device (configured as a Brayton cycle engine), illustrated with two chambers and two displacers (one underneath the other as shown in dashed lines); [0028] FIG. 3B is a side cross sectional view of the variable-volume positive-displacement device of FIG. 3A ; [0029] FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of a parallelogram linkage to hold the variable-volume positive-displacement device using a single shaft as illustrated in FIG. 1 in the required position. [0030] FIG. 5A is cross sectional view of the variable-volume, positive-displacement device illustrated with three guide pins; [0031] FIG. 5B is a cross sectional view showing the displacer being mounted to a base end plate; and [0032] FIG. 6 is a schematic view illustrating the method of calculating the dimensions of the variable-volume positive-displacement device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [0033] Referring now to FIGS. 1-6 , some preferred embodiments of a variable-volume positive-displacement device 5 (also referred to as a “displacement device”) in accordance with the present invention are illustrated and described. The variable-volume positive-displacement device 5 differs from a conventional piston and cylinder. It resembles the Wankel engine. Like a turbine, it can be used only unidirectionally, to perform either compression and pumping or expanding and motoring processes. By minimizing friction and induction impedance, the variable-volume positive-displacement device 5 attains pumping efficiencies over 90% at pressure ratios of 10 to 1 in a single stage of operation, thereby facilitating construction of low-cost Brayton cycle engines. The invention combines compressing and expanding strokes on common shafts that displace fluids. The displacement of the expanding section may be enlarged with respect to the compressor to produce more shaft power. Alternatively, residual pressure remains in the exhaust to make a jet or drive an auxiliary turbine. [0034] Although the device 5 is largely described here in connection with compressors and expanders of jet engines (for purposes of illustration), it may be used in many other applications. By way of another example, it may perform as an equally efficient hydraulic pump or motor. The unique configuration of the device 5 is easily formed by conventional fabrication techniques. For example, the device 5 may be machined, injection molded or extruded, and diced. Materials such as aluminum, titanium, steel, stainless steel ceramics, or plastic are preferable, but other similar types of materials may be substituted. [0035] Referring now to FIG. 1A , the variable-volume positive-displacement device 5 is substantially square and comprises a housing or casing 6 . The housing or casing 6 has four side walls, each indicated by reference numeral 7 . The side walls 7 are mounted to a substantially planar base or end plate (shown best in FIG. 3B and indicated by reference numeral 38 , described later and shown in FIG. 3B ) with a displacer or rotor 20 located in the center of the device 5 . The displacer 20 orbits within a closed chamber 8 . Another cover or end plate (indicated by reference numeral 39 , described later and shown in FIG. 3B ) covers the housing 6 and is configured with openings to allow fluids to be introduced into the closed chamber 8 . [0036] In the configuration illustrated in Figure 1B , the closed chamber 8 comprises four spaces indicated by reference numerals 24 a , 24 b , 24 c , and 24 d , respectively. In this particular configuration, the spaces 24 a , 24 b , 24 c , and 24 d have equal volumes because the displacer or rotor 20 is shown, merely for dimensional purposes, as being centrally located. However, it should be recognized that when the displacer or rotor 20 is operating, it is never in the position that is illustrated in FIG. 1 . The displacer 20 is always orbiting along the inner surfaces of the side walls 7 of the closed chamber 8 . When the displacement device 5 is operating and the displacer 20 is orbiting, the displacer 20 comes in contact with each of the four sides in sequence. The displacer 20 moves from contact against one wall to the next, thereby compressing the spaces 24 a , 24 b , 24 c , and 24 d and varying the symmetrical volumes 24 a , 24 b , 24 c , and 24 d , in sequence. [0037] To produce continuous pumping or motoring, the four symmetrical variable volumes 24 a , 24 b , 24 c , and 24 d are formed between the outer walls of the displacer 20 and the inner wall surfaces of the variable-volume positive-displacement device 5 ( FIG. 1A ). The displacer 20 has an eccentric 32 (a single eccentric) orbiting on a single crankshaft 30 . The crankshaft 30 is mounted to the housing 6 on a crankpin 30 a . On each of the side walls 7 , the housing 6 is configured with a check valve mechanism CV and an inlet I through which fluids are introduced into the chamber 8 . The check valve mechanism CV communicates with an outlet O through which the gases are discharged from the chamber 8 . For illustration purposes, the check valve mechanism CV is shown (in dashed lines) on one side wall 7 . Each of the side walls 7 is configured with the same type of check valve mechanism CV. [0038] Referring now to Figures 1 A and 1 B, as noted above, the displacer or rotor 20 orbits eccentrically, compressing each of the four volumes 24 a , 24 b , 24 c , and 24 d in sequence during the span of a full orbit by the displacer 20 . FIG. 1A shows the displacer 20 mounted eccentrically on the crankpin 30 A as in the working device. At the position of the displacer 20 shown, one of the four pumping chambers (created within space 24 b ) is sealed and pumping, whereas the other three chambers (spaces 24 a , 24 c , 24 d ) are open to each other and to the intakes (not shown) on the cover endplate 39 . The intakes may be circular holes formed on the cover endplate 39 . [0039] Each volume is enclosed by a tip seal 40 a on a tip of the displacer 20 , and at the other end by a complementary tip seal 40 b on the corresponding tip on the wall of the device 5 . Tip seals 40 a are located at each of the four points of the displacer 20 , and at each of the four corresponding corners of the stationary interior of the side walls 7 that face the displacer 20 . For example, tip seals 40 a and 40 b are in contact with the opposing interior of the side wall 7 (i.e., opposing displacer surface), respectively, thereby sealing the variable volumes 24 a , 24 b , 24 c and 24 d , during compression. Each set of variable volumes 24 a , 24 b , 24 c , and 24 d varies as the displacer 20 engages the walls in this sequence as the shaft 30 rotates through an entire single orbit (360 degrees). [0040] In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1B , the tip seals 40 b are configured to be solid or fixed. During a pumping operation, the pumping force keeps the displacer 20 in a sliding (non-rotational) orientation against the fixed seal. By way of one example, the tip seals 40 b may be integrally formed as part of the housing 6 . The tips seals 40 a on the displacer 20 are configured to be compliant or flexible to compensate for wear. By way of example, the tip seals 40 a may be vane-type seals that are spring-loaded. In FIG. 1B , a roller fixed seal 40 c is illustrated. This type of seal reduces overall friction. [0041] FIG. 1B also illustrates an exemplary check valve mechanism CV. Of course, any other type known may be alternatively used to achieve the same purpose. The check valve mechanism CV consists of a plug 14 that slides within a fitting port 12 within a receptacle formed within the wall 7 of the housing 6 . The plug 14 is biased against the seat of an opening that forms the outlet 0 by a spring 15 . [0042] Referring now to FIGS. 2A and 2B , another embodiment of the inventive device, using tandem twin shafts, is described. FIGS. 2A and 2B show only one variable volume or chamber 24 , in cross section, to illustrate configuration of a typical variable-volume formed in accordance with the invention. Two tandem crankshafts 30 and 34 turning together in this embodiment can reduce the frontal area of the device 5 . The component configuration of FIG. 2A encloses a variable volume 24 contained between substantially rectangular L-shaped shoes, a first shoe 10 (a portion of one wall 7 ), and a second shoe 20 (a portion of the displacer 20 ). The volume is contained at the top and bottom by the two endplates (base and cover endplates not shown in this cross section, but otherwise indicated by reference numerals 38 and 39 ). The two shoes 10 and 20 are identical in shape and are arranged to face each other as shown in FIG. 2A . [0043] Along the interior of each shoe ( 10 and 20 ) where the elongated end meets the shorter end is an engagement surface that has an identical engagement radius 42 . At the other end of elongated end of the plate on the interior surface, is an engaging tip seal 40 a . The two shoes 10 and 20 are configured such that their tip seals 40 a and 40 b slide along the inner engagement radius surface between the shoes 10 and 20 to form a sliding mechanical contact between the two shoes 10 and 20 . Taking the example of one shoe, for example shoe 10 , note that it is fixed in position to the two endplates (not shown in FIG. 2A as the end plates would be located above and below the cross section shown). The other shoe, for example shoe 20 , has clearance for movement along a parallel plane to the end plates between them. [0044] The shoe 20 moves in a non-rotational circular path, driven through a journal plate 22 by two eccentrics 32 and 36 running on the two shafts 30 and 34 . The two shafts 30 and 34 rotate in tandem, in bearings through the endplates 38 and 39 (see FIG. 3B ). A second set of eccentrics are preferably located on the same shafts (not shown) offset by 90 degrees to the first set of eccentrics 32 and 36 , and linked by a second journal plate. This arrangement keeps the shafts 30 and 34 in tandem rotation. The variable volume 24 is enclosed by the tip seal 40 a on the tip of the displacer 20 and at the other end by the tip seal 40 b on the corresponding tip on the wall 7 of the device 5 . [0045] FIG. 2A depicts the variable volume at the initial stage of engagement for a pumping or compression stroke. The stroke takes place through 90 degrees of tandem shaft rotation to arrive at the state depicted in FIG. 2B in which the enclosed volume 24 has been squeezed to a minimum at the conclusion of the pumping stroke. For all but a small fraction of the remaining 270 degrees of shaft rotation, the volume is not sealed, because the two shoes 10 and 20 are disengaged and the tip seals 40 a and 40 b are not in contact with the opposing inner surfaces to the shoes 10 and 20 . This disengagement provides for induction of the pumped fluid, and acts as the intake valve for the variable volume. [0046] Check valve CV is shown in the fixed shoe 10 . The discharge check valve CV has ports 12 sealed by a disk 14 , which are retained by a pin 16 against the blast of the fluid as it is pumped. [0047] During the 90 degrees of shaft rotation between the positions shown at Figures 2 A and 2 B, tip seals 40 a and 40 b move past engagement surfaces with engagement radii 42 on a corresponding circular path. [0048] To ensure constant engagement of the tip seals 40 a and 40 b against the inner surfaces of the shoes 10 and 20 , engagement radii 42 is the sum of the radius of crank eccentricity r c and the radius of the tip seal 40 b . The point of contact rotates through 90 degrees around the seal during the 90 degree turn of the rotor 20 during a compression stroke. [0049] The variable-volume positive-displacement device 5 operates in the other direction as an expander or hydraulic motor when means are applied to operate a distribution valve according to the position of the cranks, in which case FIG. 2B depicts the initial position and FIG. 2A depicts the final position of the moving shoe 10 or 20 through a 90 degree expansion or motoring operation. The remaining 270 degrees of shaft rotation opens the variable volume for discharge. [0050] Referring now to FIGS. 2C, 2D , and 2 E, an alternative embodiment of the variable-volume positive-displacement device is described. In the alternative embodiment, twin tandem shafts 82 and 84 drive a central shaft 80 through a link 86 (see FIG. 2C ). The shafts 82 and 84 are substantially cylindrical in configuration. The link 86 has complementary openings 88 and 90 to accommodate the twin shafts 82 and 84 as they move in an eccentric orbit. The link 86 also has a central shaft opening 92 that accommodates a central shaft 80 . The link 86 as positioned over the twin shafts 82 and 84 and moves the central shaft 80 as it is moved by the twin shafts 82 and 84 . In this way, the shafts 82 and 84 are linked for synchronous rotation. The tandem shafts 82 and 84 may be linked to move in synchronous rotation by any means, including an intermediate gear between gears on both shafts, or a second crank and link at 90 degrees to the cranks linked through the displacement device 5 . Alternatively, a cogged timing belt or sprockets and chain may be used. [0051] Brayton engines and refrigerators constructed according to the method disclosed here typically contain two pumping sections as shown in figure 1B , one of which has been flipped over and provided with valves, in a configuration with two displacers 20 on common shafts. Such a relationship is depicted in FIG. 3A . The section comprising the compressor has the usual check valves and the section comprising the expander has pushrods PR operated by cams C on the crankshafts to open similar valves when timely. In operation, as the crankshaft rotates, the cam C pushes against the pushrod PR, and opens the valve mechanism CV for a brief interval of time to allow the fluids to enter the chamber 24 a . In the case of a hydraulic motor, the valve mechanism remains open for the entire duration of the movement of the displacer 20 through 90 degrees. [0052] As in other Brayton engines, fuel is injected and burned between the compression and expansion stages. If the two sections have equal displacement, the residual pressure is expanded through a nozzle to produce a thrust in a jet engine. The residual pressure may also be converted to shaft work by a turbine. Alternatively, the expander can have a larger displacement than the compressor. The variable-volume principle behind the present invention is particularly beneficial in jet engines because its excellent seals, minimal dead volume, and extremely low friction allow the necessary component efficiencies over 90% to be easily attained. Also, this configuration accommodates a lot of displacement within a small volume in a device that weighs little. The extremely simple configuration may be easily fabricated from materials such as ceramics. [0053] Referring now to FIG. 3A , the opposing or flipped-over relationship of one displacer 20 to the other dashed is shown by the outline of the displacer in the section not otherwise shown in the view. Shown in dashed lines, the symmetrical chamber 42 is a mirror opposite of the closed chamber 8 that is shown. The symmetrical chamber displacer 21 is therefore also a mirror opposite of the displacer 20 . [0054] Similar to Figures 1 A and 1 B, check valve CV allows fluid to enter (during volume expansion) and exit (during volume compression) the variable volume 24 a . The check valve CV lies between the variable volume 24 a and a port 18 a. [0055] As an alternative to the embodiment of FIGS. 1A and 1B , in the embodiment of FIGS. 3A and 3B , both displacers 20 and 21 are arranged around two tandem shafts 32 and 36 . Shaft 32 and 36 incorporate cams C to open inlet valves through pushrods PR incorporated into the expander side displacer 20 only. The valve actuation process requires the displacer 20 to be orbiting and driven by the eccentrics through shafts 32 and 36 . This places the pushrod PR corresponding to control valve CV immediately opposite each other at the top dead center position. At this precise position, cam C on shaft 36 (or 32 in the case of the two other of the four chambers) contacts cam follower CF pushing on the pushrod PR and opens the control valve CV for a brief period of time. Pumps, compressors, compound engines, and refrigerators can be balanced to a vibration-free state with counterweights on the shafts. [0056] Referring now to FIG. 3B , a side cross sectional view of the variable-volume positive-displacement device 5 is illustrated. The side wall of the closed chamber 6 is shown between the two endplates, the top or cover endplate 38 and the bottom or base endplate 39 . The displacer 20 is located in the top of the device 5 sharing common eccentric shafts 32 and 36 with the rotor 21 located separate and beneath the rotor 20 , in the bottom of the device 5 . [0057] Variable volumes 24 are shown between the rotor 20 and side wall of the closed chamber 6 . Similar symmetrical variable volumes 25 , similar to the variable volumes 24 associated with the rotor 20 , correspond to the rotor 21 and are shown between the rotor 21 and the side wall of the closed chamber 6 . The fluid ports 18 are shown communicating between the compressing section 24 and the expanding section 25 within the walls of the closed chamber 6 . [0058] The eccentrics 32 and 36 are shown running through the rotors 20 and 21 . Eccentrics 32 and 36 are attached at the top to the twin shafts 30 and 34 , respectively. Eccentrics 32 and 36 are connected at the bottom to bearings 112 and 116 , respectively, located in the bottom of the device 5 . At the top of the device 5 , the twin shafts 30 and 34 are connected to and drive a central shaft 80 by way gearing to maintain the two shafts 30 and 34 in tandem rotation. A gear 82 on the shaft 80 meshes with gears 84 and 86 on the respective shafts. The twin shafts 30 and 34 have cams C ( FIG. 3A ) that push against pushrods PR ( FIG. 3A ) as the shafts 30 and 34 rotate. The pushrods PR push against the valve mechanism CV causing it to open the valve for a brief interval of time. [0059] Referring now to FIG. 4 , a parallelogram linkage indicated generally by reference numeral 140 is illustrated for use with the single crankshaft embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 . The parallelogram linkage 140 is similar to one used in a desk lamp and holds the displacement device 5 in the required position in an embodiment of the invention that only uses a single shaft 30 . The parallelogram linkage 140 comprises vertical parallel components 142 that are staked to the displacer 20 and horizontal parallel components 144 that are staked to the housing 6 and linked by a connector component 146 . The parallelogram linkage 140 keeps the displacer 20 from rotating and takes the load off the tip seals. [0060] Referring now to FIGS. 5A and 5B , in accordance with another embodiment, the displacer 20 engages typically three guide pins 148 that track circular depressions 150 formed in the displacer 20 . By using three guide pins 148 , it can be assured that at least one of the guide pins 148 is properly positioned to block rotation of the displacer 20 for its full orbital motion. The guide pins 148 hold the displacer 20 in its non-rotational position when using compliant seals at both ends of the variable volumes 24 . Alternatively, the guide pins 148 may be staked to the displacer 20 and the depressions 150 provided in the end plate 38 (not shown). The guide pins 148 are staked to the base end plate 38 as shown. The depressions 150 are formed such that the diameter equals two times the crank radius r c plus the radius of the guide pin 148 . [0061] Referring now to FIG. 6 , the mating surfaces of the displacer 20 and the interior of the wall 7 are shown in greater detail. The displacer 20 is shown in a centered position, the most useful position to use to choose starting and ending points for the mating surface arc A (the arc of contact of the seal 40 a on the displacer 20 against the interior of the wall 7 ) from the corresponding points on the arc S of the seal 40 a. [0062] To design one of these devices one selects a desired crank radius r c and other physical dimensions that will give the desired displacement. The seal arc S will typically be 10-25% of the crank radius r c . The radius of the mating surface arc A will be the sum of the crank radius r c and the seal radius r s . With the rotor centered, the mating surface arc A is then defined between the initial contact point 156 and final contact point 158 , as indicated in FIG. 6 . The length of the mating surface are A is equal to the crank throw from the corresponding points on the seal arc S. [0063] In practice, there should be a little clearance between the displacer 20 and the housing 6 in the radial direction. This can be accomplished by reducing the crank radius r c by the desired clearance. For example, if the crank radius r c is chosen to be 0.625 inches and 0.005 inches of clearance are desired, the actual crank throw should be 0.620 inches. As the displacer 20 and housing 6 wear from that point, clearances will gradually increase. For this reason, the seal 40 a , which must bear no force positioning the displacer 20 , should be made as a vane. This may accommodate considerable wear, as well as give a little rebound capability to recover energy from the small volume of gas in the dead volume of the variable volume 24 . [0064] The two sealing surface arcs A that defining the two ends of each of the four variable volumes 24 need not be identical. But the sum of the seal radius r s and the crank radius r c must be equal for both of the seals. [0065] While preferred embodiments of the invention have been described herein, many variations are possible which remain within the concept and scope of the invention. Such variations would become clear to one of ordinary skill in the art after inspection of the specification and the drawings. The invention therefore is not to be restricted except within the spirit and scope of any appended claims.
A variable-volume positive-displacement device configured to accommodate large flow volumes is disclosed. The variable-volume positive-displacement device despite being compact and lightweight, maintains pressure ratios of over 10 to 1 in a single stage operation. There is little loss of working fluid leakage, due to optimum sealing configurations and extremely low-seal sliding speeds. The device comprises a housing defining a closed chamber within opposing walls and a displacer mounted within the housing. The displacer maintains sliding contact with each of the inner wall surfaces of the chamber as it orbits and engages each of the inner wall surfaces in sequence. The volumes of the chambers surrounding the displacer vary as the displacer moves, depending on the position of the displacer. Working fluid is introduced into the chamber via inlet ports or is discharged via an outlet. This device may be used to replace conventional piston pumps, rotary pumps, scroll pumps, screw pumps, roots blowers, gear pumps and wankel displacers for pumping gases and liquids in applications requiring reduced frictional losses and tight sealing and relatively large displacement in a small volume. With integral valve-operators, the inventive device replaces turbines used for expansion of gases with large pressure ratios. This invention is particularly useful for constructing Brayton cycle engines and refrigerators. The inventive device offers improved operation and functional characteristics and lower cost of manufacture.
5
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present application is a continuation patent application of International Application No. PCT/SE2005/000857 filed 7 Jun. 2005 which is published in English pursuant to Article 21(2) of the Patent Cooperation Treaty and which claims priority to Swedish Application No. 0401556-6 filed 15 Jun. 2004. Said applications are expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. FIELD [0002] The present invention relates to a method and device for calculating the chassis height of a vehicle. BACKGROUND [0003] Heavy vehicles can be equipped with different types of spring arrangements for absorbing shocks caused by unevenness of road surfaces. Commonly occurring spring arrangements are either leaf springs or air springs. Combinations of these springs are also used; e.g., vehicles with a leaf-suspended front axle and one or more air-suspended rear axles. Air suspension results in a soft and shock-free ride both laden and unladen, with consequently good traveling comfort and less stress on chassis and tires. [0004] Air-suspended vehicles are often equipped with manual or automatic level control. Automatic level control not only enables the vehicle to be kept on level even when unevenly laden but also enables the height of the vehicle to be kept constant irrespective of load. When the vehicle is standing still, its height may also be adjusted manually whereby the vehicle can be raised, lowered or caused to tilt forwards or rearwards; e.g., to adapt the vehicle to a loading dock for the purpose of loading or unloading. [0005] Air suspensions typically include rubber bellows situated between the frame and the wheel axles. As the height of the chassis may change, the vehicle is equipped with at least one level sensor which detects the height between the frame and a wheel axle. One level sensor is sufficient for a vehicle with a leaf-suspended front axle and an air-suspended rear axle, but a vehicle with an air-suspended front axle and two air- suspended rear axles requires three level sensors to enable reliable monitoring of the air suspension system. [0006] Heavy vehicles are commonly equipped with more than one rear axle. An arrangement with more than one rear axle is called a bogie, which may comprise two or three rear axles. The most common arrangement is a bogie with two rear axles comprising either two powered rear axles or one powered rear axle and an trailing or pusher axle. Vehicles with two powered rear axles are called 6×4 and vehicles with one powered rear axle and a trailing axle are called 6×2. A bogie may be designed in various ways depending inter alia on the intended load capacity. [0007] When the longitudinal tilt of a vehicle with two rear axles and air suspension changes, it is important that the maximum permissible chassis height at each axle is not exceeded, i.e. that the distance between the frame and each axle does not exceed a maximum permissible value. If that value is exceeded, the axle installation is subjected to impermissible stressing which may result in mechanical damage. The axle installation is more or less sensitive to incorrect stressing, depending on the type of bogie. For example, an axle installation where the rear axle can be raised by a bogie lift may be sensitive to stressing in a wrong direction. Possible forms of damage are shock absorbers being pulled apart or damaged or the fastenings of the V-stay being incorrectly stressed. [0008] Exceeding the maximum permissible chassis height may occur at the rear wheel axle if, for example, the whole vehicle is first raised to the maximum and the chassis height is thereafter reduced at the front axle to cause the vehicle to tilt forwards. The result is that the vehicle pivots about the forward rear axle, which means that the distance between the rearmost axle and the frame will increase, with consequent risk of the maximum permissible chassis height being exceeded at the rearmost axle. On vehicles with bogies, the stresses may be distributed among the wheel axles. [0009] On a vehicle with a two-axle bogie it is usually the rearmost axle which can be relieved of stress. This entails having a level sensor on each axle in order to be able to monitor the distance between the frame and the wheel axles. [0010] A disadvantage of using a level sensor for each axle is that the cost of each level sensor is high. As a level sensor for a heavy vehicle is subject to severe environmental effects, meeting the requirements is expensive. Another disadvantage is the need for the vehicle to comprise an extra installation which comprises various lever arms and stays and is therefore expensive and occupies space. SUMMARY [0011] The object of the invention is therefore to provide a device and a method for calculating chassis height of a vehicle with two or more rear axles as cost-effectively as possible. [0012] The solution according to the invention is described in the characterizing part of claim 1 as regards the device and by the features of claim 8 as regards the method. The other claims comprise advantageous embodiments and further developments of the device according to the invention. [0013] With a device for calculating chassis height of a vehicle which has at least three air- suspended wheel axles and comprises a control unit and two level sensors whereby the control unit detects the chassis height at the front axle via a first level sensor and at the forward rear axle via a second level sensor, the object of the invention is achieved by the control unit calculating the chassis height at the rearmost wheel axle. [0014] The method according to the invention achieves the object by detecting the chassis height at the vehicle's foremost wheel axle and the vehicle's foremost rear wheel axle and thereafter calculating the chassis height at the vehicle's rearmost wheel axle. [0015] This first embodiment of the device according to the invention for calculating chassis height of a vehicle makes it possible for the chassis height at each wheel axle to be detected without having a separate level sensor at each axle. The advantage of this is that fewer level sensors are needed and that installation space is freed. [0016] In an advantageous first further development of the device according to the invention for calculating chassis height of a vehicle, the control unit limits the chassis height at the rearmost wheel axle to a predefined maximum value. The advantage of this is that damage to the rear axle installation can be prevented. [0017] In an advantageous second further development of the device according to the invention for calculating chassis height of a vehicle, the control unit limits the chassis height at the front axle on the basis of the chassis height at the rearmost wheel axle. The advantage of this is that decrease of the chassis height at the forward wheel axle can be stopped before damage is caused to the rear axle installation. [0018] In an advantageous third further development of the device according to the invention for calculating chassis height of a vehicle, the control unit reduces the chassis height at the forward rear axle when the chassis height at the rear axle decreases, with the result that the predefined maximum value at the rearmost wheel axle is not exceeded. The advantage of this is that reducing the chassis height at the forward rear axle can prevent damage to the rear axle installation. [0019] In an advantageous fourth further development of the device according to the invention for calculating chassis height of a vehicle, the device is integrated in an electronically controlled air suspension (ECS) system existing in the vehicle. The advantage of this is that it is an easy and inexpensive way of simplifying and/or improving an existing installation on a vehicle. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0020] The invention is described below in more detail with reference to an example of an embodiment depicted in the attached drawings, in which: [0021] FIG. 1 depicts a vehicle with several rear axles; and [0022] FIG. 2 depicts schematically an advantageous embodiment of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0023] The example described below of an embodiment of the invention with further developments is to be regarded merely as an example and in no way limiting the scope of protection of the claims. [0024] FIG. 1 depicts a vehicle 1 with several rear axles according to the invention. The vehicle comprises a front axle 2 , a forward rear axle 3 and a rearmost rear axle 4 . In this example, each axle is suspended by air bellows 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 . In addition, the front axle 2 is provided with a level sensor 9 and the forward rear axle 3 is provided with two level sensors comprising a level sensor 10 on the left side and a level sensor 11 on the right side. The level sensor 9 measures the chassis height at the front axle, i.e. the distance between the front axle and the frame, the level sensor 10 measures the chassis height at the left portion of the forward rear axle, i.e. the distance between the left portion of the forward rear axle and the frame, and the level sensor 11 measures the chassis height at the right portion of the forward rear axle, i.e. the distance between the right portion of the forward rear axle and the frame. The level sensors 10 and 11 each measure at the position where the respective air bellows is fastened. The purpose of using two level sensors on the rear axle is to enable the vehicle's sideways tilt to be measured and hence adjusted, e.g. when the vehicle is uneven loaded. [0025] The level sensors are fastened to the frame. A rotary potentiometer is often used as sensor element, but a rotating pulse sensor is also usable with advantage. The level sensors are each provided with a sensor arm connected to the respective wheel axle via a link arm. The length of the sensor arm adapts the relationship between the sensor element and the axle's movement in a vertical direction. Other types of level sensors, e.g. linear sensors or contactless sensors, are also conceivable. [0026] When the vehicle rises or sinks, i.e. when air is put into or released from an air bellows, the distance between the wheel axle and the frame will change. This distance change causes the sensor arm of the level sensor to perform a rotation movement. This rotation movement is proportional to the distance change, which means that the distance change can be calculated from the rotation. The output signal of the sensor element is changed via the sensor arm. This change is detected by, for example, a control unit which can calculate the distance value concerned. The distance between the frame and a wheel axle is here referred to as the chassis height. [0027] The sensor elements are connected to a unit; e.g., a control unit (not depicted), which converts each sensor's signals to a value corresponding to the chassis height at the respective wheel axle. This unit may either be a freestanding unit or be integrated in an existing control unit. With advantage, the unit is situated in the cab but it is also possible for it to be at any desired location on the vehicle. It is also possible to integrate a conversion function in the sensor so that the sensor's output signal is directly proportional to the chassis height. [0028] The conversion to chassis height may be effected on a discrete analogue, digital analogue or wholly digital basis. In discrete analogue conversion, the signal processing is effected by discrete components. In digital analogue conversion, the analogue signal is converted to a digital signal which is processed by a processor. In wholly digital conversion in cases where the sensor is, for example, a rotating pulse sensor, the signal processing is effected by a processor without needing any prior conversion of the signal. The mode of conversion selected depends inter alia on the particular sensor used and the characteristics of the output signal. The signal processing performed by the conversion function may include inter alia compensation for signal linearity, compensation for outside temperature, low-pass filtering of signals, etc. [0029] FIG. 2 is a schematic drawing of a model of the truck 1 . The frame 12 is positioned on the front axle 2 , the forward rear axle 3 and the rearmost rear axle 4 . H f denotes the chassis height at the front axle, H b the chassis height at the forward rear axle and H t the chassis height at the rearmost rear axle. W b denotes the vehicle's wheelbase; i.e., the distance between the front axle and the forward rear axle, and W t the bogie distance; i.e., the distance between the forward rear axle and the rearmost rear axle. [0030] In the relationship referred to below between chassis height and axle distance, the calculations of chassis height are done at the wheel axles. As the air bellows and the level sensors are not always situated exactly at the wheel axle, the values used in the calculation are compensated so that they correspond to the values at the respective wheel axles. The advantage of this is that a general formula can be used for all types of vehicle, irrespective of type of bogie, positions of air bellows etc. The specific values for each type of vehicle are stored at a suitable location; e.g., in a control unit. [0031] When the vehicle tilts forwards; e.g., because of air having been released from the air bellows of the front axle, the height H f will decrease. This causes the frame to rotate about the upper fastening to the air bellows of the forward rear axle; i.e., the height H b remains constant while at the same time the height H t will increase. Depending inter alia on the height H b before the tilting is initiated, the magnitude of the tilt and the wheelbase of the vehicle, the result may be that the maximum permissible value for the height H t is exceeded, which may result in mechanical damage to the vehicle. [0032] To prevent the maximum permissible value for the height Ht being exceeded without an extra level sensor being fitted at the rearmost rear axle, the control unit may calculate the value for the height H t and thereby limit the tilt of the vehicle so that the maximum permissible value for the height Ht is not exceeded. The relationship between the heights H f , H b and H t is derived from the following equation: ( Hb - Hf ) W ⁢   ⁢ b = ( Ht - Hf ) ( W ⁢   ⁢ b + Wt ) ( 1 ) [0033] H t is extracted from equation (1) to produce the following equation: Ht = ( 1 + Wt W ⁢   ⁢ b ) * ( Hb - Hf ) + Hf ( 2 ) Hf=chassis at the at the front axle Hb=chassis height at the forward rear axle Ht=chassis height at the rearmost rear axle Wb=distance between the front axle and forward rear axle Wt=distance between the forward rear axle and the rearmost rear axle [0039] In a first embodiment of the device according to the invention, decrease in chassis height at the front axle is limited by being stopped when the height H t reaches a predefined maximum permissible value. This means that the evacuation of air from the air bellows at the front axle will be stopped; e.g., by closure of the solenoid valve which lets the air out. The driver can then, if necessary, reduce the bogie height manually in order thereafter to continue reducing the chassis height at the front axle. [0040] In a second embodiment of the device according to the invention, the height H b also decreases when the chassis height at the front axle decreases, so that the height H t is not exceeded. This means that when the maximum permissible value of H t is reached, the system also begins to evacuate air from the air bellows at the forward rear axle. This is to prevent the height H t of being exceeded. [0041] In a third embodiment of the device according to the invention, the height H b also decreases when the chassis height at the front axle decreases, so that the height H t is not exceeded. In this embodiment, air is evacuated simultaneously from the air bellows both at the front axle and at the forward rear axle so that the height H t remains constant. This means that the height H t is not exceeded. [0042] The device here described is advantageously integrated in an electronically controlled air suspension (ECS) system existing in the vehicle. The advantage of integrating the device in an existing air suspension system is that the latter will be simplified and/or improved depending on its construction. [0043] The device according to the invention may also be used with advantage on, for example, vehicles with three bogie axles. In this case, the chassis height H b is measured at the forward rear axle. The height H t corresponds to the chassis height at the rearmost rear axle. The distance Wt then corresponds to the distance between the forward rear axle and the rearmost rear axle. In this case the control unit may also, when necessary, evacuate air from the air bellows of the middle wheel axle. [0044] The device according to the invention may also be used with advantage on, for example, vehicles with two front axles. In such cases the chassis height H f is measured at the forward front axle. The height H b corresponds to the chassis height at the foremost rear axle. The height H t corresponds to the chassis height at the rearmost rear axle. The distance W b then corresponds to the distance between the forward front axle and the forward rear axle. In such cases the control unit may also, when necessary, evacuate air from air bellows of other wheel axles. [0045] The invention is not to be regarded as limited to the embodiment examples described above, since a series of further variants and modifications are conceivable within the scopes of the claims set out below. For example, the method according to the invention may also be used for measuring axle pressure on rail-mounted air-sprung vehicles.
Method and device for calculating chassis height of a vehicle that has at least three air-suspended wheel axles ( 2, 3, 4 ). The device includes a control unit and two level sensors ( 9, 10 ). The control unit detects the chassis height at the front axle ( 2 ) via a first level sensor ( 9 ) and at the forward rear axle ( 3 ) via a second level sensor ( 10 ), and the control unit calculates the chassis height at the rearmost wheel axle ( 4 ). An object of the disclosure is to protect the rear axle installation with as few level sensors as possible.
1
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a central locking system for at least two closeable openings in the body of a motor vehicle, the system including a pressure source for selectively generating under pressure or over pressure, locking devices assigned to individual openings to be closed, a plurality of pneumatic control units each including a control element cooperating with a cooresponding locking device, each locking element moveable between two control positions, and said control units being connected to the source of under pressure or over pressure so as to move their control elements into one of the control positions depending on pressure level in the source. A known central locking system of this kind includes a plurality of control units assigned to respective locking devices and being parallel connected to a common main conduit leading to the pressure source. If in such prior art locking systems the control elements are to be actuated which are located outside the field of vision of the operator of the motor vehicle, for example the control elements for the locks of storages or outer storing spaces on buses or for trunks of passenger cars, the corresponding locking devices after actuation of the central locking system must be checked whether the locking action actually took place. This check-out is necessary inasmuch for example a locking device associated with a sluggish control element may remain open. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore a general object of the present invention to overcome this disadvantage. In particular, it is object of this invention to provide a central locking system of this kind which reliably indicates to the operator of the motor vehicle that all locking devices are in the desired working position, especially that the locking devices which are outside of his field of view are securely locked. Another object of this invention is to provide such an indicating means which does not require expensive arrangement and installation. In keeping with these objects and others which will become apparent hereafter, one feature of this invention resides in the provision of series connected control units which are coupled to an indicator in such a manner that even if only one of the control devices fail to bring its control element into a desired position, particularly the control elements which are outside the field of vision of the operator, the indicating means become effective. In the preferred embodiment of this invention, each control unit has a pressure chamber connectable to the source of over pressure or under pressure, the control element being arranged for movement in the chamber, and cooperating with a valve which normally closes a discharge opening of the chamber, the control element being normally kept in a working position away from the valve and when an under pressure is developed in the chamber, it is moved to its other working position in which it opens the valve and the under pressure is applied to the indicating means. This arrangement of the control unit makes it possible to connect a plurality of control devices in series. This series connection of pneumatically actuated control units guarantees that only after the completion of the movement of the corresponding control element into the desired control position the pressure source is connected to the chamber of the subsequent control unit. Accordingly, when the indicating means are connected to the outlet of the last control unit which is most remote from the pressure source, the actuation of the indicating means guarantees that all control units and their control elements before the last control unit have been also correctly actuated. The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself however both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a side view, partly in section, of a pneumatic control unit pertaining to the central locking system of this invention; FIG. 2 is a schematic circuit diagram of an embodiment of the central locking system of this invention including the control units of FIG. 1; and FIG. 3 is a sectional side view of a cutaway part of a modified version of a control unit of this invention. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring firstly to FIG. 2, the illustrated pneumatic system represents a central locking installation of a motor vehicle. It includes a pressure source in the form of a vane pump 10 which in this example is constructed as a bidirectional pressure pump. This bidirectional pressure pump 10 is driven by an electric motor 12. Depending on the direction of rotation of the motor, the pump 10 produces in the pneumatic system either under pressure or over pressure. In this example pressure medium is air. In this embodiment, the central locking system is brought into its closing condition when the vane type pump 10 produces under pressure. In doing so, air present in the pneumatic system is discharged through a connection pipe 14 into free atmosphere. The electric driving motor 12 is connected to the output of an electronic control circuit 16 whose inputs are coupled to respective door locks associated with the central locking system. The control inputs of the control circuit 16 are connected to switching contacts 22 and 24 of a key controlled door lock switch 18. Depending on the direction of rotation of the key, the switching member 20 of the switch 18 connects a control signal to one of the control inputs of the electronic control circuit 16, thus causing the driving motor to rotate either clockwise or counterclockwise and the vane pump 10 to generate suction or positive pressure. As known, the bidirectional pressure pump 10 has two outlets of which one is connected to the connection pipe 14 while the other outlet is connected to a first section 26 of a working conduit leading to a first pneumatic control unit 28. The construction of the pneumatic control unit 28 is illustrated in FIG. 1. The control unit includes a housing 30 enclosing a chamber 32 in which a control element 34 is slideably supported for movement between two working positions. The control element 34 is secured to a diaphragm 36 forming the upper side of the chamber 32. A nipple 38 communicates laterally with the chamber 32 and is connected to section 26 of the working conduit (FIG. 2). The bottom side of the chamber 32 is provided with a connection opening 40 controlled by a closing member 42 of a valve 44 which is arranged opposite the outer surface of the bottom of the chamber 32. The closing member 42 of the valve 44 is normally biased into its closing position against the opening 40. The opening 40 communicates with a first space 46 which is connected via throttle 48 with a second space 50. The second space 50 is connected via a nipple 52 to a next section 126 of the working pressure conduit (FIG. 2). The lower surface of the control element 34 is provided with a projection 54 which cooperates through the opening 40 with the closing member 42. The opposite side of the control element 34 is connected to a push rod 56 (FIG. 1) to which a locking device 58 is linked. The locking device cooperates with a latch holding support 60 formed on a movable cover 62 on the car body. The control unit 28 is mounted in this embodiment on a part of the body which is fixed to the car frame 64. The tip of the push rod 56 is equipped with a control knob 66 (FIG. 1) which serves for manual operation of the corresponding locking device. The position of the control knob 66 simultaneously indicates whether the connected control element 34 is in a closing or opening position, thus indicating the operative condition of the corresponding locking device 58. The control knob 66 projects above the rim 68 (illustated by dash and dot line) of an opening for a nonillustrated car door. As shown in FIG. 2, all control units 28 pertaining to the central locking system are series connected by pneumatic conduit sections 26 and 126 connecting in series the nipples 38 and 52. In this manner, the working conduit sections 126 connect the nipple 52 of a control unit which is closer to the pressure source 10 with the nipple 38 of the subsequent control 28. The nipple 52 of the control unit 128 which is last in the row and most remote from the pressure source 10, is connected via a working conduit 226 to a pressure controlled electrical switch 70 which controls via the electronic circuit 16 the driving motor 12. The switch 70 also controls an indicator 74 which in this example is an optical indicator arranged in the field of vision of the operator of the motor vehicle. The indicator 74 is acutated when the operator actuates the door lock switch 18. A timing member 78 is arranged in the conductor 72 leading to the indicator 74 so that the latter is inactuated after a predetermined time period. The last section 226 of the pneumatic working conduits 26 and 126 is also branched before the pressure switch 70 to a venting valve 71 which is constructed as a two way directional solenoid controlled valve. The solenoid of the venting valve 71 is connected in series with the driving motor 12 and in the energized condition the venting valve 71 is open. The venting valve is closed independently on the rotational direction of the motor 12 when the motor is started, and is opened when the motor 12 is brought to a standstill. In this manner an instantaneous pressure equalization of the pneumatic system with the outer atmosphere is achieved through a pressure equalizing connection piece 73. The bidirectional pressure pump 10, the driving motor 12, the control circuit 16, the pressure acutated switch 70 and the timing member 78 are arranged in a common driving aggregate 80 which is connectable to the door lock switch 18, the indicator 74 and with the sections 26 and 226 of the pressure conduit. The operation of the central pneumatic system of this invention is as follows: upon actuating the door lock switch 18 the control circuit 16 energizes the driving motor 12 which drives the vane type pump 10 in a direction in which air is sucked out of the working conduit 26. During the starting operation, the venting valve 71 is closed. In the chamber 32 of the first control unit 28 which is connected via the conduit section 26 to the pump 20, an under pressure is developed and the control element 34 is moved in the direction of arrow 35 (FIG. 1). The projection 54 on the control element 34 strikes against the closing member 42 of the valve 44 and uncovers the opening 40 so that spaces 46 and 50 are in communication with the chamber 32. Consequently, under pressure generated by the pump 10 is also produced via nipple 52 and the conduit section 126 in the chamber 32 of the series connected second control unit 28 whose control element 34 is actuated in the before described manner. In displacing the control element 34 in direction of arrow 35 the corresponding push rods 56 are also displaced in this direction and the locking element 82 of the associated locking device 58 is swung in the direction of arrow 84 into its closing position in which it engages the latch holding support 60 (FIG. 2). In this fashion all locking devices 58 are consecutively brought in their locking positions. After actuation of the last control unit 128 which is most remote from the pressure source 10, the under pressures reaches the last pressure conduit section 226 and switch 70 becomes actuated. As a consequence, the driving motor 12 and hence the pump 10 are deenergized and the indicator 74 is turned on and the solenoid valve 71 is opened. The operator of the motor vehicle now can see that all locking devices 58 are brought in the desired working condition. The indicator 74 after a time interval preset by the timing switch 78 is disconnected. Simultaneously control electronic circuit 16 is made ready for connecting, after the actuation of the switch 18, a signal to driving motor 12 for running in the opposite direction in which the pump 10 delivers over-pressure in the pneumatic system so that all control members are displaced in a direction opposite to arrow 35. After acutation of the last control unit 128 this open working condition of the locking devices is again signaled by the indicator 74 to the car operator. The embodiment of this invention illustrated in FIG. 2 is used as a central locking system in a bus. The locking devices in this case pertain to stowages or storing spaces which in prior art embodiments must have been individually checked by the operator to make sure that after the actuation of the central control the locking devices are actually closed. In the locking system of this invention the indicator 74 and/or the position of the control knob 66 reliably indicates to the operator the actual condition of all locking devices. In another embodiment, the indicator 74 can be also an acoustic alarm which need not be arranged in the field of vision of the operator. In a passenger car, the central locking system includes six control units 28 assigned to a corresponding number of closeable openings in the car body. The condition of locking devices 58 for the four doors is recognizeable from the position of the control knobs 56 on the door rims. Accordingly, only the control units 128 which are associated with the trunk lock and with the fuel tank lock need be connected in series with a signal control unit 28 which is associated with a door opening. The car operator then recognizes from the position of the control knob of this door whether the trunk lid and the tank flap are also locked. When it is desired to open all locking devices 58 then the bidirectional pump 10 is operated to generate over pressure in the pneumatic system. As mentioned before, the control elements 34 are consecutively displaced opposite the arrow 35 (FIG. 1). At first, the closing member 42 of the valve 44 does not follow the upward movement of the assigned control element 34 inasmuch it is held in its present open position by the incoming over pressure. Only after all control elements in the series are displaced and the motor 10 with the pump 10 are deenergized by the pressure switch 70, the valves 44 close the corresponding openings 40. Due to the consecutive return movements of the control elements, all locking devices 58 disengage their holding supports 60 in the closure members and consequently all openings in the car body are unlocked. In this mode of operation, the pump 10 sucks outer air through the connection piece 14 and compresses the air in the pneumatic system. FIG. 3 illustrates a modification in which the projection 54 on the control element 34 is substituted by a nose 134 on a closing member 142 of the valve 44. In both embodiments the displacement of the control element in the direction of arrow 35 opens the opening 40. It is evident that the pneumatic system of this invention can be also operated in reverse order so that for closing the locking devices 58 air is compressed in the pneumatic system and only for the opening of the locks the pressure is sucked out from the system. It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of constructions differing from the types described above. While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a specific example of a center locking system for motor vehicles, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing any way from the spirit of the present invention. Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.
A central locking system for use in a motor vehicle includes a pressure source generating preferably an under pressure and an over pressure. The source is connected to a series of pneumatic control units each including a pressure chamber, a control element arranged in the chamber for movement between two control positions, an opening in the chamber communicating with a space enclosing a valve which normally closes the opening and the space being provided with a discharging nipple which is coupled via the subsequent series connected control units to an indicator device. The indicator device is arranged in the field of view of the car operator. In this manner, the operating condition of locking devices which are outside of view of the operator can be reliably checked.
4
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present application relates to a drilling fluid composition and method of use thereof in drilling subterranean wells. More particularly, the application relates to such a fluid which is flowable but non-liquid, i.e., is dry. 2. Description of the Prior Art In drilling wells in the earth it has long been the practice to employ a drill bit or similar device to drill a bore hole and to circulate past the drilling apparatus a drilling fluid to cool the drilling apparatus, lift cuttings out of the hole, and counterbalance the subterranean formation pressure encountered. A wide variety of drilling fluids have been used including aqueous base liquids, hydrocarbon base liquids, air or other gases, mists, foams, and the like. For many drilling applications, present-day drilling fluids are inadequate. For example, in some instances it is desirable to use a drilling fluid low in density. If a drilling fluid having the density of an aqueous liquid or a hydrocarbon base liquid is used, some formations being drilled are so friable and fragile that they will undesirably fracture under the weight of the column of drilling fluid. This can result in loss of the column of drilling fluid to the formation, loss of circulation, and disruption of the drilling operation. Known lighter density drilling fluids such as air, mist and foams are often too compressible, unstable, or have too high a fluid loss to be entirely acceptable. In other instances, especially in drilling wells which will produce gas, known drilling fluids often tend to at least partially penetrate the formation during drilling resulting in plugging of a sharp reduction in permeability of the formation through which the formation fluids will eventually be withdrawn. Thus, there is needed a low density, stable drilling fluid with a low fluid loss which causes a minimum of formation damage. OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is an object of this invention to provide a low density, stable drilling fluid composition which causes a minimum of formation damage and a method of use of such a composition. It is a further object to provide such a drilling fluid composition which is flowable but dry. It is a still further object to provide such a drilling fluid composition which will not leak water or other liquid to the formation. Other objects, advantages, and features of the invention will be apparent from the following description and appended claims. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The drilling fluid composition of the instant invention is prepared by combining a hydrophobic silicon dioxide and water under conditions of high shear to form a flowable, dry, powdered, solid product. The composition can be used by circulating it down the bore hole of a well being drilled past the drill bit and back out of the bore hole. Any cuttings, liquid or other material picked up by the drilling fluid in its passage through the well bore can be removed at the surface and the drilling fluid recirculated into the well bore. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The drilling fluid composition of this invention is a mixture of a hydrophobic silicon dioxide and water. Hydrophobic silicon dioxide is made from a form of amorphous silica, such as silica gel, precipitated silica or fumed silica by well-known treatments with silanes or polysiloxanes. Amorphous silicas are substantially dehydrated polymerized silica which may be considered as condensation polymers of silicic acid. Silica gel can be made by acidifying a soluble silicate solution, such as aqueous sodium silicate, to produce a hydrosol which forms a hydrogel. The hydrogel is washed to free it of electrolytes and dried to such an extent that the resulting gel is essentially free of water. Precipitated silica is formed by the destabilization of soluble silicates such as aqueous sodium silicate solution, usually by acid neutralization with a mineral acid such as hydrochloric acid. The destabilization is carried out in a solution which also contains polymerization inhibitors, such as inorganic salts, which cause an extremely fine precipitate of hydrated silica to be formed. This precipitate is filtered, washed essentially free of occluded salts and dried. Fumed silica, also called pyrogenic silica, can be formed by any of several well-known processes. Some processes depend on volatilizing and recondensing silica, others on reacting silicon tetrachloride with hydrogen and oxygen. In one high temperature arc process silica is used as part of the electrodes. The silica is vaporized and recondenses as a fine silica dust. In another process, crystalline silica such as sand is fed directly to a high temperature plasma jet where the finely divided fumed silica is formed. In still another process, the flame-hydrolysis process, silicon tetrachloride is reacted with hydrogen and oxygen in a flame to form a very finely divided silica plus hydrochloric acid. The hydrochloric acid can be removed by washing as with water or an alcohol in which the acid is soluble. Siloxanes are ether-like compounds made by hydrolyzing a silane. The drilling fluid of this invention is prepared by mixing together from about 2 to about 10 percent by weight hydrophobic silica with from about 98 to about 90 percent by weight water. Either fresh water or an oil field brine may be used. If less than about 2 percent hydrophobic silica is used, the resulting product is not completely dry, i.e., contains water as a separate phase. More than about 10 percent hydrophobic silica can be used but is not necessary and merely unnecessarily increases the cost of the mixture. The mixing is carried out under conditions of high shear. In the laboratory, a high speed blender or a dispersator can be used. In the field a rotating bladed stirrer, blender or any other mixer capable of imparting high shear to the mixture may be used. Mixing is easy to achieve and a mixing time of only five seconds is adequate for small batches. In large batches, a mixing time of up to 1 minute is satisfactory. A drilling fluid composition was prepared by mixing together 95 parts by weight water and 5 parts by weight hydrophobic silica made from fumedsilica and silane. The hydrophobic silica had a surface area of 225 square meters per gram, a primary particle size of 7 mμ, a bulk density of 3 pounds per cubic foot, a pH of from 8 to 10 and a specific gravity of 2.2. Mixing was carried out in a high-speed blender for five second. The resulting product was dry and powdered in appearance. The density was 0.345 grams per cubic centimeter or 2.9 pounds per gallon. This is relatively light for a drilling fluid and would enhance penetration of the drill bit during drilling. The product was pumpable and had a high lubricity. The apparent viscosity was 40 centipoises. This relatively high viscosity enabled the drilling fluid to satisfactorily support cuttings and remove the cuttings from the well bore when circulated past the drill bit during drilling operations. The fluid loss of this drilling fluid was determined at room temperature according to the procedures of API RP13B. The fluid loss was 8 cc in 30 minutes. There was no filter cake buildup on the filtration medium. The absence of a filter cake is indicative that the instant drilling fluid would have relatively little formation damage compared to commonly used aqueous base or hydrocarbon base drilling fluids. The foregoing discussion and description have been made in connection with preferred specific embodiments of the composition and process. However, it is to be understood that the discussion and description of the invention is only intended to illustrate and teach those skilled in the art how to practice the invention and is not to unduly limit the scope of the invention which is defined and claimed hereafter.
A dry powdered drilling fluid composition and method of use thereof prepared by mixing together under conditions of high shear a major portion of water and a minor portion of a hydrophobic silica.
8
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to transmissions and particularly to a range selector valve for heavy duty transmissions. 2. Brief Description of the Background Art Conventional, commercially available range selector valves for use in transmissions of heavy equipment are susceptible to the possibility that more than one gear will be engaged at any one time due to a hydraulic or electrical malfunction. For example, an inappropriate combination of solenoids may be electrically energized as a result of an electrical malfunction. In the range selector valve now marketed by Twin Disc Inc., of Racine, Wis., a latch plate is used to provide a fail in gear feature. The Twin Disc arrangement, as implemented, for example, on their TD-61-2607 transmission, uses a plurality of essentially parallel valves to select the transmission splitter and range settings. With this arrangement an accidental actuation could cause multiple settings to be achieved, resulting in severe consequences. The commercially available Detroit Diesel Allison 5000, 6000 series transmissions employ a cascade oil flow circuit to eliminate the possibility of accidental multiple gear engagements. When valve A is activated, the oil flow is diverted to the clutch A. Since all of the flow is diverted, no clutch down stream can be pressurized. If a clutch upstream from the clutch A is pressurized, all flow will be diverted to that clutch and clutch A will be deactivated. A number of selector valves are shown in the prior art. Representative of these efforts are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,135,610, 4,046,160, 3,990,553, 3,944,035, 3,941,007, 3,762,518, 3,468,194, and 3,274,858. It would be highly desirable to provide a transmission with a range selector valve that eliminates the possibility of simultaneous multiple gear engagements. Moreover, it would be highly desirable to provide such an arrangement that is simpler in design than those previously known. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a transmission with a range selector valve that eliminates the possibility of simultaneous multiple gear engagements. It is still another object of the present invention to provide such a system that is accomplished with a valve that is simpler in design than valves used in the past. It is still another object of the present invention to provide such a valve in which the fail in gear feature is inherent without having to use a latch plate. These and other objects of the present invention may be achieved by a transmission with a range selector valve that eliminates the possibility of unintentional, simultaneous, multiple gear engagements. The valve is operatively connectable to a high-low power shift transmission having high and low settings and a multiple speed power shift main transmission having a plurality of speed/direction settings. Both of these transmissions may be housed within a common case. The valve includes a means for selecting either the high or the low setting of the high-low power shift range transmission. Means are also provided for selecting either a first or second group of at least two speed/direction settings of the main transmission. Means also select a desired speed/direction setting from the selected group of main transmission speed/direction settings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a schematic view of one embodiment of a transmission in accordance with the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawing wherein like reference characters are used for like parts throughout, a transmission range selector valve 10 is connected to a source of hydraulic fluid such as a pump 12. The valve 10 is operable to select the appropriate clutch port 14 or 16 of a high-low power shift range transmission 17 and the appropriate speed or direction clutch ports 18 through 24 of a multiple speed power shift main transmission 19. While in the illustrated embodiment the multiple speed power shift main transmission 19 has only three range settings (high, intermediate and low) and a reverse setting, transmissions that utilize more or less settings may be implemented with the present invention as well. In the illustrated embodiment, the valve 10 is implemented by a neutral selector valve 26, a pair of two (2) position, three way selector valves 28 and 30 and one dual selector valve 32. These valves are pilot operated and solenoid controlled. The control of the neutral selector valve 26 is similar to the scheme used by Twin Disc to control their before mentioned latch plate. The purpose of the neutral selector valve is twofold. Its first purpose is to achieve neutral when the operator desires. The second purpose is to provide a fail-in-gear feature so that if electrical power is lost, the transmission will remain in the gear that it was in at the time of the loss of electrical power rather than reverting to neutral. These purposes are accomplished as described in the following paragraphs. Three major forces can act on the neutral selector valve spool 34. These are the hydraulic pressure force acting on the right end of the spool, the hydraulic pressure force acting on the left end of the spool and the force due to spring 36. Normally, solenoid 42 is de-energized and the pressure to the left end of spool 34 is blocked. In this case, the spring force is overcome by the hydraulic pressure force acting on the right end of spool 34 and the spool is forced to the left. Now oil pressure from pressure source 12 is in communication with the oil passages to the rest of the system 44. The same situation results if a loss of electrical power occurs. If the operator wants to put the transmission in neutral, switch 33 is closed, solenoid valve 42 opens so that hydraulic pressure from pressure source 47 acts on the left end of spool 34. This force, in addition to the force from spring 36, overcomes the hydraulic pressure acting on the right end of the spool. Spool 34 is forced to the right. Now the pressure from pressure source 12 is relieved directly to sump 38. Any residual pressure in the rest of the system is also relieved to sump because main line 44 is in communication with sump 38 through the annuli and drilled passages 39 in spool 34. When the entire machine is shut down, all hydraulic pressure is lost. The only force acting on the spool 34 is the force from spring 36. The spool is then forced to the right and the transmission reverts to neutral as described above. The valve 28, connected to the valve 26 by the leg 46 of the fluid path 44, includes a spool 48 which has two preferred positions determined by the detents 50 in the spool 48, each of which may be engaged by the spring biased ball 52 mounted in the valve wall 53. The spool 48, having an annulus 49, is biased to either its left or rightmost position according to the setting of the electrical switch 54 connecting to one or the other of the solenoid valves 56 or 57 each selectively connectable to a pump 59 or sump 61. The selected valve 56 or 57 moves the spool 48 so that communication is established with one of the clutch ports 14 or 16 to select a high or low range on the splitter or high-low power shift range transmission 17. For example, in the illustrated embodiment, the clutch port 14 connects to the "high" clutch which is responsible for ranges 4 through 6 while the clutch port 16 connects to the "low" clutch which is responsible for speed ranges 1 through 3 and direction range, "reverse." The other leg 58 of the flow path 44 connects to the second two position, three-way selector valve 30. The selector valve 30 is generally identical to the valve 28 and includes a spool 48, ball 52, detents 50, housing 53, and a pair of solenoid valves 56 and 57 which are selected by a switch 54 as described previously. However, when the spool 48 of the valve 30 is in its leftmost position, the leg 58 of the flow path 44 is connected to the flow path 60 while when the spool 48 is in its rightmost position, the fluid is connected to the flow path 62. The flow paths 60 and 62 are connected to the dual selector valve 32. The valve 32 includes a spool 64 with a pair of centrally located detents 66 which engage a spring biased ball 68 to define the two position settings of the spool 64 within the valve housing 63. The solenoid valves 70 and 71 are electrically connected to a switch 72 to determine the position of the spool 64. When the leftmost flow path 60 is selected, fluid flow may be directed by the annulus 74 to low or high range group of clutch ports 18 or 20. On the other hand, when the rightmost flow path 62 is selected, fluid flow may be diverted by the annulus 76 to either the intermediate or reverse group of clutch ports 22 and 24. The transmission range selector valve 10 operates within a transmission in the following manner. When the transmission is engaged, the solenoid valve 42 is not engaged and fluid flow is diverted from the pump 12 to the fluid flow path 44. Fluid pressure along the leg 46 is diverted to the desired clutch port 14 or 16 to select a high or low setting of a high-low power shift transmission 17 using the two-position three-way selector valve 28. The selection of the desired power shift main transmission speed/direction setting is such that it is impossible for there to be simultaneous multiple gear engagement. This is because the valve 30 is responsible for exclusively selecting either a first group of transmission speed/direction settings, in the illustrated embodiment, the settings corresponding to the clutch ports 18 and 20, or a second group of settings corresponding to the clutch ports 22 and 24. Once this exclusive decision is made, only one of the settings within a given group can be chosen by the dual selector valve 32, due to its configuration. Even in case of a total electrical malfunction it would be impossible for more than one setting to be selected on the multiple speed power shift main transmission 19. While the present invention has been described with respect to a single preferred embodiment, those skilled in the art will appreciate a number of modifications. Clearly, more or fewer transmission speeds can be controlled using the concepts of the present invention. The dual selector valve 32 could be replaced by two electrically or mechanically linked two-position, three-way selector valves. The illustrated embodiment could be adapted to an eight-speed transmission. Similarly the neutral selector valve 26 could be replaced by a dual selector valve if one branch of the circuit 44 requires different flow rates than the other branch. The valve spool detents could possibly be eliminated. Thus the appended claims are intended to cover all modifications and variations as come within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.
A transmission includes a range selector valve that eliminates the possibility of unintentional simultaneous multiple gear engagement by a fail safe arrangement of fluid flow paths and valving. A pair of parallel paths connect to clutches that operate a high-low power shift transmission and a multiple speed power shift main transmission. The fluid flow path to the multiple speed power shift main transmission clutches is valved to select either a first or second group of speed/direction settings. Each of these groups then includes at least one valve to select a particular transmission speed or direction setting.
5
BACKGROUND [0001] Anaerobic Digestion (AD) is a way of converting organic biomass to biogas. Hazardous chemical waste can also often be digested by microorganisms and disposed of by fermentation. [0002] AD produces biogas, a mixture of primarily methane and carbon dioxide, which can be used for energy. This is an advantage over landfilling waste. [0003] AD has three distinct phases: hydrolysis, acetogenesis and methanogenesis. Hydrolysis and acetogenesis often occur in the same tank and are thus sometimes considered one phase. [0004] In AD, anaerobic microorganisms ferment carbon substrates to products in the absence of oxygen or oxygen surrogates. For instance, some organisms transform hexose sugars to ethanol and CO 2 . Other common fermentation products include lactic acid, acetic acid, butyric acid, H 2 , and methane. Many of these compounds are themselves substrates for further anaerobic metabolism by other microorganisms. However, two fermentation products cannot be further fermented—methane and CO 2 . Thus, all anaerobic decomposition can ultimately lead to methane and carbon dioxide. [0005] AD biologically is generally considered to occur in two phases: (1) Breakdown of sugars and carbohydrates to smaller molecules, particularly organic acids such as acetic acid and butyric acid. This is known as hydrolysis or sometimes as acid production. And (2) production of methane and CO 2 from the smaller organic molecules produced in phase (1), known as methanogenesis. Different organisms catalyze phases (1) and (2). Acid forming microorganisms and other microrganisms, that include both facultative and obligate anaerobic microorganisms catalyze phase (1), the hydrolysis phase. Organisms that produce methane are called methanogens. Methanogens can produce methane from acetate by the reaction acetate+H 2 O->methane+HCO 3 − . Methanogens can also produce methane from hydrogen and CO 2 by the reaction 4 H 2 +HCO 3 − +H + ->CH 4 +3 H 2 O. The hydrogen for methanogenesis from carbon dioxide in nature comes from fermentation of reduced carbon substrates. Only methanogens—which are obligate anaerobes—produce methane, hydrogen and carbon dioxide through the cleaving of acetate and formate and remove protons from the cytoplasm. [0007] Methanogenesis is the most essential part of AD as it is the only stage that removes protons from the cytoplasm to allow the preceding steps to proceed. A well-functioning methanogenesis stage is key to maintaining a functional and efficient AD systems. Without it AD systems become septic and fail. [0008] Of all metabolic pathways, methanogenesis yields the least amount of energy as the end product—methane—has a high enthalpy. Consequently there is minimal energy yield for the organisms involved causing them to grow very slowly. System design to retain biomass is critical. Traditional AD systems accomplish stability through large tanks that provide adequate time for a stable methanogen population to be maintained. This results in large tanks that are expensive to build and are not optimum. [0009] Even in such tanks the process is always somewhat incomplete: some portion of the substrate is not digested all the way to methane and CO 2 . And the speed of the process is a limiting factor that determines the size of reactors needed. Thus, more efficient and faster methods of anaerobic digestion are needed, and digester systems that facilitate or allow more efficient and faster anaerobic digestion are needed. SUMMARY [0010] The inventors have developed improved methods of fermentation that ferment organic substrates to biogas more quickly and more completely than typical current methods. [0011] One embodiment provides a method of producing biogas comprising: [0012] (a)(i) grinding an organic substrate comprising solids to produce smaller solids particles (thus allowing for more intimate contact of the substrate with the microorganisms); [0013] (a)(ii) transferring the substrate with smaller solids particles to a hydrolysis tank; [0014] (a)(iii) hydrolyzing the substrate in an anaerobic condition in a hydrolysis tank comprising Fe 3+ particles; [0015] (a)(iv) transferring effluent from the hydrolysis tank to a solids separator [0016] (a)(v) separating solids from the hydrolysis effluent to produce a solids fraction and a screened hydrolysis effluent; [0017] (b)(i) transferring the screened hydrolysis effluent for a period of time 1 to a methanogenesis tank 1 comprising fixed film methanogens or granular methanogens and producing biogas and methanogenesis tank 1 liquid effluent; [0018] (b)(ii) transferring the methanogenesis tank 1 liquid effluent to a methanogenesis tank 2 comprising fixed film methanogens or granular methanogens during period of time 1 and producing biogas and methanogenesis tank 2 liquid effluent in methanogenesis tank 2 ; [0019] (b)(iii) discharging methanogenesis tank 2 liquid effluent during period of time 1 ; [0020] (c) and then switching the order of methanogenesis tanks 1 and 2 and [0021] (c)(i) transferring the screened hydrolysis effluent for a period of time 2 to said methanogenesis tank 2 and producing biogas and methanogenesis tank 2 liquid effluent; [0022] (c)(ii) transferring the methanogenesis tank 2 liquid effluent to said methanogenesis tank 1 during period of time 2 and producing biogas and methanogenesis tank 1 liquid effluent in methanogenesis tank 1 ; [0023] (c)(iii) discharging methanogenesis tank 1 liquid effluent during period of time 2 . [0024] In this embodiment, ferric iron is included in the hydrolysis tank. Typically it is fed daily to the hydrolysis tank. We have found that the presence of Fe 3+ particles increases the rate and efficiency of the hydrolysis stage, broadly defined as producing substrates for methanogenesis, which may include sugars, organic acids, H 2 , and other organic molecules and inorganic molecules that are substrates for methanogenesis. The ferric iron functions as an electron sink or electron acceptor. Other metallic electron acceptors may be used in place of ferric iron. [0025] The above embodiment also includes a solids separation step after the hydrolysis step to produce a screened hydrolysis effluent that we have found is more suitable for the methanogenesis stage. We have found that this also improves the speed and efficiency of the methanogenesis step. The term “screened” hydrolysis effluent is used to mean that it is depleted in solids and particles as compared to the hydrolysis effluent before the solids separator. The screened hydrolysis effluent may not be totally clear or totally free of solids and particles. [0026] It further includes using separate tanks for the hydrolysis and methanogenesis stages and using two (or more) methanogenesis tanks in sequence, and switching the order of the two (or more) methanogenesis tanks periodically. This is also found to improve the speed and efficiency of the process. [0027] Another embodiment provides a method of producing biogas comprising: [0028] (a)(i) transferring an organic substrate to a hydrolysis tank; [0029] (a)(ii) hydrolyzing the substrate in anaerobic condition in a hydrolysis tank to produce a hydrolysis liquid effluent; [0030] (b)(i) transferring the hydrolysis effluent for a period of time 1 to a methanogenesis tank 1 comprising fixed film methanogens or granular methanogens and producing biogas and methanogenesis tank 1 liquid effluent; [0031] (b)(ii) transferring the methanogenesis tank 1 liquid effluent to a methanogenesis tank 2 comprising fixed film methanogens or granular methanogens during period of time 1 and producing biogas and methanogenesis tank 2 liquid effluent in methanogenesis tank 2 ; [0032] (b)(iii) discharging methanogenesis tank 2 liquid effluent during period of time 1 ; [0033] (c) and then switching the order of methanogenesis tanks 1 and 2 and [0034] (c)(i) transferring the hydrolysis effluent for a period of time 2 to said methanogenesis tank 2 and producing biogas and methanogenesis tank 2 liquid effluent; [0035] (c)(ii) transferring the methanogenesis tank 2 liquid effluent to said methanogenesis tank 1 during period of time 2 and producing biogas and methanogenesis tank 1 liquid effluent in methanogenesis tank 1 ; [0036] (c)(iii) discharging methanogenesis tank 1 liquid effluent during period of time 2 ; [0037] (d) passing the biogas produced in methanogenesis tanks 1 and 2 through a foam trap to trap foam and separate it from the biogas; and [0038] (e) collecting the biogas downstream of the foam trap. [0039] The biogas is collected from both methanogenesis tanks 1 and 2 . It is ordinarily collected from the dome of the tanks, allowing the gas to pass through a foam trap prior to the pressure equalizing tanks in preparation for gas conditioning. [0040] The process of anaerobic digestion often produces surfactants that cause foam to form. Foam in the biogas often causes many problems including corrosion and plugging of downstream gas units, especially when foam and vapor condenses at cooler temperatures. Including the foam trap in the process minimizes or eliminates these problems. [0041] Another embodiment provides a method of producing biogas comprising: [0042] (a)(i) transferring an organic substrate to a hydrolysis tank; [0043] (a)(ii) hydrolyzing the substrate in anaerobic condition in a hydrolysis tank to produce a hydrolysis liquid effluent; [0044] (b)(i) transferring the hydrolysis effluent for a period of time 1 to a methanogenesis tank 1 comprising fixed film methanogens or granular methanogens and producing biogas and methanogenesis tank 1 liquid effluent; [0045] (b)(ii) transferring biogas from the methanogenesis tank 1 through a foam trap to trap foam and separate it from the biogas; and [0046] (c) collecting the biogas downstream of the foam trap. [0047] Another embodiment provides a method of producing biogas comprising: [0048] (a)(i) transferring an organic substrate to a hydrolysis tank; [0049] (a)(ii) hydrolyzing the substrate in anaerobic condition in a hydrolysis tank to produce a hydrolysis liquid effluent; [0050] (b)(i) transferring the hydrolysis effluent for a period of time 1 to a methanogenesis tank 1 comprising granulated and fixed film methanogens and producing biogas and methanogenesis tank 1 liquid effluent; [0051] (b)(ii) recycling liquid in methanogenesis tank 1 to promote growth of granulated and attached biomass in the methanegenesis tank 1 reactors to improve retention and reduce volume required for the methanogenesis tank; [0052] (b)(iii) transferring biogas from the methanogenesis tank 1 through a foam trap to trap residual foam and separate it from the biogas; and [0053] (c) collecting the biogas downstream of the foam trap. [0054] Another embodiment provides a method of producing biogas comprising: [0055] (a)(i) transferring an organic substrate to a hydrolysis tank; [0056] (a)(ii) hydrolyzing the substrate in anaerobic condition in a hydrolysis tank to produce a hydrolysis liquid effluent; [0057] (b)(i) transferring the hydrolysis effluent for a period of time 1 to a methanogenesis tank 1 comprising fixed film methanogens or granular methanogens and producing biogas and methanogenesis tank 1 liquid effluent; [0058] wherein the hydrolysis tank and methanogenesis tank 1 each have a recirculation loop and one or more instrument detectors for monitoring one or more parameters of the liquid in the tank in the recirculation loop, and the method comprises recirculating liquid from each tank back into the same tank through the recirculation loop for that tank, and monitoring one or more parameters in each tank with the one or more instrument detectors in the recirculation loop of that tank, wherein the parameters are selected from the group consisting of pH, ORP, ionic strength, chemical oxygen demand, and dissolved methane concentration; wherein each recirculation loop has at least one valve separating the recirculation loop from its tank, and the at least one valve can be closed to allow the one or more instrument detectors to be removed for cleaning or service without allowing air to contact liquid in the tank connected to the recirculation loop. [0059] Another embodiment provides a method of producing biogas comprising: [0060] (a)(i) transferring an organic substrate to a hydrolysis tank; [0061] (a)(ii) hydrolyzing the substrate in anaerobic condition in a hydrolysis tank to produce a hydrolysis liquid effluent; [0062] (b)(i) transferring the hydrolysis liquid effluent for a period of time 1 to a methanogenesis tank 1 comprising fixed film methanogens or granular methanogens and producing biogas and methanogenesis tank 1 liquid effluent; [0063] (b)(ii) transferring the methanogenesis tank 1 liquid effluent to a methanogenesis tank 2 comprising fixed film methanogens or granular methanogens during period of time 1 and producing biogas and methanogenesis tank 2 liquid effluent in methanogenesis tank 2 ; [0064] (b)(iii) discharging methanogenesis tank 2 liquid effluent during period of time 1 ; [0065] (c) and then switching the order of methanogenesis tanks 1 and 2 and [0066] (c)(i) transferring the liquid hydrolysis effluent for a period of time 2 to said methanogenesis tank 2 and producing biogas and methanogenesis tank 2 liquid effluent in methanogenesis tank 2 ; [0067] (c)(ii) transferring the methanogenesis tank 2 liquid effluent to said methanogenesis tank 1 during period of time 2 and producing biogas and methanogenesis tank 1 liquid effluent in methanogenesis tank 1 ; [0068] (c)(iii) discharging methanogenesis tank 1 liquid effluent during period of time 2 . [0069] In all these methods, the liquid in the hydrolysis tank is preferably intermittently or continuously mixed. Mixing keeps any solids suspended so they can be more efficiently digested and broken down. It is also important to periodically remove undigestible solids from the hydrolysis tank. This can be accomplished by having the solids evenly suspended when effluent is removed from the hydrolysis tank. [0070] Another embodiment provides a mobile system for digesting organic matter and producing biogas, the system comprising: a shipping container or trailer adapted for carriage on a truck or train; the shipping container or trailer containing: (a) a digester comprising: (i) a pump for pumping a liquid containing organic material into (ii) a hydrolysis tank; the hydrolysis tank hydraulically connected to (iii) a methanogenesis tank comprising fixed film methanogens and an outlet for liquid effluent; (iv) a heater adapted for heating liquid in the container or liquid fed into the hydrolysis tank or methanogenesis tank; (v) a plurality of instruments having detectors in contact with liquid or gas in the hydrolysis tank and methanogenesis tank; the instruments linked to a (b) computer for receiving data; and the computer linked to a (c) modem for transmitting data from the shipping container or trailer to a remote computer. [0071] Another embodiment provides a method of producing biogas comprising: heating clean water to steam or hot water; mixing the steam or hot water with an organic substrate; and fermenting the organic substrate to biogas. [0072] Heaters for anaerobic systems typically involve metal heating elements in contact with the liquid containing substrate being digested. The organic matter in anaerobic digesters, including organic solids being digested, hydrolytic microorganisms, and methanogenic microorganisms, and other biomass, all can corrode heating elements and shorten the lives of heating elements. By heating clean water to produce hot water or steam and mixing the hot water or steam with the an organic substrate to be digested, instead of heating the organic substrate directly, we have been able to extend the life of the heating element. [0073] Another embodiment provides a method of producing biogas comprising: (a) hydrolyzing an organic substrate in anaerobic condition in a hydrolysis tank to produce a hydrolysis liquid effluent; (b) transferring the hydrolysis liquid effluent to a methanogenesis tank 1 comprising fixed film methanogens or granular methanogens and producing biogas and methanogenesis tank 1 liquid effluent; wherein the methanogenesis tank 1 has a liquid substrate and a recirculation loop for recirculating liquid substrate in the methanogenesis tank, the recirculation loop comprising a heating element in contact with liquid substrate in the recirculation loop; (c) recirculating the liquid substrate through the recirculation loop and returning the liquid substrate to remainder of the methanogenesis tank; and (d) heating the liquid substrate in the recirculation loop with the heating element; wherein the liquid substrate in the recirculation loop is depleted in the fixed film methanogens or the granular methanogens compared to liquid substrate in the remainder of the methanogenesis tank. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0074] FIG. 1 shows the components of a digester system and a method of producing biogas. [0075] FIG. 2 shows an anaerobic digestion tank with a recirculation loop and a monitoring instrument in the loop. [0076] FIG. 3 shows methanogenesis tanks with a foam trap and components for collecting biogas. [0077] FIG. 4 shows a mobile system for digesting organic material and producing biogas. The mobile system can be shipped to a distant site and used to test and demonstrate the methods of the invention on specific substrates at distant sites, while still being controlled and monitored at a base location. [0078] FIG. 5 shows use of a heater to heat feed water for mixing with the feed organic substrate in the hydrolysis tank. [0079] FIG. 6 shows use of a recycle flow and a heater element with a methanogenesis tank. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0080] The inventors have developed new methods and systems for anaerobic digestion of organic material to biogas. [0081] One method and a system of the invention is shown in FIG. 1 . It involves transferring an organic substrate 1 to a hydrolysis tank 11 . The organic substrate 1 can be any suitable organic substrate. In some cases it is chemical manufacturing waste. In other embodiments, it is agricultural or food waste, for instance, potato skins, banana skins, food grease or food oil, corn stover, etc. In other embodiments it is municipal garbage, municipal waste, sewage, or livestock manure. In other embodiments, it is slaughterhouse waste. It also may be, of course, a combination of wastes, which may include these wastes or others. [0082] In FIG. 1 , the organic substrate 1 , where it includes solids, may be processed by grinding in grinder 2 to produce smaller solids to enhance hydrolysis. In a specific embodiment, the organic substrate 1 is processed by grinding to a particle size of 6 mm or less. In some cases, the organic substrate is or includes solids, in others it may be or include a liquid. [0083] The organic substrate 1 is transferred to hydrolysis tank 11 , where it is hydrolyzed in anaerobic conditions. The hydrolysis tank may optionally include ferric iron (Fe 3+ ). The ferric iron can be in the form of magnetite or other forms of solid or dissolved ferric iron. The ferric iron is believed to improve the efficiency of anaerobic hydrolysis because it functions as an electron sink. It is believed that other metallic electron sinks (electron acceptors) could replace the ferric iron. These would include, for instance, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn cations. In other embodiments, the hydrolysis tank does not include ferric iron or any other metallic cation electron sink. [0084] In the hydrolysis tank the substrate is hydrolyzed and fermented to smaller molecules that are substrates for methanogenesis. The content of the hydrolysis tank is preferably intermittently or continuously mixed. A hydrolysis effluent 12 is produced and is transferred to a first methanogenesis tank 21 . The hydrolysis effluent 12 is preferably processed by a solids separator 17 to separate out a solids fraction 14 , which is typically removed from the system, and a screened hydrolysis effluent 13 . We have found that placement of a solid separator at this stage improves the efficiency and speed of the methanogenesis stage. [0085] The solids separator 17 in one embodiment is a screw type solids separator. Other types of solids separators may also be used. [0086] In all the methods described herein, the liquid in the hydrolysis tank is preferably intermittently or continuously mixed. Mixing keeps any solids suspended so they can be more efficiently digested and broken down. It is also important to periodically remove undigestible solids from the hydrolysis tank. This can be accomplished by having the solids evenly suspended when effluent is removed from the hydrolysis tank. Selection of mixing intensity, frequency, and equipment used for mixing can be optimized to effect conversion of the substrate or organic acids and other soluble organic compounds. [0087] The screened hydrolysis effluent is transferred to methanogenesis tank 21 . This is an anaerobic tank holding methanogens. Methanogens are obligate anaerobic microorganisms classified as archaea. The methanogenesis tank preferably contains a substrate 41 on which methanogens can grow to form a fixed film 51 . A good substrate is JAEGER SURFPAC. The methanogenesis tank 21 may contain granular bed methanogens 52 in addition to fixed film methanogens 51 or instead of fixed film methanogens 51 . [0088] Methanogenesis tank 21 produces methanogenesis tank liquid effluent 21 e. [0089] The biogas from methanogenesis tank one ( 21 ) accumulates in a headspace 25 . [0090] Methanogenesis tank one liquid effluent 21 e passes to methanogenesis tank two ( 22 ). We have found that using two methanogenesis tanks in sequence gives more complete digestion of the substrate and more complete conversion to biogas. Having a second methanogenesis tank also helps trap granules of methanogens to prevent loss of the methanogens. It helps trap the granules because the gas production is slower in the second methanogenesis tank since the substrate is depleted by the first methanogenesis tank. Less gas production means less bubbles trapped in the granules and therefore the granules are less buoyant in the second methanogenesis tank and less likely to rise and be carried out in the liquid effluent 22 e. [0091] Having recycle loops in each of the methanogenesis reactors (tanks) also serves to favor the growth of granulated and attached film biomass. Over time, poorly settling fluffy biomass is removed while heavier granules and film attached to the substrate for fixed film biomass is retained. [0092] A liquid effluent 22 e is withdrawn from the second methonagenesis tank 22 and biogas comprising CH 4 and CO 2 is also produced and collected. [0093] The biogas in methanogenesis tank 22 also accumulates in a headspace 25 before being collected or vented. [0094] We have found that it is beneficial to switch the order of methanogenesis tank one ( 21 ) and methonagenesis tank two ( 22 ). This improves the functioning of both tanks and improves the speed and efficiency of biogas production from the substrate. The second tank in order receives less food (substrate for methanogens), so the microorganisms would gradually die back if the tank remained in the second position permanently. By switching the order periodically, we can maintain a high biomass density in the second tank that completes the digestion of the feedstock to biogas with high yield. It also, as mentioned above helps to trap the granular bed methanogens in the second methanogenesis tank before they escape the system. [0095] The methanogenesis tanks one and two ( 21 and 22 ) can be switched in order at fixed periods of times, for instance every 24 hours or every 12 hours. Alternatively, we have found good results by switching based on parameters that are easily measured using instruments. One such measurement is the oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) of either or both tanks. For example, the first methanogenesis tank in sequence (the lead methanogenesis tank) should have an ORP of −300 to −550 mV. The ORP in the lead methanogenesis tank rises over time, and it can be switched when the ORP in it rises to a present value. For instance, the switch may be made when the ORP in the lead methanogenesis tank rises to an ORP in the range of −300 to −400 mV. For instance, the preset value to trigger the switch may be a specific ORP between −300 and −400 mV, for instance −350 mV. The second methanogenesis tank (the lag methanogenesis tank) in sequence should have an ORP of about −300 to −550 mV. The ORP in the lag methanogenesis tank falls over time (becomes more negative). We have in some cases executed the switch when the ORP in the lag methanogenesis tank falls to an ORP in the range of −450 mV to −550 mV. When the second reactor is moved to the first position, its ORP will rise because it will begin receiving hydrolysis tank effluent, which has a higher ORP. [0096] The specific ORP ranges listed in the foregoing description are presented for illustration purposes and may vary from feedstock to feedstock. [0097] In a specific embodiment, the time period between switching the order the two methanogen tanks is between 6 and 24 hours inclusive. In another embodiment, it is between 6 and 48 hours, inclusive. [0098] The hydrolysis tank 11 , in addition to preferably containing Fe 3+ , preferably contains a microorganism that that reduces Fe 3+ and produces at least one volatile organic acid from organic substrates. Thus, Fe 3+ is an electron acceptor for anaerobic respiration. This improves the speed and efficiency of anaerobic digestion. The microorganism that reduces Fe 3+ and produces at least one volatile organic acid from organic substrates in one embodiment is or is derived from ATCC 55339. [0099] Each of the tanks preferably has a recirculation loop, as shown in FIG. 2 for hydrolysis tank 11 . Recirculation loop 63 allows recirculation of fluid in the tank. This is one way of maintaining an upward flow of liquid in the main portion of the tank to stir the contents of the tank and maintain good mixing and less settling. This improves the efficiency of the digestion. A recirculation pump 61 is coupled to recirculation loop 63 to pump liquid through the loop. In specific embodiments, the recirculation loop 63 includes one or more probes 62 to measure one or more parameters of the liquid in the loop, such as pH, ORP, total organic carbon, and chemical oxygen demand. The liquid in the recirculation loop 63 of course is the same liquid in the tank 11 , so this allows one to measure these parameters in the tank. The recirculation loop 63 can include valves 65 that can be shut off to separate the recirculation loop. This allows us to remove the probe or probes 62 for cleaning or calibration, without emptying the entire reactor and without exposing the contents of the tank to oxygen. [0100] Another embodiment of the invention is the use of a pressure gauge near the bottom of the tank and a gas pressure gauge in the head space of the tank to measure liquid level in the tank. By the difference between pressure in the bottom of the tank and gas pressure above the liquid level, one can calculate the height of the liquid by use of a density of 1.00 kg/L or whatever the density of the liquid in the tank actually is. Thus, another embodiment is a method of calculating height of liquid in a tank, wherein the tank comprises a liquid level and a gas headspace above the liquid level, the method comprising measuring liquid pressure at a known position A near the bottom of the tank and measuring gas pressure in a headspace above the liquid, and calculating the height of the liquid above the known position A by the difference in pressure between the gas pressure in the headspace and the liquid pressure at position A. [0101] In yet another embodiment, one or more hydrolysis tanks and/or one or more methanogenesis tanks comprise a gas pressure probe in a headspace of the tank and a liquid pressure probe near the bottom of the tank. [0102] The hydrolysis tank 11 and first methanogenesis tank 21 and second methanogenesis tank 22 may each comprise a plurality of vessels, although they are each shown as a single vessel in FIG. 1 . [0103] Each of the reactors—the hydrolysis reactor, the methanogenesis reactor 1 and methanogenesis reactor 2 —has a hydraulic retention time, which is the average time that the liquid is contained in the reactor. This is equal to the inflow flow rate (or outflow flow rate) divided by the liquid volume of the reactor. With the systems and methods described herein, surprisingly small hydraulic retention times can be used while still achieving almost complete conversion of the substrate to biogas. In one typical embodiment, the hydrolysis tank has a hydraulic retention time of 2 days, and methanogenesis tanks 1 and 2 each have a hydraulic retention time of 1 day, and the entire system has a hydraulic retention time of 4 days. [0104] In specific embodiments, the hydrolysis tank has a hydraulic retention time of 9 hours or less, 24-96 hours, 24-72 hours, 36-48 hours, or 72 hours or less. [0105] In specific embodiments, methanogenesis tank 1 and methanogenesis tank 2 each have a hydraulic retention time of 48 hours or less, 12-48 hours, 24-38 hours, 12-36 hours, 24-36 hours, or 12-24 hours. [0106] The total hydraulic retention time is the hydraulic retention time for the whole system, i.e., the sum of the hydraulic retention times of all hydrolysis tanks and methanogenesis tanks connected in series. In specific embodiments, the total hydraulic retention time is 8 days or less, 6 days or less, 4 days or less, about 4 days, 3-6 days, 4-8 days, 3-8 days, or 2-8 days. [0107] Referring to FIG. 3 , the biogas accumulates in headspace 25 of the one or more methanogenesis tanks 21 and 22 . Where there are two or more methanogenesis tanks, the headspace of the two or more tanks is preferably connected, as shown in FIG. 3 . There may be valves that can be closed to separate the tanks. [0108] The headspace biogas in one embodiment is collected through a foam trap 62 . The foam trap 62 has a large amount of surface area, on which foam and other liquids are trapped or condense. [0109] The foam trap is advantageously used because foam can plug the gas collection system and can cause corrosion of system hardware. [0110] Upstream from the foam trap, in some embodiments, may be a gas/solids separator 61 . This also separates solids from the gas and separates a significant amount of liquids and foam from the gas as well. The gas/solids separator typically has an over-and-under flow pattern with a wide section, then a narrow passageway, then another wide section. Solids and liquids tend to be trapped and fall back down in the narrow passageway. [0111] After the foam trap 62 , the biogas is collected in biogas collector 63 . This is preferably expandable to maintain the same gas pressure at all times. [0112] In all the methods, systems, and devices described herein, the methanogens may be retained as fixed film methanogens or as granular bed methanogens. In some embodiments, both fixed film and granular bed methanogens are present. [0113] FIG. 5 shows a system and method of the invention with hydrolysis tank 11 . Organic substrate 1 is shown being added to the hydrolysis tank 11 for hydrolysis of the organic substrate 1 . In FIG. 5 , organic substrate 1 also passes through a grinder 2 to grind solids to smaller solids particles for better hydrolysis and digestion of the solids. In FIG. 5 a heater 101 is shown. Water is heated by the heater 101 to produce hot water or steam, and the hot water or steam is mixed with the organic substrate. The hot water or steam may be mixed with the organic substrate before it is added to the hydrolysis tank, as is shown in FIG. 5 , or can be mixed with the organic substrate in the hydrolysis tank. Either method accomplishes the goal of heating the organic substrate achieve an optimal temperature to promote faster and more efficient hydrolysis. With the method shown in FIG. 5 , the heating element of the heater 101 only contacts clean water, not the organic substrate. This prolongs the life of the heater. Also, it may be advantageous to premix the hot water or steam with the organic substrate before adding the organic substrate to the hydrolysis tank 11 . This prevents contacting the microorganisms in the hydrolysis tank with extremely hot water or steam, which would happen if the hot water or steam is mixed directly with the contents of the hydrolysis tank, and which might kill some of the hydrolytic microorganisms. The term “clean water” in this context is intended to mean not that the water is necessarily absolutely pure, but that it has less organic matter and other substances that can damage the heating element than the remainder of the “organic substrate.” [0114] FIG. 6 shows the use of a heating element in a recirculation loop connected with a methanogenesis tank. In FIG. 6 , methanogenesis tank 22 is shown with a recirculation loop 66 . Liquid substrate 22 s of the methanogenesis tank is circulated through the recirculation loop 66 , and it contacts a heating element 102 in the recirculation loop 66 . This allows heating of the liquid substrate 22 s in the methanogenesis tank to an optimum temperature for methanogenesis. The recirculation loop 66 is shown connected to the methanogenesis tank 22 near the upper level of the liquid substrate 22 s. Since the granules 52 and fixed film methanogens 51 are heavier than water, they will tend to fall in the tank and be depleted in the liquid substrate in the recirculation loop 66 as compared to the liquid substrate in the remainder of the methanogenesis tank 22 . This tends to save the heating element by minimizing its contact with solids and methanogenic granules and microorganisms. [0115] The use of a recirculation flow as is shown in FIG. 6 , with or without a heating element in the recirculation loop, is beneficial. By optimizing the rate of recirculation, growth of granular methanogens is optimized while preventing washout of the granular methanogens. Too rapid a flow can lead to washout of the granular methanogens through liquid effluent 22 e. But lower flow rates promote growth of granular methanogens. [0116] FIG. 4 shows a mobile system of the invention for digesting organic matter and producing biogas. The mobile system 70 comprises a shipping container or trailer 71 adapted for carriage on a truck or train. The shipping container or trailer contains: (a) a digester 72 comprising: (i) a pump 73 for pumping a liquid containing organic material into (ii) a hydrolysis tank 11 ; the hydrolysis tank 11 hydraulically connected to (iii) a methanogenesis tank 21 comprising fixed film methanogens. The methanogenesis tank comprises (iv) an outlet 23 for liquid effluent. The digester further comprises (v) a heater 74 adapted for heating liquid contained in or fed into the hydrolysis tank or methanogenesis tank; and (vi) a plurality of instruments 75 having detectors in contact with liquid or gas in the hydrolysis tank and methanogenesis tank. The instruments are linked to (b) a computer 76 for receiving data; and the computer linked to (c) a modem 77 for transmitting data 78 from the shipping container to a remote computer 81 . The remote computer may be at a distance from the shipping container, that is, across the country or the world. [0117] The remote computer and the system may be configured to allow the remote computer to control and monitor the digester. [0118] The mobile system may also include a solids separator operating between the hydrolysis tank and the methanogenesis tank, as described above. [0119] The mobile system allows the digester system to be transported by truck or rail to a distant site to test and demonstrate the performance of the system on a particular feedstock on location and under the conditions found at the location. The digester can be remotely monitored and controlled by persons at a distance so that those persons do not need to travel also to the site where the system is tested. EXAMPLE [0000] The Novus Bio-Catalytic (NBC™) mobile pilot is a trailer-mounted, multi-cell, two stage anaerobic digestion system. The system currently consists of 3 digestion cells, but has been designed to accommodate up to 7 cells. Each digestion cell is 4 feet in diameter (O.D.) and 9 feet tall with a liquid capacity of 3,000 gallons (8′ liquid column) and a gas headspace of 50.3 cubic ft. In the 3 cell configuration, liquid capacity is 9,000 gallons. The pilot is housed in a semi-trailer with a 50′×7′ box, ventilated and with electric baseboard heating. The pilot is designed to digest a variety of of solid and liquid organic substrates. In the current 3 cell configuration, the digestion loading capacity of the system is: 1. Solids capacity: 1000 lbs (dry wt.) per day 2. Liquid Capacity: 500 gallons per day The pilot system consists of the following: 1. Subsystem 1000: Feed Preparation and Pumping 2. Subsystem 2000: Hydrolysis 3. Subsystem 3000: Solids separation and recycle 4. Subsystem 4000: Methanogenesis and Polishing 5. Subsystem 5000: Gas Handling The stages and their modes of operation are described in the following sections. Subsystem 1000: Feedstock Preparation and Mixing [0000] The purpose of Subsystem 1000 is to convert solid and liquid substrate to a slurry suitable for hydrolytic digestion. The subsystem blends solid and liquid substrates with magnetite into a slurry, reducing the particulate size of the solid substrate so that it can pass through a ¼″ opening and blend it with liquid waste and magnetite additive into a slurry. Stage Subsystem 1000 components include a feed pump (P1000) followed by a grinder with an open feed hopper for inlet.loop Subsystem 1000 includes a influent pump to the grinder (40 gpm capacity), a feed water heater (A.O. Smith model ATI 305201, 175,000 Btu/hour capacity), and a feed pump to the hydrolysis tank, and a feed make-up water tank, for water to add to the hydrolysis tank as needed. Subsystem 2000: Hydrolysis [0000] Subsystem 2000 solubilizes the solid particulate in the slurry to liquid organic acids (hereinafter referred to as leachate) through the biochemical and bacteriological catalysis of water and complex molecules (hydrolysis). The slurry is mixed and digested under anaerobic conditions at 35° C. to facilitate the converting the solids into volatile acids. Feedstock slurry is pumped via P1000 into hydrolysis tank TK2001, while leachate/slurry is pumped out of the tank via another pump. The hydrolysis tank (Ace Roto Mold VT1000-64, 1000 gallons). The contents in the hydrolysis tank are mixed by a ½ hp mixer with a variable motor. A discharge pump withdraws slurry from the top of the tank. Digestion parameters—[pH, ORP and Temperature]—are monitored by instrument probes mounted in the recirculation pipe. Liquid level in the tank is monitored through a pressure element PE2001, set to maintain the preset level. In addition, a high level alarm LAH 2001 shut down the pumps P1000. The pumps are then restarted only after intervention and reset by the operator. Parameters monitored in Subsystem 2000 are: [0000] Type of Parameter Control Input Output output Measured AIT 2001.1 Pump P2000 Digital pH On/Off signal AIT 2001.1 Pump P2000 Digital pH RPM PE2001 Cut off signal Digital Tank Level to P1000 LSH 2001/ High Level Digital Tank Level PE2001 Alarm LAH PE2001 Cut off signal Digital Tank Level to P1000, Temperature Thermostat Digital Reactor TIT2001 Control Temperature Signal AIT 2001.2 Record ORP Digital Reactor ORP Subsystem 3000: Solids Separation and Recycle [0000] Subsystem 3000 consists of the solids separation and leachate recycle systems. The liquefied slurry from the hydrolysis tank is pumped to the Solids Separator (Vincent Corp. Model KP-10, 10 gpm capacity) using the Centrifugal Pump (American Machine Tool, AMPT-315-95A, 40 gpm capacity). Liquid leachate from the Separator is pumped to Methanogenesis Subsystem 4000 on a continuous basis. Subsystem 4000: Methanogenesis [0000] Subsystem 4000 converts the leachate produced in Subsystem 2000 (Hydrolysis) into biogas. The clarified leachate from the solids separator is collected by gravity into tank TK-4000 that serves as a feed pump station for this Subsystem. The leachate is pumped by pumps P-4000.a or 4000.b The pump P-4000.a is oversized to keep the tank TK4000 mixed. TK4000 will have 2 chambers connected by an open loop at the bottom. A portion of the flow will be directed into TK4001 or TK4002 and P4000.b is a variable speed low flow pump. The leachate is passed through loose fill media under strict anaerobic conditions at 35° C. to facilitate the conversion of the acids into biogas. Leachate is pumped into the tank at the bottom and is removed at the top of the tank by gravity. TK4001 (methanogenesis tank 1 ) is mixed via recycle pump P4001, while TK4002 (methanogenesis tank 2 ) is mixed using pump P4002. Both pumps withdraw leachate from the top and re-inject it at the bottom of their respective tanks. Digestion parameters—[pH, ORP and Temperature]—are monitored by instrument probes mounted on the discharge loop of pumps P4001 and P4002. Liquid level in the tanks is monitored through Pressure elements PE4001 and P4002, set to maintain levels of 8′ in the tank, +/−3,″ by matching the rate of inflow and outflow: flow into the bottom of the tank via pump P4001, (and/or P4002) and 3 gph flow out at the top of TK4001 (and/or TK4002) Outflow is determined by a gravity feed past a pre-set constricted opening. As the liquid levels in TK4001 (and/or TK4002) rise to or drop below the preset levels as signaled by level sensor PE4001 (or PE4002), the system starts or stops the pumps P4000_B and P5000 in order to bring the liquid level back within range. In addition, a high levels alarms LAH 4001 and LAH 4002 and a low level alarm LAL 4000 in respective tanks TK4001 and TK4002 will shut down pumps P4000 B, and P5000 in the event the pre-set maximum or minimum levels (in TK4000, TK4001 or in TK4002 is reached. The pumps will be restarted when the levels change. Tanks TK4001 and TK4002 are designed to function in a series configuration wherein the lead and lag positions are switched periodically to achieve higher removal efficiencies and maintain more robust bacteria colonies in both tanks. The switching is determined by the ORP level in the lead tank. The switching of the flow order of tanks TK4001 and TK4002 is accomplished by controlling valves V4000.5, V4000.6, V4001.10 and V4001.26. The valve configurations for the two flow arrangements are as follows: [0000] Valve Valve Valve Valve Flow Regime 4000.5 4000.6 4001.26 4001.1026 TK4001-TK4002 Open Open Closed Closed TK4002- TK4001 Closed Closed Open Open Parameters monitored in Subsystem 4000 are: [0000] Type of Control Input Output output AIT 4000.1 Pump P4000.1 Digital Status LSH 4000 High pump Digital level alarm Temperature Thermostat Digital TIT4001.1 Control Signal pH, AIT Low pH alarm Digital 4001.2 & Pump Speed Control Signal for pH below limits ORP, AIT High ORP Digital 4001.3 signal to reverse flows PE4001 Start and stop Digital signal to P4000_A and P4000_B LSH 4001/ High Level Digital PE4001 Alarm LAH PE4002 Cut off signal to Digital P4001 LSH 4002/ Low Level Digital PE4002 Alarm LAL PE4002 Cut off signal to Digital P4002 LSH 4002/ High Level Digital PE4002 Alarm LAH PE4002 Cut off signal to Digital P4002, Close Valve () LSH 4002/ Low Level Digital PE4002 Alarm LAL pH, AIT Low pH alarm Digital 4002.2 & Pump Speed Control Signal for pH below limits ORP, AIT High ORP Digital 4002.3 signal to reverse flows Temperature Thermostat Digital TIT4002.1 Control Signal pH, AIT Low pH alarm Digital 4002.2 & Pump Speed Control Signal for pH below limits ORP, AIT High ORP Digital 4002.3 signal to reverse flows FE4000 Flow Signal Digital Subsystem 5000: Gas Handling [0000] The gas produced is measured and recorded on a continuous basis. In addition the system has an ambient gas level monitor mounted inside the trailer outside the tanks for safety purposes. The trailer is equipped with a large manometer consisting of 2 gas holding and 2 water balancing tanks to maintain positive pressure on the system as well as allow the tanks to be filled and emptied without introducing air. In essence the manometer functions like a floating cover.
Improved methods for anaerobic digestion of organic matter to produce biogas. Among the improvements given are including ferric iron in a hydrolysis reactor to increase the rate and efficiency of anaerobic hydrolysis to provide substrates for methanogenesis. A solids separation step is added after hydrolysis and before methanogenesis to improve the efficiency of the methanogenesis step. Other improvements involve using separate tanks for the hydrolysis and methanogenesis stages and using two (or more) methanogenesis tanks in sequence, and switching the order of the two (or more) methanogenesis tanks periodically.
2
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to European Patent Application No. 07291434.4, filed Nov. 30, 2007, which is incorporated by reference herein. BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY The invention relates to a high availability control method for railway door systems, making it possible, in case of failure, to have the possibility to open and close the doors of a railway car, and also relates to an on-panel system for implementing such a method. The invention applies to the door accessories, in particular to sound output devices for loudspeakers and to latch fittings, as well as to door environments in connection with the railway communication network lines. Here, railway car or car means a rigid unit for railway transportation, an assembly of railway cars connected together and constituting a train set, a tramway or any rail-guided transportation means. A “door system” includes all the control means in particular the control panel, the mechanical means of the door proper, as well as the electromechanical accessories such as sensors, activators; push-buttons, buzzers, loud-speakers, warning lights, limit switch elements etc. Statistically, failures of passenger railway transportation can be attributed to access doors in a proportion of approximately 30 to 40%. Besides, the door control electronics amounts to 40 to 50% of all the failures of such doors. In order to improve such availability, it is known to increase the frequency of the equipment maintenance. Thus, document EP 0 728 894 discloses an emergency control allowing to open the doors in case of a failure of the main power supply. Such type of solution is expensive and requires an increased immobilization of cars. It is also well known to add, to the existing system, a system which is a dual door control means to preserve the control in case of a failure of a system. However, this solution is also expensive and multiplies the number of components to be used. Such multiplication entails a substantially lower reliability, since the risk of failure then increases in the same proportions as the number of components. Thus, the invention aims at increasing the availability of the door systems without affecting the reliability of the control system. For this purpose, the invention provides to take advantage of the alternative operation of the door systems positioned, on either side of a car. More precisely, the object of the invention is to provide a high availability control method for railway door systems of a car, positioned along two opposite longitudinal sides of the car, consisting in detecting a failure control of a first accessory whose opening or closing has been requested, transmitting the failing control to the operational control of at least one associated accessory, positioned along the opposite longitudinal side, and substituting the failing control with said associated operational control. Such a method makes it possible not to duplicate the equipment of a train while keeping a high availability of operation of the doors whose opening or closing has been requested. According to particular embodiments of the method: the associated accessories are automatically managed by a mutual checking of the controls through periodical exchanges between both controls and a takeover of an assumed failing control in the absence of a periodical detection, by neutralizing such control and by transferring the opening authorizations to the associated control from a combination between a low speed signal and a validation side selection signal; the environmental and functionality information of each door are analyzed in order to detect operation anomalies, and if need be, to perform a new substitution; when the door is provided with a position encoder, the position information may not be sent back to the control of the associated door, for saving time, and the failing door is thus operated, in case of failure, on the basis of position calculation algorithms. The invention also relates to a high availability on-panel control system for the doors of a car, for the implementation of such method. Such system includes mutual checking means for associated control panels in order to transmit authorization signals of the exclusive opening of one of the two series of the opposite side doors, and the checking means combine a low speed signal and a validation side selection signal to perform, in each environment, opening/closing authorizations to the motor control of its system and to the motor control of the associated system. Each door control panel preferably receives door position signals and sends signals for triggering the environmental conditioning devices for example lamps and buzzers, as well as the control means of the driving motor of the corresponding door. The word “panel” means an electronic control unit, dedicated here to the control of a car door and of the accessories of its environment connected to its close perimeter. According to particular embodiments: each door control panel receives door position signals and sends signals for triggering the environmental conditioning devices, as well as the control means of the driving motor of the corresponding door; each door panel comprises switching means between the control means of the motor of a door and control means of the motor of at least one associated door, positioned on an opposite side wall, said position and triggering signals being then capable of being sent to the panel of the associated door in order to transfer the door control to the latter; the position and triggering signals of a door are digital and transmitted to the associated remote door panel via a signal inlet/outlet module; a transmission bus performs the transmission of the data from the inlet/outlet module of the panel of a door to the panel of the associated door; life lines perform a mutual checking by connecting the panel of each door to the panel of each associated door in order to transmit the periodically refreshed control signals; the triggering of the emergency procedure is generated from a life line continuum; a filtering time is predetermined between a stoppage of the variation of the line control signal and the triggering of the intervention means on a failing panel by comparing the value of each signal; the control means on a failing panel comprise means for stopping its power supply, power switches of the corresponding motor to the motor control circuit of the associated operational panel, in connection with the authorization control means for the opening of the doors on the opposite sides and means for locking the direction of motors; the motor power switches between two associated panels activate, for each panel, an H bridge motor driving circuit having between terminals for selecting the motors to be driven, the takeover terminals being connected to the emergency mode terminals by means of connections, each circuit including the means for locking the direction of motors; the opening authorizations controlling means are locked by a processing of the door speed and the opening or closing authorization signals for the doors on each side, according to a double, i.e. positive and negative, validation logic suite, in order to make the selection of the takeover of the motorization of a door on one side depend on the validation of an opening authorization on this side. In order to guarantee the continuous operation of the door environment communication networks, the operational panel emulates a “network behavior” of the associated failing panel, either by neutralizing the failing panel or by driving a “bypass” (branching) of the network line at the level of the failing panel, thus keeping the failing panel on. The invention also applies to the accessories of the railway doors, more particularly the information diffusion loudspeakers and the door latch fittings. In the case where accessories are railway door environments loudspeakers, the failing control of a door environment loudspeaker being transferred to the operational control of the loudspeaker of the associated door environment. Advantageously, the control of the failing panel of a door environment loudspeaker is transferred to the control of the associated panel of a emergency loudspeaker of that environment. According to another embodiment, each door control panel and the panel of the associated door have access to the same module sound generation module via transmission buses, each module supplying sound signals to at least one loudspeaker of each door environment, each module being positioned in each door environment. In the case of railway doors electric latch fittings, a switching of the control of each latch fitting, during the transfer of the control in emergency mode, is carried out according to the preceding method and the locking of the controls is carried by a logic gate of opening authorizations of a door system and a control through the logic gate of the opening authorization of the associated environment. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear evident while reading in detail the description of one embodiment which follows and which refers to the appended drawings, which show, respectively: in FIG. 1 , a schematic view of a door management by two side systems, according to the state of the art; in FIG. 2 , a schematic view of a door management by a control transfer system according to the present invention; in FIG. 3 , the diagram of the mutual checking of the door control panels according to the invention; in FIG. 4 , an assembly of chronograms illustrating the takeover of the control of the failing left panel; in FIG. 5 , a diagram of the checking of the control of the motor direction of two associated doors in connection with a motor driving circuit; in FIG. 6 , the preceding diagram during the takeover of the left panel by the right panel control; in FIG. 7 , a diagram of the opening authorization generation registers; in FIGS. 8 a and 8 b , a diagram of the motorization for the opening and closing, during the control of the left panel for the motorization of the left door motor; in FIGS. 8 c and 8 d , a diagram of the motorization for the opening and closing, during the takeover by the left panel of the control of the right panel for the motorization of the door motor; in FIG. 9 , a communication network operation diagram using all the side doors in series associated according to the invention; in FIGS. 10 a and 10 b , a diagram illustrating one application of the invention to the management of the loudspeakers of associated doors according to two mountings with or without an external module; and in FIG. 11 , a diagram illustrating an application of the invention to the electric latch fittings of associated doors. DETAILED DESCRIPTION While referring to FIG. 1 , the view shown relates to the management system, known by the state of the art, for a local door 10 g , herein called the “left door” because of its position on the left longitudinal side Kg of the railway car rolling in direction D and an associated 10 d door, the “right door” located on the opposite side Kd of the car. The system includes lines 20 g and 20 d for the serial transmission of the authorization signals, for the exclusive opening of the left side doors, among which the door 10 g and the right side doors, among which the door 10 d , respectively. The transmission means also include a low speed signal line 20 s in order to validate the transmitted authorizations signals. The transmission means of the signals of each series are coupled to control panels, respectively 30 g and 30 d , with the corresponding doors 10 g and 10 d . Each door control panel receives door position signals from the limit contacts and receives from the pushbuttons 40 g and 40 d . Besides, the panel sends triggering signals for the motor environmental conditioning devices 50 g and 50 d , by triggering lamps and buzzers, and includes control means for the driving motor, respectively 60 g and 60 d , of the corresponding door. The equipment (pushbutton, lamp, buzzer, motor, etc.) of each door 10 g , 10 d , is positioned in the environment 11 g , 11 d , of such door. The basic means and connections for implementing the invention are illustrated while referring to the example in FIG. 2 , where the same references indicate the same accessories. In this example, the panels 30 g and 30 d and the respective environments 11 g and 11 d of the doors 10 g and 10 d , positioned opposite each other on each side of the car, are associated. For this purpose, each motor control of the panels 30 g and 30 d of the door also includes motor power switching means 70 g and 70 d between the control connections 7 g and 7 gd (respectively 7 d and 7 dg ) of the motors 60 g and 60 d (respectively 60 d and 60 g ) for driving the associated doors 10 g and 10 d . The control connections 7 gd and 7 dg of a door panel for the motor of an associated door are shown in dotted lines in FIG. 2 . In this description, the switches can be relays, transistors or any other equivalent commutation accessories. In alternative solutions, doors not positioned opposite each other are associated or else each door is associated to more than one door on the opposite side. Still referring to FIG. 2 , each door control panel 30 g and 30 d receives signals from the corresponding door 10 g and 10 d position encoder 31 g and 31 d , corresponding to the push-buttons 40 g and 40 d limit switches. In parallel, each panel 30 g and 30 d sends triggering signals to the respective environmental conditioning devices 50 g and 50 d , lamps and buzzers in the example. In case of failure, the position and triggering signals are transmitted to the panel of the associated door to transfer the failing control to the latter. Such door 10 g or 10 d position and triggering digital signals are then transmitted to the panel 30 d or 30 g on the associated door 10 d or 10 g , through a signal inlet/outlet module 31 g , respectively 31 d , and a transmission bus 32 gd , respectively 32 dg. FIG. 3 shows, in a diagram, the mutual checking of the control panels 30 g and 30 d of the associated doors, according to the exemplary embodiment. The door opening and closing control signals are managed, in a safe way, by a mutual checking of the door controls through: periodical signals Sg and Sd exchanged between both door controls with a periodical refreshment, thus forming “life lines” Lg and Ld, and in case of acknowledgement of absence of variation of a periodical signal, in a life line mutual checking unit 80 , the takeover of the motor control of the assumed failing panel, by the motor control of the operational panel. The takeover of such control results in: the cutting of the power supply to the failing panel 30 g or 30 d; the changeover of switches 70 d and 70 g to connections 7 dg or 7 gd of the control of the motor of the failing control, to transfer the opening/closing management authorizations to the operational control; the activation of logical processing through the inlet/outlet module 31 g or 31 d mounted on the failing door, to the operational panel 30 d or 30 g. The chronograms in FIG. 4 more precisely explain the succession over time “T” of timing sequences of a takeover of the right panel when the left panel is failing. The interruption of the variation of the periodical refreshment signal Sg of the life line Lg (line L 1 ) at time T 1 causes the triggering of the acknowledgement of a request for help by the control module at time T 2 (edge Fc, line L 2 ) after a filtering duration D 1 equal to 1 s in the example. A comparison of the value of each periodical signal, Sg in this example, detects an absence of variation. The triggering of the request for help induces at time T 3 after a filtering duration D 2 (equal to 500 ms in the example), the off-powering (edge Ft, line L 3 ) of the failing panel, as well as the taking into account of the management authorization by the operational panel (edge Fa, line L 4 ) and the sending of the motor control connections to the motor control of the operational panel (edge Fl, line L 5 ). FIG. 5 gives in detail, in an exemplary embodiment, the control modules 81 g ( 61 d ) of the door opening/closing authorization registers, as well as the motors control and driving circuits. Each control module 81 g (respectively 81 d ) for each door environment 11 g ( 11 d ) is connected with an “H bridge” 61 g ( 61 d ) motor driving circuit. Between the H bridge circuit and the motor 60 g ( 60 d ), a motor 60 g ( 60 d ) driving switch 70 g ( 70 d ) makes it possible to switch the control of a door control panel to the associated panel. Each control module 81 g ( 81 d ) includes registers 8 g and 8 gd (respectively 8 d and 8 dg ) of generation of opening authorization for the local door and the associated door, the authorization registers of the same door environment 8 g and 8 dg ( 8 d and 8 gd ) receiving the information of the authorization signal on the corresponding side 20 g ( 20 d ) as well as the speed signal information 20 s. The opening authorization registers of the same door system, i.e. 8 g and 8 dg (respectively 8 d and 8 gd ) are adjusted by a specific unit for the mutual takeover 80 g ( 80 dg ) of each environment 11 g ( 11 d ) by the associated environment. The authorization registers 8 g and 8 gd ( 8 d and 8 dg ) of the same door environment 11 g ( 11 d ) are connected to modules for locking the direction of motors 6 g and 6 gd ( 6 d and 6 dg ) of the corresponding H bridge 61 g ( 61 d ). The switches 70 g and 70 d are mounted together via the connections 71 and 72 . Each switch 70 g ( 70 d ) is dual and includes, in each door environment 11 g ( 11 d ), a selector of the motor to be driven 7 g ( 7 d ) between the terminals Bg and Bgd (B and Bdg) and a mode selector 7 gm ( 7 dm ) between a nominal mode (position P 1 ) and an emergency mode (position P 2 ). During the takeover of a panel by the other panel, the panel 30 g of the left door by the panel 30 g of the right door in the example illustrated in FIG. 6 (which mentions the same accessories described in reference with FIG. 5 ), the mutual takeover unit 80 d is active. Besides, the motor 60 g is turned off by the mode selector 7 gm in emergency mode position (position P 2 ), whereas the motor selector 7 d is positioned on the motor 60 g (terminal Bdg). The generation of the side opening authorizations by logic inputs is more particularly explained in detail while referring to FIG. 7 . The example relates to the takeover of the left door environment 11 g . The left side authorization is generated by the left opening authorization registers 8 g and 8 dg which include the setting up of positive and negative combinatory logics, such registers receiving the left authorization information 20 g , as well as the low speed signal 20 s. The positive logic LP combinatory sequence includes, for generating the left side authorization, a switch 8 p whose inputs are: a logic gate “and” 81 whose inputs are: E 1 , the speed signal 20 s ; E 2 , the left door authorization information 20 g and E 3 , the left side opening authorization digital control information, and a logic gate “nand” 82 whose inputs are: E 1 and E 3 , the speed signal 20 s and the digital control information. The outputs S 1 g and S 1 d of the flip-flops 8 p supply the values of the left side opening authorization level in a positive logic. The negative logic Ln combinatory sequence also includes a flip-flop 8 n whose inputs are a gate “or” 83 and a gate “and” 84 . The inputs of gates 83 and 84 are identical to those of the positive logic gates. The output S 2 g and S 2 d of the flip-flops 8 n supply the values of the left side opening authorization level, in negative logic. The FIGS. 8 a and 8 b illustrate a motorization diagram, respectively during the opening and the closing, upon the motor control of the left door motor 60 g by the left panel motor control, i.e. during the nominal control of the left door motor. On the contrary, the FIGS. 8 c and 8 d show a motorization diagram respectively for the opening and the closing, after the takeover of the motor control of the right door motor 60 d by the left panel control. The switch 70 d of the right environment 11 d of the right door is switched to activate, if need be, the right door motor control emergency mode 60 d and the switch 70 g of the environment 11 g of the left door is in the motor 60 g driving position. The motorization for the opening of the left door by the left panel 30 g is illustrated in FIG. 8 a . In this Figure are shown, in the environment 11 g of the left door, the transistors T 1 to T 7 of the H bridge control circuit, the transistors being in the on- or the off-state, depending on the state of logic gates P 11 to P 15 . The transistors T 1 and T 7 are dedicated to the left and right sides closing control and the transistors T 1 to T 6 to the left and right sides opening control. More particularly, the transistors T 3 and T 4 use the left opening authorization in positive and negative logic to control the opening of the left door, and the transistors T 5 and T 6 use the right opening authorization to control the opening of the right door. Both series of transistors, T 3 -T 4 and T 5 -T 6 , are mounted in parallel. The motor is supplied by the continuous current supply terminal Vcc and the grounding “M”. During the motorization of the opening of the left environment 11 g , the closing transistors T 1 and T 7 are in off-state and the transistors controlling the opening of the left door T 3 and T 4 , in positive and negative logic, as well as transistor T 2 are in the on-state (arrows {right arrow over (F)} 1 and {right arrow over (F)} 2 ). The transistors for the opening of the right door by the left panel T 5 and T 6 , are in emergency mode. Under this condition, the motor 60 g rotates in the direction corresponding to the direction of the arrow {right arrow over (F)} g . The FIGS. 8 b , 8 c and 8 d show the same accessories as those in FIG. 8 a with the same reference signs. During the motorization for the closing of the left door 60 g by the left panel 30 g ( FIG. 8 b ): the closing transistors T 1 and T 7 are in the on-state ({right arrow over (F)} 3 and {right arrow over (F)}′ 3 ) and the left door opening controlling transistors T 2 , T 3 and T 4 are in the OFF-state. Then the motor rotates in the closing direction corresponding to the arrow {right arrow over (F)}′ g , i.e. in the direction opposite the previous direction corresponding to the opening. Upon the transfer of the right door 60 d motor control to the left panel 30 g , the switch 70 g is in the position for driving the right door motor 60 d and the opening and closing motorizations are triggered as follows: upon the right motor 60 d opening ( FIG. 8 c ) motorization (arrow {right arrow over (F)} d , the closing transistors T 1 and T 7 as well as the left door opening control transistors T 3 and T 4 , in positive and negative logic, are in the OFF-state or in emergency mode; the opening transistors T 2 (right door control), T 5 and T 6 (opening authorizations in positive and negative logic) are in the ON-state (arrows {right arrow over (F)} 5 and {right arrow over (F)} 6 ); upon the motor 60 d closing ( FIG. 8 d ) motorization (arrow {right arrow over (F)}′ d ), the for the left door closing control transistors T 1 and T 7 (arrows {right arrow over (F)} 7 and {right arrow over (F)} 8 ) are in the ON-state, whereas the opening control transistors T 2 , T 3 to T 6 are in the OFF-state or in emergency mode. The motor 60 d then rotates in the closing direction corresponding to the arrow {right arrow over (F)}′ d , io.e. in the direction contrary to the previous direction corresponding to the opening. An application of the invention relates to the management of various communication networks (CAN, LON, MVB, ETHERNET, PROFINET, etc), carried out by the door environment of the railway lines when a panel control is failing, as illustrated while referring to FIG. 9 . The communication is managed along the various systems 11 g and 11 d (of the doors 10 g and 10 d ) mounted in series. The panels 30 g and 30 d control the doors 10 g and 10 d through controls 7 g and 7 d. In order to take into account the management of the communication in network 90 , an operational panel 30 d emulates the “network behavior” of an associated failing panel 30 g according to the previous method. The failure of the panel is materialized by a cross on the corresponding connection 7 g . The takeover materialized by the arrow {right arrow over (F)} 9 then secures such an emulation in order to secure a continuous management. In the case of a “daisy chain” ETHERNET or PROFINET wiring, the assisted panel remains ON in order to provide a bypass (a branching) of the network line at the subscriber level. While referring to the FIGS. 10 a and 10 b , the application of the invention to the management of the loudspeakers of associated doors is illustrated by two examples. The solution shown in FIG. 10 a assumes that each environment 11 g ( 11 d ) of the panel 30 g (respectively 30 d ) integrates a sound generation module and has two sound output devices Sg 1 and Sg 2 (respectively Sd 1 and Sd 2 ). The outlets of each panel supply a local loudspeaker Hg (Hd), and an emergency loudspeaker Hgd (Hdg) located in the environment of the associated door. The takeovers on the loudspeakers in case of failure are performed in this example, by the same transmission mechanisms as for the motors: a panel 30 g ( 30 d ) controls the emergency loudspeaker of the associated door. As an alternative, only one loudspeaker per door is provided and the emergency equipment relates to the failing control of a loudspeaker. In this case, the control of the loudspeaker is transmitted to the operational control of the panel of the associated door. According to another exemplary embodiment ( FIG. 10 b ), the associated panel 30 g and panel 30 d , have access to two sound generation modules, Mg and Md, localized in each system 11 g ( 11 d ) of each door. The transmission of the panel control signals to the sound generation modules is carried out by dedicated transmission buses 12 g ( 12 d ). The module Mg supplies two loudspeakers HP 1 and HP 2 for the left door, and the module Md the loudspeakers HP 3 and HP 4 for the right door. Each module provides sound signals to at least one loudspeaker of the corresponding door. In nominal mode, each panel 30 g ( 30 d ) controls the corresponding sound generation module Mg (Md). In the emergency mode, the control of the failing panel 30 g ( 30 d ) is transmitted to the control of the associated panel 30 d ( 30 g ) via the portion drawn in dotted lines in FIG. 10 b , of the corresponding bus 12 d ( 12 g ). Another application relates to the electric latch fittings of the associated doors 10 g and 10 d , while referring to FIG. 11 . Each system 11 g ( 11 d ) for a door is provided with a latch fitting control switch 13 g ( 13 d ) Seg (Sed) of the corresponding door. In nominal mode, the control of the latch fitting Seg (Sed) via the logic gate 14 g ( 14 d ) utilizing the opening positive and negative authorization is carried out by the corresponding panel. In emergency mode, the latch fitting control Seg (Sed), via the switching of the selector S 13 of the switch 13 g ( 13 d ) is dedicated to the associated doors system control panel 11 d ( 11 g ). The control is carried out through the logic gate 15 d ( 15 g ), the logic gate 15 d ( 15 g ) using the double positive and negative authorization logic corresponding to the arrow {right arrow over (F)} 10g ({right arrow over (F)} 10d ). The invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments described and shown. For example, it is thus possible to provide an adaptation of the invention more particularly to the opening/closing of car inner doors, to air-conditioning motors and to a car brake control.
The invention aims at increasing the availability of doors systems without affecting the reliability of control systems. For this purpose, the invention provides to take advantage of the alternating operation of door systems positioned on either side of the same car. An on-board panel system according to the invention includes associated control panels control means for transmitting authorization signals for the exclusive opening of side doors. The control means combine a low speed signal and a validation side selection signal to carry out, in each environment, opening/closing authorizations of the motor control of its environment and the motor control of the associated environment. Applications to the accessories and the mechanical part of the railway door systems (motors, latch fittings, loudspeakers, etc) as well as their door environment (interface with the communication network).
4
BACKGROUND [0001] 1. Field [0002] The current disclosure describes a composite having a ceramic defining an interconnected porous network and a phosphor material disposed within the porous network. [0003] 2. Description of the Related Art [0004] Currently, there are several kinds of red phosphors available such as CaS:Eu 2+ , CaS:Sr 2+ , CASN and K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ . Each of them has advantages and disadvantages. For instance, CaS:Eu 2+ , CaS:Sr 2+ decomposed in humidity, CASN is stable in humidity but very expensive in terms of processing. Mn 4+ doped K 2 SiF 6 (PHFS) is has been known since 1970s as a red fluoride phosphor with sharp emission lines in the range of about 600 to about 700 nm. As it is similar to other inorganic fluoride materials though, K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ is not stable in high humidity environments. [0005] There have been several attempts to utilize these red phosphors despite these problems. U.S. Pat. No. 7,497,973 B2 and U.S. Patent App. No. 2010/0142189. However, they do not sufficiently mitigate the problem of protecting red emitting fluoride phosphors from degradation due to prolonged exposure to heat and humidity while maintaining the benefits associated with the red fluoride phosphor's preferable emission wavelength. [0006] Generally, warm white light sources with high Color Rendering Index (CRI) are highly desired in lighting applications owing to their ability to give less color distortion. The combination of blue LED and Ce doped Y 3 Al 6 O 12 (YAG) phosphor, however, gives off a cool white with low CRI, e.g., less than 80, due to the lack of red emission in the emission spectra. A phosphor with red emission in the wavelength range of about 600 to about 700 nm can be desired for achieving a light source with high CRI when combined with blue LED. [0007] Thus there is a need for combining a blue LED and Ce doped Y 3 Al 5 O 12 (YAG) phosphor with a suitable red emitting phosphor. SUMMARY [0008] Some embodiments include a method for fabricating a phosphor composite comprising: depositing a fluoride phosphor out of a saturated or supersaturated solution of the fluoride phosphor, wherein the solution of the fluoride phosphor is infiltrated within the pores of an interconnected porous ceramic matrix; wherein the interconnected porous ceramic matrix is formed by the annealing and sintering of a porous ceramic preform; and wherein the porous ceramic preform is formed by the sublimation of an organic compound from a ceramic preform comprising the organic compound and at least one ceramic precursor. [0009] In some embodiments a method for fabricating a phosphor composite is provided comprising forming a porous ceramic preform comprising an organic compound and an at least one ceramic precursor; subliming the organic compound from the preform, the sublimation creating an interconnected porous network defined within the preform; sintering the ceramic preform; infiltrating a fluoride phosphor saturated solution within the pores of the interconnected porous network; and depositing the fluoride phosphors out of the saturated solution within the porous network. [0010] In some embodiments, the forming a porous ceramic preform includes dissolving the organic compound in an organic solvent. In some embodiments, the forming a porous ceramic green preform includes crystallizing the dissolved organic compound within a preform matrix. In some embodiments, the porous phosphor ceramic matrix comprises a cerium doped yttrium aluminum garnet, such as (Y 1-x Ce x ) 3 Al 5 O 12 , having Ce 3+ ion concentration, x, in the range of about 0.01 to about 10 at % (atom %). In some embodiments, the organic compound comprises camphene C 10 H 16 . In some embodiments, the ceramic preforms are sintered at about 1000° C. to about 2000° C. In some embodiments, the porous phosphor ceramic matrix has a pore volume of about 10 to about 90%. In some embodiments, the porous phosphor ceramic matrix has pore size in the range of about 0.1 to about 1000 μm. In some embodiments, the fluoride phosphor is a phosphor of the chemical formula A 2 [MF 6 ]:Mn 4+ , and where A is Li, Na, or K; and M is Ge, Si, Sn, Ti, or Zr. In some embodiments, a phosphor powder is loaded with the organic compound in an amount that is in the range of about 10 to 90 vol %. [0011] In some embodiments, a ceramic composite is provided that is made according the method described above. [0012] In some embodiments, a ceramic composite is provided comprising a porous garnet ceramic, defining a continuous porous network therein; and a phosphor material disposed within said continuous porous network. In some embodiments the phosphor material is a fluoride phosphor. In some embodiments, the porous ceramic comprises Y 3 Al 5 O 12 . In some embodiments, the porous ceramic further comprises a dopant material. In some embodiments, the dopant material is Ce3+. In some embodiments, the fluoride phosphor material is selected from A 2 [MF 6 ]:Mn 4+ , such that A is selected from Li, Na, and K; and M is selected from Ge, Si, Sn, Ti, and Zr. In some embodiments, the fluoride phosphor material is K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ . In some embodiments, the fluoride phosphor material is disposed within pores of the continuous porous network. Some porous garnet ceramics are luminescent. For some ceramic composites, the fluoride phosphor material has an emissive peak at a higher wavelength than an emissive peak of the porous ceramic garnet. For example, some ceramic garnets may have emission, or emissive peaks in a wavelength range of about 450 nm to about 600 nm, about 500 nm to about 550 nm, or about 530 nm, while some fluoride phosphor material may have emission, or emissive peaks, in a wavelength range of about 600 nm to about 800 nm, about 600 nm to about 700 nm, or about 600 nm to about 650 nm. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0013] FIG. 1 is a schematic of an embodiment method described herein. [0014] FIG. 2 is a schematic of an emissive construct embodiment comprising a ceramic matrix with embedded K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ red phosphor. [0015] FIG. 3 is an SEM image of a cross section of a porous YAG ceramic infiltrated with silicone resin. [0016] FIG. 4 is a schematic of an embodiment of a device comprising an emissive construct and a YAG:Ce 3+ ceramic. [0017] FIG. 5 is a schematic of an embodiment of a device incorporating a YAG:Ce 3+ ceramic with embedded K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ red phosphor as wavelength convertor for a blue LED. [0018] FIG. 6 is an SEM image of the surface morphology of a porous YAG ceramic matrix. [0019] FIG. 7 is an SEM image of a cross section of an example of a porous YAG ceramic with K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ red phosphor embedded by solvent crashing methods. [0020] FIG. 8 is an EDX analysis of a porous YAG ceramic infiltrated with K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ red phosphor. [0021] FIG. 9 illustrates the excitation and emission spectra of K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ and YAG:Ce 3+ phosphors. [0022] FIG. 10 illustrates the emission spectra of porous YAG ceramics with and without infiltration of K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ red phosphor. [0023] FIG. 11 illustrates the emission spectra of porous YAG:Ce 3+ ceramics with and without infiltration of K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ red phosphor. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0024] In some embodiments, a ceramic composite is provided comprising a porous ceramic comprising a substantially continuous porous network within the ceramic; and a phosphor material disposed within said porous network. In some embodiments, the porous ceramic comprises Y 3 Al 5 O 12 . In some embodiments, the porous ceramic further comprises a dopant material. In some embodiments, the dopant material is Ce 3+ . In some embodiments, the ceramic composite comprises a fluoride phosphor material selected from A 2 [MF 6 ]:Mn 4+ , such that A is selected from Li, Na, and K; and M is selected from Ge, Si, Sn, Ti, and Zr. In some embodiments, the fluoride phosphor is K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ . In some embodiments, a porous Y 3 Al 5 O 12 or Y 3 Al 5 O 12 :Ce 3+ ceramic can be embedded with K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ red phosphor affecting improved Color Rendering Index. [0025] Some embodiments include a method for fabricating a phosphor composite is described comprising forming a porous ceramic preform comprising an organic compound and an at least one ceramic precursor; subliming the organic compound from the preform, the sublimation creating an interconnected porous network defined within the preform; sintering the ceramic preform; infiltrating a fluoride phosphor saturated solution within the pores of the interconnected porous network; and depositing the fluoride phosphors out of the saturated solution within the porous network (see FIG. 1 ). [0026] In some embodiments, a ceramic precursor can be a multiphase material prepared using generally the same methods used for making translucent sintered ceramic plates. In some embodiments, a ceramic precursor can be yttrium and aluminum precursors, such as Y 2 O 3 (yttria) and Al 2 O 3 (alumina). In some embodiments, adjusting the ratio of yttrium and aluminum precursors can yield nano-powders comprising YAG and one or more of the following materials: monoclinic Y 4 A 12 O 9 (YAM [yttrium aluminum monoclinic]), hexagonal or orthorhombic YAlO 3 (perovskite or YAP [yttrium aluminum perovskite]), Y 2 O 3 , or Al 2 O 3 . In other embodiments, the ceramic precursor material(s) may be introduced and mixed into phosphor nano-powders prior to the sintering step. In some embodiments, precursor powders made by any method, including those that are commercially available, can be mixed in desired stoichiometric amounts prior to the sintering step. For example, when making a ceramic plate with Y 3 Al 5 O 12 :Ce 3+ as the emissive phase, Y 2 O 3 , Al 2 O 3 and CeO 2 powders can be mixed together in a stoichiometric amounts for forming the YAG:Ce phase, and a desired additional amount of Y 2 O 3 or Al 2 O 3 powders can be added to form the preform. [0027] A phosphor composite can be fabricated from a ceramic preform comprising an organic compound. In some fabrication methods, an organic compound can be sublimed from the preform, which can create an interconnected porous network defined within the preform. In some embodiments, the organic compound is a compound that can sublime. The term sublime, sublimed, subliming or sublimation refers to the change in phase of the material substantially directly from solid to gas. In some embodiments, the subliming organic compound can be a terpene. In some embodiments, the subliming organic compound can be a bicyclic monoterpene. In some embodiments, the subliming organic compound can be 2,2-dimethyl-3-methylene-bicyclo[2.2.1]heptanes (camphene, C 10 H 16 ). In some embodiments, the compound sublimates or readily volatizes at room temperature. Camphene has a low melting point around 45° C. and readily evaporates at room temperature. [0028] Any amount of the organic compound that can sublime or vaporize to form an interconnected porous network may be used in the ceramic preform. For example, the organic compound can be about 30% to 80%, about 40% to about 80%, or about 50% to about 70% of the weight of both the organic compound and the inorganic ceramic precursors. [0029] In some embodiments, forming the porous ceramic preform includes dissolving the organic compound in an organic solvent. In some embodiments, the organic solvent can be at least one polymeric, organic binder. Possible polymeric, organic binders are, for example, polyvinyl alcohols, polyvinylpyrrolidones, polyvinyl chlorides, polyvinyl acetates, polyvinyl butyrates, polyacrylic acid esters, polyacrylic acid amides, polymethacrylic acid esters, polymethacrylic acid amides, polyacrylonitriles, styrene/acrylic acid ester, vinyl acetate/acrylic acid ester and ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymers, polybutadienes, polyisoprenes, polystyrenes, polyethers, polyesters, polycarbonates, polyurethanes, polyamides, polyimides, polysulfones, melamine/formaldehyde resins, epoxy resins, silicone resins or celluloses. In some embodiments, the binders can be Phthalates, such as, n-Butyl(dibutyl), Dioctyl, butyl enzyl, mixed esters dimethyl; Glycols, such as polyethylene, polyalkylene, polyprolylene, triethylene, dipropylglycol dibenzonate; and others including ethyltoluene sulfonamides, glycerine, tri-butyl-phosphate, butyl stearate, methyl abiete, tricresyl phosphate, propylene carbonate. Other suitable organic solvents include toluene, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), MEK/anhydrous ethanol, MEK/95% ethanol, xylene/95% ethanol, xylene/anhydrous ethanol, MEK/toluene, MEK/acetone, trichloroethane (TCE), TCE/anhydrous ethanol, TCE/95% ethanol, TCE/MEK/ethanol, TCE/MEK/acetone, toluene/95% ethanol, MEK/95% ethanol/toluene, MEK/methanol/butanol, toluene/ethanol/cyclohexanone, MEK/95% ethanol/cyclohexanone, MEK/ethanol/cyclohexanone, MEK/ethanol/xylene/cyclohexanone and xylene. In some embodiments, the organic solvent can be xylene. In some embodiments, the organic solvent dissolving the organic compound is the same as the organic solvent dispersing or dissolving the ceramic precursor. In some embodiments, dissolving the organic compound, e.g., camphene, instead of melting or fabricating molten organic compound and then cooling the compound could enable the formation of the desired porous network parameters, e.g., size and volume percent, could facilitate the dispersion of the camphene throughout the preform, and/or could enable the manipulation of the organic compound without melting or creating a molten solution of the organic compound. [0030] In some embodiments, the preform can be formed by tape casting. In some embodiments, the forming of the preform includes placing or depositing the solubilized organic compound and at least one ceramic precursor on a substrate surface, and evaporating at least some of the organic solvent from the slurry or mixture. In some embodiments, the substrate surface is a substantially planar and/or open faced casting surface. In some embodiments, the casting can result in a pre-sintered preform having a thickness of between about 100 nm to about 1000 microns. In some embodiments, the pre-sintered preform can have a thickness between about 100 microns to about 500 microns, e.g., about 400 microns. In some embodiments, the evaporation of the solvent as disposed upon the planar surface, can affect a saturation of the organic compound/precursor mixture, leading to crystallization of the organic compound within the mixture slurry or suspension. By crystallizing the organic compound in this way, e.g., by tape cast upon a casting surface, sufficiently rapid sublimation, porosity sized and structural soundness can be affected. [0031] In some embodiments, the porous ceramic comprises a garnet phase with a formula A 3 B 5 O 12 . In some embodiments, the porous phosphor ceramic matrix comprises YAG, YAP, YAM, Y 2 O 3 , and/or Al 2 O 3 or any combinations thereof. In some embodiments, the porous ceramic comprises an yttrium aluminum garnet. In some embodiments, the YAG comprises Y 3 Al 5 O 12 . In some embodiments, the porous phosphor ceramic comprises a cerium doped yttrium aluminum garnet as (Y 1-x Ce x ) 3 Al 5 O 12 , having Ce 3+ ion concentration, x, in the range of about 0.01 to about 10 at %. In some embodiments, the ion concentration ranges from about 0.01 to about 0.1 at %, about 0.1 to about 1 at %, or about 1 to about 10 at %. In some embodiments, the porous (Y 1-x Ce x ) 3 Al 5 O 12 ceramic matrix has emission in the wavelength range of about 480 to about 750 nm with peak wavelength (e.g., a wavelength where a relative maximum in the spectrum occurs) or average wavelength (e.g. a wavelength that is the average or mean of the visible emission) in the range of about 520 to about 550 nm under irradiation of violet or blue light in the wavelength range of about 400 to about 480 nm. [0032] In some embodiments, the porous ceramics comprise YAG, YAP, YAM, Y 2 O 3 , or Al 2 O 3 . The combination of blue LED and Ce doped Y 3 Al 5 O 12 (YAG) phosphor, can provide a cool white light with low CRI, e.g., less than 80, due to the lack of red emission in the emission spectra. [0033] In some embodiments, the method can comprise infiltrating a fluoride phosphor within the continuous porous network defined within the ceramic preform. In some embodiments, the method can comprise depositing the fluoride phosphors within the pores. In some embodiments, the depositing can be by crystallizing or recrystallizing the dissolved fluoride phosphor in the continuous porous network. In some embodiments, the phosphor composition comprises at least one of A 2 [MF 6 ]:Mn 4+ , and where A is selected from Li, Na, and K, and M is selected from Ge, Si, Sn, Ti, and Zr, and combinations thereof. Suitable phosphorous compounds can be those described in co-pending applications PCT application, No. PCT/US13/30539, filed Mar. 12, 2013, PCT/US13/37247, filed Apr. 18, 2013, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/865,9567 filed Apr. 18, 2013, which are incorporated by reference in their entirety for their description of red emitting phosphor compounds. In one embodiment, the phosphor composition is K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ , and is embedded within the porous ceramic matrix. While not wanting to be limited by theory, it is believed that this embedding can protect the fluoride phosphors, which are generally unstable in high humidity, and/or can increase the maximum operating temperature that the fluoride phosphors can withstand. In some embodiments, the fluoride phosphors decompose at a temperature greater than 800 C. In some embodiments, the fluoride phosphors lose at least 50% activity, 60% activity, 70% activity, 80% activity within at least one hour at a temperature of at least 500 C, 600 C, 700 C, and/or 800 C. [0034] A method for fabricating a phosphor composite is provided by forming an unsintered ceramic preform containing an organic compound and a phosphor powder. In some embodiments, the unsintered ceramic preform is sintered to form a porous phosphor ceramic matrix, the ceramic matrix comprising a continuous network of pores within the phosphor ceramic matrix, and having emission lines in the wavelength range of about 300 to about 500 nm. In some embodiments, CRI can be further increased in an LED application where fabricating the phosphor composite includes diffusing a fluoride phosphor with emission lines different from the porous phosphor ceramic matrix within the pores of said matrix and then recrystallizing the fluoride phosphor within said pores. [0035] In some embodiments, the phosphor materials may be chosen so that the composite of ceramic and the phosphor within the pores of the ceramic give rise to a color rendering index (CRI) greater than about 80 when irradiated with a light source having a peak wavelength or average wavelength of about 440 to about 480 nm. In some embodiments, the ceramic matrix has emission lines in the wavelength range of about 300 to about 500 nm. [0036] In some embodiments, the emissive construct may comprise an emissive garment material and an emissive PHFS material ( FIG. 2 ). Thus, porous YAG ceramics may thus be used as an emitting, protective shield to surround the desirable PHFS. The YAG ceramic either with or without cerium dopant can be prepared by using an organic material as a template. In one embodiment, the method comprises the step of adding a subliming organic compound to a slurry of the ceramic precursor. In some embodiments, the subliming organic compound can be a terpene. In some embodiments, the subliming organic compound can be a bicyclic monoterpene. In some embodiments, the subliming organic compound can be camphene. In some embodiments, the compound sublimes at about 20-30° C., e.g. room temperature. In one embodiment, the organic material used is a compound. In one embodiment, this compound may be camphene, C 10 H 16 . Camphene has a low melting point around 45° C. and readily evaporates at room temperature. Using camphene may allow the ultimate pore size and density of the porous ceramic matrix to be selectively manufactured by treating the camphene to different temperatures while mixing with the phosphor powder or ceramic precursors. In some embodiments, use of camphene as the organic compound could facilitate the protection of the mechanical integrity of the ultimate porous phosphor ceramic matrix. Use of camphene may also avoid prolonged exposure to high temperatures during fabrication. Unnecessarily long exposure to high temperatures may compromise the tensile strength, luminosity or emission wavelength of the porous phosphor ceramic matrix. As such, camphene may be useful In light of its high volatility in relatively low temperatures and ease of vaporization. [0037] In some embodiments, the ceramic matrix has a pore volume of about 10 to about 90%. In some embodiments, the ceramic matrix has a pore volume of about 10 to about 30%, 20 to about 90 vol %, about 20 to about 50%, about 30 to about 60%, about 40 to about 70%, about 50 to about 80%, or about 60 to about 90%. In some embodiments, the ceramic matrix has a pore volume of about 60 to about 80 vol %. In some embodiments, pores sized in the range of about 0.1 to about 1000 μm ensure tensile strength. In some embodiments, pore sizes range from about 0.1 to about 1 μm, about 1 to about 10 μm, about 10 to about 100 μm, or about 100 to about 1000 μm. In some embodiments, the ceramic matrix contains pores of size ranging from about 10 to about 100 μm. Pore size can be adjusted in the range of about 2 μm to about 100 μm by varying the substrate temperature and amount of camphene loading. In some embodiments, pore size can be about 2 to about 10 μm, about 10 to about 50 μm, or about 50 to about 100 μm. [0038] In some embodiments, the method of making a ceramic composite comprises forming an unsintered ceramic preform with an organic compound and a phosphor powder. In some embodiments, forming an unsintered ceramic perform includes preparing a slurry containing ceramic precursors. In some embodiments, the ceramic precursors are those required to provide a ceramic perform or green sheet. Suitable compounds for the forming of a ceramic precursor include those described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,169,136 and U.S. Pat. No. 8,283,843, which are incorporated by reference in their entirety for their description of ceramic matrix precursors. [0039] In some embodiments, the organic compound sublimates out of the preformed green sheet at a temperature of at least 0° C., at least 10° C., at least 20° C., at least room temperature. In one embodiment, the unsintered preform of a porous YAG ceramic includes an interconnected network of pores within the preform, wherein at least a portion of the pores connect to provide at least one passageway from one side to the other side of the ceramic. This continuous and substantially open microstructure allows a material introduced therein to intercommunicate throughout the network such that substantially uniform dispersion of said material throughout the network may be achieved. In some embodiments, this enables substantially scattered placement of introduced phosphor material throughout the ceramic matrix. In this manner, substantially even red emission can be achieved. In one embodiment, the material introduced within the pores is red phosphor crystals. The crystals can intercommunicate throughout the pores, becoming substantially scattered and regrow in such a manner therein. A bicontinuous microstructure is shown in FIG. 3 and illustrates the interconnected nature of the networks that allows the substantially free flow of materials introduced therein. Interconnected nature of the network of pores therein may aid substantial dispersal of the phosphor materials introduced therein. This further facilitates protecting phosphor ceramics from the humidity and high operating temperatures that cause them to degrade quickly. [0040] In some embodiments, the ceramic matrix defines a continuous porous network whose volume may be selectively manufactured so that the materials intended for embedding within the matrix may be able to flow substantially throughout the continuous network. In some embodiments, the materials intended for embedding can be phosphor materials for recrystallization. In some embodiments, the ceramic matrix is further infiltrated with resin and other polymeric materials. In some embodiments, the further infiltration can create a substantially void-free composite if such polymers or polymeric materials have a refractive index between the matrix phosphor ceramic and embedded complex fluoride phosphor to reduce the scattering of light. [0041] In some embodiments, method comprises heating the preform to a temperature less than the debindering and/or sintering temperatures to laminate plural preforms into a thicker preform. In some embodiments, the plural preforms laminated into a thicker preform range, for example, from about 2 preforms, about 3 preforms, about 4 preforms, about 5 preforms, about 7 preforms, to about 10 preforms. In some embodiments, the preforms are heated to a temperature ranging from about 300° C. to about 900° C. In some embodiments, the preforms are laminated at temperatures ranging from about 40° C., from about 50° C., from about 60° C., to about 70° C., to about 80° C., to about 90° C., to about 100° C., or any combination of the aforementioned range temperatures. In some embodiments, the preforms are laminated at temperatures ranging from about 70° C. to about 90° C., e.g., about 80° C. [0042] In some embodiments, method comprises heating the preform to a temperature less than the sintering temperature to remove or evaporate any organic solvents and/or binders used to form the preform. In some embodiments, the preforms are heated to a temperature ranging from about 300° C. to about 900° C. In some embodiments, the preforms can be debindered in temperatures of at least about at least 300° C., at least about 400° C., or at least about 500° C.; and/or up to about 600° C., up to about 700° C., up to about 800° C., up to about 850° C., up to about 900° C., or up to about 950° C., or any combination of the aforementioned range temperatures. [0043] In some embodiments, annealing can be performed on the preform after debindering is performed. Annealing includes heating the material to convert some or all of the material to the desired phase. For example, annealing may be used to convert non-garnet phases comprising Y, Al, and O into yttrium aluminum garnet. In some embodiments, the preform can be annealed in temperatures of at least about 450° C., at least about 1200° C., at least about 1400° C.; and/or up to about 1500° C., up to about 1600° C., up to about 1700° C., up to about 1750° C., up to about 1800° C., up to about 1900° C., or at about 1350° C., or at about 1500° C., or any temperature bounded by or between any of these values. [0044] In some embodiments, the rate of heating when annealing the preform, can be done at a heating rate of about 0.1° C./min to about 5° C./min, from about 0.5° C./min to about 2° C./min, or about 1° C./min, or any rate bounded by or between any of these values. [0045] In some embodiments, the pressure at which the annealing is performed can be from about 0 Torr to about 1000 Torr, from about 0.001 Torr to about 50 Torr, or about 20 Torr, or any pressure bounded by or between any of these values. In some embodiments, annealing can be performed in a vacuum. [0046] In some embodiments, the time at which annealing is performed on the preform can be from about 1 hour to about 24 hours, from about 2 hours to about 8 hours, or about 5 hours, or any amount of time bounded by or between any of these values. [0047] In some embodiments, the method can comprise sintering the ceramic preform to form a single ceramic piece from a powder or from smaller solid particles. Sintering is a process in which particles are joined together through atomic diffusion by subjecting a material to temperatures below the melting point of its constituent particles. In some embodiments, the sintering combines a ceramic precursor into a ceramic compound. In some embodiments, the sintering of YAP, YAM, Y 2 O 3 , or Al 2 O 3 forms a ceramic comprising the yttrium garnet previously described. In some embodiments, a sintering process will produce porous YAG ceramics with porosity up to at least 90 vol % and sufficient mechanical strength. In some embodiments, the porous YAG ceramics have porosity of up to about 10%, up to about 20%, up to about 30%, up to about 40%, up to about 50%, up to about 60%, up to about 70%, up to about 80%, up to about 90%, or up to about 95%. [0048] In some embodiments, the sintering is performed under an ambient atmosphere. In some embodiments, the sintering can be performed under a non-oxidizing atmosphere. In some embodiments, the non-oxidizing atmosphere can be an inert gas. In some embodiments, the inert gas can be argon or nitrogen (N 2 ). In some embodiments, the non-oxidizing atmosphere can be a reducing atmosphere. In some embodiments, the reducing atmosphere can be N 2 /H 2 , wherein the ratio of N 2 to H 2 can be from about 100:1 by volume (N 2 to H 2 ) to about 2:1 (N 2 to H 2 ) by volume. In some embodiments, the atmosphere can be performed under an oxidizing atmosphere. In some embodiments, the oxidizing atmosphere can be a “wet” N 2 /O 2 atmosphere, such as air having an amount of water which could naturally be present. [0049] In some embodiments, the sintering at a temperature that is sufficiently high as to evaporate the organic solvent, form the yttrium preform, but sufficiently low as to avoid compromising the mechanical integrity of the ceramic material. In an embodiment, the preforms are sintered in temperatures ranging from about 1000° C. to about 2000° C. In some embodiments, the preforms are sintered in temperatures ranging from about 1000° C., from about 1200° C., from about 1400° C., to about 1400° C., to about 1500° C., to about 1600° C., to about 1800° C., 10 about 1900° C. to about 1950° C. to about 2000° C. or any combination of the aforementioned range temperatures. In some embodiments, the preforms are sintered in temperatures ranging from about 1700 to about 1900° C., e.g., about 1800° C. In some embodiments, the rate of heating when sintering the preform, can be done at a heating rate of about 0.1° C./min to about 5° C./min, from about 0.5° C./min to about 2° C./min, or about 1° C./min, or any rate bounded by or between any of these values. [0050] In some embodiments, the pressure at which the sintering is performed can from about 0 Torr to about 1000 Torr, from about 0.001 Torr to about 50 Torr, or about 20 Torr, or any pressure bounded by or between any of these values. In some embodiments, sintering can be performed in a vacuum. [0051] In some embodiments, the time at which sintering is performed on the preform can be from about 1 hour to about 24 hours, from about 2 hours to about 8 hours, or about 5 hours, or any amount of time bounded by or between any of these values. [0052] In some embodiments, the rate of cooling when sintering the preform, can be done at a cooling rate of about 0.1° C./min to about 20° C./min, from about 0.5° C./min to about 15° C./min, or about 10° C./min, or any cooling rate bounded by or between any of these values. [0053] In some embodiments, the method can comprise infiltrating a phosphorous compound within the continuous porous network defined within the ceramic preform. In some embodiments, an infiltration solution comprises a carrier material and the phosphorous compound. In some embodiments, as described earlier, the phosphorous compound can be K 2 MnF 6 . In some embodiments, the phosphor can comprise phosphor precursors. In some embodiments, the phosphor precursors can be K 2 SiF 6 (Aldrich), K 2 MnF 6 and/or K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ . Suitable other phosphor precursors are described in PCT application, No. PCT/US13/30539, filed Mar. 12, 2013, PCT/US13/37247, filed Apr. 18, 2013, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/865,9567 filed Apr. 18, 2013, which are incorporated by reference in their entirety for their description of red emitting phosphor compounds. In one embodiment, the carrier material is a strong acid sufficient to dissolve the insoluble precursors. In one embodiment, the strong acid is HF. In some embodiments, the strong acid is at least a 1 N solution of acid. In one embodiment, the strong acid is about 48% to about 51% HF. HF is additionally beneficial because no additional impurities are introduced into the fluoride phosphor compound. [0054] In some embodiments, the method can comprise depositing the fluoride phosphors out of the a solution, such as a saturated or supersaturated solution, within the porous network. In some embodiments, the method can comprise recrystallizing the fluoride phosphor within the pores or generated porous network defined within the ceramic matrix. In one embodiment, the K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ red phosphors to be introduced into the porous phosphor ceramic matrix can be prepared through processes such as recrystallization, solvent crashing, etc. Solid solution crystalline of K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ will precipitate when the solution mixture becomes saturated or supersaturated, for example by evaporation of solvents as HF in which the precursors are dissolved, and/or addition of additional solvent in which the precursor has a poor solubility. Mn 4+ ion as an activator in the K 2 SiF 6 lattice gives sharp red emission lines in the wavelength range of about 600 to about 650 nm. In some embodiments, the additional solvent can be acetone. [0055] Phosphor particles can be generated by re-crystallization methods wherein solid precursors are dissolved and the desired phosphor particles are recrystallized under selected environmental conditions. In some embodiments, the method comprises creating a supersaturated solution of the desired phosphor. In some embodiments, to create a supersaturated solution, the solution of K 2 SiF 6 , K 2 MnF 6 in HF is heated to about 90° C. for about 10-30 minutes. The heated solution is then cooled down to room temperature and the crystallizing of the red phosphor begins when the solution is cooled. In some embodiments, K 2 SiF 6 , a commercial product, and K 2 MnF 6 are dissolved in HF according to a ratio that enables doping of Mn 4+ in K 2 SiF 6 to take place (the Mn 4+ doping ratio in K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ ). In some embodiments, the molar ratio of K 2 SiF 6 , to K 2 MnF 6 can be between about 5 to about 20 moles of K 2 SiF 6 , to about 1 mole of K 2 MnF 6 . In one embodiment, for example, the molar ratio is about 6 to about 15 moles, e.g., about 9:1 K 2 SiF 6 to K 2 MnF 6 . HF can be used since the phosphor materials may contain fluoride (F), and degrade easily when subjected to the influence of humidity or organic materials. [0056] The infiltration of the phosphor material into or within the continuous porous network can be by infiltrating a supersaturated solution and subsequent precipitation or crystallization of the phosphor from such a supersaturated solution. The supersaturated state can be achieved by any of the following methods: evaporation of HF, addition of poor solvent, or cooling. The resulting K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ , can then be recrystallized out of the supersaturated solution within the continuous porous network. [0057] In some embodiments, an intermediate K 2 MnF 6 is prepared for use in the recrystallization method. In some embodiments, K 2 MnF 6 is produced according to published method (1953 Angew. Chem. 65: 304). [0058] In some embodiments, the supersaturated HF solution of K 2 SiF 6 and K 2 MnF 6 is obtained by evaporation of the HF solution. In some embodiments, the solution where K 2 SiF 6 and K 2 MnF 6 is dissolved in HF according to one ratio and heated to a temperature below the boiling point of HF (which is about 110° C.), so the solution can be heated to about 90° C. K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ crystals produced this way within the ceramic matrix typically have an average diameter between about 200 and about 500 μm. [0059] In some embodiments, the supersaturated HF solution of K 2 SiF 6 and K 2 MnF 6 is obtained by adding a miscible solvent which is characterized by poor solubility for PHFS. In some embodiments, the miscible solvent can be acetone, methanol, ethanol, and/or acetonitrile. In one embodiment, K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ produced this way had pore size ranging from about 200 nm to about 5 μm. [0060] In some embodiments, the supersaturated HF solution of K 2 SiF 6 and K 2 MnF 6 is obtained by heating the solution followed by cooling in an ice bath. In some embodiments, the solution is heated to a temperature of at least about 40° C., about 50° C., about 60° C., about 70° C., about 80° C. and/or about 90° C. (below the boiling point of HF). In one embodiment, K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ produced this way has a pore size ranging from about 30 to about 100 μm. [0061] In some embodiments, growing K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ red phosphors inside porous YAG ceramics can be realized by infiltrating or impregnating the porous ceramics matrix and then adding additional poor solvent or evaporating HF. [0062] In one embodiment, a ceramic compact is described, comprising phosphor composition having a degradation temperature of less than about 800° C. Degradation temperature includes, for example, and is not limited to decomposition or melting temperatures. Decomposition temperature refers to the temperature at which the composition's chemical bonds are broken in the presence of heat. Decomposition temperature is the temperature at which thermal decomposition occurs, which differs for different compounds. Decomposition temperature can be determined by various physical analytical methods, e.g., TGA. In some embodiments, for example with K 2 SiF 6 (PHFS), the decomposition temperature can be about 550° C. In some embodiments, the phosphor composition has a decomposition temperature of less than about 800° C., of less than about 700° C., less than about 650° C., less than about 600° C., less than about 550° C., or less than about 500° C. Melting temperature refers to the temperature at which the solids change into a different phase, e.g., gas or liquid. In some embodiments, for the case of K 2 TiF 6 , its melting temperature is about 780° C. For both cases of K 2 SiF 6 and K 2 TiF 6 , which have either decomposition or melting temperature lower than about 800° C., they cannot be sintered by conventional methods such as vacuum heating. [0063] In some embodiments, the method of manufacturing a phosphor composite further comprises infiltrating the continuous porous network with a polymeric material and the red fluoride phosphor. In some embodiments, the red phosphor material K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ is mixed with a silicone elastomer. This resultant phosphor elastomer suspension is then infiltrated into the sintered porous ceramic, e.g., YAG. In some embodiments, the polymeric material can be silicone resins, silicone elastomers, silicone modified resins, UV curable resin, acrylic resin, epoxy and phenolic resin, polyester resins, polyisocyanate resins, polyurethane resins, amino resins. In some embodiments, a suspension containing fluoride red phosphors can be infiltrated into the preform porous network, the suspension comprising sol-gels formed by hydrolysis of orthosilicates, for example Tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS). The suspension can also comprise sodium metasilicate, known as liquid glass. [0064] FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of a YAG:Ce 3+ ceramic 102 in optical communication with, e.g. disposed below an emissive construct 101 of porous YAG ceramic with embedded K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ red phosphor. [0065] FIG. 5 shows an example of one way that a phosphor ceramic may be integrated into an LED. A phosphor emissive construct 101 may be disposed above a light-emitting diode 104 so that light from the LED passes through the phosphor ceramic before leaving the system. Part of the light emitted from the LED may be absorbed by the phosphor ceramic and subsequently converted to light of a lower wavelength by luminescent emission. Thus, the color of light-emitted by the LED may be modified by a phosphor ceramic such as phosphor ceramic 101 . [0066] The following non-limiting embodiments are contemplated: Embodiment 1 [0067] A method for fabricating a phosphor composite comprising: forming a porous ceramic preform comprising an organic compound and an at least one ceramic precursor; [0068] subliming the organic compound from the preform, the sublimation creating an interconnected porous network defined within the preform; [0069] sintering the ceramic preform; [0070] infiltrating a fluoride phosphor saturated solution within the pores of the interconnected porous network; and [0071] depositing the fluoride phosphors out of the saturated solution within the porous network. Embodiment 2 [0072] The method of embodiment 1, wherein the forming a porous ceramic preform includes dissolving the organic compound in an organic solvent. Embodiment 3 [0073] The method of embodiment 2, wherein the forming a porous ceramic green preform includes crystallizing the dissolved organic compound within the preform. Embodiment 4 [0074] The method according to Embodiment 3, wherein the preform comprises a cerium doped yttrium aluminum garnet as (Y 1-x Ce x ) 3 Al 5 O 12 , having Ce 3+ ion concentration, x, in the range of about 0.01 to about 10 at %. Embodiment 5 [0075] The method according to Embodiment 1, wherein the organic compound comprises camphene C 10 H 16 . Embodiment 6 [0076] The method according to embodiment 1, wherein the ceramic preforms are sintered at about 1000° C. to about 2000° C. Embodiment 7 [0077] The method according to Embodiment 1, wherein the porous phosphor ceramic matrix has a pore volume of about 10 to about 90%. Embodiment 8 [0078] The method according to Embodiment 1, wherein the porous phosphor ceramic matrix has pore size in the range of about 0.1 to about 1000 μm. Embodiment 9 [0079] The method according to Embodiment 1, wherein the fluoride phosphor is a phosphor of the chemical formula A 2 [MF 6 ]:Mn 4+ , and where A is selected from Li, Na, and K; and M is selected from Ge, Si, Sn, Ti, and Zr. Embodiment 10 [0080] The method according Embodiment 1 wherein the phosphor powder is loaded with the organic compound in an amount that is in the range of about 10 to 90 vol %. Embodiment 12 [0081] A ceramic composite made according to embodiments 1-11 above. Embodiment 13 [0082] A ceramic composite comprising: [0083] a porous garnet ceramic, defining a continuous porous network therein; and [0084] a fluoride phosphor material disposed within said continuous porous network. Embodiment 14 [0085] The ceramic composite of embodiment 13, wherein the porous ceramic comprises Y 3 Al 6 O 12 . Embodiment 15 [0086] The ceramic composite of embodiment 13, wherein the porous ceramic further comprises a dopant material. Embodiment 16 [0087] The ceramic composite of embodiment 15, wherein the dopant material is Ce 3+ . Embodiment 17 [0088] The ceramic composite of embodiment 16, wherein the fluoride phosphor material is selected from A 2 [MF 6 ]:Mn 4+ , such that A is selected from Li, Na, and K; and M is selected from Ge, Si, Sn, Ti, and Zr, is K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ . Embodiment 18 [0089] The ceramic composite of embodiment 13, 14, 15, 16, or 17, wherein the fluoride phosphor material is disposed within pores of the continuous porous network. Embodiment 19 [0090] The ceramic composite of embodiment 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, or 18, wherein the porous garnet ceramic is luminescent. Embodiment 20 [0091] The ceramic composite of embodiment 19, wherein the fluoride phosphor material has an emissive peak at a higher wavelength than an emissive peak of the porous ceramic garnet. EXAMPLES Example 1 [0092] A 50 ml high purity Al 2 O 3 ball mill jar was filled with 55 g of Y 2 O 3 -stabilized ZrO 2 balls having a 3 mm diameter. In a 20 ml glass vial, 0.153 g dispersant (Flowlen G-700. Kyoeisha), 2 ml xylene (Fisher Scientific, Laboratory grade) and 2 ml ethanol (Fisher Scientific, reagent alcohol) were mixed until the dispersant was dissolved completely. The dispersant solution and sintering aid tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) (0.038 g, Fluka) were added to a ball mill jar. [0093] Y 2 O 3 powder (3.984 g, 99.99%, lot N-YT4CP, Nippon Yttrium Company Ltd.) with a BET surface area of 4.6 m 2 /g and Al 2 O 3 powder (2.998 g, 99.99%, grade AKP-30, Sumitomo Chemicals Company Ltd.) with a BET surface area of 6.6 m 2 /g were added to a ball mill jar. The total powder weight was 7.0 g and the ratio of Y 2 O 3 to Al 2 O 3 was at a stoichiometric ratio of 3:5. A first slurry was produced by mixing the Y 2 O 3 powder, the Al 2 O 3 powder, dispersant, tetraethoxysilane, xylenes, and ethanol by ball milling for about 24 hours. [0094] A solution of binders and plasticizers was prepared by dissolving 3.5 g poly(vinyl butyral-co-vinyl alcohol-co-vinyl acetate) (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, Mo., USA), 1.8 g benzyl n-butyl phthalate (98%, Alfa Aesar), and 1.8 g polyethylene glycol (Mn=400, Sigma-Aldrich) in 12 ml xylene (Fisher Scientific, Laboratory grade) and 12 ml ethanol (Fisher Scientific, reagent alcohol). A second slurry was produced by adding 4 g of the binder solution into the first slurry and then milling for about another 24 hours. When ball milling was complete, the second slurry was passed through a syringe-aided metal screen filter with pore size of 0.05 mm. The viscosity of the second slurry was adjusted to 400 centipoise (cP) by evaporating solvents in the slurry while stirring at room temperature. [0095] A 50 ml high purity Al 2 O 3 ball mill jar was filled with 10 g secondary slurry and 20 g Y 2 O 3 — stabilized ZrO 2 balls having a 3 mm diameter and then 4.0 g camphene (Alfa Aesar, 97%) was added to the slurry. The mixture was ball-milled for about 2 hours to form a third slurry loaded with camphene. The slurry was then cast on a releasing substrate, e.g., silicone coated Mylar® carrier substrate (Tape Casting Warehouse) with an adjustable film applicator (Paul N. Gardner Company, Inc.) at a cast rate of 30 cm/min. The blade gap on the film applicator was set at 0.381 mm (15 mil). The cast tape was dried overnight at ambient atmosphere to produce a porous green sheet of about 100 μm thickness. [0096] The porous green sheet was cut into circular shape of 13 mm in diameter and placed between circular dies with mirror-polished surfaces and heated on a hot plate to 80° C., followed by compression in a hydraulic press at a uniaxial pressure of 5 metric tons and held at that pressure for 5 minutes. [0097] For debindering, laminated green sheets were sandwiched between ZrO 2 cover plates (1 mm in thickness, grade 42510-X, ESL Electroscience Inc.) and placed on an Al 2 O 3 plate of 5 mm thickness. They were then heated in a tube furnace in air at a ramp rate of 0.5° C./min to 800° C. and held for 2 hours to remove the organic components (debinder) from the green sheets. [0098] After debindering, the assembly was annealed at about 1500° C. at 20 Torr for about 5 hours at a heating rate of 1° C./min to complete conversion from non-garnet phases of Y—Al—O in the non-emissive layer, including, but not limited to, amorphous yttrium oxides, YAP, YAM or Y 2 O 3 and Al 2 O 3 to yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) phase and increase the final YAG grain size. Following the first annealing, the assembly were further sintered in a vacuum of 10 −3 Torrat about 1800° C. for 5 hours at a heating rate of 5° C./min and a cooling rate of 10° C./min to room temperature to produce a porous YAG ceramic sheet of about 0.4 mm thickness. The porous YAG ceramic sheets have a pore volume estimated as 70 vol % and pore size around 5 μm average diameter ( FIG. 6 ). SEM images of cross section of porous YAG ceramics infiltrated with silicone resin in FIG. 3 indicated that porous YAG ceramic grains and pores form a continuous network extending from one side of the ceramic sheet to the opposite side. [0099] 30.0 g KHF 2 (vendor,) 1.5 g K 2 MnO 4 (vendor) and 100 ml of 20 ml hydrofluoric acid (HF, 48-51%, Sigma-Aldrich) were mixed and stirred to completely dissolve the solids in the HF. Hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) was added dropwise to the solution until the solution turned yellow. The resulting dispersion was filtered and rinsed with acetone and dried to provide a yellow precipitate (K 2 MnF 6 ) confirmed by XRD. [0100] An infiltration solution was prepared by mixing 500 mg potassium hexafluorosilicate (K 2 SiF 6 , 99.0%,Fluka) with 62.5 mg potassium hexafluoromanganate (K 2 MnF 6 ) and 20 ml hydrofluoric acid (HF, 48-51%, Sigma-Aldrich). The mixture was stirred at room temperature for about 20 min until a complete dissolving of solids was seen. [0101] Porous YAG ceramic pieces of 12 mm in diameter were placed in a 50 ml Teflon beaker. The infiltration solution was then added to the beaker until the porous ceramics were immersed completely in the solution. After holding the immersed ceramic pieces in solution for about 2 hours to let the solution infiltrate the pores, extra solution was removed by polypropylene pipette and then about 10 ml acetone was added drop wise into the beaker and held for about 30 min. The infiltrated porous ceramics were rinsed with acetone repeatedly until the acetone rinse pH reached 7.0. After removing extra acetone, the infiltrated porous ceramics were dried at ambient atmosphere by evaporating residual acetone in pores at room temperature. SEM cross section image ( FIG. 7 ) showed the K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ crystalline formed on surface of YAG grain with size around 40 nm and in pores with size greater than 1 μm, which was confirmed by EDX analysis ( FIG. 8 ). [0102] In some experiments, acetonitrile, methanol (MeOH) or ethanol were added dropwise into the K 2 MnF 6 /K 2 SiF 6 HF solution. In some experiments, the K 2 MnF 6 /K 2 SiF 6 HF solution was heated to about 9° C. for about 20 minutes. The heated clear solution was then placed in an ice cooled bath for about 1.5 hours, then rinsed in acetone and dried. Example 2 [0103] Comparison samples were prepared in accordance to Example (1) except with no infiltration of K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ solution. Example 3 [0104] YAG:Ce precursors with Ce content of 1.5 at % synthesized by plasma was annealed at 1350° C. for 2 hours in tube furnace in reducing atmosphere containing 3% of H 2 and 97% of N 2 . Surface area of annealed powder precursors showed value of 4.0 m 2 /g. Yttrium aluminum garnet phase was confirmed by X-ray diffraction. 10 gram of YAG:Ce 3+ powders was mixed 0.3 gram surfactant (KD-4 hypermer, Croda) and 15 gram camphene (Alfa Aesar, 97%) in a 240 ml PTFE jar at 60° C. with stirring for 24 hours in oven to form a slurry. The obtained slurry was cast into circular shape of 13 mm in diameter onto a Mylar substrate with silicone coating. The cast pieces were kept in ambient atmosphere overnight to let camphene evaporate. Following that, the cast pieces were calcinated in the tube furnace at 1500° C. in air for 5 hours at a heating and cooling ramp of 5° C./min. Second sintering of the cast pieces was performed in a vacuum furnace (M-60 Centro, USA) in vacuum of 10 −3 Torr. Porous ceramic matrices with pore size around 40 μm were obtained. [0105] Porous YAG:Ce 3+ ceramics piece of 12 mm in diameter were placed in a 50 ml Teflon beaker and then infiltration solution was added to the beaker until porous ceramics was immersed completely by the solution. After holding for 2 hours to let solution infiltrate into the pores, extra solution was removed by polypropylene pipette. [0106] The infiltrated YAG:Ce 3+ ceramics were kept in ambient atmosphere overnight to let residual HF in pores evaporate. Example 4 [0107] Comparison samples were prepared in accordance to Example (3) except with no infiltration of K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ solution. Example 5 [0108] IQE and PL spectra measurements were performed with an Otsuka Electronics MCPD 7000 multi channel photo detector system (Osaka, JPN) together with required optical components such as integrating spheres, light sources, monochromator, optical fibers, and sample holder as described below. [0109] The porous YAG:Ce phosphor ceramics plate constructed as described above, with a diameter of about 11 mm, were placed on a light emitting diode (LED) with peak wavelength or average wavelength at 455 nm with acrylic lens which had a refractive index of about 1.45. An LED with YAG:Ce was set up inside integration sphere. The YAG:Ce ceramic plate was irradiated by the LED and the optical radiation of blue LED and YAG:Ce ceramic were recorded respectively. Next, the YAG:Ce ceramic plate was removed from LED, and then the radiation of blue LED with the acrylic lens was measured. [0110] PL spectra of porous YAG infiltrated with K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ showed clearly the feature emission lines of K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ in the wavelength range of 600 to 650 nm. In comparison, no feature emission lines were observed in the comparison samples achieved with a porous YAG ceramic plate without infiltration ( FIG. 10 ). Example 6 [0111] IQE and PL spectra measurement of porous YAG:Ce 3+ with and without infiltration of K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ were performed with same instrument and setup as that in Example (5). The infiltrated porous YAG:Ce 3+ gave a PL spectra with broad peak at 530 nm and emission lines in the wavelength range of 600 to 650 nm, which generated from YAG:Ce 3+ and K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ respectively ( FIG. 11 ). In contrast, porous YAG:Ce 3+ ceramics without infiltration showed only a broad peak at 530 nm.
Preparation of a porous ceramic composite with a fluoride phosphor is described herein. The phosphor ceramics prepared may be incorporated into devices such as light-emitting devices, lasers, or for other purposes.
2
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to methods, systems and apparatus for detecting, and preferably locating, changes in variables, especially liquid leaks. 2. Introduction to the Invention A number of methods have been used (or proposed for use) to detect changes in variables along an elongate path, e.g. the occurrence of a leak (of water or another liquid or gas), insufficient or excessive pressure, too high or too low a temperature, the presence or absence of light or another form of electromagnetic radiation, or a change in the physical position of a movable member, e.g. a valve in a chemical process plant or a window in a building fitted with a burglar alarm system. Changes of this kind are referred to in this specification by the generic term "event". Such detection methods are for example highly desirable to detect leaks from steam lines into thermal insulation surrounding such lines, leaks from tanks and pipes containing corrosive or noxious chemicals, or leakage or condensation of water under floors or within telecommunication or electrical power systems. Some of these known methods not only signal when the event takes place, but also indicate the location of the event. In recent years, substantially improved methods of detecting, and preferably both detecting and locating, events have been proposed and/or introduced into practice by the assignee of this application, Raychem Corporation. Reference may be made for example to copending, commonly assigned Ser. No. 372,179 filed June 27, 1989 which is a file wrapper continuation of Ser. No. 306,237 filed Feb. 2, 1989, now abandoned, which is a file wrapper continuation of Ser. No. 832,562, now abandoned, filed Feb. 20, 1986, by Masia, Reed, Wasley, Reeder, Brooks, Tolles, Frank, Bonomi, McCoy, Hauptly, Stewart, Lahlouh, Welsh, Nyberg and Klingman, and to the applications of which it is a continuation-in-part, namely (1) Ser. No. 599,047 filed Apr. 11, 1984, by Masia and Reed (MP0869-US2), now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 509,897, filed June 30, 1983, by Masia and Reed (MP0869-US1), now abandoned; (2) Ser. No. 599,048, filed Apr. 11, 1984, by Masia and Reed (MP0869-US3), now abandoned, which is also a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 509,897, filed June 30, 1983, by Masia and Reed (MP0869-US1), now abandoned; (3) Ser. No. 556,740, filed Nov. 30, 1983, by Wasley (MP0892-US1), now abandoned; (4) Ser. No. 556,829, filed Dec. 1, 1983, by Wasley (MP0892-US2), which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 556,740, now abandoned; (5) Ser. No. 618,106, filed June 7, 1984, by Hauptly (MP0920-US1), now abandoned; (6) Ser. No. 618,109, filed June 7, 1984, by Reeder (MP0923-US1), now abandoned; (7) Ser. No. 618,108, filed June 7, 1984, by Brooks and Tolles (MP0924-US2), now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 603,485, filed Apr. 24, 1984, by Brooks and Tolles (MP0924-US1), now abandoned; (8) Ser. No. 603,484, filed Apr. 24, 1984, by Frank and Bonomi (MP0932-US1), now abandoned; (9) Ser. No. 691,291, filed Jan. 14, 1985, by McCoy and Hauptly (MP1020-US1), now abandoned; (10) Ser. No. 809,321, filed Dec. 17, 1985, by McCoy and Hauptly (MP1020-US2, now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 691,291; (11) Ser. No. 744,170, filed June 12, 1985, by Stewart, Lahlouh and Wasley (MP1072-US1), now abandoned; (12) Ser. No. 787,278, filed Oct. 15, 1985, by Stewart, Lahlouh, Wasley, Hauptly and Welsh (MP1072-US2), now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 744,170, now abandoned; and. (13) Ser. No. 831,758, filed Feb. 20, 1986, by Nyberg and Klingman (MP1094-US1), now abandoned. Other commonly assigned applications to which reference may be made include Ser. No. 856,925, filed Apr. 28, 1986, by Kamas (MP1121) now abandoned; Ser. No. 017,375, filed Feb. 20, 1987, by Nyberg and Klingman (MP1094-US3); Ser. No. 031,481, filed Mar. 27, 1987, by McCoy, Wasley, Wales and Edwards (MP1185); and Ser. No. 057,459, filed June 3, 1987, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,843,321, by Koppitsch and Sparling (MP1197). Earlier methods for detecting events are disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,084,910, 2,581,213, 3,248,646, 3,384,493, 3,800,216, 3,991,413, 4,278,931 and 4,400,663, U.K. Pat. Nos. 1,481,850 and 182,339, and German Offenlegungschriften Nos. 3,001,150.0 and 3,225,742. The disclosure of each of these patents is incorporated herein by reference. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to the identification of problems which arise in the detection of events, particularly (but not exclusively) when using the improved systems referred to in the commonly assigned applications referred to above, and to the solution of those problems. The systems which have hitherto been used for detecting events along an elongate path, in particular systems for detecting and locating a liquid leak, have been stand-alone systems, i.e. each system contains its own power source or is located close to a power source, and the measurements are made and observed at one end of the system. I have developed a centralized system which comprises a central unit and a plurality of sub-units to each of which power can be supplied from the central unit and from each of which signals representing measurements made by the sub-unit can be transmitted to, and observed at, the central unit. In developing this centralized system, I have discovered a number of improvements which are useful not only in the sub-units of a centralized system but also in stand-alone systems. In its first aspect, the present invention provides a centralized system for detecting an event (1) which comprises (a) a central unit which comprises (i) a power source (as hereinafter defined), (ii) means for observing a current signal, and (iii) means for identifiably connecting the central unit to each of a plurality of sub-units; and (b) a plurality of sub-units, each of which comprises (i) an elongate electrically conductive locating member which extends from a near end to a far end, (ii) an elongate electrically conductive source member which is adjacent to the locating member and extends from the near end to the far end, (iii) a voltage-measuring device, and (iv) a converting device for converting a voltage measured by the voltage-measuring device into a current signal; and in each of which, sub-units, when an event occurs, an electrical connection is made between the locating member and the source member, and the sub-unit can be powered to provide a test system in which the voltage-measuring device measures the voltage drop across a defined part of the test system, and the converting device converts that voltage drop into a current signal; and (2) in which, when the central unit is connected to a sub-unit, and an event has occured along that sub-unit, power is supplied to the sub-unit from the power source, and the current signal is transmitted from the sub-unit to the central unit and is observed by the central unit. In detection systems which are useful as sub-units in a centralized system as described above, and in other systems which rely upon the making of an electrical connection between two conductors to trigger a notification system, it is often desirable to use a notification system which will not operate unless the resistance of the connection is within a selected range, usually below a selected threshold level. This is particularly true when the electrical connection is of unknown resistance, for example when the system is designed to detect the presence of an electrolyte, and the electrolyte (when present) provides the connection between the conductors. Thus a water detection system can advantageously comprise a notification system which will not be triggered by small amounts of condensed water vapor, but will be triggered by a leak from a water pipe. In this way, so-called "nuisance tripping" of the system can be avoided. When the conductors are elongate conductors which are adjacent to each other and which have exposed, but physically separated, conductive surfaces, a problem which has been found to arise frequently is that contamination of the conductors provides high resistance connections between the conductors, giving rise to leakage currents between the conductors. The size of such leakage currents can increase steadily or irregularly the longer the system is in service, or can fluctuate, depending on the source of the contaminants and the effect of ambient conditions on their amount and/or their resistivity. The notification system cannot distinguish between the leakage currents and the currents which result from the occurrence of an event. Consequently, it may be triggered solely by leakage currents which are induced by contamination, or by a combination of such leakage currents and current which flows as a result of an event which gives rise to a connection which has a resistance outside the intended range. In its second aspect, therefore, the present invention provides a detection system in which contamination-induced leakage currents are monitored and the notification system is adjusted to take account of such leakage currents. Thus in one embodiment, the present invention provides a system for detecting an event along an elongate path having a near end and a far end (A) which comprises (i) an elongate electrically conductive locating member which extends from the near end to the far end, and which has a first exposed conductive surface; (ii) an elongate electrically conductive source member which extends from the near end to the far end, which is adjacent to the locating member, and which has a second exposed conductive surface which is physically separated from the first exposed surface at least in the absence of an event; (iii) means for measuring a quantity which corresponds to the resistance of any connections between the locating and source members along the length thereof, (iv) means for making a comparison of a function of said quantity as it was measured at different times, and (v) a notification system which is triggered when a rate of change of a function of said quantity falls within a selected range; and (B) in which, when an event occurs, electrical connection is made between the locating member and the source member, and the system can be powered to provide a test system in which said quantity can be measured and a function of said quantity can be stored, in which a function of said measured quantity can be compared with at least one stored function of said quantity; and the results of said comparison can be used to trigger the notification system. In detection systems which are useful as sub-units in a centralized system as described above, and in other systems which comprise two or more elongate conductors, it is desirable that the system should be such that the continuity of at least some, and preferably all, of those conductors can be checked. This has been achieved in the past by means of systems comprising a continuity connection which has a fixed resistance and which is switched out of the circuit when the system is being used to detect, and/or to obtain information about an event. The need for such switching arises, for example, because a higher current is needed when an event occurs than is desirable merely for checking continuity, and/or because when the resistance of the event-induced connection between the conductors is not known, the currents in the different parts of the system cannot be accurately determined if there is any other substantial current path between those conductors. The system can be such that the switch is automatically operated when an event occurs (making use of the fact that the event causes an electrical connection between the conductors, thus changing the size of the current in different parts of the system, which is in turn used to operate the switch). Nevertheless, switching is inconvenient and adds expense. I have recognized that various advantages can be obtained by making use of a continuity connection which comprises a constant current source or a like component the current through which, in the monitoring system or in the test system, or both, is known with a sufficient degree of accuracy to enable the event to be detected and, if desired, located, with the desired degree of accuracy The constant current source (or the like) can be present only when continuity is being monitored (i.e. it can be switched out when the system is being used to detect and/or to obtain information about an event), or it can be part of a permanent continuity connection, or it can be present only when the system is being used to detect and/or to obtain information about an event; in the latter case, the constant current source can be switched into the system upon occurrence of an event or it can be a component which is part of a permanent continuity connection and which operates as a constant current source only upon occurrence of an event. In its third aspect, therefore, this invention provides an elongate detection system in which, in the presence or in the absence of an event, or both, there is a continuity loop which includes (i) the entire lengths of at least two elongate conductors which form part of the system, and (ii) a constant current source (or the like). Thus the invention, in this aspect, includes a system for detecting an event along an elongate path having a near end and a far end (A) which comprises (i) an elongate electrically conductive locating member which extends from the near end to the far end, and (ii) an elongate electrically conductive source member which extends from the near end to the far end and which is adjacent to the locating member, (B) in which, in the absence of an event, the system can be powered to provide a monitoring system which comprises a continuous loop which includes (a) the entire lengths of at least one of the locating member and the source member and of another elongate electrically conductive member which extends from the near end to the far end and (b) a continuity connection, and in which (i) when the continuous loop is free from damage, the current which flows at a predetermined point has a first value, and (ii) when the continuous loop is damaged, any current which flows at said predetermined point has a second value which is different from the first value; and (C) in which, when an event occurs, a further electrical connection is made between the locating member and the source member, and the system ran be powered to provide a test system in which (i) the source and locating members are connected to each other by the further connection, and (ii) the current which flows at said predetermined point has a third value which is different from the first value and the second value; and (D) the continuity connection has at least one of the following characteristics (i) it comprises a constant current source in the monitoring system, and (ii) it is present in the test system as well as the monitoring system and comprises a constant current source in the test system. The invention further includes novel methods which make use of systems as defined above to detect events, and novel modules which are useful in the systems defined above. Thus in its fourth aspect, the invention provides a module which is suitable for use as the central unit in the centralized system described above and which comprises (1) a plurality of sets of terminals, each of which sets can be connected to a cable for connection to a sub-unit for detecting an event, and (2) means for selectively and identifiably connecting each of said sets of terminals to (3) apparatus for supplying power to the sub-unit and for obtaining information about the sub-unit, said apparatus comprising (a) a power supply for supplying power to the sub-unit, (b) means for observing current signals from the sub-unit and for determining a rate of change of said current signals, and (c) a notification system which operates when said rate of change falls outside a selected range. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which FIGS. 1-3 are circuit diagrams of stand-alone systems of the invention, FIGS. 4 and 5 are circuit diagrams of centralized systems of the invention showing only one of a plurality of sub-units, FIG. 6 is a diagram of a centralized system of the invention, and FIG. 7 is a graph showing the relationship between the current output of a current driver and the voltage across it. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION As noted above, this invention is particularly useful in identifying and solving problems which arise in the use of methods and apparatus for detecting events which are described in the commonly assigned applications and patents referred to above. Thus these applications and patents disclose prior event detection systems and parts therefor which can be used as sub-units in systems of the invention as defined above which comprise a central unit and sub-units, or which can be used as parts of systems of the invention as defined above, or which can be modified to provide systems of the invention as defined above. The broad range of the methods and apparatus disclosed in these applications and patents will be apparent from the following examples of those methods and apparatus. I. A method for monitoring for the occurrence of an event, and for detecting and obtaining information about the event upon its occurrence, which method comprises (1) providing a system (a) which comprises a power source, a voltage-measuring device, an electrically conductive locating member and an electrically conductive source member, and (b) in which, upon occurrence of the event, electrical connection is made between the locating member and the source member; the connection to the locating member being effective at a first point whose location is defined by at least one characteristic of the event; the making of the connection enabling the formation of a test circuit which comprises (a) that part of the locating member which lies between the first point and a second point having a known location on the locating member, (b) the and connection, (c) the power source, the power source causing an electrical current of known size to be transmitted between the first and second points on the locating member; and the current and the locating member being such that, by measuring the voltage drop between the first and second points, the spatial relationship between the first and second points can be determined; (2) monitoring the system continuously or on a schedule to determine when a said connection has been made; and (3) when it is determined that a said connection has been made, using the voltage-measuring device to determine the voltage drop between the first and second points; and (4) obtaining information concerning the event from the measurement made in step (3). In one preferred embodiment of this method, (1) the locating member comprises a plurality of available connection points and has an impedance Z total between the most widely separated available connection points; and (2) the test circuit comprises not only (a) that part of the locating member between the first point and the second point, (b) the connection, and (c) the power source, but also (d) a component which is connected in series with said part (a) and which has an impedance substantially equal to the difference between Z total and the impedance of said part (a). In a second preferred embodiment of this method, (1) the test circuit comprises a power source which has an output voltage V volts and which causes an electrical current I amps of known size to be transmitted between the first and second points on the locating member; and (2) information concerning the event is obtained only when the value of the ration V/I is within a predetermined range. II. Apparatus which is suitable for use in a method as defined in (I) and which comprises (1) an elongate electrically conductive locating member which comprises a plurality of available connection points and whose impedance from one end to any of the connection points defines the spatial relationship between that end and that connection point; (2) an elongate electrically conductive source member; (3) an event-sensitive connection means which is present at a plurality of predetermined locations and which, upon occurrence of an event, at any of said locations, permits or effects electrical connection between the locating member and the source member at one or more of the connection points, the connection being effective at a first point on the location member which is defined by at least one characteristic of the event; (4) a voltage-measuring device for determining the voltage drop between the first point and a second point which is at one end of the locating member; and (5) a power source which is electrically connected to the second point on the locating member and, in the absence of an event, is not otherwise connected to the locating member, so that, when occurrence of an event causes an electrical connection to be made between the locating and source members, this results in the formation of a test circuit which comprises (a) that part of the locating member which lies between the first and second points, (b) the connection, and (c) the power source, and in which test circuit a current of known size is transmitted between the first and second points on the locating member. In one prefered embodiment of this apparatus (1) the locating member has an impedance Z total between the most widely separated available connection points; and (2) the locating member and the source member are such that, when an electrical connection is made between them at any one of the available connection points, the sum of (a) the impedance of the locating member between the first end and the connection point and (b) the impedance of the source member between the second end and the connection point is substantially equal to Z total . Another preferred embodiment of this method is an apparatus for detecting and locating, along a longitudinally extending path having a near end and a far end, a change in an ambient condition from a first state to a second state, which apparatus comprises: (1) a first elongate electrical connection means which lies along said path and which has a near end at the near end of the path and a far end at the far end of the path; (2) a second elongate electrical connection means (i) which lies along said path and which has a near end at the near end of the path and a far end at the far end of the path, the near end of the second electrical connection means being electrically connected to the near end of the first electrical connection means, (ii) which is electrically insulated from the first conductor at all points along the path when said ambient condition is in the first state at all points along the path, (iii) which, when said ambient condition changes from the first state to the second state at at least one point along the path, becomes electrically connected to the first electrical connection means at a connection point at which said ambient condition has changed from the first state to the second state, thereby creating a test circuit which includes part of the first electrical connection means and part of the second electrical connection means, and (iv) whose impedance from the near end to each point thereon is characteristic of its length from the near end to that point; (3) a controlled current source which forms part of the test circuit created when said ambient condition changes from the first state to the second state; (4) a third elongate electrical connection means which has a near end at the near end of the path and a far end at the far end of the path, which is electrically insulated from the first and second connection means between its near end and its far end when said ambient condition is in its first state and when it is in its second state, and which connects the near end and the far end of the second electrical connection means, thus forming a reference circuit; and (5) a voltage-measuring device which (a) forms part of the reference circuit, and (b) has a very high input impedance by comparison with the other components of the reference circuit; the first, second and third connection means being physically secured together, and at least one of the first, second and third connection means having a wrapped configuration; whereby it is possible to monitor the voltage-measuring device, and when the voltage measured by the voltage-measuring device changes, to measure the change in the voltage and to calculate therefrom the distance between the near end of the second electrical connection means and the connection point. III. A method for monitoring for the occurrence of an event, and for detecting and obtaining information about the event upon its occurrence, which method comprises (1) providing a system which (a) comprises a power source, a voltage-measuring device, an electrically conductive locating member and an electrically conductive source member, and (b) in which, upon occurrence of the event, (A) electrical connection is made between the locating member and the return member; the connection to the locating member having a known impedance and being effective at a first point whose location is defined by at least one characteristic of the event; the making of the connection resulting in the formation of a test circuit which comprises (a) the connection, (b) that part of the locating member which lies between the first point and a second point having a known location on the locating member, and (c) the voltage-measuring device, the voltage-measuring device having an impedance which is very high by comparison with any unknown part of the impedance of the other components of the test circuit; and (B) there is a reference circuit which comprises (a) the source member, the source member being electrically connected to the second point on the locating member and to a point on the locating member whose distance from the second point is at least as great as the distance from the second point to the first point, both distances being measured along the locating member, and which is otherwise electrically insulated from the locating member, (b) that part of the locating member which lies between the first and second points, and (c) the power source, the power source causing an electrical current of known size to be transmitted between the first and second points on the locating member; the current and the locating member being such that, by measuring the voltage drop between the first and second points, the spatial relationship between the first and second points can be determined; (2) monitoring the system continuously or on a periodic schedule to determine when a said connection has been made; and (3) when it is determined that a said connection has been made, using the voltage-measuring device to determine the voltage drop between the first and second points; and (4) obtaining information concerning the event from the measurement made in step (3). IV. Apparatus which is suitable for use in a method as defined in III and which comprises (1) an elongate electrically conductive locating member whose impedance from one end to any point on the locating member defines the spatial relationship between that end and that point; (2) an elongate electrically conductive return member; (3) an event-sensitive connection means which is present at a plurality of predetermined locations and which, upon occurrence of an event at any of said locations, permits or effects electrical connection between the locating member and the return member, the connection having a known impedance and being effective at a first point on the locating member which is defined by at least one characteristic of the event; (4) an electrically conductive source member; (5) a voltage-measuring device which is electrically connected to the second point on the locating member and, in the absence of an event, is not otherwise connected to the locating member, so that, when occurrence of an event causes an electrical connection to be made between the locating and return members, this results in the formation of a test circuit which comprises (a) the connection, (b) that part of the locating member which lies between the first and second points, and (c) the voltage-measuring device, the voltage-measuring device having an impedance which is very high by comparison with any unknown part of the impedance of the other components of the reference circuit; and (6) a power source which is electrically connected to the second point on the locating member and which, when an event takes place, forms part of a reference circuit which comprises (a) at least part of the source member, (b) that part of the locating member which lies between the first and second points, and (c) the power source, and in which reference circuit a current of known size is transmitted between the first and second points on the locating member. V. A method for monitoring for the occurrence of an event along an elongate path, and for detecting the event upon its occurrence, which method comprises (1) positioning along the path a sensor cable which comprises a first elongate electrically conductive member comprising a conductive polymer and a second elongate electrically conductive member, the first and second members being insulated from each other in the absence of the event and becoming connected to each other through the conductive polymer upon occurrence of the event, and (2) monitoring the cable continuously or on a schedule to determine when a said connection has been made. VI. An elongate apparatus for use in a method for detecting and locating the presence of an electrolyte, the apparatus comprising (1) a first elongate electrical connection means which has a near end and a far end; (2) a second elongate electrical connection means (i) which has a near end adjacent the near end of the first connection means and a far end adjacent the far end of the first connection means, (ii) whose impedance, from the near end to each point thereon, is characteristic of its length from the near end to that point, and (iii) which is electrically insulated from the first connection means between its near end and its far end in the absence of the electrolyte and which, in the presence of the electrolyte, becomes electrically connected to the first connection means at at least one connection point whose distance from the near end of the second connection means is characteristic of the location of the point or points at which the electrolyte is present; and (3) a third elongate electrical connection means which has a near end adjacent the near ends of the first and second connection means and a far end adjacent the far ends of the first and second connection means and which is electrically insulated from said first and second electrical connection means (a) between its near end and its far end in the absence of the electrolyte and (b) at least from its near end to the connection point in the presence of the electrolyte; at least one of the first, second and third connection means having a wrapped configuration. VII. A method for monitoring for the occurrence of an event, and for detecting and obtaining information about the event upon its occurrence, which method comprises (1) providing a system (a) which comprises an electrically conductive locating member and an electrically conductive second member; the locating member comprising (i) a plurality of spaced-apart, discrete impedant components, each of which has substantial impedance, and (ii) a plurality of elongate intermediate components, each of which physically separates and electrically connects a pair of impedant components, and (b) in which, upon occurrence of the event electrical connection is made between the locating member and the second member; the connection to the locating member being made at at least one of a plurality of available connection points which lie between the impedant components, and the connection being effective at a first point whose location is defined by at least one characteristic of the event; the making of the connection enabling the formation of a test circuit which comprises that part of the locating member between the first point and a second point on the locating member having a known location, and in which an electrical current of known size is transmitted between the first and second points on the locating member; and the current and the locating member being such that, by measuring the voltage drop between the first and second points, the spatial relationship between the first and second points can be determined; (2) monitoring the system to determine when a said connection has been made; (3) when it is determined that a said connection has been made, measuring the voltage drop between the first and second points; and (4) obtaining information concerning the event from the measurement in step (3). VIII. Apparatus which is suitable for use in a method as defined in VII and which comprises (1) an elongate electrically conductive locating member which comprises (a) a plurality of spaced-apart, discrete impedant components, each of which has substantial impedance, and (b) a plurality of elongate intermediate members, each of which physically separates and electrically connects a pair of impedant components; (2) an elongate electrically conductive second member; (3) a plurality of event-sensitive connection means which, upon occurrence of an event can effect electrical connection between the locating member and the second member, the connection being made at at least one of a plurality of discrete available connection points which lie between the impedant components, and the connection being effective at a first point on the locating member which is defined by at least one characteristic of the event; (4) an electrically conductive third member; (5) a voltage-measuring device for determining the voltage drop between the first point and a second point which is at one end of the locating member; and (6) a power source which is electrically connected to the second point on the locating member and, which, at least when occurrence of an event causes electrical connection to be made between the locating and second members, causes a current of known size to be transmitted between the first and second points on the locating member. IX. A method for monitoring for the occurrence of an event, and for detecting and obtaining information about the event upon its occurrence, which method comprises (1) providing a system (a) which comprises and electrically conductive locating member, an electrically conductive second member, a reference impedance which has a known impedance, and a power source; and (b) in which, upon occurrence of the event, electrical connection is made between the locating member and the source member; the connection to the locating member being effective at a first point whose location is defined by at least one characteristic of the event; and the making of the connection resulting in the formation of a test circuit which comprises (i) the reference impedance and (ii) that part of the locating member between the first point and a second point on the locating member having a known location, and in which an electrical current is transmitted between the first and second points on the locating member and has a known relationship with the current through the reference impedance; and the current, the reference impedance and the locating member being such that, by obtaining a ratio between a first voltage drop across the reference impedance and a second voltage drop between the first and second points on the locating member, the spatial relationship between the first and second points can be determined; (2) monitoring the system to determine when a said connection has been made; (3) when it is determined that a said connection has been made, obtaining the ratio of the first and second voltage drops; and (4) obtaining information concerning the event from the ratio in step (3). X. Apparatus which is suitable for use in a method as defined in IX and which comprises (1) an elongate electrically conductive locating member whose impedance from one end to any point on the locating member defines the spatial relationship between that end and that point; (2) an elongate electrically conductive second member; (3) an event-sensitive connection means which, upon occurrence of an event, effects electrical connection between the locating member and the second member, the connection being effective at a first point on the locating member which is defined by at least one characteristic of the effect; (4) an electrically conductive third member; (5) a reference impedance which has a known impedance and which is connected in series with said locating member; (6) a power source which, at least when occurrence of an event causes electrical connection to be made between the locating and second members, causes a current to be transmitted (i) between the first point and a second point which is at one end of the locating member, and (ii) through said reference impedance, the size of the current transmitted through the reference impedance having a known relationship with the current transmitted between the first and second points; (7) a first voltage-measuring device for determining a first voltage drop across said reference impedance, (8) a second voltage-measuring device for determining a second voltage drop between the first and second points; and (9) a divider which provides a ratio between said first and second voltage drops. XI. A sensor cable for detecting the presence of an electrically conductive liquid, which comprises: two elongate conductors, each conductor having an exposed surface which, when the cable is immersed in the liquid, is contacted by the liquid, and an insulating member which contacts the conductors and physically separates them in such a way that, at least one of the following conditions is fulfilled (a) when the cable is immersed in the liquid, the conductors become electrically connected by the liquid along a path which is not a straight line; and (b) the insulating member has a concave surface and physically separates the conductors in such a way that the conductors become electrically connected by the liquid when the concavity is filled. XII. A device for detecting an event comprising: (i) first and second conductive members which, in the absence of an event, are electrically insulated from each other, (ii) a swellable member which swells upon occurrence of the event, and which has at least one of the following characteristics (a) on swelling it causes an electrical path to be formed between the conductive members, through the apertures of an apertured separator, and (b) it is a conductive, bridging member which, upon occurrence of the event, swells into contact with the first and second conductive members and bridges the conductive members whereby an electrical path is formed between the conductive members. One preferred embodiment of such a device comprises (i) an elongate support core, (ii) first and second elongate conductive members helically wrapped around the core, (iii) a separator in the form of a braid surrounding the first and second conductive members, (iv) a hollow swellable member, comprising a conductive polymer, surrounding the separator braid, and (v) a restraining braid surrounding the conductive polymer, wherein when the swellable member is exposed to the liquid it swells through the apertures of the separator braid, contacts and bridges the first and second conductors and forms an electrical path therebetween. Another preferred embodiment of such a device comprises (i) a support core having a uniform cross-section along its length; (ii) a spacer member; (iii) a first conductive member; (iv) a second conductive member which is hollow and surrounds the support core, spacer member and first conductive member; and (v) a swellable member which swells upon occurrence of an event; wherein the spacer member projects outwardly from the support core a greater distance than the first conductive member such that in the absence of an event it spaces the first and second conductive members from each other. XIII. A method of detecting a change in the concentration of a chemical species, comprising passing electrical current through an electrochemical cell comprising: (i) a power source; (ii) first and second electrodes connected to the power source, (iii) a liquid; and (iv) an ion exchange material positioned in contact with the liquid such that substantially all the electrical current passing through the electrochemical cell to the first electrode passes through the ion exchange material; the ionic resistance of the ion exchange material being different in the presence of increasing concentrations of the chemical species whereby the magnitude of the current passing through the electrochemical cell depends on the concentration of the chemical species in the liquid. XIV. A method for monitoring for the occurrence of an event, and for detecting and obtaining information about the event upon its occurrence, which method comprises (1) providing a system (a) which comprises an electrically conductive locating member including a plurality of branches; and an electrically conductive second member including a plurality of branches; each of the branches of the locating member being associated with a branch of the source member to form a branch line; (b) in which, upon occurrence of the event electrical connection is made between a branch of the locating member and the associated branch of second member; and (c) in which at least one of said branch lines is provided with means for remotely isolating that branch line so that occurrence of an event does not result in connection of the locating member and second member; the connection to the locating member being made at at least one of a plurality of available connection points which lie on the branch lines and the connection being effective at a first point whose location is defined by at least one characteristic of the event; the making of the connection enabling the formation of a test circuit which comprises that part of the locating member between the first point and a second point on the locating member having a known location, and in which an electrical current of known size is transmitted between the first and second points on the locating member; and the current and the locating member being such that, by measuring the voltage drop between the first and second points, the spatial relationship between the first and second points can be determined; (2) monitoring the system to determine when a said connection has been made; (3) when it is determined that a said connection has been made, measuring the voltage drop between the first and second points; and (4) obtaining information concerning the event from the measurement made in step (3). XV. Apparatus which is suitable for use in a method as defined in XIV and which comprises (1) an elongate electrically conductive locating member which comprises a plurality of branches; (2) an elongate electrically conductive second member which comprises a plurality of branches, each of which is associated with a branch of the source member to form a branch line; (3) a plurality of event-sensitive connection means which, upon occurrence of an event can effect electrical connection between a branch of the locating member and the associated branch of the second member, the connection being made at at least one of a plurality of discrete available connection points which lie on the branch lines, and the connection being effective at a first point on the locating member which is defined by at least one characteristic of the event; (4) an electrically conductive third member; (5) a voltage-measuring device for determining the voltage drop between the first point and a second point which is at one end of the locating member; (6) a power source which is electrically connected to the second point on the locating member and, which, at least when occurrence of an event causes electrical connection to be made between the locating and second members, causes a current of known size to be transmitted between the first and second points on the locating member; and (7) at least one remote isolation means which can be associated with a branch line and can be activated from a location remote from that branch line so that occurrence of an event does not result in connection of the locating member and the second member in that branch line. XVI. A method for monitoring for the occurrence of an event, and for detecting and obtaining information about the event upon its occurrence, which method comprises (1) providing a system (a) which comprises an electrically conductive locating member comprising a plurality of branches which lie in a plane and which do not cross each other, and an electrically conductive second member comprising a plurality of branches which lie in the same plane, which do not cross each other and which do cross the branches of the locating member; and (b) in which, upon occurrence of the event electrical connection is made between a branch of the locating member and a branch of the second member; the connection to the locating and second members being made at at least one of a plurality of available connection points which lie on the branches thereof, and the connection to the locating member being effective at a first point whose location is defined by at least one characteristic of the event; the making of the connection enabling the formation of a test circuit which comprises that part of the locating member between the first point and a second point on the locating member having a known location, and in which an electrical current of known size is transmitted between the first and second points on the locating member; and the current and the locating member being such that, by measuring the voltage drop between the first and second points, the spatial relationship between the first and second points can be determined; (2) monitoring the system to determine when a said connection has been made; (3) when it is determined that a said connection has been made, measuring the voltage drop between the first and second points; (4) rearranging the system so that the electrical functions of the locating and second members are exchanged, and measuring the voltage drop between the point on the second member to which the connection is made and a second point on the second member having a known location; and (5) obtaining information concerning the event from the measurements made in steps (3) and (4). XVII. Apparatus which is suitable for use in a method as defined in XVI and which comprises (1) an electrically conductive locating member comprising a plurality of branches which lie in a plane and which do not cross each other; and (2) an electrically conductive second member comprising a plurality of branches which lie in the same plane, which do not cross each other, but which do cross the branches of the locating member; and (3) a plurality of event-sensitive connection means which, upon occurrence of an event can effect electrical connection between the branches of the locating member and the branches of the second member, the connection being made at at least one of a plurality of available connection points which lie on the branches, and the connection being effective at points on the locating member and the second member which are defined by at least one characteristic of the event. The term "power source" is used herein to include a battery, or a generator, or another primary source of electrical power, or terminals which can be connected to a primary power source. The present invention preferably makes use of direct current, e.g. from a battery or a rectifier; the voltage employed is preferably low, e.g. 24 volts, 12 or 9 volts. A suitable Zener diode (or equivalent) can be used to control the maximum voltage in all or selected parts of the system. For example a 24 volt power source can be used to power a central unit and (in turn) the interconnect cables connecting the central unit to each sub-unit, and a 9 volt Zener diode can be used in each sub-unit. In this way each sub-unit operates under substantially the same conditions, independently of the length of the interconnect cable. The present invention preferably makes use of systems which not only detect the occurrence of an event, but also locate the event. This is preferably done in one of two ways. The first way makes use of a three or four wire system of the kind described in detail in Ser. No. 832,562, in which the location of the event is calculated from the voltage drop between two points on a locating member having known resistance characteristics and carrying a known current (the term "known current" being used to include a current which is known in terms of the voltage drop which it produces across a known resistor). Such a system can be used either as a stand-alone unit or as a sub-unit of a centralized system. The second way makes use of a plurality of two-wire systems arranged in a suitable grid pattern and connected to a central unit; the location of the event is then indicated by the physical crossing points of the systems in which the event is shown to have occurred. In this specification, the two wires which become connected as the result of an event are referred to as the source and locating members, even though there is no locating function available within the two-wire systems. Reference is made herein to the elongate members of the detection system having a "near end" and a "far end", since in many cases the members will have one end (the near end) which is physically closer to the power source than the other end (the far end). However, it will be understood that this is not necessarily the case, since the members can be in the form of a loop, and that the primary power source can be at any convenient location. The designations "near end" and "far end" are, therefore, used for ease of understanding and are not to be understood as having any limiting effect. The term "constant current source" is used herein to denote a component which, under the conditions of operation of the system, will produce a constant current. As those skilled in the art will recognize, such components can be operated in such a way that they do rot produce a constant current. Where reference is made herein to determining "a rate of change", it is to be understood that the function which is being determined can be a simple or a complex one, depending upon the type of change which the operator of the system regards as significant. For example the function in question can be a first or a second differential and may be required to be over (or under) a specified value for a defined period of time (which may itself vary with the absolute level of current). A number of different comparisons can be made, of the same or of different functions of the quantity as it was measured at two or more times. Similarly, the function of the quantity which is stored can be the quantity itself or any other function thereof, and can be the same as or different from the function which is later used for comparison purposes. It should be noted that in many cases the different aspects of this invention can be combined, and also that where references are made to preferred or exemplary features of a particular aspect of the invention or to a particular Figure, such references are also applicable, with such modification as may be necessary or appropriate, to other aspects of the invention and to other Figures and combinations thereof. Referring now to the drawing, FIG. 1 shows a three-wire system for detecting and locating a water leak. The system comprises a source member 12, a locating member 11, a return member 16, a battery 151, a current driver 152, a reference resistor R f with a first voltmeter 141 over it, and a second voltmeter 142 which measure the voltage drop down the locating member 11; a voltage divider compares the voltages V 1 and V 2 read by the voltmeters 141 and 142, and the result of that comparison is displayed on a display unit. The locating and source members are conductive polymer coated wires which are adjacent to each other but are physically spaced apart. The locating member comprises a wire of precisely known and relatively high resistance per unit length. The components so far enumerated are conventional. The novel features of FIG. 1 are a continuity connection comprising a constant current source 1 which connects the far ends of the locating and source members, and a memory which is connected to the voltmeter 141 and optionally to the voltage divider and which can store and compare measurements provided by the voltmeter and optionally by the divider. The current driver is a component whose current output varies with the voltage across it in the way generally shown in FIG. 7, though the range of voltage over which the current changes and the size of the final current need not be as shown in FIG. 7. Typically, the change in the current will take place over a 0.5 to 3 volt range, e.g. a 1 to 2 volt range, which lies between 0 and 4 volts, e.g. between 0.25 and 2.5 volts, with a maximum current within the range of 150 to 400, e.g. 250 to 300, microamps. The output of the constant current source 1 is less than the maximum output of the current driver, e.g. 0.05 to 0.3, preferably 0.07 to 0.15, times the maximum output of the driver. Thus the output of the current source 1 is typically 20 to 75 microamps, e.g. 25 or 50 microamps. Initially, the current which flows in the loop comprising the source and locating members is equal to the output of the current source 1. If any part of the loop is cut, the current falls to zero. If the source and locating members become contaminated, leakage currents between them will slowly increase the current passing through R f . If there is a liquid leak, however, there will be a rapid increase in the current through R f . Thus the memory unit, by comparing one or more functions of successive voltages recorded by the voltmeter V 1 at known time intervals, can determine the rate at which the sensor cable is being contaminated and whether there has been a leak, even when the contamination level is high. The voltage divider, by comparing the ratio of V 1 and V 2 , and making due allowance for the contribution of the constant current source, provides the location of the "electrical center" of the contamination (if any) and the leak (if any). If desired, the memory unit can additionally compare one or more functions of successive values of the ratio of V 1 to V 2 at known intervals, to show how the "electrical center" is changing. It will be seen that a large amount of new information can be ascertained in this way. As the current between the source and locating members increases, the voltage drop over the current driver increases, and the current output of the current driver increases. Depending upon the net resistance of the connections between the source and locating members, the current may reach the limit set by the driver. However, I have found that the limit is not generally reached and serves merely as a safety factor. Thus the current driver and battery could be replaced by any power source which was associated with a limiting component which would prevent too much current from passing through the system, particularly if there was a low resistance connection between the locating and source members. The precise nature of the constant current source can be important to the accuracy of the location. If the voltage across the constant current source gets too low (because the connection between their source and locating members is sufficiently low in resistance), it will cease to produce its "constant" current. The constant current source, therefore, preferably has a low compliance voltage, preferably less than 2.5 volts, particularly less than 1.0 volts. In FIG. 1, as in all the Figures, the dotted lines indicate those parts of the system which can be conveniently preassembled in the form of modules in a manufacturing facility. The modules can then be assembled in situ with appropriate sensor cables and, where needed, interconnect cables. FIG. 2 makes use of a four-wire, balanced, sensor cable and therefore has a constant current source 2 more conveniently placed at the near end of the system, but is otherwise similar to FIG. 1 and operates in the same way. FIG. 3 is similar to FIG. 2, but makes use of two constant current sources 3 and 4 which are connected so that the continuity of the system can be checked in two stages. The initial current through R f is the sum of current sources 3 and 4. If the upper loop, comprising members 12 and 13, is broken, the current through R f comes only from source 4. If the lower loop, comprising members 11 and 16, is broken, no current flows through R f . In addition to providing an independent continuity check, the use of two current sources can enable additional information to be obtained despite damage to the system. The dot-and-dash line in FIG. 3 shows an alternative connection for current source 4 in which it does not "choke" the current driver. FIG. 4 shows how a number of systems of the kind shown in FIG. 3 can be combined into a centralized system. The central unit can be identifiable connected to the sub-units (usually to one unit at a time) through a sub-unit-selector (SUS) 9. In each sub-system, the voltmeters 141 and 142 are replaced by voltage-to-current converters 5 and 6, and the voltage divider, display and memory are removed. The current signals generated by converters 5 and 6 are sent back to the central unit by interconnect cable 100, and are there converted back to voltages which are observed by volt-meters 41 and 42. The voltages V 1 and V 2 observed by the voltmeters 41 and 42 are passed to a divider and a display and optionally to a memory. The voltage V 1 is also passed to the memory. The sub-unit is further modified by the introduction of a 9-volt Zener for voltage protection as discussed above, and a constant current source having a relatively high output (e.g. 1-3 milliamps, for example 2 milliamps) which limits the overall current in the sub-unit and also makes it possible to check the continuity of the interconnect cable. FIG. 5 is similar to FIG. 4 except that it uses a 2-wire sub-unit. It operates in substantially the same way as FIG. 5 except that the current is fed directly to the central unit. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing how a plurality of 2-wire sub-units are arranged as a grid to provide the location of a liquid leak. Each of the two-wire sub-units on its own can do no more than report to the central unit when there is a leak at some point along its length, without giving the location of the leak. But since there are a plurality of sub-units arranged in a known grid pattern, the location of a leak can be determined by observing which two (or more) of the two-wire sub-units report leaks at some point along their length.
A system for detecting a fault, e.g. a liquid leak from a pipe or vessel containing an electrolyte or a hydrocarbon. In one embodiment, the system comprises a central unit and a plurality of sub-units; each of the sub-units is powered in turn from a power source in the central unit, and the sub-unit generates a signal which is observed by the central unit and which identifies the presence of a fault. In another embodiment, signals generated by a detection system at different times are compared and the decision whether to generate a fault alarm is based on that comparison. In another embodiment the system (a) when there is no fault, is a monitoring system which comprises a continuous loop which can be tested to ensure continuity of the system, and which comprises a continuity connection, and (b) when a fault occurs, is a test system in which the location (or other characteristic) of the fault can be determined; there is a constant current source in the continuity connection, and/or the continuity connection is present in the test system as well as the monitoring system and comprises a constant current source in the test system.
6
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.: 60/023,838, filed Aug. 12, 1996. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to devices and methods used to improve breathing through a person's nasal passageways and, more particularly, to devices and methods used to alleviate snoring and ease breathing. 2. Description of the Related Art For a number of years, prior art devices have sought to alleviate snoring and ease breathing through a variety of methods. The prior art Breathe Eeze™ internal nostril dilators consist of a pair of barrel-shaped corrugated springs. The barrels are to be inserted, one in each nostril, to stretch the nostril. The prior art Breathe Rite® nose strips consist of a spring member strip with an adhesive backing. The device enlarges the nasal passageways through the affixing of the flexible adhesive strip, low across the bridge of the nose. The prior art Nozovent™ device consists of a latex spring member having a paddle on each end. The device is flexed into a U-shape and inserted to permit the paddles to exert spring force against the interior of each nostril and stretch them open. The prior art also includes a variety of devices, e.g. Snore Stop 2000™, Breathe EZ™, that stimulate the nerves of the septum to open nasal passages by way of a flexible U-shaped clip that is inserted to pinch the septum. While the prior art devices are functional, each has attendant disadvantages. The barrel-shaped dilators can be difficult to insert and have remain inserted. The pressure of the metal spring on the user's skin may cause irritation at the point of contact. Additionally, continued use of the dilators may stretch the nostrils, presenting undesirable cosmetic effects. With regard to the adhesive nose strips, the adhesive can irritate and damage the user's skin where applied. Additionally, the device must be applied to clean, dry skin in order to be properly affixed. The effectiveness of the adhesive of the device is impaired by the presence of dirt, water, and oil on the skin of the user. Finally, the prior art device is not reusable but must be discarded after use, thus increasing the cost of repeated use. The use of the paddle-ended spring member has the potential of permanently stretching the nostrils at the base, as well as the application of uncomfortable continuous pressure. This device also pulls the nostrils open at the base, when the cause of the increased breathing resistance is found higher up inside the nasal passageway. The U-shaped clip devices attempt to stimulate the nerves of the septum, in efforts to open swollen passages, but do nothing to reshape the external passageway to reduce breathing resistance. The continuous pressure exerted by these devices may cause irritation and discomfort. Correcting defects in the nasal valve and enlarging the cross-sectional area of the nasal passageway through the reshaping of the nasal fossae (with a graft at the apex) is a recognized surgical procedure. However, the discomfort and expense associated with such a procedure seriously limits its appeal as a potential treatment. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In brief, particular arrangements in accordance with the present invention include a specially shaped frame having a pair of spacing tips adapted for insertion into the nasal fossae to expand the breathing passages when the device is in use. Each spacing tip covers the free end of a corresponding strut provided at an associated frame end such that the tipped struts can be inserted into, and maintain their position within, the nostrils of the user. Such arrangements of the present invention address and remedy the deficiencies inherent in the prior art. The present invention does not stretch the nostrils, and does not exert pressure on the septum. The present invention is not primarily dependent upon adhesives which may irritate and/or damage the user's skin. Additionally, the present invention does not require clean and/or dry skin in order to be fully functional, as its use is not affected by the presence of dirt, water, or oil on the user's skin. Finally, the present invention is reusable. These features provide the user with a level of convenience and cost effectiveness far beyond that provided by known prior art devices. The present invention provides the full benefit of the common surgical methods used to treat conditions such as snoring or difficulty in breathing. Yet these benefits are achieved without the discomfort and great expense which accompany such surgical procedures. The present invention improves the flow of air through the nose through a stenting, i.e. preventing collapse, of the cartilages of the nose on inspiration. The mechanism of action may be more easily understood with the following conceptual model. Imagine the anatomy of the nose as a simple tent open at both ends. However, instead of tent poles holding up the tent, a wall-like partition exists between the two sides. This wall is the nasal septum, dividing the two nostrils, and the sides of the tent represent the cartilages of the nostrils. In a normal nose, air flows smoothly through the two sides of the tent as breathing occurs. As inhalation effort increases, so does the likelihood of collapse of the sides of the nose due to the venturi effect. Referring to our tent model, the apex of the tent, i.e. the area where the sides come together with the wall at the top of the tent, exerts the most critical influence on air flow. In the nose, the portion of the apex near the front of the nose forms the upper part of what is referred to as the nasal valve. The present invention acts at this area, serving to prevent collapse of the nostrils when air is inspired. Even in a normal nose, collapse of the nostrils will occur as air flow speed is increased. In persons with distorted nasal anatomy, the effects are far worse. If a person has a deviated septum, which may be thought of as a "warped" wall of the tent, increased effort is required to move the same volume of air through the nasal valve. This increased effort may manifest itself as snoring. Finally, if the sides of the tent are narrowed at the top, as is commonly seen after cosmetic surgery to narrow the tip of the nose, the some effects are noted; i.e. increased effort is required to pass a given volume of air through a narrowed passageway. The present invention serves to prevent collapse of the sides of the nose from the venturi effect as described above. The present invention maintains patency of the apex of the nasal valve during inspiration through the stenting of the cartilages of the nose by the placement of spacing tips at the apex of the nasal valve. One particular arrangement in accordance with the present invention comprises a device having a generally W-shaped frame, also can be described as a frame formed with a pair of Us joined by a transverse bridge, terminating in a pair of spacing tips. The device is dimensioned and shaped so that the spacing tips may be inserted into the outer ends of one's nasal passages (the nasal fossae). The frame is preferably fabricated of a spring material exhibiting a degree of malleability, such as copper or stainless steel or a suitable plastic, rubber, silicone or the like, so that the device can be easily fitted to an individual user. The spacing tips may be enlarged attachments placed over the ends of a pair of intra-nasal struts which form the ends of the frame that is bent and shaped to bridge the nostrils. Preferably, each spacing tip is made of a hypo-allergenic, non-irritating, cushioning material such as surgical-grade silicone. If the frame is fabricated of a suitable material, the entire unit, including the spacing tips, may be integrally formed as one. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A better understanding of the present invention may be realized from a consideration of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one arrangement of the present invention and identifies some of the approximate dimensions of the device; FIG. 2 is a detailed schematic view of one of the spacing tips of the arrangement of FIG. 1, again identifying some of the approximate dimensions of the device; FIG. 3 is an elevated side view of the arrangement of FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is an end view of the arrangement of FIG. 1, looking from the right side of the figure; FIG. 5 is a top view of the arrangement of FIG. 1, again identifying some of the approximate dimensions of the device; FIG. 6 is a partial view of one part of the device in place, showing the increased cross-sectional area that is achieved through the use of the device (left nasal passageway) in comparison with the shape of the nasal passageway without the device (right nasal passageway); and FIG. 7 is a side view showing the device as it would be inserted by a user. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in greater detail by reference to the drawing figures. FIG. 1 shows a device 10 embodying the present invention. The device 10 eases breathing and enlarges the nasal passageways by properly positioning each of a pair of spacing tips 12, shown in FIG. 1, within the nasal fossae. Each spacing tip 12 measures approximately 3/8" in diameter and approximately 1/2" in length. In order to fit a wide variety of noses, several sizes of the present invention may be offered. The spacing tips 12 may vary from 1/16" to 3/8" in diameter and may vary from 1/16" to 1/2" in length. For comfort and cleanliness, each spacing tip 12 is made of a hypo-allergenic, non-irritating, cushioning material, such as surgical grade silicone. If desired, the spacing tips 12 may be formed of latex rubber, polyurethane or ordinary plastic. The spacing tips 12 could even be formed of metal, if shaped and given a smooth outer surface which would not cause the user discomfort. An added possibility is that the spacing tips 12 might be fabricated in the form of fluid-filled flexible membranes, as indicated in FIG. 5, for example, for more readily conforming to the interior surfaces of a user's nostrils. The present invention provides for the repeated accurate and proper placement of the spacing tips 12 through their arrangement at each end of a frame 20. The frame 20 is formed of a material having some spring properties yet retaining a degree of malleability and is configured to resemble a series of compound curves, as seen in elevated side view FIG. 3, top view FIG. 4, and front view FIG. 5. FIG. 3 shows the spacing tips 12 covering the free ends of a pair of intra-nasal struts 21. The intra-nasal struts 21 are formed adjacent a pair of nasal curves 22. The opposing ends of the nasal curves 22 are formed adjacent the ends of a pair of extra-nasal struts 23. The opposing ends of the extra-nasal struts 23 connect to a pair of saddle curves 24. A saddle 25 extends between, and connects, the saddle curves 24. For additional user comfort, the saddle 25 may be outfitted with a saddle pad 26, positioned over the saddle 25, to cushion the bridge of the user's nose from contact with the saddle 25. The saddle 25 may be provided with an adhesive surface 28, if desired, in order to assist in providing secure positioning of the nasal appliance in place for use. The adhesive surface 28 may be formed integrally with the saddle 25 or, alternatively, it may be disposed upon the saddle after forming thereof. In still another version, the adhesive surface 28 may be applied to the frame by the user. In another version, an adhesive surface 29 may be affixed to the saddle pad 26, rather than to the saddle 25. In one particular preferred embodiment, as indicated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the spacing tips 12 have an outer diameter of 3/8" and a length of 1/2". The transverse dimension (width) of the saddle 25 is approximately 1/2" with the spacing between the nasal curves 22 being approximately 3/8". The overall dimension of the frame from the saddle pad 26 to the nasal curves 22 is approximately 3/4" whereas the overall dimension from a nasal curve 22 to the end of an associated spacing tip is approximately 1". The distance between spacing tips is approximately 1/4". These dimensions may vary proportionally for the variety of sizes of the device 10 provided to accommodate different users. In use of the device 10, the spacing tips 12 and intra-nasal struts 21 are carefully inserted into the user's nasal fossae (nostrils). The device is gently elevated into the nasal fossae until resistance is felt. The user would then depress the saddle pad 26 onto the nasal dorsum while stabilizing the intra-nasal struts 21 with his thumbs. Customizing the fit of the device may be realized by slightly bending the malleable frame 20, specifically at the nasal curves 22 and the saddle curves 24. When used in this fashion, after perhaps a slight initial adjustment, the device provides increased ease of breathing and relief from snoring without any discomfort. Additionally, the user will be able to achieve the same successful results time and again, due to the capability of the device to be cleaned by washing with soap and water, after which it is ready for re-use. Side view FIG. 7 shows the device 10 being inserted, adjusted and worn by the user. Device 10 is available in a variety of sizes (e.g. small, medium, large) to accommodate all users. Although there have been described hereinabove various specific arrangements of a nasal appliance in accordance with the invention for the purpose of illustrating the manner in which the invention may be used to advantage, it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited thereto. Accordingly, any and all modifications, variations or equivalent arrangements which may occur to those skilled in the art should be considered to be within the scope of the invention as defined in the annexed claims.
A device for enabling a person to breathe more easily while alleviating snoring problems. The device is a generally W-shaped frame providing a pair of suitably sized spacing tips for insertion into the user's nostrils. These tips serve to open and shape the nasal passages so that breathing is facilitated.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method and a device for welding two pieces, abutted in an assembling position, by means of a welding beam. While mainly developed for laser beam welding, this technology also may be appropriate for other spot welding processes, such as the plasma torch, TIG, MIG, MAG, or electron beam processes. 1. Field of the Invention The invention particularly relates to the welding of tube lengths for realizing hydrocarbon transportation pipes, in particular on sea bottoms. This welding can take place in difficult conditions, such as is the case on a barge being subjected to movements induced by the sea, and to many vibrations generated by the equipment and motors located on board. 2. Description of the Related Art For this purpose, a welding machine has already been conceived, comprising a fixed laser source which is spaced away from the tube lengths to be welded and the beam of which is guided, with the help of articulated optical path means, out to a laser head which bears a focussing device and is fixed on a support table rotating around the axis of the tube lengths, which are kept abutted by their ends. For the welding, the support table is rotated by means of the first electric motor around the tube lengths, while the laser head position is adjusted by an axial translation by means of a second electric motor. Such a device is described in the French Patent 93 04642 published under the reference number 2 704 166. Laser welding requires an extremely precise positioning of the laser beam focussed onto the joint to be welded, namely +/-0.2 mm. The joint tracking control usually needs using a sensor fixed on the laser head, for detecting the eddy currents. This joint tracking system guides the laser head but not the laser beam itself. As a result, any misalignment of the optical path induces a deviation between the laser beam position and the joint to be welded, which may cause a defective welding since the laser beam kinematics cannot be simply deduced from the laser head kinematics. The eddy current sensor furthermore does not allow detecting the joint in an abutting assembly without clearance. The object of the present invention is to realize a direct and precise piloting of the welding beam and of its impact by servo-controlling its position, where the welding plasma is formed, at the position of the joint to be welded. For this purpose, the invention concerns a method for laser beam welding two pieces abutted in an assembling position along an assembly joint, to be welded by means of a welding head with a spot shaped beam, characterized in that at least during the welding phase a joint is continuously observed by means of a camera mounted integral with the welding head, by moving the welding head and camera assembly along the joint and by sensing the orthogonal position of the joint for each position of the welding head and camera assembly along the joint, in that the impact position of the welding beam is continuously observed, and in that a piloting of the configuration of an optical path for guiding said beam is insured by servo-controlling the impact position at the position of a joint detected by controlling a translation of the welding head and cameral assembly orthogonally to the joint. The camera particularly may consist of either a standard camera, or more particularly a CCD camera or an infrared camera for the laser beam position finding operation. A tracking of the welding plasma is thus performed by servo-controlling its position on the joint as a function of the detected joint position; in other words, the laser beam itself, and not just the laser head, is positioned in real time onto the joint to be welded. This allows reaching for the laser beam, and consequently for the created welding plasma, a positioning precision which is sufficient to insure a good weld, as opposed to the state of the art. In an embodiment of the invention, during a learning phase, the welding head and camera assembly is moved along the entire assembly joint and a map of the orthogonal positions of the joint is established with respect to a linear marker arranged parallel to the joint line and, during a later welding phase, the welding is performed during a second movement of the welding head and camera assembly along the joint while servo-controlling the welding plasma position when the welding beam is being operated. Advantageously, a linear optical marker extending along the assembly joint consequently is fixed onto one of the two pieces being maintained in the assembling position, in order to establish the map of the distance between this marker and the joint line for all operating positions of the welding head along the joint. Controlling the plasma position adjustment with respect to the marker is then all that is needed for insuring that the orthogonal distance between the joint and the marker, as supplied by the map, is respected. It should be noted that this servo-controlled piloting may be performed in real time, during the same welding head movement along the joint. In particular, using the marker allows, during the learning phase and the welding phase, full insensitivity vis-a-vis the possible movements of the tube lengths with respect to the welding head and camera assembly. A rectilinear edge marker furthermore facilitates the position finding operation for the joint position tracking. In the case where both pieces to be assembled are abutted tube lengths, the marker preferably consists of collar shaped band, the positioning of the welding head and camera assembly is obtained by an axial movement with respect to the tube lengths axis, and both map completion and welding are obtained by an orbital motion around the tube lengths. It is useful for such a collar to have an axial mark, i.e. along a generator of the pieces, which determines by reference an initial position of the welding head and camera assembly during the orbital motion. In the case where both pieces to be welded are abutted, snugly fitted flat surfaces, it might be useful to chamfer the edge of one of the pieces. It then is easy to sense the joint position by observing its shadow under a lighting beam. For the map completion, several movements of the welding head and camera assembly may be performed. A complete and precise map is thus obtained after several learning phases in cases where some points of the map are blurred or do not exist. During the welding phase, an anti-dazzle screen and a filter are advantageously provided between the camera and the welding plasma. This allows obtaining a correct vision of the marker during this welding phase, and attenuating and filtering the plasma for more precisely sensing of the latter. According to another characteristic of the invention, the optical observation beam of the camera is divided into two spatially spaced parts, which respectively are output towards the vicinity of the marker on the one hand and the joint or the welding plasma on the other hand. This allows using a low field objective, affording a good precision, even in cases where the marker and the joint to be welded or the plasma are separated by a large distance. The invention also concerns a device for implementing the above defined method. Advantageously, the camera includes a CCD type sensor, located upstream of the laser head with respect to the movement along the assembly joint, so as to leave the desirable room for the laser head downstream. It further is advantageous for the welding head to include a focussing device with a beam reflection mirror rotatably mounted around its optical axis. In cases where the invention is applied to a device designed for welding abutted tube lengths and including a fixed laser source spaced away from the tube lengths to be welded, the welding beam advantageously is guided by means of an articulated optical path out to a laser head including a focussing device fixed on a support table rotating around the axis of the tube lengths maintained in abutment at their ends. Such an optical path preferably includes, starting from the laser source, a first part the means of which are floatingly mounted with all degrees of freedom on a fixed support table, and a following second part leading the beam out to the focussing device which is fixed on a rotating support table, rotatable around the tube lengths with respect to the fixed support table. Such an arrangement allows obtaining a "soft" optical path between the laser source and the focussing device. The relative motions between the fixed support table and the tube lengths to be welded (in a case where the fixed support table is integrally assembled with the tube lengths) are entirely governed by the first floating part of the optical path, and the tracking of the marker or the joint is performed on the second part of the optical path without any need for taking into account the relative motions of the various elements of the welding device. As previously indicated, these movements indeed are quite numerous when a welding is performed aboard a barge. This floating mounting may notably be realized by means of a ball bearing located on the fixed support table and supporting a freely translatable device in the direction perpendicular to the fixed support table. It also is possible to use a sliding linking, based for instance on polytetrafluoroethylene shoes or an air cushion device, or else a movement support table along x-y coordinates with rotation. Advantageously, the first part of the optical path includes an arm mounted in a freely articulated manner with respect to an axis parallel to the fixed support table, so as to obtain a variable slanting of said arm with respect to the fixed support table. This first part of the optical path may include an arm both ends of which are rotatably mounted with respect to one another around the axis of the arm, which allows obtaining one of the degrees of freedom, here in rotation. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will now be more completely described within the frame of its preferred characteristics and their advantages, while referring to the figures of the appended drawing wherein: FIG. 1 schematically represents the essential elements of a particular installation for implementing the invention; FIG. 2 illustrates the constitution of a marker; FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a particular embodiment of the method of the invention in the case where such implies a learning phase; FIGS. 4 and 5 respectively represent an axial view and a radial view of the location of the welding head and that of the camera in the direction of the joint to be welded; FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of a welding device of the invention, notably illustrating the constitutive means of the optical path of the laser beam out to the welding plasma, in a preferred application for welding tube lengths kept in abutment; FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the welding device of FIG. 6; FIG. 8 is a top view of the device of FIG. 6; and FIG. 9 is a view of a detail of FIG. 6. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention relates to beam welding with a spot shaped impact, more particularly to laser beam welding, between two pieces 22 and 23 which are kept abutted, as notably illustrated in FIG. 4, in an assembling position where they are abutted along a joint 3 to be welded. The laser beam 4 is driven along the joint 3. It is focussed on this joint by means of a focussing head 43. The focussing should correctly align the laser beam 4 onto the joint 3 since the welding otherwise would be unacceptable. It is considered here that obtaining a correct welding requires the positioning to be insured with a tolerance of +or -0.2 mm, which, in the case of a beam misalignment being ascertained, would not be possible if only the focussing head position is controlled. The invention consequently proposes realizing a real time servo-controlling of the impact spot of the welding beam 4 as a function of the exact joint position, perpendicularly to the joint line on which the beam runs during the welding operation. For this purpose, referring to the implementation illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3, the joint is continuously observed for detecting its position by means of a camera integrally assembled with the welding head, the map of the joint position for each position of the welding head and camera assembly along the joint is established during a learning phase and, simultaneously or later, the welding beam impact is continuously observed and its position is servo-controlled by controlling a translation of the welding head and camera assembly orthogonally to the joint, i.e. perpendicularly to the welding head movement along the joint line, as a function of the joint position sensed during said mapping. This can be accomplished in just one movement, with the joint being observed at a fixed distance ahead of the welding plasma, and with the joint position being determined by the position of the servo-control motor and the position of the joint image on a screen which displays the information supplied by the camera. The welding plasma image position on the screen is servo-controlled as a function of the joint position supplied by the map, while taking into account the distance between the joint observation point and the impact spot where the welding plasma is being formed. It also is possible to operate in two distinct phases, which implies two successive movement operations along the joint to be welded. During the first movement corresponding to the learning phase, the map of the joint position is established, and during the second movement, in the welding phase, the welding head is piloted by adjusting the welding beam position by servo-controlling with respect to the joint, based on of this map. The learning phase may possibly be repeated to obtain a more precise map, without any gap. In this embodiment, it is advantageous to use an optic marker 6 (see FIG. 3), shaped as a linear band, which is fixed on one of the two pieces 22 or 23 along the joint 3. In this case, the map consists of the continuously measured distance between the joint 3 and the marker 6, and the position of the head 43 is servo-controlled such that the distance between the welding plasma and the marker 6 is a duplication of the distance to the joint for each position along the joint path, during the head movement in the welding phase. The marker 6 as illustrated in FIG. 2 includes a cross mark 7, which allows marking an initial position for the movements to be performed along the joint. The longitudinal position can also be marked at each instant with the help of an encoder sensitive to, either the angular gaps during the welding head rotation when abutted tubes are being welded, or to the head movement in a plane for other applications, such as when welding abutted flat sheets. FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an installation for implementing the invention method. It includes a digital camera 8, for instance a CCD camera, which simultaneously observes the marker 6 and the joint 3 or the welding plasma. A computer 9, preferably with a visualizing screen 11, receives and processes the data for the camera 8 as well as position data being received from the motor 12 for the servo-control of orthogonal position and the motor 13 for movement along the joint. Based on these data, the computer establishes the joint position map with respect to the marker and elaborates and outputs movement commands to the variator 15 controlling the servo-control motor 12, which commands realize the adjustment of the servo-controlled orthogonal position, by means of an input/output board 14. The marker advantageously is located within a small distance from the joint, for instance 20 mm, so as to obtain appropriately dimensioned images of the joint, the marker and the plasma. In the case where locating such a marker within a small distance is not possible, the camera observation beam may be divided into two beams, for instance by means of prisms or mirrors, which allow distinguishing by means of well known technologies between the information relating to the marker on the one hand, and the information relating to the welding beam position and the position of the joint itself on the other hand. FIG. 5 is a complement to FIG. 4 for showing the camera 47, referenced as 8 on FIG. 1. This camera is fixedly mounted on the same frame as the focussing head 43 shown on the Figures. An anti-dazzle screen 48 is located in the sighting beam of the camera, in front of the plasma created in the vicinity of the joint 3 between both pieces 22 and 23 during the welding phase, so as to clearly distinguish a marker illustrated as 46 which normally is not bright. A removable filter 49, which allows refining the observed plasma image also can be located. A nozzle 51 is interposed in a traditional manner on the path of the focused laser beam, at the entrance of an enclosure for visual confinement limited by the screen 48. The FIGS. 6 to 9 represent an installation which applies the method and the device of the invention within the operating frame of welding abutted tube lengths on a barge, notably for realizing and installing hydrocarbon transportation pipe-lines. The device of the invention includes a fixed support 21, which supports a fixed laser source 27, which is spaced away from the tube lengths to be welded 22 and 23. The laser welding beam output from this source is guided by an articulated optical path towards the welding head 43 which is fixed on a support table 24 rotatably mounted on the support table 21. The rotating support table 24 is located coaxially with respect to both tube lengths 22 and 23 and is rotatably driven around their axis 25 by a motor 26. Both tube lengths which are the pieces to be welded re maintained in the assembling position by any appropriate means, generally either by claws or external catching collars, or by catching systems with inflatable pads or with suction cups introduced from the inside. They are abutted in their assembling positions by their respective end faces. The means defining the optical path can be divided into a first path, starting from the laser source 27 and constituting a floating mount with all degrees of freedom with respect to the fixed support table 21, and a second part, following the latter to guide the beam out to the focussing head 43 mounted on the rotating support table 24. The first part of the optical path includes an arm 28, with a fixed length, consisting of two tubular elements sliding with respect to one another. At the end of this arm which is facing away from the source 27, a reflection mirror 29 is rotatably mounted around the vertical axis of a bent part 32, at the end of which an other reflection mirror 33 turning on a horizontal axis is located. The beam is thus reflected into a vertical direction, i.e. perpendicularly to the fixed support table 21. The rotation of the mirror 29 allows slanting the arm 28 with respect to the fixed support table 21. The assembly, consisting of the arms 28 and 32 and the mirrors 29 and 33, is mounted in a freely translatable manner in the vertical direction by sliding along a vertical rail integral with a vertical frame 35. At the upper end of the latter, a reflection mirror 30 directs the beam towards the second part of the optical path. This mirror 30 is rotatably mounted around a vertical axis to insure a rotation of the second part of the optical path with respect to the first part, parallel to the support table 21. The vertical frame 35 is mounted on the support table 21 with a possibility of free translation in both directions in the plane of the support table 21 and free rotation around a vertical axis. This can be achieved by means of a ball bearing 36 rolling on a ball carpet located on the support table 21. Air cushions or shoes of low sliding polytetrafluoroethylene also can be used. The same effects also alternatively can be obtained by means of a x-y movement table with a rotation system. The second part of the optical path includes a telescopic arm 37 which receives the beam reflected from the mirror 30 and insures a translation movement along its axis. It includes at its end a couple of reflection mirrors 38 and 39 which serve to admit the beam into an arm 41, of a fixed length. The arm 41 has at its other end a reflection mirror 42, rotatably mounted on a frame 45 for directing the beam onto the focussing device 43. The latter is supported by a secondary frame 44 (FIG. 9) which is movably mounted in vertical translation, under the control of the servo-control motor with respect to the frame 45 which is fixed on the rotating support table 24. It might further be useful to rotatably mount the focussing head 43 onto the frame 44, for rotation around the vertical axis of the rotating mirror 42, so as to adjust at will the beam slanting angle in the plane of the joint 3. The application, as particularly illustrated by the FIGS. 6 and 9, implies a continuous marker for lateral positioning, which consists of a collar 46 born by the tube length 22, and the camera 47 is mounted on the frame 45. The method is summarized in the flow chart of FIG. 3. In a first step 52, the laser head is positioned rewards of the mark 7 (FIG. 2) by means of the driving motor 26 of the support table 24. The servo-control motor is then controlled for searching for the collar 46 in the camera field. When the collar has been found, it is framed so as to perceive the joint 3. In a second step 53, the learning phase is launched by triggering an orbital path of the support table 24 around the tube lengths 22 and 23. As soon as the camera detects the mark 7, the distance between the collar and the joint is continuously recorded as a function of the angular support table position and, when the mark 7 is detected again, the motor 26 is stopped and the process enters the piloting mode. During that phase, a tracking of the collar is operated, which is well regular, which limits the movements managed by the servo-control motor. In a third step 54, the computer processes information acquired by evaluating the missing (joint not found) or doubtful data and the optimal analytical adjustment of the distance between the joint and the collar is performed by interpolation. In some cases, a new learning phase may be commanded to refine the map. In the last step 55, the welding is realized. The laser head is positioned rearwards of the mark 7 and the orbital motion is triggered. As soon as the mark has been found, the servo-control system is commuted to the welding beam piloting mode to insure that the welding plasma will permanently be repositioned, perpendicular to the assembly joint, to be welded all along the orbital motion. The screens are placed in front of the camera and the laser firing is commanded. The servo-control continuously corrects the distance between the joint and the collar with respect with registered values supplied by the learning map. A second welding phase can be effected with filler metal. The method of the invention also is adapted to furthermore perform a weld quality control by analyzing the plasma defects, for example by examining its shape or by sensing its possible extension. The invention is in no way limited to the above described embodiment and many alterations or variations are possible. It in particular can be applied to any spot beam welding operations requiring a high welding beam positioning precision onto the joint to be welded, whereas it however is easily adaptable to piloting a beam performing a weld between two flat sheets maintained in their abutted assembling positions along a rectilinear average joint line. Furthermore, the camera can be conceived for distributing the visual position detection observation into two different optical paths, or this device may include two different apparatuses for respectively observing the joint and the welding plasma. The viewing field of the camera 47 can in particular be divided by means of prisms or mirrors. On the other hand, one might prefer using an infrared camera to observe the welding plasma, with the plasma position being determined by the epicenter of the obtained image.
A method and a system for laser beam welding two pieces abutted along a joint, wherein a camera configured to observe the joint is mounted integral with a welding head thereby defining a camera/welding head assembly. The camera/welding head assembly is moved along the joint and orthogonal positions of the joint are detected for positions of the camera/welding head assembly along the joint. A guiding mechanism guides a welding laser beam impact along the joint by controling an orthogonal translation of the camera/welding head assembly based on the orthogonal positions of the joint.
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This application is a Continuation-in-Part of the Provisional Application No. 61/460,326 filed on Dec. 30, 2010 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Tower cranes are well known in the construction of high rise buildings. Depending on their size, tower cranes are used in the construction of medium to high rise buildings and the like structures. There generally is high tower standing at the side of the building site and taller than the anticipated site of the building. This tower crane has a long boom with a trolley thereon. The length of the boom must be longer than the proposed width of the building to be able to reach all corners of the building. A shorter end of the boom receives weights to balance the boom with a load at the other end. The weight cannot exceed a certain measure so that the boom stays somewhat balanced without a load and the load to be hoisted cannot exceed a certain measure to avoid overcoming the balancing load on the boom at the shorter end. This a very costly and time consuming operation when constructing a building of great heights. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The HOIST, DECK AND PLATFORM SYSTEM invention may be referred to and abbreviated as HDPS. The Invention is load hoisting and placement system that also serves as a mobile land based crane, jacking, shoring, deck platform apparatus. The inventive crane system is able to independently self climb most buildings or structures as they are being built as well many existing man made or natural structures such as rough stone, metal, smooth glass or wood. The invention can be operated remotely in real time via Internet, radio, cell or land based phones or hard wired or wireless systems. It can also be operated conventionally by lever or button controls. The ability to attach cameras to multiple mechanical arms independently allows for wide, normal and micro views of the overall work area. The invention may be operated from a central station manned by qualified operators. This reduces the need for a large off hour standing cranes often required by building codes for buildings being constructed over 6 floors high. With optional bolt on power systems and drives, mobile unit can operate freely in tight, narrow or restricted areas because of its ability to be configured in a low and slim profile. In addition, it can expand its footing with extending mechanical arms serving as outriggers with tracks, wheels or pads. Theses robotic/hydraulic arms are able to continuously maintain a level platform base for a boom and/or deck(s) regardless of the surface the unit is supported by. The machine can be advanced from point to point with theses mechanical arms or legs. Additionally, attachments attached to the end of these will have the ability to attach themselves, by drilling, clamping blast charge fastener, screw placement, electro-magnetic devices, suction or adhesive application as the main unit is held in position while at least one arm secures a new firm position by one or more of these methods. In turn, one of the other several arms will repeat the process in proper order as the overall unit progresses and advances to its new location. As a jacking and shoring system, the central structure/mast/beam with its outward leg brace attachments features allows for infinite connecting pints. The leg/brace arms can exert pressure away from or toward any surface it is in contact with. This will serve to adjust, hold, temporarily or permanently any structure such as a wall, floor or platform such as a deck as long as it is required. Mounted on a truck trailer, the unit can be used to do typical crane work. A special transitional riser with enclosed an enclosed receiver sheave box (used to change various diameter sheaves) will allow the unit to be structurally un-attached from the deck surface and raised by hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders, hoist or crane into a vertical position. This allows the invention to be attached directly to a building, usually the floors. The main vertical center mast structure has within it several shorter adjustable deck clamps. These clamps are able to oppose one another in reverse fashion as hinged plate(s) contact each floor, usually two or more. Any floor thickness is acceptable as well as floor to ceiling heights for additional clamp placement. Once the deck/floor clamps are connected and the extending flanges are bolted to the vertical mast, additional support is obtained by connecting leg braces from the vertical mast to the floors and/or ceilings. This determination is made for each building by the engineer of record. The combined deck clamps and the bracing will have the effect of ‘bridging’ all floors together so that dynamic load forces of hoisting loads are distributed over all floors rather than one floor. A small re-positioned hoist can easily be moved from floor to floor for lifting the fully operating or partial units up or down. Once in position, a self contained manual, electric, pneumatic or hydraulic operating crane can be attached to the top transitional cap system. The design of the invention's boom base has two hinged plate designs that have the ability to maintain a level or predetermined angle because of two or more hydraulic cylinders and/or wedge shaped fixed spacers placed between the lower and upper cap sections. This transition sections allows the wire rope/boom to function from horizontal through vertical positions without interruptions. One element of this new design provides the customer with several performance choices as far as speed, capacity and cost are concerned while still keeping the overall design small and very competitive. Where as a typical crane is very large, heavy and expensive often weighing hundreds of tons, this inventive concept has the ability to move much of the same material sized loads that standard sized cranes do. This invention uses the building's existing mass and stability for support and because of this, does not require very much weight itself. Therefore, the need for a ground boom with counter weights is not required to lift loads hundreds of feet high. Additionally, the central mast and center sliding internal clamps all have a hole at their center that allows the hoists/cranes wire rope or cable to pass directly through from one end to the other of the vertical mast, transition cap and over the boom point sheave to the ground. This allows the power system, hoist and related components to remain at ground level where they can be serviced, fueled or swapped out for larger performing systems as the building goes higher into the sky as it is being built. The invention has the ability to pace the boom anywhere from the ground to beyond the top floor of the building and even build new floors. When loads need to be placed into the building interior from the open side of the building, outrigger platforms are typically being used. They are usually rigid fixed platforms cantilevered beyond the floor edge and they are held in position by standard post shore jacks placed between the floors and ceilings. A crane is required to move them on and around the building. When theses units are used, they have to be staggered so as not to interfere with load placements on lower floors by obstructing the crane's wire rope or cable. When movable platform transfer decks are used, several units are often required or desired. They operate much like a ‘chest of drawers’. Most often, they protrude some distance outwardly from the building and present an obstacle as loads are lifted past them to higher floors. To eliminate these issues, part of this new system includes a drop down deck that can fold up or down against the building front so that loads can quickly pass by without slowing down at every floor without hitting them. Another design will show how a system of one or more split ring collars fastened to the vertical mast column will allow a fully rotational deck to be attached. The deck can be partial in shape such as a pie section, half circle or full 360 degrees circle in circumference to allow loads to be supported on it. They can work on or around the column, exterior or interior of the building or structure as required. A 180 degree deck/platform will allow for total load clearance once it is positioned inside the building away from passing loads. It should be noted that the jack leg braces are in position and the screw/turnbuckle design feature can exert great pressure on the deck floor and ceiling from the top and bottom. This clamping effect can eliminate the need for hole placements in the building structure in many cases as determined by the Engineer of Record. The system can be used as a suspended deck supported by one vertical mast that can be raised or lowered as neede4d. This deck(s) can be equipped with handrails for use by personal to work within confined area for safety. When required, additional vertical masts can be positioned parallel in a series along one full side of a building, a corner section or the full perimeter of a structure and connected together by their deck(s)/platform(s) and operated as one long continuous deck system. These combined units are able to be raised or lowered as a whole or staggered ‘in stair step’ manner. This eliminates any support having to originate from the ground level on a high building structure. Being that the vertical mast(s) have the ability to move diagonally across a wall type surface, the attached deck/platform systems are able to remain level to the ground for workers to work from. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates the overall installation of the self-movable hoist system; FIG. 2 Illustrates the hoist system with all terrain wheels located on a truck; FIG. 2A illustrates a rear view of the basic crane assembly after having been unloaded from truck; FIG. 3 shows the hoist system of FIG. 2 after unloading; FIG. 4 illustrates a self-centering wheel in conjunction with two tracks; FIG. 5 shows a winch box below a crane platform; FIG. 5A illustrates all terrain wheels; FIGS. 6 , 6 A and 6 B illustrate various views of the winch box including sheaves located therein; FIG. 7 shows the crane independent from a building while loading onto the building; FIG. 8 shows a winch placed on an upper floor and operated by a person on the basic truck; FIG. 9 shows the winch of FIG. 8 about to lift the crane assembly from the truck; FIG. 10 shows the crane of FIG. 9 about to be received on an upper floor of a building; FIG. 11 shows the crane of FIG. 10 after having been installed on an upper floor; FIG. 12 shows the crane of FIG. 11 operating from the truck while lifting a load; FIG. 13 shows the crane of FIG. 12 operating from a truck and lifting a load to an upper floor; FIG. 14 shows a building deck with a vertical mast on the front of a building floor. FIG. 15 illustrates a plan view of a cross section of the mast and inner deck clamp; FIG. 16 shows the addition of an independent hoist boom with point sheave attachment; FIG. 17 is a plan view of an attachment plate including a winch; FIG. 18 is a plan view of an of an addition that allows for the independent raising or lowering the crane assembly from the truck on the ground; FIG. 20 shows a side view of a personnel cage system that is being held in position by mechanical arms FIG. 19 shows is a side view of a personal cage system that is being held in position by mechanical arms; FIG. 20 is the top view of the cage system of FIG. 19 ; FIG. 21 illustrates an example of a gear drive that moves the cage up or down; FIG. 22 is a plan view of the system of FIG. 21 showing the cage moved into a different rotational position; FIGS. 23-26 illustrates various ways of attaching mechanical arms to the mast assembly; FIGS. 27 and 28 illustrate the crane assemblies configured on a typical building; FIGS. 29 and 30 illustrate still other ways of attaching cranes to various buildings; FIGS. 31 and 32 shows the movement of the crane assembly from one building type to another adjacent type building; FIG. 33 is a close up of the movement of the crane of FIGS. 31 and 32 ; FIG. 34 illustrates a vertical mast in position on the side of a Building; FIG. 35 shows caged platforms attached to the mast in a staggered relationship from other platforms; FIGS. 36-37 illustrates various combinations of staggered caged platforms relative to the building front; FIG. 38 shows an extended cantilevered trolley with wheels; FIG. 39 shows the trolley of FIG. 39 having a front drop down deck; FIG. 40 is front view of the drop down deck of FIG. 40 ; FIGS. 41 and 42 illustrate the trolley of FIGS. 40 and 41 with a forwardly extending personal cage; FIG. 43 is a front view of the cage of FIGS. 41 and 42 . DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION FIG. 1 illustrates an assembled hoist system on a building having the floors F with the inventive crane system installed thereon. The crane device 3 is installed on a transitional cap system 10 . The crane 3 is operated in its up and down positions by a hydraulic or pneumatic piston 3 a and shows a cable C which is trained over the sheave 2 a which trained own through the middle of the mast assembly 12 . The mast assembly includes a main vertical mast 7 which is stabilized in lateral attitudes by diagonal braces 8 and 9 which are attached to floor mounted deck clamp plates which are fastened to the floor F by way fasteners 5 a . There is floor F platform P mounted on the floor F which platform has a winch 15 mounted thereon which operates the cable C through the center of the mast assembly 7 and 12 . The plates 5 on the floor F and at the ceiling are also held in place by way of post shore jacks 17 . The boom shown in FIG. 1 is fully functional in that it can boom up, down extend outward or inward and rotate 360 degrees left or right. The boom can be of any type that can be attached to a base. The inventive boom has a sheave/wire rope positioned so that is centered in the holes or openings as it passes through the vertical mast. FIG. 2 illustrates a truck T that carries all the necessary elements to a building site. The crane assembly is supported by a modified I- or -H beam(s) or other supporting structural member such as a round, square or rectangular or specially extruded or hollow formed tube which has a multiple of wheels 4 which will adapt themselves to any terrain on which the crane assembly is transported. At one end of the I-Beam, or the above described member, there is located a box enclosure B which has a sheave 6 located thereon for the purpose of diverting the cable C running from the winch/hoist 6 a located on the truck T. The enclosure B has located thereon the transitional cap system 10 which is shown in FIG. 1 on top of the mast. As is shown in FIG. 1 , FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 The crane 3 is mounted and supported on the transitional cap system 10 . FIG. 2 also shows the leg braces 8 ( FIG. 1 ) placed on top of the I-beam which are placed on top of the of the above described structural members or I-Beam. FIG. 2A illustrates a rear view the basic crane assembly on a ground. The sheave 2 can be seen guiding the Cable C on its way to the crane by way of the sheave 6 which is located in the enclosure B ( FIG. 2 ). FIG. 3 is a side view of the basic crane assembly positioned on the ground with its all terrain wheels 4 . In this view the transitional cap 10 is hinged at 10 a and is operated in a rotational movement by the hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder 13 . The I-beam P has at its end a sheave 2 to properly guide the cable C on its way to the crane 3 . Again the leg braces 8 are shown on top of the I-beam P. FIG. 4 shows the basic crane assembly on top of all terrain wheels 4 having a self-centering wheel 4 a in conjunction with two wheel tracks 4 . All of the call outs have been explained with FIGS. 2 and 3 . FIG. 5 is a more detailed view of FIG. 4 except that both wheel tracks are still mounted on the basic mast P. At the right end of the Mast P is shown the box enclosure b having the transitional platform 10 mounted thereon including the sheave 6 which properly guides the Cable C to the crane 3 . The attitude of the crane 3 is controlled by a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder 3 a . This Fig. also shows the importance of a hollow boom having a sheave 6 at its bottom to pass the cable C there through to the top of the boom (shown in later Figs.) where the crane 3 is located on top of the transitional platform 10 . FIG. 5A shows the wheel tracks 4 by itself. FIG. 6 illustrates the box enclosure B in a side view. The box enclosure B consists of the mast elements 11 and 12 which form the basic elements of the overall mast structure 7 which will be further explained below. Also shown is the sheave 6 . FIG. 6A is rear view of the box enclosure B. FIG. 6B shows the sheave 6 by itself removed from the box enclosure B. FIG. 7 illustrates the crane assembly still mounted on the truck T on the ground G being able to hoist a load L to a higher level which is independent of any other use of loading equipment. The crane boom 3 is adjusted to different attitudes by way of the power cylinder 3 . Also notice that movement of the various elements is controlled by an operator using a remote control R. FIG. 8 shows a load such a platform having a winch 15 and a sheave 16 thereon having previously been placed on the floor F by the independent crane assembly shown in FIG. 7 . FIG. 9 now shows how the winch 15 is now used to hoist the basic crane assembly 3 from the truck T after the crane assembly has been disconnected from the truck. The building structure consists of several floors F and floor may be chosen where the basic crane assembly 3 should be installed. The basic crane assembly 3 has the transitional cap system 10 attached to the mast consisting of elements 11 and 12 . The cap 10 is hinged to the cap 10 by a horizontal hinge 14 and is operated into different positions by the power cylinder 13 . FIG. 10 illustrates the same view as FIG. 9 except that the crane assembly 3 has now arrived at a predetermined floor F. and is ready to be installed thereon. FIG. 11 illustrates the progression of the installation of the crane assembly 3 by installing various braces to stabilize the overall crane assembly. The diagonal braces shown in FIG. 1 at 7 are now installed above and below the floor F. Also the post shore jacks are used to strengthen the installation between the two floors F. FIG. 12 illustrates the further construction of the basic crane assembly 3 there by adding various extensions to the mast structure 7 ( FIG. 1 ) which consists of the various elements or components 11 and 12 which will form a hollow structure possibly of a square configuration. In FIG. 12 , there is an upper mast structure 7 which is being extended to a greater length by adding another mast structure 7 a to its lower end. After the lower mast structure 7 a has been added, a load L can be hoisted by the winch 6 a and the truck by guiding the cable C through the box enclosure B, through the center of the mast assembly 7 and 7 a and further through the crane 3 located on top of the transitional cap assembly 10 ( FIG. 1 ). The load L can be hoisted to different floor levels as will described below. FIG. 13 illustrates how a load L may be hoisted to different floor levels which is hoisted by a cable coming from a winch 6 a on the truck L. FIG. 14 shows the same operation and hoisting a load L as was shown in FIG. 13 except that an independent power system has been placed on the ground to thereby dispense of the truck L. The power system 18 has a winch 18 a thereon which powers the cable C running through the box enclosure B and up through the center of the mast assembly 7 and 7 a. FIG. 15 . This a plan view to show a cross section of the vertical mast and the inner deck clamp 19 with a hinged deck plate in a lowered and connected position to the building floor F. The front of the building floor F is designated as FE. The connecting bolts 25 are connecting the center deck clamp 19 to the inward vertical mast element 12 . The main hollow mast shows outer walls 20 and contains an inner sliding deck clamp having a center hole CH for containing the cable C therein and the sliding deck clamp 21 has friction material 22 between the inside wall of the hollow and itself. As will be shown below, the deck clamp 19 has a forward horizontal hinge element 19 a. FIG. 16 shows a building deck or floor F with a vertical mast on its left side. The far outer extension or vertical mast element 11 has rectangular holes 11 a for attachments or the use by gear wheels which be explained below. The other vertical mast element 12 a has holes that allow leg braces to be attached as needed. FIG. 17 is a plan view showing an attachment 26 that will fit perfectly over the outer two vertical extensions 12 and 12 a . This allows for an independent lifting or lowering by the existing or internal hoist. It can also be self-powered with its own power/motor direct gear drive system (to be explained below) that will allow it to move as needed up or down to any given point. Also this FIG. 17 shows its own winch assembly 23 which is mounted on the deck clamp plate 19 Just inside from the floor edge FE. FIG. 18 shows the addition of the of the independent small boom with a sheave 24 mounted thereon that is used by way of the cable C for independently raising or lowering the inventive crane assembly from the Truck on the ground onto the building and on to higher floors. The sheave 24 directs the cable C through the center opening in the main boom and on to an attachment point of the main vertical mast, usually at the base. In this Fig. notice the front edge FE of the floor F. The deck plate clamp is shown at 19 which has the winch 23 mounted thereon. FIG. 19 is a plan view of a personal cage system which is being held in position by at least two mechanical arms 28 and 29 which are being hinged 28 a and 29 a and are further connected at their other ends to the attachment plate 26 . The mechanical arms 28 and 29 have full rotational and extension or retraction ability at all connecting points giving them a complete range of motion as needed. All other reference call outs have been shown in FIGS. 17 and 18 . FIG. 20 is a side elevation view of FIG. 19 showing the personal cage 27 with its mechanical arms being connected to the attachment plate 26 . This platform system 27 can be moved up or down on one of the vertical masts by a dual wheel drive 30 . Also shown in this Fig. are the extending brace arms 8 and the connecting flanges 8 b. FIG. 21 is a vertical side view of the personal cage system with its dual gear drive system. The personal cage is shown in a rotational position. The attachment plate 26 has on arm 26 a attached to it is a receiver hook 26 b for making mid-air load exchanges. Another arm 26 c is attached to the attachment plate 26 and is fitted with a claw type holding attachment 32 . This Fig. also shows the dual wheel assembly which is riding on a vertical mast which has elongated slots therein which serve as the counterpart of the gear wheel assembly. The whole assembly of FIG. 21 is supported by the deck plate clamp 19 which has a horizontal hinge 19 a just forward of the floor edge FE FIG. 22 is a top plan view of the side view of FIG. 21 . It is noted that the personal platform is placed in a rotational position relative to the attachment plate 26 . At the opposite end of the attachment plate 26 is located the deck plate clamp 19 which ahs the horizontal hinge 19 a mounted thereon extension which is hinged to the attachment plate 26 by way of the horizontal hinge 19 a . This deck plate clamp has mounted thereon a winch 15 which trains its cable C over the sheave 24 into the hollow mast assembly through its center. FIGS. 23-26 illustrate how various attachments can be mounted onto a vertical mast. FIG. 23 is an all position clamping device for the mechanical arms 28 and 29 which are attached to the clamping device by way of an electro magnetic device. FIG. 24 is designed for an electro-magnetic to a an iron or steel surface. Again this mode of attachment has the mechanical arms 28 and 29 attached thereto for purposes described above. FIG. 25 illustrates a multi-rotational unit which again is attached to iron or steel components by of an electro-magnetic force. The mechanical arms 28 and 29 are attached to a plate 35 which consists of a rotational arrangement whereby the mechanical arms can be oriented into various positions. The plate 35 may attached to a vertical mast by of the electro-magnetic device 34 . The multi-rotational unit, once installed, allows for a placement And use of specialized drills, screw drives, impact devices, blast change fasteners and adhesive dispensing etc. FIG. 26 illustrates a suction cup device for a smooth surface attachment and, of course, dis-attachment. FIG. 27 illustrates the inventive concept applied and configured on a typical building. This Fig. shows an option for allowing the inventive unit to make a transition from the vertical to horizontal by using the pivotal action of the track attachment. The hinged cap attachment 14 with the connected hydraulic or pneumatic piston 13 ( FIGS. 9 and 10 ) assists in orienting the crane 3 into different positions as is required during a movement. In this Fig. there is provided a central ground based power device consisting of two winches W which can service both left and right cranes 3 . The cables C are trained over two sheaves 37 under the floor F to further sheaves 36 and around the same to both left and right cranes 3 . Both cranes 3 consists of vertical booms 12 and diagonal braces 8 (see FIG. 16 , for example). FIG. 28 . shows the concept of FIG. 27 where the left crane 3 is in a pivotal movement but in this FIG. 28 the crane is in position and ready to be used. FIG. 29 shows the crane in a horizontal position after undergoing the pivotal movement described in 27 . This crane assembly can be transported on the floor F by way of the wheels 4 (see FIGS. 4 and 5 ) to different locations as required. Such a crane assembly 3 can be moved to the opposite side of the building to be installed there. FIG. 30 shows the same view as shown in FIG. 7 except that the crane assembly 3 has continued in its pivotal movement to further illustrate the capability of the inventive concept of a self-climbing hoist. FIG. 31 Shows the capability of the inventive crane assembly fitted with one option for allowing the until to make a transition from a vertical position to a horizontal position by using the pivoting action of the track attachment. This arrangement is quite valuable when encountering different building construction as shown by a diagonal brace D where the unit would encounter another building structure. The same reference numbers are placed in this Fig. as can be found in FIGS. 27 and 28 . FIG. 32 is the same view as is shown in FIG. 31 but it shows the progression and advance of the self-climbing hoist 8 having the crane 3 thereon. In this FIG. 32 , the unit has just started the climb onto the diagonal D. This Fig. also shows the mechanical arms 29 which are instrumental in aiding the progression of the unit 8 . At FH are shown different floor heights. The crane assembly 12 has already been installed on the opposite side of the building FIG. 33 illustrates the same view as is shown in FIGS. 31 and 32 but in an enlarged view. The self climbing hoist 13 including the crane 3 is moving along the diagonal brace D and is hoisted by the cable C along the sheaves 35 . At 29 are shown the hinged support arms 29 having the attachment features shown in FIGS. 23-26 . At FH is shown a building floor being located at a different height. FIG. 34 shows a somewhat close and side view of the main mast consisting partly of the masts 11 and 12 . The mast 11 is fastened to the front edge of the floors F and is further supported by the diagonal braces 8 and the braces 9 which are the leg braces extending close to the floor F. The forwardly extending masts 12 have loading platforms attached thereto which also have the diagonal braces 8 and the floor braces 9 attached thereto for stabilizing purposes. From FIG. 34 it can be seen that lower loading platform 46 b extends somewhat more forwardly than the upper loading platform 46 . The reason for this arrangement is that the cable C with a load thereon can easily bypass the upper platform 46 so that a load can be delivered to a lower loading platform 46 b . The vertical braces 17 between the floors F and between the loading platforms 46 and 46 b provide a support for an overload protection. FIGS. 35-37 illustrate the same basic principle as is shown and explained with regard to FIG. 34 except that in arrangement one of the forwardly extending platforms 46 c can be rotated around the split collar ring 40 to thereby being able to be moved in all directions as can be seen in FIGS. 36 and 37 . Thereby, when a loads L are deposited on their respective loading platform 46 c the platform can be turned so that the load cab delivered to a predetermined floor F as is shown FIG. 37 . FIG. 38 illustrates a different loading platform consisting of longer wheeled handrail shuttle 43 a which is similar to the loading platform 46 or 46 c but it is movable on a floor F once it turned into that direction. The extended wheeled handrail shuttle 43 a has wheels 44 thereon so that it can be moved onto the respective floor F. Part of the wheeled handrail shuttle is the H-beam 41 on which the shuttle 43 is mounted. This compares to the platform apparatus P of FIG. 3 . The shore jacks 42 are similar to the ones 17 shown in previous Figs. FIG. 39 is a side view of a further development of the handrail shuttle 43 . The front of the shuttle 43 has attached thereto the platform 46 shown in FIGS. 35-37 but is hinged thereto by way of a horizontal hinge 46 a . The platform 46 is operated in an up and down movement by way of a winch 45 mounted on the handrail shuttle 43 . The cable C from the winch 45 is trained over a fulcrum lever or hinged arm 47 and then attached to the front of the hinged platform 46 . FIG. 40 is front view of the of the shuttle 43 with the hinged platform located in a downed position. FIG. 41 illustrates a further development of the wheeled handrail shuttle 43 in a forward position past the front of the floor F so that a load can be delivered onto the platform. The wheels 44 are shown in several views in FIG. 41 . Once at the rear end of the shuttle 43 , the second time in the circle between the FIGS. 41 and 43 and the third time in the front view of FIG. 43 . FIG. 42 is a side view of the handrail shuttle 43 a which is operated by the winch 48 , by way of cable C and the fulcrum lever 47 and in this Fig. the hinged platform 43 a is shown in a horizontal and load receiving position. FIG. 43 is front view of the hinged platform in up position. This view shows the platform designated as 27 because it compares to FIG. 27 wherein it is designated as 27 for the purpose of transporting personnel.
The invention is a hoisting and placement system that also serves as a mobile land based complete crane system that is useful on a building under construction. The crane system can be installed on any floor that has been completed. As the height of the building of the building rises with upper floors that have been completed, the completed crane system can follow the upward work progress by virtue of its own construction. This construction includes a vertical tower mast system that can be attached to completed floors. The crane system can climb up or down on this tower mast system by using various mechanisms to engage one of the masts which form the tower mast system. The tower mast system can support various lengths loading platforms that can move into or out of a building floor.
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CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/148,469, filed Jan. 30, 2009. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to means for powering electrosurgical and electrocautery tools and instruments. More specifically, the present invention relates to cordless battery-powered means for generating power that are compact enough to fit within a handpiece, powerful enough for use in sealing and resecting operations in the lungs, and safe enough to provide risk reduction incentives over conventional generator systems. Most specifically, the present invention focuses on the aspects of the electrical circuitry design for the minigenerator system to provide increased energy efficiency, feedback and alert systems, and adjustable performance parameters to tailor the procedure to the needs of each patient. 2. Description of the Related Art Battery-operated power generators are desirable for electrosurgical/electrocautery instruments because they eliminate the need for wires running from the instrument to generator boxes or wall outlets. This eliminates any chance of a leakage current fault that could harm the patient. That makes the unit inherently safe. In addition, safety compliance should be easy to obtain by sound electrical circuitry design that complies with well known and readily available industry standards (i.e. IEC 60601 and ISO 14971). With no wires, the surgeon would be free to articulate the unit without encumbrances, enabling more natural surgical techniques and a greater variety of techniques. There have been other attempts to overcome the reliance upon electrical wires and cords in providing electrosurgical/electrocautery tools with a reliable power supply. These attempts have confronted the dilemma in that eliminating the wall outlet electrical power source and relying completely on battery power typically makes the instrument so bulky that it is no less awkward to use than instruments attached to wires. Alternatively, providing a smaller battery to make the instrument easier to handle may be okay for more refined smaller scale surgical work but current circuitry designs and modes of usage cannot provide the amount of power necessary for more intensive surgeries in larger organs. Accordingly, several designs have accepted wires as necessary for the supply of a sufficient amount of power. These designs have focused on alternatives that reduce the negative aspects of wires (i.e. the ability of wires to get in a surgeon's way) rather than eliminating them altogether. Examples follow. U.S. Pat. No. 6,039,734 (hereinafter U.S. Pat. No. '734) entitled “Electrosurgical hand-held battery-operated instrument” by Colin Charles Owen Goble and assigned to Gyrus Medical Limited (Cardiff, GB) discloses an instrument that is truly without wires. However, it is noted that “[t]his instrument is primarily, but not exclusively, intended for fine surgical work, such as spinal, neurological, plastic, ear-nose-and-throat and dental surgery, and office procedures.” There is no mention of lung, pleural, chest, or thoracic capabilities. Additionally, the instrument uses a single treatment electrode and is monopolar (see Abstract, claim 1, 1:29-31, etc.). The array of surgical procedures compatible with such a design is limited. The minigenerator of the present invention can be used with bipolar instruments having multiple treatment electrodes and this expands the potential applications. Since the battery-operated instrument of U.S. Pat. No. '734 is monopolar it requires a return path to be built into the housing of the instrument in order to avoid localizing current in a patient's tissue in the region of a return pad. The return path takes the form of an electrically conductive shield outside the generator that provides capacitive coupling between the generator and its surroundings (see Abstract, claims 7-9, 1:38-43, etc.). This built-in return path adds some bulk to the device as the layering is: generator—insulator—conductive shield—insulator. This generator also uses and provides a conductive path of alternating current (AC) (see claim 18). The minigenerator of the present invention can also provide direct current (DC) for electrocautery in which current does not enter the patient's body. Direct current electrocautery may be safer in some situations. U.S. Pat. No. 5,961,514 (hereinafter U.S. Pat. No. '514) entitled “Cordless electrosurgical instrument” by Gary L. Long, et al. and assigned to Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. (Cincinnati, Ohio) achieves a “cordless” electrosurgical instrument in a narrow sense of the term in that the instrument itself is, in fact, cordless but for power it is required to screw-in or plug-in to a trocar adapter unit that has wires and is itself electrically charged by a wall outlet. The outside of the tubular instrument has electrical contacts that receive energy as the instrument is passed through a trocar cannula. Thus, the instrument must be passed through and in contact with the trocar cannula to receive energy and the trocar adapter unit has wires. Connecting the instrument to the trocar adapter provides an extra step and obligation for a surgeon to perform before beginning to operate. Requiring the instrument to pass through a trocar cannula limits the angles and directions in which an instrument can be manipulated to access and treat a target site since it has to pass through the wired trocar adapter first. Thus, the advances of this system, if any, seem marginal. Typical voltages coming from a wall electrical outlet are much higher than the maximum voltages of reasonably-sized batteries and passing such a high voltage through a trocar cannula adapter unit in proximity to the patient could be dangerous. U.S. Pat. No. 6,569,163 (hereinafter U.S. Pat. No. '163) entitled “Wireless electrosurgical adapter unit and methods thereof” by Cary Hata, et al. and assigned to Quantumcor, Inc. (Irvine, Calif.) improves upon the wired trocar cannula adapter unit of U.S. Pat. No. '514 by providing an adapter unit that “contactably couples” to an energy source upon direct physical contact by the surgeon (4:30-38). “Contactable coupling” is defined in the patent as coupling two electrical contact elements by contacting without plugging or connection” (4:27-30). However, the system is not truly wireless in that wires exist, it is just that they are divided into separate discrete segments, hidden, and insulated. Wires extend through a surgeon's glove and/or gown to terminate in at least one electrically conductive patch zone (or two patch zones for bipolar instruments) that provides power to the adapter unit upon direct physical contact. A drawback of this system is that the instrument itself does not contactably couple to the power supply. Rather, the wireless adapter unit (WAU) stands between the electrical source in the surgeon's glove or gown and the electrosurgical instrument to be powered. The instrument itself actually connects to the WAU with a cable cord 25 and receptacle 24 (see FIG. 4 ) or it connects through wires stripped of their insulation and a spring-loaded plug (5:31-41). It seems it would be a better design to eliminate the adapter unit and contactably couple the electrical system in the surgeon's glove/gown directly with the instrument to be powered. This would streamline the connections and eliminate the duty to line-up and connect components in situ. This drawback is discussed and compared to the prior art (see 5:23-28, 5:31-41, and FIGS. 4A and 4B). U.S. Pat. No. '163 teaches away from a battery pack by suggesting the contactable coupling means described therein is superior because it doesn't take up space while batteries do and can make an instrument bulkier and heavier (2:7-14 and 4:36-38). The minigenerator power system of the present invention overcomes the issues of all of these references by providing a truly wireless system that avoids both a separate adapter unit and the need for a coupling mechanism and is capable of being used with bipolar (in addition to monopolar) instruments. The elimination of a coupling mechanism reduces instrumentation set-up time and the on-site power generation source reduces charging or power-up time. The special handpiece is hermetically sealed, without any external wires, and with a modern battery having specially designed circuitry that minimizes power usage for a lighter, longer-lasting battery-powered instrument. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an electrosurgical/electrocautery generator that is completely cordless, free of adapters, and entirely battery-powered. The generator is compact enough to fit within a handpiece of an electrosurgical/electrocautery instrument without adding weight or bulk. The generator is designed to fit within the handpieces of modern, smaller, endoscopic surgical instruments. The battery component of the generator can be as small as contemporary cell phone batteries (i.e. around 1.5″×1.5″×0.25″). The cordless nature of the entirely battery-powered generator provides safety improvements for both the patient and healthcare providers (surgeon and operating room staff). There are no cords for anyone to trip over and there is no risk of frayed wires or leaking voltage from poorly insulated or worn wires. The electric circuitry of the generator of the present invention has also been specially designed to perform at reduced voltage levels. The system can run off of a battery in the range of 6 volts to 24 volts and all voltage levels in the circuitry are low, at battery level, until the very last transformer (see last transformer T 2 in FIG. 2 final output diagram). Conventional generators with wires that rely on electrical energy from wall outlets typically work with 100-250 volts (V) alternating current (AC). Thus, the present design reduces widespread higher voltages. Other advantages of the cordless battery-powered design of the generator are that it is much more portable. Physicians working out of several hospitals, clinics, and out-patient offices (as many do) can carry the same preferred instrument with them from place to place, thereby building skill and confidence from using the same piece of equipment. Generator portability also reduces the need for a separate instrument and generator at every site or on every floor of a facility, thereby reducing overhead expense which is passed along to maintain lower procedure costs for patients and insurance companies. The generator system is so small compared to conventional plug-in wall units it is even easy to travel with including by plane transportation. Surgeons should prefer this cordless battery-powered generator because it drastically increases their safe range of motion during surgery, giving them greater ability to “dance” about the operating room and flex/bend/turn as necessary to obtain the best treatment angles without worrying about tripping on wires, getting cords tangled, or traversing the patient with electrically charged cords. Greater instrument controllability results in more precise and accurate cutting (more hit, less miss when aiming at a target) which consequently results in less bleeding from hitting unintended vessels and other structures. In addition to less bleeding, there is less structural damage to unintended structures. Better maneuverability also enables improved linear cutting with less deviation from a path along a line. The minigenerator of the present invention is ideal for powering many types of electrosurgical/elecrocautery instruments. The minigenerator can be used universally with any electrosurgical/electrocautery tools so long as it can fit in the handpiece of the instrument used to power those tools. Exemplary tools the minigenerator can be used to power include those with electrodes, optical fibers, barbs, blades, scissors, jaws, tissue-contacting surfaces, vibrators, heaters, ablators, ultrasonic generators, mechanical cutters/corers, spinning cutters, etc. It is especially well-suited for powering instruments that cut and seal tissue, including those that cut and seal through non-mechanical energy transfer means such as radiofrequency ablation, tissue welding, cauterization, infrared lasers, etc. The electronic circuitry of the generator is arranged in an interconnected closed loop functional feedback system such that power drained from the battery and converted by the converter can be adjusted as necessary to maintain a desired level of current or power supply to the final output. This internal system can also be connected with another external component that monitors an external variable, in a patient's body, that is impacted by the final output current or power. For example, a thermocouple might be used to monitor the temperature of a site in a patient's body. The temperature of a site in contact with the electrosurgical instrument is influenced by the power provided by the battery and the current provided to the final output. By providing Dynamic Temperature Control (DTC) and Dynamic Power Control (DPC) the present invention stabilizes the temperature at an optimal level (or range) while using the minimum amount of power necessary. Resistance is another variable that can be measured by a sensor to monitor the condition of the tissue to ensure it stays within safe ranges while providing the best therapeutic benefit. This feedback system saves energy by providing no more energy than is necessary to maintain a given level of current or power to the final output or to maintain the value of a variable that measures a characteristic of tissue in a patient's body at a desired therapeutic level. The hydrated condition of live tissues in a patient's body allows them to conduct electricity and permits a reduction in power necessary for effective treatment compared to desiccated tissues with little or no conduction. However, the extent of hydration and the resistance of tissues changes over the course of treatment and can change abruptly. These changes impact the power requirements to achieve the same effects. Continual feedback provides for the necessary power adjustments to maintain constant therapeutic benefits and avoid dangerous extremes that could cause unwanted outcomes including charring. A more energy-efficient instrument also provides an economic benefit by reducing power costs. According to a preferred embodiment, the generator also includes a means for tailoring the frequency, pulse width, and amplitude of the waveforms generated to match the needs of each patient and procedure. Timing circuits in the controller can be used to control the frequency and pulse width while the amplitude is directed by varying the voltage to the final output stage. The basic requirements for the circuit are a closed conductive path and an energy source. The battery described herein provides the energy source. The design of the electrosurgical/electrocautery instrument that connects the battery to the specific tools and elements it powers provides the closed conductive path. Other standard circuit elements can be added to obtain the desired functionality, feedback, controllability, and safety features. These elements include: capacitors, resistors, transistors, transformers, inverters, antennas, diodes, etc. A capacitor stores electric charge. A capacitor is used with a resistor in a timing circuit. It can also be used as a filter, to block DC signals but pass AC signals. A resistor restricts the flow of current, for example to limit the current passing through a light emitting diode (LED). A resistor is used with a capacitor in a timing circuit. A transistor amplifies current. It can be used with other components to make an amplifier or switching circuit. A transformer comprises two coils of wire linked by an iron core. Transformers are used to step up (increase) and step down (decrease) alternating current (AC) voltages. Energy is transferred between the coils by the magnetic field in the core and there is no electrical connection between the coils. An inverter can have only one input and the output is the inverse (opposite) of the input (i.e. the output is true when the input is false). An inverter is also called a “NOT gate”. An antenna receives and transmits signals, typically radiofrequency (RF) signals. A diode is a device which only allows current to flow in one direction. Advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description and drawings which follow, and in part will be obvious and implied from the description and drawings, or may be learned by practice of the invention. Advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter and any other means suggested by them. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention, and together with the general description given above and the detailed description of the embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention. FIG. 1 shows a block diagram illustrating the basic feedback loop of the circuitry and showing how the current monitor and controller work together to adjust the amount of energy drained from the battery and/or processed by the converter and provided to the final output. FIG. 2 shows a circuit diagram demonstrating the final output and how this is fed by and isolated from the power generation components and remaining circuitry. FIG. 3 shows a power monitor that is used to sample the current by developing a voltage drop across a small resistance of 0.1 ohm. The voltage is numerically equal to the amperage drawn by the final output stage divided by 10. The voltage value is fed to the controller to determine if it is within an acceptable range. FIG. 4 shows a simple analog version of a timing circuit inside the controller used to generate the frequency and pulse width. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The design has been optimized for safe, energy-efficient battery operation. All voltage levels in the circuitry are low, at battery level, until the very last transformer T 2 (see the final output diagram shown in FIG. 2 illustrating how the last transformer T 2 is isolated). The last transformer multiplies the voltage and isolates the patient from the entire circuit. The output stage is simple, but efficient, ideal for battery operation. The use of a “swinging choke” T 1 (see FIG. 2 ) provides the necessary positive and negative outputs by using only two Field Effect Transistors (FETs). Using a wide range input DC-to-DC converter design, the latest battery technology can be utilized. Any battery input from about 6 volts up to 24 volts can be accommodated. The output of the DC-to-DC converter does not vary with changes in the input. Therefore the unit can provide an energy output (i.e. radiofrequency or RF output) that is independent of battery voltage. This fixed output feature makes battery life deterministic and predictable. A radiofrequency output is listed as exemplary only and is not limiting. The generator of the present invention could also be used in the handpiece of instruments that produce other energy forms as outputs, including infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), ultrasonic, lasers, etc. A battery can be selected to easily provide enough power for the procedure, plus a large safety factor, and still fit comfortably in the handle of an electrosurgical/elecrocautery instrument. Typical power requirements for a lung biopsy are 30 watts for 30 seconds. Using two 12-volt batteries with only 50% conversion efficiency, the battery capacity requirement would be 0.04 Amp-Hr: 30 ⁢ ⁢ W = 12 ⁢ ⁢ V @ 2.5 ⁢ ⁢ A , 2.5 ⁢ ⁢ A × 0.5 ⁢ ⁢ min × Hr ⁢ / ⁢ 60 ⁢ ⁢ min × 2 ⁢ ( 50 ⁢ % ⁢ ⁢ efficiency ) = 0.04 ⁢ ⁢ Amp ⁢ - ⁢ Hr . Small lithium-ion batteries in a portable form factor typically provide 0.5 Amp-Hr. This provides an excess capacity of greater than ten times (10×): 0.5/0.04=12.5. Monitoring the power supplied to the final amplifier stage and not supplying power if a momentary short circuit occurs, as happens in these procedures, extends battery life. During a short circuit the power required theoretically becomes infinite and battery life would be jeopardized if it were not detected. According to a preferred embodiment, the current to the final amplifier (final output) is monitored. This current is directly proportional to the amount of power (i.e. radiofrequency power) being supplied to the tissue. If a short occurs, the current detector will command the controller to cut the power, wait for a moment, then reapply a small amount of power to determine if the short has been cleared. If it has been cleared, then the full procedural power is restored. Alarms in the form of an audible sound (i.e. a beep or different pitches and tones), lights (including colored or flashing), and/or vibration (or another tactilely sensed change) are provided if a short circuit occurs so that the surgeon is immediately aware. The power monitor samples the current by developing a voltage drop across a small resistance of 0.1 ohm. This voltage is numerically equal to the amperage drawn by the final output stage and divided by 10. The voltage is fed to the controller to determine if it is in an acceptable range. Due to their interrelationship, if the voltage is in the acceptable range the current (amperage) is also in the acceptable range. The frequency, pulse width, and amplitude of the energy output (most commonly RF output for energy in the radiofrequency range) to the patient are all adjustable in real time. Handpiece and/or foot treadle controls can be provided so that the surgeon can adjust these parameters easily on-the-spot without interrupting cutting/resecting or sealing of tissue. Then, there is no need to stop, walk to a main console and manipulate controls there. Optionally, a programmer may also be incorporated and used when a particular waveform pattern is desired that can be too complicated or exhausting to achieve by manual operation (handpiece control buttons or foot treadle) alone. The ability to adjust the waveform characteristics allows the unit to produce the most effective waveform for each particular procedure. Different procedures, different instruments, different patients, and different sites on the same patient have different needs with respect to waveforms. The generator of the present invention is designed to accommodate all of these needs to achieve better surgical results with shorter procedures and longer battery life. The frequency and pulse width are generated with timing circuits in the controller. The controller communicates with the current monitor and these variables can be adjusted, if desired, in response to changes in the current. The timing circuits can be analog or microprocessor circuits. A simple analog version of a proven circuit is shown in FIG. 4 . The amplitude is a function of the voltage to the final output stage. That voltage is determined by the set point on the DC-to-DC converter, which is, in turn, provided by the controller. As shown in FIG. 1 , the controller communicates with the converter, the current monitor, and the final output to ensure the optimum voltage is provided to the final output from the converter. As previously stated, this voltage passed along to the final output is not dependent upon the voltage of the specific battery selected to power the generator. The voltage to the final output can be set at a specific value and that value can be achieved with any battery used by the generator. Additional sensors can be provided near a distal tip of the electrosurgical/electrocautery instrument powered by the generator at a target site in a patient's body to measure these variables (frequency, pulse width, amplitude) to ensure the goal values are achieved and to detect the numerical values at which the best performance occurs. Performance can be felt by the surgeon manipulating the instrument, seen on a monitor for endoscopic procedures, or seen with direct vision for open procedures. By utilizing temperature feedback (Dynamic Temperature Control or DTC) which can be determined from a thermocouple at the tissue site, power can be dynamically varied (Dynamic Power Control or DPC) during the procedure. It is possible to start the procedure at full power, monitor the temperature of the tissue, and reduce the power as soon as the temperature starts to approach the therapeutic temperature. A closed loop controller would provide just enough power to maintain the desired temperature and thereby maximize battery life. For example, temperature ranges of 60-75° C. in tissue have been shown to be optimal for cutting and sealing procedures (see Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Technology Review of Nov. 19, 2008: “Healing with Laser Heat—Surgical lasers could soon heal cuts as well as make incisions” by Lauren Gravitz.) The circuitry of the system can vary among the different embodiments so long as the objective is satisfied: energy conservation while providing a desired effect on target tissue that dynamically responds to the changing state of tissue as it is heated. Accordingly, the effect on tissue can be made to approach a known optimal range as measured by one or more tissue characteristics including resistance, temperature, density, moisture content, etc. In some cases the desired effect is assured by maintaining constant temperature of the tissue as energy is transferred to it. As the material nature of the tissue changes as it is heated, the amount of energy supplied to the tissue to maintain the optimal temperature may change. Temperature measures the degree of heat in the tissue and an average kinetic energy of particles in the tissue. According to a preferred embodiment, the circuitry comprises at least one capacitor and at least one resistor. More preferably, there are three capacitors and two resistors with a resistance of at least one resistor between 0.05 and 0.15 ohms. According to a preferred embodiment, there is a transformer that is a swinging choke transformer and there are two field effect transistors (FETs), such that the swinging choke transformer provides both a positive and a negative output, as necessary, by using only the two field effect transistors (FETs). As for the power source and converter, preferably, the battery has a voltage from 6 volts up to 24 volts and the energy converter is capable of handling DC-to-DC (direct current to direct current) conversion. The controller preferably includes at least one timing circuit. The timing circuit may be an analog or a microprocessor circuit and desirably has at least one inverter or NOT gate. To provide a desired effect on tissue the final output preferably operates at 30 watts or more for 30 seconds or longer. The exact power level provided by the final output to tissue and the length of time it is provided over to produce the desired effect will depend upon the details of a particular patient. Feedback sensors in situ ensure the system is properly calibrated for each individual patient and that the appropriate amount of energy is transferred to the tissue to produce a desired sealing or resecting effect without charring, burning, etc. Independent feedback sensors of one or more types (including those that measure temperature, resistance, moisture content, etc.) can be positioned in a patient at a tissue site to which an electrosurgical/electrocautery instrument (powered by the minigenerator herein) is applied and these sensors can be connected to directly or wirelessly communicate with the controller of the minigenerator. In some cases the sensors are part of the distal end of the electrosurgical or electrocautery instrument with which the minigenerator is used while in other cases they are independent components separately embedded in the tissue. Next, a general procedure for the collection of biopsy samples from a lung is outlined. The generator of the present invention could be used to power the electrosurgical instruments used to perform the biopsy procedure. However, this is just one application and is not intended to be limiting. The generator also can be used after biopsy to power more intensive treatment procedures with the objective of removing substantial quantities of tissue (much larger than the sizes needed for biopsy analysis) and sealing large regions (i.e. to reduce the spread of cancer or other disease, redirect flow, and/or prevent fluid accumulation or leakage). Although there is an emphasis on the lung, the generator is not limited to powering procedures within the lung. One having ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the generator and methods described herein are readily adapted for the collection of biopsy samples, sealing (as a substitute for threaded sutures), and cutting/resecting operations in several regions of the body including nerve repair, blood vessel repair, cornea transplants, etc. General Procedure Step One: Consent, Anesthesia, Medical Staff, and Set-Up Prior to beginning the procedure, the informed consent of the patient should be obtained. One advantage of the present invention, as compared to traditional open-surgery biopsy techniques, is that it is done under local anesthesia rather than general anesthesia. Consequently, there is less interference with the homeostasis of bodily functions and recovery time is reduced permitting patients to avoid lengthy and expensive post-operative stays in the hospital recovery unit. Further, local anesthesia generally allows for a quicker post-operative assessment of the patient's condition and of the success of the procedure. The preferred drug of choice for local anesthesia in the present procedure is a long-acting local anesthetic agent like bupivacaine. Lidocaine, novacaine, ropivacaine and procaine may also be used. Intravenous sedatives including versed, morphine, fentanyl and other agents enhance the effects of the local anesthetic agent by causing the patient to become sleepier, less anxious, and number to sensations like pain. An anesthesiologist or anesthetist should be required to standby during the biopsy procedure until the operating physician is very comfortable in using the devices described herein. This procedure is to be done in a procedure room, operative room, or in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit). A RN (Registered Nurse) should be positioned bedside throughout the procedure and sterile precautions should be used. A telemetry unit should be used to monitor heart rate and blood pressure as needed. Oxygen saturation should also be measured throughout the procedure. Typical endoscopes provide channels for gas and fluid exchange between the external environment and the internal biopsy site. Carbon dioxide or an equivalent gas may be insufflated to the biopsy site through such a channel, during the biopsy procedure, at flow rates of 2-4 liters per minute. Carbon dioxide gas is preferable because it is non-combustible (unlike oxygen), dissolves in blood, and does not cause clots or bubbles when introduced into the rib-restricted thoracic cavity (unlike air). Any other gas having these same advantageous characteristics that is otherwise medically compliant and safe for introduction within the interior of the thoracic cavity may also be used. The patient's diagnostic data is to be reviewed by a pulmonologist. It is preferable to have CXR (Chest X-Ray) and CT (Computed Tomography) scans readily available. Preferably, a thoracic surgeon on standby should be available for back-up support and assistance. Step Two: Incision, Insertion of Minithoracoscope, and Insufflation to Induce Pneumothorax The point of entry is based on the diagnostic data as determined by the pulmonologist. Once the point of entry is determined, the operative site surrounding the point of entry is prepared and draped in a sterile manner. Next, the local anesthetic agent is infiltrated. A total of 5 mL is usually adequate to anesthetize from the skin to the pleura. A needle is inserted into the intrapleural space. An ease in injection is noted as the needle tip enters the pleural space. This can be confirmed by aspirating air. A blade knife (size: 11-gauge) is used to make an incision (approximately 2 mm). This incision will facilitate the entry of the Chest Innovations (trademark) (hereinafter, CI) minithoracoscope (trademark). The entry point is always superior to the rib to prevent injury to the intercostal vessels. The CI minithoracoscope has a multi-port minitrocar (trademark) that is held in the midportion of the scope for better directional control. Steady forward pressure is needed to enter the pleural space. Insufflating the internal region during the introduction of the minithoracoscope (or other instruments) is preferred to reduce the possibility of lung injury. Providing continuous insufflation to the internal region of the site to be biopsied also facilitates visualization and prevents fogging of the CI minithoracoscope. As the pleural space is entered, there is a “give” or sudden drop in pressure, at which time the multi-port minitrocar is removed. Carbon dioxide insufflation continues into the intrapleural space at 2 liters per minute following the removal of the multi-port minitrocar to induce a pneumothorax causing the lung to collapse. When the lung is collapsed, it is easier to visualize, grasp, and manipulate for obtaining a biopsy. It is also easier to reach a greater number of target locations for sampling from a single incision site when the lung is collapsed. During the procedure the intrapleural pressure is maintained at less than 8 mmHg. The anesthesiologist or anesthetist keeps a watch over the blood pressure as excessive carbon dioxide insufflation may cause hypotension, such as from a mediastinal shift as pressure changes in the thoracic cavity push the heart over. In the event of hypotension, the situation can easily be corrected by stopping the flow of carbon dioxide and aspirating the port. Accordingly, it is important to use a low flow rate of carbon dioxide throughout the procedure to avoid rapid fluctuations in blood pressure and intrapleural pressure. Step Three: Insertion of Camera and Instruments As an alternative to relying solely upon the tactile sensation of a pressure drop to determine when the pleural space has been entered, a second option is to introduce a CI minithoracoscope with a camera in one of its ports so that insertion of the biopsy needle and insufflation of carbon dioxide are under direct vision. Using this option, the CI minicamera (trademark) is inserted through a port of the minithoracoscope. The location of the CI minithoracoscope within the interior of a patient can be confirmed by visual inspection of the external monitor which receives image signals transmitted by the minicamera. The monitor is usually available with most scope towers. The CI minicamera may need to be defogged occasionally throughout the procedure. Outside of the body, a solution such as “Fred” by Dexide, Inc. or “Dr. Fog” by O.R. Concepts, Inc. (see also U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,297 assigned to Merocel Corporation) can be used to defog the minicamera. Inside of the body, directing the source of carbon dioxide insufflation at the lens of the minicamera may assist to defog. As the minithoracoscope advances internally through the prospective biopsy region, the pathology is identified and reviewed. Pictures are taken by the minicamera for documentation and correlation with biopsy samples. Once a target biopsy region is identified based on the images transmitted by the minicamera, the working miniport (trademark) of the minithoracoscope is ready to be used. The miniport is an instrument channel or a fluid/gas exchange channel. The CI mininstruments (trademark), including forceps, staplers, and energy-transferring sealing and separating devices are inserted to obtain biopsy specimens. The specimens are then removed for pathology analysis and/or for culture and sensitivity studies. If bleeding is encountered during the internal manipulation of CI mininstruments, CI minicoagulators (trademark) can be used to promptly control bleeding. Further, CI suction devices are available for aspiration of pleural fluid. Other solutions can also be provided through one of the working miniports of the minithoracoscope and suctioned out after they are utilized. For example, a saline irrigation solution can be introduced to prevent clots. Electrolytic solutions, cooling fluids, cryogenic fluids, chemotherapeutic agents, medicaments, gene therapy agents, contrast agents, and infusion media may also be used. (See U.S. Pat. No. 6,770,070 assigned to R. ITA Medical Systems, Inc. at col. 10, lines 14-17.) Cooling fluids may be provided to ensure the temperatures of energy transfer elements (on sealing and separating instruments) stay within a safe range. Cleaning solutions may be provided to ensure the surface of energy transfer elements stays free of materials such as loose tissue particles or charred tissue. Step Four: Removal of the Minithoracoscope and Optional Insertion of CI Kink-Less, Non-Buckling Chest Tube, if Necessary Once the internal inspection and sampling procedure is complete, a guide wire is introduced through the working miniport of the minithoracoscope and placed in a desired location. The CI minithoracoscope is then removed. In many cases, once the CI minithoracoscope is removed, the procedure is complete and a chest tube need not be provided. For example, when the CI mininstruments used to obtain biopsy samples seal the site from which the sample is collected (prior to, simultaneously with, or shortly after separating the desired sample from the surrounding tissue), internal bleeding and drainage can be entirely avoided or at least substantially reduced. Use of the rapid tissue sealing and separating capabilities of modern technologies (including those that rely upon heat to both seal and separate) coupled with the small scale of the sampling instruments described herein has the advantage of avoiding the need for a chest tube in many cases. Chest tubes are generally provided to compensate for incomplete sealing at the biopsy site during incision and sampling. Thus, a chest tube permits the drainage of blood, gases, and internal fluids over an extended period of time, as the biopsied site heals. If a chest tube is found to be necessary, CI minidilators (trademark) are inserted first, along the tract the tube is to follow in order to enlarge the tract. A Seldinger technique can be used to position the chest tube. A single skin stitch can be used to secure the chest tube in position. Alternatively, other methods of securing the chest tube can be used if the stitch needs to be avoided. Once the chest tube is properly in place within the interior of the patient, it is connected to a chest drainage system and 20 cm of suction is applied. A post-operative chest X-Ray should be obtained in the immediate post-operative period while the chest tube is in place. Although any chest tube may be used with the methods of this invention, preferably the CI chest tube is used if a chest tube is determined to be necessary. The CI chest tube is highly desirable as compared with conventional chest tubes because, unlike most flexible chest tubes, it does not kink and does not buckle. Unlike most rigid chest tubes, the CI chest tube is not painful. The CI chest tube comprises a long, hollow, tubular member with an outer core that is softer than the inner core. The softer outer core minimizes a patient's sensation of pain upon contact of the tube's external periphery with the surrounding bodily environment in which the tube is inserted. The more rigid structural integrity of the inner core minimizes the chance that the tube will buckle (blocking flow) upon bending as it is maneuvered internally. Within the walls of the tube's internal lumen is a deployable elastic element that can be activated from a proximal control site to remove kinks as they emerge, if they emerge. The internally deployable elastic element replaces the conventional trocar insertion method for removing tubular kinks. Step Five: Removal of Optional Chest Tube Chest tube removal is at the discretion of the pulmonologist. A band-aid may be applied after the chest tube is removed to protect the insertion area. A minigenerator as described herein could be used to power the instrument used in the above biopsy procedure. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. Various changes and modifications can, of course, be made, without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
The present invention provides an Electro Surgical Generator (ESG) optimized for lung biopsy. The ESG is exclusively battery operated and fits within the handpiece of modern endoscopic electrosurgical/electrocautery instruments, thereby avoiding wires, adapters, and coupling mechanisms. The ESG is adaptable to generate different waveforms that vary with respect to frequency, pulse width, amplitude, etc. through the use of timing circuits and voltage control (i.e. transformers). The ESG is both energy-efficient and safe. A closed loop feedback system featuring a monitor and controller ensure no more power than necessary is provided to achieve a goal current level. Dynamic Power Control (DPC) and Dynamic Temperature Control (DTC) systems vary power to maintain temperature with the lowest possible power. These features prolong battery life and guard against tissue damage. The generator includes other safety features such as resiliency against and the ability to overcome single fault events such as short circuits.
0
BACKGROUND [0001] The subject matter of the invention relates to a device for extracting, fragmenting, mixing, and homogenizing especially infectious, malodorous, chemically corrosive, or sterile substances according to the preamble of claim 1 . [0002] Devices of this type are known. From WO2004/035191 a one-way mixer and homogenizer is known, comprising a tubular laboratory test vessel, with an agitating element being supported for rotation in its lid having cutting and/or squeezing elements. At the periphery of the agitating element, connected in a torque-proof manner to the laboratory test vessel, cutting edges are formed at a retention sheath with the agitating element engaging them. Using this one-way mixer and homogenizer in particular infectious, malodorous, chemically corrosive, or sterile substances can be mixed and homogenized. [0003] The substances processed inside the homogenization and mixing chamber remain hermetically isolated from the environment in this manner and, when the desired consistency has been reached, they can be removed via the shaft of the agitating element, which is hollow, without requiring the laboratory test vessel to be opened. [0004] The disadvantage of this device is that when processing fibrous or chord-containing substances, the latter may clog the opening of the pipette for suctioning the processed sample and thus essentially hinder the removal of the test amount of the substance. SUMMARY [0005] The object of the present invention is to provide a device for extracting, fragmenting, mixing, and homogenizing in particular infectious, malodorous, chemically corrosive, or sterile substances of the type mentioned at the outset, in which the substances to be processed, even when provided only in smallest amounts, are constantly guided past the processing tool during processing and processed. [0006] Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for extracting, fragmenting, mixing, and homogenizing in particularly infectious, malodorous, chemically corrosive, or sterile substances of the above-mentioned type, which allow a simple and malfunction-free removal of the substance processed in the device. [0007] This object is attained in a device having the features of claim 1 . Advantageous embodiments of the invention are described in the dependent claims. [0008] The substances unprocessed and being processed are guided past the processing tool by a helically shaped transportation means until the desired consistency is achieved. It is further achieved by a sieve, dividing the processing space in the laboratory test vessel, to separate unnecessary unmilled or to be milled components still contained in the sample to be processed from the optimally homogenized, fragmented, i.e. extracted substances. In a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, the removal of these separated materials can occur directly through the hollow shaft of the processing element and, if provided, through a sieve that can be penetrated, without opening the laboratory test vessel. The arrangement of the surface in the sieve that can be penetrated at a tubular or dome-shaped attachment facilitates the penetration of the desired fraction from the processing chamber into the collection chamber. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0009] Using two illustrated exemplary embodiments the invention is explained in greater detail. Shown are: [0010] FIG. 1 an axial cross-sectional view through a device for processing substances in a laboratory test vessel, [0011] FIG. 2 a view of the device from the direction according to arrow P in FIG. 1 , [0012] FIG. 3 a cross-sectional view through the device taken along a line III-III in FIG. 1 , [0013] FIG. 4 an enlarged representation of the area A in FIG. 1 , [0014] FIG. 5 a view of the lid, [0015] FIG. 6 an exploded perspective view of the elements used in the laboratory test vessel, [0016] FIG. 7 an axial cross-sectional view through the device with a partially inserted pipette, and [0017] FIG. 8 an axial cross-sectional view through another embodiment of the device without a guiding function of the laboratory test vessel. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [0018] In FIG. 1 the casing of a laboratory test vessel 3 is marked with the reference character 1 . The vessel is positioned upside-down, i.e. on the lid 5 , with its opening 7 pointing downwards, with the lid sealing the opening 7 of the laboratory test vessel 3 . The bottom 9 of the laboratory test vessel 3 is therefore located on the top in these figures. Processing of substances to be extracted, fragmented, mixed, or homogenized occurs in this position. In the following, the term “processing” always characterizes extracting, fragmenting, mixing, and/or homogenizing. [0019] A processing tool 11 is mounted to the lid 5 in a rotation-proof manner. The tool is arranged conically, for example with a multitude of teeth 13 . The teeth 13 can be arranged in one or more axially off-set planes in reference to each other. In the illustrated example, the three groups of teeth 13 , arranged axially behind each other and showing the form of conical wheels, are arranged on the processing tool 11 . The lowermost positioned row of teeth can have a longer distance from the second lowermost row such that at the face a coaxially arranged cutting blade 15 can be placed onto the circular step 17 . [0020] The just described part of the processing tool 11 is mounted to the collar 19 of the lid 5 , which extends into the interior of the casing 1 of the laboratory test vessel 3 . A flange 21 of the lid 5 surrounds the upper brim 23 of the laboratory test vessel 3 . Preferably the brim of the lid 5 is provided with a bead 25 pointing inwards, which extends into a recess 27 provided at the upper edge of the casing 1 . As an alternative to the just described snap-action lid 5 instead of a bead 25 and recess 27 , a thread or a bayonet fitting may be used, of course. [0021] The processing tool 11 comprises a central bore 29 serving as a gliding bearing for a guidance tube 31 of an agitating element 33 . At the end facing the lid, this bearing bore 29 is provided with a rib 35 pointing inwardly, which engages an encircling groove 37 at the guidance tube 31 for axially guiding the latter. At the upper end of the bore 29 in the processing tool 11 , encircling ribs 39 are formed, facing against the guidance tube 31 , which form a labyrinth seal (cf. also the enlarged illustration of the area A in FIG. 4 ). On the end of the guidance tube 31 facing away from the lid 5 , a cap 41 is provided having a, for example, conically extending tip 43 . The cap 41 is formed in the area of the tip 43 (the highest area) such that it can be penetrated by the tip of a pipette 45 . The tip 43 can either be provided with a predetermined breaking point or may be made from an elastic material penetrable by the pipette tip. Of course, the area that can be penetrated may comprise the same material as the guidance tube 31 and can be produced together with it in a one-component or two-component method. The cap 43 is preferably located, as discernible from FIG. 2 , in a plane E inclined in reference to the symmetry axis of the guidance tube 31 . The inclined plane E causes materials resting thereupon during processing to automatically glide off and be guided back to the teeth 13 . [0022] At the periphery of the agitating element 33 , a transportation means 47 , made from plastic or metal, extends with a helical form. The interior edge 51 of the transportation means 47 extends in the surface of the casing of a virtual frustum, formed by the edges of the teeth 13 . The exterior edge 49 contacts a partial area of the casing 1 of the guidance tube 31 . Thus, in the area of the processing tool 11 , the interior edge 51 is guided past the crowns of the teeth 13 in a grinding and cutting manner. Therefore, when the agitating element 33 is rotated in the processing tool 11 , the transportation means 47 passes over the space between the casing 1 of the laboratory test vessel 3 and the processing tool 11 and/or the cutting blade 15 positioned thereabove. Preferably, slots 53 are provided in the transportation means 47 , which can allow the penetration of fluids from the top downwards and together with the cutting blades 15 serve for a coarse fragmenting of the sample. [0023] The rotary drive of the guidance tube 31 and/or the agitating element 33 with the transportation means 47 occurs by an external drive motor, not shown, with its drive shaft engaging through the lid 5 into the interior of the guiding tube 31 . The formfitting entraining of the guidance tube 31 is here ensured by cuts 55 arranged at its bore or by fine teeth. [0024] A pin 57 can be placed at the end of the guidance tube 31 facing the lid for transporting the laboratory test vessel 3 , in particular after samples were taken, into the lab and/or for additional support. In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1-7 , a sieve 59 is inserted at the bottom end of the laboratory test vessel 3 and is held in the desired axial position by suitable means 61 . The periphery of the sieve 59 contacts the interior wall of the casing 1 in a sealing manner. The sieve 59 , as shown in FIG. 3 in an enlarged fashion, may be a perforated plate or it may comprise one or more wire or plastic grids positioned overtop of each other. Within the surface of the sieve a tubular or dome-shaped attachment 63 is provided, which extends beyond the sieve 59 at the side of the lid. A surface 65 that can be penetrated is provided at the attachment 63 above its opening cross-section positioned at the bottom. Preferably, this area 65 is formed conically tapering in a direction towards the sieve 59 and formed such that it can easily be penetrated by the tip of a pipette 45 . For this purpose, predetermined breaking points or lines 66 shall be embodied in the area 65 , or the area 65 comprises an elastic, easily penetrated membrane. The conically tapering area 65 is positioned coaxially and at a short distance from the tip 43 at the agitating element 33 . [0025] In order to increase the effectiveness of the transportation means 47 , in the first exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 1 , the casing 1 narrows by an angle of 120°, for example, with the upper end of the narrowed section 67 may form a chord 69 in the casing 1 . The cross-section of the casing 1 above the chord 69 therefore resembles an arc (cf. FIG. 3 ). [0026] The base 9 of the laboratory test vessel 3 can be level or bossed or, as shown in FIG. 1 , be provided with a sump 71 . The end at the bottom of the lab test housing 3 may also be provided with a collar 75 as a support surface. [0027] In the following the operation of the device is explained. [0028] The completely assembled laboratory test vessel 3 shown in FIG. 1 is opened by removing the lid 5 and then the substance to be processed can be inserted into the interior from the top through the opening 7 . The resealed laboratory test vessel 3 with its content is brought to the lab. Now, the laboratory test vessel 3 is brought into the position (lid 5 at the bottom) shown in FIG. 1 , and the drive shaft of a motorized drive (not shown) is placed into it. Depending on the rotation of the drive shaft and the processing period, the test substance contained in the laboratory test vessel 3 is now guided over the teeth 13 by the transportation means 47 . The transportation means 47 additionally causes the processed substance to be guided constantly in the axial direction within the laboratory test vessel 3 from the bottom upwards and/or from the top downwards to the teeth 13 . As soon as the desired fragmenting or homogenization is achieved the operator removes the laboratory test vessel 3 from the drive, turns it such that the lid 5 is on the top. The processed substance can now flow through the sieve 59 into a collection chamber 73 . Coarse parts are held back above the sieve 59 . [0029] Now, through the hollow guidance tube 31 , the pipette 45 can be guided through the cap 41 and from there, guided by the conical area 65 , be pierced into the attachment 63 . The tip of the pipette 45 is now located in the collection chamber 73 between the bottom of the sieve 59 and the floor 9 of the laboratory test vessel 3 . The desired end product of the processing in chamber 73 is therefore free from parts, which could clog the suction opening of the pipette 45 . After the sample is taken, a pin 57 can again be placed onto it for storing the remaining homogenized product and thus forming a durable, hermetical seal. [0030] In the simplified embodiment of the invention according to FIG. 8 , the agitating element 33 according to the invention and the processing tool 11 are inserted into a cylindrical laboratory test vessel 3 . The mixing of the substance being processed again occurs without any particular measures being taken via the transportation means 47 in order to avoid an undesired pushing forward of the sample and to facilitate the overturning of the liquefied material. Additionally, in this embodiment of the invention a sieve is missing, thus there is no holding back of any non-pipettable particles from the processed substance. This embodiment of the invention is suitable for substances containing little or no parts that can be fragmented. [0031] The devices are designed for single use only and are produced preferably entirely from plastic.
A device for extracting and fragmenting substances, especially infectious or malodorous substances, in a laboratory test vessel ( 3 ) is provided. The device includes a processing tool ( 11 ) and a stirrer element ( 33 ). An interior of the laboratory test vessel ( 3 ) is subdivided by a sieve ( 59 ) into a collection chamber and a processing chamber. The sieve ( 59 ) prevents parts of the substances having a defined rain size from reaching the collection chamber ( 73 ). A sample can be taken from the collection chamber using a pipette ( 45 ) which is passed through the stirrer element ( 33 ) and the sieve ( 59 ).
1
FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to devices for opening frangible containers and more particularly, to devices for safely and conveniently opening ampoules of varying sizes by breaking off the tips of the ampoules. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Ampoules are frequently used in medicine and in science for the contamination free provision of precisely measured quantities of fluids. The fluids themselves have a variety of uses. The ampoules are generally opened by being broken at a circumferential groove etched in the surface of the glass or at a neck of reduced diameter. Since the ampoules are generally formed of glass, there is a danger that, if a safe breaking means is not available, the break will not be clean and that the user will be cut by a jagged edge. In addition, pieces of glass may fall into the fluid within the ampoule, thereby contaminating it, and occasionally, some of the fluid within the ampoule will splash onto the user during the opening process. In hospitals, the ampoules frequently are opened in stressful situations by snapping the top with the hands. Accidents such as those described above are common in such situations. Many devices are currently available for assisting in the opening of ampoules, but most of them do not provide the user sufficient protection from the above hazards, and they normally are each suited for only a specific size and shape of ampoule. Some ampoule breaking devices must be hand held and do not collect the broken tips. Further, they often provide the user with no protection from splashed fluids or broken glass. Examples of ampoule breakers of this type are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,450,319; 2,503,517; 2,515,020; and 2,638,022. Other ampoule breakers are adapted for mounting on a wall, but still do not provide any means for collecting the broken ampoule tips. Such devices are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,425,093 and 2,359,644. Still other ampoule breakers have means for collecting the broken tips of the ampoules, but are not suited for a wide range of ampoule sizes, and require means for scoring the ampoule to facilitate breaking thereof.. Examples of such devices are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,692,220; 2,488,956 and 2,655,767. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Broadly speaking, this invention concerns a device for opening frangible containers of varying sizes and shapes, and more particularly concerns an ampoule opener for snapping off the tips of any size elongated ampoule cleanly and at the proper attitude, without contamination or loss of the contents and without injury to the user. This invention includes a housing having an upper opening on a front wall thereof for insertion of the ampoule tip therethrough. This front wall typically has a vertical orientation during use of the opener and the size of the opening is sufficiently large to accommodate the largest diameter ampoule with which the device is to be used. Disposed just below the opening is a projection extending outwardly from the front wall. This projection provides a bearing surface against which the ampoule neck, between the ampoule body and top, is pressed and pivoted during the breaking operation. Within the housing of the device is an upper bearing surface which is slightly above and behind the opening. This upper bearing surface slopes downwardly toward the front wall, and is adapted to engage the top of the ampoule tip after it has been inserted through the opening to hold it in place when torque is applied to the ampoule body. The downward slope of the bearing surface permits breaking of ampoules of varying lengths and insures that, regardless of length, the ampoule is disposed at a non-horizontal angle when broken so tht no spillage or splattering of the contents occurs. In addition, the ampoule is tilted sufficiently with respect to the vertical so that no shattered glass pieces fall into the interior of the ampoule body. Disposed below the opening within the housing is a container for collecting the broken ampoule tips. This container may be provided with means for disposing of the ampoule tips, or the entire device itself may be disposable. Located just above the opening is a hood which projects outwardly from the front wall sufficiently to protect the user from any splash or spray of liquid which might possibly result from breaking the ampoule. A plurality of other openings of varying sizes may be provided along the housing. These openings are configured to accept an ampoule tip of a predetermined diameter, so that the ampoule may be broken at the appropriate location and the tip may be collected as previously described. The ampoule breaker of this invention may be permanently installed on a horizontal or vertical surface such as a wall or a unit of hospital or laboratory equipment, or it may be used while hand held. However it is employed, this invention permits the fast and safe opening of ampoules without fear of being cut by the glass or having the contents thereof splashed on the user. In addition, the broken tips are collected and readily disposed of without littering the work area. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The objects, advantages and features of this invention will be more clearly appreciated from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of this invention; FIG. 2 is an elevational view of one narrow side of the embodiment of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the opposite narrow side of the embodiment of FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view from another side of the embodiment of FIG. 1 showing the invention in use; FIG. 5 is a partial perspective broken away view of another embodiment of the device of this invention. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the device of this invention; FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional side view of the device of FIG. 6; and FIG. 8 is a partial perspective view of another embodiment of the device of this invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to the drawing and more particularly to FIGS. 1-4, thereof, there is shown one embodiment of the ampoule opening device of this invention. The device includes a housing 10 formed of two sidewalls 12, a front wall 14, a rear wall 16, a top wall 18 and a bottom wall 20. Provided on front wall 14, typically at the upper end thereof adjacent top wall 18, is an opening 22 which is sufficiently large to accommodate the largest diameter ampoule 30 (FIG. 4) commonly used in a laboratory or hospital environment. It should be noted that opening 22 may be an actual opening in the front wall or it may be provided by a gap between the front and top walls, as shown in these figures. Positioned below opening 22 and adjacent thereto on front wall 14 is a projection 24 extending outwardly from front wall 14. An interior surface 21 of top wall 18 forms an acute angle with respect to rear wall 16 and an obtuse angle with respect to front wall 14 so that surface 21 slopes downwardly from back to front. Optionally disposed on surface 21 of the top wall within the housing cavity are a pair of parallel, spaced shoulders 26, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, extending from rear wall 16 toward front wall 14. A hood 40 extends outwardly from front wall 14 adjacent opening 22 to overlie the opening and projection 24. Surface 21 serves as a bearing surface against which the ampoule tip 32 is pressed during the breaking operation, while shoulders 26 facilitate alignment of the ampoule tip to prevent lateral or angular movement thereof during the breaking operation. Surface 21 typically extends a distance between walls 14 and 16 generally equal to the length of the longest ampoule tip 32 with which this device is adapted to be employed. Projection 24 serves as a fulcrum about which an ampoule 30 to be broken is pivoted at its neck 34. In the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4, projection 24 forms the lower boundary of opening 22, but the projection may be spaced from the lower edge of opening 22, as will be described. Projection 24 should extend outwardly from front wall 14 sufficiently far to permit a user to grasp an ampoule body and exert a downward force thereon without his fingers striking front wall 14 or having the front wall otherwise interfere with the application of torque to the ampoule body 36. The upper edge 38 of projection 24, which serves as the fulcrum point, should be rounded to accommodate the rounded neck 34 of a typical ampoule 30. While opening 22 is shown in FIG. 1 to be rectangular, it may have any other desired shape as long as it will accommodate insertion of the tip 32 of an ampoule 30. Opening 22 should be large enough to accept any size ampoule tip 32, but it need not be sufficiently large to permit the ampoule body 36 to be inserted therethrough. Hood 40, which extends over projection 24, serves as a shield to prevent any fluids in the ampoule from splashing up and striking the user. In this embodiment, hood 40 is formed as an extension of top wall 18, although it need not be. Regardless of the ampoule size, it is important when opening such containers that the body 36 be in a non-horizontal position, that is, the neck should be somewhat above the body, and that the body be in a more nearly vertical position at the termination of the breaking operation so that the contents of the ampoule are not lost. In addition, the ampoule should not be vertically oriented during the breaking operation so that ampoule glass around the break will not tend to fall into the interior of the ampoule. In order to accomplish this result for any size ampoule presently available for hospital or laboratory use, surface 21 is provided with a downward slope toward front wall 14, and projection 24 is spaced an appropriate distance from surface 21. For longer ampoules, tip 32 bears against surface 21 near rear wall 16 while for shorter ampoules the tip 32 bears against surface 21 much closer to opening 22. In both cases, the sloped surface 21 and the spacing of projection 24 therefrom insures that the ampoule will be in an appropriate angular position between the horizontal and the vertical while being opened. The precise slope of surface 21 is a function of the desired maximum and minimum length of ampoules to be utilized, and typically, a slope of about 6° provides the desired performance. Means for mounting housing 10 of this invention on a suitable wall or bulkhead 42 may also be provided. In one configuration, as shown in FIGS. 2-4, the mounting means includes a projection 44 disposed on rear wall 16 or a projection 46 disposed on bottom wall 20 or both projections 44 and 46. Projections 44 and 46 are each provided with upwardly beveled edges which have a dovetail shape and which are adapted to be slid into an open end 27 and against a closed end 51 of mating dovetailed slots 49 of a mounting fixture 48. Fixture 48 typically is secured to bulkhead 42 or to a horizontal surface (not shown), depending upon the positions available to the user. Projection 44 mounts housing 10 to fixture 48 on a vertical surface such as bulkhead 42, while projection 46 mounts the housing to similar fixture on a horizontal surface. In order to provide stability to the housing when mounted to a vertical surface, a spacer 50 is provided adjacent the bottom end of rear wall 16. Spacer 50 projects outwardly from the rear wall a distance equal to the thickness of fixture 48, so that the housing is maintained in a generally vertical orientation and will not pivot during use. Projections 44 and 46 permit this device to be permanently mounted in one location or be moved from place to place as needed for use thereof, as long as corresponding mounting fixtures 48 are available. In addition, the housing may be hand held during use, if desired. Secondary openings 3 may be provided in various walls of the housing 10 for use with very small ampoules or with ampoules having extended tips 32 which cannot be accommodated by the space between front wall 14 and rear wall 16. Typically, openings 53 are provided along top wall 18 as shown in FIG. 1 or along front wall 14, as shown in FIG. 6. When such secondary openings are utilized, the opening is selected which has a diameter as closely equal as possible to that of tip 32 of an ampoule, and the ampoule tip is inserted therein as far as possible for breaking thereof. In the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4, once an ampoule tip 32 is severed from its body 36 at neck 34, the tip falls into cavity 52 within the housing defined by sidewalls 12, front wall 14, rear wall 16 and bottom wall 20. Cavity 52 serves to collect the broken ampoule tips 32 and prevent them from littering the floor or in other ways creating a nuisance. Typically, when the cavity becomes filled with ampoule tips, the entire device is discarded, and a new ampoule opener is provided. However, if desired, means may be provided for disposing of the discarded ampoule tips without necessitating replacement of the device. Examples of such disposal means are shown in FIGS. 5-8, and may be incorporated into the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4 if desired. In the embodiment of FIG. 5, a drawer 60 is provided which slides in and out through an opening 62 in front wall 66. Drawer 60 includes a handle 64 to permit manual withdrawal thereof. The width of drawer 60 should be substantially equal to the distance between sidewalls 12 within cavity 52, while the depth of the drawer should be substantially equal to the distance between front wall 66 and rear wall 16 within the cavity in order to prevent any ampoule tips from sliding between the sidewalls of the drawer and the walls of the housing. In this manner, all ampoule tips deposited through opening 22 are collected by drawer 60, and the drawer may be emptied when filled and thereafter replaced. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, another embodiment includes a tilting door 70 along front wall 68. Door 70 is typically pivotally mounted about a pin 72 disposed at a lower end thereof adjacent the junction of front wall 68 and bottom wall 20. Door 70 is also provided with a flap 74 which extends generally perpendicularly thereof so that the flap is generally parallel to bottom wall 20 when door 70 is closed. Flap 74 has substantially the same width as the distance between sidewalls 67 within cavity 73 and the same length as the distance between front wall 68 and rear wall 71 within cavity 73. Flap 74 pivots upwardly when door 70 is opened by pivoting downwardly, as shown by dotted lines in FIG. 7, to urge ampoule tips residing on flap 74 outwardly through opening 76 in the front wall. A handle 78 may be provided for the convenience of the user. Door 70 may have a width equal to the width of the front wall, or it may have a somewhat lesser width, as desired. In any event, door 70 forms the lower portion of the front wall in this embodiment. Another variation is shown in FIG. 8, in which a door 80 is pivotably mounted about a pin 82 disposed at an upper end thereof. A handle 84 is provided at the lower end of door 80 for easy opening, and the door may have the same width as front wall 88 or it may have a lesser width, as desired. In use, the door may be opened by grasping handle 84 and raising thereof, thereby allowing the ampoule tips to slide out through opening 86 in the front wall when the device is tilted forwardly. FIGS. 6 and 7 also disclose another configuration of the ampoule opener of this invention. Instead of the square opening 22 of FIG. 1, a rounded opening 90 is provided, and hood 94 is also rounded to conform to the shape of the opening. Projection 96 is adjacent opening 90 and does not form the lower boundary thereof as in the embodiment of FIG. 1. Projection 96 may have a rounded configuration to conform to the shape of the opening, or it may extend straight across front wall 68. Top wall 100 is generally perpendicular with respect to each of sidewalls 67, front wall 68 and rear wall 71. A separate ramp 108 is provided on the interior surface of top wall 100 to provide the desired slope for the ampoule tip bearing surface. Ramp 108 typically is formed of a nonskid material, such as rubber, so as to prevent movement of the ampoule tip during the breaking operation. The ramp has the same slope from rear wall 71 to front wall 68 as inner surface 21 of top wall 18 of the device of FIG. 1. Shoulders 98 may be formed integrally with the ramp and the ramp may be curved upwardly between the crests of parallel shoulders 98 in a parabolic or semi-circular cross-sectional configuration. In all other respects, the embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7 operates in a manner identical to the embodiment of FIGS. 1 through 4. With reference now to FIG. 4, the operation of this invention will be described. The housing 10 may be hand held, or it may be permanently mounted to a horizontal or vertical surface in any conventional manner, or it may be temporarily mounted to a horizontal or vertical surface, as shown in FIG. 4. If temporarily mounted, dovetail projection 44 or 46 is slid into an open end 27 of mating slot 49 in fixture 48 which is secured to a vertical or a horizontal surface respectively. The dovetail projection is then slid into abutment with closed end 51. On a vertical surface such as surface 42, spacer 50 rests against that surface to provide the necessary stability for operation thereof. A tip 32 of an ampoule 30 is inserted through opening 22 until neck 34 rests on edge 38 of projection 24. Tip 32 is placed between spaced shoulders 26 which prevent undesired lateral movement of the tip during opening. The ampoule body 36 is then grasped by the user who exerts a slight downward force thereon. This force causes the ampoule body to pivot from the position shown by the solid lines 36 to that position shown by the first dashed lines 36'. In this position, the ampoule body 36' is not in a vertical position, so that any splintered glass from the ampoule neck or tip will not fall into the interior of body 36 during the subsequent breaking and opening thereof. The tip 32 is now in contact with surface 21. Continued downward pressure, preferably sharply or quickly, on ampoule body 36 causes a torque to be applied resulting in a breaking of the ampoule at neck 34. Because tip 32 is completely within housing 10 it, in effect, springs off surface 21 into cavity 52 where it is collected. The ampoule body is now tilted to the position shown by the lowermost dashed lines 36" in FIG. 4. In this position, the ampoule body 36" is approaching a more vertical orientation, so that none of the contents thereof are permitted to flow through the open neck 34 after severing of tip 32. However, as stated previously, the ampoule is still at a sufficient angle to prevent any particles of glass from entering the ampoule. Also, there is no interference between front wall 14 and the fingers or other parts of the hand of the person utilizing the device which could prevent the pivoting of body 36 about projection 24. Hood 40 prevents splashing of any of the ampoule contents which may be residing within neck 34 onto the user or about the area during the breaking operation. When filled, housing 10 may be removed merely by raising the dovetail projection 44 out through open end 27 of retainer 48, and the housing may then be discarded. If it is desired to use the device in another location, the device may be removed from its mounting 48 and carried to another location where another mounting 48 is provided on a vertical wall or horizontal surface. The dovetail mounting feature described herein is exemplary, and housing 10 may be affixed to a vertical or a horizontal surface in any other manner known to those skilled in the art. The housing is typically composed of a molded plastic material and may be formed in a unitary piece or in components which are assembled to form the structure. The housing preferably is formed of a transparent material such as polystyrene so that it can be easily determined when the cavity is filled with ampoule tips. However, any other suitable material may be employed for the housing, and it need not be transparent. Typically, all portions of the housing including the walls and projection 24 thereof are formed of the same material. If the embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7 is employed, the ramp 108 is formed of a plastic such as polyethylene or a rubber material such as neoprene, both having compression measurement of 55 durometers. For reference purposes only, examples of the dimensions of an ampoule opening device of this invention are set forth. It is to be understood that by providing such examples, the scope of the invention is in no way limited. The housing typically is 6 inches (152.4 mm) high, 1.875 inch (22.2 mm) in total width and is 2.125 inches (53.98 mm) deep across side walls 12. Projection 24 typically extends 0.125 inch (3.18 mm) outwardly from front wall 14 at a preferred angle of 30°, and has a total length of approximately 0.375 inch (9.53 mm). Hood 40 typically extends 0.625 inch (15.88 mm) outwardly from front wall 14 and has a width equal to that of top wall 18. Opening 22 typically has dimensions of 0.625 inch (15.88 mm) wide by 0.8125 inch (20.64 mm) high, while shoulders 26 are spaced 0.3125 inch (7.94 mm) apart. In view of the above description, it is likely that modifications and improvements will occur to those skilled in the art which are within the scope of this invention.
An ampoule opener for safely and conveniently breaking the tips off elongated ampoules of varying sizes to make possible the extraction of the contents therefrom. The opener includes a housing having an opening formed on the front face thereof for insertion of an ampoule tip therethrough. A projection extending outwardly from the front face is disposed adjacent a lower edge of the opening and serves as a fulcrum upon which the ampoule neck is placed and about which torque is applied to snap off the ampoule tip at the neck when the end of the tip engages an internal bearing surface. A hood over the housing opening protects the user from any spray resulting from the breaking of the ampoule and an internal cavity collects the tips broken from the ampoules.
1
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a tool for use in removing a hub seal from a hub on a truck. Semi trucks, comprising a tractor and trailer, provide an efficient carrier means for many goods in the United States, Canada, and the rest of the world. The tractor pulls the trailer, which carries a load of goods. The trailer comprises several axles wherein wheels are attached to the axle ends. The wheels and axles support the trailer and the load carried in the trailer. Often times, the trailer has a set of two wheels at the axle ends. These wheels are called dual wheels. Hubs provide the mechanical link between the wheels and the axles. Hubs are attached to the wheels, or dual wheels, and fit over the axles to allow the wheels and hubs to rotate around the axles. If the hub seal begins to leak oil or the wheels must be removed from the axle for any reason, the hub seal must be changed. A hammer and drift method is typically used to change the hub seals. In this method, a mechanic must first stand the hub in its upright position. The mechanic must then insert a drift within the oil reservoir and place the drift against the bearing assembly. The drift is then struck with a hammer until the bearing assembly forces the hub seal loose. The hammer and drift method has fallen out of favor for several reasons. First, the hammer and drift method is cumbersome. The hub must be balanced and supported both so it will remain upright during removal of the seal and so it will withstand the force applied to the bearing assembly by the drift. Also, the hammer and drift method is difficult and time-consuming. Typically, one must continuously strike the drift for approximately fifteen minutes before the seal comes loose. Because one must work through the oil reservoir, the hammer and drift method is messy. Oil from the oil reservoir and cup has a tendency to be spilled, splashed, and otherwise smeared so as to cover the hub, the mechanic, and the work space. Finally, the hammer and drift method is dangerous. While working in the oil reservoir, the mechanic's fingers and hands become slippery. The slippery hands have a tendency to lose control of the hammer. Often times, errant blows will cause the hammer to accidentally strike the hand holding the drift, or the hammer will slip so the hand holding the hammer strike the hub. Because of the disadvantages of the hammer and drift method, others have sought alternative ways to remove the hub seal from a hub. Such alternative methods have not provided satisfactory results. Typical methods involve inserting a leverage means into the annular space and using the bearings as a fulcrum. The most apparent leverage means, a crow bar, will not fit within the annular space. Other seal puller tools comprising a handle and tip are not suited for use on 34,000 to 40,000 pound hubs. When inserted into the annular space, the tips have a tendency to roll or break under the force required to pull the hub seal. Often times, the instructions for use of these tools require the mechanic to strike the tool with a hammer. Such use again results in injury from errant blows. Nevertheless, the consensus of mechanics is that such seal puller tools are not for use on truck hubs and the only available means for removing hub seals is the difficult, messy, and dangerous hammer and drift method as described. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a durable tool that allows for a quick, clean, and safe removal of hub seals from a truck hub. Furthermore, the tool must be inexpensive and easy to use so as to be available to mechanics and truck drivers who must change truck hubs. The present invention is directed to a tool that, when used, satisfies the need for quick, clean, and safe removal of hub seals from truck hubs. The tool comprises a blade having a generally flat surface, a generally tapered surface, a flat side, a tip side, and a handle attached to the blade. The flat edge is connected to the tip edge to form a corner, which is suitable for insertion into an annular space between the hub seal and bearings on the hub. In order to remove the hub seal, the blade is inserted into the annular space, force is applied to the handle, and leverage is used to remove the hub seal. The blade is formed so as to be strong enough to withstand the force applied to remove the hub seal yet thin enough to fit into the annular space of truck hubs. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where: FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a typical hub. FIG. 2 shows a cross sectional view of the hub of FIG. 1. FIG. 3A shows a perspective view of a tool embodying features of the present invention for pulling a hub seal from a hub. FIG. 3B shows another perspective view of the tool of FIG. 3A. FIG. 4 is a side view of the tool of FIG. 3A. FIG. 5 is a top view of the tool of FIG. 3A. FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the tool of FIG. 3A. FIG. 7 is a top view of the tool of FIG. 2 as used on the hub of FIG. 1. FIG. 8A is a partial sectional view of the hub of FIG. 1 demonstrating use of the tool of FIG. 3A. FIG. 8B is another partial sectional view of the hub of FIG. 1 demonstrating use of the tool of FIG. 3A. FIG. 9A is another partial sectional view of the hub of FIG. 1 demonstrating use of the tool of FIG. 3A. FIG. 9B is another partial sectional view of the hub of FIG. 1 demonstrating use of the tool of FIG. 3A. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A typical hub is shown in FIG. 1, and a cross section of the hub is shown in FIG. 2. The hub is generally referred to by numeral 20. Contained within the hub 20 is a bearing assembly 25 comprising a group of cylindrical bearings 30 positioned in a circle. The bearing assembly 25 fits over the axle so as to provide a rotatable connection with the axle. Also within the hub 20 is a cup 35 and oil reservoir 40 containing oil to lubricate the bearing assembly 25. A hub seal 45 is attached to the hub 20 so as to confine the oil and bearing assembly 25 within the hub 20. Also, between the hub seal 45 and the bearing assembly 25 is typically an annular space 50. Depending on the hub seal and the hub, the height of this annular space 50 varies. For example, of the three most common seal types, Chicago Rawhide, Stemco, and National, the Chicago Rawhide seal provides the most annular space and the National seal provides the least annular space. Such seals are used on most common truck hubs, which are designed to be used on axles that support 34,000 to 40,000 pound loads. FIGS. 3A and 3B show a hub seal puller constructed in accordance with the present invention, generally referred to by numeral 100. The hub seal puller 100 comprises a handle 105 attached to and generally upstanding on a blade 110. The blade comprises a first side 115, which is generally planar, a second side 120, which is generally tapered, a third flat side 125, a fourth flat side 130, and a tip edge 135. The third flat side 125 has a first long end 140 and a first short end 145. The fourth flat side 130 has a second long end 150 and a second short end 155. The tip edge 135 is generally curved. The tip edge 135 is joined to the third flat side 125 at a first tip corner 160. The tip edge 135 is also joined to the fourth flat side 130 at a second tip corner 165. In use, the hub seal puller 100 is inserted into the annular space 50, as shown in FIG. 2, leverage is applied to the handle 105 using the bearing assembly 25 as a fulcrum, and the resulting force on the hub seal 45 lifts the hub seal 45 from the hub 20. As shown in FIG. 4, the handle 105 comprises a grip end 170 and a blade end 175. The handle 105 is preferably attached to the blade 110 at the blade end 175 by either a weld or by forging the hub seal puller 100. In one preferred embodiment, the grip end 170 has a grip 180 attached so the mechanic may better grasp the hub seal puller 100. The grip 180 is preferably made from rubber or plastic. Alternatively, the grip end 170 may be knurled. The handle 105 is preferably cylindrical, with a diameter A of approximately 19 millimeters and a length B of approximately 457 millimeters, with or without the grip 180. The blade 110 further comprises a back side 185 and a tapered region 190. Preferably, the back side 185 is flush with the handle 105. The planar first side 115 is approximately 43 millimeters from the back side 185 to the longest point on the tip side 135, as shown by K. The second side 120 is generally flat in the region beneath the handle 105, but then begins to taper up toward the first side 115 at a tapered region 190. As shown, the first side 115 generally opposes the second side 120. The third and fourth flat sides 125,130 trace the taper of the second side 120. The third flat side 125 is shown in FIG. 4. The hub seal puller 100 is preferably symmetrical from the side view (FIG. 4), and the fourth flat side 130 (not shown in FIG. 4) is opposite the hub seal puller 100 from the third flat side 125. The long end 140 has a length C that is preferably 4 millimeters long. The third flat side 125 tapers up to the first short end 145. The first short end 145 has a length D that is preferably 1 millimeter long. Also, the tip edge 135 and the tip corners 160, 165 have a length D and are also preferably 1 millimeter long. The preferred distance between the first long end 140 and the first short end 145 (F) is approximately 25 millimeters. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the blade 110 is symmetrical about an axis of symmetry 195. Because of this symmetry, the second long end 150 is preferably 4 millimeters long as also shown by C. The second short end 155 is preferably 1 millimeter long as also shown by D. Also, the preferred distance between the second long end 150 and the second short end 155 (also shown by F) is approximately 25 millimeters. The third flat side 125 and fourth flat side 130 are attached to the back side 185 at the first long end 140 and the second long end 150 to form preferably square corners. The first side 115 and second side 120 are curved in the area of the tip edge 135. Preferably, this curvature is an arc of a circle having a radius of 31 millimeters as shown by J. Also, as mentioned, the second side 120 is flat in the region beneath the handle 105, and has a taper boundary 200 which traces a curve on the second side 120. The blade is preferably constructed from 1018, 1045, or 1099 steel that is heat treated to approximately 49 to 50 Rockwell C. Typically, the blade 110 is case hardened to approximately 0.5 to 0.8 millimeters deep such that the tip edge 135 is durable because it is nearly completely hardened, but the rest of the blade 110 remains relatively flexible such that it will not break in use. FIG. 7 shows a top view of the hub 20 and demonstrates a preferred use of the hub seal puller 100 as it is inserted into the annular space 50 between the bearing assembly 25 and the hub seal 45. A tip corner, for example the first tip corner 160 as shown in FIG. 7, is first inserted into the annular space 50. As shown in FIG. 8A, the mechanic preferably works the first tip corner 160 into the annular space 50 until the blade 110 is wedged between the hub seal 45 and the bearing assembly 25. Then, using the bearing assembly 25 as a fulcrum, the mechanic applies a leverage force on the handle 105 in the direction indicated by arrow 201 so as to create a larger clearance between the hub seal 45 and the bearing assembly 25. This is shown in FIG. 8B. The mechanic removes the hub seal puller 100 and then, as shown in FIG. 9A, inserts the tip edge 135 between the hub seal 45 and the bearing assembly 25. The blade 110 preferably rests on the bearing assembly 25. Using the bearing assembly as a fulcrum against the tapered region 190, the mechanic again applies a leverage force on the handle 105 to remove the hub seal 45 from the hub 20. Removal of hub 20 is shown in FIG. 9B. The previously described versions of the present invention have many advantages, including the advantages as mentioned below. Using the hub seal puller as described, the mechanic can remove, without fear of injury to himself, a typical hub seal from the hub within several seconds, as contrasted with the danger and a removal time of fifteen minutes when using the hammer and drift method as outlined above. Also, the method as described using the present invention does not damage the bearing assembly while it is being used as a fulcrum. Bearing assemblies are typically constructed to withstand significant abuse. As outlined, the mechanic must repeatedly strike the bearing assembly with a drift to remove the hub seal using the hammer and drift method. Furthermore, unlike other seal pullers, the blade is constructed in a manner so it will not roll or break under the force necessary to remove hub seals from hubs used on larger trucks present in either the tractor or the trailer. With the present invention, the mechanic need not possess great strength or strike the handle with a hammer to remove the hub seal. Finally, the mechanic need not work through the oil reservoir so his or her hands and the hub seal puller remain clean. The tip edge and tip corners are designed to work on nearly every hub seal. The hub seal puller works on the three most common hub seal types: the National, Chicago Rawhide, and Stemco seals. To summarize, the present invention provides a tool that may be used to quickly, cleanly, easily, and safely remove hub seals from hubs of various sizes, but particularly the hubs of larger trucks. To add to the appearance of this tool, the hub seal puller preferably is plated with yellow zinc such that it has a gold finish. Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
The present invention is a tool that removes hub seals from wheel hubs. The tool comprises a blade having a flat surface, a tapered surface, a flat side, a tip edge, and a handle attached to the blade. The flat side is connected to the tip edge to form a corner, which is suitable for insertion into an annular space between the hub seal and bearings on the hub. In order to remove the hub seal, the blade is inserted into the annular space, force is applied to the handle, and leverage is used to remove the hub seal. The blade is formed so as to be strong enough to withstand the force applied to remove the hub seal yet thin enough to fit into the annular space of wheel hubs.
8
RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 60/941,065 filed May 31, 2007, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention relates to a disk refiner for ligno-cellulosic materials, and generally to disk refiners used for producing fiberboard and mechanical pulps for medium density fiberboard (MDF), thermomechanical pulps (TMP) and a variety of chemi-thermomechanical pulps (CTMP), which are collectively referred to as mechanical pulps and mechanical pulping process. In particular, this invention relates to steam flow through disk refiners in mechanical pulping processes. [0003] A disk refiner may be used in a thermo-mechanical pulping (TMP) refiner in which the pulp material, such as wood chips, is ground in an environment of steam between a rotating grinding disk (rotor) and a stationary disk (stator) (or a pair of rotating disk rotors) each with radial grooves that provide the grinding surfaces. The rotor may operate at rotational speeds of 1000 to 2300 revolutions per minute (RPM). [0004] Wood chips are fed to the center of the opposing disks of a disk refiner. The chips are broken down between the disks as centrifugal force pushes the chips towards the disk outer circumference. The refiner plates generally include a pattern of bars and grooves which provide repeated compression actions on the chips. The compression action results in the separation of lingo-cellulosic fibers out of the raw chips. The fiber separation transforms the raw chip material into fiber pulp suitable for a final product, such as fiberboards. [0005] While the chips are retained between the disks, energy is transferred to the chips via the refiner plates attached to the disks. The energy is in the form of high centrifugal and compression forces applied to break-down the wood chips. The refining process also generates high frictional forces that causes water in the chip feed material to convert to high pressure steam. [0006] In most disk refiners, the steam from the disk refiner flows in the same direction, e.g., radially outward from between the disks, as the fiber material exiting the refining disks. By way of example, typically between 60% and 100% of the steam produced between the disks in a refiner flows in a forward direction, which is the same direction as the fiber material moving between the refining disks. These percentages for forward flowing steam vary depending on refiner plate patterns and process conditions. After exiting the outer periphery of the fiber disks, the forward flowing steam carries fiber pulp through blow lines downstream of the disk refiner. The pressure of the forward flowing steam is released as the refined fiber pulp material exits the blow lines and enters bins and other relatively low pressure vessels. In MDF, the forward flowing steam typically adds little value to the pulping process and the pressure energy in the forward flowing steam is generally not used. In mechanical pulping, some systems allow for the recovery of heat energy in the forward flowing steam from a discharge cyclone, and other systems vent the forward flowing steam to atmosphere. When recovered such as via a heat exchanger, the heat from forward flowing steam from the mechanical refining processes is typically used for paper machine dryers and on pulp drying equipment [0007] High pressure steam is needed in the feeding side of the refiner in MDF and other mechanical pulping systems. Steam is used to soften the wood to improve the performance of the refiner and produce fiber. High pressure steam for refining is usually provided a combination of back-flowing steam from the refiner and fresh steam, usually generated by a boiler. Fresh steam is expensive to produce in terms of energy consumption. There is a long felt need for sources of high pressure steam for pulping processes. [0008] A source of high pressure steam is the steam generated during mechanical refining. High pressure steam is generated between refining disks in a disk refiner. In a traditional refiner, up to 40% of the high pressure steam generated between does not flow in a forward direction with the chip feed material. To the extent that the high pressure steam between the disks can be extracted without loss of pressure, the high pressure steam may be directed to a steaming vessel in a chip feed system of a mechanical refining plant. [0009] A known technique to capture high pressure steam from the disks is to allow the steam to back flow against the movement of chip material between the refining disks and through the feeding system to the chip pre-steaming vessel. High pressure back flow steam has been used in the pre-steaming vessels. Separate piping has been added to refiners to allow back flow steam to bypass the conveyors and feeding devices from the feeding system, and allow the back flow steam to move with little resistance from the refiner inlet to the pre-steaming vessels. [0010] The amount of back flow steam is generally reduced by the use of directional (low energy) refiner plates. Low energy plates typically reduce steam generation by 10 to 50% in a refiner and reduce the amount of back flow steam by 20 to 70%, as compared to conventional higher energy refiner plates. While directional MDF refiner plates are advantageous in reducing the energy required to drive a disk refiner, the reduction in the available back flow steam increases the amount of high pressure steam needed for a mechanical refining plant. [0011] There is a long felt need for techniques to reduce the amount of high pressure steam needed to be produced at high energy costs for a mechanical refining plant. In particular, there is a long felt need to capture a greater amount of high pressure steam from the refining process than is presently captured using directional (low-energy) refiner plates in mechanical refining plants. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0012] A novel refiner plate has been developed to increase the amount of high pressure steam extracted from refiner plates, and especially low energy refiner plates. [0013] The refiner plate includes steam channels that cut through the refining section and provide a passage for back flow steam. Advantages of the refiner plate include increased amount of high pressure steam available for other purposes in the refining plant, and low-energy refining associated with directional plates. [0014] A refining plate has been developed for refining lignocellulosic material, where the plate includes: a radially outer peripheral edge and a substrate surface; a refining zone including a plurality of substantially radially disposed bars and grooves between the bars, wherein the bars protrude upward from the substrate surface and the grooves each have a groove width, and a steam channel traversing the bars and grooves of the refining zone, wherein the steam channel has a radially outer end radially inward of the outer peripheral edge of the plate and a width substantially greater than the groove width. [0015] The refining plate may include a dam extending across the steam channel at a radially outward inlet end of the channel. The plate, such as a rotor or stator plate, may include an inlet zone adjacent a radially inner end of the steam channel. The gap between bars in the inlet zone should be at least as wide as the steam channel. The refining plate comprise an annular array of plate segments where each segment includes the refining zone, and a plurality of the plate segments (but not necessarily all segments) includes at least one steam channel. [0016] A method has been developed to extract high pressure steam from a refining system comprising: introducing a cellulose fibrous feed material to an inlet of a disk refiner; feeding the cellulose fibrous feed material between opposing disks of the refiner, wherein one disk rotates relative to the other; refining the cellulose fibrous feed material between opposing refiner plates each mounted on a respective one of the opposing plates, wherein each refiner plate has a zone of refining bars and grooves; back flowing steam generated during the refining of the feed material flows through channels in the zone of at least one of the plates, wherein the channels have a width substantially greater than a width of the grooves, and extracting the back flow steam from the disk refiner from an outlet radially inward of an outlet of the channels. [0017] The pressure of the back flow steam may be extracted at a pressure of 1 to 8 bar (gauge pressure). The back flow steam is forced to flow radially inward through the channels (and possibly a discontinuous steam channel) by forming a radially outer end of the channel substantially radially inward of the outer circumference of the disks. The back flow steam may be discharged from the channel to a coarse zone of the refining plate, wherein the coarse zone is radially inward of the channel and spacing between the bars in the coarse zone is at least as wide as that of a steam flow channel. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0018] The following identified figures included with this application illustrate preferred embodiments and the best mode of the invention. [0019] FIG. 1 is a front view of a first directional, low energy refiner plate segment wherein the segment includes a steam channel. [0020] FIG. 2 is a side view of the first plate segment. [0021] FIG. 3 is a front view of a second directional, low energy refiner plate segment, wherein the segment includes a steam channel. [0022] FIG. 4 is a side view of the second plate segment. [0023] FIG. 5 is a front view of a TMP refiner plate segment wherein the segment includes a steam channel. [0024] FIG. 6 is a front view of a non-directional refiner plate segment wherein the segment includes a steam channel extending half-way through the refining zone. [0025] FIGS. 7 and 8 are a front view and a side view, respectively, of a plate segment of a directional, low energy plate. [0026] FIG. 9 is a schematic view of refiner system having an outlet for high pressure back flow steam. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0027] A steam channel has been developed for use in refiner plates, such as rotor and stator plates in mechanical pulping refining. The steam channel allows high pressure steam generated during mechanical refining of cellousic material, e.g., wood chips, to back flow through a refining zone(s) in the plates and be extracted as high pressure steam. [0028] The refiner plate segments disclosed herein are primarily applicable to MDF and TMP refining and for use in a mechanical refiner, such as a disk refiner for refining wood fibers. The plate segments may be directional and low energy plates. Steam channels are included on the plate segments to increase the volume of high pressure steam that back flows through the refiner in a flow direction opposite to the flow of the chips flow between the plates of the refiner. [0029] FIGS. 1 and 2 show a front view and a side view, respectively, of a stator or rotor plate segment 10 having an inlet section 12 and an outer section 14 . An array of plate segments is arranged in an annulus on a refiner disk to form an annular refining plate. The plate is mounted on a disk. In a disk refiner, a rotor plate faces a stationary stator plate with a refining gap between the plates. The plate is formed of plate segments 10 arranged in an annular array on the disk. The plate segments of a stator plate may have similar bar and groove features as an opposing rotor plates, or the stator and rotor plates may have different bar and groove features. The rotational direction for the rotor plate is typically counter-clockwise. The stator plate is typically stationary. A refining gap is defined between the opposing stator and rotor plates. [0030] The inlet section 12 is the feeding part of the plate. The inlet section 12 feeds the incoming fibrous material to the outer refining section 14 , preferably with minimal frictional energy and minimal work of the feed material. The inlet section may include coarse bars 16 that feed the chip material to the outer section. Between the coarse bars are wide gaps that allow for the passage of back flow steam. [0031] The outer refining section 14 of the refiner plate segment is the area where the energy is applied to the feed material to break down the wood chips into a fibrous pulp. By way of example, the outer section should preferably be a radial distance of between 100 millimeters (mm) to 200 mm (4 to 5 inches). [0032] By way of example, the outer refining section 14 may be comprised of straight bars 18 and narrow grooves 22 . A bar 18 is an extended ridge protruding from the substrate surface 19 of the plate segment. The height of the bar is typically at least as great as the width of the bar. The length of each bar is typically substantially greater than its width. The bars extend along their length in a direction predominately radial with respect to the plate segment, but the direction of the bar often also includes a tangential component, especially for directional, low energy refiner plates. The bars 18 may be straight, curved or irregular. [0033] The bars may be grouped side-by-side in zones 20 of, for example, twenty (20) of parallel bars 18 . The bars are arranged so that they are relatively close to each other. The gap between adjacent bars defines a groove 22 . Each zone 20 of bars 18 typically includes an equal number of grooves 22 or one less groove than the number of bars. The refining zones 20 may span adjacent plate segments. [0034] The grooves 22 each are defined by opposite sidewalls of adjacent bars 18 . The depth of the grooves extend from the upper region of the bars to the substrate surface of the plate. Typically, MDF plates have 3-5 mm bar widths, 5-12 mm groove widths, and 7-12 mm groove depths. TMP plates typically have 1.0-5.0 mm bar widths, 1.5-5.0 mm groove widths, and 1.8-8.0 mm groove depth (a really wide range. [0035] Refining of the fibrous material generally occurs at the upper levels of the bars and grooves of the outer refining section 14 . The lower regions of the grooves, i.e., near the substrate 19 , typically serve to vent steam and allow chip feed and other materials flow radially outward through the refiner plate. [0036] Pumping directional refiner plates typically have bars arranged such that frictional forces created during the crossing of rotor and stator plates contribute to a net forward force applied to the feed material. The bars are arranged at acute angles with respect to a radius and angle towards the rotational direction of the rotor plate. Directional plates reduce the retention time of the feed material between the plates. The refiner operates with a smaller operating gap between the rotor and stator plates/disks. Reducing the operating gap tends to reduce the amount of energy needed to achieve a given fiber quality. [0037] Directional refiner plates also tend to generate less steam per amount of fiber produced due to the lower energy input. The pumping angles of the bars in directional refiner plates also tend to cause a greater percentage of the steam generated to flow forward (in the same radial direction as the chip material), as compared to bi-directional refiner plates having an average pumping angle of zero. The amount of backward flowing steam in directional refiner plates is significantly reduced as compared to bi-directional plates. [0038] Running directional (or low-energy) refiner plates typically reduces steam generation by 30-50% and 10-20% in TMP, as compared to bi-directional plates. steam generation reduced 10-20% in TMP, 30-50% in MDF, usually. Back-flowing steam reduction with directional refiner plates may be 20 to 90%, as compared to bi-directional plates, with TMP plates have a lesser reduction in back-flow steam and MDF plates having a greater reduction in back-flow steam. [0039] Dams 24 , 26 may be included in the grooves to retard the flow of fibrous materials in the lower region of the grooves. Dams 26 , 28 are arranged in the grooves to prevent excessive fiber flow through the grooves. Split height dams 26 may be arranged at radially inward regions of the grooves. Full height dams 28 (also referred to as “surface dams”) may be at the radially outward regions of the grooves or may be arranged throughout the length of the grooves. MDF and TMP refiner plate segments tend to have many dams arranged in their grooves. The dams increase the refining that occurs between the plates by slowing the flow of fibrous materials between the plates. [0040] The dams between the grooves of refiner plates also substantially reduce the back-flow of steam. Steam may back flow by moving through the grooves generally radially inward and to the inlet to the refiner plates. Back flow steam flows radially inward and in a counter-flow direction to the generally radially outward movement of the chip and fiber material and much of the steam. The back flow steam occurs in the lower regions of the grooves, which regions are near the substrate of the plate. Back flow steam is most likely to occur in grooves that do not have dams. Dams block the flow of back flow steam. [0041] The high pressure of back flow steam may be useful for other applications in a refiner plate. To promote back flow steam, channels 34 are preferably provided in the stator plate segment. The channels 34 provide a flow path to allow steam to back flow radially inward towards the center inlet of the refiner. The channels 34 provide passage for back flow steam through the refining zone. The steam channels facilitate the flow of steam in a counter-flow direction to a relatively large volume flow (as compared to the back flow steam) of fiber material being fed to the center inlet of the plates and moving radially outward to the outer circumferential outlet of the plates. [0042] Steam channels 34 may be arranged in rotor plates. A rotor pumping effect (due to centrifugal force) may reduce the amount of back flow steam in a steam channel in a rotor plate. The pump effect also advantageously reduces the fiber flowing back in the rotor channels 34 , as compared to steam channels in a stator plate. [0043] Stator steam channels have a higher efficiency for steam removal, but allow more fiber to flow back as compared to steam channels in a rotor plate. The steam channels 34 arranged in the stator plate segments because the centrifugal forces in the stator plate on steam flow in channels and grooves, is low compared to the centrifugal forces acting on steam flowing in the grooves on the rotating rotor plate. [0044] The steam carrying channels 34 are preferably at least one-half inch wide (1.3 centimeter (cm)) and a length of two inches (5.1 cm) to eight inches (20.3 cm). The steam channel 34 may have a radially inward steam discharge end 36 adjacent, at or near the inlet section 12 of the stator plate segment. The radially inward end 36 of the channel preferably opens to a section in which the bars are spaced apart at least three-quarters of an inch (1.8 cm). The inlet section 12 of bars generally has bars space wide apart and allows for back flow of steam. A section of bars spaced apart at least three-quarters of an inch on a stator plate will allow steam to back flow through its grooves. Steam back flow channels may not be needed in zones of a refiner plate having bars spaced apart by at least three-quarters of an inch. [0045] The radially outer end 38 of the steam channels 34 may not extend to the outer circumferential edge 40 of the plate segment. The outer end 38 of the channel may be one inch (2.54 cm) radially inward of the outer circumferential outer edge 40 of the plate. Alternatively, the outer end of the steam channel may be at approximately one-half the radial distance of the refining zone. The selection of the radial end location of the steam channel depends on the particular refiner and plates, the desired amount back flow steam and the refining process. Ending 38 the channel before the outer circumferential outer plate edge 40 prevents steam and chip material in the channel from flowing radially out the discharge of the plates. A surface dam may be placed at the radially outer end 38 of the steam channel, especially if the end is adjacent the plate edge 40 . [0046] The channels 34 preferably span at least the inner radial half of the refining zone 14 and a much as 85% of the radial length of the refining zone 14 . Steam in the refining section of the refiner plate may back flow through the channel 34 to the center and/or inlet of the refiner. [0047] The steam channels 34 are preferably at an acute angle with respect to a radial line of the stator plate. The channel angle may be in an opposite direction to the angle of the bars in the zone(s) adjacent the channel 34 . The channel angle may be 0 degrees to 60 degrees to a radial line. The angled channel reduces the tendency of chip material being push through the channel 34 in an opposite direction to the back flow steam. The chip material tends to flow over the channel in a direction generally transverse to the channel. The chip material tends not to flow in a direction parallel to the channel. The back flow steam in the stator channel 34 tends to flow in lower regions of the channel near the substrate 19 and flow parallel to the channel. Accordingly, the chip material tends not to flow directly counter to the back flow steam in the channel 34 . However, the direction of the channel may be radial or in alignment with the angle of the bar. [0048] The steam channels 34 may be as deep as the grooves between the bars. Alternatively, the channels may be shallower or deeper than the grooves depending on the construction of the refiner plate and the desired flow of back flow steam. In plates with multiple refining zones of bars and grooves, wide channels may separate the zones. The channels may be in a tangential direction if separating refining zones that are radially adjacent each other. The annular channels between refining zones may from a portion of a steam channel 34 . The steam channel 34 may be discontinuous (see FIG. 3 ) along a radial direction of the plate, provided that there is a back flow steam path between the channel sections. Steam may flow between discontinuous channels by flowing in a direction generally perpendicular to a radius of the plate and between adjacent zones of bars and grooves. [0049] More than one steam channel 34 may be used on each refiner plate segment. A steam channel need not be provided in every refiner plate segment in a plate array of segments. The geometry of the channel 34 may be selected based on a desired flow of back flow steam, the refining process, operating variables, and other features of the plate design. The steam channel(s) ay be straight, curved, zig-zagged and discontinuous. [0050] FIGS. 3 and 4 are a front view and side view, respectively, of a refiner plate segment 42 having an outer refining section 44 , an inner refining section 46 , and a coarse bar feeding section 48 . A steam channel 50 extends partially through the outer refining section. The channel traverses the relatively narrow grooves 52 between finely spaced bars 54 in the outer refining section 44 . Surface dams 56 are in all grooves of the outer section. The radially inward refining section 46 has a steam channel 58 that is discontinuous with the channel 50 in the outer refining section 44 . Back flow steam moves from the outer channel 50 , through a channel gap 60 between the refining sections 44 , 46 and to the inner channel 58 . The steam back flowing through inner steam channel 58 discharges to the feeding section 48 that has wide space bars allowing the stem to back flow to a high pressure steam exhaust. [0051] FIG. 5 is a front view of a plate segment 70 of a TMP stator plate. A steam channel 72 traverses an inner refiner zone 74 . The bars of the inner refiner zone are closely spaced as is typical. There is only a small acute angle between the bars and a radius, which is typical with TMP refining applications. The steam channel 72 is straight and at an angle of approximately 45 degrees with respect to a radius, and at an opposite angle to the angle formed by the bars. The bars on opposite sides of the channel are sloped towards the channel. The bars adjacent the lower side of the channel have a steep slope 76 and the bars adjacent an outer side of the channel have a shallow slope 77 . The plate has an outer refining zone 78 without a steam channel. Steam generated in the inner refining zone 74 that flows into the channel may flow radially inward to a steam outlet near an inlet to the plate, which may be near a center of the plate. [0052] FIG. 6 is a front view of a bi-directional plate segment 80 of a MDF stator plate. A wide steam channel 82 extends entirely through an inner refining zone 84 and partially through an outer refining zone 86 . The steam channel extends radially and is parallel to radially aligned bars of the inner and outer refining zones 84 , 86 . The steam channel 82 in the MDF bi-directional plate 80 allows steam generated in the refining zones 84 , 86 to flow radially inward to a high pressure steam exhaust port adjacent a radially inward position of the refiner plate. [0053] The radial orientation of the bars allows the stator and corresponding rotor plate to be rotated clock-wise or counter-clock-wise during refining. In contrast to the bi-direction MDF plate shown in FIG. 6 , the MDF plates shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 are directional due to the angle formed by their bars with respect to a radial. [0054] FIGS. 7 and 8 are a front view and a side view, respectively, of a plate segment 90 of a directional, low energy MDF stator plate. An inlet section 92 has wide gaps between the breaker bars that allow steam to flow radially inward. A refining section 94 includes discontinuous steam channels 96 , 98 and 100 . [0055] The steam channels 96 , 98 , 100 form a zig-zag pattern traversing approximately two-thirds the radial length of the refining zone. The zig-zag pattern is formed by sections 96 , 98 of the steam channel that are generally perpendicular to the bars and a connecting steam channel section 100 generally parallel to bars. The zig-zag pattern tends to direct fiber in the channel to the bars of the refining zone 94 and allows steam to follow the zig-zag pattern. The zig-zag pattern reduces the fibers flowing with the back flowing steam to a high pressure outlet of the refiner. [0056] The zig-zag steam channels 96 , 98 and 100 illustrates that a steam channel may traverse the plate along an angle opposite to the angle(s) formed by the bars of the refining section, and along an angle generally aligned with the bars of the plate. An opposite angled steam channel forms an angle with respect to a radial line that is on the opposite side of the radial line from the angle(s) formed by the refining section. An aligned steam channel forms an angle with respect to a radial line that is on the same side of the radial line as the angle(s) formed by the bars of the refining section. [0057] As is evident from FIGS. 1 , 3 , 5 , 6 , and 7 , a steam channel may be straight or curved, continuous or discontinuous, form an angle opposite to the angles of the refining section or aligned with the refining section, and may be a combination of steam channel segments. Preferably, the steam channel is relatively wide (as compared to the groove widths in the refining section), does not extend to a radially outer edge of the plate or has one or more dams towards the outer edge to prevent steam venting out the outer periphery of the plate, and the channel is relatively deep to allow steam to flow radially inward and below the refining action at the bar tips. [0058] FIG. 9 is a schematic side view of a thermomechanical (TMP) refiner system 60 , such as is described in US Patent Application Publication 2006/0006265, entitled “High Intensity Refiner Plate with Inner Fiberizing Zone.” A chip feed system 62 steams the wood chips and applies a pressure to the slurry of steamed wood chips. A steaming vessel 64 may be used to steam the chips at high pressure, wherein high pressure steam is introduced to the steaming vessel. The chip feed slurry may be at a high pressure, of for example 15 to 25 psig (pounds per square inch gauge). [0059] The high pressure chip feed slurry is fed, via a high pressure chip feed tube 65 , to a high consistency primary refiner 66 that has relatively rotating disks. The disks are housed in a casing 68 of the primary refiner 66 . A pair of disk oppose each other in the casing such that the array of stator plates face the array of rotor plates and both arrays are coaxial. A narrow gap separates the bars of the stator plate and bars of the rotor plate. The casing is operated at a high pressure, e.g., 1 to 6 bar for TMP, and 6 to 8 bar to MDF. A refiner feed device 71 , such as a ribbon feeder, receives the high pressure chip feed slurry and delivers the pressurized slurry to a center inlet of one of the disk such that the slurry is fed between the disks at substantially the inner diameter of the disks. [0060] A back flow steam path is formed by the channels and other steam flow passages on the refiner plates, e.g., the stator and/or rotor plate segments. Other steam flow passages may include inlet sections with widely spaced bars without dams, and annular gaps between inner and outer refining sections. The back flow steam discharges from the steam channels to the inlet sections where the spacing between the bars is relatively wide, e.g., at least one-half of an inch (1.2 cm). The wide grooves between the bars of the inlet section and/or the lack of dams in the inlet section allow back flow steam to flow to a high pressure steam exhaust 70 at the ribbon feeder 71 which is coupled to a center inlet of the disk refiner. Alternatively, piping for back flow steam may receive the steam from a coupling behind the chip chute 65 which is at the top inlet to the ribbon feeder 71 . Back flow steam may pass through the ribbon feeder, against the chip flow, and up the chip chute 65 to an inlet to the back flow steam pipe 72 . [0061] The high pressure back flow steam exhausted from the disk refiner is available for use as high pressure steam in the preheating portion of the refining process. The back flow steam may be used to reduce the amount of fresh steam added to preheating. The use of high pressure back flow steam is conventional in TMP refining systems. The exhausted high pressure back flow steam may be introduced via steam line 72 to the steaming vessel 64 to steam wood chips prior to the refiner. [0062] The refining plates with channels provide a relatively generous flow of high pressure back pressure steam. This high pressure back flow steam can be used in the refining plant instead of independently generated high pressure steam. The generous flow of high pressure steam provided by the steam channels of the refiner plate segments disclosed herein may reduce the energy requirements in a refiner plant by reducing the volume of high pressure steam to be independently generated. [0063] While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiment, but on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
A refining plate for refining lignocellulosic material including: a radially outer peripheral edge and a substrate surface; a refining zone having a plurality of substantially radially disposed bars and grooves between the bars, wherein the bars protrude upward from the substrate surface and the grooves each have a groove width, and a steam channel traversing the bars and grooves of the refining zone, wherein the steam channel has a radially outer end radially inward of the outer peripheral edge of the plate and the steam channel has a width substantially greater than the groove width.
3
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS The present patent application is a continuation-in-part of patent application Ser. No. 08/989,380 for “Method For Determining And Modifying Protein/Peptide Solubility” by Geoffrey S. Waldo which was filed on Dec. 12, 1997, now abandoned. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to improving the solubility of proteins/peptides and, more particularly to a method for identifying more or less soluble proteins/peptides from libraries of mutants thereof generated from the directed evolution of genes which express these proteins/peptides. This invention was made with government support under Contract No. W-7405-ENG-36 awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy to The Regents of the University of California. The government has certain rights in the invention. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Protein insolubility constitutes a significant problem in basic and applied bioscience, in many situations limiting the rate of progress in these areas. Protein folding and solubility has been the subject of considerable theoretical and empirical research. However, there still exists no general method for improving intrinsic protein solubility. Such a method would greatly facilitate protein structure-function studies, drug design, de novo peptide and protein design and associated structure-function studies, industrial process optimization using bioreactors and microorganisms, and many disciplines in which a process or application depends on the ability to tailor or improve the solubility of proteins, screen or modify the solubility of large numbers of unique proteins about which little or no structure-function information is available, or adapt the solubility of proteins to new environments when the structure and function of the protein(s) are poorly understood or unknown. Overexpression of cloned genes using an expression host, for example E. coli , is the principal method of obtaining proteins for most applications. Unfortunately, many such cloned foreign proteins are insoluble or unstable when overexpressed. There are two sets of approaches currently in use which deal with such insoluble proteins. One set of approaches modifies the environment of the protein in vivo and/or in vitro. For example, proteins may be expressed as fusions with more soluble proteins, or directed to specific cellular locations. Chaperons may be coexpressed to assist folding pathways. Insoluble proteins may be purified from inclusion bodies using denaturants and the protein subsequently refolded in the absence of the denaturant. Modified growth media and/or growth conditions can sometimes improve the folding and solubility of a foreign protein. However, these methods are frequently cumbersome, unreliable, ineffective, or lack generality. A second set of approaches changes the sequence of the expressed protein. Rational approaches employ site-directed mutation of key residues to improve protein stability and solubility. Alternatively, a smaller, more soluble fragment of the protein may be expressed. These approaches require a priori knowledge about the structure of the protein, knowledge which is generally unavailable when the protein is insoluble. Furthermore, rational design approaches are best applied when the problem involves only a small number of amino-acid changes. Finally, even when the structure is known, the changes required to improve solubility may be unclear. Thus, many thousands of possible combinations of mutations may have to be investigated leading to what is essentially an “irrational” or random mutagenesis approach. Such an approach requires a method for rapidly determining the solubility of each version. Random or “irrational” mutagenesis redesign of protein solubility carries the possibility that the native function of the protein may be destroyed or modified by the inadvertent mutation of residues which are important for function, but not necessarily related to solubility. However, protein solubility is strongly influenced by interaction with the environment through surface amino acid residues, while catalytic activities and/or small substrate recognition often involve partially buried or cleft residues distant from the surface residues. Thus, in many situations, rational mutation of proteins has demonstrated that the solubility of a protein can be modified without destroying the native function of the protein. Modification of the function of a protein without effecting its solubility has also been frequently observed. Furthermore, spontaneous mutants of proteins bearing only 1 or 2 point mutations have been serendipitously isolated which have converted a previously insoluble protein into a soluble one. This suggests that the solubility of a protein can be optimized with a low level of mutation and that protein function can be maintained independently of enhancements or modifications to solubility. Furthermore, a screen for function may be applied concomitantly after each round of solubility selection during the directed evolution process. In the absence of a screen for function, for example when the function is unknown, the final version of the protein can be backcrossed against the wild type in vitro to remove nonessential mutations. This approach has been successfully applied by Stemmer in “Rapid Evolution Of A Protein In Vitro By DNA Shuffling,” by W. P. C. Stemmer, Nature 370, 389 (1994), and in “DNA Shuffling By Random Fragmentation And Reassembly: In Vitro Recombination For Molecular Evolution,” by W. P. C. Stemmer, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91, 10747 (1994) to problems in which the function of a protein had been optimized and it was desired to remove nonessential mutations accumulated during directed evolution. The development of highly specialized protein variants by directed, in vitro evolution, which exerts unidirectional selection pressure on organisms, is further discussed in: “Searching Sequence Space: Using Recombination To Search More Efficiently And Thoroughly Instead Of Making Bigger Combinatorial Libraries,” by Willem P. C. Stemmer, Biotechnology 13, 549 (1995); in “Directed Evolution: Creating Biocatalysts For The Future,” by Frances H. Arnold, Chemical Engineering Science 51, 5091 (1996); in “Directed Evolution Of A Fucosidase From A Galactosidase By DNA Shuffling And Screening,” by Ji-Hu Zhang et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94, 4504 (1997); in “Functional And Nonfunctional Mutations Distinguished By Random Combination Of Homologous Genes,” by Huimin Zhao and Frances H. Arnold, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94, 7007 (1997); and in “Strategies For The In Vitro Evolution of Protein Function: Enzyme Evolution By Random Recombination of Improved Sequences”, by Jeff Moore et al., J. Mol. Biol. 272, 336-346 (1997). Therein, efficient strategies for engineering new proteins by multiple generations of random mutagenesis and recombination coupled with screening for improved variants is described. However, there are no teachings concerning the use of directed evolutionary processes to improve solubility of proteins; rather, the mutagenesis was directed to improvement of protein function. It should be mentioned, however, that in order for the protein to function properly in any environment, it must at least be correctly folded. Finally, for structural determination it is often not necessary or even desirable to have a fully functional version of the protein. If the mutational rate is low (ensured by molecular backcrossing), it is likely that the structure of the wild-type and solubility optimized versions of a protein will be similar. As long as the protein is soluble, and a structure can be obtained, it should then be possible to redesign the solubility of the protein using rational methods, if desired. Green fluorescent protein has become a widely used reporter of gene expression and regulation. DNA shuffling has been used to obtain a mutant having a whole cell fluorescence 45-times greater than the standard, commercially available plasmid GFP. See, e.g., “Improved Green Fluorescent Protein By Molecular Evolution Using DNA Shuffling,” by Andreas Crameri et al., Nature Biotechnology 14, 315 (1996). The screening process optimizes the function of GFP (green fluorescence), and thus uses a functional screen. Although the screening process coincidentally optimizes the solubility of the GFP, in that the GFP is only fluorescent when properly folded, there is no mention of using soluble GFP as a tag to monitor solubility of other proteins; that is, the function of the protein and not its solubility are being modified. In “Wavelength Mutations And Post-translational Auto-oxidation Of Green Fluorescent Protein,” by Roger Heim et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91, 12501 (1994), GFP was mutagenized and screened for variants with altered absorption or emission spectra. The authors mention that in place of proteins labeled with fluorescent tags to detect location and sometimes their conformational changes both in vitro and in intact cells, a possible strategy would be to concatenate the gene for the nonfluorescent protein of interest with the gene for a naturally fluorescent protein and express the fusion product. However, the focus of this paper is the extension of the usefulness of GFP by enabling visualization of differential gene expression and protein localization and measurement of protein association by fluorescence resonance energy transfer, by making available two visibly distinct colors. There is no mention of the use of the gene construct for solubility determinations. The paper further discusses the expression of GFP in E. coli under the control of a T7 promoter, and that the bacteria contained inclusion bodies consisting of protein indistinguishable from jellyfish or soluble recombinant protein on denaturing gels, but that this material was completely nonfluorescent, lacked the visible absorbance bands of the chromophore, and did not become fluorescent when solubilized and subjected to protocols that renature GFP, as opposed to the soluble GFP in the bacteria which undergoes correct folding and, therefore, fluoresces. Chun Wu et al. in “Novel Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) Baculovirus Expression Vectors,” Gene 190, 157 (1997), describe the construction of Baculovirus expression vectors which contain GFP as a reporter gene. The authors follow the production and purification of a protein of interest by in-frame cloning of the gene that expresses the protein in insect cells with the GFP open reading frame, thereby permitting visualization of the produced GFP-fusion protein using UV light. However, the purified GFP-XylE fusion protein was found to be insoluble after harvest. The authors did not correlate the level of fluorescence of the cells expressing the GFP-XylE fusion protein with the solubility of cells expressing the XylE protein alone. Therefore, this reference does not teach the use of the fusion protein fluorescence as an indicator of the solubility of the specific protein XylE or of the solubility of other proteins. In “Application Of A Chimeric Green Protein Fluorescent Protein To Study Protein-Protein Interactions,” by N. Garamszegi et al., Biotechniques 23, 864 (1997), the authors discuss the fusion between GFP and human calmodulin-like protein (CLP) and show that this protein retains fluorescence and the known characteristics of CLP. That is, the GFP portion remains responsible for efficient fluorescent signals with little or no influence on the properties of the fused protein of interest. The authors maintain that the exhibited GFP fluorescence provides information concerning the maintenance of the GFP structural integrity in the chimeric protein, but does not provide information about the integrity of the entire fusion protein and, in particular, does not allow any statements concerning the maintenance of CLP function or integrity. From these statements, it is clear that this paper does not contemplate the use of the GFP as a solubility reporter for the CLP. It has been demonstrated that improving the apparent functionality of a protein can sometimes increase the concomitant solubility of the protein, as in: “Redesigning enzyme topology by directed evolution,” by G. Macbeath, P. Kast, and D Hilvert, Science 279, 1958-1961 (1998); “Expression of an antibody fragment at high levels in the bacterial cytoplasm,” by P. Martineau, P. Jones, and G. Winter, J. Mol. Biol. 280, 117-127 (1998); “Antibody scFv fragments without disulfide bonds made by molecular evolution,” K. Proba, A. Worn, A. Honegger, and A. Pluckthun, J. Mol. Biol. 275, 245-253 (1998); and “Functional Expression of Horseradish Peroxidase in E. coli by Directed Evolution,” Lin Zhanglin, Todd Thorsen, and Frances H. Arnold, Biotechnol. Prog. 15, 467-471 (1999). In each case, the driving force for the directed evolution was the functionality of the protein of interest. For example, if the protein was an enzyme, the assay for improved function was the turnover of a chromogenic analog of the enzyme's natural substrate; if the protein was an antibody, it was the recognition of the target antigen by the antibody. For cytoplasmic expression of antibodies, the recognition was linked to cell survival, (binding of the antibody to a selectable protein marker which was an antigen for the antibody of interest providing selection for functional antibodies); in the case of phage displayed antibodies without disulfide bonds, the recognition was transduced to successful binding of the displayed phage to the target antigen of the displayed antibody in a biopanning protocol. The authors expressed the proteins in E. coli , and noted an apparent increase in the amount of protein expressed in the soluble fraction relative to the unselected target proteins, noting that the apparent increase in activity of desirable mutants during the evolution was due at least in part to an increase in the number of correctly folded (and hence functional) protein molecules, and not exclusively to an increase in the specific activity of a given protein molecule. However, the driving force for the selection or screening process during the directed evolution depended on the functionality (and functional assay for) the protein of interest. Many proteins have no easily detectable functional assay, and thus identification of proteins with improved folding yield by an increase in apparent activity due to a larger number of correctly folded molecules, is not a general method for improving folding by directed evolution. Furthermore, even when functional assays are available, apparent increases in activity can also be due to increases in the specific activity (activity of an individual protein molecule) even when the total number of correctly folded molecules remains the same. Thus, increases in apparent activity do not necessarily translate to increases in the solubility of proteins. Furthermore, functional assays are protein-specific, and thus must be developed on a case-by-case basis for each new protein. Functional assays therefore lack the generality needed to identify proteins which are soluble, or to find genetic variants (mutants and fragments) of proteins with improved solubility, in a high-throughput manner for proteomics or functional genomics wherein large numbers of different proteins about which little or no functional/structural information is known, are to be solubly expressed. Information relevant to the present invention is disclosed in “Rapid Protein-Folding Assay Using Green Fluorescent Protein” by Geoffrey S. Waldo et al., Nature Biotechnology 17, 691-695 (1999), the teachings of which publication are hereby incorporated by reference herein. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a solubility reporter for rapidly identifying soluble forms of proteins. Another object of the invention is to provide a method for modifying the solubility of proteins by generating large numbers of genetic mutants of the gene which encodes for the protein to be solubilized which can be expressed and the resulting proteins screened for solubility. Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To achieve the foregoing and other objects, and in accordance with the purposes of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the method for determining the solubility of a protein, P, of this invention may include the steps of: fusing a DNA fragment, [P], which codes for protein P with the DNA fragment, [R], which codes for a reporter protein, R, forming thereby a fusion DNA fragment, [P-R], which codes for the protein, P-R; ligating the [P-R] fragment into an expression vector to form a plasmid DNA; introducing the plasmid DNA into an expression host such that the fusion protein is overexpressed therein; and detecting protein R in fusion protein P-R, whereby the detection of protein R in fusion protein P-R is an indication that protein P is soluble. Preferably, the DNA fragment [P] is fused with the DNA fragment [L] which codes for a flexible linker peptide, L, which has been fused with the DNA fragment [R], forming thereby either fusion DNA fragment [P-L-R] or fusion DNA fragment [R-L-P], such that the detection of R in the fusion proteins encoded by [P-L-R] or [R-L-P] is an indication that protein P is soluble. Preferably also, the DNA fragment bearing [L-R] or [R-L] is part of an expression vector and/or transfection/transformation vector enabling the fusion of [P] to yield the DNA fusions [P-L-R] or [R-L-P] as part of the vectors, thereby enabling a host cell to express either the fusion protein P-L-R or the fusion protein R-L-P, such that the detection of R in the fusion protein P-R is an indication that protein P is soluble. It is also preferred that the linker peptide is short, flexible, hydrophilic and soluble. Preferably also, the reporter protein includes green fluorescent protein. In another aspect of the present invention, in accordance with its objects and purposes, the method for modifying the solubility of a protein, P, hereof may include the steps of: introducing mutations into the DNA fragment [P] which codes for protein P, thereby generating a combinatorial library of mutated variants, [X]; in-frame fusing individual [X] variants with a DNA construct such as a plasmid vector which includes a DNA fragment which codes for a reporter protein, [R], forming thereby a set of DNA constructs containing [X-R] which code for the fusion proteins X-R such that the detection of R in any of the X-R fusion proteins is an indication that the variant protein X contained therein is soluble; introducing each of the DNA constructs into an expression host such that each host cell expresses a unique variant X as a fusion protein X-R therein; and detecting R in X-R, whereby an increase in the detection of R in a host expressing a variant X-R fusion protein relative to that of a host expressing the P-R fusion protein, is an indication that the solubility of variant protein X has increased relative to the solubility of protein P. Preferably, the DNA fragment [X] is fused with the DNA fragment which codes for a flexible linker peptide, [L], which has been fused with the DNA fragment [R], thereby forming either fusion DNA fragment [X-L-R] or fusion DNA fragment [R-L-X], such that an increase in the detection of R in the fusion proteins expressed by the [X-L-R] or the [R-L-X] is an indication that the solubility of variant protein X has increased relative to the solubility of protein P. Preferably also, the DNA fragment bearing [L-R] or [R-L] is part of an expression vector and/or transfection/transformation vector enabling the fusion of [X] to yield the DNA fusions [X-L-R] or [R-L-X] as part of said vectors, thus enabling a host cell to express either the fusion protein X-L-R or the fusion protein R-L-X, such that an in crease in the detection of R in the fusion protein is an indication that the solubility of protein X has increased relative to the solubility of protein P. It is preferred that the linker peptide short, flexible, hydrophilic and soluble. Preferably also the reporter protein includes green fluorescent protein. It is also preferred that the step of introducing mutations into [P] generating thereby a combinatorial library of mutated variants [X] is achieved using gene shuffling and directed evolution. Benefits and advantages of the present invention include the enhancement of the solubility of proteins of interest without having to individually test, (such as by large-scale growth of each mutant in question followed by cell lysis, fractionation and sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE)), the solubility of each protein modification generated, and has general applicability. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of the specification, illustrate the embodiments of the present invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings: FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating the use of the solubility reporter according to the teachings of the present invention; if protein, P, is insoluble, the detection of the fusion protein, P-L-GFP, is compromised since the fusion protein is poorly fluorescent, while if protein P is soluble, fusion protein P-L-GFP is strongly fluorescent. FIG. 2 illustrates the correlation between the solubility of proteins (P) expressed alone and the fluorescence of E. coli cells expressing the proteins as fusions with GFP. FIG. 3 is a schematic representation illustrating the use of fluorescence-assisted cell sorting to identify and select mutated versions of a chosen protein which have enhanced solubility by virtue of the improved fluorescence of cells expressing the mutants as GFP fusion proteins. FIGS. 4 a and 4 b show the improved solubility of non-fusion (black bars) proteins and GFP fusion protein fluorescence (crosshatched bars) for: gene-V(C33T) and bull frog H-subunit ferritin, respectively, after each of four successive directed evolution cycles. FIGS. 5 a-c are a photograph of E. coli colonies expressing GFP fusions of ferritin variants (FIG. 5 a ), a Coomassie-stained 12.5% acrylamide SDS-PAGE of soluble (S) and pellet (P) fractions of ferritin variants expressed without GFP tags (the upper band is bovine serum albumin (BSA) and the position of H and L wild-type ferritins are shown)(FIG. 5 b ), and an Fe activity blot assay of nonfusion proteins (FIG. 5 c ), where the column marked wt H, indicates insoluble wild type H-subunit ferritin; the column marked wt L indicates soluble wild type L-subunit ferritin; and the columns marked HM-1, HM-2, and HM-3, indicate soluble, evolved ferritin optima after backcrossing to remove non-essential mutations. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Briefly, the present invention utilizes a solubility reporter protein, expressed by the DNA fragment [R], whose detection level in a fusion protein encoded by the in-frame fusion DNA fragment, [P-L-R] or [R-L-P], provides an assay indicating whether the protein P expressed alone is soluble, where [P] is the DNA fragment which encodes the protein, P, to be solubilized, and [L] is the DNA fragment which encodes a flexible linker peptide, L. In one embodiment of the invention, R is green fluorescent protein (GFP). Linker peptide L, which is preferably optimized for flexibility, hydrophilic nature, and solubility, is fused to the GFP. When overexpressed in the host cell, for example E. coli , the fusion protein(s) L-GFP (GFP fused to the C-terminus of L) or GFP-L (GFP fused to the N-terminus of L) are soluble within the expression host and fluorescent. The DNA encoding P is then fused to a reporter vector containing the DNA fragment which encodes the L-GFP construct, and the fusion protein P-L-GFP (P fused to the N-terminus of L-GFP) is caused to be overexpressed in a host cell. Alternatively, the DNA encoding P is fused to a reporter vector containing a DNA fragment which encodes the GFP-L construct, and the fusion protein GFP-L-P (P fused to the C-terminus of GFP-L) is caused to be overexpressed in the host cell. The GFP-L and L-GFP are chosen such that the observation of GFP fluorescence in the fusion proteins P-L-GFP or GFP-L-P is indicative of P being soluble. It is anticipated that for some systems, linker peptide L will not be required. When P is highly soluble, the GFP fluorescence in the proteins P-L-GFP or GFP-L-P is high within the expression host and such hosts are observed to be highly fluorescent. By contrast, when P is insoluble, the GFP fluorescence associated with the P-L-GFP or GFP-L-P is greatly reduced and the hosts are poorly fluorescent. Thus, P-L-GFP or GFP-L-P constitute solubility reporters for rapidly determining whether P is soluble. FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of the use of the solubility reporter according to the teachings of the present invention. FIG. 2 illustrates the correlation between the solubility of proteins (P) expressed alone and the fluorescence of E coli cells expressing the proteins as fusions with GFP, where proteins from Pyrobacullum aerophilum are selected in order of increasing GFP fusion fluorescence as follows: (1) tartrate dehydratase beta subunit; (2) nucleoside-diphosphate kinase; (3) tyrosine tRNA synthetase; (4) polysulfide reductase subunit; (5) methyltransferase; (6) GTP cyclohydrolase I; (7) aspartate-semialdehyde dehydrogenase; (8) purine-nucleoside phosphorylase; (9) soluble hydrogenase; (10) cysteine tRNA synthetase; (11) 3-hexulose 6-phosphate synthase; (12) nirD protein; (13) C-type cytochrome biogenesis factor; (14) phosphate cyclase; (15) hydrogenase expression/formation protein (hypE); (16) chorismate mutase; (17) DNA-directed RNA polymerase; (18) ribosomal protein S9p; (19) translation initiation factor; (20) sulfite reductase (dissimilatory subunit); and GFP is a soluble variant of GFP expressed alone. The dashed line indicates the threshold above which the test proteins are fully soluble. Modification and, more particularly, enhancement of the solubility of protein P is accomplished by use of a DNA construct which includes the solubility reporter DNA fragments [L-GFP] or [GFP-L], in a directed evolution of [P]. A combinatorial library of mutated variants X is first generated by gene shuffling, as an example. The resulting pool of genes [X] encoding mutated proteins X is then genetically fused in-frame either with a pool of DNA constructs such as vectors containing [L-GFP] to produce a pool of DNA constructs encoding fusion proteins X-L-GFP, or with a pool of DNA constructs containing [GFP-L] to produce a pool of DNA constructs encoding fusion proteins GFP-L-X. After introducing the DNA into an expression host, such as electroporation of circular plasmid vectors into E. coli , individual variants with increased fluorescence (and therefore increased solubility) may be screened and separated using fluorescence-assisted cell sorting, as an example, since the observation of GFP fluorescence a fusion variant is an indication of the solubility of X. Millions of variants can be screened in 20 minutes. Further cycles of directed evolution may be instigated until no further improvement in solubility is observed. Furthermore, mutations which are unnecessary for enhanced solubility which accumulated during the directed evolution, can be removed by in vitro recombination or backcrossing of the DNA encoding enhanced variants X of P against an excess of DNA encoding wild type P, followed by selection of variants retaining enhanced solubility, using the solubility reporter procedure of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of the generation of mutated versions of a selected protein, P, where fluorescence-assisted cell sorting (FACS) is used to identify and select mutants with enhanced solubility in according to the teaching of the present invention. The present invention, then, requires establishing the relationship between the detection of R in the fusion proteins (P-R, R-P, P-L-R, R-L-P), and the solubility of P by itself (in a non-fusion situation). To establish this calibration, the steps required may include: determining the solubilities of a group of selected proteins by SDS-PAGE, for example; detecting R in fusion proteins with the same set of proteins; plotting the solubility of each protein P as a function of the level of detection of R when fused with P; and fitting a smooth line to the resulting data points. The resulting relationship permits the prediction of the solubility of unknown proteins given the level of detection of R in associated fusion proteins. The appropriate method of detection for R is dependent on the manner in which R functions. If R is chosen to be green fluorescent protein, then fluorescence detection of the fusion protein incorporating R in vivo or in vitro, using a fluorimeter, for example is utilized. If R is an antibiotic resistance protein with enzymatic function, then in vivo detection may include the determination of the antibiotic resistance of cells containing the fusion protein to the antibiotic, while in vitro detection of the enzymatic activity of the antibiotic resistance protein could consist of colorimetric assays for the function of the antibiotic resistance protein, for example. It is preferable but not essential that R is a positive indicator of the solubility of protein P, such that as the solubility of said test proteins increases, the detection of the function of R in the fusion protein context also increases. To screen large numbers of versions of an arbitrary protein, it is desirable, but not essential, that linker protein L and reporter protein R be chosen to have the following characteristics: (1) The observed parameter for R, in the fusions X-L-R and R-L-X, must not be observable independent of the solubility of X or by the presence of X; (2) the solubility of R should not determine the detection of R in X-L-R or R-L-X; (3) The detection of R in X-L-R and R-L-X should be positively correlated with the solubility of X expressed alone; (4) R should not assist the folding of X; (5) L should not significantly influence the detection of R in any of R-L-X or X-L-R; and (6) L should not dominate the folding of any of X, R, X-L-R, or R-L-X. Having generally described the invention, the following EXAMPLES illustrate the application of the method of the present invention in greater detail. EXAMPLE 1 As an example of the assembly of a construct which satisfies the above-described six criteria, a Bgl-II/Xho-1 fragment of plasmid pET-21a(+), containing: the T7 promoter; lac operator sequence; ribosomal binding site; and multiple cloning site was ligated into the Bgl-II/Xho-1 site of pET-28a(+). The resulting hybrid plasmid contained the Kan, lac, and F1 origin of replication of the pET-28a(+) backbone. The pET21a(+) and pET28a(+) vectors were used as obtained from a commercial source. The vector was digested with Nde-1 and BamH-1, the small fragment was discarded, and replaced with an in-frame stuffer such that the sequence, inclusive of the Nde-1 and BamH-I sites, was [CATATGTGTAGACAGCTGGGATCC] (SEQ ID No. 1). Next, the vector was digested with BamH-I and EcoR-1 and the small stuffer was discarded. The BamH-I/EcoR-1 site was filled with the DNA fragment [GGATCCGCTGGCTCCGCTGCTGGTTCTGGCGAATTC] (SEQ ID No. 2), coding for the flexible linker L (GSAGSAAGSGEF) (SEQ ID No. 3). An improved variant of GFP was created by site-directed mutation using recombinant PCR (see, e.g., “Recombinant PCR” by Russel Higuchi in “PCR Protocols, a Guide to Methods and Applications”, Michael A. Innis, David H. Gelfand, John J. Sninsky, and Thomas J. White, eds. Academic press, Inc., 177, (1990)), of the soluble variant of Crameri et al., supra, to yield the red-shift S65T mutation (See, e.g., “Improved Green Fluorescence,” by Roger Heim et al., Nature 373, 663, (1995)) which improves the performance of the protein in FACS, by increasing the absorption of the fluorophore of 488 nm light (near the argon laser emission commonly used for FACS). The internal Nde-1 and BamH-1 sites were abolished by silent-mutation. The resulting GFP variant was amplified by PCR using the 5′ primer [GATATAGAATTCAGCAAAGGAGAAGAACTTTTC] (SEQ ID No. 4), incorporating a 5′ EcoR-1 site; and the 3′ primer [GAATTCGGTACCTTATTTGTAGAGCTCTACCAT] (SEQ ID No. 5), incorporating a 5′ Xho-1 site. The resulting vector was digested with EcoR-1/Xho-1, the stuffer discarded, and replaced with the EcoR-1/Xho-1-digested EcoR-1:GFP:Xho-1 amplicon, and the circular plasmid produced thereby was transformed by electroporation into the E. coli strain BL21(DE3) genotype: (F − ompT hsdS B (r B − m B − ) gal dcm (DE3)), a commercially available strain. The construct in the pET vector system is inducible by IPTG. A transformant was used to inoculate a culture of LB and grown to an optical density (O.D.) at 600 nm of approximately 0.5, IPTG was added to a final concentration of 1 mM, and induction was allowed to proceed for 2 h. The bright green fluorescence, visible under room lighting, indicated that the fusion construct was soluble and well-expressed. Next, the small in-frame stuffer fragment between Nde-1 and BamH-1 was removed by restriction digest, and replaced by an out-of-frame stuffer with 3 translational stops. Cells expressing this fusion were non-fluorescent due to termination of translation prior to the GFP. Finally, the vector was digested with Nde-1+BamH-1 to remove the stuffer and create a recipient site for Nde-1/BamH-1 flanked inserts. This recipient vector is subsequently referred to as the solubility-reporter vector. The specific examples described below use primers for the genes of interest which contain Nde-1(N-terminus) and BamH-1 (C-terminus). The use of an out-of-frame stuffer insures that and vectors escaping digest code for non-fluorescent constructs and thus had the effect of eliminating false-positives. To test the protein solubility reporter, 20 different proteins were expressed from the hyperthermophilic archeon Pyrobaculum aerophilum (see, e.g., Fitz-Gibbon, S. et al. “A fosmid-based genomic map and identification of 474 genes of the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrobaculum aerophilum .” Extremophiles 1, 36-51 (1997)), in E. coli at 37° C. as N-terminal GFP fusions. Gene-dependent differences (up to 50-fold) in whole cell GFP fluorescence were directly related to the fraction of the overexpressed protein found in the supernatant of lysed cells expressing the corresponding non-fusion protein under identical conditions (see FIG. 2 hereof). The correlation between non-fusion solubility and GFP fusion fluorescence is not perfect. For example, the solubility of protein 8 (purine-nucleoside phosphorylase) is underestimated, while that of protein 9 (soluble hydrogenase) is overestimated (see FIG. 2 hereof). Nonetheless, failure of the GFP chromophore to be detected in the fusion context is well correlated with the likelihood that the protein of interest will be aggregated when expressed without the GFP tag. The detailed experimental protocol for cloning the various test proteins is as follows. Genes coding test proteins were amplified by conventional PCR from plasmids available in-house (gene-5 and xylR), plasmids purchased from commercial sources (maltose binding protein, malE, Invitrogen), or genomic DNA (Pyrobaculum aerophilum). Bullfrog H-subunit and L-subunit ferritin genes were cloned from Rana catesbeiana tadpole red cells by RT-PCR using a commercially available kit. Gene-5 C33(TGT)→T33(ACT) was engineered using conventional PCR techniques. Incorporating two codon changes guarded against trivial mutation to the soluble wild type sequence; that is, by the reversion T33C in subsequent directed evolution experiments. Clones were isolated and sequences verified by dye-terminator sequencing. Specific ferritin mutants were engineered by overlap PCR. EXAMPLE 2 GFP-fusion solubility reporter assay was also demonstrated to be possible for cell-free extracts using six proteins of bacterial and vertebrate origin. In an in vitro protein synthesis system, the bulk concentration of newly synthesized polypeptides is reduced by a factor of at least 1000 relative to their concentration in E. coli (see, e.g., Zubay, G. “In vitro synthesis of protein in microbial systems.” Ann. Rev. Genet. 7, 267-287 (1973), and Neidhardt, F. C. Chemical composition of Escherichia coli . Neidhardt, F. C., ed. in Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium : Cellular and Molecular Biology, pp. 3-6, American Society of Microbiology, Washington, D.C. (1987)). The production of the fluorescent GFP fusion protein was initiated by addition of the DNA template, and appeared to be complete within ca. 30 min at 37° C. When normalized by a control expressing GFP alone, the GFP fusion fluorescence in the in vitro system and in E. coli closely agreed as shown in Table 1. TABLE 1 GFP fusion fluorescence from in vivo and in vitro expression Coupled Type of Protein E. coli cells a transcription + translation b Insoluble proteins Bullfrog H-subunit ferritin 0.034 ± 0.004 0.031 ± 0.003 Gene-V (C33T) 0.030 ± 0.005 0.041 ± 0.005 XyIR 0.023 ± 0.003 0.031 ± 0.003 Soluble proteins Bullfrog L-subunit ferritin 0.58 ± 0.02 0.53 ± 0.03 Gene-V (wt) 0.40 ± 0.03 0.43 ± 0.02 Maltose binding protein 0.43 ± 0.02 0.50 ± 0.03 a E. coli cells: whole cell fluorescence measured by fluorimetry expressing indicated proteins as fusions with GFP at 37° C., normalized by intensity of E. coli expressing GFP alone. b Coupled transcription+translation: Fluorescence of coupled E. coli S-30 transcription/translation reactions using circular plasmid templates, normalized by fluorescence of reaction using GFP template. Experiments were performed in triplicate. Note that the ratioed fluorescence data is dimensionless. The detailed experimental protocol for the in vitro coupled transcription/translation reactions is as follows. Plasmids were isolated from 3-ml overnight cultures using a commercially available spin-column purification kit. DNA concentrations were determined spectrophotometrically at 260 nm, plasmids were diluted to 0.1 μg/μl, and 10 μl added to a 150 μl coupled transcription/translation mix ( E. coli T7 S30 extract system for circular DNA, Promega (Madison, Wis.) according to manufacturer instructions. Although the development of green fluorescence appeared complete within 30 min, the reaction was allowed to proceed for 2 hr at 37° C. Fluorescence was measured by spectrofluorimetry (excitation 490 nm, emission 510 nm, each with 5 nm band width). A small background resulting from the endogenous fluorescence of the translation mix was subtracted during data analysis, and the fluorescence of each test samples was normalized by dividing by the fluorescence of a sample translating GFP alone. The detailed experimental protocols for determining fluorescence and protein solubility are next described. Cultures were grown at 37° C. in Luria-Bertani (LB) media containing 30 μl/ml kanamycin and induced with 1 mM isopropylthiogalactoside (IPTG) at indicated temperature. Cells were diluted to OD 600 nm=0.15 in 10 mM TRIS, pH=7.5, 0.15 M NaCl, (buffer A), and fluorescence was measured using a spectrofluorimeter (excitation 490 nm, emission 510 nm, each with 5 nm band width). Protein solubility was determined by SDS-PAGE throughout (see, e.g., Zhang, Y. et al. Expression of eukaryotic proteins in soluble form in Escherichia coli . Protein Expr. Purif. 12, 159-165 (1998)). A 3 ml culture of cells was pelleted in a 1.5 ml eppendorf tube and washed twice with 1 ml of buffer A. The pellet was resuspended in 150 μl of buffer A and subjected to two sequences of 10 pulses of sonication, using a sonicator equipped with a ½″ horn and ⅛″ tapered tip, with a minimum power setting and 80% duty cycle. The sample was pelleted by centrifugation between the two pulse sequences. The sonicant was centrifuged at 14,000 g for 15 minutes and the supernatant fraction removed by pipetting and reserved. The remaining pellet was washed twice with 1 ml buffer A, and finally resuspended in 150 μl buffer A. 5 μl of the sample (pellet or supernatant) was mixed with 5 μl of sodium dodecylsulfonate buffer containing dithiothreitol and heated for 15 min at 100° C. in a MJR PTC-200 thermocycler (heated lid). The denatured proteins were resolved by sodium dodecylsulfonate-polyacrylamide electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) using a 12.5% acrylamide homogeneous gel, stained by Coomassie brilliant blue dye, and fixed. The gels were scanned using a flatbed scanner, and densitometry analyzed using NIH Image. The total expressed protein was estimated by summing the integrated density of the soluble and insoluble fractions D T =D S +D I . The soluble fraction was defined as S F =D S /D T , while the insoluble fraction was defined as I F =D I /D T . The SDS sample buffer included 2 mg/ml of bovine serum albumin (BSA) to provide an internal density standard compensating for differences in loading volume. Prior to processing, all integrated sample densities were thus normalized by the BSA integrated sample density. EXAMPLE 3 Empirically, the GFP solubility reporter distinguishes proteins that fold robustly and are highly soluble when expressed in E. coli from those that tend to aggregate. Such a reporter system could be used in a directed evolution process, (see, e.g., Arnold, F. H. “Directed evolution: Creating biocatalysts for the future.” Chem. Eng. Sci. 51, 5091-5102 (1996), and Zhao, H. M. and Arnold, F. H. “Optimization of DNA shuffling for high-fidelity recombination.” Nuc. Acids Res. 25, 1307-1308 (1997)), to evolve proteins that are normally insoluble into closely related ones with improved solubility. As a test of directed evolution of protein solubility, the mutant C33T of gene-protein was chosen (see, e.g., Terwilliger, T. C., Zabin, H. B., Horvath, M. P., Sandberg, W. S. and Schlunk, P. M. “In-vivo characterization of mutants of the bacteriophage-F1 gene-V protein isolated by saturation mutagenesis.” J. Mol. Biol. 236, 556-571 (1994)), and bullfrog H-subunit ferritin (see, e.g., Dickey, L. F. et al. “Differences in the regulation of messenger-RNA for housekeeping and specialized-cell ferritin: a comparison of 3 distinct ferritin complementary DNAs, the corresponding subunits, and identification of the 1st processed pseudogene in Amphibia.” J. Biol. Chem. 262, 7901-7907 (1987), and Waldo, G. S. and Theil, E. C. “Ferritin and Iron Biomineralization”, Comprehensive Supramolecular Chemistry 5, pp. 65-91, Susslick, K. vol. ed., Pergamon Press, U.K., (1996)). Beginning with DNA encoding the insoluble wild-type proteins, we used DNA shuffling (see, e.g., Stemmer, W. P. C. “Rapid evolution of a protein in-vitro by DNA shuffling.” Nature 370, 389-391 (1994)) to generate and recombine mutations, and the GFP solubility reporter to identify variants with improved folding. Each protein was subjected to four rounds of forward evolution to generate soluble variants, followed by three rounds of backcrossing (Stemmer, supra) against parental DNA to remove non-essential mutations. Bullfrog H-subunit ferritin or gene-V (C33T) PCR amplicons were DNAse-I digested and in vitro recombined (see, e.g., Arnold, supra (1996)) with the following modifications: Co(II) was used in place of Mn(II) as the DNAse-I metal cofactor, Pfu(exo+) DNA polymerase was used during forward mutation, and Pfu(exo+) DNA polymerase was used for backcrossing for high-fidelity amplification. Reassembled genes were cloned into the GFP fusion vector, and transformed into E. coli strain DH10B by electroporation, yielding ca. 5×10 6 unique clones. Plasmids isolated from the plates were transformed into BL21 (DE3) (Novagen, Madison, Wis.). Cells were plated directly onto nitrocellulose membranes at a density of ca. 2000 transformants/plate, grown at 37° C. for 9-12 hr until ca. 1 mm dia., then the membranes were transferred to LB/Kan plates containing 1 mM IPTG, and induced for 3 hr at 37° C. The 40 brightest clones were picked, maintained as individual permanents, and as pools. DNA from these optima was used in subsequent rounds of directed evolution. A total of 10,000 clones were screened for each cycle of forward evolution. For backcrossing, amplicons derived by PCR from a plasmid isolation of the pooled optima were combined in a 1:2 ratio with PCR amplicons of wild type DNA. DNAse-I digest and subsequent protocols as described above for the forward evolution. With each cycle of evolution, both the non-fusion solubility and GFP-fusion fluorescence increased as shown in FIG. 4 hereof. Forty clones expressing GFP fusions were pooled and the normalized fluorescence determined at 37° C., as described hereinabove. Vector DNA prepared from these pools was digested and the insert subcloned en masse into an expression vector without the GFP tag. Solubility of pooled nonfusion proteins was expressed at 37° C. Evolved gene V(C33T) and H-subunit ferritin pools were assayed after backcrossing three times. The rapid Fe-mineralization phenotype of H-subunit ferritin requires at least 7 key amino acids (see, e.g., Harrison, P. M. and Arosio P. “The ferritins: molecular-properties, iron storage function and cellular-regulation.” Biochim. et Biophys. Acta-Bioenerg. 1275, 161-203 (1996)). Thus the ferritin system can be used to test whether directed evolution of protein folding can be accomplished without a loss of function. Thirty of the ferritin clones that were most fluorescent when expressed as GFP fusions were sequenced by dye-terminator sequencing. These comprised three variants which were designated: HM-1 (N47D+Q55L+E58R+T93P+G146E), HM-2 (N47D+E58K+E59A+T93P+G146E) and HM-3 (K53R+Q55R+T93P+G146E). HM-3 also contained two 'silent mutations' D120 (GAG to GAC) and Q138 (CAG to CAA). These changed the codon usage without changing the amino acid coded for. The variants HM-1 and HM-2 each contain a substitution of E58, an acidic amino acid residue involved in iron binding and ferroxidation (see, e.g., Harrison, supra), by a basic amino acid unlikely to bind iron. Aside from this substitution none of the 7 residues directly involved in the function of ferritin were mutated. All three evolved ferritin variants were highly fluorescent as GFP fusions as shown in FIG. 5 a hereof and fully soluble when expressed as non-fusions in E. coli at 37° C. as shown in FIG. 5 b hereof. These proteins were assayed for enzymatic activity by measuring their ability to oxidize Fe(II). Supernatant fractions of 3-ml cultures were diluted to ca. 1 mg/ml in ferritin. The concentration of ferritin was determined by SDS-PAGE gel densitometry scan using NIH-Image, (NIH-Image is a public domain image processing program developed at the U.S. National Institutes of Health and available on the Internet, relative to a ferritin sample of known concentration. For ferroxidase assays, 3 μl aliquots of protein were dofted onto a moist nitrocellulose membrane on a stack of two Whatman 3M filter paper disks soaked in 50 mM MES, pH=6.0, 0.15 M NaCl (Buffer B). The membrane with the bound ferritin was transferred to a stack of two filters soaked in Buffer B containing 0.1 mM Fe(lI), for 5 min at 30° C. The reaction was quenched by washing the membrane twice in Buffer B containing 5 mM EDTA to remove adventitiously bound Fe(II). The Fe(II) zones were developed (see, e.g., Moos, T. and Moligard, K. “A sensitive post-DAB enhancement technique for demonstration of iron in the central-nervous-system.” Histochem. 99, 471-475 (1993)). Briefly, the membrane was treated with a solution of 1% HCl+1% potassium ferrocyanide (Turnbull Blue reaction) at ambient temperature (ca. 24° C.) for 10 min. After copious washing with distilled water, the Prussian Blue spots were intensified by treating with 10 mM H 2 O 2 +10 mM DAB (diamminobenzidine) in 10 mM TRIS pH=8.0 (Buffer C), for 5 min in the dark. The membrane was copiously washed with distilled water, transferred to a petri plate, and scanned on a flatbed scanner while still moist. HM-1 and HM-2 were non-functional. The third variant, HM-3, retained most of the wild type Fe-oxidation activity as illustrated in FIG. 5 c hereof, showing that directed evolution of solubility using GFP as a solubility reporter can generate mutants of a protein of interest with improved solubility while maintaining function of the protein of interest. EXAMPLE 4 The above-described use of a solubility reporter can be analogously extended to determine the solubility of protein fragments. For example, to determine the solubility of fragments F of a protein P, the DNA [P] is subjected to a partial enzymatic digest, (e.g., by DNASE-I in the presence of the divalent cations Mn 2+ or Co 2+ ), to create a pool of smaller fragments, [F]. The fragments can be polished with a proof-reading polymerase bearing 3′-5′ exonuclease activity to yield blunt-ends, or subsequently given A-overhangs by treatment with a polymerase devoid of 3′-5′ exonuclease activity with excess dATP (e.g., Taq polymerase). If desired, a particular size range of the fragments [F] may be selected, by agarose gel electrophoresis as an example. After ligation (e.g., blunt-end or T/A overhang) with the pool of appropriate recipient solubility reporter vector (e.g., bearing a blunt-end or T/A cloning site in-frame with [L-R]), some of the fragments [F] will form in-frame translational fusions, [F-L-R]. After transformation into an appropriate host, (e.g., E. coli ), expressed fusion proteins F-L-R which contain a soluble fragment F will be detectable in the host by virtue of R (e.g., if R is GFP the host cells will be fluorescent). Thus, the above-described solubility reporter method may be used to determine the solubility of a protein, its variants (mutants), and fragments thereof. EXAMPLE 5 EXAMPLE 1 has shown that GFP can be used as a solubility reporter. However, solubility reporters incorporating a translational fusion [P-L-R] include systems in which R is a protein/peptide other than GFP. When the fusion construct [P-L-R] is used, R can be a protein/peptide which gives a detectable signal observable by suitable chemical, biological or physical means, when linked to P-L as P-L-R. As an example, R could be the beta-galactosidase enzyme, lacZ. Clones expressing P-L-lacZ in which P is a soluble protein are detected by the enzymatic activity of lacZ (See, e.g., “Beta-Galactosidase Gene Fusions For Analyzing Gene Expression In Escherichia Coli And Yeast,” by M. Casadaban et al., Methods Enzymol. 100, 293 (1983)) on substrates which yield a colored reaction product (For example, X-gal (5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-β-D-galactoside)). Colonies expressing fusion proteins with β-galactosidase activity turn blue on plates containing X-gal. Furthermore, in situations where the lacZ protein proves too large, the functionally complementable lacZα fragment is used as a substitute. The complementary fragment A-lacZ is provided by the host chromosome (For example, E. coli strain DH10B (F − mcrA Δ(mrr − hsdRMS-mcrBC) φ80dlacZΔM15 ΔlacX74 deoR recA1 endA1 araD139 Δ(ara,leu)7697 galU galKλ − rpsL nupG), where the complementary fragment is provided by φ80dlacZΔM15. Fusion proteins P-L-lacZα containing a soluble protein P are soluble and contain a correctly-folded lacZα, thereby leading to complementation of the Δ-lacZ fragment and restoration of lacZ β-galactosidase activity. EXAMPLE 6 Reporter proteins R, which have optimal activity when present in a non-fusion context may be employed for assays. The construct P-L-C-R is generated, where C is a unique protease site. For example, C could be the viral protease cleavage site for the plum pox virus NIa protease (See, e.g., M. Martin et al., “Determination of polyprotein processing sites by amino terminal sequencing of nonstructural proteins encoded by plum pox polyvirus”, Virus Res. 15, 97, (1990)), and R is the lacZα fragment, as an example. The construct P-L-C-lacZα and the viral protease (NIa) could each be expressed under the control of separately inducible promoters on separate plasmids with compatible origins of replication. For an example of the use of multiple compatible plasmids with cloning sites under independently controlled promoters, see R. Lutz and H. Berjard, “Independent and tight regulation of transcriptional units in E. coli via the LacR/O, the TetR/O and AraD/I 1 -I 2 regulatory elements”, Nucleic Acids Res., 25(6), 1203, (1997). The plasmids and required E. coli host strains are commercially available; for example, the P-L-C-lacZα construct could be expressed under the control of the tet promoter, and the NIa gene under the control of the arabinose promoter/repressor. The plasmid(s) would be transformed into the appropriate E. coli host (see Lutz, supra), and anhydrotetracycline added to the growth medium to induce expression of P-L-C-lacZα. After accumulation of the fusion protein P-L-C-lacZα, arabinose+IPTG is added to the growth medium to induce expression of the NIa protease. P-L-C-lacZα is soluble and contains a correctly-folded lacZα domain, and P-L-C-lacZα is cleaved at site C, only if P were soluble. Subsequent release of lacZα complements the Δ-lacZ fragment and restores lacZ β-galactosidase activity, which is detected by standard colorimetric or fluorometric assays for β-galactosidase activity. EXAMPLE 7 As another example, R might be an antibiotic selection marker such as the β-lactamase gene (bla), which confers resistance to penicillin-derived antibiotics commonly used in cloning vectors. Antibiotic resistance proteins active in the cytoplasm of E. coli or other hosts (such as the commonly used proteins conferring resistance to chloramphenicol, kanamycin, and zeocin) would be capable of conferring resistance to the specific selection agent while still fused to the protein of interest. However, the β-lactamase gene contains a signal peptide and is translocated to the periplasm of E. coli . However, proper processing of the antibiotic resistance protein and translocation to the periplasm would be impeded by N-terminus fusions, although cleavage by the protease obviates this problem. The P-L-C-β-lactamase fusion protein would be soluble only if P were soluble. Concomitant induction by both anhydrotetracycline and IPTG+arabinose would provide both the fusion protein P-L-C-β-lactamase and the viral cleavage protease NIa. In cells bearing soluble variants of P, the fusion protein P-L-C-β-lactamase would be soluble and cleaved at C by virtue of the protease NIa, releasing functional β-lactamase resistance protein, thereby conferring antibiotic resistance to the antibiotic ampicillin. Conversely, in cells bearing non-soluble variants P, the fusion protein would be insoluble, the protease cleavage site C would be buried in inclusion bodies, and thereby inaccessible to cleavage by the viral protease. Furthermore, the β-lactamase protein would be buried in inclusion bodies, misfolded and non-functional. Such cells would not have resistance to the antibiotic ampicillin. It would be apparent to those having skill in the biochemical arts that selection for cells bearing soluble variants of P (and therefore having antibiotic resistance) could be accomplished by challenging mixtures of the above-mentioned cells by supplying the selective agent (e.g., the antibiotic ampicillin) in the growth medium. Moreover, it is likewise apparent to one having skill in the art that both the fusion protein P-L-C-β-lactamase and the protease Nla must be made continuously available to confer antibiotic selection throughout the life of the cell, and thus both genes must be simultaneously induced (in this example, by providing both anhydrotetracycline and IPTG/arabinose in the growth media). Cells with antibiotic resistance will survive, thereby selecting for soluble variants of P. Furthermore, additional improvement in the solubility of such variants could be accomplished by increasing the concentration of selective agent (e.g. ampicillin) during subsequent rounds of recombination and selection. The foregoing description of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. For example, it would be apparent one having skill in biochemistry after reviewing the present disclosure that the method of the present invention can be implemented in insect, yeast and mammalian cells, wherein fusion proteins P-L-GFP are expressed to create a solubility reporter. Similarly, directed evolution for improving the solubility of proteins can be performed using insect cells, and the required DNA manipulation according to the teachings of the present invention can be achieved in vitro or in vivo. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto. 5 1 24 DNA Escherichia coli 1 catatgtgta gacagctggg atcc 24 2 36 DNA Escherichia coli 2 ggatccgctg gctccgctgc tggttctggc gaattc 36 3 12 PRT Escherichia coli 3 Gly Ser Ala Gly Ser Ala Ala Gly Ser Gly Glu Phe 1 5 10 4 33 DNA Escherichia coli 4 gatatagaat tcagcaaagg agaagaactt ttc 33 5 33 DNA Escherichia coli 5 gaattcggta ccttatttgt agagctctac cat 33
A solubility reporter for measuring a protein's solubility in vivo or in vitro is described. The reporter, which can be used in a single living cell, gives a specific signal suitable for determining whether the cell bears a soluble version of the protein of interest. A pool of random mutants of an arbitrary protein, generated using error-prone in vitro recombination, may also be screened for more soluble versions using the reporter, and these versions may be recombined to yield variants having further-enhanced solubility. The method of the present invention includes “irrational” (random mutagenesis) methods, which do not require a priori knowledge of the three-dimensional structure of the protein of interest. Multiple sequences of mutation/genetic recombination and selection for improved solubility are demonstrated to yield versions of the protein which display enhanced solubility.
2
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to wedges for use with ties in maintaining a predetermined spaced relation between opposed forms prior to and during the pouring of a concrete wall in the space between the forms. The invention is particularly concerned with wedges for use with form ties which are designed to have their outer end portions broken off inside the wall after the concrete has set and the forms have been removed. In one conventional use of such ties, they may have a shoulder or other spacer adjacent to each end thereof which butts the inner surface of a form. The end portion of the tie beyond this spacer passes through a hole in the form and has a head on its outermost end which cooperates with clamping means and reinforcing lumber ("forms") to brace the assembled formwork against the internal hydraulic pressure developed while the fluid concrete fills the space between the forms. The co-owned Edgar et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,365 of 1991 describes a problem affecting the utility of such ties of the then conventional construction arising from the fact that during erection of the forms and their supporting lumber, the mechanical connection between the head of each tie and an adjacent wale is provided by a wedge designed to apply tension to the end portion of each tie between each head and the spacer which engages the inner face of the adjacent form. That problem was that with conventional ties and associated wedges, instead of maintaining essentially axially directed tension on the end portions of each rod, forces were developed which caused twisting of one or both of the rod heads where they interconnected with the remainder of the rod. These twisting forces were sometimes so severe as to cause the head of the rod to snap off and thus render the rod inoperative for the purpose for which it was intended. In accordance with the Edgar patent, the problem and effect on conventional ties as outlined above were eliminated by a novel construction of each tie wherein a portion of the tie where each head interconnects with the rod is of larger cross-sectional dimensions than the remainder of the rod, although less than those of the head. The resulting reinforcement of the interconnection between the head and the rod overcame any tendency to premature snapping of the rod at its junction with a head. In the use of the ties of the Edgar patent, however, it was found that the new ties so successfully resisted the forces previously causing conventional ties to break prematurely that the effect of those forces was transferred to the wedges of conventional construction. For example, wedges of the configuration shown in the above Edgar patent which were formed of sheet steel of an accepted thickness tended to buckle or collapse. More specifically, the conventional wedge was formed of sheet metal of uniform thickness with an elongated slot through which the head and adjacent portion of a rod projected, and the tensioning force of the wedge was applied to the rod by engagement between the sloping sides of the slot and the axially inner end of the rod head. The problem was that the portion of the wedge along each side of the slot would tend to collapse, usually sequentially rather than simultaneously, but either way, the result was to lose the tension on the rod and thus permit undesired outward bowing of the adjacent portion of the form while the concrete wall was being poured or had not yet set beyond an essentially fluid condition. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, these problems have been successfully overcome by wedges of sheet steel generally of the same outline as the previous conventional wedges, but the ramp portion which performs the wedge function is specially formed to reinforce it against deflection and deformation in use. More specifically, the ramp portion of the wedge includes an elongated keyhole slot for receiving a snap tie therethrough, and the portions of the ramp bordering this slot are especially formed to reinforce them against deflection or collapse under the loading applied thereto from the head of a tie supported thereon. Thus in the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawing and described hereinafter, the portions of the wedge ramp bordering the slot which receives a snap tie therethrough are formed inwardly to provide increased thickness of material aligned with the tie, smooth surfaces to reduce stress and concave sides for self centering capability. In addition, the portions of the ramp contiguous with these rim portions are rounded as viewed in section across the slot to supplement the reinforcing action of the rim portions. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary section through one side of erected formwork which includes a snap tie, wedge and reinforcing lumber according to conventional prior practice; FIG. 2 is an elevation looking from left to right in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a section on the line 3--3 in FIG. 2; FIG. 4 is a front elevation of a wedge constructed in accordance with the present invention; FIG. 5 is a section on the line 5--5 of FIG. 4; and FIG. 6 is a section on the line 6--6 of FIG. 4. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The steel tie rod tie 10 illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 is of the construction disclosed and claimed in the above Edgar patent. It has a weakened portion 11 where it is intended to be snapped after the wall has been completed, and which is inboard of the spacer 12 that abuts the inner surface of the form 13 in the assembled formwork. The remainder of the rod outboard of the spacer 12 has a head 15 which cooperates with a wedge 20 to clamp the reinforcing wales 16 and 17 against the outer face of the form 13, and this structure is duplicated at the other end of the tie and the formwork associated therewith. The wedge 20 is of a conventional construction formed of sheet steel of uniform nominal thickness of 0.120 and it includes an essentially flat peripheral portion 22 which defines a plane and has a back surface 23 adapted to engage the outer wale 16. The portion 22 surrounds a central ramp portion 24 provided with an elongated slot 25 slightly wider than the cross-section of tie 10 and which includes at its lower end an enlarged portion 26 of sufficient size to receive the rod head 15 in a slip fit therethrough. In the use of this wedge, after it has been slipped over the head of the rod, it is driven lengthwise of slot 25 while the rod head 15 climbs the ramp 24 to develop the desired tension in the rod which holds the several parts of the formwork in the desired relationship. During this assembly action, the sloping sides of the wedge slot 25 will initially tend to cause the head of the tie to bend away from the direction of its travel in the slot 25, i.e. downwardly as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2. Thereafter, when the assembly of multiple ties and wedges is required to hold the forms against the hydraulic pressure of the fluid concrete filling the space between the forms, the tension on the ties and the pressure on the wedges greatly increase. Prior to development of the ties disclosed in the above Edgar patent, it was found in practice that on too many occasions, the wedge tended to collapse to some extent, and usually to a greater extent on one side of the slot 25 than the other. Whenever this occurred, a new force would be applied to the head end of the tie, tending to cause it to bend at right angles to the bend initially imparted thereto during assembly of the formwork. This resulted in a tendency of the rod head to snap off prematurely, with resulting undesirable effects on the uniformity of the concrete wall. Tie rods 10 constructed in accordance with the above Edgar patent successfully overcame the tendency of conventional tie rods to break under these conditions. As shown in FIG. 2, the tie 10 includes a portion 27 interconnecting the head 15 and the body of the rod which is intermediate the diameter of the head 15 and the remainder of the body of the rod. Rods of this construction successfully resisted the tendency of rods of uniform diameter to break under the conditions described. However, when rods of this construction were used with wedges of conventional uniform thickness shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the previously noted tendency of the wedges to collapse was found to increase. Wedges of the construction shown in FIGS. 4-6 have eliminated this problem, especially when used with tie rods 10 constructed in accordance with the Edgar patent. In FIGS. 4-6, the wedge 30 may be formed with the same overall outline as the wedge 20 from sheet steel of the same thickness. It includes a peripheral portion 32 like the peripheral portion 22 of the wedge 15, and a central ramp portion 33 provided with an elongated slot 25 with a large end portion 36 which may be of the same dimensions as the slot in wedge 15. The improvements provided by the wedge 30 over the wedge 15 are best illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6. More specifically, in the formation of the wedge 30, after the slot 35-36 has been punched out of the flat sheet metal blank, the piece is formed in a suitable press to the desired wedge configuration. In the same forming operation, the portions of the ramp 33 bordering each side of the slot 35 are formed inwardly of the ramp to define a flanged rim 40 which is of greater extent in the direction perpendicular to the plane defined by the wedge portion 32 than the remainder of the piece. The increased amount of metal in the rim 40 which is parallel with the direction of the forces applied to the ramp 33 by the tension developed in the associated tie rod provides substantial reinforcement against those forces, and this reinforcement is supplemented by special formation of the portion 42 of the ramp immediately adjacent each rim 40. More specifically, each of these portions is formed to a rounded, convexly curved configuration in section across the slot, as is illustrated in FIG. 6, to provide a self centering capability and the surfaces are smooth to avoid nicking of the tie. The dimensions of these portions of the ramp are of course dependent upon the dimensions of the tie rods with which a particular size of wedge is to be used. For optimum performance, the distance between crests 44 of the rounded portions 42 should be sufficiently less than the diameter of the rod head 15 to assure that the inner surface of the rod head will extend at least slightly beyond both crests when the rod is centered in the slot 25. As an example of satisfactory dimensional relationships, if the diameter of a tie immediately adjacent the head 15 is 0.25 inch, and the diameter of the head 15 is between 0.50 and 0.55 inch, the slot 25 may be 0.281 wide while its enlarged end portion 26 is 0.625 inch in diameter. A satisfactory dimension for the distance between the crests 44 may then be approximately 0.450 inch, which will assure that the rod head 15 will extend beyond both crests whether or not the rod is centered in the slot 25. This means as a practical matter that in the use of the wedge and tie rod as already described, the wedge will be able to sustain any load which would cause deflection and collapse of the previous conventionally formed wedges. The invention thus assures that while the outer end of the rod will still tend to deflect downwardly in use, its deflection will be held to that direction, thereby assuring optimum performance of the combination of wedge and tie rod. While the form of apparatus herein described constitute a preferred embodiment of this invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this precise form of apparatus, and that changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined in the appended claims.
A wedge for use with tie rods in maintaining a predetermined spaced relation between opposed forms prior to and during the pouring of a concrete wall in the space between the forms incorporates a ramp portion which includes an elongated keyhole slot for receiving a tie rod therethrough, and the portions of the ramp bordering this slot are especially formed to reinforce them against deflection or collapse under the loading applied thereto from the head of a snap tie rod supported thereon and also to provide concave self centering capability and smooth surfaces to avoid nicking.
4
RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/591,848, filed Nov. 2, 2006, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to the field of medical catheters, in particular, medical catheters employing electroactive polymers. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Balloon catheters, having expandable balloon members located at the distal end of the balloon catheter, are employed in a variety of medical procedures. These procedures include using balloons as dilatation devices for compressing atherosclerotic plaque which results in a narrowing of the arterial lumen. They also include using balloons for delivery and expansion of prosthetic devices such as stents to a lesion site, i.e., vessel obstruction, within a body vessel. [0004] One medical procedure where balloon catheters are employed is percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, or balloon angioplasty, which is a non-invasive, non-surgical means of treating peripheral and coronary arteries. This technique consists of inserting an uninflated balloon catheter into the affected artery. Dilation of the diseased segment of artery is accomplished by inflating the balloon which pushes the atherosclerotic lesion outward, thereby enlarging the arterial diameter. [0005] In the most widely used form of angioplasty, a balloon catheter is guided through the vascular system until the balloon, which is carried at the distal end of a catheter shaft, is positioned across the stenosis or lesion, i.e., vessel obstruction. An expandable stent can be included on the balloon. The balloon is then inflated to apply pressure to the obstruction whereby the vessel is opened for improved flow. Expansion of the balloon causes expansion of the stent to provide support to the vessel wall. [0006] Within the vasculature, however, it is not uncommon for stenoses to form at a vessel bifurcation. A bifurcation is an area of the vasculature or other portion of the body where a first (or parent) vessel is bifurcated (branched) into two or more branch vessels. Where a stenotic lesion or lesions form at such a bifurcation, the lesion(s) can affect only one of the vessels (i.e., either of the branch vessels or the parent vessel) two of the vessels, or all three vessels. Many prior art stents, however, are not wholly satisfactory for use where the site of desired application of the stent is juxtaposed or extends across a bifurcation in an artery or vein such, for example, as the bifurcation in the mammalian aortic artery into the common iliac arteries. [0007] Desirable characteristics for such assemblies include flexibility and maneuverability for ease of advancement through the body vessel, as well as thin walls and high strength. Furthermore, it is desirable to control dimensional changes in medical balloons including both radial and longitudinal expansion characteristics. [0008] All US patents and applications and all other published documents mentioned anywhere in this application are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. [0009] Without limiting the scope of the invention a brief summary of some of the claimed embodiments of the invention is set forth below. Additional details of the summarized embodiments of the invention and/or additional embodiments of the invention may be found in the Detailed Description of the Invention below. [0010] A brief abstract of the technical disclosure in the specification is provided as well only for the purposes of complying with 37 C.F.R. 1.72. The abstract is not intended to be used for interpreting the scope of the claims. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0011] At least some embodiments of the invention relate to catheter assemblies, in particular catheter assemblies, for use around vessel bifurcations wherein the assembly comprises one or more regions of electroactive polymer (EAP) to enhance catheter performance. At least one embodiment is directed towards a catheter assembly in which the EAP increases the volume of a portion of the catheter to better address bifurcated geometry. At least one embodiment is directed towards a catheter assembly in which the EAP forms a helix which provides rotational torque to better position the assembly at the bifurcated vessel. At least one embodiment is directed towards an assembly comprising two or more balloon members in which the EAP facilitates coordination of the two or more balloon inflations. At least one embodiment is directed to a catheter assembly, the catheter assembly further comprising a bifurcated stent in which the EAP facilitates fine motion and increased length in the side branch assembly. [0012] These and other aspects, embodiments and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon review of the Detailed Description and Claims to follow. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0013] FIG. 1A is an illustration of a stent assembly on a catheter with a stent rotating EAP salient on the catheter. [0014] FIG. 1B is an illustration of a stent assembly on a catheter with two stent rotating EAP salients on the catheter. [0015] FIG. 2 is an illustration of a stent assembly on a catheter with a side branch guide wire lumen with an EAP salient on the guide wire lumen. [0016] FIG. 3 is an illustration of a stent assembly on a catheter with a side branch guide wire lumen with an EAP salient on the guide wire lumen in which the EAP salient has moved the guide wire lumen. [0017] FIG. 4 is an illustration of a stent assembly on a catheter with an EAP salient on the expansion balloon which is capable of rotating or moving the stent. [0018] FIG. 5A is an illustration of a catheter assembly with an unbranched and unexpanded bifurcated stent in with an EAP salient on the side branch petals. [0019] FIG. 5B is an illustration of a catheter assembly with a branched and expanded bifurcated stent in with an EAP salient on the side branch petals. [0020] FIG. 5C is an illustration of a catheter assembly with a branched and expanded bifurcated stent in with an EAP salient on the side branch petals in which the EAP salient increases the length of the petals. [0021] FIG. 6 is an illustration of a dual balloon assembly with an EAP lock holding the balloons together. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0022] While this invention may be embodied in many different forms, there are described in detail herein specific embodiments of the invention. This description is an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the particular embodiments illustrated. [0023] All published documents, including all US patent documents, mentioned anywhere in this application are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Any copending patent applications, mentioned anywhere in this application are also hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. [0024] For the purposes of this disclosure, like reference numerals in the figures shall refer to like features unless otherwise indicated. [0025] Depicted in the figures are various aspects of the invention. Elements depicted in one figure may be combined with, or substituted for, elements depicted in another figure as desired. [0026] The present invention relates to the use of electroactive polymer (EAP) actuators embedded within a matrix material which forms at least a portion of a medical device such as a catheter or component thereof. The EAP actuators described herein may be used in any type of medical device, particularly those which are insertable and/or implantable within a body lumen. Specific examples of medical devices where the invention described herein may be employed include catheter assemblies and components thereof which are employed for a variety of medical procedures. Examples of catheter assemblies include, but are not limited to, guide catheters, balloon catheters such as PTA and PTCA catheters for angioplasty, catheters for prostate therapy, TTS endoscopic catheters for gastrointestinal use, single operator exchange or rapid exchange (SOE or RX) catheters, over-the-wire (OTW) catheters, fixed wire catheters, medical device delivery catheters including stent delivery devices in both the self-expanding and balloon expandable varieties, catheters for delivery of vena cava filters, catheters for delivery of percutaneous patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure devices, therapeutic substance delivery devices, thrombectomy devices, endoscopic devices, angiographic catheters, neuro catheters, dilatation catheters, urinary tract catheters, gastrointestinal catheter devices, heat transfer catheters including thermal catheters and cooling, intravascular ultrasound systems, electrophysiology devices, and so on and so forth. The above list is intended for illustrative purposes only, and not as a limitation on the scope of the present invention. [0027] The expandable catheters according to the invention may be actuated, at least in part, with electroactive polymer (EAP) actuators. Electroactive polymers are characterized by their ability to change shape in response to electrical stimulation. EAPs include electric EAPs, ionic EAPs, and piezoelectric material EAPs. Electric EAPs include ferroelectric polymers (commonly known polyvinylidene fluoride and nylon 11, for example), dielectric EAPs, electrorestrictive polymers such as the electrorestrictive graft elastomers and electro-viscoelastic elastomers, and liquid crystal elastomer materials. Ionic EAPs include ionic polymer gels, ionomeric polymer-metal composites, carbon nanotube composites, and liquid crystal elastomer composite materials wherein conductive polymers are distributed within their network structure. Piezoelectric material EAPs may be employed but they tend to undergo small deformations when voltage is applied. The induced displacement of both electronic EAPs and ionic EAPs can be geometrically designed to bend, stretch, contract or rotate. [0028] Ionic EAPs also have a number of additional properties that make them attractive for use in the devices of the present invention. Ionic EAPs, upon application of a small voltage, as small as 1 or 2 volts, and proper design of a substrate, can bend significantly. In addition: (a) they are lightweight, flexible, small and easily manufactured; (b) energy sources are available which are easy to control, and energy can be easily delivered to the EAPS; (c) small changes in potential (e.g., potential changes on the order of 1V) can be used to effect volume change in the EAPs; d) can be used to effect volume change in the EAPs; (e) relatively fast in actuation (e.g., full expansion/contraction in a few seconds); (f) EAP regions can be created using a variety of techniques, for example, electrodeposition; and (g) EAP regions can be patterned, for example, using photolithography, if desired. [0029] Conductive plastics may also be employed. Conductive plastics include common polymer materials which are almost exclusively thermoplastics that require the addition of conductive fillers such as powdered metals or carbon (usually carbon black or fiber). [0030] Ionic polymer gels are activated by chemical reactions and can become swollen upon a change from an acid to an alkaline environment. [0031] Ionomeric polymer-metal composites can bend as a result of the mobility of cations in the polymer network. Suitable base polymers include perfluorosulfonate and perfluorocarboxylate. [0032] Essentially any electroactive polymer that exhibits contractile or expansile properties may be used in connection with the various active regions of the invention, including any of those listed above. The activation of the polymers can be modulated by controlling the electronic pulses with a controlling device. Such modulation allows EAP to perform fine and complicated coordinated motions. [0033] Referring now to FIG. 1A , there is shown a catheter assembly 1 comprising an implantable catheter 3 . The assembly 1 may also include a stent 4 , a stent expansion mechanism (including balloons and/or self expanding stent members) emplaced on the catheter 3 . The catheter 3 includes an EAP salient or region 51 . The salient can be an integrated feature of the catheter or it can be an add-on patch of EAP material. In at least one embodiment, the stent is rotatable relative to the catheter 3 or to at least a portion of the catheter assembly. [0034] The EAP salient has at least two electrical configurations, a first configuration and a second electrical configuration. In at least one embodiment, in the first electronic configuration the salient has a + charge and in the second electronic configuration the salient has a − charge. In at least one embodiment, the first electrical configuration the EAP salient receives a greater electrical charge than in the second. When in the first configuration, the EAP region has a greater volume than when in the second configuration and is referred to as “activated”. When activated, the EAP salient 51 can undergo a number of volumetric changes which can move at least a portion of the assembly 1 . When the EAP salient is not receiving as great a charge as in the first configuration it is said to be “inactivated” or “deactivated”. For purposes of this application, and EAP salient can be said to be “inactivated” and “deactivated” both when it is receiving some electrical current and when it is receiving no electrical current. In at least one embodiment, the EAP salient can also have one or more intermediate configurations. When in one or more intermediate configurations, the EAP salient receives an electrical charge with a voltage less than that of the first configuration and greater than that of the second configuration. By use of multiple intermediate configurations, the EAP salient undergoes intermediate degrees of volumetric change. As a result, controlling the amount of voltage/current received by the EAP salient will allow for a fine degree of control over the EAP induced motion. [0035] In addition to controlling the degree of volumetric change in the EAP salient, the timing of the volumetric change can also be modified. Selecting particular dopants or electrolytes in the EAP salient can adjust the conductivity in the salient. This change in conductivity can slow the reaction times in the salient which will in turn slow the rate of volumetric change. Slow movement by the EAP salient can be used to accurately monitor and adjust catheter alignment. [0036] In at least one embodiment, the EAP salient 51 is in the form of a (primary) helix and winding around the circumference of the catheter 3 . When the salient 51 is activated by receiving an electrical pulse the salient 51 increases or reduces its length relative to the shaft of the catheter 3 . By extending along the length of the shaft, the helix extends and rotates about the catheter which pushes against both the catheter 3 and the stent. This rotational pushing causes torque which rotates a portion of the assembly 1 . In at least one embodiment, a second helix is present and functions as a fine rotation helix. The fine rotation EAP helix is also disposed about the catheter shaft and also has at least two electrical configurations which stimulate changes in volume. The fine rotational helix can be wound in the same or opposite orientation as the primary helix. The volumetric change the fine rotation EAP helix undergoes between its two electrical configurations is designed to be no greater than 30% of the volumetric change of the primary EAP helix allowing for fine modification of the rotational position of the assembly 1 . [0037] Although FIG. 1A illustrates the EAP salient as a helix, the salient can be of any shape including a ring around the catheter, a longitudinal or diagonal strip along the catheter or it can be shaped into any other geometric configuration. When the salient is in a non-helical shape, the activation causes the salient to expand against other portions of the assembly and pushing it into some other geometric configuration. All of the EAP pushing mechanisms can be combined with other mechanisms for rotating or moving catheters or other stent components to create highly maneuverable catheter assemblies and stent assemblies. [0038] At least one embodiment involves combining EAP salients with a biased pre-wound catheter. This allows for the catheter 3 to be wound up so as to be biased towards unwinding. The wound up catheter, however, does not unwind because the inactivated EAP salient 51 is configured to restrain the catheter 3 from unwinding. When the EAP is activated, however, the salient moves in such a manner so as to release the restraint and allow the catheter 3 to rotate and unwind. In at least one embodiment, an EAP salient is tightly attached to and wrapped around the catheter shaft forming a tight ring holding the catheter in a wound up state. When activated, however, the salient could either loosen its grip on the catheter allowing it to unwind, or the salient could expand in a circular path in the same direction in which the catheter unwinds which allows the catheter 3 to unwind. [0039] At least one embodiment as shown in FIG. 1B involves having a second EAP salient 53 also engaged to the catheter 3 . Each salient ( 51 and 53 ) is positioned in a configuration opposite to the other. In FIG. 1B , the second salient 53 forms a helix winding along a path opposite to that of the first salient 51 . The oppositely positioned salient allows for moving an object in the reverse or opposite direction. In the context of FIG. 1B this would mean the stent can be rotated in either a clockwise direction or in a counterclockwise direction. This would allow for last minute adjustments of the stent in the body lumen, for on site correcting of inadvertently misaligned stent positioning, or simply providing the option to rotate the stent in either direction. The positioning of a second EAP salient opposite to a first EAP salient is not limited to application with a helical salient and can be applied to any EAP salient currently disclosed or known in the art. [0040] Referring now to FIG. 2 , there is shown an unexpanded catheter assembly 1 having a catheter 3 . Attached to the assembly 1 is a secondary lumen or guide wire portal 34 containing a guide wire 33 . Such a guide wire 33 is typically fed into a second vessel lumen at a vessel bifurcation. Along the second lumen 34 is an EAP salient 51 . Once the catheter reaches the desired location in a body vessel, the current to the salient is reduced which causes the salient to have a shorter length than when activated. As shown in FIG. 3 , the salient contraction can contract in a direction generally parallel to the length of the second lumen. This contraction pulls on the second lumen 34 and causes the second lumen to bend or twist away from the catheter assembly 1 . In at least one embodiment there can be salients which expand and push the second lumen in the opposite direction. [0041] The EAP guide wire portal can also undergo other changes in response to changing its electrical configurations. In at least one embodiment there is at least a first portal electrical configuration and a second portal electrical configuration. Transitioning between these at least two electrical configurations causes the EAP portal volume to be greater when in the first portal electrical configuration than when in the second portal electrical configuration. The greater volume of the first portal electrical configuration causes a portion of the side branch assembly to be levered open and release the at least one guide wire it is disposed about. The EAP salient 51 can also be designed to hold the wire 33 in place by shaping it in the form of a ring, clamp, opening portal or other attaching geometry holding the wire while in an un-activated state, and to then release the wire upon activation. This also allows for advancement of the device by pushing on the wire which would allow better engagement of the vessel bifurcation. [0042] By placing multiple salients around the second lumen that expand and contract, the second lumen can be pushed and pulled into multiple oblique angles and can be “aimed” into a bifurcated body vessel with a high degree of precision. For purposes of this application, the term “oblique” means an angle between 0 and 180 degrees and explicitly includes 90-degree angles. In addition, there can be at least two EAP regions capable of assuming volumetric changes which push the side branch assembly in opposite directions. These two or more oppositely directed EAP regions can each be linked to one or more independent or linked controller devices capable of coordinating the assumption of the respective electrical configurations of the at least two EAP regions. Oppositely directed EAP regions can allow for motional and counter-motional movement along lateral and rotational vectors, to increase or decrease the depth into the vessel bifurcation a portion of the device will extend, and to change the angle at which the bifurcating portion extends. [0043] In at least one embodiment, by adjusting the number of salients, their position on a catheter assembly, their geometry, and the timing and coordination of their activation or deactivation, a high degree of control over the orientation and positioning of the second lumen 34 or any other portion of the catheter can be achieved. This in turn greatly facilitates the direction of and effectiveness of the guide wire 33 being fed through the second lumen 34 into the vessel bifurcation. In addition, because the salient 51 can bend the second lumen 34 before after and during expansion of the catheter assembly 1 , it can be used to both aid in positioning of the unexpanded stent as well as adjusting an expanded stent. [0044] Coordinating the motion of any portion of the catheter assembly can be facilitated by regulating the current released to the various EAP salients by a controller mechanism. This controller mechanism can increase or decrease the voltage causing various EAP salients to expand or contract. The controller mechanism can also be regulated by a computer device or a microchip. [0045] Referring now to FIG. 4 , there is shown a catheter assembly 1 attached to a catheter 3 . The catheter assembly includes a balloon 6 for expansion located within a stent 4 . Part of the balloon 6 is an EAP salient 51 . When activated, the EAP salient 51 expands and presses against the stent 4 exerting a force against the stent 4 which moves the stent 4 relative to the balloon 6 . In at least one embodiment, the salient expands in a direction above the circumferential plane of the balloon and at an oblique angle to the catheter towards the stent. By directing how the salient expands, the movement of the stent can be achieved. If the stent 4 is rotatable about the balloon, then extending the salient controls the rotation of the stent. If the stent is not rigidly fixed to a particular point on the catheter, the salient can push the stent in a proximal or a distal direction. The movement capable of implementation by the salient includes lateral movement towards the distal or proximal terminals of the assembly, dorsal movement away from the balloon, rotational movement about the balloon or any combination of these vectors. This allows for increased rotation or positioning of the stent before or after stent deployment and allows for improved “aiming” of the stent at the optimal site on the body vessel for stent deployment. [0046] Referring now to FIGS. 5A , 5 B, and 5 C, there are shown bifurcating catheter assemblies 1 featuring a stent with a side branch assembly 30 for extension into a bifurcated body vessel. In FIG. 5A , the catheter assembly 1 is in an unbranched state, 30 and in FIGS. 5B and 5C , the catheter assembly is in a branched state. Although in these illustrations, the side branch assembly 30 comprises petal members 37 capable of defining a second fluid lumen 34 , the side branch assembly 30 can be constructed out of any structure including flaps, plates, or any other known shape. Emplaced on at least one of the side branch members 37 is an EAP salient or region 51 . FIG. 5A shows that when in the unbranched state, the length 40 of the side branch assembly is generally oriented in a non-oblique configuration relative to the catheter assembly 1 as a whole. In contrast as shown in FIGS. 5B and 5C , when in a branched state, the length 40 of the side branch assembly 30 extends at a significantly more oblique configuration relative to the catheter assembly 1 as a whole. This oblique configuration allows the side branch assembly to extend into a branched body vessel. In the context of this application, the term “oblique” refers to angles of more than 0 and less than 180 degrees and explicitly includes angles of 90 degrees. [0047] In FIG. 5B it is shown that the EAP salient 51 can be positioned along the side branch assembly of either a stent or of the catheter itself. When activated, this salient 51 can facilitate fine and precise movement of the side branch 30 . This movement can be used to direct the side branch into difficult-to-fit body vessels, or to improve the positioning or coverage of a deployed bifurcated stent. The salient 51 can precisely push the length 40 into a particular oblique angle relative to the catheter assembly 1 as a whole. [0048] This fine oblique movement can be further facilitated by the structure of the salient 51 . As an example, if the salient expands in a direction generally following the length of a member 37 , it would push the member to bend and change its angular position. A salient generally following the length of the member 37 could also contract, which would pull on the member and bend it in an opposite direction. In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 5C , the EAP salient 51 in a second electrical configuration could push or pull on a portion of the side branch member to extend along the length 40 of the side branch assembly 30 , thus increasing the overall length 40 of the side branch. Such an increase in side branch length 40 would allow the side branch assembly 30 to extend deeper into a branch of a body vessel. [0049] In at least one embodiment, the location of the salient on the member can also affect how it can move the side branch. An expanding salient member located on the distal side (relative to two ends of the stent 4 ) of a member 37 will bend that member in the proximal direction, and a proximally located expanding salient can push the member in the distal direction. A distally located contracting salient, however, will pull the member towards the distal location, and a proximally located contracting salient will pull the member in the proximal direction. The salients can be designed to push and pull the members in other directions and to position the side branch into extremely oblique angles. [0050] In addition to moving the side branch, EAP salients can also be used to alter the rigidity or flexibility of a portion of the catheter as well as that of the stent. This is possible by taking advantage of the volume change that EAP activation causes. EAP activation can add volume which would increase rigidity, or its deactivation can detract volume and increase flexibility. These volumetric changes can be used to change the size of an inner lumen portion or of a catheter assembly. [0051] The EAP salient can also be used to move some or all of a stent disposed about a catheter relative to the catheter itself. A stent such as a bifurcated stent having a main stent body and at least one projecting member which in an expanded state extends obliquely from the main stent body can be disposed about at least a portion of the catheter. When extended, the at least one projecting member defines a second fluid lumen in fluid communication with the main stent body. In at least one embodiment, when in the first electrical configuration, the EAP region at least partially pushes the at least one projecting member away from the main stent body. [0052] In at least one embodiment, the catheter assembly comprises at least one intermediate electrical configuration which causes the EAP region to assume a volume less than that of the first electrical configuration and greater than that of the second electrical configuration. When in at least one of these intermediate electrical configurations, the change in volume of the EAP region can change how the projecting member of the stent is pushed away from the main stent body. The intermediate configurations can cause one or more projecting members to assume a different oblique angle relative to the main stent body than when in the first electrical configuration or extend to a different distance from the main stent body. Because the intermediate configurations are a result of voltages of intermediate magnitudes, they will usually result in volumetric changes between the minima and maxima (of oblique angle, distance, etc.) of the first and second electrical configurations. In some circumstances, however, geometric constraints or other factors can cause an intermediate voltage level to result in a volumetric change greater or lesser than what is associated with a greater or lesser voltage. In at least one embodiment, at least one projecting member is a petal member as illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B . [0053] In addition to locating EAP salients on the side branch of the stent, EAP salients can also be a component of the stent 4 . As an example, if the stent 4 comprises a number of struts 5 assembled into columns 7 , the EAP salient can cover a strut 5 or at least a portion of a column 7 . By attaching EAP to the stent 4 , the salient can expand and bend a strut if it overlays a strut. It can also expand and lengthen a member if it is located between rigid strut materials, or it can bend or shorten a strut if a contracting salient is used. At least one embodiment involves having an inactivated EAP salient on a stent 4 which is designed to have a low profile (by having a low volume) during insertion. However, once the stent 4 is located at the deployment site, activating the EAP can increase the volume of the stent 4 providing better body vessel coverage, better structural support, greater lumen volume, greater wall thickness, or improved fluid flow attributes. [0054] Referring now to FIG. 6 , there are shown two catheter assemblies 1 having catheters 3 where each catheter has an expansion balloon 6 which abuts the other balloon. This configuration is commonly known as a “kissing balloon” and makes use of the dual balloon expansion for specific stent deployment trajectories. At least one of the catheters 3 has an EAP salient 51 . When activated, the salient 51 expands a projecting member which connects the two catheters 3 and restrains the two together. Once the catheters 3 are connected, they can prevent either balloon 6 from pushing the other away from the deployment region and can better assure proper deployment. The EAP salient 51 can be designed to attach and detach as desired and can be designed to move the balloons 6 as well as hold them together. [0055] There are a number of mechanisms by which the EAP salient can bind the two catheters 3 together. In at least one embodiment, one of the catheters 3 has an aperture or opening into which into which either the salient expands or the salient pushes a member which locks the two catheters 3 into place. The opening can be either a blind-hole (a depression with a definite bottom) or a through hole (a cavity which extends completely through the catheter material) as well. The salient could also be designed to loop around or push a member to loop around the other catheter forming a retaining ring. Any other known design for binding two objects could also be utilized to hold the two catheters together. [0056] In some embodiments herein, the EAPs employed are ionic EAPs, more specifically, the ionic EAPs are conductive polymers that feature a conjugated backbone (they include a backbone that has an alternating series of single and double carbon-carbon bonds, and sometimes carbon-nitrogen bonds, i.e., π-conjugation) and have the ability to increase the electrical conductivity under oxidation or reduction. For polymers allows freedom of movement of electrons, therefore allowing the polymers to become conductive. The pi-conjugated polymers are converted into electrically conducting materials by oxidation (p-doping) or reduction (n-doping). [0057] The volume of these polymers changes dramatically through redox reactions at corresponding electrodes through exchanges of ions with an electrolyte. The EAP-containing active region contracts or expands in response to the flow of ions out of, or into, the same. These exchanges occur with small applied voltages and voltage variation can be used to control actuation speeds. [0058] Any of a variety of pi-conjugated polymers may be employed herein. Examples of suitable conductive polymers include, but are not limited to, polypyrroles, polyanilines, polythiophenes, polyethylenedioxythiophenes, poly(p-phenylenes), poly(p-phenylene vinylene)s, polysulfones, polypyridines, polyquinoxalines, polyanthraquinones, poly(N-vinylcarbazole)s and polyacetylenes, with the most common being polythiophenes, polyanilines, and polypyrroles. [0059] Some of the structures are shown below: [0000] [0060] Polypyrrole, shown in more detail below, is one of the most stable of these polymers under physiological conditions: [0000] [0061] The above list is intended for illustrative purposes only, and not as a limitation on the scope of the present invention. [0062] The behavior of conjugated polymers is dramatically altered with the addition of charge transfer agents (dopants). These materials can be oxidized to a p-type doped material by doping with an anionic dopant species or reducible to an n-type doped material by doping with a cationic dopant species. Generally, polymers such as polypyrrole (PPy) are partially oxidized to produce p-doped materials: [0000] [0063] Dopants have an effect on this oxidation-reduction scenario and convert semi-conducting polymers to conducting versions close to metallic conductivity in many instances. Such oxidation and reduction are believed to lead to a charge imbalance that, in turn, results in a flow of ions into or out of the material. These ions typically enter/exit the material from/into an ionically conductive electrolyte medium associated with the electroactive polymer. [0064] Dimensional or volumetric changes can be effectuated in certain polymers by the mass transfer of ions into or out of the polymer. This ion transfer is used to build conductive polymer actuators (volume change). For example, in some conductive polymers, expansion is believed to be due to ion insertion between chains, whereas in others, inter-chain repulsion is believed to be the dominant effect. Regardless of the mechanism, the mass transfer of ions into and out of the material leads to an expansion or contraction of the polymer, delivering significant stresses (e.g., on the order of 1 MPa) and strains (e.g., on the order of 10%). These characteristics are ideal for construction of the devices of the present invention. As used herein, the expansion or the contraction of the active region of the device is generally referred to as “actuation.” [0065] The following elements are commonly utilized to bring about electroactive polymer actuation: (a) a source of electrical potential, (b) an active region, which comprises the electroactive polymer, (c) a counter electrode and (d) an electrolyte in contact with both the active region and the counter electrode. [0066] The source of electrical potential for use in connection with the present invention can be quite simple, consisting, for example, of a dc battery and an on/off switch. Alternatively, more complex systems can be utilized. For example, an electrical link can be established with a microprocessor, allowing a complex set of control signals to be sent to the EAP-containing active region(s). [0067] The electrolyte, which is in contact with at least a portion of the surface of the active region, allows for the flow of ions and thus acts as a source/sink for the ions. Any suitable electrolyte may be employed herein. The electrolyte may be, for example, a liquid, a gel, or a solid, so long as ion movement is permitted. Examples of suitable liquid electrolytes include, but are not limited to, an aqueous solution containing a salt, for example, a NaCl solution, a KCl solution, a sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate solution, a phosphate buffered solution, physiological fluid, etc. Examples of suitable gel electrolytes include, but are not limited to, a salt-containing agar gel or polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) gel. Solid electrolytes include ionic polymers different from the EAP and salt films. [0068] The counter electrode may be formed from any suitable electrical conductor, for example, a conducting polymer, a conducting gel, or a metal, such as stainless steel, gold or platinum. At least a portion of the surface of the counter electrode is generally in contact with the electrolyte in order to provide a return path for charge. [0069] In at least one embodiment, the EAP employed is polypyrrole. Polypyrrole-containing active regions can be fabricated using a number of known techniques, for example, extrusion, casting, dip coating, spin coating, or electro-polymerization/deposition techniques. Such active regions can also be patterned, for example, using micro extrusion or lithographic techniques, if desired. [0070] As a specific example of a fabrication technique, polypyrrole can be galvanostatically deposited on a platinised substrate from a pyrrole monomer solution using the procedures described in D. Zhou et al., “Actuators for the Cochlear Implant,” Synthetic Metals 135-136 (2003) 39-40. Polypyrrole can also be deposited on gold. In some embodiments, adhesion of the electrodeposited polypyrrole layer is enhanced by covering a metal such as gold with a chemisorbed layer of molecules that can be copolymerized into the polymer layer with chemical bonding. Thiol is one example of a head group for strong chemisorbtion to metal. The tail group may be chemically similar to structured groups formed in the specific EAP employed. The use of a pyrrole ring attached to a thiol group (e.g., via a short alkyl chain) is an example for a polypyrrole EAP. Specific examples of such molecules are 1-(2-thioethyl)-pyrrole and 3-(2-thioethyl)-pyrrole. See, e.g., E. Smela et al., “Thiol Modified Pyrrole Monomers: 1. Synthesis, Characterization, and Polymerization of 1-(2-Thioethyl)-Pyrrole and 3-(2-Thioethyl)-Pyrrole,” Langmuir, 14 (11), 2970-2975, 1998. [0071] Various dopants can be used in the polypyrrole-containing active regions including large immobile anions and large immobile cations. According to at least one embodiment, the active region comprises polypyrrole (PPy) doped with dodecylbenzene sulfonate (DBS) anions. When placed in contact with an electrolyte containing small mobile cations, for example, Na + cations, and when a current is passed between the polypyrrole-containing active region and a counter electrode, the cations are inserted/removed upon reduction/oxidation of the polymer, leading to expansion/contraction of the same. This process can be represented by the following equation: [0000] PPy + (DBS − )+Na + +e − PPy o (Na + DBS) [0000] Where Na.sup.+ represents a sodium ion, e − represents an electron, PPy + represents the oxidized state of the polypyrrole, PPy o represents the reduced state of the polymer, and species are enclosed in parentheses to indicate that they are incorporated into the polymer. In this case, the sodium ions are supplied by the electrolyte that is in contact with the electroactive polymer member. Specifically, when the EAP is oxidized, the positive charges on the backbone are at least partially compensated by the DBS − anions present within the polymer. Upon reduction of the polymer, however, the immobile DBS − ions cannot exit the polymer to maintain charge neutrality, so the smaller, more mobile, Na + ions enter the polymer, expanding the volume of the same. Upon re-oxidation, the Na + ions again exit the polymer into the electrolyte, reducing the volume of the polymer. [0072] EAP-containing active regions can be provided that either expand or contract when an applied voltage of appropriate value is interrupted depending, for example, upon the selection of the EAP, dopant, and electrolyte. [0073] Additional information regarding EAP actuators, their design considerations, and the materials and components that may be employed therein can be found, for example, in E. W. H. Jager, E. Smela, O. Inganäs, “Microfabricating Conjugated Polymer Actuators,” Science, 290, 1540-1545, 2000; E. Smela, M. Kallenbach, and J. Holdenried, “Electrochemically Driven Polypyrrole Bilayers for Moving and Positioning Bulk Micromachined Silicon Plates,” J. Microelectromechanical Systems, 8(4), 373-383, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 6,249,076, assigned to Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Proceedings of the SPIE , Vol. 4329 (2001) entitled “Smart Structures and Materials 2001: Electroactive Polymer and Actuator Devices (see, e.g., Madden et al, “Polypyrrole actuators: modeling and performance,” at pp. 72-83), each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. [0074] Furthermore, networks of conductive polymers may also be employed. For example, it has been known to polymerize pyrrole in electroactive polymer networks such as poly(vinylchloride), poly(vinyl alcohol), NAFION®, a perfluorinated polymer that contains small proportions of sulfonic or carboxylic ionic functional groups, available from E.I. DuPont Co., Inc. of Wilmington, Del. [0075] Electroactive polymers are also discussed in detail in commonly assigned copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/763,825, the entire content of which is incorporated by reference herein. [0076] In at least one embodiment, the medical devices of the present invention are actuated, at least in part, using materials involving piezoelectric, electrostrictive, and/or Maxwell stresses. [0077] The above disclosure is intended to be illustrative and not exhaustive. This description will suggest many variations and alternatives to one of ordinary skill in this art. All these alternatives and variations are intended to be included within the scope of the attached claims. Those familiar with the art may recognize other equivalents to the embodiments described herein which equivalents are also intended to be encompassed by the claims attached hereto.
A medical device having at least one static state, at least one activated state, and at least one active region including electroactive polymer (EAP) capable of fine electro-activated movements. The EAP movements include bending components for proper alignment, rotating components for proper fittings, making components more rigid or flexible, and increasing and decreasing the volume of components. The fine movements allow for highly versatile and adaptable medical devices.
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FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The invention is directed to packet switching communication networks, particularly to providing intrusion detection for virtual Open System Interconnection (OSI) Layer-2 services such as Virtual Leased Line (VLL) and Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) services. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Virtual Leased Line (VLL) is a service for providing Ethernet based point to point communication over Internet Protocol (IP) and Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) networks (IP/MPLS). This technology is also referred to as Virtual Private Wire Service (VPWS) or Ethernet over MPLS (EoMPLS). The VPWS service provides a point-to-point connection between two Customer Edge (CE) routers. It does so by binding two attachment circuits (AC) to a pseudowire that connects two Provider Edge (PE) routers, wherein each PE router is connected to one of the CE routers via one of the attachment circuits. VLL typically uses pseudowire encapsulation for transporting Ethernet traffic over an MPLS tunnel across an IP/MPLS backbone. More information on pseudowires can be found in “Pseudo Wire Emulation Edge-to-Edge (PWE3) Architecture”, RFC3985, IETF, March 2005, by S. Bryant and P. Pate. [0003] Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) is an Ethernet service that effectively implements closed user groups via VPLS instantiations. In order to achieve full isolation between the user groups, VPLS dedicates a separate forwarding information base (FIB) on network routers per VPLS instance. Each VPLS instance further requires that a dedicated mesh of pseudowire tunnels is provisioned between PE routers that are part of the VPLS. [0004] Both VLL and VPLS services use Service Access Points (SAP) to bind tunnel endpoints at PE router ports to their respective service. For example, in the case of VPLS service, a SAP would specify physical identifiers (e.g. node, shelf, card, port) of the corresponding port and an identifier (e.g. VLAN5) of the VPLS. [0005] In some cases a CE router is located in a remote or otherwise vulnerable location with respect to network security. In these cases it is desirable to have security measures in place that can respond to an intruder system participating in, or attempting to participate in, a virtual Layer-2 service provided by the CE router such as a VLL or VPLS service. Such an intruder system includes any system that is unauthorized to participate in the virtual Layer-2 service. SUMMARY [0006] The invention is directed to detecting an attempt of an intruder system to participate in a virtual Layer-2 service provided over a packet switching network. [0007] Some embodiments of the invention monitor operational status of an interface port of a PE router to which a CE router is communicatively coupled for providing a virtual Layer-2 service, determine, consequent to a change in said status, whether information that should relate to the CE router has changed; and thereby, in the affirmative, interpret said change to indicate that an intruder system has attempted to participate in the virtual Layer-2 service. [0008] In some embodiments of the invention an identifier of an interface port selected for security monitoring is stored and an operational status of that interface port is determined. Dependent upon the operational status of the interface port indicating that the interface port is in an operational state, an initial version of information relating to a CE router communicatively coupled to the interface port for providing a virtual Layer-2 service is recorded. The operational status of the interface port is then monitored for a state change. Upon detecting the state change, a current version of the information is obtained and compared to the initial version of the information. Consequent to detecting a difference between the versions of the information, an alert is raised indicating that an intruder system has attempted to participate in the virtual Layer-2 service. [0009] In some embodiments of the invention the specific information includes one or more Media Access Control (MAC) or IP addresses stored in a forwarding information base (FIB) of a PE router at which the interface port is located. [0010] In some embodiments of the invention the specific information includes one or more MAC or IP addresses of the CE router. Additionally, or alternatively, in some embodiments the specific information includes other information relating to the CE router which is obtainable via command line interface (CLI) commands issued to the CE router. [0011] In some embodiments of the invention the CE and PE routers can be accessed via CLI commands issued to a network management system of the packet switching network and the operational status of the interface port can be monitored via event notifications issued by the network management system. [0012] Embodiments of the invention are capable of detecting when a communicative connection between a CE router and a PE router for providing a virtual Layer-2 service is broken, as could occur when an intruder system is connected to the PE router in place of the CE router in an attempt to participate in the virtual Layer-2 service. Advantageously, this capability is complementary to other security measures such as MAC filters and Anti-spoofing filters that depend on the content of data packets exchanged between the CE and PE routers and not on the operational status of communicative connections between them. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0013] The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of the preferred embodiments, as illustrated in the appended drawings, where: [0014] FIG. 1 illustrates a network configuration for detecting an attempt of an intruder system to participate in a Layer-2 service according to an embodiment of the invention; and [0015] FIG. 2 illustrates a method of detecting an attempt of an intruder system to participate in a virtual Layer-2 service according to the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1 . [0016] In the figures like features are denoted by like reference characters. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0017] Referring to FIG. 1 , a network configuration 10 for providing a VPLS service over an MPLS network 12 includes a pseudowire tunnel T 1 routed through the MPLS network 12 between a first provider edge router PE 1 and a second provider edge router PE 2 . The pseudowire tunnel T 1 has two endpoints, a first of which is at the first provider edge router PE 1 and a second of which is at the second provider edge router PE 2 . A service instance SVC of the VPLS service is instantiated at each of the provider edge routers PE 1 , PE 2 and associates the pseudowire tunnel T 1 with the VPLS service. Accordingly, data packets associated with the VPLS service are communicated through the MPLS network 10 via the pseudowire tunnel T 1 between the first and second provider edge routers PE 1 , PE 2 . [0018] Typically, there would be multiple pseudowire tunnels connecting multiple provider edge routers. In some cases these tunnels form a fully connected mesh interconnecting the provider edge routers. In any case, when there are multiple pseudowire tunnels for a given service that terminate on a provider edge router, a forwarding information base is used at that router to determine over which of the tunnels a data packet should be forwarded to reach its destination. This determination is made based on the destination MAC or IP address of the data packet. A MAC address is a 48 bit address that is generally unique and dedicated to a given network interface card or adapter of a data communication system. A MAC address is also known as a hardware address. An IP address is a 32 bit (IPv4) or 128 bit (IPv6) address that is generally unique to a network interface or system but is assignable in software. [0019] A first customer edge router CE 1 is connected to a first interface port P 1 of the first provider edge router PE 1 via a first attachment circuit AC 1 . The first customer edge router CE 1 has a first MAC address X. Similarly, a second customer edge router CE 2 is connected to a second interface port P 2 of the second provider edge router PE 2 via a second attachment circuit AC 2 . The second customer edge router CE 2 has a second MAC address Y. [0020] The first provider edge router PE 1 includes a first forwarding information base FIB 1 associated with the service instance SVC. The first forwarding information base FIB 1 includes a first entry E 1 for the pseudowire tunnel T 1 . The first entry E 1 associates the first MAC address X with the second MAC address Y for the purpose of communicating data packets between the first and second customer edge routers CE 1 , CE 2 . Similarly, the second provider edge router PE 2 includes a second forwarding information base FIB 2 associated with the service instance SVC. The second forwarding information base FIB 2 includes a second entry E 2 for the pseudowire tunnel T 1 . The second entry E 2 associates the first MAC address X with the second MAC address Y for the purpose of communicating data packets between the first and second customer edge routers CE 1 , CE 2 . [0021] A first service access point at the first provider edge router PE 1 associates the first interface port P 1 with the service instance SVC, such that data packets received at the first interface port P 1 from the first attachment circuit AC 1 that are associated with the VPLS service are forwarded over a pseudowire tunnel in accordance with information in the first forwarding information base FIB 1 . Such information includes the first entry E 1 in the first forwarding information base FIB 1 , which in this case causes data packets with a source MAC address being the first MAC address X to be forwarded over the pseudowire tunnel T 1 when their destination MAC address is the second MAC address Y. Similarly, data packets associated with the VPLS service received by the first provider edge router PE 1 from the pseudowire tunnel T 1 are forwarded to the first interface port P 1 in accordance with information in the first service access point and the first forwarding information base FIB 1 . [0022] A second service access point at the second provider edge router associates the second interface port P 2 with the service instance SVC, such that data packets received at the second interface port P 2 from the second attachment circuit AC 2 that are associated with the VPLS service are forwarded over a pseudowire tunnel in accordance with information in the second forwarding information base FIB 2 . Such information includes the second entry E 2 in the second forwarding information base FIB 2 , which in this case causes data packets with a source MAC address being the second MAC address Y to be forwarded over the pseudowire tunnel T 1 when their destination MAC address is the first MAC address X. Similarly, data packets associated with the VPLS service received by the second provider edge router PE 2 from the pseudowire tunnel T 1 are forwarded to the second interface port P 2 in accordance with information in the second service access point and the first forwarding information base FIB 1 . [0023] In view of foregoing it should be clear that data packets associated with the VPLS service can be communicated between the first and second customer edge routers CE 1 , CE 2 via their respective attachment circuits AC 1 , AC 2 , the first and second provider edge routers PE 1 , PE 2 , and the pseudowire tunnel T 1 . However, as previously mentioned in some cases a CE router is located in a remote or otherwise vulnerable location with respect to network security. In these cases it is desirable to have security measures in place that can respond to an intruder system participating in, or attempting to participate in, a virtual Layer-2 service provided by the CE router such as a VLL or VPLS service. Such an intruder system includes any system that is unauthorized to participate in the virtual Layer-2 service. [0024] Still referring to FIG. 1 , the network configuration 10 includes a management entity 14 that is communicatively coupled to the provider edge routers PE 1 , PE 2 via a control connection 16 and the MPLS network 12 . The management entity 14 would typically be a network management system capable of performing operation, administration and maintenance (OAM) type functions on network elements in the MPLS network 12 such as the provider edge routers PE 1 , PE 2 . This functionality of the management entity 14 includes the capability to receive reports of equipment, service, and provisioning related events from network elements of the MPLS network 12 , including event reports from the first and second provider edge routers PE 1 , PE 2 regarding operational status of their respective interface ports P 1 , P 2 , among other things. [0025] The network configuration 10 also includes a service platform 18 that is communicatively coupled to the management entity 14 via an open operating system (OS) interface 20 . Using the open OS interface 20 , the service platform 18 has access to event notifications 22 , which include event notifications related to the event reports from the network elements. Further using the open OS interface 20 the service platform 18 can issue control commands 24 to the management entity 14 including commands to effect provisioning changes at the provider edge routers PE 1 , PE 2 . The service platform 18 would typically be a laptop or desktop computer or workstation. The open OS interface is a Java message service (JMS) interface; although other types of message interfaces could be used. [0026] The service platform 18 executes a service application 26 that is in communication with a service database 28 on the service platform 18 , although the service database 28 could also reside on the management entity 14 with access to it given by the open OS interface 20 . The service application 26 is a software program that embodies a method of detecting an attempt of an intruder system to participate in a virtual Layer-2 service in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. [0027] According to the method, the service application 26 monitors event notifications 22 received over the open OS interface 20 . The service application 26 checks the event notifications 22 to determine if any of them relate to an operational status of an interface port selected for security monitoring. An identifier of each port so selected is stored in a first record R 1 of the service database 28 . For any such port, information contained in FIB entries of FIBs corresponding to VPLS services provided via that port would have already been retrieved from the associated PE router and stored in the service database 28 . For example, in the case of the first interface port P 1 , information from the first entry E 1 in the first forwarding information base FIB 1 is stored in a second record R 2 of the service database 28 . The second record R 2 includes the identifier of the first port P 1 , although it can be associated to the first port P 1 by other means. Additionally or alternatively, other information relating to the CE router communicatively coupled to the port by an attachment circuit could be retrieved from that CE router and stored in the service database 28 . For example, configuration data of the first customer edge router CE 1 is also stored in the second record R 2 of the service database 28 . The information contained in the second record R 2 would preferably be retrieved by the service platform 18 using control commands issued to the management entity 14 over the OS interface 20 , although other ways could work. Such information would be retrieved when the port is selected for security monitoring or when security monitoring is reinitialized on the port and the port is in an operational state. [0028] It should be understood that there are many ways of storing all or some of the information contained in the first and second records R 1 , R 2 . However, any of these ways should suffice if they enable identification of a port on which security monitoring is to be performed and provide information relating to the CE router communicatively coupled to that port when such security monitoring was activated and the port was in an operational state. For example, the first record R 1 could be omitted if the second record R 2 contained identification of the first port P 1 and was stored in a manner indicating that the second record R 2 contained information that related to a port on which security monitoring was to be performed. For example, such a manner could be to store the second record R 2 in a special part of the service database 28 or in a group of similar records. [0029] Still referring to FIG. 1 , the first customer edge router CE 1 is shown as being in a remote office such as a small building or cabin in an unpopulated area that is not visited by support staff of the packet switching network for long periods. Such a location is an example of vulnerable location with respect to network security. In an attempt to participate in the VPLS service, an intruder system 30 is communicatively connected to the first port P 1 by disconnecting the first attachment circuit AC 1 at the first customer edge router CE 1 and reconnecting 32 the first attachment circuit AC 1 to the intruder system 30 . However, disconnecting and reconnecting the first attachment circuit AC 1 causes the first interface port P 1 to transition from an operational state to a non-operational state and back to an operational state again. Additionally, an address resolution protocol running on the first provider edge router PE 1 will learn a third MAC address Z of the intruder system 30 from data packets sent over the first attachment circuit AC 1 by the intruder system 30 . The first provider edge router PE 1 will update information contained in the first forwarding information base FIB 1 to a current version. For example, the first entry E 1 will be updated to a current version E 1 ′ of the first entry. [0030] The service application 26 is monitoring event notifications 22 from which it can detect a transition in the operational status of interface ports such as from an operational state to a non-operational state and visa versa. Upon detecting a change in operational status of an interface port, the service application 26 accesses information in the service database 28 , such as the first record R 1 , to determine if the affected port is one that has been selected for security monitoring. In the affirmative, the service application 26 retrieves current information contained in FIB entries of FIBs corresponding to VPLS services provided via that port. The service application 26 retrieves this information from the PE router to which the affected port belongs. The relevant FIB is identified by information contained in the SAP that associates the affected port with a service instance, since a dedicated FIB exists in the PE router for each instance of a VPLS service. For example, upon detecting a change in the operational status of the first interface port P 1 , the service application 26 issues control commands 24 to the management entity 14 to retrieve the current version E 1 ′ of the first entry in the first forwarding information base FIB 1 . [0031] The service application 26 then accesses the service database 28 to retrieve an initial version of information relating to the first customer edge router CE 1 . This information is referred to as initial in that it was retrieved from the PE router, and alternatively or additionally the CE router, when security monitoring on the affected port was enabled or reinitialized. For example, the service platform 26 retrieves information contained in the second record R 2 . The initial version of the information is compared to the current version of the information, and consequent to detecting a mismatch between any information contained in the current and initial versions that should match, the service application 26 interprets the mismatch as indicating that an intruder system has attempted to participate in the virtual Layer-2 service. For example, the service application 26 compares the MAC addresses of the CE router communicatively coupled to the first attachment circuit AC 1 that has been stored in the second record R 2 and in the current version E 1 ′ of the first entry. In this case there is a mismatch because the second record R 2 contains the first MAC address X and the current version E 1 ′ of the first entry contains the third MAC address Z. Additionally or alternatively, in a similar manner initial and current versions of other information relating to the CE router or system communicatively coupled to the affected port could be compared for a mismatch. For example any data such as configuration data that is retrievable from a CE router and that is unlikely or too difficult to be cloned by an intruder system could be used for the comparison. [0032] Upon making a determination that an intruder system has attempted to participate in the virtual Layer-2 service via an interface port selected for security monitoring, the service application 26 disables the affected interface port and issues an alert to an operator, such as raising a network alarm or sending an e-mail or other type of electronic message to an operator or other entity responsible for secure operation of the virtual Layer-2 service. The service application 26 disables the affected interface port by issuing control commands to the management entity 14 in order to put the affected interface port in a non-operational state. For example, the service application 26 issues control commands 24 to the management entity 14 over the OS interface 20 to cause the first interface port P 1 to transition into a non-operational state. [0033] Referring to FIG. 2 , a method 200 detecting an attempt of an intruder system to participate in a virtual Layer-2 service will now be described with additional reference to FIG. 1 . The method 200 includes monitoring 202 event notifications of selected interface ports. Selection of the interface ports would preferably be performed using the service application 26 , but could also be performed by another application running on the service platform 18 or management entity 14 . Recordation of these selections would preferably be stored at the service platform 18 , e.g. in the service database 28 , but they could also be stored at the management entity 14 , or in both locations. It is sufficient for performing the method 200 that an indication of interface ports to be security monitored is available to an entity such as the service application 26 that performs the method 200 automatically without human intervention. Such indication would include an identifier of each such port to be security monitored. The event notifications are monitored by receiving event notifications 22 from the management entity 14 via the open OS interface 20 . [0034] A determination 204 is made whether an event notification of a selected interface port indicates that the operational status of the interface port has changed. If the operational status of the affected port changed from an operational state to a non-operational the method waits for a further change to an operational state to occur. Upon detecting 206 a transition in the operational state of the affected port from a non-operational state to an operational state, the service application retrieves 208 current information relating to the system that is communicatively coupled to the affected interface port. This information would preferably be the MAC address of the system but could be any other information such as configuration data that would be unlikely to reside on an intruder system. [0035] A determination 210 is made whether the retrieved current information mismatches information previously retrieved relating to the CE router that was communicatively coupled to the affected interface port. Consequent to a mismatch being detected the affected interface port is disabled 212 and an alert is raised 214 . The method 200 then returns to monitoring 202 event notifications 22 . [0036] Numerous modifications, variations and adaptations may be made to the embodiments of the invention described above without departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined in the claims.
The invention is directed to detecting an attempt of an intruder system to participate in a virtual Layer-2 service provided over a packet switching network. Embodiments of the invention monitor operational status of an interface port of a PE router to which a CE router is communicatively coupled for providing the virtual Layer-2 service, determine, consequent to a change in said status, whether information that should relate to the CE router has changed; and thereby, in the affirmative, interpret said change to indicate that an intruder system has attempted to participate in the virtual Layer-2 service. Advantageously, this capability is complementary to other security measures such as MAC filters and Anti-spoofing filters that depend on the content of data packets exchanged between the CE and PE routers and not on the operational status of communicative connections between them.
7
FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention describes a system and method for printing digital images on textile pieces, and in particular, to an inkjet method for printing digital images on dark and colored textile pieces. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Inkjet printing on textile pieces is well known. In the direct printing method, the “construction” of the image is achieved by placing ink drops on the textile at different adjacent sites as discreet, physically non-mixed drops. In the transfer method, the colored image is first applied on the transfer media (paper that has very low affinity to the ink). The colored image is dried and then transferred to the textile piece, as by various heat transfer processes. This printing method is satisfactory for printing on light colored textile pieces. The human eye includes cells, called cones, which are sensitive to light of a particular range of wavelengths, and respond to blue light, green light and red light. All other colors we see are combinations of these three colors. In imaging systems, colors can be mixed in different ways to produce a desired result for the eye. The mixing method commonly used in printing is known as subtractive primary colors model. In the subtractive color mixing process, colors are mixed, for example, from the primary colors cyan, magenta and yellow, using a process of subtraction or filtering. The color perceived is not generated directly by the object we observe, but rather the color seen is the result of the surrounding light being reflected off the printed ink surface, or transmitted to the substrate surface and reflected back to the viewer through the ink. The ink absorbs some, but not all of the light wavelengths, reflecting or allowing transmission of the rest. As a result, the ink film serves as a filter that selectively subtracts certain colors. Opaque inks reflect light wavelengths, while transparent inks transmit light wavelengths to the substrate. Therefore, when using transparent inks, the substrate color is usually opaque white, or at least light. In that case, the viewer receives the reflected light from the substrate. For example, if a white substrate is painted with blue transparent ink, the ink layer absorbs the ambient light, allowing only the blue light to be transmitted to the substrate. The blue light is then reflected by the opaque white substrate, back through the ink and into the viewer's eyes, and perceive by the viewer as blue color. However, colored images on colored backgrounds can rarely be distinguished. This is due to the fact that light impinging on the dark textile is not reflected towards the eyes of the viewer. Rather, if the substrate base color is dark, then transmitted light will be absorbed and not reflected by the substrate, and the viewer will not see the light. Thus, printing on a dark garment is not available using digital devices, such as color copiers, ink-jet printers, laser printers and the like. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION There is thus provided, according to the present invention, a method for printing directly on dark textile pieces including the steps of digitally printing a white masking layer onto a dark textile piece, curing the masking layer, and digitally printing an image directly onto same dark textile piece above the masking layer. According to one embodiment, the digital printing process includes digitally printing a white masking layer by means of an inkjet printer onto a dark textile piece, drying and fixing the image, and digitally printing a colored image by means of an inkjet printer onto a dark textile piece above said masking layer. Further according to the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for printing directly on a dark textile piece. The device includes a printing table for holding a textile piece, at least one white inkjet head and at least one color inkjet print head, and preferably an array of inkjet print heads including a plurality of color print heads and at least one white inkjet head, disposed above the printing table, and a controller for causing printing of a white colored masking layer on top of the textile piece on the printing table during a first pass, or series of passes, for activating the drying unit to dry the masking layer, and for causing printing of a color image printing on top of the dried masking layer on the printing table during a second pass, or series of passes. According to one embodiment, the apparatus further includes a drying unit above the printing table. There is also provided, according to the present invention, a method for printing on dark textile pieces including the steps of digitally printing an image onto transfer paper, applying a white masking layer that covers the image, and transferring by heat transfer the image and masking layer from the transfer paper to a dark textile piece. According to one embodiment, the step of digitally printing includes digitally printing an image by means of an inkjet printer onto transfer paper, and curing and fixing the image. According to one embodiment of the invention, the method further includes the step of applying a layer of adhesive onto the masking layer, before the step of transferring. Further according to the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for printing on a dark textile piece, the device including a rotating drum for holding transfer paper, at least one color inkjet print head and at least one white inkjet print head, and preferably an array of inkjet print heads including a plurality of color print heads and at least one white inkjet head, disposed adjacent the rotating drum, and a controller for causing color image printing on a transfer paper on the drum during a first rotation, or series of rotations, for activating the curing unit to cure the color image, and for causing printing of a white colored masking layer on top of the dried color image on the transfer paper on the drum during a second rotation, or series of rotations. According to one embodiment, the apparatus further includes a drying unit disposed adjacent the drum. Preferably, the apparatus further includes a heat transfer unit for transferring the color image and masking layer from the transfer paper onto a dark textile piece. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will be further understood and appreciated from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of the image printing process according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of the masking layer printing process according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG. 3 is an illustration of a dark textile piece after image printing; FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of a apparatus for direct inkjet printing on a dark textile piece constructed and operative in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of the image printing process according to an alternative embodiment of the invention; FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of the masking layer printing process according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration of the heat transfer process according to one embodiment of the invention, FIG. 8 is a schematic illustration of an apparatus for inkjet printing on a dark textile piece, constructed and operative in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for textile digital ink printing for image application on a dark or colored textile piece. In particular, the invention relates to direct image application on a dark textile piece, as well as to textile digital ink printing for transfer image application on a dark textile piece. In this invention, the emphasis is on dark textile print, because printing on light colored fabric is a much simpler task. Referring now to FIG. 1 , there is shown a schematic illustration of the image printing process according to one embodiment of the invention, for printing an image directly onto the textile piece 12 . The process begins by printing, by means of at least one white inkjet head, here illustrated as an array of inkjet heads 14 with white ink, a layer of white opaque ink that covers the designed image area, to form a masking layer 10 . During the printing process, the white masking layer 10 is preferably cured and fixed by a curing unit 16 , to prevent its dissolution with the next image layer. This can be accomplished in any conventional manner, such as UV curing lamp, IR, hot air, etc., depending on the specific ink type and application. The masking layer is then over printed, by means of at least one color inkjet head, here shown as a second array of inkjet heads 15 with colored ink, in a second printing process, shown schematically in FIG. 2 , with the desired color image. It will be appreciated that the image may be all of a single color, or a many colors. In a case where curing is performed immediately (like UV curing or hot melt solidification), the procedure can be carried out in a single printing process, as color inkjet heads array 15 fires ink drops just after white inkjet heads array 14 has left a cured masking layer on the substrate. Preferably, the white ink is placed exactly on the designed image area, in order to cover it completely, but not to exceed it. For the white layer only, “bleeding” in between the adjacent drops is not an issue, therefore the ink may be applied in a dense manner to assure good coverage. Printing resolution of the white ink can be lower than the resolution of the process colors, and the drop size can be larger, to reduce printing time. As has been previously explained, the white ink preferably is placed on the textile by means of an array of white printing heads 14 . Preferably, a controller (not shown) controls both the process color printing heads and the white printing heads, so as to coordinate the printing and ensure precise coverage of the entire image, but not more. The “construction” of the image is achieved by placing ink drops at different adjacent sites as discreet, physically non-mixed drops. In the illustrated embodiment, the image is printed by an array of printing heads 15 . For example, the image is printed with subtractive primary colors: Cyan, Yellow, Magenta, and Black (CYMK), using transparent ink. The white opaque color layer now reflects all light that is transmitted through the image ink layers, and the viewer can observe the image 12 as if it had been printed on a white color garment, as illustrated in FIG. 3 . There are several types of inks that can be utilized in this invention. In order to suit inkjet applications, the ink should posses the following characteristics: 1. The viscosity profile must provide the highest temperature and response to shear sensitivity, i.e. the ink will be as viscous as possible at ambient temperatures (but not too viscous for the circulation system and filters) and about 8–18 cp (as required by OEM Drop On Demand (DOD) print head jetting conditions (temperature, shear stress)). The high viscosity at ambient temperature ensures also shelf stability, while the low viscosity is recommended for reliable print-head operation. 2. The surface tension at jetting should be about 28–32 dyn/cm 2 (as required by OEM DOD print heads). 3. The ink will neither react while inside the print head nor dry on the orifice plate, to prevent clogging. 4. On media: The ink should not bleed or feather after application, to ensure a sharp and bright image. This is preferably achieved by fast fixation and/or short curing time, so as not to delay application of subsequent layers, and to prevent bleeding of the colors into each other or the masking layer. 5. The ink should have low shrinkage after application and curing. 6. The image layer should have strong adhesion to the media. Useful ink types are categorized according to their curing mechanism: UV and/or Visible light curing: the dry image layer is formed immediately as a result of exposure of the applied ink layer to UV and/or Visible light only. IR curing: the dry image layer is formed upon exposure of the applied ink layer to IR radiation only. Thermal/heat curing: the dry image layer is formed as a result of a relatively fast chemical reaction on the media between the applied ink's components at elevated temperatures only. Air/heat-drying: the dry image layer is formed due to solvents and/or water evaporation. The evaporation takes place at ambient temperature, and can be accelerated at higher temperatures. Air/moisture curing: the dry image is formed as a result of a chemical reaction of the applied ink with air moisture. Solidification: the solid ink is melted at elevated temperatures and immediately forms a solid layer after it solidifies again at ambient temperature. Room temperature chemical curing: the dry image layer is formed due to a relatively slow chemical reaction between the applied ink's components at room temperature, and or a fast chemical reaction at higher temperatures. FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of an apparatus 30 for direct ink-jet printing on a dark textile piece, constructed and operative in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Apparatus 30 includes a printing table 32 for holding a textile piece, and an array of inkjet print heads 34 disposed above the printing table. The print heads include a plurality of color print heads 36 and one or more white inkjet heads 38 . (Alternatively, a single color inkjet print head and a single white inkjet print head could be utilized.) Preferably, a curing unit 40 is also disposed above the printing table, for curing ink deposited by the inkjet printing heads on a textile piece on the table, although, alternatively, the ink could be allowed to dry and cure by itself with time. A controller 42 (not shown) is coupled to the apparatus 30 for causing printing of a white colored masking layer on a textile piece on the printing table during a first pass, or series of passes, for activating the curing unit to cure the color image, and for causing printing of a color image on top of the cured masking layer on the textile piece on the table during a second pass, or series of passes. Referring now to FIG. 5 , there is shown a schematic illustration of the image printing process according to an alternative embodiment of the invention, including an image transfer process. The process begins by printing a desired color image 110 onto a transfer media 112 (paper that has very low affinity to the ink). The “construction” of the image is achieved by placing ink drops at different adjacent sites as discreet, physically non-mixed drops. The ink composition used must prevent the drops from “bleeding” on the applied media. In the illustrated embodiment, the image is printed by an array of color printing heads 114 . The image is printed using subtractive primary colors: Cyan, Yellow, Magenta, and Black (CYMK), for example, using transparent ink. During the printing process, the colored image is cured and fixed by a curing unit 116 to prevent its dissolution with the next masking layer. This can be accomplished in any conventional manner, such as UV curing lamp, IR, hot air, etc., depending on the specific ink type and application. The image is then over printed by white inkjet heads array 115 , in a second printing process shown schematically in FIG. 6 , with white opaque ink that covers the image area, to form a masking layer 120 . In a case where curing is performed immediately (like UV curing or hot melt solidification), the procedure can be carried out in a single printing process, as white inkjet heads array 115 fires white ink drops just after colored inkjet heads array 114 has left a colored image on the substrate. Preferably, the white ink is placed exactly on the image area, in order to cover it completely, but not to exceed it. For the white layer only, “bleeding” in between the adjacent drops is not an issue, therefore the ink may be applied in a dense manner to assure good coverage. Printing resolution of the white ink can be lower than the resolution of the process colors, and the drop size can be larger to reduce printing time. The white ink is placed on the image by means of an array of white printing heads 115 . Preferably, both the process color printing heads and the white printing heads are controlled by a controller (not shown), so as to coordinate the printing and ensure precise coverage of the entire image, and no more. As shown schematically in FIG. 7 , the printed transfer paper 112 is now placed on a textile piece 124 in a heat transfer apparatus 126 . When the transfer paper is heat pressed against the textile substrate, as known, the white color is transferred onto the textile piece, with the image as the outer layer. The white opaque color layer now reflects all light that is transmitted through the image ink layers, and the viewer can observe the image 110 , as illustrated in FIG. 3 , as if it had been printed on a white color garment. It is a particular feature of the invention that this process allows indirect inkjet printing on a substrate of any base color, although the printing process is longer and requires more inkjet nozzles for the white color ink than conventional printing on a light color background. In order to assure durability of the printed image on the textile substrate, a pressure sensitive adhesive is preferably added. Otherwise, the image might be removed during washing, ironing, etc. There are several options for adding the adhesive: Method 1 A third layer is added above the white masking layer, this layer being of textile pressure sensitive thermally cured adhesive. The adhesive layer covers the two previous layers completely. The adhesive layer is a pressure sensitive one, cured thermally during heat transfer of the image onto the textile piece. The adhesive layer is preferably applied by an inkjet head or by another device, as known in the trade. Method 2 The adhesive is a part of a binder in the white masking ink formulation. The printed masking layer, itself, therefore performs as the third layer described in Method 1. Other adhesives can be introduced in the white masking ink formulation described in Method 2. Examples of commercial adhesives suppliers: 1) BOSTIC Inc.—Their Supergrip® reactive hot melts offer a unique combination of hot melt processing and handling with the advantages of a reactive thermosetting, solvent free adhesive, that offer rapid fixing at relatively low temperatures. These adhesives are suitable for Method 1. 2) Clifton Adhesives Inc. offers solution/mixed adhesives based on various rubbers (Neoprene™, Hypalon™, polyester, vinyl, SBR, nitrile, urethane and ethyl vinyl acetate adhesives). These products are easily incorporated into water and solvent based inks, to serve as pressure sensitive adhesives. These adhesives are suitable for use in Method 2. Referring now to FIG. 8 , there is shown a schematic illustration of an apparatus 130 for inkjet printing on a dark textile piece constructed and operative in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Apparatus 130 includes a rotating drum 132 for holding transfer paper, and an array of inkjet print heads 134 disposed adjacent the rotating drum. The print heads include a plurality of color print heads 136 and at least one white ink-jet head 138 . (Alternatively, a single color print head and a single white ink-jet print head could be utilized.) If required by the selected ink, a curing unit 140 may also be disposed adjacent the drum, for curing ink deposited by the ink-jet printing heads on transfer paper on the drum. A controller 142 (not shown) is coupled to the apparatus 130 for causing color image printing on a transfer paper on the drum during a first rotation, or series of rotations, for activating the curing unit to cure the color image, and for causing printing of a white colored masking layer on top of the dried color image on the transfer paper on the drum during a second rotation, or series of rotations. Preferably, the apparatus further includes a heat transfer unit for transferring the color image and masking layer from the transfer paper onto a dark textile piece. It will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to what has been described hereinabove merely by way of example. Rather, the invention is limited solely by the claims that follow.
A method and apparatus for color printing on a dark textile piece, the method including the steps of digitally applying a white ink layer directly onto a textile piece, optionally curing the white ink layer, and digitally printing a colored image on said ink layer.
3
GOVERNMENT FUNDING This invention was made with Government support under Contract No. NO1DA-4-8313 awarded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The Government has certain rights in the invention. RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to U.S. Ser. No. 60/024,099, filed Aug. 16, 1996, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Drugs which block the reuptake of dopamine have many uses, including the treatment of individuals who abuse cocaine. It is believed that the abuse potential of cocaine is a result of its short onset of action (on the order of seconds) and its short duration of action (on the order of minutes). A slow onset, long duration dopamine reuptake blocker would have greatly reduced abuse potential and could be used as a treatment for chronic cocaine use. Many dopamine reuptake blockers are non-selective, and, for example, can inhibit the reuptake of other neurotransmittors such as serotonin and/or norepinephrine. Dopamine reuptake blockers which inhibit the reuptake of other neurotransmittors or bind other receptor sites have pharmacological profiles which differ from the pharmacological profile of cocaine. Preferred dopamine reuptake inhibitors for use in treating cocaine abuse have pharmacological profiles resembling the pharmacological profile of cocaine. Dopamine reuptake inhibitors which block the reuptake of other neurotransmittors also have the potential to cause undesirable side-effects. Consequently, there is a need to identify slow-onset long-duration dopamine reuptake blockers which do not block the reuptake of other neurotransimittors. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to novel N,N-dialkyl 3-phenyl-1-indamines, which are slow-onset, long-lasting dopamine reuptake blockers. The use of N,N-dialkyl 3-phenyl-1-indamines for treating individuals who abuse cocaine, individuals with Parkinson's disease and individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are disclosed in co-pending U.S. Application, entitled SLOW-ONSET, LONG-LASTING DOPAMINE REUPTAKE BLOCKERS U.S. application Ser. No. 08/911,778, filed on Aug. 15, 1997, the entire teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference. One embodiment of the present invention is a novel compound represented by Structural Formula (I): ##STR2## Ring B is unsubstituted or substituted with one, two or three substituents other than hydrogen. Suitable substituents include halogen, an alkyl group, a substituted alkyl group, hydroxy, (lower alkyl)--O--, (substituted lower alkyl)--O--, --CN, --NO 2 , amine, (lower alkyl) amine, (substituted lower alkyl) amine, (di-lower alkyl) amine and (substituted di-lower alkyl) amine. R2 is n-propyl, iso-propyl, n-butyl, sec-butyl, or tert-butyl, preferably n-propyl. The compound represented by Structural Formula (I) preferably has the trans stereochemistry. Another embodiment of the present invention is a compound represented by Structural Formula (I), wherein R2 is ethyl, and Phenyl Ring B is substituted in the meta and para positions relative to carbon atom bonded to the indane group with --Cl (Compound 3). Another embodiment is a compound represented by Structural Formula (I), wherein R2 is an aralkyl group (--(CH 2 ) n -aryl or --(CH 2 ) n -(substituted aryl)). Phenyl Ring B is as described for Structural Formula (I) and n is an integer from one to about three. The compound preferably has the trans stereochemistry. The N-methyl-N-(n-propyl) 3-phenyl-1-indamines of the present invention, e.g., Compound 2, are superior, when used to treat cocaine abuse, to the corresponding N,N-dimethyl 3-phenyl-1-indamine, Compound 1, because Compound 1 selectively inhibits serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake (Example 5). In contrast, Compound 2 shows reduced inhibition of serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake and more closely resembles the pharmacological profile of cocaine (Example 5). Thus, N-methyl-N-(n-propyl) 3-phenyl-1-indamines such as Compound 2, are expected to be more efficacious and cause fewer side effects than the corresponding N,N-dimethyl compounds when substituted for cocaine during the treatment of individuals ______________________________________ ##STR3## ______________________________________1 R1 = methyl R2 = methyl2 R1 = methyl R2 = n-propyl3 R1 = methyl R2 = ethyl4 R1 = H R2 = ethyl5 R1 = H R2 = methyl6 R1 = H R2 = t-butyl7 R1 = methyl R2 = t-butyl______________________________________ for cocaine abuse. It has also been found that the N-ethyl-N-butyl 3-phenyl-1-indamines (e.g., Compound 7) lock the effects of cocaine in laboratory mice while reducing locomotor activity (Examples 2 and 3). Thus, N-ethyl-N-butyl 3-phenyl-1-indamines such as Compound 7 can be used to treat individuals who abuse cocaine without causing the stimulatory effects of cocaine. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES FIG. 1 is a graph showing the number of ambulation counts resulting from the stimulation of locomotor activity in mice over time by the administration of 1) vehicle; 2) 1 mg/kg of Compound 1; 3) 3 mg/kg of Compound 1; 4) 10 mg/kg of Compound 1; and 5) 30 mg/kg of Compound 1. FIG. 2 is a graph showing the average number of ambulation counts/10 minutes over 30 minutes resulting from the stimulation of locomotor activity in mice versus the dosage of Compound 1 administered to the mice. FIG. 3 is a graph showing the number of ambulation counts resulting from the stimulation of locomotor activity in mice over time by the administration of 1) vehicle; 2) 1 mg/kg of Compound 2; 3) 3 mg/kg of Compound 2; 4) 10 mg/kg of Compound 2; and 5) 30 mg/kg of Compound 2. FIG. 4 is a graph showing the average number of ambulation counts/10 minutes over 30 minutes resulting from the stimulation of locomotor activity in mice versus the dosage of Compound 2 administered to the mice. FIG. 5 is a graph showing the number of ambulation counts resulting from the stimulation of locomotor activity in mice over time by the administration of 1) vehicle; 2) 1 mg/kg of Compound 3; 3) 3 mg/kg of Compound 3; 4) 10 mg/kg of Compound 3; and 5) 30 mg/kg of Compound 3. FIG. 6 is a graph showing the average number of ambulation counts/10 minutes over 30 minutes resulting from the stimulation of locomotor activity in mice by Compound 3 versus the dosage of Compound 3 administered to the mice. FIG. 7 is a graph showing the number of ambulation counts resulting from the stimulation of locomotor activity in mice over time by the administration of 1) vehicle; 2) 1 mg/kg of Compound 4; 3) 3 mg/kg of Compound 4; 4) 10 mg/kg of Compound 4; and 5) 30 mg/kg of Compound 4. FIG. 8 is a graph showing the average number of ambulation counts/10 minutes over 30 minutes resulting from the stimulation of locomotor activity in mice 4 versus the dosage of Compound 4 administered to the mice. FIG. 9 is a graph showing the number of ambulation counts resulting from the stimulation of locomotor activity in mice over time by the administration of 1) vehicle; 2) cocaine; 3) cocaine and 1 mg/kg of Compound 2; 4) cocaine 3 mg/kg of Compound 2; 5) cocaine and 10 mg/kg of Compound 2; and 6) cocaine and 30 mg/kg of Compound 2. FIG. 10 is a graph showing the average number of ambulation counts/10 minutes over 30 minutes over thirty minutes resulting from the stimulation of locomotor activity in mice induced by the administration of 1) vehicle; 2) cocaine; 3) cocaine and 1 mg/kg of Compound 2; 4) cocaine 3 and mg/kg of Compound 2; 5) cocaine and 10 mg/kg of Compound 2; and 6) cocaine and 30 mg/kg of Compound 2. FIG. 11 is a graph showing the number of ambulation counts resulting from the stimulation of locomotor activity in mice over time by the administration of 1) vehicle; 2) 3 mg/kg of Compound 6; 3) 10 mg/kg of Compound 6; 4) 30 mg/kg of Compound 6 and 5) 100 mg/kg of Compound 6. FIG. 12 is a graph showing the average number of ambulation counts/10 minutes over 30 minutes resulting from the stimulation of locomotor activity in mice versus the dosage of Compound 6 administered to the mice. FIG. 13 is a graph showing the number of ambulation counts resulting from the stimulation of locomotor activity in mice over time by the administration of 1) vehicle; 2) 1 mg/kg of Compound 7; 3) 3 mg/kg of Compound 7; 4) 10 mg/kg of Compound 7; 5) 30 mg/kg of Compound 7 and 100 mg/kg of Compound 7. FIG. 14 is a graph showing the average number of ambulation counts/10 minutes over 30 minutes resulting from the stimulation of locomotor activity in mice versus the dosage of Compound 7 administered to the mice. FIG. 15 is a graph showing the number of ambulation counts resulting from the stimulation of locomotor activity in mice over time by the administration of 1) vehicle; 2) cocaine; 3) cocaine and 3 mg/kg of Compound 6; 4) cocaine 10 mg/kg of Compound 6; 5) cocaine and 30 mg/kg of Compound 6; and 6) cocaine and 100 mg/kg of Compound 6. FIG. 16 is a graph showing the average number of ambulation counts/10 minutes over 30 minutes over thirty minutes resulting from the stimulation of locomotor activity in mice induced by the administration of 1) vehicle; 2) cocaine; 3) cocaine and 3 mg/kg of Compound 6; 4) cocaine and 10 mg/kg of Compound 6; 5) cocaine and 30 mg/kg of Compound 6; and 6) cocaine and 100 mg/kg of Compound 6. FIG. 17 is a graph showing the number of ambulation counts resulting from the stimulation of locomotor activity in mice over time by the administration of 1) vehicle; 2) cocaine; 3) cocaine and 3 mg/kg of Compound 7; 4) cocaine 10 mg/kg of Compound 7; 5) cocaine and 30 mg/kg of Compound 7; and 6) cocaine and 100 mg/kg of Compound 7. FIG. 18 is a graph showing the average number of ambulation counts/10 minutes over 30 minutes over thirty minutes resulting from the stimulation of locomotor activity in mice induced by the administration of 1) vehicle; 2) cocaine; 3) cocaine and 3 mg/kg of Compound 7; 4) cocaine and 10 mg/kg of Compound 7; 5) cocaine and 30 mg/kg of Compound 7; and 6) cocaine and 100 mg/kg of Compound 7. FIG. 19 is a graph showing the effect on mice of 1) 5 mg/kg, 2) 10 mg/kg, 3) 20 mg/kg and 4) 40 mg/kg of cocaine compared with saline on horizontal activity counts/10 minute over an eight hour session. FIG. 20 is a graph showing the effect on mice of 1) 1 mg/kg, 2) 3 mg/kg, 3) 10 mg/kg and 4) 30 mg/kg of Compound 2 compared with saline on horizontal activity counts/10 minute over an eight hour session. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In a preferred embodiment, the compound of the present invention is represented by Structural Formula (II): ##STR4## R2 is as described for Structural Formula (I). R5 and R6 are each --H or a substituent, as described for Ring B in Structural Formula (I). More preferably, R2 is n-propyl or tert-butyl. Even more preferably, R5 and R6 are each --Cl. In another preferred embodiment, the compound of the present invention is represented by Structural Formula (II), wherein R2 is a benzyl or substituted benzyl group. R5 and R6 are each --H or a substituent, as described for Ring B in Structural Formula (I). More preferably, R2 is a benzyl group. Even more preferably, R5 and R6 are each --Cl. An "aryl group" includes carbocyclic aromatic structures. An "aryl group" can be monocyclic (e.g., phenyl) or polycyclic. A polycyclic aromatic group includes moieties having one or more fused carbocyclic aromatic structures, e.g. naphthyl or anthracyl. Suitable heteroaryl groups include monocyclic or polycyclic aromatic groups containing one or more heteroatoms such as oxygen, nitrogen or sulfur. Suitable monocyclic heterocyclic groups include imidazolyl, thienyl, pyridyl, furanyl, oxazoyl, pyrollyl, pyrimidinyl, furanyl, pyrazolyl, pyrrolyl, thiazolyl and the like. A polycyclic heteroaryl group includes fused structures such as quinonyl, isoquinonyl, indoyl benzimidazoyl, benzothiazolyl, benzothiophenyl, benzofuranyl and benzopyranyl. A "lower alkyl group" includes C1 to about C10 straight or branched chain hydrocarbons. The hydrocarbon can be saturated or can have one or more units of unsaturation. Preferred lower alkyl groups are straight chain C1-C3 hydrocarbons. Alternatively, lower alkyl groups preferably include C1 to C4 straight chain and branched hydrocarbons. Suitable substituents for an aryl, heteroaryl, benzyl or lower alkyl group include substituents which do not signifiantly decrease the affinity of the N,N-dialkyl 3-phenyl-1-indamine for the dopamine transporter or the bioavailability of the N,N-dialkyl 3-phenyl-1-indamine. Suitable examples include halogens, lower alkyl, hydroxy, (lower alkyl)--O--, (substituted lower alkyl)--O--, --CN, --NO 2 , --NH 2 , (lower alkyl)NH--, (substituted alkyl)NH--, dialkylamine and (substituted dialkyl)amine. In the method of treatment disclosed herein the trans stereoisomer of the compound represented by Structural Formula (I) is preferentially administered. Examples of cis and trans stereoisomers are shown below. ##STR5## The compound can be administered as a racemic mixture of enantiomers, as an optically pure enantiomer or as a mixture enriched in one enantiomer. A "therapeutically effective" amount of a compound is the amount of compound which decreases or alleviates the severity of the symptoms associated with a disease, e.g., Parkinson's disease, attention deficit disorder or cocaine abuse, in an individual being treated with the compound. In the case of treatment of cocaine abuse, a "therapeutically effective" amount of a compound can be the amount of compound which decreases the craving for cocaine of an individual who abuses cocaine. Typically, a "therapeutically effective amount" of the compound ranges from about 1 mg/day to about 1000 mg/day. The compounds of the present invention can be administered by a variety of known methods, including orally, rectally, or by parenteral routes (e.g., intramuscular, intravenous, subcutaneous, nasal or topical). The form in which the compounds are administered will be determined by the route of administration. Such forms include, but are not limited to capsular and tablet formulations (for oral and rectal administration), liquid formulations (for oral, intravenous, intramuscular or subcutaneous administration) and slow releasing microcarriers (for rectal, intramuscular or intravenous administration). The formulations can also contain a physiologically acceptable vehicle and optional adjuvants, flavorings, colorants and preservatives. Suitable physiologically acceptable vehicles may include saline, sterile water, distilled water, Ringer's solution, and isotonic sodium chloride solutions. The specific dosage level of active ingredient will depend upon a number of factors, including, for example, biological activity of the particular preparation, age, body weight, sex and general health of the individual being treated. The pharmaceutical compositions used in the methods of treatment disclosed herein can contain one N,N-dialkyl 3--phenyl-1-indamine. Alternatively, the pharmaceutical composition can contain more than one N,N-dialkyl 3-phenyl-1-indamine, e.g. the individual is being administered a mixture of N,N-dialkyl 3-phenyl-1-indamines. When a mixture is being administered, virtually any ratio of N,N-dialkyl 3-phenyl-1-indamines can be used that is non-toxic and therapeutically effective. The compounds of the present invention used in the treatment of an individual with Parkinson's disease or attention deficit disorder can be co-administered with other pharmaceutically active agents used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease or attention deficit disorder. The compounds of the present invention used in the treatment of an individual who abuses cocaine can be combined with other therapies used to treat individuals who abuse cocaine. Such therapies can include the co-administration of other pharmaceutically active agents used to treat cocaine abuse or psychological therapies. When the compounds of the present invention are used in combination with other pharmaceutically active agents, the specific combination will vary, depending on a number of factors, including, for example, activity of the agents, their side-effects, and the weight, age, sex and general health of the individual being treated. The preparation of compounds of the present invention is shown in the Scheme and described more fully in Example 1. It is noted that compounds represented by Structural Formula (I) in which Ring A is an aryl group other than phenyl can be prepared by using the corresponding aryl aldehyde as a starting material in place of benzaldehyde. For example, compounds represented by Structural Formula (I) in which Ring A is a 1-naphthyl or 1-thiophene group can be prepared by using 1-CHO-napthalene or 1-CHO-thiophene as a starting material in place of benzaldehyde. ##STR6## The invention is further illustrated by the following examples. EXEMPLIFICATION EXAMPLE 1 Preparation of N,N-Dialkyl 3-Phenyl-1-Indamines Preparation of Compound 23 A solution of benzaldehyde (318 g) and ethyl cyanoacetate (383 g) in toluene (1.5 L) was brought to boiling in a flask equipped with a Dean-Stark trap. After -60 mL of water was collected, the resulting mixture was concentrated under reduced pressure. Vacuum drying gave 690 g of a wet solid. Recrystallization from 1.5 L of THF and 3 L of hexanes gave a pale-yellow solid (360 g). Preparation of Compound 25 Magnesium turnings (6.7 g) were activated by heating with iodine (0.02 g) under an Ar atmosphere. After anhydrous THF (200 mL) was added, a solution of 1-bromo-3,4-dichlorobenzene (63.1 g) in anhydrous THF (100 mL) was added under Ar slowly so that gentle boiling was maintained. The resulting mixture was then brought to reflux for 0.5 hours. The resulting mixture was cooled to room-temperature and slowly added to a solution of 23 in anhydrous THF (100 mL) under Ar via cannula. The stirring was continued for 1 hour. The resulting mixture was poured onto a mixture of ice (200 g) and concentrated H 2 SO 4 (10 mL). The organic layer was separated from the aqueous layer and the aqueous layer was extracted with EtOAc (2×100 mL). The combined EtOAc solution was washed with water (200 mL) and then with brine (200 mL). Solvent evaporation under reduced pressure followed by vacuum drying gave a thick orange oil (96.7 g). Preparation of Compound 28 A mixture of crude 25 (96 g) , AcOH (192 mL), H 2 SO 4 (96 mL), and water (96 mL) was brought to reflux (20 hours). The resulting mixture was poured onto ice (200 g). The organic layer was separated from the aqueous layer and the aqueous layer was extracted with CH 2 Cl 2 (200 mL). The combined organic solution was washed with water (200 mL) and then with brine (200 mL). Solvent evaporation under reduced pressure followed by vacuum drying gave a thick brown oil (87.4 g). THF (87 mL), NaOH (17.5 g) and water (87 mL) were added to the thick oil. The resulting mixture was brought to reflux for 2.5 hours. Water (87 mL) was added and the mixture was acidified with 37% HCl(aq) (50 mL, pH≦1). The organic layer was separated from the aqueous layer and the aqueous layer was extracted with EtOAc (87 mL). The combined organic solution was washed with water (200 mL) and then with brine (200 mL). Solvent evaporation under reduced pressure and vacuum drying provided a thick brown syrup (78.6 g). Preparation of Compound 29 A mixture of the crude acid 28 (78.6 g) and polyphosphoric acid (225 g) was stirred under an Ar atmosphere for 3 hours at -100° C. The resulting mixture was poured onto ice (225 g) and EtOAc (225 mL). The organic layer was separated from the aqueous layer and the aqueous layer was extracted with EtOAc (2×110 mL). The combined EtOAc solution was washed with water (110 mL) and brine (110 mL). Solvent evaporation under reduced pressure and vacuum drying gave a wet brown solid. A solution of the solid in CH 2 Cl 2 was passed through a silica gel plug (9 in I.D., 3 in high) with CH 2 Cl 2 . Solvent evaporation of the collected fractions under reduced pressure followed by vacuum drying finishing with a wet brown solid (57.4 g). Preparation of Compound 30 NaBH 4 (2.46 g) was added in three portions to a mixture of ketone 29 (56.6 g), EtOAc (260 mL), and EtOH (120 mL) with stirring under an Ar atmosphere. After 0.5 h, more NaBH 4 (0.5 g) was added and the stirring was continued for another 0.5 hours. Solvent evaporation under reduced pressure gave a thick dark brown oil. Water (260 mL) was added and the mixture was extracted with EtOAc (260 mL and then 2×80 mL). The combined organic solution was washed with brine and water. Solvent evaporation under reduced pressure gave a brown syrup, which was passed through a silica gel plug (9 in I.D., 3.5 in high) with 800 mL of 80% CH 2 Cl 2 /hexanes, followed by 500 mL of CH 2 Cl 2 , and then with 500 mL of 20% EtOAc/CH 2 Cl 2 . The fractions containing the desired alcohols were collected. Solvent evaporation under reduced pressure and vacuum drying gave a brown residue (46.8 g). Preparation Compound 31 SOCl 2 was slowly added with stirring to a solution of alcohol 30 (22.5 g) in anhydrous toluene (135 mL) under an Ar atmosphere. The stirring was continued for 2 hours. Water (135 mL) was added. The organic solution was washed with water (135 mL) and then with brine (70 mL). Solvent evaporation under reduced pressure and vacuum drying afforded a thick brown oil (13.7 g). Preparation of Compounds 32 and 33 A mixture of chlorides 31 (48.9 g) and excess amine (dimethylamine, 61.9 g; typically, 6-9 equivalents) in anhydrous THF (260 mL) was heated in a bomb to 100°-130° C. for 20 hours with stirring. The resulting material was cooled to <300° C. Saturated Na 2 CO 3 (aq) (400mL) was added and the organic layer was separated from the aqueous layer. The aqueous layer was extracted with EtOAc (150 mL). The combined organic solution was washed with brine (200 mL). Solvent evaporation under reduce pressure and vacuum drying gave a thick black oil (48.1 g). The resulting crude product was subjected to purification either by preparative TLC, chromatography, or HPLC with a partial purification either by a silica gel plug or salt formation beforehand. For the N,N-dimethylindanamines, the purification was done as described below. The HCl salt formation from the black oil in a mixture of EtOH, ether, and acetone gave an almond solid enriched with the cis-isomer. The freebase enriched with the trans-isomer were recovered by treatment with saturated Na 2 CO 3 (aq). Maleic acid salt formation from the freebases using EtOAc, EtOH, acetones, hexanes and ether gave a maleic acid salt as a greenish almond solid. Freebase from the mother liquor was again recovered by treatment with saturated Na 2 CO 3 (aq). The recovered freebase was partially purified by passing through a silica gel plug. The recovered freebase, the freebase from the HCl salt, and the freebase from the maleic acid salt were subjected to HPLC separation (Phenomenex Primesphere 5μ silica 110 column, 250×21.2 mm; UV, 268 nm; 0.05% Et 2 NH/EtOAc, 10 mL/min; cis-isomer, 17 minutes; trans-isomer, 20 minutes) to give pure 32 and 33. Salt Formation of Compound 32 and 33 Freebases 32 and 33 were converted the their corresponding HCl, maleic acid or oxalic acid salts. A typical HCl salt formation involved dissolving a freebase in ether, adding 1.1 equivalents of 1M HCl/ether with stirring, vacuum filtration of the resulting suspension, washing the solid with ether and vacuum drying at an appropriate elevated temperature. A typical maleic or oxalic acid salt formation involved dissolving a freebase in ErOH and ether, adding a solution of maleic or oxalic acid (1.05 mol equivalents) in EtOH with stirring, adding more ether to the resulting mixture, vacuum filtration, washing the solid with ether, and vacuum drying at an appropriate elevated temperature. Compounds 2-7 were prepared as described above, except that dimethylamine was replaced with the appropriate amine in the reaction with chlorides 31. In addition, the corresponding N-methyl-N-iso-propyl (Compound 8), N-(n-propyl) (Compound 9) and N-methyl-N-benzyl (Compound 10) phenylindamines were prepared by replacing dimethylamine with methyl(2-propyl)amine, n-propylamine or methyl(benzyl)amine, respectively, in the reaction with chlorides 31. The chemical shifts observed in the 13 C NMR spectrum of the maleic acid salt of Compound 1 in DMSO-d 6 are as follows: 36.6, 40.4, 42.1, 70.5, 127.1, 128.4, 129.6, 130.0, 131.1, 131.7, 132.3, 132.6, 133.0, 137.5, 137.6, 146.9, 149.7, 169.1. The chemical shifts observed in the 13 C NMR spectrum of the HCl salt of Compound 2 in DMSO-d 6 are as follows: 33.9, 34.1, 35.1, 36.6, 47.8, 48.0, 54.1, 56.7, 66.5, 68.4, 125.1, 125.3, 127.4, 127.5, 127.7, 128.2, 128.6, 128.62, 129.2, 129.27, 129.3, 129.9, 130.0, 130.26, 130.3, 130.5, 130.7, 130.8, 131.1, 131.2, 131.5, 135.4, 135.7, 145.3, 147.9, 148.5. The chemical shifts observed in the 13 C NMR spectrum of the oxalic acid salt of Compound 3 in DMSO-d 6 are as follows: 11.6, 36.3, 36.7, 49.5, 49.7, 69.1, 127.0, 128.4, 129.5, 130.0, 131.0, 131.6, 132.0, 132.6, 132.9, 138.2, 147.4, 149.6, 166.5. The chemical shifts observed in the 13 C NMR spectrum of the HCl salt of Compound 4 in DMSO-d 6 are as follows: 12.9, 39.4, 41.6, 49.2, 61.9, 126.5, 128.4, 129.1, 130.0, 131.0, 131.5, 131.7, 132.6, 133.0, 139.4, 146.6, 138.9. The chemical shifts observed in the 13 C NMR spectrum of the HCl salt of Compound 5 in DMSO-d 6 are as follows: 31.7, 39.1, 49.1, 63.1, 126.9, 128.1, 129.2, 130.0, 131.0, 131.5, 131.8, 132.6, 133.0, 139.3, 146.9, 148.8. The chemical shifts observed in the 13 C NMR spectrum of the HCl salt of Compound 6 in DMSO-d 6 are as follows: 25.6, 40.3, 47.9, 56.7, 57.8, 124.7, 126.8, 127.2, 128.2, 129.2, 129.7, 129.8, 130.8, 131.1138.5, 145.0, 147.0. The chemical shifts observed in the 13 C NMR spectrum of the HCl salt of Compound 7 in CDCl 3 are as follows: 25.3, 26.1, 29.4, 34.8, 37.0, 43.8, 48.7, 49.3, 64.4, 64.8, 65.7, 125.2, 126.4, 126.9, 127.1, 127.6, 128.1, 128.8, 129.2, 129.7, 130.0, 130.7, 130.87, 130.9, 131.0, 131.2, 132.7, 132.9, 135.8, 136.2, 143.0, 144.2, 145.2, 149.4. The chemical shifts observed in the 13 C NMR spectrum of the HCl salt of Compound 8 in DMSO-d 6 are as follows: 16.1, 17.3, 18.1, 18.6, 31.7, 32.1, 33.7, 37.7, 47.6, 47.9, 54.6, 56.1, 65.1, 65.8, 125.2, 127.2, 127.3, 127.5, 127.7, 128.2, 128.4, 129.2, 129.3, 129.8, 130.0, 130.2, 130.4, 130.76, 130.8, 131.1, 135.5, 136.5, 145.0, 145.4, 147.76, 148.9. The chemical shifts observed in the 13 C NMR spectrum of the HCl salt of Compound 9 in DMSO-d 6 are as follows: 11.0, 19.1, 37.6, 46.0, 47.4, 60.4, 125.0, 126.6, 127.3, 128.2, 129.2, 129.7, 129.9, 130.7, 131.1, 137.5, 145.1, 147.1. The chemical shifts observed in the 13 C NMR spectrum of the HCl salt of Compound 10 in DMSO-d 6 are as follows: 33.9, 34.1, 35.1, 36.6, 47.8, 48.0, 54.1, 56.7, 66.4, 68.4, 125.1, 125.3, 127.4, 127.5, 127.7, 128.2, 128.3, 128.60, 128.62, 129.2, 129.27, 129.3, 129.88, 129.9, 130.0, 130.3, 130.4, 130.5, 130.7, 130.8, 131.1, 131.2, 131.5, 135.4, 135.7, 135.3, 135.4, 147.9, 148.5. EXAMPLE 2 A dose response study of induced locomotor stimulation was conducted according to the following procedure. The study was conducted using a 16 or 32 Digiscan locomotor activity testing chambers (40.5×40.5×30.5 cm) housed in sets of two, within sound-attenuating chambers. A panel of infrared beams (16 beams) and corresponding photodetectors were located in the horizontal direction along the sides of each activity chamber. A 15-W incandescent light above each chamber provided dim illumination. Fans provided an 80-dB ambient noise level within the chamber. Separate groups of 8 non-habituated male Swiss-Webster mice (Hsd:ND4, aged 2-3 months) were injected via the intraperitoneal (IP) route with either vehicle (deionized water for Compounds 1-4, carboxymethylcellulose for Compound 6 or methyl cellulose for Compound 7)) or test compound (1, 2.5, 5, 10, 25 or 50 mg/kg for Compound 3; 1, 3, 10 and 30 mg/kg for Compounds 1, 2 and 4; 3, 10, 30 or 100 mg/kg for Compound 6; and 1, 3, 10, 30 and 10 mg/kg for Compound 7). Compounds 1-4 were injected immediately prior to locomotor activity testing. Compound 5 and 6 were injected 20 minutes prior to locomotor activity testing. In all studies, horizontal activity (interruption of photocell beams) was measured for 1 hour within 10 minute periods. Testing was conducted with one mouse per activity chamber. FIGS. 1, 3, 5 and 7 show average horizontal activity counts/10 minutes as a function of time, immediately following injection of Compound 1, Compound 2, Compound 3 and Compound 4, respectively. FIGS. 11 and 13 show average horizontal activity counts/10 minutes as a function of time, beginning twenty minutes following injection of Compound 6 and Compound 7, respectively. The period 30-60 minutes was selected for analysis of dose-response data. Using TableCurve 2D v2.03 software (Jandel Scientific), the mean average horizontal activity counts/10 minutes for this period were fit to a 3-parameter logistic peak function of log 10 dose (with the constant set to 1989, the mean of the vehicle-treated group), and the maximum effect estimated from the resulting curve. The ED 50 for Compound 1-6 (dose producing 1/2 maximal stimulant activity) was estimated from a linear regression against log 10 dose of the ascending portion of the dose-effect curve is shown in Table I below. Compound 7 inhibited locomotor activity; the dose producing 1/2 maximal inhibitory activity ID 50 was 184 mg/kg. FIGS. 2, 4, 6, 8, 12 and 14 show average horizontal activity counts/10 minutes over 30 minutes versus the amount administered of Compound 1, Compound 2, Compound 3, Compound 4, Compound 6 and Compound 7, respectively. TABLE I______________________________________Locomotor Activity in the RatED.sub.50 of Synthesized Compounds AD.sub.50 ; of SynthesizedCompounds Against 20 mg/kg of Cocaine Maximal Effect Relative toCompound ED.sub.50 (mg/kg) Cocaine AD.sub.50 (mg/kg)______________________________________4 3.90 1.07 not tested1 4.88 0.82 not tested2 5.65 0.51 13.763 10.8 0.93 Not tested6 505.7 -- 23.6______________________________________ EXAMPLE 3 Compounds 2, 6 and 7 Block the Effects of Cocaine in Mice This interaction study was conducted using 16 Digiscan locomotor activity testing chambers as described in Example 2. Immediately following IP vehicle or Compound 2 injections (1, 3, 10 or 30 mg/kg) groups of 8 non-habituated male Swiss-Webster mice were injected with either vehicle or 20 mg/kg cocaine IP and immediately placed in the Digiscan apparatus for a one hour session. When testing the effects of Compounds 6 and 7, mice were placed in the Digiscan apparatus twenty minutes after the injection of the test compound or vehicle. FIGS. 9, 15 and 17 show average horizontal activity counts for the different treatment groups as a function of time. The period of 0-30 minutes was selected for analysis of dose-response data because this is the time period in which cocaine produces maximal effects. FIGS. 10, 16 and 18 show average horizontal activity counts/10 min for different treatment groups as a function of dose. In FIG. 10, the bar above "water" represents the effect of vehicle immediately following saline injection; the bar above "cocaine" represents the effect of the 20 mg/kg cocaine immediately following the vehicle injection; The bars above "1", "3", "10" and "30" represent the effects of Compound 2 at the designated doses following the cocaine injection. In FIGS. 16 and 18, the bar above "vehicle" represents the effect of vehicle twenty minutes prior to saline injection; the bar above "coc" represents the effect: of vehicle twenty minutes prior to 20 mg/kg cocaine injection; and the bars above "1", "3", "10", "30" and "100" represent the effects of Compound 6 or Compound 7 at the designated doses twenty minutes prior to 20 mg/kg cocaine injection. Compounds 2, 6 and 7 antagonized the stimulant effect of cocaine and the AD50 (dose attenuating cocaine-induced stimulation by 50%) was calculated to be 13.76 mg/kg for Compound 2 (3-30 mg/kg Compound 2), 23.6 6 mg/kg Compound 6 (3-100 mg/kg dose range) and 42.5 mg/kg for Compound 7 (3-100 mg/kg dose range). The ordinate value for the AD 50 was calculated using the mean of the vehicle plus 20 mg/kg cocaine (cocaine) group as the maximum value. A one-way analysis of variance conducted on log 10 horizontal activity counts for the selected time period indicated a significant overall effect for the treatment groups; F(4,35)=15.92, p>0.05 for Compound 2; F(5,42)=7.95 p<0.5 for Compound 6; and F((5,42)=8.96 p<0.5). Planned comparisons (a priori contrast) against the cocaine group showed significant differences for vehicle and 30 mg/kg Compound 2; and for vehicle and 30 and 100 mg/kg Compound 6 and Compound 7. All ps<0.05 are denoted in FIGS. 10, 16 and 18 with an asterisk. EXAMPLE 4 Stimulation of Locomotor Activity in Mice by Compound 2 Lasts Up to Seven Hours Cocaine Alone Study A dose response study of induced locomotor stimulation was conducted according to the following procedure. The study was conducted using 16 Digiscan locomotor activity testing chambers (40.5×40.5×30.5 cm) housed in sets of two, within sound-attenuating chambers. A panel of infrared beams (16 beams) and corresponding photodetectors were located in the horizontal direction along the sides of each activity chamber. A 7.5-W incandescent light above each chamber provided dim illumination. Fans provided an 80-dB ambient noise level within the chamber. Separate groups of 8 non-habituated male Swiss-Webster mice (Hsd:ND4, aged 2-3 months) were injected via the intraperitoneal (IP) route with either vehicle (0.9% saline) or test compound (5, 10, 20 or 40 mg/kg), immediately prior to locomotor activity testing. In all studies, horizontal activity (interruption of photocell beams) was measured for 8 hours within 10 minute periods, beginning at 0880 hours )two hours after lights on). Testing was conducted with one mouse per activity chamber FIG. 19 shows average horizontal activity counts/10 min as a function of time (0-8 hr) and dose of cocaine (top to bottom panels). Treatment with cocaine resulted in time-dependent stimulation of locomotor activity in doses from 10 to 40 mg/kg. Stimulant effects of 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg occurred within 10 minutes following injection and lasted up to 3 hours. Maximal stimulant effects were evident during the first 30 minutes following 20 mg/kg cocaine, and this period was selected for analysis of dose-response data. Using TableCurve 2D v2.03 software (Jandel Scientific), the mean average horizontal activity counts for this 30-min period were fit to a 3-parameter logistic peak function of log 10 dose (with the constant set to 3172, the mean of the saline-treated group), and the maximum was estimated from the resulting curve (maximum=6059 counts/10 min at 18.3 mg/kg). The ED 50 (dose producing one half maximal stimulant activity) was estimated at 8.8 mg/kg from a linear regression against log 10 dose of the ascending portion of the dose-effect curve (5-20 mg/kg cocaine). A two-way analysis of variance conducted on horizontal activity counts/10 min indicated a significant interaction of Treatment with 10-Minute Periods, as well as a main effect of 10-Minute Periods (ps<0.001). The main effect of Treatment was not significant in the two-way analysis, F(4,35)=2.2, p=0.089. A one-way analysis of variance conducted on log 10 horizontal activity counts for the 0-30 min time period (maximal stimulant effect) indicated a significant effect of Treatment F(4,35)=9.1, p<0.001, and planned comparisons (a priori contrast) against the vehicle group showed a significant difference for 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg (all ps<0.05 denoted on FIG. 19 with an asterisk). Compound 2 Alone Study A time course study of Compound 2-induced locomotor stimulation was conducted under the same conditions as outlined above for the cocaine alone study described above. Separate groups of eight mice were injected with either vehicle (deionized water) or Compound 2 (1, 3, 10 pr 30 mg/kg) immediately prior to locomotor activity testing. FIG. 20 shows average horizontal activity counts/10 min as a function of time (0-8 hr) and dose of Compound 2 (top to bottom panels). Treatment with Compound 2 resulted in time-dependent stimulation of locomotor activity in doses from 3 to 30 mg/kg. Stimulant effects occurred within 40 to 70 minutes following injection and lasted 4 to ≧7 hours. The time period 280-310 min was selected for analysis of dose-response data because this was the time period in which maximal stimulant effects first appeared as a function of dose. Using TableCurve 2D v2.03 software (Jandel Scientific), the mean average horizontal activity counts/10 min for this period were fit to a 3-parameter logistic peak function of log 10 dose (with the constant set to 399, the mean of the vehicle-treated group), and the maximum effect estimated from the resulting curve (maximum=4581 counts/10 min at 12.9 mg/kg) . The ED 50 (dose producing one half maximal stimulant activity) was estimated at 3.3 mg/kg from a linear regression against log 10 dose of the ascending portion of the dose-effect curve (1 to 10 mg/kg 30,644). The maximal effect/cocaine maximal effect ratio (ME/CME) was equal to 1.4 based upon the cocaine dose-effect data determined described above. A two-way analysis of variance conducted on horizontal activity counts/10 min indicated significant effects of Treatment F(4,35)=21.5, p<0.001, 10-Minute Periods F(47,1645)=5.9, p<0.001, and the interaction of those factors F(188,1645)=4.5, p<0.001. A one-way analysis of variance conducted on log 10 horizontal activity counts for the 280-310 min time period (maximal stimulant effect) indicated a significant effect of Treatment F(4,35)=21.3, p<0.001, and planned comparisons (a priori contrast) against the vehicle group showed a significant difference for 3, 10 and 30 mg/kg (all ps<0.05 denoted on FIG. 20 with an asterisk). EXAMPLE 5 Binding of Indamines to the Dopamine (DA), Serotonin (5HT) and Norepinephrine (NE) Cloned Transporter and Inhibition of Dopamine, Serotonin and Norepinephrine Uptake Compounds were tested for their effects on radioligand ( 125 I!)RTI-55) binding to and 3 H!dopamine uptake by C6 cells expressing cDNA for the human dopamine transporter (C6-hDAT cells), their effects on radioligand ( 125 I!)RTI-55) binding and 3 H!serotonin uptake by HEK cells expressing cDNA for the human serotonin transporter (HEK-hSERT cells), and its effects on radioligand ( 125 I!)RTI-55) binding and 3 H!norepinephrine uptake by HEK cells expressing cDNA for the human norepinephrine transporter (HEK-hNET cells). Drugs (10 mM stock solution) were dissolved in DMSO. The final DMSO concentration in the assay is 0.01 percent. Pipetting was performed with a Biomek 2000 robotic work station. ( 125 I!)RTI-55) Binding Prep: Cells were grown on 150 mm diameter tissue culture dishes. Medium was poured off the plate, the plate was washed with 10 ml of phosphate buffered saline, and 10 ml of lysis buffer (2 mM HEPES, 1 mM EDTA) was added. After 10 minutes, cells were scraped from plates and poured into centrifuge tubes and centrifuged for 20 minutes at 30,000×g. Supernatant was removed, and the pellet was resuspended in 20-32 ml 0.32M sucrose, depending on the density of binding sites in a given cell line (i.e., a resuspension volume which results in binding <10% of the total radioactivity), with a Polytron at setting 7 for 10 seconds. Assay: Each assay contained 50μl membrane preparation (approximately 15 μg protein), 25 μl of drug, and 25 μl of 125 I!RTI-55 (40-80 μM final concentration) in a final volume of 250 μl. Krebs HEPES was used for all assays. Membranes were preincubated with drugs for 10 minutes prior to addition of 125 I!RTI-55. The reaction was incubated for 90 minutes at room temperature in the dark and was terminated by filtration onto GF/C filters using a Tom-tech harvester. Scintillation fluid (50 μl) was added to each square and radioactivity remaining on the filter was determined using a Wallac β-plate reader. Competition experiments were conducted with duplicate determinations. Data was analyzed using GraphPAD Prism, with IC 50 values were converted to K 1 values using the Cheng-Prusoff equation. 3 H!Neurotransmitter Uptake for C6 HDAT Cells For experiments involving uptake of 3 H!DA, the medium was removed and Krebs HEPES buffer (25 mM HEPES, 122 mM NaCl, 5 mM KCl, 1.2 mM MgSO 4 , 2.5 mM, CaCl 2 , 1 μM pargyline, 0.2 g glucose/100 ml, 0.02 g ascorbic acid/100 ml, pH 7.4) was added. Uptake was initiated with the addition of 3H!DA (20 nM, specific acitivity 20-53 Ci/mmol) in a final volume of 500 μl. Mazindol (5 μM) was used to define nonspecific uptake. Cells were preincubated for 10 minutes, with drug before addition of neurotransmitter. Uptake was terminated after a 2 minute incubation by removing buffer, and the plate was placed on ice and washed twice with 1 ml ice cold phosphate-buffered saline. Trichloroacetic acid (TCA, 0.5 ml, 3%) was added to each well, cells were allowed to set for 15 minutes, and radioactivity in the TCA was determined by conventional liquid scintillation spectrometry. 3 H!Neurotransmitter Uptake for HEK-HSERT and HEK-HNET Cells: Filtration Assay HEK-hSERT or HEK-hNET cells were plated on 150 mm dishes and grown till confluent. The medium was removed, and cells were washed twice with room temperature phosphate buffered saline (PBS). Following addition of PBS (3 ml), the plates were placed in a 25° C. water bath for 5 minutes. The cells were gently scraped and then triturated with a pipette. Cells from multiple plates were combined. One plate provided enough cells for 48 wells which tested two drug curves. The assay was conducted in 961 ml vials and used the Tomtech Harvester and Betaplate reader. Krebs HEPES (350 μl) and drug solution (50 μl) were added to vials and placed in a 25° C. water bath. Cells (50 μl) were added, preincubated for 10 minutes, and 3 H!5HT or 3 H!NE (50 μl, 20 nM final concentration) was added. Uptake was terminated after 10 minutes by filtration on the Tomtech Harvester using filters presoaked in 0.05% polyethylenimine. The 10 minute uptake time was at the upper edge of the linear time course to obtain a sufficient number of specific counts. The number of cells per assay could not be increased due to the limitation of clogging the filter. The results for Compound 1-10 are shown below in Table II. TABLE II__________________________________________________________________________Binding to DA, 5HT and NE Cloned Transporters (K.sub.i ; nM) andInhibition ofDA, 5HT and NE Uptake (IC.sub.50 ; nM)DA 5HT NE uptake/ uptake/ uptake/ 5HT/DA NE/DACompound I.sup.125 !RTI.sup.-55 uptake binding I.sup.125 !RT.sup.I-55 uptake binding I.sup.125 !RT.sup.I-55 uptake binding uptake uptake__________________________________________________________________________cocaine 300 ± 10 330 ± 30 1.1 500 ± 50 310 ± 40 0.62 2700 ± 350 190 ± 50 0.07 0.94 0.58indanamines4 8.1 ± 1.3 61 ± 12 7.5 2.0 ± 0.8 13 ± 4 6.5 48 ± 29 28 ± 14 0.58 0.21 0.465 27 ± 6 23 ± 10 0.85 5.0 ± 0.8 4.8 ± 1.5 0.96 0.211 29 ± 6 190 ± 20 6.6 3.1 ± 1.2 6.7 ± 2.2 2.2 370 ± 60 72 ± 40 0.19 0.035 0.388 220 ± 40 53 ± 1 0.242 250 ± 30 340 ± 10 1.4 91 ± 9 190 ± 40 2.1 400 ± 100 640 ± 330 1.6 0.56 1.93 39 ± 7 270 ± 30 6.9 16 ± 0.8 24 ± 7 1.5 0.109 32 ± 6 51 ± 21 1.6 93 ± 9 240 ± 70 2.6 110 ± 50 75 ± 35 0.68 4.7 1.52 180 ± 100 190 ± 60 1.1 44 ± 6 1500 ± 500 34. 260 ± 80 420 ± 220 1.6 7.9 2.210 120 ± 3 550 ± 200 4.6 180 ± 45 3700 ± 1300 21. 2800 ± 1900 1600 ± 240 0.57 6.7 2.96 130 ± 90 370 ± 170 2.8 740 ± 260 3100 ± 1200 4.2 150 ± 50 310 ± 50 2.1 8.4 0.847 890 ± 280 2700 ± 1500 3.0 4700 ± 300 >10 μM 440 ± 80 1000 ± 400 2.3 0.37__________________________________________________________________________ EQUIVALENTS Those skilled in the art will know, or be able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, many equivalents to the specific embodiments of the invention described herein. These and all other equivalents are intended to be encompassed by the following claims.
Disclosed are novel compounds which are dopamine reuptake blockers for treating cocaine abuse. The compounds are represented by the following structural formula: ##STR1## R2 is n-propyl, iso-propyl, n-butyl, sec-butyl, or tert-butyl. Phenyl Ring B is unsubstituted or substituted with one, two or three substituents.
2
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This is a divisional application of copending application Ser. No. 14/810,709, filed Jul. 28, 2015, which was a divisional application of application Ser. No. 14/187,503, filed Feb. 24, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,161,141, issued Oct. 13, 2015; this application also claims the priority, under 35 U.S.C. §119, of German Patent Application DE 10 2013 202 930.6, filed Feb. 22, 2013; the prior applications are herewith incorporated by reference in their entirety. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The invention relates to a facility for the wireless resonant charging of rechargeable hearing instruments. Hearing instruments can be embodied for instance as hearing devices. A hearing device is used to supply a hearing-impaired person with acoustic ambient signals which are processed and amplified in order to compensate for or treat the respective hearing impairment. It consists in principal of one or more input transducers, a signal processing facility, an amplification facility and an output converter. The input transducer is generally a sound receiver, e.g. a microphone, and/or an electromagnetic receiver, e.g. an induction coil. The output transducer is usually implemented as an electro acoustic converter, e.g. a miniature loudspeaker, or as an electromechanical converter, e.g. a bone conduction earpiece. It is also referred to as an earpiece or receiver. The output transducer generates output signals, which are routed to the ear of the patient and are to generate a hearing perception in the patient. The amplifier is generally integrated in the signal processing facility. Power is supplied to the hearing device by a battery integrated in the hearing device housing. The essential components of a hearing device are generally arranged on a printed circuit board as a circuit substrate or connected thereto. Besides hearing devices, hearing instruments can also be embodied as so-called tinnitus maskers. Tinnitus maskers are used to treat tinnitus patients. They generate acoustic output signals dependent on the respective hearing impairment and, depending on the working principle, also on ambient noises, the output signals possibly contributing to reducing the perception of interfering tinnitus or other ear noises. Furthermore, hearing instruments can also be embodied as telephones, cell phones, headsets, earphones, MP3 players or other electronic telecommunication or entertainment systems. The term hearing instrument is to be understood below both as hearing devices, and also tinnitus maskers, comparable devices of suchlike as well as electronic telecommunication and entertainment systems. Hearing instruments are usually operated with batteries. The operating life in such cases is limited in terms of time in each instance, depending on the energy content of the batteries and the demand on the hearing instrument. In the light of the general tendency toward miniaturization, batteries with a small installation size are preferred, thereby additionally limiting their energy content. In order to avoid frequently replacing empty batteries, hearing instruments can be operated with rechargeable batteries. NiMH batteries are widely used for instance; a more recent, very widely-used battery technology involves lithium-ion batteries. Batteries of hearing instruments are usually charged galvanically by way of metal contacts on the device. For regulatory reasons in an increasing number of countries, medical products are not permitted to have any live points. Furthermore, moisture, sweat and other electrolyte-containing fluids and impurities result in corrosion on the metal contacts. Lithium-ion batteries have higher operating voltages than NiMH batteries, which further intensifies the problem both in terms of the regulatory aspect and also corrosion. In order to avoid galvanic metal contacts, wireless charging systems can be used. The article titled “Wireless Power Minimizes Interconnection Problems”, by Sam Davis, Power Electronics Technology, July 2011, page 10ff explains the physical and electrodynamic basis of wireless charging systems based on magnetic induction. For high efficiency of the coupling, a small distance and as exact an alignment as possible between the transmit and receive antennas are thus decisive. Furthermore, a high quality of the antennas in respect of their magnetic characteristics and as good a magnetic shielding outwards of the entire system as possible is important. If nothing else, the frequency response of the entire system is important, wherein the efficiency essentially increases with the alternating frequency of the induction field, at least up to a range of at least 100 kHz. U.S. patent publication No. 2011/0254503 A1 discloses a system for the wireless charging of a motor vehicle by magnetic induction. The motor vehicle is equipped with a receive antenna. A transmit antenna is embedded in the floor, for instance in the region of a car parking space. Transmit and receive antennas face one another in a substantially planar manner. A positioning system which operates with a circularly polarized magnetic field and a time-reference signal, assists with ensuring as exact an alignment as possible and as small a distance as possible between the antennas. U.S. patent publication No. 2009/0285426 A1 discloses a system for the wireless charging of a hearing instrument. The hearing instrument and charging device are equipped with a coil in each instance. The coils are inductively coupled for the purpose of transmitting energy and data. In order to achieve a good coupling, the hearing instrument must be positioned in the charging device at exactly the point provided therefore. In order to achieve a more flexible positioning and still good coupling, so-called “charging mats” are known for cell phones (see the article Power Electronics Technology, July 2011, page 10ff) cited above. These comprise an array of planar coils, which can be switched on or off individually. As a result, a coupling to each position on the charging mat can be enabled. Suitable cell phones likewise comprise planar coils. When the cell phone is in a holder, the coils take up a predetermined orientation in respect of the storage area on account of the flat form of the cell phone. As a result, such cell phones can be freely positioned on the charging mat and a coupling to the charging mat can be established at each position. Unlike cell phones, hearing devices are not flat but are instead rounded irregularly. Depending on the hearing loss, they may comprise a small or larger earpiece. In some instances, they are individually molded differently as in-the-ear (ITE) devices. A receive antenna in a laid-down hearing therefore does not necessarily take up a predetermined orientation in relation to the surface on which it is laid. An exact alignment of the transmit and receive coil for a hearing device on a charging mat is therefore not reliably ensured, so that it can be that insufficient power is transmitted to achieve the charging voltage. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a wireless charging system for hearing instruments that overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art devices of this general type, wherein the hearing instrument is to be freely positionable in a charging device for charging purposes. The invention achieves this object by means of a charging system, a charging device and a hearing instrument having the features of the respective independent claims. A basic idea behind the invention consists in a charging device for the wireless charging of a hearing instrument, wherein the charging device has a transmit antenna arrangement, a transmit amplifier for actuating the transmit antenna arrangement and a charging space arranged within the charging device. The transmit antenna arrangement contains at least two feeding points and the transmit antenna arrangement and the feeding points are arranged spatially in relation to the charging space such that a circularly polarized electromagnetic field can thus be generated in the charging space. The transmit amplifier is to this end embodied so as to actuate the antennas accordingly in order to generate a circularly polarized electromagnetic field in the charging space. In this arrangement the transmit antenna arrangement generates a circularly polarized HF field. To this end, the transmit antenna arrangement basically only needs to have one antenna. It could be embodied for instance as a birdcage antenna. If a number of antennas are provided, these can be embodied in various arrangements, e.g. as a remote body array. The feeding network for supplying the feeding points only needs to be embodied such that power and phase can be varied at the feeding points. The feeding network divides the transmit signal into at least two paths with adjustable phase difference Df and amplitudes A 1 and A 2 . For a circular, circularly polarized field, A 1 =A 2 and Df=90° must be selected for instance. The circularly polarized field makes a good resonant coupling possible even with a tilted hearing instrument, in other words with undetermined and unpredictable orientation and position of the receive coil of the hearing instrument. The HF field in the charging space may be homogenous; it may however also be in homogenous. For instance, it can be focused on a preferred position of the hearing instrument in the charging space, and do this by switching coil elements within the transmit arrangement on and off, changing the ratio of the respective transmit powers or changing the phase of individual coils relative to one another. To this end, different instead of identical amplitudes can be set. Furthermore, phases which differ from 90° can be set in order to excite an elliptical volume for instance. A three dimensional volume instead of as with a charging mat a two-dimensional surface is thus excited in the charging device. On account of the possible tilting of the hearing instrument, it is also expedient to configure the charging space not with a planar support area but instead in the form of a three-dimensional charging shell. An advantageous development of the basic idea consists in the wall of the charging space including electromagnetic shielding. As a result, the resonant coupling between the transmit-antenna arrangement and a receive antenna arrangement located in the charging space is intensified. A further advantageous development of the basic idea consists in the transmit antenna arrangement including a number of antennas. As a result, a good compromise is achieved between the design expense of the charging device and the achievable efficiency of the circularly polarized magnetic field. A further advantageous development of the basic idea consists in the antennas being embodied as coils. Coil-type antennas allow for good control and efficiency generation of a circularly polarized magnetic field. A further basic idea behind the invention consists in a wirelessly chargeable hearing instrument, which contains a rechargeable battery, a receive antenna arrangement, which is embodied for the resonant receiving of power, a charging facility, which is embodied for transforming the signal received by the receive antenna arrangement into a charging signal, for charging the battery by supplying the charging signal, and for controlling the charging process, and a transmit facility, which is embodied for transmitting a charging parameter value dependent on the resonant receiving of power to the charging device. The charging facility further includes a detection facility, which is embodied to detect the charging parameter value. It is decisive that the charging system, contrary to the known arrangements (coupled individual coils, charging mats), is embodied to be resonant. The individual resonance frequency of the charging system depends on the respective hearing instrument, caused by deviations in the resonance frequency of the receiver in the hearing instrument, due to manufacturing and component tolerances. The resonance frequency further depends on the position and orientation of the hearing instrument in the charging device. If the magnetic field adheres to the resonance frequency, a particularly efficient transmission of power from the transmit antenna arrangement to the receive antenna arrangement is produced. Consequently, a particularly high charging power develops at the resonance frequency. Conversely, the knowledge of a corresponding charging parameter value accordingly allows conclusions to be drawn as to whether the resonance frequency is adhered to. In order to keep the complexity as low as possible in the receiver of the hearing instrument, the adjustment to the individual resonance frequency (tuning) takes place in the charging device. The tuning can take place in a digital manner, for instance with a direct digital synthesis (DDS) or in an analog manner, for instance with the aid of varactors. With the aid of a wireless communication interface between the hearing instrument and charging device, the charging parameter value relevant to the tuning can be transmitted, for instance the induced charging voltage or the induced charging current. The charging device can then vary the transmit frequency until a maximum of the charging parameter value is reached. In particular, the transmit frequency is varied. The detection of a corresponding charging parameter value in the hearing instrument and transmission to the charging device therefore allows for a tuning to the resonance frequency by the charging device. An advantageous development of the basic idea consists in the charging voltage and/or charging current generated on account of the resonant receipt of power being used as the charging parameters. The charging voltage and charging current are variables which are easy to detect, which also allow for direct conclusion to be drawn with respect to the charging power. With the aid of the wireless communication interface between the hearing instrument and charging device, further data relevant to the charging process can also be transmitted, for instance the charging state of the battery, the type of battery system (for instance NiMH or Li-ion) or the capacity of the battery. A further basic idea behind the invention consists in a charging system, which includes a charging device and a hearing instrument as described previously, wherein the charging device has a regulation facility. The regulation facility is embodied so as to receive the charging parameter value from the transmit facility of the hearing instrument, and the transmit amplifier controls the transmit antenna arrangement in dependence on the charging parameter value. A basic requirement is thus created so as to regulate the charging device in line with the individual conditions (hearing instrument type, component tolerances, position and orientation of the hearing instrument in the charging space etc.) on account of the charging parameter value as an input variable, in order to be able to optimize the resonant coupling or efficiency of the power transmission. An advantageous development of the basic idea consists in the transmit amplifier actuating the transmit antenna arrangement with a frequency regulated in dependence on the charging parameter value. The decisive aspect is that the charging system, unlike the known arrangements (coupled individual coils, charging mats), is embodied to be resonant. The individual resonance frequency of the charging system depends on the respective hearing instrument and is inter alia influenced by deviations in the resonance frequency of the receiver in the hearing instrument, as a result of manufacturing and component tolerances. The resonance frequency further depends on the position and orientation of the hearing instrument in the charging device. As explained previously, the knowledge of a suitable charging parameter value allows for conclusions to be drawn with respect to the adherence to the resonance frequency. On account of the charging parameter value as an input variable, the transmitter in the charging device therefore regulates the transmit frequency in line with the individual resonance frequency in order to be able to establish a resonant coupling between the charging device and the hearing instrument. In order to keep the complexity as low as possible in the receiver of the hearing instrument, the individual resonance frequency (tuning) is adjusted in the transmitter. The tuning can take place in a digital manner, for instance with a DDS (Direct Digital Synthesis) or in an analog manner, for instance with the aid of varactors. With the aid of a wireless communication interface, data relevant to the tuning can be transmitted from the receiver of the hearing instrument to the transmitter, for instance the induced charging voltage or the induced charging current. The transmit frequency is varied until a maximum of the position voltage or charging current is reached. In particular, the transmit frequency is changed, if the charging current or charging voltage is too low. A further advantageous development of the basic idea consists in the transmit amplifier actuating the antennas individually with a transmit power and/or phase regulated as a function of the charging parameter value. By changing the ratio of the respective transmit powers or changing the phase of individual coils with respect to one another, and furthermore also by switching coil elements within the transmit arrangement on and off, the circularly polarized HF field of the antenna can be modulated. A homogenous field can be generated for instance. A field focused on a preferred position of the hearing instrument in the charging device can also be generated. The focusing of the field can, similarly to the transmit frequency, be optimized by varying the focus of the field generated by the transmit coils. To this end, by switching coil elements on and off within the transmitter arrangement, by changing the ratio of the respective transmit powers or by changing the phase of the individual coils, the charging device varies the focus until an optimization of the resonant coupling determined with the aid of the position parameter value is achieved between the charging device and the hearing instrument. Two or more hearing instruments can advantageously also be charged with a charging device or charging system embodied as explained previously. Attention need only be paid here to keeping the alternating current in the receive coils low, since the coils couple with one another mainly by way of the B-field generated by the charging alternating current. To this end the current intensity can be set in the receive coil by balancing out the receive coil. Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims. Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a wireless charging system for hearing instruments, 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. The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic, perspective view of a charging device according to the invention; FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the charging device; FIG. 3 is a block diagram of charging device electronics; FIG. 4 is an illustration of a hearing instrument; FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the charging device; and FIG. 6 is an illustration of a transmit antenna arrangement. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the figures of the drawing in detail and first, particularly, to FIG. 1 thereof, there is shown a perspective representation of a charging device 1 . It includes a housing 2 and a cover 3 . A charging space 5 is arranged within the housing 2 , in which a hearing instrument (not shown in the figure) can be charged. The charging space 5 is not embodied with a planar base, but instead the base is configured as a charging shell 4 . A hearing instrument to be charged, which is introduced into the charging space 5 , generally comes to lie at the lowest point in the charging shell 4 . The charging device 1 is embodied for the wireless charging of an introduced hearing instrument. For the purposes of wireless power transmission, magnetic resonance is used, by a magnetic alternating field being generated in the charging space 5 . In order to improve the resonant coupling between a hearing instrument introduced in the charging space 5 and the magnetic alternating field or the transmit antenna arrangement (not shown in the figure), the charging device 1 is shielded electromagnetically. This is affected by an electromagnetic shielding 7 , which is integrated in the cover 3 , and by an electromagnetic shielding 6 , which is integrated in the housing wall of the housing 2 . The electromagnetic shielding 6 , 7 are configured such that the charging space 5 , with a closed cover 3 , is fully shielded all around. The shielding elements may consist of metal for instance. FIG. 2 shows the charging device 1 in a top view. The cover 3 is open and allows the charging space 5 to be viewed. The electronic charging system of the charging device 1 shown with dashed lines and only indicated schematically in FIG. 2 is disposed below the charging space 5 . Antennas 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 of the transmit antenna arrangement, which are indicated with dashed lines and are likewise only shown schematically are disposed in the wall of the housing 2 . Each of the antennas 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 has at least one feeding point, so that the antenna arrangement formed there contains a number of feeding points. The antennas 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 are arranged such that they can each generate a magnetic field orientated approximately at right angles to the wall of the housing 2 . They thus enable the generation of magnetic fields in all four orthogonal spatial directions of the plane of the charging device 1 (drawing plane). When actuating the respective feeding points with the same frequency and a different phase, this arrangement allows for a circularly polarized magnetic field to be generated in the charging space 5 . The electromagnetic shielding of the housing 2 or cover 3 , not shown in the figure, assists here with suppressing in homogeneities in the magnetic field in the charging space 5 , which could be caused by external influences. Furthermore, the electromagnetic shielding increases the field density in the charging space 5 , thereby allowing for a more efficient transmission of charging power. If the feeding points of the antennas 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 are actuated with a different power in each instance, an inhomogeneous magnetic field can be generated inside the charging device 5 . Furthermore inhomogeneities can also be achieved by actuation with a different phase in each instance and also by different modulation of the respective actuation signal. Furthermore, the antennas 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 can be configured in each instance from a number of antenna elements. They are preferably embodied as coils, which can also include a number of coil elements in each instance. These allow for a further possibility of modulating inhomogeneities of the magnetic field, by individual coils elements being actuated or switched on and off differently. An inhomogeneous magnetic field in the charging space 5 is preferably focused on the lowest, central point of the charging shell 4 . The electronic charging system of the charging device 1 includes a transmit amplifier 12 , a power supply 14 and a regulation facility 13 . The transmit amplifier 12 obtains its operating energy from the power supply 14 and controls the antennas 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 by control commands from the regulation facility 13 . The power supply 14 may be for instance a battery, a rechargeable battery or a power supply. The regulation facility 13 is embodied so as to regulate the transmit amplifier 12 , such that a homogenous or inhomogeneous magnetic field is generated. Furthermore, it can influence a modulation of the inhomogeneous magnetic field. Furthermore, the charging electronics system can regulate the frequency and in homogeneity of the magnetic field on account of an input variable which is still to be explained, in order for instance to optimize the resonant coupling with a device to be charged. FIG. 3 shows the charging electronics of the charging device 1 in a schematic representation. A power supply 14 supplies the charging electronics with energy. The regulation facility 13 provides control commands for the transmit amplifier 12 . The transmit amplifier 12 controls the feeding points of the antennas 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 individually. If the antennas 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 consist of a number of antenna elements, for instance coil elements, the transmit amplifier 12 also controls the feeding points of the antenna elements respectively and individually. The regulation facility 13 and transmit amplifier 12 can each be realized using both analog and also digital circuit technology. In analog circuit technology, a frequency regulation can be realized for instance with the aid of varactors. Digital circuit technology is however preferably used. The output signal can be controlled in digital circuit technology for instance in DDS technology (Direct Digital Synthesis). The transmit amplifier 12 receives control commands from the regulation facility 13 as input variables. The regulation facility 13 is used inter alia to adjust the frequency of the magnetic field in the charging space 5 to the respective individual resonance frequency. The individual resonance frequency depends above all on the design of the introduced hearing instrument and its receive antenna arrangement. Furthermore, the position and orientation of the hearing instrument or its receive antenna arrangement in the charging space 5 are decisive. The resonance frequency consequently determined by the introduced apparatus and its position in the charging system, which is formed by the charging device 1 and the introduced apparatus, represents the magnetic field frequency in which an optimal resonant coupling is provided between the charging device 1 and the introduced apparatus. The regulation facility 13 is used inter alia to regulate the magnetic field frequency, in order to set and retain the resonance frequency. A parameter value of the signal actually transmitted to the device to be charged can preferably be used as a regulation input variable. To this end, the regulation facility 13 is embodied such that it can receive a corresponding parameter value from a hearing instrument introduced into the charging device 1 . The parameter value is preferably transmitted wirelessly. On account of such a received parameter value as an input variable, the regulation facility 13 can vary the magnetic field frequency of the magnetic field until, with the aid of a maximum of the received parameter value, an optimization of the magnetic field is determined. Inhomogeneities of the magnetic field can similarly also be optimized for instance. FIG. 4 shows a behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing device 15 in a schematic representation. It includes a BTE housing 16 and a tube 17 including earpiece 18 . The hearing instrument 15 has a battery 19 for supplying energy, which is embodied as a rechargeable battery. It can be a lithium-ion battery for instance. The rechargeable battery 19 is connected to a charging facility 20 , which charges the battery 19 and controls the charging process. The charging facility 20 is provided with energy from a receive antenna arrangement 21 , once power is induced into the receive antenna arrangement 21 through an external magnetic field. It includes a detection facility, which detects a charging parameter value. The charging parameter may be a charging voltage for instance, a charging current or a charging power. In this case, the detection facility includes a voltage meter and/or current meter. The charging parameter value depends decisively on the signal and the output, which the charging facility 20 receives from the receive antenna arrangement 21 . Consequently, the parameter value depends decisively on the quality or efficiency of the resonant coupling of the receive antenna arrangement 21 with an external magnetic field or an external transmit antenna arrangement. The detected charging parameter value is preferably sent wirelessly by a transmit facility 22 . The transmit facility 22 and the regulation facility 13 cited previously are attuned to one another such that the regulation facility 13 can receive the charging parameters sent from the charging facility 20 . The hearing instrument 15 therefore conveys the charging parameter value, by the charging facility 20 or transmit facility 22 , the charging parameter value being used as an input variable for the regulation of the external magnetic field by the charging device 1 described previously. Parameters of the external magnetic field can in this way be regulated on account of the charging parameter value as an input variable, and varied in each case until a maximum of the charging parameter value is reached. FIG. 5 shows a schematic representation of a modified variant of a charging device 23 in a top view. The charging device 23 includes a cover 24 and a housing 25 . The charging device 23 likewise contains an electromagnetic shielding, which is not however shown in the figure. A power supply 29 indicated using dashed lines supplies energy to a transmit amplifier, likewise indicated with dashed lines, with. The transmit amplifier 30 likewise controls the feeding points of the antennas 26 , 27 , 28 indicated respectively with a dashed line. The antennas 26 , 27 , 28 can each be embodied from a number of antenna elements, the feeding points of the transmit amplifier 30 of which can each actuate individually or be switched on and off. The antennas 26 , 27 , 28 can be configured as coils for instance, which can each be composed of a number of coil elements. The antennas 26 , 27 , 28 are arranged in the wall of the housing 25 such that they can each generate a magnetic field orientated approximately at right angles thereto. By actuation with a phase which differs from one another, a circularly polarized magnetic field can be generated in the plane of the charging space of the charging device 23 (as in the drawing plane). The embodiment of the charging device 23 with three instead of four antennas 26 , 27 , 28 likewise allows for the generation of a circularly polarizing magnetic field, wherein the lower number of antennas nevertheless only allows for lower magnetic field homogeneity. FIG. 6 shows a schematic representation of a transmit antenna arrangement 40 with feeding network 43 . The transmit antenna arrangement 40 is shown by way of indication as a bird cage arrangement. The transmit antenna arrangement 40 includes an antenna 41 , which is supplied with transmit power at two feeding points 42 . The transmit power is fed in from the feeding network 43 . The feeding network 43 to this end has two power outputs 44 , 45 , by way of which a power signal which can be set in each case in terms of amplitude and phase is output to the feeding points 42 . The amplitudes A 1 , A 2 of the respective power signal can be set by the feeding network 43 , similarly the respective phase Ph 1 , Ph 2 or the phase difference Df between the two power signals. For a circular, circularly polarized field, A 1 =A 2 and Df=90° must be selected for instance.
A facility is provided for the wireless resonant charging of rechargeable hearing instruments. The hearing instrument is freely positionable in a charging device for charging purposes. The charging device for the wireless charging has a transmit antenna arrangement, a transmit amplifier for actuating the transmit antenna arrangement and a charging space. The transmit antenna arrangement has two feeding points, which are spatially arranged in relation to the charging space such that a circularly polarized electromagnetic field can thus be generated in the charging space. The transmit amplifier actuates the antennas accordingly to generate a circularly polarized electromagnetic field in the charging space. In the process a coil arrangement generates a circularly polarized HF field. A good resonant coupling, even with a tilted hearing instrument, is possible, in other words with an undetermined and unpredictable orientation and position of the receive coil of the hearing instrument.
7
FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The invention relates to a kind of compound having anti-virus activity, more particularly to a kind of hepatitis C virus protease inhibitor. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Viral hepatitis can be divided into seven types of A, B, C, D, E, F and G Hepatitis C is the most common one and is a kind of infectious disease targeting liver organs caused by hepatitis C virus (hepatitis C virus, HCV). About 3 percent of the global population has been infected with the hepatitis C virus. [0003] Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a positive-strand RNA of about 9.6 Kb including 5′ untranslated region (5′-UTR), open reading frame (ORF) and 3′ untranslated region (3′-UTR). ORF is translated into a polypeptide chain which is subsequently processed into at least 10 different proteins including one nucleocapsid protein, two envelope proteins (E1 and E2) and non-structural proteins (NS2, NS3, NS4A, NS4B, NS5A and NS5B). [0004] At present, there are about 17 anti-HCV compounds (such as ABT-450, BMS-650032, BI 201335, TMC-435, GS 9256, ACH-1625, MK-7009, etc) which have been into the stage of the pre-clinical and clinical development. All of them are designed to target HCV NS3/4A serine protease inhibitors. For example, the drug boceprevir developed by the pharmaceutical giant Merck (Merck) and the drug telaprevir developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Vertex), both are designed to target NS3/4A serine protease of HCV, which were approved by U.S. FDA in 2011. Showed clinically is that the cure rate of both drugs combined with standard treatment can be increased to approximately 75%. [0005] Nevertheless, these drugs are just the beginning. Researchers are developing drugs targeting to more than one biological characteristic of hepatitis C virus. These drugs by combined administration are expected to solve the drug-resistant problem of HCV. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0006] The first aim of the present invention is to provide an anti-virus compound having the general formula (I), or a pharmaceutically acceptable prodrug, salt or hydrate thereof, [0000] [0000] wherein, [0007] A is O, S, CH, NH or NR′, wherein, R′ is C 1 -C 6 alkyl substituted or unsubstituted by halogen which includes 0˜3 heteroatom(s) of O, S or N. [0008] Ra, Rb, Rc and Rd independently is H, OH, halogen or —Y 1 —R m , Y 1 is linking bond, O, S, SO, SO 2 or NR n ; R m is hydrogen, or, R m is an unsubstituted substituent or one substituted by 1˜3 R m ′ which is selected from the following group: (C 1 -C 8 ) alkyl, N≡C—(C 1 -C 6 ) alkyl, (C 2 -C 8 ) alkenyl, (C 2 -C 8 ) alkynyl, (C 3 -C 7 ) cycloalkyl, (C 3 -C 7 cycloalkyl) (C 1 -C 6 ) alkyl, and 5˜6 membered aryl or heteroaryl including 0˜2 heteroatom(s) independently selected from N, O, S; R n is H, (C 1 -C 6 ) alkyl or (C 3 -C 6 ) cycloalkyl. Wherein, R m ′ is a substituent selected from the following group: halogen, (C 1 -C 6 ) alkyl substituted optionally by (C 1 -C 6 )alkyl-O— or (C 3 -C 6 )cycloalkyl-O—, (C 1 -C 6 ) haloalkyl, (C 3 -C 7 )cycloalkyl, (C 1 -C 6 )alkyl-O—, heteroaryl, —NH 2 , (C 1 -C 4 alkyl)NH— and (C 1 -C 4 alkyl) 2 N—. [0009] A 1 is NH or CH 2 . [0010] A 2 is N, O or linking bond. [0011] R 1 ′ is an unsubstituted substituent or one substituted by 1 to more R 1 ″ which is selected from the following group: C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 2 -C 6 alkenyl, C 2 -C 6 alkynyl, aryl, (aryl) C 1 -C 2 alkyl, C 3 -C 7 cycloalkyl, (C 3 -C 7 cycloalkyl) C 1 -C 2 alkyl, C 3 -C 7 cycloalkenyl, (C 3 -C 7 cycloalkenyl) C 1 -C 2 alkyl, heterocycloalkyl, (heterocycloalkyl) C 1 -C 2 alkyl, C 5 -C 10 heteroaryl and (C 5 -C 10 heteroaryl) C 1 -C 2 alkyl; [0012] R 1 ″ is a substituent selected from the following group: halogen, OH, CN, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 2 -C 6 alkenyl, C 2 -C 6 alkynyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl, —NH 2 , (C 1 -C 6 alkyl)-NH— and —N(C 1 -C 6 alkyl) 2 ; [0013] preferably, R 1 ′ is [0000] [0014] R 1 is hydrogen; or; R 1 linking covalently with R 3 together forms a C 5 -C 9 saturated or unsaturated hydrocarbon chain which can be inserted by 0˜2 heteroatom(s) independently selected from N, S and O, or which can be substituted by none or more halogen, O, S or —NR p R q , wherein, R p and R q independently is hydrogen or C 1 -C 6 alkyl; preferably, R 1 linking covalently with R 3 together forms a C 5 alkane chain. [0015] R 3 is C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 2 -C 6 alkenyl, C 3 -C 7 cycloalkyl, C 3 -C 7 cycloalkenyl, heterocycloalkyl, (C 3 -C 7 cycloalkyl) C 1 -C 4 alkyl, (C 3 -C 7 cycloalkenyl) C 1 -C 4 alkyl, (heterocycloalkyl) C 1 -C 4 alkyl, C 2 -C 6 alkylacyl, (C 1 -C 4 alkyl) 1-2 (C 3 -C 7 ) cycloalkyl or (C 1 -C 6 alkyl) 1-2 amino. [0016] R 4 is C 1 -C 10 alkoxycarbonyl, (C 1 -C 10 alkyl)-NHCO, (C 1 -C 10 alkyl) 2 NCO, aryl, heteroaryl or formyl substituted by 3˜7 membered cycloalkyl, heterocycloalkyl or cycloalkoxy, which may be unsubstituted or substituted by 1 to more R 4 ′; wherein, R 4 ′ is a substituent selected from the following group: halogen, OH, CN, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 2 -C 6 alkenyl, C 2 -C 6 alkynyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl, —NH 2 , (C 1 -C 6 alkyl)-NH— and —N(C 1 -C 6 alkyl) 2 , (C 1 -C 6 alkyl)-SO 2 —; [0017] preferably, R 4 is [0000] [0000] wherein, Rx and Ry independently is F, Cl, C 1 -C 6 alkyl or C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl, Rz is C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl, C 1 -C 6 alkylformyl or (C 1 -C 6 alkyl)-SO 2 —. [0018] When Z 3 links with O, Z 1 is N or CR Z1 , Z 2 is CR Z2 , wherein, R Z1 is hydrogen, halogen, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxy, NH 2 , (C 1 -C 6 alkyl)NH or (C 1 -C 6 alkyl) 2 N, R Z2 is hydrogen, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxy, aryl or heteroaryl; or R Z1 , R Z2 with carbon atoms linking with them together form a substituted or unsubstituted ring; [0019] when Z 1 links with O, Z 2 is CH, Z 3 is C—Ar, Ar is a substituted or unsubstituted aryl or heteroaryl. [0020] In one preferable embodiment of the present invention, when Z 3 links with O, preferably, R Z1 , R Z2 with carbon atoms linking with them together form a 6 membered aromatic ring substituted by Re, Rf, Rg and Rh, shown in formula (Ia), [0000] [0021] In formula (Ia), [0022] A is O, S, CH, NH or NR′, wherein, R′ is C 1 -C 6 alkyl substituted or unsubstituted by halogen which includes 0˜3 heteroatom(s) of O, S or N. [0023] Ra, Rb, Rc, Rd, Re, Rf, Rg and Rh independently is H, OH, halogen or —Y 1 —R m , Y 1 is linking bond, O, S, SO, SO 2 or NR n ; R m is hydrogen, or, R m is an unsubstituted substituent or one substituted by 1˜3 R m ′ which is selected from the following group: (C 1 -C 8 ) alkyl, N≡C—(C 1 -C 6 ) alkyl, (C 2 -C 8 ) alkenyl, (C 2 -C 8 ) alkynyl, (C 3 -C 7 ) cycloalkyl, (C 3 -C 7 cycloalkyl) (C 1 -C 6 ) alkyl, and 5˜6 membered aryl or heteroaryl including 0˜2 heteroatom(s) independently selected from N, O, S; R n is H, (C 1 -C 6 ) alkyl or (C 3 -C 6 ) cycloalkyl. Wherein, R m ′ is a substituent selected from the following group: halogen, (C 1 -C 6 ) alkyl substituted optionally by (C 1 -C 6 )alkyl-O— or (C 3 -C 6 )cycloalkyl-O—, (C 1 -C 6 ) haloalkyl, (C 3 -C 7 )cycloalkyl, (C 1 -C 6 )alkyl-O—, heteroaryl, —NH 2 , (C 1 -C 4 alkyl)NH— and (C 1 -C 4 alkyl) 2 N—. [0024] A 1 is NH or CH 2 . [0025] A 2 is N, O or linking bond. [0026] R 1 ′ is an unsubstituted substituent or one substituted by 1 to more R 1 ″ which is selected from the following group: C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 2 -C 6 alkenyl, C 2 -C 6 alkynyl, aryl, (aryl) C 1 -C 2 alkyl, C 3 -C 7 cycloalkyl, (C 3 -C 7 cycloalkyl) C 1 -C 2 alkyl, C 3 -C 7 cycloalkenyl, (C 3 -C 7 cycloalkenyl) C 1 -C 2 alkyl, heterocycloalkyl, (heterocycloalkyl) C 1 -C 2 alkyl, C 5 -C 10 heteroaryl and (C 5 -C 10 heteroaryl) C 1 -C 2 alkyl; [0027] R 1 ″ is a substituent selected from the following group: halogen, OH, CN, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 2 -C 6 alkenyl, C 2 -C 6 alkynyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl, —NH 2 , (C 1 -C 6 alkyl)-NH— and —N(C 1 -C 6 alkyl) 2 ; [0028] preferably, R 1 ′ is [0000] [0029] R 1 is hydrogen; or; R 1 linking covalently with R 3 together forms a C 5 -C 9 saturated or unsaturated hydrocarbon chain which can be inserted by 0˜2 heteroatom(s) independently selected from N, S and O, or which can be substituted by none or more halogen, O, S or —NR p R q , wherein, R p and R q independently is hydrogen or C 1 -C 6 alkyl; preferably, R 1 linking covalently with R 3 together forms a C 5 alkane chain. [0030] R 3 is C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 2 -C 6 alkenyl, C 3 -C 7 cycloalkyl, C 3 -C 7 cycloalkenyl, heterocycloalkyl, (C 3 -C 7 cycloalkyl) C 1 -C 4 alkyl, (C 3 -C 7 cycloalkenyl) C 1 -C 4 alkyl, (heterocycloalkyl) C 1 -C 4 alkyl, C 2 -C 6 alkylacyl, (C 1 -C 4 alkyl) 1-2 (C 3 -C 7 ) cycloalkyl or (C 1 -C 6 alkyl) 1-2 amino. [0031] R 4 is C 1 -C 10 alkoxycarbonyl, (C 1 -C 10 alkyl) 2 NHCO, (C 1 -C 10 alkyl) 2 NCO, aryl, heteroaryl or formyl substituted by 3˜7 membered cycloalkyl, heterocycloalkyl or cycloalkoxy, which may be unsubstituted or substituted by 1 to more R 4 ′; wherein, R 4 ′ is a substituent selected from the following group: halogen, OH, CN, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 2 -C 6 alkenyl, C 2 -C 6 alkynyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl, —NH 2 , (C 1 -C 6 alkyl)-NH— and —N(C 1 -C 6 alkyl) 2 , (C 1 -C 6 alkyl)-SO 2 —; [0032] preferably, R 4 is [0000] [0000] wherein, Rx and Ry independently is F, Cl, C 1 -C 6 alkyl or C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl, Rz is C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl, C 1 -C 6 alkylformyl or (C 1 -C 6 alkyl)-SO 2 —. [0033] In second preferably embodiment of the present invention, when Z 1 links with O, preferably, R 1 is hydrogen, R 3 is C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 2 -C 6 alkenyl, C 3 -C 7 cycloalkyl, C 3 -C 7 cycloalkenyl, heterocycloalkyl, (C 3 -C 7 cycloalkyl) C 1 -C 4 alkyl, (C 3 -C 7 cycloalkenyl) C 1 -C 4 alkyl, (heterocycloalkyl) C 1 -C 4 alkyl, C 2 -C 6 alkylacyl, (C 1 -C 4 alkyl) 1-2 (C 3 -C 7 ) cycloalkyl or (C 1 -C 6 alkyl) 1-2 amino. In this case, the general formula (I) turns into formula (Ib1), [0000] [0034] In formula (Ib1), [0035] Ar is a substituted or unsubstituted aryl or heteroaryl, preferably, Ar is a 6 membered aryl or a 5˜6 membered heteroaryl which is substituted optionally by 1 or more R Ar ; wherein, R Ar is selected from the following substituent group: halogen, amino, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl, C 1 -C 6 hydroxyalkyl and (C 1 -C 6 ) alkylamido. [0036] A is O, S, CH, NH or NR′, wherein, R′ is C 1 -C 6 alkyl substituted or unsubstituted by halogen which includes 0˜3 heteroatom(s) of O, S or N. [0037] Ra, Rb, Rc and Rd independently is H, OH, halogen or —Y 1 —R m , Y 1 is linking bond, O, S, SO, SO 2 or NR n ; R m is hydrogen, or, R m is an unsubstituted substituent or one substituted by 1˜3 R m ′ which is selected from the following group: (C 1 -C 8 ) alkyl, N≡C—(C 1 -C 6 ) alkyl, (C 2 -C 8 ) alkenyl, (C 2 -C 8 ) alkynyl, (C 3 -C 7 ) cycloalkyl, (C 3 -C 7 cycloalkyl) (C 1 -C 6 ) alkyl, and 5˜6 membered aryl or heteroaryl including 0˜2 heteroatom(s) independently selected from N, O, S; [0038] R n is H, (C 1 -C 6 ) alkyl or (C 3 -C 6 ) cycloalkyl. Wherein, R m ′ is a substituent selected from the following group: halogen, (C 1 -C 6 ) alkyl substituted optionally by (C 1 -C 6 )alkyl-O— or (C 3 -C 6 )cycloalkyl-O—, (C 1 -C 6 ) haloalkyl, (C 3 -C 7 )cycloalkyl, (C 1 -C 6 )alkyl-O—, heteroaryl, —NH 2 , (C 1 -C 4 alkyl)NH— and (C 1 -C 4 alkyl) 2 N—. [0039] A 1 is NH or CH 2 . [0040] A 2 is N, O or linking bond. [0041] R 1 ′ is an unsubstituted substituent or one substituted by 1 to more R 1 ″ which is selected from the following group: C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 2 -C 6 alkenyl, C 2 -C 6 alkynyl, aryl, (aryl) C 1 -C 2 alkyl, C 3 -C 7 cycloalkyl, (C 3 -C 7 cycloalkyl) C 1 -C 2 alkyl, C 3 -C 7 cycloalkenyl, (C 3 -C 7 cycloalkenyl) C 1 -C 2 alkyl, heterocycloalkyl, (heterocycloalkyl) C 1 -C 2 alkyl, C 5 -C 10 heteroaryl and (C 5 -C 10 heteroaryl) C 1 -C 2 alkyl; [0042] R 1 ″ is a substituent selected from the following group: halogen, OH, CN, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 2 -C 6 alkenyl, C 2 -C 6 alkynyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl, —NH 2 , (C 1 -C 6 alkyl)-NH— and —N(C 1 -C 6 alkyl) 2 ; [0043] preferably, R 1 ′ is [0000] [0044] R 4 is C 1 -C 10 alkoxycarbonyl, (C 1 -C 10 alkyl)-NHCO, (C 1 -C 10 alkyl) 2 NCO, aryl, heteroaryl or formyl substituted by 3˜7 membered cycloalkyl, heterocycloalkyl or cycloalkoxy, which may be unsubstituted or substituted by 1 to more R 4 ′; [0045] wherein, R 4 ′ is a substituent selected from the following group: halogen, OH, CN, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 2 -C 6 alkenyl, C 2 -C 6 alkynyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl, —NH 2 , (C 1 -C 6 alkyl)-NH— and —N(C 1 -C 6 alkyl) 2 , (C 1 -C 6 alkyl)-SO 2 —; [0046] preferably, R 4 is [0000] [0000] wherein, Rx and Ry independently is F, Cl, C 1 -C 6 alkyl or C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl, Rz is C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl, C 1 -C 6 alkylformyl or (C 1 -C 6 alkyl)-SO 2 —. [0047] In another preferably embodiment of the present invention, when Z 1 links with O, preferably, R 1 linking covalently with R 3 together forms a C 5 -C 9 saturated or unsaturated hydrocarbon chain which can be inserted by 0˜2 heteroatom(s) independently selected from N, S and O, or which can be substituted by none or more halogen, O, S or —NR p R q , wherein, R p and R q independently is hydrogen or C 1 -C 6 alkyl. In this case, A 1 is preferably CH 2 and the general formula (I) turns into formula (Ib2), [0000] [0048] In formula (Ib2), [0049] Ar is a substituted or unsubstituted aryl or heteroaryl, preferably, Ar is a 6 membered aryl or a 5˜6 membered heteroaryl which is substituted optionally by 1 or more R Ar ; wherein, R Ar is selected from the following substituent group: halogen, amino, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl, C 1 -C 6 hydroxyalkyl and (C 1 -C 6 ) alkylamido. [0050] A is O, S, CH, NH or NR′, wherein, R′ is C 1 -C 6 alkyl substituted or unsubstituted by halogen which includes 0˜3 heteroatom(s) of O, S or N. [0051] Ra, Rb, Rc and Rd independently is H, OH, halogen or —Y 1 —R m , Y 1 is linking bond, O, S, SO, SO 2 or NR n ; R m is hydrogen, or, R m is an unsubstituted substituent or one substituted by 1˜3 R m ′ which is selected from the following group: (C 1 -C 8 ) alkyl, N≡C—(C 1 -C 6 ) alkyl, (C 2 -C 8 ) alkenyl, (C 2 -C 8 ) alkynyl, (C 3 -C 7 ) cycloalkyl, (C 3 -C 7 cycloalkyl) (C 1 -C 6 ) alkyl, and 5˜6 membered aryl or heteroaryl including 0˜2 heteroatom(s) independently selected from N, O, S; R n is H, (C 1 -C 6 ) alkyl or (C 3 -C 6 ) cycloalkyl. Wherein, R m ′ is a substituent selected from the following group: halogen, (C 1 -C 6 ) alkyl substituted optionally by (C 1 -C 6 )alkyl-O— or (C 3 -C 6 )cycloalkyl-O—, (C 1 -C 6 ) haloalkyl, (C 3 -C 7 )cycloalkyl, (C 1 -C 6 )alkyl-O—, heteroaryl, —NH 2 , (C 1 -C 4 alkyl)NH— and (C 1 -C 4 alkyl) 2 N—. [0052] A 2 is N, O or linking bond. [0053] R 1 ′ is an unsubstituted substituent or one substituted by 1 to more R 1 ″ which is selected from the following group: C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 2 -C 6 alkenyl, C 2 -C 6 alkynyl, aryl, (aryl) C 1 -C 2 alkyl, C 3 -C 7 cycloalkyl, (C 3 -C 7 cycloalkyl) C 1 -C 2 alkyl, C 3 -C 7 cycloalkenyl, (C 3 -C 7 cycloalkenyl) C 1 -C 2 alkyl, heterocycloalkyl, (heterocycloalkyl) C 1 -C 2 alkyl, C 5 -C 10 heteroaryl and (C 5 -C 10 heteroaryl) C 1 -C 2 alkyl; [0054] R 1 ″ is a substituent selected from the following group: halogen, OH, CN, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 2 -C 6 alkenyl, C 2 -C 6 alkynyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl, —NH 2 , (C 1 -C 6 alkyl)-NH— and —N(C 1 -C 6 alkyl) 2 ; preferably, R 1 ′ is [0000] [0055] R 4 is C 1 -C 10 alkoxycarbonyl, (C 1 -C 10 alkyl)-NHCO, (C 1 -C 10 alkyl) 2 NCO, aryl, heteroaryl or formyl substituted by 3˜7 membered cycloalkyl, heterocycloalkyl or cycloalkoxy, which may be not substituted or substituted by 1 or more R 4 ′; [0056] wherein, R 4 ′ is a substituent selected from the following group: halogen, OH, CN, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 2 -C 6 alkenyl, C 2 -C 6 alkynyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl, —NH 2 , (C 1 -C 6 alkyl)-NH— and —N(C 1 -C 6 alkyl) 2 , (C 1 -C 6 alkyl)-SO 2 —; [0057] preferably, R 4 is [0000] [0000] wherein, Rx and Ry independently is F, Cl, C 1 -C 6 alkyl or C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl, Rz is C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl, C 1 -C 6 alkylformyl or (C 1 -C 6 alkyl)-SO 2 —. [0058] In the present invention, means that it can be double bond or single bond either. [0059] In the present invention, the detailed compound is preferably as follows: [0000] [0060] The second aim of the present invention is to provide a pharmaceutical composition that comprises the compound having the general formula (I) of the present invention and pharmaceutically acceptable carrier(s). Wherein, the pharmaceutical composition of the present invention can also be used in combination with other anti-virus drugs such as interferon or ribavirin. [0061] The third aim of the present invention is to provide a use of the compound of the present invention in preparation of a drug for preventing virus infection or antivirus, wherein, said virus is preferably hepatitis virus, more preferably hepatitis C virus. [0062] The forth aim of the present invention is to provide a method where an effective amount of the compound of the present invention is administered to a patient infected with hepatitis virus, more preferably with HCV. [0063] The synthesis process of the compound having the formula (I) of the present invention is as follows: [0000] [0064] Specifically, when Z 3 links with O, the synthesis of intermediate M that used to synthesize the compound having the formula (Ia) is as follows: [0000] [0065] Specifically, when Z 1 links with O, the synthesis of intermediate M that used to synthesize the compound having the formula (Ib1) and the formula (Ib2) is as follows: [0000] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Example 1 Intermediate 1 (Abbreviated as M1, Same as Following) [0066] Step S 1A : Synthesis of 1-(3-amino-benzofuran-2-yl)-ethanone (1A) [0067] To a solution of 2-hydroxy-benzonitrile (1000 mmol) in DMF (dimethylformamide, 80 mL) was added K 2 CO 3 (207 g, 1.5 mol) portionwise under stirring, followed by 1-chloro-propan-2-one (139 g, 1.5 mol). After addition, the mixture was heated to 120° C. and stirred at that temperature for 2 hours. TLC showed the reaction was completed. The reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature and filtered. The filtrate was extracted with ethyl acetate, washed with brine, dried and concentrated. The residue was washed with dichloromethane, filtered and dried to give 112 g of 1-(3-amino-benzofuran-2-yl)-ethanone (1A). [0068] 1 H-NMR (DMSO): δ (ppm): 7.98 (d, J=8.0 Hz, 1H), 7.52 (m, 2H), 7.28 (dt, J=6.4, 1.6 Hz, 1H), 6.95 (brs, 2H), 2.37 (s, 3H). MS (ESI): M + +1=176.18. Step S 1B : Synthesis of (E) 2-cinnamoyl-3-amino-benzofuran (1B) [0069] To a solution of 1A (114 mmol) in MeOH (200 mL) was added NaOH (18.2 g, 445 mmol). The reaction was exothermic. After cooled to room temperature, benzaldehyde (14.5 g, 137 mmol) was added. The mixture was stirred overnight under N 2 . TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the reaction mixture was poured into ice-water under stirring. The solids precipitated out and were collected by filtration, and dried to give 1B (26 g). [0070] 1 H-NMR (DMSO): δ (ppm): 8.03 (d, J=8 Hz, 1H), 7.80 (dd, J1=7.6 Hz, J2=1.6 Hz, 2H), 7.70 (d, J=16 Hz, 1H), 7.55-7.59 (m, 3H), 7.47 (m, 3H), 7.44-7.48 (m, 3H). MS (ESI): M + +1=265.3. Step S 1C : Synthesis of 2-phenyl-2,3-dihydrobenzofuron[3,2-b]pyridin-4(1H)-one (1C) [0071] 1B (98 mmol) was dissolved in a mixture of AcOH (150 ml) and H 3 PO 4 (150 mL) The reaction mixture was heated to 120° C., and reacted under stirring for 4 hours. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the mixture was cooled and poured into ice-water, filtered and dried to give 1C (21 g). [0072] 1 H-NMR (DMSO): δ (ppm): 7.98 (s, 1H), 7.97 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 2H), 7.59 (q, J1=10.4 Hz, J2=7.6 Hz, 4H), 7.45 (t, J=7.2 Hz, 2H), 7.39 (t, J=7.4 Hz, 1H), 7.32 (m, 1H), 4.98 (dd, J1=14 Hz, J2=4.4 Hz, 1H), 2.86 (dd, J=14, 16.4 Hz, 1H), 2.57 (dd, J=16.4, 4.4 Hz, 1H). MS (ESI): M + +1=264.3. Step S 1D : Synthesis of 2-phenyl-4-hydroxyl-benzo[4,5]furo[3,2-b]pyridine (1D) [0073] To a solution of 1C (79.7 mmol) in 1,4-dioxane (100 mL) was added FeCl 3 .6H 2 O (110 g, 400 mmol). The mixture was refluxed for 3 hours. TLC showed the reaction completed. The mixture was cooled and poured into cold diluted hydrochloric acid aqueous solution under stirring. The solids were precipitated out and collected by filtration, dried to give 1D (14 g). [0074] 1 H-NMR (DMSO-d 6 ): δ (ppm): 10.61 (s, 1H), 8.55 (s, 1H), 8.15 (d, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 8.02 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 2H), 7.55-7.63 (m, 4H), 7.38 (t, J=4.6 Hz, 1H), 7.33 (t, J=3.8 Hz, 1H). MS (ESI): M + 1=262.27. Step S 1E : Synthesis of 4-chloro-2-phenyl-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridine (M1) [0075] 1D (53.6 mmol) was added to POCl 3 (90 mL), heated to dissolve and stirred at 110° C. for 2.5 hours. TLC showed the reaction completed. POCl 3 was evaporated under reduced pressure. The residue was cooled and poured into ice-water under stirring. The solids were collected by filtration and dried to give the desired product M1 (11.5 g). [0076] 1 H-NMR (DMSO-d 6 ): δ (ppm): 8.29 (s, 1H), 8.22-8.27 (m, 3H), 7.91 (d, J=8.0 Hz, 1H), 7.76 (dt, J=8.2, 1.6 Hz, 1H), 7.49-7.59 (m, 4H). MS (ESI): M + +1=280.7. Example 2 Intermediate 2 (M2) [0077] Step S 2A : Synthesis of 2-chloro-6-mercapto-benzonitrile (2A) [0078] The solution of 2,6-dichloro-benzonitrile (20 mmol) in DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide, 30 mL) was heated to 70° C., followed by addition of Na 2 S.9H 2 O portionwise under stirring. The mixture was stirred for 1 hour. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the mixture was cooled and extracted between water and ethyl acetate. The aqueous layer was acidified by hydrochloric acid to pH=3˜4 under stirring. The formed solids were collected by filtration and dried to give 2.3 g of 2-chloro-6-mercapto-benzonitrile (2A). [0079] MS (ESI): M + +1=170.6. Step S 2B : Synthesis of 1-(3-amino-4-chloro-benzothiophen-2-yl)-ethanone (2B) [0080] The procedure was similar to step S 1A , while the starting material was 2-chloro-6-mercapto-benzonitrile (2A) in stead of 2-hydroxy-benzonitrile. [0081] 1 H-NMR (DMSO-d 6 ): δ (ppm): 7.89 (dd, J=8 Hz, J=0.8 Hz, 1H), 7.84 (b, 2H), 7.53 (t, J=16 Hz, 1H), 7.45 (dd, J1=7.6 Hz, J2=1.2 Hz, 1H), 2.37 (s, 3H). MS (ESI): M + +1=226.7. Step S 2C : Synthesis of (E) 2-cinnamoyl-3-amino-4-chloro-benzo[b]thiophene (2C) [0082] The procedure was similar to step S 1B , while the starting material was 2B in stead of 1A. [0083] 1 H-NMR (DMSO-d 6 ): δ (ppm): 8.19 (b, 2H), 7.92 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 7.79 (m, 2H), 7.70 (d, J=15.6 Hz, 1H), 7.56 (t, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.46-7.49 (m, 4H), 7.24 (d, J=15.6 Hz, 1H). MS (ESI): M + +1=315.8. Step S 2D : Synthesis of 2-phenyl-9-chloro-2,3-dihydro-benzo[4,5]thieno[3,2-b]pyridin-4(1H)-one (2D) [0084] The procedure was similar to step S 1C , while the starting material was 2C in stead of 1B. [0085] MS (ESI): M + +1=314.8. Step S 2E : Synthesis of 2-phenyl-9-chloro-4-hydroxyl-benzo[4,5]thieno[3,2-b]pyridine (2E) [0086] The procedure was similar to step S 1D , while the starting material was 2D in stead of 1C. [0087] 1 H-NMR (DMSO): δ (ppm): 11.95 (s, 1H), 8.24 (d, J=8.0 Hz, 2H), 8.12 (dd, J1=7.6 Hz, J2=0.8 Hz, 1H), 7.65 (dd, J=6.4, 1.2 Hz, 1H), 7.61 (d, J=8.0 Hz, 1H), 7.57 (t, J=8.0 Hz, 1H), 7.52 (s, 1H), 7.49 (t, J=7.2 Hz, 1H). MS (ESI): M + +1=312.8. Step S 2F : Synthesis of 4,9-dichloro-2-phenyl-benzo[4,5]thieno[3,2-b]pyridine (M2) [0088] The procedure was similar to step S 1E , while the starting material was 2E in stead of 1D. [0089] 1 H-NMR (DMSO): δ (ppm): 8.43 (s, 1H), 8.40 (dd, J=1.2, 7.6 Hz, 2H), 8.20 (dd, J1=7.6 Hz, J2=1.2 Hz, 1H), 7.73 (dd, J=1.2, 8.0 Hz, 1H), 7.68 (t, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.59 (t, J=7.6 Hz, 2H), 7.53 (dt, J=2.0, 7.6 Hz, 1H). MS (ESI): M + +1=331.2. Example 3 Intermediate 3 (M3) [0090] Step S 3A : Synthesis of 2-mercapto-benzonitrile (3A) [0091] The procedure was similar to step S 2A , while the starting material was 2-fluoro-benzonitrile in stead of 2,6-dichloro-benzonitrile. [0092] MS (ESI): M + +1=136.2. Step S 3B : Synthesis of 1-(3-amino-benzo[b]thiophen-2-yl)-ethanone (3B) [0093] The procedure was similar to step S 1A , while the starting material was 2-mercapto-benzonitrile (3A) in stead of 2-hydroxy-benzonitrile. [0094] 1 H-NMR (DMSO-d 6 ): δ (ppm): 8.19 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 2H), 7.86 (t, J=7.0 Hz, 3H), 7.55 (t, J=7.2 Hz, 1H), 7.43 (t, J=7.2 Hz, 1H), 2.35 (s, 3H). MS (ESI): [0095] M + +1=193.2. Step S 3C : Synthesis of (E)-2-cinnamoyl 3-amino-benzo[b]thiophene (3C) [0096] The procedure was similar to step S 1B , while the starting material was 3B in stead of 1A. [0097] 1 H-NMR (DMSO-d 6 ): δ (ppm): 8.25 (m, 3H), 7.91 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 7.79 (d, J=15.6 Hz, 2H), 7.69 (d, J=7.2 Hz, 1H), 7.61 (t, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.46 (t, J=6.4 Hz, 4H), 7.23 (d, J=15.6 Hz, 1H). MS (ESI): M + +1=280.3. Step S 3D : Synthesis of 2-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-benzo[4,5]thieno[3,2-b]pyridin-4(1H)-one (3D) [0098] The procedure was similar to step S 1C , while the starting material was 2C in stead of 1B. [0099] MS (ESI): M + +1=280.3. [0100] Step S 3E : Synthesis of 2-phenyl-4-hydroxyl-benzothieno[3,2-b]pyridine (3E) [0101] The procedure was similar to step S 1D , while the starting material was 3D in stead of 1C. [0102] MS (ESI): M + +1=278.3. Step S 3F : Synthesis of 4-chloro-2-phenyl-benzothieno[3,2-b]pyridine (M3) [0103] The procedure was similar to step S 1F , while the starting material was 3E in stead of 1D. [0104] 1 H-NMR (DMSO-d 6 ): δ (ppm): 8.54 (d, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 8.35 (s, 1H), 8.34 (dd, J=1.6, 7.6 Hz, 1H), 8.20 (d, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.74 (dt, J=7.2, 1.2 Hz, 1H), 7.68 (dt, J=7.6, 1.6 Hz, 1H), 7.51-7.60 (m, 3H). MS (ESI): M + +1=296.8. Example 4 Intermediate 4 (M4) [0105] Step S 4A : Synthesis of 2-hydroxy-5-methoxy-benzaldehyde (4A) [0106] To a mixture of MgCl 2 (3.48 g, 37.0 mmol), TEA (12.8 mL, 92.1 mmol) and paraformaldehyde (5 g, 167 mmol) in MeCN (100 mL) was added 4-methoxy-phenol (3 g, 24.2 mmol). The mixture was refluxed for 8 hours, cooled to room temperature, then poured into 5% HCl (300 mL), extracted with ethyl acetate (200 mL×3). The combined organic layer was dried, concentrated and purified by column chromatography on silica gel (ethyl acetate/n-hexane=1/5) to give 2.3 g of 2-hydroxy-5-methoxy-benzaldehyde (4A). [0107] 1 H-NMR (DMSO-d 6 ): δ (ppm): 10.67 (s, 1H), 9.87 (s, 1H), 7.18 (dd, J1=8.8 Hz, J2=3.6 Hz, 1H), 7.02 (d, J=2.8 Hz, 1H), 6.95 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 3.83 (s, 3H). MS (ESI): M + +1=153.15. Step S 4B : Synthesis of 2-hydroxy-5-methoxy-benzonitrile (4B) [0108] To a solution of 2-hydroxy-5-methoxy-benzaldehyde (10 g, 65.7 mmol) in 95% EtOH (30 mL) was added a solution of hydroxylamine hydrochloride (2.8 g, 78.8 mmol) in water (6 mL), followed a solution of NaOH (4 g, 98.8 mmol) in water. The mixture was stirred at room temperature for 2.5 hours, then extracted with ethyl acetate, dried over anhydrous Na 2 SO 4 and concentrated to give 12 g of solid. To the solid was added Ac 2 O (15 g, 146.9 mmol) and the mixture was refluxed for 20 min. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the mixture was poured into crash ice. Solids were precipitated out while stirring, which was collected by filtration and dried to give 9 g of 2-hydroxy-5-methoxy-benzonitrile (4B). [0109] MS (ESI): M + +1=150.15. Step S 4C : Synthesis of 1-(3-amino-5-methoxy-benzofuran-2-yl)-ethanone (4C) [0110] The procedure was similar to step S 1A , while the starting material was 2-hydroxy-5-methoxy-benzonitrile (4B) in stead of 2-hydroxy-benzonitrile. [0111] 1 H-NMR (DMSO-d 6 ): δ (ppm): 7.52 (d, J=2.4 Hz, 1H), 7.41 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.13 (dd, J=2.8, 9.2 Hz, 1H), 6.82 (s, 2H), 3.79 (s, 3H), 2.34 (s, 3H). MS (ESI): M + +1=208.23. Step S 4D : Synthesis of (E)-2-cinnamoyl-3-amino-5-methoxy-benzofuran (4D) [0112] The procedure was similar to step S 1B , while the starting material was 4C in stead of 1A. [0113] MS (ESI): M + +1=294.32. Step S 4E : Synthesis of 2-phenyl-8-methoxy-2,3-dihydro-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridin-4(1H)-one (4E) [0114] The procedure was similar to step S ic , while the starting material was 4D in stead of 1B. [0115] MS (ESI): M + +1=294.32. Step S 4F : Synthesis of 2-phenyl-4-hydroxyl-8-methoxy-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridine (4F) [0116] The procedure was similar to step S W , while the starting material was 4E in stead of 1C. [0117] MS (ESI): M + +1=292.3. Step S 4G : Synthesis of 4-chloro-8-methoxy-2-phenyl-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridine (M4) [0118] The procedure was similar to step S 1E , while the starting material was 4F in stead of 1D. [0119] 1 H-NMR (DMSO-d 6 ): δ (ppm): 8.29 (s, 1H), 8.26 (dd, J1=6.8 Hz, J2=1.6 Hz, 2H), 7.83 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 7.70 (d, J=2.8 Hz, 1H), 7.55 (t, J=6.4 Hz, 2H), 7.51 (t, J=7.2 Hz, 1H), 7.31 (dd, J1=8.8 Hz, J2=2.8 Hz, 1H), 3.93 (s, 1H). MS (ESI): M + +1=310.75. Example 5 Intermediate 5 (M5) [0120] Step S 5A : Synthesis of 5-chloro-2-hydroxy-benzonitrile (5A) [0121] To a solution of 2-hydroxy-benzonitrile (5 g, 42 mmol) in chloroform (50 mL) was added 15 mL of a solution of NCS(N-chlorosuccinimide, 5.558 g, 44.1 mmol) in chloroform. The reaction mixture was refluxed overnight. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the mixture was poured into ice-water. The organic layer was washed with water, then stayed overnight. [0122] The precipitated solids were collected by filtration. The filtrate was concentrated, recrystallized from chloroform and filtered to give a solid. The two batches of product were combined to give 4 g of 5-chloro-2-hydroxy-benzonitrile (5A). [0123] 1 H-NMR (DMSO-d 6 ): δ (ppm): 11.44 (s, 1H), 7.77 (d, J=2.4 Hz, 1H), 7.55 (dd, J1=8.8 Hz, J2=2.4 Hz, 1H), 7.02 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H). MS (ESI): [0124] M + +1=154.6. Step S 5B : Synthesis of 1-(3-amino-5-chloro-benzofuran-2-yl)-ethanone (5B) [0125] The procedure was similar to step S 1A , while the starting material was 5-chloro-2-hydroxy-benzonitrile (5A) in stead of 2-hydroxy-benzonitrile. [0126] 1 H-NMR (DMSO-d 6 ): δ (ppm): 8.09 (q, 1H), 7.55 (t, J=1.2 Hz, 2H), 6.92 (b, 2H), 2.37 (s, 3H). MS (ESI): M + +1=212.6. Step S 5C : Synthesis of (E)-2-cinnamoyl-3-amino-5-chloro-benzofuran (5C) [0127] The procedure was similar to step S 1B , while the starting material was 5B in stead of 1A. [0128] 1 H-NMR (DMSO-d 6 ): δ (ppm): 8.14 (m, 1H), 7.78-7.81 (m, 2H), 7.70 (d, J=15.6 Hz, 1H), 7.60 (m, 2H), 7.50 (d, J=15.6 Hz, 1H), 7.45-7.49 (m, 3H), 7.24 (b, 2H). MS (ESI): M + +1=298.7. Step S 5D : Synthesis of 2-phenyl-8-chloro-2,3-dihydro-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridin-4(1H)-one (5D) [0129] The procedure was similar to step S ic , while the starting material was 5C in stead of 1B. [0130] MS (ESI): M + +1=298.7. Step S 5E : Synthesis of 2-phenyl-8-chloro-4-hydroxyl-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridine (5E) [0131] The procedure was similar to step S 1D , while the starting material was 5D in stead of 1C. [0132] MS (ESI): M + +1=296.7. Step S 5F : Synthesis of 4,8-dichloro-2-phenyl-benzo[4,5]furo[3,2-b]pyridine (M5) [0133] The procedure was similar to step S 1E , while the starting material was 5E in stead of 1D. [0134] 1 H-NMR (DMSO-d 6 ): δ (ppm): 8.37 (s, 1H), 8.30 (d, J=2.4 Hz, 1H), 8.25 (dd, J1=8.4 Hz, J2=1.6 Hz, 2H), 7.96 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 7.78 (dd, J1=8.8 Hz, J2=2.4 Hz, 1H), 7.55 (dt, J=7.6, 1.6 Hz, 2H), 7.52 (t, J=7.6 Hz, 1H). MS (ESI): M + +1=315.2. Example 6 Intermediate 6 (M6) [0135] Step S 6A : Synthesis of 1-(3-amino-5-bromo-benzofuran-2-yl)-ethanone (6A) [0136] A mixture of 5-bromo-2-hydroxy-benzonitrile (15.06 g, 76.06 mmol), 1-chloro-propan-2-one (10.56 g, 114.09 mmol, 1.5 eq) and K 2 CO 3 (15.77 g, 114.09 mmol, 1.5 eq) was added to DMF (100 mL) The mixture was stirred at 90° C. for 2 hours. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the mixture was cooled to room temperature and poured into water (500 mL). [0137] The yellow solids precipitated out were collected by filtration to give 1-(3-amino-5-bromo-benzofuran-2-yl)-ethanone (6A) (19.2 g, 99.36% yield). [0138] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ): δ (ppm): 8.24 (d, J=2.0 Hz, 1H), 7.64-7.67 (dd, J1=8.8 Hz, J2=2.0 Hz, 1H), 7.51 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 6.91 (s, 2H), 2.37 (s, 3H). Step S 6B : Synthesis of (Z)-2-cinnamoyl-3-amino-5-bromo-benzofuran (6B) [0139] A mixture of 1-(3-amino-5-bromo-benzofuran-2-yl)-ethanone (19.2 g, 75.57 mmol), NaOH (12.09 g, 302.27 mmol, 4 eq) and benzaldehyde (10.42 g, 98.24 mmol, 1.3 eq) was added to MeOH (400 mL) The mixture was stirred at 45° C. for 48 hours. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the mixture was cooled to room temperature and poured into water (400 mL). [0140] The yellow solids precipitated out were collected by filtration to give (Z)-2-cinnamoyl-3-amino-5-bromo-benzofuran (6B) (28 g, 100% yield). [0141] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.29 (d, J=1.6 Hz, 1H), 7.78-7.80 (m, 2H), 7.68-7.72 (m, 2H), 7.57 (s, 1H), 7.54 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 7.45-7.48 (m, 3H), 7.24 (s, 2H). Step S 6C : Synthesis of 8-bromo-2-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridin-4(1H)-one (6C) [0142] A solution of (Z)-2-cinnamoyl-3-amino-5-bromo-benzofuran (28 g, 81.83 mmol) in AcOH (70 mL) and H 3 PO 4 (70 mL) was refluxed for 2 hours. TLC showed the reaction completed. The mixture was cooled to room temperature and poured into water (250 mL) The yellow solids precipitated out were collected by filtration to give 8-bromo-2-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridin-4(1H)-one (6C) (23.8 g, 85% yield). [0143] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.2 (d, J=1.6 Hz, 1H), 7.94 (s, 1H), 7.70-7.73 (dd, J1=9.2 Hz, J2=2.8 Hz, 1H), 7.56-7.59 (m, 3H), 7.44 (t, J=7.2 Hz, 3H), 7.37-7.40 (m, 1H), 4.97 (dd, J1=14.6 Hz, J2=4.8 Hz, 1H), 2.87 (dd, J1=16.4 Hz, J2=14.0 Hz, 1H), 2.54-2.60 (dd, J1=16.0 Hz, J2=4.4 Hz, 1H). Step S 6D : Synthesis of 4-hydroxyl-8-bromo-2-phenyl-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridine (6D) [0144] A mixture of 8-bromo-2-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridin-4(1H)-one (23.8 g, 69.55 mmol) and FeCl 3 .6H 2 O (112.78 g, 417.3 mmol) was added to 1,4-dioxane (300 mL) The mixture was refluxed for 16 hours. TLC showed the reaction completed. The mixture was cooled to room temperature and poured into ice-water (500 mL) The yellow solids precipitated out were collected by filtration to give 4-hydroxyl-8-bromo-2-phenyl-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridine (6D) (15.7 g, 66.36% yield). Step S 6E : Synthesis of 8-bromo-4-chloro-2-phenyl-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridine (M6) [0145] 4-hydroxyl-8-bromo-2-phenyl-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridine (8.7 g, 25.72 mmol) was added to POCl 3 (100 mL) The mixture was refluxed for 4 hours. TLC showed the reaction completed. POCl 3 was evaporated under reduced pressure. The residue was poured into ice-water under stirring. The yellow solids precipitated out were collected by filtration to give 8-bromo-4-chloro-2-phenyl-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridine (M6) (6.52 g, 71.01% yield). [0146] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 8.43 (s, 1H), 8.09 (d, J=7.2 Hz, 2H), 7.87 (s, 1H), 7.70-7.74 (dd, J1=8.8 Hz, J2=2.0 Hz, 1H), 7.53-7.59 (m, 3H), 7.47-7.51 (m, 1H). Example 7 Synthesis of 7G [0147] Step S 7A : Synthesis of 2-chloro-3,6-dihydroxy-benzaldehyde (7A) [0148] 2,5-dihydroxy-benzaldehyde (100 g, 0.725 mol) was dissolved in MeCN (1L). To the solution was added NCS(N-chlorosuccinimide, 106 g, 1.1 eq) in batches under N 2 protection. After addition completed, the mixture was stirred at room temperature overnight. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, NaHSO 3 (38%, 500 mL) was added to the mixture, then extracted with ethyl acetate (3×600 mL) The organic layer was washed with water (2×600 mL) and brine (600 mL), dried over anhydrous MgSO 4 , concentrated to give a crude product, which was recrystallized to give the desired product 7A (25.6 g, 20.5% yield), as a yellow solid. [0149] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ): δ 11.09 (s, 1H), 10.34 (s, 1H), 9.94 (s, 1H), 7.23 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 6.84 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H). Step S 7B : Synthesis of (E)-2-chloro-3,6-dihydroxy-benzaldehyde oxime (7B) [0150] A mixture of 7A (25.0 g, 144.87 mmol), hydroxylamine hydrochloride (12.08 g, 173.84 mmol, 1.2 eq) and NaOH (8.69 g, 217.3 mmol, 1.5 eq) in EtOH (200 mL) and H 2 O (100 mL) was stirred at room temperature overnight. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the mixture was extracted with ethyl acetate and concentrated to give a yellow solid 7B (34.2 g, 100% yield). Step S 7c : Synthesis of 2-chloro-3-cyano-1,4-diacetoxy-benzene (7C) [0151] 7B (34.2 g, 182.32 mmol) was dissolved in Ac 2 O (200 mL) The reaction mixture was refluxed for 24 hours under stirring. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the mixture was cooled to room temperature and poured into water (250 mL), extracted with ethyl acetate, concentrated and purified by column chromatography on silica gel to give product 7C (17.3 g, 37.2% yield). Step S 7D : Synthesis of acetic acid 2-chloro-3-cyano-4-hydroxy-phenyl ester (7D) [0152] 7C (13.8 g, 54.4 mmol) was dissolved in MeOH (80 ml) and dichloromethane (80 mL). To the solution was added K 2 CO 3 (7.52 g, 54.4 mmol, 1 eq). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 40 min. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the mixture was acidified by 1N hydrochloric acid to pH˜6, extracted with dichloromethane and concentrated to give white solid 7D (7.8 g, 67.76% yield). [0153] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 11.76 (s, 1H), 7.46 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.03 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 2.32 (s, 3H). Step S 7E : Synthesis of 2-acetyl-3-amino-4-chloro-5-acetoxyl-benzofuran (7E) [0154] To a solution of 7D (2.2 g, 10.4 mmol) in MeCN (20 mL) was added 1-chloro-propan-2-one (1.25 g, 13.52 mmol, 1.3 eq), followed by K 2 CO 3 (1.868 g, 13.52 mmol, 1.3 eq). The mixture was stirred at 90° C. for 40 min. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the mixture was quenched with water (100 mL) The white solids were precipitated out and collected by filtration and dried to give product 7E (3 g, 100% yield). Step S 7F : Synthesis of 2-acetyl-3-amino-4-chloro-5-hydroxy-benzofuran (7F) [0155] To a solution of 7E (12.8 g, 47.82 mmol) in MeOH (100 mL) was added a solution of saturated aqueous of K 2 CO 3 (6.61 g, 47.82 mmol, 1 eq.) dropwise. The mixture was stirred at room temperature overnight. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the mixture was acidified by 1N hydrochloric acid to pH˜6, extracted with ethyl acetate and concentrated to give white solid 7F (10.2 g, 94.54% yield). [0156] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 10.14 (s, 1H), 7.36 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 7.19 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 6.46 (s, 2H), 2.37 (s, 3H). Step S 7G : Synthesis of 2-acetyl-3-amino-4-chloro-5-methoxyl-benzofuran (7G) [0157] To a solution of 7F (0.5 g, 2.22 mmol) in DMF (5 mL) was added anhydrous CsF (1.01 g, 6.65 mmol, 3 eq), followed by MeI (0.377 g, 2.66 mmol, 1.2 eq) dropwise. The mixture was stirred at room temperature for 40 min. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the mixture was poured into water (25 mL) The white solids were precipitated out, collected by filtration and purified to give product 7G (0.33 g, 62.14% yield). [0158] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 7.50 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.42 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 6.51 (s, 2H), 3.89 (s, 3H), 2.38 (s, 3H). Example 8 Intermediate 8 (M8) [0159] Step S 8A : Synthesis of 2-cinnamoyl-3-amino-4-chloro-5-methoxy-benzofuran (8A) [0160] A mixture of 7G (1.5 g, 6.26 mmol), benzaldehyde (0.863 g, 8.14 mmol, 1.3 eq) and NaOH (1.0 g, 25.04 mmol, 4 eq) in MeOH (20 mL) was stirred at 45° C. for 24 hours. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature and poured into water (20 mL) The yellow solids precipitated out were collected by filtration and dried to give product 8A (1.9 g, 92.6% yield). Step S 8B : Synthesis of 9-chloro-8-methoxy-2-phenyl-2,3-dihydrobenzofuro[3,2-b]pyridin-4(1H)-one (8B) [0161] A mixture of 8A (1.9 g, 5.8 mmol) in AcOH (10 mL) and H 3 PO 4 (10 mL) was refluxed for 2 hours. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature and poured into water (20 mL) The yellow solids were precipitated out, collected by filtration and dried to give product 8B (1.78 g, 93.68% yield). Step S 8C : Synthesis of 4-hydroxyl-9-chloro-8-methoxy-2-phenyl-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridine (8C) [0162] A mixture of 8B (1.78 g, 5.43 mmol) and FeCl 3 .6H 2 O (6.57 g, 32.58 mmol, 6 eq) was added to 1,4-dioxane (40 mL) The mixture was refluxed for 16 hours. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature and poured into water (50 mL) The brown solids were precipitated out, collected by filtration and dried to give product 8C (1.5 g, 84.8% yield). Step S 8D : Synthesis of 4,9-dichloro-8-methoxy-2-phenyl-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridine (M8) [0163] A mixture of 8C (1.4 g, 4.3 mmol) in POCl 3 (20 mL) was refluxed for 2 hours. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, POCl 3 was evaporated under reduced pressure. The residue was poured into ice-water. The yellow solids were precipitated out, collected by filtration and purified by column chromatography to give product M8 (1.22 g, 82.5% yield). [0164] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 8.16 (d, J=7.2 Hz, 2H), 7.88 (s, 1H), 7.44-7.55 (m, 4H), 7.19-7.22 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 4.02 (s, 3H). Example 9 Intermediate 9 (M9) [0165] Step S 9A : Synthesis of (E)-1-(3-amino-4-chloro-5-methoxy-benzofuran-2-yl)-3-(2-isopropyl-thiazol-5-yl)-2-propen-1-one (9A) [0166] 7G (3 g, 12.5 mmol) was dissolved in THF (tetrahydrofuran, 30 mL). To the solution was added 2-isopropyl-thiazole-5-carbaldehyde (2.33 g, 15 mmol, 1.2 eq), followed by crushed NaOH powder (1 g, 25 mmol, 2 eq). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 10 min. The solution became dark and some solids formed. The mixture was poured into ice-water under stirring. [0167] The solids were collected by filtration, dried and purified by column chromatography on silica gel to give 3.5 g of pure product (9A). [0168] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 7.88 (d, J=16.0 Hz, 1H), 7.86 (s, 1H), 7.32 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 7.21 (d, J=16.0 Hz, 1H), 7.19 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 6.38 (s, 2H), 3.97 (s, 3H), 3.35 (m, 1H), 1.44 (d, J=7.2 Hz, 6H); ES-LCMS m/z N/A. Step S 9B : Synthesis of 9-chloro-2-(2-isopropylthiazol-5-yl)-8-methoxy-1,2-dihydro-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridin-4-one (9B) [0169] 9A (3.5 g, 9.28 mmol) was added to MeCN (50 mL) and stirred at room temperature. To the mixture was added ZnCl 2 (1.91 g, 13.93 mmol, 1.5 eq), followed by AcOH (50 mL) and H 3 PO 4 (50 mL) The reaction mixture was heated to 80° C. and stirred overnight. After reaction completed, the mixture was cooled and poured into crushed ice under stirring, neutralized to pH=7-8, extracted with ethyl acetate, dried and concentrated to give 2.4 g of product (9B). [0170] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 7.70 (s, 1H), 7.39 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 7.21 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 5.56 (brs, 1H), 5.25 (dd, J=12.0, 4.8 Hz, 1H), 3.97 (s, 3H), 3.25-3.35 (m, 1H), 2.29-3.02 (m, 2H), 1.45 (d, J=7.0 Hz, 6H). Step S 9C : Synthesis of 4-hydroxyl-9-chloro-2-(2-isopropyl-thiazol-5-yl)-8-methoxy-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridine (9C) [0171] The crude 9B (2.4 g, 6.9 mmol) was dissolved in THF (50 mL). To the solution was added activated MnO 2 (3.6 g, 40.4 mmol, 6 eq). The mixture was refluxed overnight. After reaction completed, the reaction mixture was cooled and filtered. The cake was washed well with THF and MeOH. The filtrate was concentrated and purified by column chromatography on silica gel to give 300 mg of pure product (9C). [0172] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.23 (s, 1H), 7.75 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 7.48 (s, 1H), 7.46 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 3.96 (s, 3H), 3.30 (m, 1H), 1.385 (d, J=7.3 Hz, 6H). Step S 9D : Synthesis of 4,9-dichloro-2-(2-isopropyl-thiazol-5-yl)-8-methoxy-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridine (M9) [0173] A mixture of 9C (300 mg, 0.80 mmol) in POCl 3 (5 mL) was refluxed for 30 min. After reaction completed, POCl 3 was evaporated under reduced pressure. The residue was poured into crushed ice under stirring for 10 min. The solids were collected by filtration and dried to give 320 mg of crude product, which was dissolved in dichloromethane, purified by flash chromatography and concentrated to give 175 mg of pure product (M9). [0174] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 8.15 (s, 1H), 7.79 (s, 1H), 7.567 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 7.268 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 4.04 (s, 3H), 3.39 (m, 1H), 1.50 (d, J=7.2 Hz, 6H); ES-LCMS m/z N/A. Example 10 Intermediate 10 (M10) [0175] Step S 10A : Synthesis of 1-(3-amino-4-chloro-5-methoxy-benzofuran-2-yl)-3-(2-isopropyl-thiazol-4-yl)-2-propen-1-one (10A) [0176] A mixture of 7G (6.4 g, 26.7 mmol), 2-isopropyl-thiazole-4-carbaldehyde (4.8 g, 30.92 mmol, 1.16 eq) and NaOH (4.27 g, 106.8 mmol, 4 eq) in MeOH (200 mL) was stirred at 45° C. for 24 hours. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature and poured into water (200 mL) The yellow precipitates were collected by filtration and dried to give product 10A (9.96 g, 98.9% yield). [0177] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.03 (s, 1H), 7.63 (s, 1H), 7.60 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.45-7.48 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 6.86 (s, 2H), 3.91 (s, 3H), 3.39 (m, 1H), 1.38 (d, J=6.4 Hz, 6H). Step S 10B : Synthesis of 9-chloro-2-(2-isopropyl-thiazol-4-yl)-8-methoxy-2,3-dihydro-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridin-4(1H)-one (10B) [0178] 10A (9.96 g, 26.43 mmol) was dissolved in AcOH (50 mL) and H 3 PO 4 (50 mL). The solution was refluxed for 2 hours. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature and poured into water (200 mL) The brown precipitates were collected by filtration and dried to give product 10B (10.8 g), which was used for the next step directly. Step S 10C : Synthesis of 4-hydroxyl-9-chloro-2-(2-isopropyl-thiazol-4-yl)-8-methoxy-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridine (10C) [0179] A mixture of 10B (10.3 g, 27.33 mmol, crude) and FeCl 3 .6H 2 O (33.04 g, 164.0 mmol, 6 eq) was added to 1,4-dioxane (300 mL) The mixture was refluxed for 16 hours. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature and poured into water (300 mL), extracted with ethyl acetate and concentrated to give a crude product 10C (8.75 g), which was used for the next step directly. Step S 10D : Synthesis of 4,9-dichloro-2-(2-isopropyl-thiazol-4-yl)-8-methoxy-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridine (M10) [0180] The crude 10C (8.75 g, 23.34 mmol) was added to POCl 3 (200 mL) The mixture was refluxed for 2 hours. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, POCl 3 was evaporated under reduced pressure. The residue was poured into crushed ice under stirring. The yellow solids were collected by filtration and purified by flash chromatography to give product M10 (0.66 g). [0181] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 8.36 (s, 1H), 8.17 (s, 1H), 7.53 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 7.22 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 4.03 (s, 3H), 3.42 (m, 1H), 1.50 (d, J=6.0 Hz, 6H). Example 11 Intermediate 11 (M11) [0182] Step S 11A : Synthesis of isobutyryl-thiourea (11A) [0183] Thiourea (152 g, 2 mol) was dissolved in toluene (1520 mL). To the solution was added isobutyryl chloride (213 g, 2 mol) under mechanical stirring. The reaction mixture was refluxed for 3 hours. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature and filtered to remove insoluble solids. The filtrate was concentrated to dryness. The yellow solids were collected by filtration, washed with petroleum ether (100 mL×3) to appear white, dried in vacumm to give the desired product 11A (90 g, 30% yield) as a white solid (mp: 114˜116° C.). [0184] 1 H-NMR (CDCl 3 ): δ 1.24 (d, J=6.0 Hz, 2×3H), δ 2.68 (m, J=6.93 Hz, 1H). Step S 11B : Synthesis of 2-isobutyrylamino-thiazole-4-carboxylic acid ethyl ester (11B) [0185] 11A (29.6 g, 0.2 mol) was dissolved in anhydrous EtOH (300 mL). To the solution was added 3-bromo-2-oxo-propionic acid (34 g, 0.17 mol). The mixture was refluxed for 2 hours, then cooled to room temperature, concentrated to dryness, dissolved with ethyl acetate, washed with saturated aqueous of NaHCO 3 . The organic layer was dried and concentrated to give a crude product 11B (48 g, 100% yield). [0186] 1 H-NMR (CDCl 3 ): δ 1.356-1.373 (d, J=6.8 Hz, 2×3H), δ 2.828-2.845 (m, J=6.93 Hz, 1H), δ 8.094 (s, 1H), δ 10.026 (s, 1H), δ 11.605 (b, 1H). Step S 11C : Synthesis of 2-isobutyrylamino-thiazole-4-methanol (11C) [0187] 11B (0.73 g, 3 mmol) was dissolved in THF (14 mL). To the solution was added LiBH 4 (0.23 g, 10 mmol) in batches at room temperature. The reaction mixture was refluxed overnight, then quenched with 14 mL of anhydrous MeOH and concentrated to dryness. The residue was dissolved in dichloromethane and filtered. The filtrate was concentrated and dried to give a crude product 11C (0.48 g, 100% yield). [0188] 1 H-NMR (CDCl 3 ): δ 1.32 (d, J=5.0 Hz, 2×3H), δ 2.58-2.73 (m, 1H), δ 4.68 (s, 2H), δ 6.82 (s, 1H). Step S 11D : Synthesis of N-(4-formyl-thiazol-2-yl)-isobutyramide (11D) [0189] 11C (0.5 g, 2.5 mmol) was dissolved in THF (10 mL). To the solution at room temperature was added activated MnO 2 (1.74 g, 20 mmol). The reaction mixture was refluxed overnight, then filtered. The filtrate was concentrated and dried to give a crude product 11D (0.25 g, 50% yield). [0190] 1 H-NMR (CDCl 3 ): δ 1.32 (d, J=6.8 Hz, 6H), δ 2.58-2.73 (m, 1H), δ 7.88 (s, 1H), δ 9.88 (s, 1H), δ 10.24 (brs, 1H). Step S 11E : Synthesis of N-{4-[3-(3-amino-4-chloro-5-methoxy-benzofuran-2-yl)-3-oxo-propenyl]-thiazol-2-yl}-isobutyramide (11E) [0191] 7G (2.5 g, 10.4 mmol) was dissolved in THF (25 mL). To the solution was added 11D (2.4 g, 1.2 eq, 12.5 mmol), followed by crushed NaOH powder (0.8 g, 2 eq, 20.8 mmol). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for about 1 hour and the solution was getting darker. After reaction completed, the mixture was poured into ice-water under stirring. The solids were collected by filtration, dried and purified by column chromatography on silica gel to give 2.6 g of pure product 11E. [0192] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, d-CDCl 3 ) δ 11.48 (brs, 1H), 7.64 (m, 2H), 7.26 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 7.23 (s, 1H), 7.18 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 6.41 (s, 2H), 3.96 (s, 3H), 2.78 (m, 1H), 1.31 (d, J=7.2 Hz, 6H). Step S 11F : Synthesis of 9-chloro-2-(2-isobutyrylamino-thiazole-4-yl)-8-methoxy-2,3-dihydro-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridin-4(1H)-one (11F) [0193] To a mixture of 11E (2.6 g, 6.19 mmol) in MeCN (30 mL) was added ZnCl 2 (1.27 g, 1.5 eq, 9.3 mmol) at room temperature, followed by AcOH (30 mL) and H 3 PO 4 (30 mL) The reaction mixture was stirred 80° C. overnight. After reaction completed, the mixture was cooled and poured into crushed ice under stirring, neutralized to pH=7-8, extracted with ethyl acetate, dried and concentrated to give 1.6 g of crude product, which was purified by column chromatography on silica gel to give 500 mg of pure product (11F). [0194] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 12.15 (s, 1H), 7.55 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 7.45 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 7.134 (brs, 1H), 6.99 (s, 1H), 4.97 (m, 1H), 3.91 (s, 3H), 2.91 (m, 2H), 2.73 (m, 1H), 1.10 (d, J=7.2 Hz, 6H). Step S 11G : Synthesis of 4-hydroxyl-9-chloro-2-(2-isobutyrylamino-thiazole-4-yl)-8-methoxy-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridine (11G) [0195] 11F (500 mg, 1.19 mmol) was dissolved in THF (tetrahydrofuran, 30 mL). To the solution was added activated MnO 2 (600 mg, 6 eq, 6.9 mmol). The mixture was refluxed for 48 hours. After reaction completed, the mixture was cooled and filtered. The cake was washed well with THF and MeOH. The filtrate was concentrated and purified by column chromatography on silica gel to give 300 mg of pure product (11G). [0196] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 12.26 (s, 1H), 7.82 (s, 1H), 7.74 (d, J=9.6 Hz, 1H), 7.66 (s, 1H), 7.46 (d, J=9.6 Hz, 1H), 3.97 (s, 3H), 2.81 (m, 1H), 1.16 (d, J=7.2 Hz, 6H). Step S 11H : Synthesis of 4,9-dichloro-2-(2-isobutyrylamino-thiazole-4-yl)-8-methoxy-2,3-dihydro-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridine (M11) [0197] A mixture of 11G (300 mg, 0.72 mmol) in POCl 3 (5 mL) was refluxed for 30 min. After reaction completed, POCl 3 was evaporated under reduced pressure. The residue was poured into crushed ice and stirred for 10 min. The solids were collected by filtration and dried to give 161 mg of product (M11). [0198] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 8.32 (s, 1H), 7.97 (s, 1H), 7.601 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 7.31 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 4.06 (s, 3H), 2.99 (m, 1H), 1.3 (d, J=7.2 Hz, 6H). Example 12 Synthesis of 12G [0199] Step S 12A : Synthesis of 2-bromo-3,6-dihydroxy-benzaldehyde (12A) [0200] 2,5-dihydroxy-benzaldehyde (100 g, 0.72 mol) was dissolved in chlorform (1L). To the solution was added Na 3 PO 4 (77 g), followed by Br 2 (150 g, 0.94 mol) dropwise at room temperature. The mixture was stirred for 2.5 hours. To the reaction mixture was added aq.NH 4 Cl. The precipitated solid was collected by filtration, then dissolved in ethyl acetate, washed with water. The organic layer was dried over anhydrous Na 2 SO 4 , concentrated and purified by column chromatography on silica gel to give product 12A (90 g, 57.2% yield). Step S 12B : Synthesis of 2-bromo-3,6-dihydroxy-benzaldehyde oxime (12B) [0201] To a mixture of 2-bromo-3,6-dihydroxy-benzaldehyde (12A) (50 g, 0.23 mol) and hydroxylamine hydrochloride (19.2 g, 0.28 mol) was added 95% EtOH (500 mL), followed by NaOH (13.8 g, 0.345 mol). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 2 hours, then extracted with ethyl acetate and concentrated to give 2-bromo-3,6-dihydroxy-benzaldehyde oxime (12B) (45 g, 84.1% yield) as a solid. Step S 12C : Synthesis of 2-bromo-3-cyano-1,4-diacetoxylbenzene (12C) [0202] A mixture of 12B (45 g, 0.193 mol) and sodium acetate (3 g) in Ac 2 O (200 mL) was heated to reflux overnight. The reaction mixture was evaporated under reduced pressure to remove Ac 2 O. The residue was poured into water and stirred for 1 hour. The precipitated solids were collected by filtration and dried to give 12C (40 g, 69.1% yield). [0203] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 7.79 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.61 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 2.40 (s, 3H), 2.38 (s, 3H). Step S 12D : Synthesis of 2-bromo-3-cyano-4-hydroxy-phenyl acetate (12D) [0204] 12C (15 g, 0.05 mol) was added to MeOH (52 ml) and dichloromethane (52 mL). To the mixture was added K 2 CO 3 (7 g, 0.05 mol) in batches at room temperature. The reaction mixture was stirred overnight at room temperture, then neutralized with diluted hydrochloric acid to pH=6-7, extracted with dichloromethane, dried over anhydrous Na 2 SO 4 and concentrated to give 12D (8 g, 62.1% yield). [0205] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 11.75 (s, 1H), 7.44 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.06 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 2.31 (s, 3H). Step S 12E : Synthesis of 2-acetyl-3-amino-4-bromo-5-acetoxyl-benzofuran (12E) [0206] To a mixture of 12D (7 g, 0.027 mol) and 1-chloro-propan-2-one (3 mL) in DMF (30 mL) was added K 2 CO 3 (4.1 g, 0.029 mol). The reaction mixture was stirred at 90° C. for 1 hour. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature and added dropwise to ice-water. The precipitated solids were collected by filtration to give a crude product 12E (6.8 g, 79.6% yield). [0207] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 7.65 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.48 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 6.49 (s, 2H), 2.41 (s, 3H), 2.36 (s, 3H). Step S 12F : Synthesis of 2-acetyl-3-amino-4-bromo-5-hydroxy-benzofuran (12F) [0208] To a mixture of 12E (6.8 g, 0.021 mol) in MeOH (40 mL) and water (20 mL) was added K 2 CO 3 (4.5 g, 0.032 mol) in batches at room temperature. The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature overnight, then neutralized with diluted hydrochloric acid to pH=6-7, extracted with ethyl acetate, dried and concentrated to give 12F (5.6 g, 95.1% yield). Step S 12G : Synthesis of 2-acetyl-3-amino-4-bromo-5-methoxy-benzofuran (12G) [0209] To a mixture of 12F (5.6 g, 0.020 mol) and CsF (9.5 g, 0.0625 mol) in THF (20 mL) was added MeI (2.9 g) dropwise at room temperature. The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 1 hour, then added dropwise into water. The solids were precipitated out dissolved in ethyl acetate and purified by column chromatography on silica gel to give 12G (2.4 g, 40.7% yield). [0210] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 7.58 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.41 (t, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 6.41 (s, 2H), 3.89 (s, 3H), 2.38 (s, 3H). Example 13 Intermediate 13 (M13) [0211] [0212] Step S 13A : Synthesis of 2-cinnamoyl-3-amino-4-bromo-5-methoxy-benzofuran (13A) [0213] A mixture of 12G (2 g, 0.007 mol), benzaldehyde (1.6 g, 0.015 mol), NaOH (1.2 g) and formaldehyde (20 mL) was heated to 50° C. and reacted overnight, then added into water dropwise. The precipitated solids were collected by filtration to give 13A (2.6 g, 95% yield) [0214] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 7.81 (m, 2H), 7.37 (d, J=15.6 Hz, 1H), 7.63 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 7.56 (d, J=16.0 Hz, 1H), 7.44-7.50 (m, 4H), 6.82 (s, 2H), 3.91 (s, 3H). Step S 13B : Synthesis of 9-bromo-8-methoxy-2-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridin-4(1H)-one (13B) [0215] A mixture of 13A (2.6 g, 0.0069 mol) in AcOH (10 mL) and H 3 PO 4 (10 mL) was heated to 90° C. and reacted for 2 hours. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the reaction mixture was added dropwise into water. The precipitated solids were collected by filtration to give 13B (2 g, 76.9% yield). [0216] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 7.61 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.50 (d, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.43 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.33 (t, J=7.2 Hz, 2H), 6.83 (s, 1H), 4.99 (m, 1H), 3.91 (s, 3H), 2.75-2.87 (m, 2H). Step S 13C : Synthesis of 4-hydroxyl-9-bromo-8-methoxy-2-phenyl-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridine (13C) [0217] A mixture of 13B (2.0 g, 0.0053 mol), FeCl 3 .6H 2 O (6 g) and 1,4-dioxane (20 mL) was heated to 110° C. and reacted overnight. After reaction completed, the reaction mixture was added dropwise into water. The precipitated solids were collected by filtration to give 13C (1.8 g, 90.4% yield). [0218] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 11.79 (s, 1H), 8.17 (d, J=7.6 Hz, 2H), 7.08 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.51-7.54 (m, 3H), 7.42-7.46 (m, 2H), 3.95 (s, 3H). Step S 13D : Synthesis of 9-bromo-4-chloro-8-methoxy-2-phenyl-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridine (M13) [0219] A mixture of 13C (1.8 g, 0.0048 mol) and POCl 3 (10 mL) was heated to 110° C. and reacted for 30 min. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, POCl 3 in the mixture was evaporated. The residue was added dropwise into ice-water. The solids were collected by filtration and purified by a short column chromatography to give M13 (1.5 g, 79.3% yield). [0220] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 8.23 (dd, J1=8.0 Hz, J2=1.6 Hz, 2H), 7.94 (s, 1H), 7.63 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 7.55 (dt, J1=7.6 Hz, J2=0.8 Hz, 2H), 7.49 (t, J=7.2 Hz, 1H), 7.23 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 4.04 (s, 3H). Example 14 Intermediate 14 (M14) [0221] Step S 14A : Synthesis of (E)-1-(3-amino-4-bromo-5-methoxy-benzofuran-2-yl)-3-(2-isopropyl-thiazol-5-yl)-2-propen-1-one (14A) [0222] A mixture of 12G (1.5 g, 5.2 mmol), 2-isopropyl-thiazole-5-carbaldehyde (1.2 g, 7.7 mmol) in THF (20 mL) was cooled to 0° C. To the mixture was added NaOH (1.5 g), then stirred at room temperature overnight. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the reaction mixture was added dropwise into water. The precipitated solids were collected by filtration to give 14A (1.4 g, 62.9% yield). Step S 14B : Synthesis of 9-bromo-2-(2-isopropyl-thiazol-5-yl)-8-methoxy-1,2-dihydro-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridin-4-one (14B) [0223] A mixture of 14A (1.4 g, 3.3 mmol), ZnCl 2 (6 g), MeCN (10 mL), AcOH (2 mL) and H 3 PO 4 (2 mL) was heated to 90° C. and reacted overnight. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the reaction mixture was added dropwise into water, extracted with ethyl acetate and concentrated to give 14B (1.1 g, 78% yield). Step S 14C : Synthesis of 4-hydroxyl-9-bromo-2-(2-isopropyl-thiazol-5-yl)-8-methoxy-dibenzofuran (14C) [0224] A mixture of 14B (1.1 g, 2.6 mmol), MnO 2 (6 g) in THF (20 mL) was heated to 110° C. and reacted overnight, then filtered. The filtrate was concentrated to give 14C (0.8 g, 73% yield). Step S 14D : Synthesis of 9-bromo-4-chloro-2-(2-isopropyl-thiazol-5-yl)-8-methoxy-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridine (M14) [0225] A mixture of 14C (0.8 g, 1.9 mmol) in POCl 3 (10 mL) was heated to 110° C. and reacted for 30 min. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, POCl 3 in reaction mixture was evaporated. The residue was added dropwise into ice-water. The precipitated solids were collected by filtration and purified by short column chromatography to give M14 (0.16 g, 19% yield). [0226] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 8.19 (s, 1H), 7.81 (s, 1H), 7.63 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 7.25 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 4.04 (s, 3H), 3.40 (m, 1H), 1.52 (d, J=7.2 Hz, 6H). Example 15 Intermediate 15 (M15) [0227] Step S 15A : Synthesis of 1-(3-amino-4-bromo-5-methoxy-benzofuran-2-yl)-3-(2-isopropyl-thiazol-4-yl)-2-propen-1-one (15A) [0228] A mixture of 12G (2 g, 7 mmol), 2-isopropyl-thiazole-4-carbaldehyde (2.2 g, 14.6 mmol), NaOH (1.5 g) and MeOH (20 mL) was heated to 50° C. and reacted overnight. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the reaction mixture was added dropwise into water. The precipitated solids were collected by filtration to give 15A (2.8 g, 94.4% yield). [0229] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.04 (s, 1H), 7.67 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.63 (s, 2H), 7.45 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 6.81 (s, 2H), 3.90 (s, 3H), 3.38 (m, 1H), 1.38 (d, J=6.4 Hz, 6H). Step S 15B : Synthesis of 9-bromo-2-(2-isopropyl-thiazol-4-yl)-8-methoxy-2,3-dihydro-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridin-4(1H)-one (15B) [0230] A mixture of 15A (2.8 g, 6.6 mmol), AcOH (10 mL) and H 3 PO 4 (10 mL) was heated to 90° C. and reacted for 2 hours. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the reaction mixture was added dropwise into water. The precipitated solids were collected by filtration to give 15B (2 g, 71.4% yield). Step S 15c : Synthesis of 4-hydroxyl-9-bromo-2-(2-isopropyl-thiazol-4-yl)-8-methoxy-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridine (15C) [0231] A mixture of 15B (2.0 g, 4.7 mmol), FeCl 3 .6H 2 O (6 g) in 1,4-dioxane (20 mL) was heated to 110° C. and reacted overnight. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the reaction mixture was added dropwise into water. The precipitated solids were collected by filtration to give 15C (1.2 g, 60.2% yield). [0232] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.04 (s, 1H), 7.67 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.63 (s, 2H), 7.45 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 6.81 (s, 2H), 3.91 (s, 3H), 3.38 (m, 1H), 1.42 (d, J=6.4 Hz, 6H). Step S 15D : Synthesis of 9-bromo-4-chloro-2-(2-isopropyl-thiazol-4-yl)-8-methoxy-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridine (M15) [0233] A mixture of 15C (1.2 g, 2.8 mmol) in POCl 3 (10 mL) was heated to 110° C. and reacted for 30 min. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, POCl 3 in the reaction mixture was evaporated. The residue was added dropwise into ice-water. The precipitated solids were collected by filtration and purified by short column chromatography to give M15 (0.2 g, 16% yield). [0234] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 8.39 (s, 1H), 8.20 (s, 1H), 7.62 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 7.24 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 4.04 (s, 3H), 3.40 (m, 1H), 1.50 (d, J=7.2 Hz, 6H). Example 16 Intermediate 16 (M16) [0235] Step S 16A : Synthesis of 1-(3-amino-4-bromo-5-methoxy-benzofuran-2-yl)-3-(2-isobutyrylamino-thiazole-4-yl)-2-propen-1-one (16A) [0236] A mixture of 12G (2 g, 7 mmol), 11D (2.8 g, 14.5 mmol) in THF (20 mL) was cooled to 0° C. To the mixture was added NaOH (2 g). The reaction mixture was reacted at room temperature overnight. TLC monitored the reaction. After reaction completed, the reaction mixture was added dropwise into water. The precipitated solids were collected by filtration to give 16A (2 g, 61% yield). [0237] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 9.80 (s, 1H), 7.65 (s, 1H), 7.35 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.23 (s, 1H), 7.16 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 6.52 (s, 2H), 3.96 (s, 3H), 2.73 (m, 1H), 1.38 (d, J=7.2 Hz, 6H). Step S 16B : Synthesis of 9-bromo-2-(2-isobutyrylamino-thiazole-4-yl)-8-methoxy-2,3-dihydro-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridin-4(1H)-one (16B) [0238] A mixture of 16A (2 g, 4.3 mmol), ZnCl 2 (6 g), MeCN (10 mL), AcOH (2 mL) and H 3 PO 4 (2 mL) was heated to 90° C. and reacted overnight. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the reaction mixture was added dropwise into water, extracted with ethyl acetate and concentrated to give 16B (1.1 g, 55% yield). [0239] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 10.21 (s, 1H), 7.43 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.17 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 6.92 (s, 1H), 5.99 (m, 1H), 5.03 (m, 1H), 3.96 (s, 3H), 2.93-3.09 (m, 2H), 2.69-2.74 (m, 1H), 1.33 (d, J=7.2 Hz, 6H). Step S 16C : Synthesis of 4-hydroxyl-9-bromo-2-(2-isobutyrylamino-thiazole-4-yl)-8-methoxy-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridine (16C) [0240] A mixture of 16B (1.1 g, 2.3 mmol) and MnO 2 (6 g) in THF (20 mL) was heated to 110° C. and reacted overnight. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the reaction mixture was filtered and the filtrate was concentrated to give 16C (0.7 g, 63.9% yield). Step S 16D : Synthesis of 9-bromo-4-chloro-2-(2-isobutyrylamino-thiazole-4-yl)-8-methoxy-benzofuro[3,2-b]pyridine (M16) [0241] A mixture of 16C (0.7 g, 1.5 mmol) in POCl 3 (10 mL) was heated to 110° C. and reacted for 30 min. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, POCl 3 in the reaction mixture was evaporated. The residue was added dropwise into ice-water. The precipitated solids were collected by filtration and purified by short column chromatography to give M16 (0.2 g, 27% yield). [0242] 1 H-NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 9.37 (s, 1H), 8.17 (s, 1H), 8.00 (s, 1H), 7.63 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.24 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 4.04 (s, 3H), 2.72 (m, 1H), 1.50 (d, J=7.2 Hz, 6H). Example 17 Intermediate 17 (M17) [0243] Step S 17A : Synthesis of 2-mercapto-4-fluoro-benzonitrile (17A) [0244] The procedure was similar to step S 3A , while the starting material was 2,4-difluoro-benzonitrile in stead of 2-fluoro-benzonitrile. Step S 17B : Synthesis of 1-(3-amino-6-fluoro-benzo[b]thiophen-2-yl)-ethanone (17B) [0245] The procedure was similar to step S 3B , while the starting material was 17A in stead of 3A. Step S 17C : Synthesis of (E)-2-cinnamoyl-3-amino-6-fluoro-benzo[b]thiophene (17C) [0246] The procedure was similar to step S 3C , while the starting material was 17B in stead of 3B. Step S 17B : Synthesis of 2-phenyl-7-fluoro-2,3-dihydro-benzothieno[3,2-b]pyridin-4(1H)-one (17D) [0247] The procedure was similar to step S 3D , while the starting material was 17C in stead of 3C. Step S 17E : Synthesis of 2-phenyl-7-fluoro-4-hydroxyl-benzothieno[3,2-b]pyridine (17E) [0248] The procedure was similar to step S 3E , while the starting material was 17D in stead of 3D. [0249] 17E: MS (ESI): M + +1=296. Step S 17F : Synthesis of 4-chloro-7-fluoro-2-phenyl-benzothieno[3,2-b]pyridine (M17) [0250] The procedure was similar to step S 3F , while the starting material was 17E in stead of 3E. [0251] M17: MS (ESI): M + +1=314. Example 18 Synthesis of 4-chloro-2-methoxycarbonyl-phenyl acetic acid methyl ester (18E) [0252] Step S BA : Synthesis of 2-carboxyl-phenyl acetic acid (18A) [0253] K 2 Cr 2 O 7 (24.4 g, 83 mmol) was dissolved in water (360 mL). To the solution was added conc. H 2 SO 4 (133 g, 1.3 mol) dropwise slowly at 65° C., followed by 1H-indene (6.85 g, 56 mmol) dropwise. The reaction mixture was stirred at this temperture for 2 hours. The color of the solution changed from orange to blue, some solids were precipitated out on the bottle wall. The reaction mixture was cooled to below 0° C., and stirred for 2 hours, then filtered. The cake was washed with 1% aq.H 2 SO 4 and ice-water until the green color disappeared, then dried to give 7.6 g of 2-carboxyl-phenyl acetic acid (18A). [0254] MS (ESI): M + +1=181.1. Step S 18B : Synthesis of 2-carboxymethyl-5-nitro-benzoic acid (18B) [0255] 2-carboxyl-phenyl acetic acid (3 g, 16.7 mmol) was added in batches to fuming HNO 3 (16 mL) under ice-salt bath while keeping the temperature under −3° C. The reaction mixture was reacted at that temperature for 2 hours. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the reaction mixture was added into ice (16 g) under stirring. The precipitated white solids were collected by filtration and dried to give 2.1 g of the desired product 2-carboxymethyl-5-nitro-benzoic acid (18B). [0256] 1 H-NMR (DMSO-d 6 ): δ (ppm): 8.62 (d, J=2.8 Hz, 1H), 8.35-8.37 (dd, J1=8.8 Hz, J2=2.4 Hz, 1H), 7.68 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 4.11 (s, 2H); MS (ESI): [0257] M + +1=226.1. Step S 18C : Synthesis of 2-methoxycarbonylmethyl-5-nitro-benzoic acid methyl ester (18C) [0258] 2-carboxymethyl-5-nitro-benzoic acid (2 g, 8.8 mmol) was dissolved in MeOH (30 mL). To the solution was added SOCl 2 (2.64 g, 22.2 mmol) dropwise slowly at room temperature. The reaction mixture was refluxed for 2 hours. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the solvent in the reaction mixture was evaporated to dryness, which was used for the next step directly. Step S 18D : Synthesis of 2-methoxycarbonylmethyl-5-amino-benzoic acid methyl ester (18D) [0259] 2-methoxycarbonylmethyl-5-nitro-benzoic acid methyl ester (2.2 g, 8.8 mmol) was dissolved in MeOH (30 mL), then heated to 50° C. To the solution was added SnCl 2 (5.89 g, 31 mmol) in batches. The reaction mixture was stirred at this temperture for 1 day. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the solvent was evaporated. To the residue was added ethyl acetate and base, adjusted pH to 8-9, then filtered though celite and washed with ethyl acetate. The organic layer of the filtrate was collected and washed with water, dried over anhydrous Na 2 SO 4 and concentrated to give 1.3 g of 5-amino-2-methoxycarbonylmethyl-benzoic acid methyl ester (18D). [0260] 1 H-NMR (DMSO-d 6 ): δ (ppm): 7.15 (d, J=2.8 Hz, 1H), 6.88 (d, J=8.0 Hz, 1H), 6.72 (dd, J1=8 Hz, J2=2.8 Hz, 1H), 5.30 (s, 1H), 3.75 (s, 2H), 3.73 (s, 3H), 3.56 (s, 3H); MS (ESI): M + +1=224.2. Step S 18E : Synthesis of 4-chloro-2-methoxycarbonyl-phenyl acetic acid methyl ester (18E) [0261] 5-amino-2-methoxycarbonylmethyl-benzoic acid methyl ester (5 g, 22.4 mmol) was dissolved in hydrochloric acid (50 mL). To the solution was added dropwise aq.NaNO 2 (1.7 g, 24.6 mmol) at below 5° C. After addition completed, the color became maroon. Then CuCl (2.4 g, 24.6 mmol) solution was added to the reaction mixture. The reaction mixture was reacted at below 5° C. for 1 hour. The reaction mixture was extracted with dichloromethane. The organic layer was washed with water, dried over anhydrous Na 2 SO 4 , concentrated and purified by column chromatography on silica gel (petroleum ether/ethyl acetate=10/1) to give 2.3 g of 5-chloro-2-methoxycarbonylmethyl-benzoic acid methyl ester (18E). [0262] 1 H-NMR (DMSO-d 6 ): δ (ppm): 7.88 (d, J=2.8 Hz, 1H), 7.64-7.66 (dd, J1=8 Hz, J2=2 Hz, 1H), 7.45 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 4.00 (d, J=4.0 Hz, 2H), 3.80 (s, 3H), 3.60 (s, 3H); MS (ESI): M + +1=243.7. Example 19 Intermediate 19 (M19) [0263] Step S 19A : Synthesis of 2-(4-chloro-2-methoxycarbonyl-phenyl)-2-bromo-acetic acid methyl ester (19A) [0264] 18E (16.48 mmol) was dissolved in CCl 4 (50 mL), and was added NBS (N-bromosuccinimide, 3.23 g, 18.13 mmol), followed by catalytic amount of BPO (benzoyl peroxide). The reaction mixture was refluxed for about 20 hours under stirring. When no more product was produced any more, the reaction mixture was cooled and filtered. To the filtrate was added NBS (1.6 g, 8.24 mmol) and catalytic amount of BPO. The reaction mixture was refluxed for additional 10 hours. After the reaction completed, the mixture was cooled and filtered. The filtrate was concentrated to give 6.4 g of a crude product (19A), which was used directly for the next step. Step S 19B : Synthesis of 3-chloro-benzofuro[3,2-c]isoquinoline-5-ol (19B) [0265] A mixture of 19A (crude, 20.29 mmol) and 2-hydroxy-benzonitrile (20.29 mmol) in MeCN (100 mL) was stirred at room temperature. To the solution was added triethylamine (TEA, 20.44 g, 202.9 mmol) dropwise. After addition completed, the reaction was refluxed for 24 hours, then cooled. The precipitated solids were collected by filtration, washed with a small amount of MeCN, then washed with water several times until there was no TEA salt, dried to give pure product 19B (3.1 g). [0266] 1 H-NMR (DMSO-d 6 ): δ (ppm): 12.63 (s, 1H), 8.28 (d, J=2.4 Hz, 1H), 8.04-8.07 (m, 2H), 7.95 (dd, J1=8.8 Hz, J2=2.4 Hz, 1H), 7.78 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 7.52 (t, J=7.8 Hz, 1H), 7.42 (t, J=7.6 Hz, 1H); MS (ESI): M + +1=270.7. Step S 19C : Synthesis of 3,5-dichloro-benzofuro[3,2-c]isoquinoline (M19) [0267] A mixture of 19B (11.8 mmol) in POCl 3 (20 mL) was refluxed for 2 hours. After reaction completed, POCl 3 was evaporated under reduced pressure. The residue was added into crushed ice and stirred for 10 min. The solids were collected by filtration and dried to give 3.2 g of a crude product, which was dissolved in dichloromethane and purified by flash chromatography (petroleum ether 1:1) and concentrated to give a pure product M19 (3.1 g). [0268] 1 H-NMR (DMSO-d 6 ): δ (ppm): 8.50 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 8.44 (s, 1H), 8.20 (d, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 8.13 (dd, J1=9.2 Hz, J2=2.0 Hz, 1H), 7.95 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 7.69 (t, J=7.4 Hz, 1H), 7.59 (t, J=7.4 Hz, 1H); MS (ESI): M + +1=289.1. Example 20 Intermediate 20 (M20) [0269] Step S 20A : Synthesis of 2-(4-bromo-2-methoxycarbonyl-phenyl)-2-bromo-acetic acid methyl ester (20A) [0270] The procedure was similar to step S 19A , while the starting material was 5-bromo-2-methoxycarbonylmethyl-benzoic acid methyl ester (the procedure of this compound was similar to 5-chloro-2-methoxycarbonylmethyl-benzoic acid methyl ester, while the starting material was CuBr in stead of CuCl) in stead of 5-chloro-2-methoxycarbonyl methyl-benzoic acid methyl ester. [0271] MS (ESI): M + +1=367. Step S 20B : Synthesis of 5-hydroxyl-3-bromo-benzofuro[3,2-c]isoquinoline (20B) [0272] The procedure was similar to step S 19B , while the starting material was 20A in stead of 19A. [0273] 1 H-NMR (DMSO-d 6 ): δ (ppm): 12.63 (s, 1H), 8.41 (d, J=1.6 Hz, 1H), 8.05 (d, J=8.0 Hz, 2H), 7.98 (d, J=8.0 Hz, 1H), 7.77 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 7.50-7.54 (t, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.40-7.44 (t, J=7.6 Hz, 1H); MS (ESI): [0274] M + +1=315.1. Step S 20C : Synthesis of 3-bromo-5-chloro-benzofuro[3,2-c]isoquinoline (M20) [0275] The procedure was similar to step S 19C , while the starting material was 20B in stead of 19B. [0276] 1 H-NMR (DMSO-d 6 ): δ (ppm): 8.59 (d, J=1.6 Hz, 1H), 8.42 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 8.19-8.24 (m, 2H), 7.95 (d, J=8.0 Hz, 1H), 7.60 (dt, J=1.2, 7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.59 (t, J=7.6 Hz, 1H); MS (ESI): M + +1=333.6. Example 21 Intermediate 21 (M21) [0277] Step S 21A : Synthesis of 2-(2-methoxycarbonyl-phenyl)-2-bromo-acetic acid methyl ester (21A) [0278] The procedure was similar to step S 19A , while the starting material was 2-methoxycarbonylmethyl-benzoic acid methyl ester (commercialized) in stead of 5-chloro-2-methoxycarbonyl methyl-benzoic acid methyl ester (18E). [0279] MS (ESI): M + +1=288.1. Step S 21B : Synthesis of 5-hydroxyl-8-methoxy-benzofuro[3,2-c]isoquinoline (21B) [0280] The procedure was similar to step S 19B , while the starting material 19A and 2-hydroxy-benzonitrile were replaced with 21A and 2-hydroxy-5-methoxy-benzonitrile, respectively. [0281] 1 H-NMR (DMSO-d 6 ): δ (ppm): 12.32 (s, 1H), 8.34 (d, J=8.0 Hz, 1H), 8.01 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 7.88 (t, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 7.67 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.59-7.62 (m, 2H), 7.09 (dd, J1=9.2 Hz, J2=2.4 Hz, 1H), 3.83 (s, 3H); MS (ESI): [0282] M + +1=266.3. Step S 21C : Synthesis of 8-methoxy-5-chloro-benzofuro[3,2-c]isoquinoline (M21) [0283] The procedure was similar to step S 19C , while the starting material was 21B in stead of 19B. [0284] 1 H-NMR (DMSO-d 6 ): δ (ppm): 8.50 (t, J=9.0 Hz, 2H), 8.12 (t, J=8.0 Hz, 1H), 7.96 (t, J=8.0 Hz, 1H), 7.86 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.68 (d, J=2.4 Hz, 1H), 7.25 (dd, J1=9.2 Hz, J2=2.8 Hz, 1H), 3.93 (s, 3H); MS (ESI): M + +1=284.7. Example 22 Intermediate 22 (M22) [0285] Step S 22A : Synthesis of 2-(2-methoxycarbonyl-phenyl)-2-bromo-acetic acid methyl ester (22A) [0286] The procedure was similar to step S 19A , while the starting material was 2-methoxycarbonylmethyl-benzoic acid methyl ester (commercialized) in stead of 5-chloro-2-methoxycarbonyl methyl-benzoic acid methyl ester (18E). Step S 22B : Synthesis of 5-hydroxyl-benzofuro[3,2-c]isoquinoline 1 (22B) [0287] The procedure was similar to step S 19B , while the starting material was 22A in stead of 19A. Step S 22C : Synthesis of 5-chloro-benzofuro[3,2-c]isoquinoline (M22) [0288] The procedure was similar to step S 19C , while the starting material was 22B in stead of 19B. [0289] 1 H-NMR (DMSO-d 6 ): δ (ppm): 8.48 (d, J=6.4 Hz, 2H), 8.20 (d, J=7.2 Hz, 1H), 8.12 (t, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.90-7.95 (m, 2H), 7.68 (t, J=7.8 Hz, 1H), 7.58 (t, J=7.2 Hz, 1H), MS (ESI): M + +1=254.7. Example 23 Intermediate 23 (M23) [0290] Step S 23A : Synthesis of 2-(2-methoxycarbonyl-phenyl)-2-bromo-acetic acid methyl ester (23A) [0291] The procedure was similar to step S 19A , while the starting material was 2-methoxycarbonylmethyl-benzoic acid methyl ester (commercialized) in stead of 5-chloro-2-methoxycarbonyl methyl-benzoic acid methyl ester (18E). Step S 23B : Synthesis of 5-hydroxyl-benzothieno[3,2-c]isoquinoline (23B) [0292] The procedure was similar to step S 19B , while the starting material was 23A in stead of 19A, and used 2-mercapto-benzonitrile in stead of 2-hydroxy-benzonitrile. Step S 23C : Synthesis of 5-chloro-benzothieno[3,2-c]isoquinoline (M23) [0293] The procedure was similar to step S 19C , while the starting material was 23B in stead of 19B. [0294] 1 H-NMR (DMSO-d 6 ): δ (ppm): 8.51 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 8.41 (m, 1H), 8.31 (dd, J1=7.2 Hz, J2=0.8 Hz, 1H), 8.24 (m, 1H), 8.09 (t, J=8.0 Hz, 1H), 7.96 (t, J=8.0 Hz, 1H), 7.65-7.68 (m, 2H); MS (ESI): M + +1=270.7. Example 24 Intermediate 24 (M24) [0295] Step S 24A : Synthesis of 2-(2-methoxycarbonyl-phenyl)-2-bromo-acetic acid methyl ester (24A) [0296] The procedure was similar to step S 19A , while the starting material was 2-methoxycarbonylmethyl-benzoic acid methyl ester in stead of 5-chloro-2-methoxycarbonyl methyl-benzoic acid methyl ester (18E). Step S 24B : Synthesis of 5-hydroxyl-8-chloro-benzofuro[3,2-c]isoquinoline (24B) [0297] The procedure was similar to step S 19B , while the starting material was 24A in stead of 19A, and used 5-chloro-2-hydroxy-benzonitrile in stead of 2-hydroxy-benzonitrile. Step S 24C : Synthesis of 5,8-dichloro-benzofuro[3,2-c]isoquinoline (M24) [0298] The procedure was similar to step S 19C , while the starting material was 24B in stead of 19B. [0299] 1 H-NMR (DMSO-d 6 ): δ (ppm): 8.51 (t, J=17.2 Hz, 2H), 8.23 (d, J=2.0 Hz, 1H), 8.15 (t, J=16.0 Hz, 1H), 7.96-7.99 (m, 2H), 7.70 (dd, J1=8.8 Hz, J2=2.4 Hz, 1H); MS (ESI): M + +1=289.1. Example 25 Intermediate 25 (M25) [0300] Step S 25A : Synthesis of 2-(4-methoxyl-2-methoxycarbonyl-phenyl)-2-bromo-acetic acid methyl ester (25A) [0301] The procedure was similar to step S 19A , while the starting material was 5-methoxyl-2-methoxycarbonylmethyl-benzoic acid methyl ester (commercialized) in stead of 5-chloro-2-methoxycarbonyl methyl-benzoic acid methyl ester (18E). [0302] MS (ESI): M + +1=318.1. Step S 25B : Synthesis of 5-hydroxyl-3-methoxy-benzofuro[3,2-c]isoquinoline (25B) [0303] The procedure was similar to step S 19B , while the starting material was 25A in stead of 19A. [0304] MS (ESI): M + +1=266.3. Step S 25C : Synthesis of 3-methoxy-5-chloro-benzofuro[3,2-c]isoquinoline (M25) [0305] The procedure was similar to step S 19C , while the starting material was 25B in stead of 19B. [0306] 1 H-NMR (CDCl 3 ): δ (ppm): 8.336 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 8.242 (d, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.746 (d, J=2.4 Hz, 1H), 7.711 (d, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.53-7.58 (m, 2H), 7.48 (t, J=7.2 Hz, 1H), 4.06 (s, 3H); MS (ESI): M + +1=284.7. Example 26 Intermediate 26 (M26) [0307] Step S 26A : Synthesis of 2-(4-chloro-2-methoxycarbonyl-phenyl)-2-bromo-acetic acid methyl ester (26A) [0308] The procedure was similar to step 19A. Step S 26B : Synthesis of 5-hydroxyl-3-chloro-8-methoxy-benzofuro[3,2-c]isoquinoline (26B) [0309] The procedure was similar to step S 19B , while the starting material was 2-hydroxy-5-methoxy-benzonitrile in stead of 2-hydroxy-benzonitrile. [0310] 1 H-NMR (DMSO-d 6 ): δ (ppm): 12.49 (s, 1H), 8.25 (d, J=2.0 Hz, 1H), 8.027 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 7.918 (dd, J1=8.8 Hz, J2=2 Hz, 1H), 7.669 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.587 (d, J=2.8 Hz, 1H), 7.097 (dd, J1=8.8 Hz, J2=2.8 Hz, 1H), 3.840 (s, 3H); MS (ESI): M + +1=300.7. Step S 26C : Synthesis of 3,5-dichloro-8-methoxy-benzofuro[3,2-c]isoquinoline (M26) [0311] The procedure was similar to step S 19C , while the starting material was 26B in stead of 19B. [0312] 1 H-NMR (CDCl 3 ): δ (ppm): 8.502 (d, J=1.6 Hz, 1H), 8.360 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 8.871 (dd, J1=8.8 Hz, J2=1.6 Hz, 1H), 7.706 (s, J=2.4 Hz, 1H), 7.623 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.182 (dd, J1=9.2 Hz, J2=2.8 Hz, 1H), 3.964 (s, 3H); [0313] MS (ESI): M + +1=319.2. Example 27 Intermediate 27 (M27) [0314] Step S 27A : Synthesis of 2-(4-chloro-2-methoxycarbonyl-phenyl)-2-bromo-acetic acid methyl ester (27A) [0315] The procedure was similar to step 19A. Step S 27B : Synthesis of 3,8-dichloro-5-hydroxyl-benzofuro[3,2-c]isoquinoline 1 (27B) [0316] The procedure was similar to step S 19B , while the starting material was 5-chloro-2-hydroxy-benzonitrile in stead of 2-hydroxy-benzonitrile. [0317] 1 H-NMR (DMSO-d 6 ): δ (ppm): 12.539 (s, 1H), 8.246 (d, J=2.0 Hz, 1H), 8.039 (s, 1H), 8.028 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 7.926 (dd, J1=8.4 Hz, J2=2 Hz, 1H), 7.796 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 7.520 (dd, J1=8.8 Hz, J2=2.4 Hz, 1H); MS (ESI): M + +1=305.1. Step S 27C : Synthesis of 3,5,8-trichloro-benzofuro[3,2-c]isoquinoline (M27) [0318] The procedure was similar to step S 19C , while the starting material was 27B in stead of 19B. [0319] 1 H-NMR (CDCl 3 ): δ (ppm): 8.510 (d, J=2.0 Hz, 1H), 8.356 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 8.220 (d, J=1.6 Hz, 1H), 7.890 (dd, J1=8.8 Hz, J2=1.6 Hz, 1H), 7.655 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 7.540 (dd, J1=8.4 Hz, J2=2 Hz, 1H); MS (ESI): [0320] M + +1=323.6. Example 28 Intermediate 28 (M28) [0321] Step S 28A : Synthesis of 2-(4-methoxyl-2-methoxycarbonyl-phenyl)-2-bromo-acetic acid methyl ester (28A) [0322] The procedure was similar to step S 19A , while the starting material was 5-methoxy-2-methoxycarbonylmethyl-benzoic acid methyl ester (commercialized) in stead of 5-chloro-2-methoxycarbonyl methyl-benzoic acid methyl ester (18E). [0323] MS (ESI): M + +1=318.1. Step S 28B : Synthesis of 5-hydroxyl-3-methoxy-8-chloro-benzofuro[3,2-c]isoquinoline (28B) [0324] The procedure was similar to step S 19B , while the starting material was 28A in stead of 19A, and used 5-chloro-2-hydroxy-benzonitrile in stead of 2-hydroxy-benzonitrile. Step S 28C : Synthesis of 3-methoxy-5,8-dichloro-benzofuro[3,2-c]isoquinoline (M28) [0325] The procedure was similar to step S 19C , while the starting material was 28B in stead of 19B. [0326] 1 H-NMR (CDCl 3 ): δ (ppm): 8.325 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 8.204 (d, J=2.0 Hz, 1H), 7.761 (d, J=2.4 Hz, 1H), 7.634 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 7.591 (dd, J1=8.8 Hz, J2=2 Hz, 1H), 7.495 (dd, J1=8.8 Hz, J2=2.4 Hz, 1H), 4.070 (s, 3H); [0327] MS (ESI): M + +1=319.1. Example 29 Intermediate 29 (M29) [0328] Step S 29A : Synthesis of 2-(2-methoxycarbonyl-phenyl)-2-bromo-acetic acid methyl ester (29A) [0329] The procedure was similar to step S 19A , while the starting material was 2-methoxycarbonylmethyl-benzoic acid methyl ester in stead of 5-chloro-2-methoxycarbonyl methyl-benzoic acid methyl ester (18E). Step S 29B : Synthesis of 5-hydroxyl-9-fluoro-benzothieno[3,2-c]isoquinoline (29B) [0330] The procedure was similar to step S 19B , while the starting material was 29A in stead of 19A, and used 4-fluoro-2-mercapto-benzonitrile in stead of 2-hydroxy-benzonitrile. Step S 29C : Synthesis of 5-chloro-9-fluoro-benzothieno[3,2-c]isoquinoline (M29) [0331] The procedure was similar to step S 19C , while the starting material was 29B in stead of 19B. [0332] 1 H-NMR (CDCl 3 ): δ (ppm): 8.47 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 8.37 (m, 1H), 8.27 (d, J=8.0 Hz, 1H), 8.171 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 8.05 (dd, J1=8.0 Hz, J2=7.2 Hz, 1H), 7.49 (dd, J1=8.4 Hz, J2=8.0 Hz, 1H); MS (ESI): M + +1=288. Example 30˜70 Synthesis of Compound Ik (k=1, 2, 3 . . . 13, 15 . . . 41, 42) Synthetic Method A [0333] A mixture of intermediate Mi (I=1, 2, 3, . . . 11, 13, . . . 17, 19, . . . or 29) (0.1 mmol), starting material A-j (j=I, II, or VI) (0.1 mmol) and t-BuOK (potassium tert-butoxide, 5 mmol) was cooled to 0° C. To the mixture was added DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide, 5 mL), then warmed to room temperature within 20 min. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the reaction mixture was poured into ice-water, extracted with ethyl acetate (50 mL×3), dried over anhydrous Na 2 SO 4 , filtered, concentrated to dryness under reduced pressure and purified by preparative-TLC (silica gel, CH 2 Cl 2 : MeOH=100:5) to give desired product Ik. Synthetic Method B [0334] A mixture of starting material A-j (j=I, II, or VI) (1 mmol) and t-BuOK (5 mmol) was dissolved in THF (tetrahydrofuran) and DMSO (2 ml+2 mL) and cooled to 0° C. To the solution was added a solution of intermediate Mi (I=1, 2, 3, . . . 11, 13, . . . 17, 19, . . . or 29) (1 mmol) in THF/DMSO (2 ml, 1/1) dropwise within 5 min at 0° C. The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature overnight, then poured into water, extracted with ethyl acetate, dried over anhydrous MgSO 4 and purified by preparative-HPLC. [0000] wherein, A-j (j=I, II, or VI) (The references of preparation: 1) PCT Int. Appl., 2009140500, 19 Nov. 2009; 2) PCT Int. Appl., 2008008776, 17 Jan. 2008) was listed as follows: [0000] [0000] TABLE 1 Synthetic Example Ik A-j Mi method Compoud Structure M + + 1 30  1 A-II M2  A 850.3 31  2 A-I M21 A 816 32  3 A-II M4  A 830 33  4 A-II M5  A 834 34  5 A-I M24 A 820.2 35  6 A-I M22 A 786.3 36  7 A-II M17 A 834.2 37  8 A-II M6  A 878.2 38  9 A-II M3  A 816.3 39 10 A-I M28 A 820.2 40 11 A-II M24 A 808.2 41 12 A-II M28 A 808.2 42 13 A-III M24 A 807.2 43 15 A-II M21 A 804.3 44 16 A-I M20 B 865.1 45 17 A-I M19 B 820.3 46 18 A-I M25 B 816.3 47 19 A-I M26 B 850.2 48 20 A-IV M19 B 820.2 49 21 A-IV M4  A 842.3 50 22 A-IV M8  A 876.3 51 23 A-II M8  A 864.3 52 24 A-II M10 B 913.3 53 25 A-II M10 A 929.2 54 26 A-II M15 A 973.2 55 27 A-II M13 A 908.2 56 28 A-IV M13 A 920.2 57 29 A-II M19 B 808.2 58 30 A-II M20 B 852.2 59 31 A-II M25 B 804.3 60 32 A-II M26 B 838.2 61 33 A-II M27 B 842.2 62 34 A-II M11 A 956.3 63 35 A-II M16 A 1000.2 64 36 A-V M1  A 822.3 65 37 A-VI M1  A 810.3 66 38 A-II M1  A 800.3 67 39 A-II M9  A 929.2 68 40 A-II M14 A 973.2 69 41 A-II M23 A 780.2 70 42 A-II M28 B 838.2 [0335] Compound 2 [0336] tert-butyl(2R,6S,13aS,14aR,16aS,Z)-14a-(cyclopropylsulfonylcarbamoyl)-2-(8-methoxybenzofuro[3,2-c]isoquinolin-5-yloxy)-5,16-dioxo-1,2,3,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,13a,14,14a,15,16,16a-hexadecahydrocyclopropa[e]pyrrolo[1,2-a][1,4]diazacyclopentadecin-6-yl carbamate [0337] 1 H-NMR (CDCl 3 ): δ (ppm): 10.29 (s, 1H), 8.33 (d, J=8.2 Hz, 1H), 8.22 (d, J=8.0 Hz, 1H), 7.78 (t, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.49-7.55 (m, 3H), 7.08 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H), 6.96 (s, 1H), 6.11 (s, 1H), 5.70 (dd, J=8.8, 8.0 Hz, 1H), 5.20 (m, 1H), 4.98 (t, J=9.6 Hz, 1H), 4.67-4.72 (m, 2H), 4.33 (m, 1H), 4.12 (d, J=9.3 Hz, 1H), 3.99 (s, 3H), 2.80-2.92 (m, 2H), 2.73-2.78 (m, 1H), 2.49-2.59 (brs, 1H), 2.28 (q, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 1.70-1.95 (m, 3H), 1.55-1.65 (m, 1H), 1.40-1.52 (m, 7H), 1.28 (s, 10H), 1.08-1.15 (m, 2H), 0.91 (m, 1H); MS (ESI): M + +1=816. [0338] Compound 3 [0339] tert-butyl(S)-1-(2S,4R)-2-(1R,2S)-1-(cyclopropylsulfonylcarbamoyl)-2-vinylcyclopropylcarbamoyl)-4-(8-methoxy-2-phenylbenzofuro [3,2-b]pyridin-4-yloxy)pyrrolidin-1-yl)-3,3-dimethyl-1-oxobutan-2-yl carbamate [0340] 1 H-NMR (CDCl 3 ): δ (ppm): 9.27 (s, 1H), 8.02 (d, J=6.8 Hz, 2H), 7.82 (d, J=2.5 Hz, 1H), 7.69 (s, 1H), 7.61-7.65 (m, 4H), 7.33 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 5.84 (brs, 1H), 5.71 (dd, J=18.3, 9.6 Hz, 1H), 5.30 (d, J=18.3 Hz, 1H), 5.13 (d, J=9.6 Hz, 1H), 4.56-4.62 (m, 2H), 3.95-4.18 (m, 2H), 3.94 (s, 3H), 2.91-2.97 (m, 1H), 2.71 (dd, J=6.7, 14.1 Hz, 1H), 2.57 (ddd, J=14.1, 10.8, 4.1 Hz, 1H), 2.23 (dd, J=8.1, 17.5 Hz, 1H), 1.89 (dd, J=5.5, 17.8 Hz, 1H), 1.45 (dd, J=5.3, 9.2 Hz, 1H), 1.21-1.27 (m, 2H), 1.10 (s, 11H), 1.02 (s, 9H); MS (ESI): M + +1=830. [0341] Compound 4 [0342] tert-butyl(S)-1-((2S,4R)-4-(8-chloro-2-phenylbenzofuro[3,2-b]pyridin-4-yloxy)-2-((1R,2S)-1-(cyclopropylsulfonylcarbamoyl)-2-vinylcyclopropylcarbamoyl)pyrrolidin-1-yl)-3,3-dimethyl-1-oxobutan-2-yl carbamate [0343] 1 H-NMR (CDCl 3 ): δ (ppm): 9.27 (s, 1H), 8.30 (s, 1H), 8.04 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 2H), 7.61-7.70 (m, 3H), 7.51-7.58 (m, 3H), 5.71-5.80 (m, 2H), 5.30 (d, J=16.7 Hz, 1H), 5.13 (d, J=10.4 Hz, 1H), 4.52-4.62 (m, 2H), 3.20 (s, 1H), 4.13 (d, J=10.0 Hz, 1H), 2.91-2.97 (m, 1H), 2.67 (dd, J=6.8, 13.9 Hz, 1H), 2.57 (ddd, J=14.1, 10.8, 4.1, 1H), 2.23 (dd, J=8.1, 17.5 Hz, 1H), 1.88 (dd, J=5.5, 17.8 Hz, 1H), 1.45 (dd, J=5.3, 9.2 Hz, 1H), 1.21-1.27 (m, 2H), 1.12 (s, 11H), 1.02 (s, 9H); MS (ESI): M + +1=834. Example 71 Compound 14 [0344] Synthesis of (2S,4R)-1-(S)-2-tert-butyl-4-oxo-4-(piperidin-1-yl)butanoyl)-4-(8-chlorobenzofuro[3,2-c]isoquinolin-5-yloxy)-N-((1R,2S)-1-(cyclopropylsulfonylcarbamoyl)-2-vinylcyclopropyl)pyrrolidine-2-carboxamide [0000] [0345] A mixture of compound 13 (40.4 mg, 0.05 mmol) and LiOH (5 eq) was dissolved in THF/MeOH/H 2 O (3 mL/3 mL/3 mL) and stirred at room temperature for 3 hours. TLC monitored the reaction. After the reaction completed, the reaction mixture was acidified with 1N hydrochloric acid to pH˜7, then extracted with ethyl acetate, dried over MgSO 4 , filtered and concentrated to dryness under reduced pressure. The residue was dissolved in dimethylfomamide, then piperidine (0.1 mmol), [0346] o-(7-azabenzotriazol-1-yl)-N,N,N′,N′-tetramethyluronium hexafluorophosphate (HATU) (0.065 mmol) and N,N-diisopropyl ethylamine (0.2 mmol) were added. The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature overnight, then poured into water, extracted with ethyl acetate (50 mL×3), dried over MgSO 4 and purified by flash chromatography to give desired product 14. [0347] 1 H-NMR (CDCl 3 ): δ (ppm): 10.21 (s, 1H), 8.50 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 8.24 (d, J=8.0 Hz, 1H), 8.01 (brs, 1H), 7.82 (t, J=8.0 Hz, 1H), 7.54-7.60 (m, 2H), 7.43 (dt, J=8.8, 1.2 Hz, 1H), 7.14 (brs, 1H), 6.06 (brs, 1H), 5.75-5.83 (m, 1H), 5.25 (m, d, J=17.2 Hz, 1H), 5.13 (d, J=10.0 Hz, 1H), 4.63 (d, J=11.6 Hz, 1H), 4.51 (t, J=8.0 Hz, 1H), 4.14 (dd, J=8.8, 2.0 Hz, 1H), 3.63 (s, 2H), 3.05-3.20 (m, 2H), 2.86-3.00 (m, 2H), 2.68-2.73 (m, 1H), 2.57-2.63 (m, 1H), 2.35 (d, J=14.4 Hz, 1H), 2.06-2.13 (m, 1H), 1.99 (t, J=8.0 Hz, 1H), 1.43-1.60 (m, 5H), 1.28-1.42 (m, 4H), 0.9-1.10 (m, 11H); MS (ESI): M + +1=818.3. Effect Example 1 In Vitro Inhibitory Activity of Compounds in HCV Replication in HCV Infected Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells (Huh7.5.1) [0348] The preparation of Huh7.5.1cells: Huh 7.5.1 cells were seeded at a 96-well plate with 37 and 5% CO 2 for 24 hours incubation. [0349] Virus infection: Using the J399EM virus supernatants (moi≈0.1) to infect Huh7.5.1cells. At the same time, the no virus infected cell will be set up as the control. After 8 hours virus infection, the virus will be washed out with PBS. [0350] Drug treatment: The different doses of samples (i.e. the compound Ik, wherein k=1, 2, 3, . . . 42) were added in J399EM infected Huh7.5.1 cells, the each dose for duplicate. At the same time the no sample added in wells will be set up as the control. The test dose of sample is starting from 25 nM or 400 nM, with quarter dilution, 5 doses of sample will be added in the test wells, respectively, then continued for 72 hours incubation. [0351] HCV-EGFP fluorescence detection: After samples treatment for 72 hours, the autofluorescence of HCV-EGFP were measured by the luminometer with excitation of 488 nm, and emission of 516 nm. The related fluorescence unit (RFU) of samples will be read out and used for calculating the inhibitory rates of compounds in HCV replication. Effect Example 2 The Inhibitory Activity of Compounds in the HCV Replicon System [0352] HCV replicon cell-line: The Huh7 cells were transfected with pSGR-399LM replicon DNA and cultured in the DMEM containing 10% FBS and 0.5 mg/mL G418. The cells were split at 1:3 to 1:5 every 3-4 days. The transfected cells were seeded in 96-well plates and cultured at 37° C., 5% CO 2 for 24 hr. [0353] Treatment with samples: To the HCV replicon Huh7 cells-line were added different concentration of the samples (i.e. compound Ik, wherein k=1, 2, 3 . . . 42), the each concentration for duplicate, and set no sample control wells. The concentration started at 400 nM, with quarter dilution to form five different concentrations of samples, that is 400 nM, 100 nM, 25 nM, 6.25 nM and 1.56 nM. The samples were added separately, and continued to incubated for 72 hr. [0354] Fluorescence detection: After 72 hr treatment with sample, the cells were lysed and added with Renilla luciferase substrate to detect luminescent signal. The relative luminescent unit (RLU) in the luminometer was read out and used to calculate the inhibition rate of HCV. [0000] TABLE 2 HCV infected human HCV hepatocellular MS(ESI): replicon system carcinoma cells in compound M + + 1 EC 50 (nM) vitro EC 50 (nM) 1 850 B B 2 816 A A 3 830 A B 4 834 A B 5 820 A A 6 786 A A 7 834 A A 8 878 A B 9 816 A B 10 820 A A 11 808 A B 12 808 A B 13 807 B B 14 818 A B 15 804 B B 16 865 A A 17 820 A A 18 816 A A 19 850 A A 20 820 A A 21 842 A B 22 876 A A 23 864 A A 24 913 A A 25 929 A A 26 973 A A 27 908 A A 28 920 A A 29 808 A A 30 852 B B 31 804 B B 32 838 A B 33 842 B B 34 956 A A 35 1000 A A 36 822 A B 37 810 B B 38 800 A A 39 929 A A 40 973 A A 41 780 — — 42 838 — — A: EC 50 ≦ 100 nM, B: 100 nM < EC 50 < 1000 nM Effect Example 3 Pharmacokinetic Evaluation of the Compounds of this Invention EXPERIMENTAL [0355] Twenty healthy male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats with body weight of 200-220 g were divided into 5 groups randomly and each group contains 4 rats. Before the experiment, rats were fasted for 12 h with free access to water. The compound Ik (wherein k=2, 5, 18, 34 or 38) of this invention was administered by oral gavage at a dose level of 10 mg/kg. The compounds were prepared with 0.5% CMC-Na containing 1% Tween 80. The dose volume was 10 mL/kg. The rats were afforded unlimited access to food after 2 h of dosing 0.3 mL of blood samples were collected at 0.25 h, 0.5 h, 1.0 h, 2.0 h, 3.0 h, 5.0 h, 7.0 h, 9.0 h, and 24.0 h, respectively, from postocular venous plexes of the rat. The blood samples were placed in heparin-containing tubes and immediately centrifuged at 11000 rpm for 5 min. Plasma was separated and refrigerated at −20° C. until analysis. LC-MS/MS methods were used to quantify plasma concentrations of the compound Ik. The pharmacokinetic parameters obtained are shown in Table 3. [0000] TABLE 3 Pharmacokinetic parameters of SD rats after oral administration T max C max AUC 0−t AUC 0−∞ t 1/2 F Compound (h) (ng/mL) (ng · h/mL) (ng · h/mL) (h) (%) I38 0.63 ± 0.25 150 ± 42 239 ± 81  243 ± 81 0.72 ± 0.30 8.7 I5 1.25 ± 0.50  560 ± 139  2882 ± 1720   3028 ± 1705 3.48 ± 1.09 17.1 I18 1.7 ± 0.6 623.3 ± 60.7 3218.5 ± 336.4  3266.8 ± 303.2 3.8 ± 1.0 36.1 I34 0.4 ± 0.2  11.4 ± 04.3  9.6 ± 0.9  11.0 ± 1.1 0.5 ± 0.3 1.6 I2 0.4 ± 0.1  49.7 ± 11.0 157.9 ± 49.8 1777.6 ± 53.7 3.1 ± 1.3 1.8 Experimental Conclusions [0356] The compounds of this invention showed satisfied pharmacokinetic behaviour. For instance, Compound 118 was orally administered to SD rats at 10 mg/kg. The peak plasma concentration was at 1.7±0.6 h, with C max of 623±60.7 ng/mL, and the area under plasma concentration-time curves AUC 0-t was 3218.5±336.4 ng·h/mL, AUC 0-∞ was 3266.8±303.2 ng·h/mL. The elimination half-life t 1/2 was 3.8±1.0 h. The absolute bioavailability F approached to 36.1%. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY OF THE INVENTION [0357] The compounds of the present invention have the excellent activity of anti-hepatitis C virus. The value EC 50 of the desired compounds for HCV replicon system (pSGR-399LM+Huh7.5) all are lesser than 1000 nM. A majority of compounds are lesser than 100 nM. The value EC 50 of the compounds for HCV infected human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (Huh7.5.1) in vitro all are lesser than 1000 nM also. And the compounds of this invention showed satisfied pharmacokinetic behaviour also.
A compound of general formula (I); A is O, S, CH, NH or NR′, when O links with Z 3 , Z 1 is N or CR Z1 , Z 2 is CR Z2 , when Z 1 links with O, Z 2 is CH, Z 3 is C—Ar; Ra, Rb, Rc and Rd independently is H, OH, halogen or —Y 1 —R m ; A 1 is NH or CH 2 ; R 1 ′ is alkyl, aryl, cycloalkyl, heterocycloalkyl or heteroaryl; A 2 is N, O or linking bond; R 1 is hydrogen, or, R 1 linking covalently with R 3 forms C 5 -C 9 saturated or unsaturated hydrocarbon chain substituted by O or N; R 3 is alkyl, cycloalkyl, heterocycloalkyl, alkyl substituted by cycloalkyl etc; R 4 is alkoxy-CO, alkyl-NHCO, (alkyl) 2 NCO, or formyl substituted by aryl, cycloalkyl, heterocycloalkyl.
2
BACKGROUND The present invention relates to a connector assembly and method for connecting an end portion of a conduit to a relatively small casting, a fitting, or the like; and, more particularly, to such an assembly and method in which inexpensive components can be used, and welded or threaded fasteners are eliminated. Many techniques are known for connecting an end portion of a conduit to a casting, a fitting or the like. One technique involves welding or soldering collars onto or into the conduit end and the casting, and clamping a flat packing between the collars by means of bolts which must be forcefully tightened so as to achieve a satisfactory seal. In another technique, conical sockets are welded/soldered to the conduit end and a corresponding end of the casting, and the sockets are joined by means of corresponding conical couplings. The couplings are interconnected by means of bolts that are screwed through flanges, and sealing is effected by seal rings arranged in grooves in the sockets. The above prior art techniques require a large number of expensive materials, such as copper, brass or steel, and are also labor intensive. As a result, some techniques utilize less expensive material for the conduit, such as aluminum, and provide the conduit and the casting with protruding ends and coupling components which are die-cast and formed with threads. However, these components must be precision machined since relatively small tolerances are required for obtaining a satisfactory seal. Also, the machining operation involves a risk that the die-cast material contains pores, thereby causing leakage. Further, these techniques often take up internal space in the conduit or casting, thus reducing the effective inner flow area of the conduit. Finally, the connectors are relatively rigid and are prone to leakage due to vibration or shock. Therefore what is needed is a connector assembly and method for connecting a conduit to a casting, a fitting, or the like, in which inexpensive components can be used, and welded or threaded fasteners are eliminated. Also needed is an connector assembly and method of the above type according to which there is no leakage and no reduction of the inner cross-section of the conduit. SUMMARY Accordingly to an embodiment of the present invention an axially-projecting cylindrical flange projects from one end of a tubular casting over which an end portion of a conduit extends. A groove is formed in the casting for receiving the end of the conduit, and a retainer secures the end portion of the conduit in the groove. The connector assembly and method of the present invention enables a conduit to be connected in fluid flow communication with a casting or fitting utilizing relatively inexpensive components and without the need for welding or threaded fasteners. Also, there is no leakage and no reduction of the inner cross-section of the conduit. Further, the flexible nature of the joint and the seal is very resistant to vibration and shock. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an exploded isometric view of one embodiment of the assembly of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the assembly of FIG. 1 in an assembled condition. FIGS. 3, 4 and 7 are views, similar to FIG. 2, but depicting alternate embodiments of the assembly of the present invention. FIG. 5 is an exploded isometric view of another alternative embodiment of the assembly of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the assembly of FIG. 5 in an assembled condition. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the reference numeral 10 refers to a conduit which is adapted to carry any type of fluid in a fluid distribution system, or the like. The conduit 10 is provided with an external annular bead 10 a (FIG. 2) on one end portion thereof and the latter end portion is flared radially outwardly. The bead 10 a is formed integrally with the conduit 10 in any known manner, such as by using an appropriate forming die, or the like. It is understood that the other end of the conduit 10 is connected to the fluid distribution system. A seal ring 12 , of an elastomeric material, fits inside the bead and is sized so that the inner surface of the seal ring 12 projects slightly from the inner surface of the conduit 10 . The seal ring 12 functions to seal against the leakage of fluid in a manner that will be described. The above-mentioned flared end portion of the conduit 10 is adapted for connection to a tubular casting, or fitting, 14 . The casting 14 can be of the type that is designed to form a part of the above-mentioned fluid distribution system, and, as such, is fixed at its other end to a container, a housing, a dispenser, or the like (not shown) for distributing fluid thereto. For example, the casting 14 could be affixed to a gasoline pumping unit at a gasoline service station. The casting 14 has a cylindrical flange 14 a extending from one end thereof, and a circumferential groove 14 b formed in the latter end immediately adjacent the flange. The outer diameter of the flange 14 a is slightly less that the inner diameter of the conduit 10 so as to extend within the conduit 10 in a fairly tight fit to support and align the conduit in a coaxial relationship to the casting. The groove 14 b of the casting 14 is dimensioned so as to receive the flared end of the conduit 10 in a manner to be described in detail. A first pair of aligned openings 14 c extend through the end portion of the wall of the casting 14 adjacent the end thereof, and a second pair of aligned, through openings 14 d also extend through the wall of the casting in a diametrically opposed relation to the openings 14 c . The respective pairs of openings 14 c and 14 d are coaxial with two imaginary lines (shown by the phantom lines in FIG. 1) that respectively extend through two imaginary chords formed through the casting 14 . Two elongated pins 22 a and 22 b are adapted to extend through the pairs of openings 14 c and 14 d , respectively, to secure the conduit 10 to the casting 14 in a manner to be described. To connect the conduit 10 to the casting 14 , the seal ring 12 is placed in the bead 10 a of the conduit, and the conduit is advanced towards the casting 14 until the flange 14 a of the casting extends in the bore of the conduit. The conduit 10 is advanced further until the flared end portion of the conduit enters the groove 14 b of the casting 14 , and the end of the conduit engages the bottom of the groove to locate the conduit relative to the casting as shown in FIG. 2 . The two pairs pins 22 a and 22 b are then inserted though the pairs of openings 14 c and 14 d , respectively, so that a segment of each pin extends through diametrically opposed sections of the groove 14 b just radially outwardly from the flared end portion of the conduit 10 that extends in the groove, as shown in FIG. 2 . Therefore, the flared end portion of the conduit 10 is captured in the groove 14 b and the conduit is thus secured to the casting 14 . In this secured position, the seal ring 12 engages a corresponding outer surface portion of the flange 14 a to seal against fluid leakage between the flange and the conduit 10 . Several advantages result from the foregoing. For example, inexpensive components can be used, and welded or threaded fasteners are eliminated. Also, there is no leakage and no reduction of the inner cross-section of the conduit. The embodiment of FIG. 3 is similar to that of FIGS. 1 and 2 and identical components are given the same reference numerals. According to the embodiment of FIG. 3, a conduit 30 is provided having two internal beads 30 a and 30 b that define a space therebetween in which an elastomeric seal ring 32 extends. The conduit 30 and the flange 14 a are sized so that an annular space is defined therebetween into which the beads 30 a and 30 b extend. The inner diameters of the beads 30 a and 30 b are slightly greater than the outer diameter of the flange 14 a so that the flange is surrounded by the beads in a fairly tight fit. As a result, the flange 14 a supports the conduit 10 in a coaxial relation to the casting 14 . The seal ring 32 is sized so that its inner surface projects radially inwardly from the beads 30 a and 30 b . Thus, when the conduit 30 is connected to the casting 14 in the manner described above in connection with the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, the projecting portion of the seal ring 32 engages the corresponding outer surface of the flange 14 a of the casting 14 to establish a fluid seal. Otherwise, the embodiment of FIG. 3 is identical to that of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 and enjoys all of the advantages thereof. The embodiment of FIG. 4 is similar to the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 and to the embodiment of FIG. 3 and identical components are given the same reference numerals. According to the embodiment of FIG. 4, a conduit 36 is provided which has an internal diameter that is only slightly greater than the outer diameter of the flange 14 a of the casting 14 , as in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2. A circumferential groove is formed in the outer surface of the flange 14 a that receives an elastomeric seal ring 38 that is sized so that its outer surface projects slightly radially outwardly from the groove. Thus, when the conduit 36 is connected to the casting 14 in the manner described above in connection with the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, the projecting portion of the seal ring 38 engages the corresponding inner surface of the conduit 36 to establish a fluid seal. Otherwise, the embodiment of FIG. 4 is identical to that of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3 and enjoys all of the advantages thereof. The embodiment of FIGS. 5 and 6 is similar to that of FIGS. 1 and 2 and includes a conduit 40 provided with an external annular bead 40 a on one end portion thereof. A seal ring 42 , of an elastomeric material, extends in the bead 10 a and is sized so that its inner surface projects slightly outwardly from the inner surface of the conduit, as in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2. A casting 44 has a cylindrical flange 44 a extending from the end thereof that extends within the conduit 40 to support and align same in a coaxial relationship to the casting, as in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2. According to this embodiment the end of the conduit 40 butts against the end of the casting 44 as shown in FIG. 6, and a circumferential groove 44 b is provided in the outer surface of the casting 14 near the latter end. The pins 22 a and 22 b of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 are replaced by a cylindrical clip 46 for securing the conduit 10 to the casting 14 . To this end, the clip 46 is sized so a portion of it extends over the latter end portion of the conduit 40 and the bead 40 a while the remaining portion extends over the latter end of the casting 4 as viewed in FIG. 6 . The clip 46 is U-shaped in cross-section with one of its legs 46 a extending radially inwardly and into the groove 44 b of the casing 44 , and with its other leg 46 b abutting an outer surface of the conduit 10 , to secure the conduit to the casting. Thus, the embodiment of FIGS. 5 and 6 enjoys all of the advantages of the previous embodiments while permitting use of a different connector. An embodiment for connecting two conduits in fluid communication through a casting is shown in FIG. 7 and incorporates the components of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 which are given the same reference numerals. According to the embodiment of FIG. 7, a casting 50 is provided which is identical to the casting 14 of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 with the exception that it is provided with a flange 50 a at one end that is identical to the flange 14 a of the casting 14 , and an additional flange 50 b at the other end that is also identical to the flange 14 a . Two circumferential grooves 50 c and 50 d are provided in the respective ends of the casting 50 which are identical to the groove 14 b of the casting 14 . An additional conduit 60 is provided that is identical to the conduit 10 and is connected to the casting 50 in the same manner as the conduit 10 is connected to the casting 14 in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2. To this end, the conduit 60 is fitted over the flange 50 b of the casting 50 with its flared end extending in the groove 50 d . Two pairs of pins 62 a and 62 b are provided that extend through corresponding openings in the casting 50 to secure the conduit 60 to the casting in the same manner as described in connection with the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2. To assemble the assembly of the embodiment of FIG. 7, the end portion of the conduit 10 of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 is fitted over the flange 50 a and is secured thereto by the pins 22 a and 22 b as described above. Similarly, the end portion of the conduit 60 is fitted over the flange 50 b and is secured thereto by the pins 62 a and 62 b in the manner discussed in connection with the latter embodiment. The conduits 10 and 60 and the casting 50 together define a through bore, and the embodiment of FIG. 7 thus enables the conduits 10 and 60 to be connected together through the casting 50 in fluid flow communication and yet enjoys all of the advantages of the previous embodiments outlined above. It is understood that variations may be made in the foregoing without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the specific features of each embodiment can be used with the other embodiments. For example, the clip 46 of the embodiment of FIGS. 5 and 6 can be used in the embodiments of FIGS. 1-4 and 7 ; the seal arrangements of the embodiments of FIGS. 3 and 4 can be used in any of the embodiments of FIGS. 1 , 2 , and 5 - 7 , and any of the embodiment of FIGS. 3-5 can be adapted to connect two conduits together through their respective castings as disclosed in the embodiment of FIG. 7 . Also, the two pins 22 a and 22 b can be replaced with a single U-shaped pin with the legs of the latter pin extending the openings 14 c and 14 d , respectively. Further, the single bead of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 can project radially inwardly from the conduit, and the double bead of the embodiment of FIG. 3 can project radially outwardly from the conduit. It is understood that other modifications, changes and substitutions are intended in the foregoing disclosure and in some instances some features of the invention will be employed without a corresponding use of other features. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims be construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the scope of the invention.
A tube/casting assembly and method according to which an axially-projecting cylindrical flange projects from one end of a tubular casting over which an end portion of the conduit extends. A groove is formed in the casting for receiving the end portion and a retainer secures the end portion of the conduit in the groove.
5
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2008-0130014, filed on Dec. 19, 2008, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND [0002] 1. Field of the Disclosure [0003] This disclosure relates to a grinding apparatus and an adaptive method for the fabrication of a liquid crystal display device that is able to improve an adsorption defect of a substrate onto a substrate stage. [0004] 2. Description of the Related Art [0005] Recently, various flat display devices of reduced weight and bulk, unlike cathode ray tubes, are becoming popular. Such flat display devices include liquid crystal display devices, field emission displays, plasma display panels and organic electro luminescence display devices. [0006] Flat panel display devices like these are included in image display devices such as televisions and computer monitors, and play the role of displaying various images and characters as well as motion pictures. [0007] Among these flat panel display devices, liquid crystal display devices are used in many applied fields because of it is desirable to make electronic appliances light, thin, short and small and because their mass productivity has improved. [0008] In particular, an active matrix type liquid crystal display device that drives liquid crystal cells by use of thin film transistors has the advantages of an excellent picture quality and low power consumption. In addition, these devices are rapidly being developed to be larger and to have high resolution. This is the result of research and development and due to recent mass production technology. [0009] The fabrication of a liquid crystal display device involves various processes: a process of fabricating a thin film transistor substrate whereby the thin film transistor is formed by pixels to be a switching device; a process of fabricating a color filter substrate that faces the thin film transistor substrate and in which a common electrode and red, green and blue color filters are formed in correspondence to each pixel,; and a cell process of bonding two substrates together after interposing liquid crystal between the thin film transistor substrate and the color filter substrate that were fabricated by the above two processes. A liquid crystal display panel is completed by the cell process and the liquid crystal display device is completed by adhering a polarizing plate, a drive circuit substrate and a backlight unit to the liquid crystal display panel. [0010] The cell process that completes the liquid crystal display panel by bonding the thin film transistor and the color filter substrate together will now be briefly explained. [0011] The cell process can be divided into an alignment process, a cell gap forming process, a cell cutting process, a liquid crystal injection process, and a grinding process. During the alignment process, the liquid crystal is aligned in one direction in the thin film transistor substrate where the thin film transistors are arranged and in the color filter substrate where the color filter is formed. During the cell gap forming process, the two substrates which went through the alignment process are bonded together with a fixed gap maintained. In the cell cutting process, a circular plate panel bonded by the cell gap forming process is cut into unit panels. During the liquid crystal injection process, liquid crystal is injected into the inside of each unit panel. In the grinding process the cut surface is ground. [0012] The grinding process involves grinding a cut edge of the liquid crystal display panel after the liquid crystal is injected. This is to prevent an operator from being injured by a sharp cut surface. It also prevents a signal input pattern and a printed circuit board from being misaligned, and a crack from forming by a process impact when drive IC's and a printed circuit board for applying drive signals to data lines and gate lines formed on the thin film transistor substrate and a signal input pattern for inputting drive signals are adhered to the upper surface of the side of an array substrate by use of ACF (anisotropic conductive film) bonding or soldering. [0013] FIG. 1 is a planar view illustrating a substrate stage that supports a liquid crystal display panel in a grinding apparatus for the fabrication of a general liquid crystal display device. [0014] The grinding apparatus for the fabrication of the liquid crystal display device includes a substrate stage 20 that adsorbs and fixes the liquid crystal display panel to be ground. [0015] The substrate stage 20 includes a plurality of vacuum adsorption holes 21 for adsorbing the liquid crystal display panel. [0016] The vacuum adsorption hole 21 plays the role of fixing the liquid crystal display panel to the substrate stage 20 by use of vacuum adsorption. [0017] However, the grinding apparatus for the fabrication of the general liquid crystal display device has a problem: impurities such as glass powder generated by grinding the edge of the liquid crystal display panel are piled up in the vacuum adsorption hole 21 and can clog the adsorption hole 21 so as to generate a substrate adsorption defect during the process. BRIEF SUMMARY [0018] Accordingly, the present embodiments are directed to grinding apparatus and method for the fabrication of an LCD device that substantially obviate one or more of problems due to the limitations and disadvantages of the related art, and a driving method thereof. [0019] An object of the present embodiment is to provide a grinding apparatus and an adaptive method for the fabrication of a liquid crystal display device that is able to improve the adsorption defect of a substrate onto a substrate stage. [0020] Additional features and advantages of the embodiments will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the embodiments. The advantages of the embodiments will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings. [0021] According to one general aspect of the present embodiment, a grinding apparatus for fabrication of a liquid crystal display device includes a plurality of substrate stage configured to make a linearly bi-directional movement; first and second grinding parts disposed in a series at an area to which the substrate stage moves; first to third aligning parts disposed at both ends of the first and second grinding parts and therebetween; and first and second cleaning parts disposed between the first and second grinding parts and the first and second aligning parts so as to clean the substrate stage. [0022] A method of grinding a liquid crystal display device according to another aspect of the present embodiment includes moving first and second substrate stages to first and second aligning parts after performing the grinding process of the liquid crystal display panel as many times as pre-set; minimizing the size of the first and second substrate stages; cleaning the first and second substrate stages for the first time by using pure water DI; cleaning the first and second substrate stages by using air pressure; and carrying out the grinding process after changing the sizes of the first and second substrate stages, of which the cleaning is completed, to the size thereof when grinding. [0023] Other systems, methods, features and advantages will be, or will become, apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the invention, and be protected by the following claims. Nothing in this section should be taken as a limitation on those claims. Further aspects and advantages are discussed below in conjunction with the embodiments. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present disclosure are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the disclosure as claimed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0024] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the embodiments and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the disclosure. In the drawings: [0025] FIG. 1 is a planar view illustrating a substrate stage that supports a substrate in a grinding apparatus for the fabrication of a general liquid crystal display device; [0026] FIG. 2 is a view illustrating an area of a liquid crystal display device; [0027] FIG. 3 is a planar view briefly illustrating a grinding apparatus for the fabrication of a liquid crystal display device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; [0028] FIG. 4 is a planar view illustrating a substrate stage included within the grinding apparatus for the fabrication of the liquid crystal display device of the present disclosure; and [0029] FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method of grinding a liquid crystal display device according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0030] Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. These embodiments introduced hereinafter are provided as examples in order to convey their spirits to the ordinary skilled person in the art. Therefore, these embodiments might be embodied in a different shape, so are not limited to these embodiments described here. Also, the size and thickness of the device might be expressed to be exaggerated for the sake of convenience in the drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout this disclosure including the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. [0031] FIG. 2 is a view illustrating an area of a liquid crystal display panel, FIG. 3 is a planar view briefly illustrating a grinding apparatus for the fabrication of a liquid crystal display device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and FIG. 4 is a planar view illustrating a substrate stage included within the grinding apparatus for the fabrication of the liquid crystal display device of the present disclosure. [0032] As shown in FIG. 2 , a liquid crystal display panel 110 includes upper and lower substrates 101 , 170 that face each other with a fixed gap between them, and a liquid crystal layer 150 interposed between the upper and lower substrates 101 , 170 . [0033] A plurality of gate lines 171 and a plurality of data lines 173 are arranged to cross each other on the upper surface of the lower substrate 170 , and a thin film transistor T is formed at an area where the gate line 171 crosses the data line 173 . [0034] Furthermore, a pixel P is defined by the crossing of the gate line 171 and the data line 173 in the lower substrate 170 , and a pixel electrode 175 connected to the thin film transistor T is formed in the pixel P. [0035] The liquid crystal display panel with such a structure is completed by cutting the circular plate panel where the upper and lower substrates 101 and 170 are bonded together into unit panels and injecting liquid crystal into the inside. [0036] A grinding process is carried out on the side surface of the completed liquid crystal display panel 110 . [0037] Referring to FIGS. 3 to 5 , the grinding apparatus for the fabrication of the liquid crystal display device will be explained in more detail. [0038] As shown in FIG. 3 , the grinding apparatus for fabrication of the liquid crystal display device according to an embodiment of the present invention is configured to be a linear type so that the liquid crystal display panel 110 can be directly connected to a conveyor which becomes a main moving route. [0039] The grinding apparatus includes a robot 150 for moving the liquid crystal display panel 110 to the grinding apparatus, a first grinding part G 1 for grinding a long side surface of the liquid crystal display panel 110 , a second grinding part G 2 for grinding its short side surface, and a substrate stage 120 that travels linearly between the first and second grinding parts G 1 , G 2 . First and second aligning parts A 1 , A 2 are configured after the first and second grinding parts G 1 , G 2 for aligning the liquid crystal display panel 110 located at the upper surface of the substrate stage 120 , and a third aligning part A 3 is configured after the second grinding part G 2 . [0040] The substrate stage 120 includes first and second supporting parts 123 a, 123 b that support the lower surface edge of the liquid crystal display panel 110 , and a third supporting part 122 that supports the central area of the lower surface of the liquid crystal display panel 110 and that has a rotating part 125 which can rotate the liquid crystal display panel 110 at the same time. [0041] Though not shown in detail in the drawing, an adsorption hole for fixing the liquid crystal display panel 110 is configured on the upper surface of the rotating part 125 . [0042] That is to say, the substrate stage 120 adsorbs one surface of the liquid crystal display panel 110 transferred from the robot 150 with a vacuum by use of the adsorption hole. This is to fix the liquid crystal display panel 110 onto the substrate stage 110 . At this moment, before the vacuum adsorption is carried out, in the first aligning part A 1 , the long axis direction of the liquid crystal display panel 110 is aligned to be parallel to the direction in which the grinding process is carried out. [0043] In the first grinding part G 1 , first and second grinding stones 130 a, 130 b that rotate at a high speed to grind the long side surface of the liquid crystal display panel 110 are disposed to be separated from each other at a fixed distance. [0044] In the first grinding part G 1 , the long side surface of the liquid crystal display panel 110 is ground by the first and second grinding stones 130 a, 130 b that rotate at a high speed as the substrate stage 120 moves in slowly. [0045] Then, if the substrate stage 120 moves to the end of the first grinding part G 1 , the liquid crystal display panel 110 is rotated at an angle of 90 degree in the second aligning part A 2 . [0046] In the second grinding part G 2 , third and fourth grinding stones 140 a and 140 b that rotate at a high speed to grind the short side surface of the liquid crystal display panel 110 are disposed to be separated from each other at a fixed distance [0047] In the second grinding part G 2 , the short side surface of the liquid crystal display panel 110 is ground by the third and fourth grinding stones 140 a and 140 b that rotate at a high speed as the liquid crystal display panel 110 rotated at an angle of 90 degree in the second aligning part A 2 moves in slowly. [0048] The substrate stage 120 that passes through the second grinding part G 2 rotates at the angle of 90 degree in the third aligning part A 3 to align the liquid crystal display panel 110 , thereby completing the grinding process. [0049] In this process, the grinding apparatus for fabrication of the liquid crystal display device according to the embodiment of the present disclosure includes a cleaning part for improving the adsorption defect of the liquid crystal display panel 110 which is caused by a clog made by the impurities generated at the adsorption hole of the substrate stage 120 during the grinding process. [0050] A first DI cleaning part 200 that cleans the substrate stage 120 by use of pure water DI is disposed before the first grinding part G 1 . [0051] Furthermore, a second DI cleaning part 300 is disposed before the second grinding part G 2 . [0052] The substrate stage 120 located at the first aligning part Al slowly passes through the first DI cleaning part 200 for the first cleaning before the substrate stage 120 is loaded with the liquid crystal display panel 110 . At this moment, the substrate 120 located at the second aligning part A 2 slowly passes through the second DI cleaning part 300 for the first cleaning before the substrate stage 120 is loaded with the liquid crystal display panel 110 . [0053] First and second air cleaning parts 210 and 301 are respectively disposed after the first and second grinding parts G 1 , G 2 . [0054] The substrate stages 120 cleaned for the first time by the first and second DI cleaning parts 200 and 300 are cleaned for the second time by the air spray of the first and second cleaning parts 201 and 301 . [0055] The grinding apparatus explained above can prevent the adsorption defect of the liquid crystal display panel 110 since the impurities generated in the grinding process are removed by the cleaning at the first and second air cleaning parts 201 , 301 . [0056] Herein, the substrate stage 120 has the first and second supporting parts 123 a and 123 b moved in a third supporting part 122 direction as far as possible before the cleaning process starts in case that the first and second supporting parts 123 A and 123 B are expanded in a side direction. The size of the substrate stage 120 is minimized by moving the first and second supporting parts 123 a and 123 b in the third supporting part 122 direction because it is easier to correspond to the spatial restriction within the grinding apparatus. [0057] This description limits the first and second DI cleaning parts 200 and 300 and the first and second air cleaning parts 201 and 301 to be located before and after the first and second grinding parts G 1 and G 2 , but they can also be disposed at any place within the grinding apparatus without restriction. [0058] The grinding apparatus according to the embodiment of the present disclosure described above cleans the substrate stage 120 with a fixed gap, making it possible to prevent the adsorption defect of the liquid crystal display panel 110 . Herein, the cleaning interval of the substrate stage 120 can be changed. That is to say, the cleaning process of the grinding apparatus of the present disclosure might occur when the adsorption defect of the liquid crystal display panel 110 is generated. For example, in the grinding apparatus of the present disclosure, the cleaning of the substrate stage 120 might be carried out once after one hundred times of the grinding process, or the cleaning of the substrate stage 120 might be carried out once after twenty times of the grinding process. [0059] FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method of grinding a liquid crystal display device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [0060] As shown in FIG. 5 , the method of grinding the liquid crystal display device according to the embodiment of the present invention is carried out after the grinding process of the liquid crystal display panel is completed as many times as pre-set. (S 1 ) [0061] Herein, the grinding process is carried out as many times as pre-set. (for example, 100 times, 200 times and so on) [0062] The substrate stage can be extended in the outer direction in accordance with the size of the liquid crystal display panel, and is changed to the minimum size while the cleaning process is carried out. (S 2 ) [0063] The substrate stage located at the second aligning part is moved to the first aligning part and the substrate stage located at the third aligning part is moved to the second aligning part. (S 3 ) [0064] As the substrate stages moved to the first and second aligning parts are made to move to the first and second DI cleaning parts, the first cleaning is carried out. (S 4 ) [0065] After the first cleaning is carried out, the second cleaning is carried out by the first and second air cleaning parts. (S 35 ) [0066] The substrate stages of which the second cleaning is completed are made to move to the first and second aligning parts respectively. The first and second supporting parts for grinding the liquid crystal display panel are made to move in the outer direction so as to change the size in accordance with the size of the corresponding liquid crystal display panel in order to carry out the grinding process. (S 6 ) [0067] The grinding apparatus for the fabrication of the liquid crystal display device according to the embodiment of the present disclosure described above includes the cleaning part for removing the impurities generated by the grinding process, thus it is possible to prevent the adsorption defect of the liquid crystal display panel. Accordingly, the lighting test device for fabrication of the liquid crystal display device of the present disclosure can prevent the adsorption defect of the liquid crystal display panel and in turn can reduce the process time and cost loss generated by the adsorption defect of the liquid crystal display panel during the grinding process. [0068] Furthermore, the present disclosure automatically cleans the substrate stage, thus it is possible to prevent the risk in safety which might be caused by the conventional cleaning operation of an operator. [0069] Although the present disclosure has been limitedly explained regarding only the embodiments described above, it should be understood by the ordinary skilled person in the art that the present disclosure is not limited to these embodiments, but rather that various changes or modifications thereof are possible without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure shall be determined only by the appended claims and their equivalents.
There is disclosed a grinding apparatus for fabrication of a liquid crystal display device that is adaptive for improving the adsorption defect of a substrate onto a substrate stage. A grinding apparatus for fabrication of a liquid crystal display device disclosed in the present invention includes a plurality of substrate stage configured to make a linearly bi-directional movement; first and second grinding parts disposed in a series at an area to which the substrate stage moves; first to third aligning parts disposed at both ends of the first and second grinding parts and therebetween; and first and second cleaning parts disposed between the first and second grinding parts and the first and second aligning parts so as to clean the substrate stage.
1
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/080,197 filed Apr. 1, 2008 and copending herewith. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) and other high molecular weight polyolefin materials useful for ballistic applications and more particularly to a novel and highly economical process for their production. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] The processing of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), i.e. polyethylene having a molecular weight in excess of about 2 million, is known in the polymer arts to be extremely difficult. Products made from such materials are, however, very strong, tough and durable. [0004] In the following series of U.S. patents filed by Kobayashi et al and assigned to Nippon Oil Co., Ltd. a number of inventions related to the fabrication of fibers and films of polyolefins generally and UHMWPE specifically, are described: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,996,011, 5,002,714, 5,091,133, 5,106,555, 5,200,129, and 5,578,373. The processes described in these patents generally describe the continuous production of high strength and high modulus polyolefin films by feeding polyolefin powder between a combination of endless belts disposed in an up and down opposing relationship, compression molding the polyolefin powder at a temperature below its melting point between the endless belts and then rolling and stretching the resultant compression molded polyolefin into an oriented film. As compression molded, the sheet is relatively friable thus requiring the subsequent calendering or drawing operations to provide an oriented film that exhibits very good strength and durability properties. In fact, the strength of such materials produced by these processes can be 3 times that of steel on a weight basis and they exhibit very low creep. [0005] Enhanced processes for the production of such materials have also been described in the following U.S. patents and patent applications: U.S. Pat. No. 7,348,053 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/217,279 filed Sep. 1, 2005. [0006] A common element of all of these prior art processes is that they require compaction of an UHMWPE powder as the initial step in the production process. Until now, it has been the thinking of the UHMWPE manufacturing community that such powder compaction was necessary in order to place the material in a form that it could be subsequently rolled and drawn as described in the referenced prior art. Stated differently, it has been the thinking that in order to produce the product in a process involving the subsequent rolling and drawing steps to obtain the orientation required for the production of ballistically useful UHMWPE, the powder had to first be placed in the form of a sheet that demonstrated sufficient tenacity to be successfully processed in such subsequent rolling and drawing processes. In the prior art, such a form was obtained by compacting the powder into a relatively friable sheet that could be introduced into the rolling operation for subsequent processing. [0007] The performance of this compaction process step, particularly in the production of UHMWPE sheets wider than 1-2 inches in width, requires the use of relatively massive, quite complex and very expensive equipment (measured in the millions of dollars for installed such equipment). Such equipment thus requires high levels of capital expenditures for installation and due to its complexity ongoing high operating and maintenance expenses. [0008] U.S. Pat. No. 4,436,682 to Knopp, issued Mar. 13, 1984 describes a process for compacting polymer powders into fully dense products. According to this patent, a polymer powder is fed from a hopper into the nip between two rolls, compacted therein at a temperature below the melting point of the polymer powder and withdrawn from the nip under tension to form a “fully dense” polymer sheet. According to Knopp, when his process is applied to an UHMWPE powder, the resulting sheet has a density of about 0.82 g/cc which he designates as “substantially fully dense”. It is well known that the density of UHMWPE is on the order of above 0.945 g/cc. Hence, the product of Knopp's process is hardly “fully dense” and is unsuited to further processing by calendering or drawing, since it will tear or break when subjected to such processes. [0009] It would thus be of great benefit to the producer of such UHMWPE materials, particularly in widths greater than a couple of inches, if a much simpler, smaller and less expensive first process step could be substituted for the powder compaction step, without negatively affecting the either the product thus produced or significantly affecting the kinetics of the process, i.e. it did not, for example, slow production to an uneconomical rate. OBJECT OF THE INVENTION [0010] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an enhanced process for the production of UHMWPE sheet that eliminates the need for the previously described compaction step and uses a much more cost effective and simpler process for the production of a high tenacity UHMWPE sheet that can undergo subsequent processing by drawing. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0011] According to the present invention, there is provided a process for the production of virtually full density polyolefin suitable for further processing by drawing to form a high tenacity, highly oriented polyolefin sheet comprising: a) feeding a metered amount of polyolefin powder into the nip between two heated calender rolls initially set at a gap smaller than the size of the smallest polyolefin powder particle and at a temperature above the melting point of the powder; b) rolling the powder through the nip under these conditions until a coherent sheet of polyolefin is produced: and c) once a coherent sheet of polyolefin exits the nip lowering the temperature in the nip to a temperature below the melting point of the polyolefin powder and increasing the gap to a desired level above the thickness of the largest powder particle. Such a process not only eliminates the need for a separate and costly compaction step, but yields a coherent polyolefin sheet that is ready for drawing in accordance with prior art processes for the production of a high tenacity, highly oriented polyolefin sheet having a high heat of fusion. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the polyolefin of choice is ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE). DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0012] FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of the production processes of the prior art. [0013] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a preferred embodiment of the apparatus used to implement the drawing portion of the preferred process of the present invention. [0014] FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of the apparatus used to produce coherent UHMWPE sheet in accordance with the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0015] In the description that follows, operating parameters, material properties etc. are presented in the context of those for ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), but it will be readily understood by the skilled artisan in the polymer field that the invention described herein is readily applicable to other polyolefin polymers such as high molecular weight polypropylene through the judicious selection of materials and process conditions appropriate for these other polyolefin materials. [0016] The term “tape” as used herein refers to products having widths on the order of or greater than about 1/2 inch and preferably greater than 1 inch. The term “fiber” as used herein is meant to define a “narrow” tape, i.e. an element narrower than about 1/2 inch. The term “slit film fiber” refers specifically to a “fiber” or narrow tape made in accordance with the present invention that exhibits a generally rectangular cross-section and smooth, i.e. non-serrated or ragged edges. The terms “sheet” and “film” as used herein is meant to refer to thin sections of the materials of the present invention in widths up to and exceeding 160 inches in width as could be produced in large commercial equipment specifically designed for production in such widths. According to a preferred embodiment, such sheets and tapes have a generally rectangular cross-section and smooth edges. Hence, the fundamental difference between a “tape”, a “slit film fiber”, a “fiber”, a “film” and a “sheet” as used to describe the products of the processes described herein relates to the width thereof and is generally independent of the thickness thereof. [0017] Referring now to FIG. 1 , the processes described in the prior art and depicted schematically in FIG. 1 comprised the continuous production of high strength and high modulus polyolefin films by feeding polyolefin powder between a combination of endless belts disposed in an up and down opposing relationship, compacting the polyolefin powder at a temperature below its melting point between the endless belts and then rolling and stretching the resultant compression molded polyolefin into an oriented film. To the extent of their relevance to the modified processes described herein, the aforementioned prior art descriptions contained in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,996,011, 5,002,714, 5,091,133, 5,106,555, 5,200,129, and 5,578,373 are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. [0018] A major difference between the processes of the prior art and those of the present invention is that the present invention obviates the need for the compaction step and its related high cost entirely. Thus, the method described herein begins with heated polyolefin powder introduced as described hereinafter directly into a pair of heated, counter rotating calender rolls under very specific temperature and gap conditions to produce a coherent polyolefin sheet suitable for subsequent further drawing to orient the polyolefin and to produce a ballistically useful high tenacity, highly oriented polymeric material. [0019] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the polyolefin processed in accordance with the process of the present invention is an UHMWPE that exhibits high crystallinity (above about 80% as determined by differential scanning calorimetry), a heat of fusion equal to or greater than 220 joules/gram and low levels of entanglement. Thus, it is preferred that the input starting material UHMWPE possess the degree of crystallinity and heat of fusion and meet the low entanglement requirements stated above. Such commercially available materials as Ticona X-168 from Ticona Engineering Polymers, 2600 Updike Road, Auburn Hills Mich. 48236 and type 1900 CM from Basell Corp. 2801 Centerville Road, Wilmington, Del. 19808 are useful in the successful practice of the present invention. [0020] Referring now to the accompanying drawings, as depicted in FIG. 3 , the initial step in the process of the present invention utilizes a direct roll apparatus 10 comprising a polymer powder hopper 12 that feeds a metered amount of polymer powder 14 into a vibratory chute 16 via a metering device 18 and thence to a containment plate 20 . At containment plate 20 the powder is introduced into the gap 22 between two counter rotating heated calender rolls 24 and 24 A rotating in the directions shown by arrows 26 and 26 A. A heater 27 preferably an infrared heater, imparts heat to powder 14 as described more fully below. Heater 27 is preferably located from about 2 to about 8 inches above powder 14 in vibratory chute 16 and set at a temperature of between about 160 and 220° F. These distances and temperatures will, of course, be variable depending upon the particular polymer powder 14 being processed and the type of heater used, but have been found suitable for the processing of the preferred UHMWPE. As powder 14 cascades down vibratory chute 16 onto containment plate 20 it builds to a point where it is drawn into the gap or nip 22 . [0021] The successful practice of the present invention requires that at the start of the direct roll process, gap 22 be set narrower than the size of the smallest individual polymer powder particle, for example at about 50μ. Gap 22 may, of course, be widened if the minimum particle size of polymer powder 14 is greater than 50μ. Similarly, at start up of the direct rolling process described herein, heated calender rolls 24 and 24 A are heated to a temperature above the melting point of polymer powder 14 . While this melting point will be dependent upon the particular material being processed, in the case of the preferred UHMWPE starting materials described elsewhere herein this initial temperature is about 149° C. or about 3° C. above the melting point of the preferred UHMWPE. Lower temperatures could, of course, course be appropriate for lower melting polyolefin materials. At this point, rolling of powder 14 is initiated. As soon as a coherent sheet of polymer 28 begins to emerge from gap 22 the temperature of calender rolls 24 and 24 A is reduced to below the melting point of polymer powder 14 and gap 22 is increased to that desired for the final product thickness for coherent sheet 28 . As used herein, the term “coherent sheet” is meant to define a polymer sheet that is suitable for further processing by drawing without tearing, ripping or otherwise becoming unusable in such additional processing. For all practical purposes, such a sheet will be virtually fully dense such as in the case of the preferred UHMWPE materials described herein having a density above about 0.945 g/cc. For the preferred UHMWPE powders 14 described elsewhere herein the operating temperature (the temperature after formation of a coherent sheet 28 is in the range of from about 136 to about 144° C. and preferably between about 139 and about 141° C., and the operating gap is on the order of 100μ and 230μ and preferably at about 140μ. It should be noted that the initial and operating temperatures recited herein are not necessarily set points for the polymer powder/sheet in nip 22 , but rather surface temperatures of heated calender rolls 24 and 24 A. [0022] While the operating speed of the apparatus just described will vary with the particular polyolefin being processed, using the preferred UHMWPE materials described above, start up roll speeds of between about 1.9 to about 4.0 meters per minute have been found acceptable. Steady state operation of the apparatus is generally within the range of between about 2.0 and about 12.0 meters per minute. It should be noted that these operating speeds are based primarily on ones ability to take up coherent sheet 28 and the size of hated calendar rolls 24 and 24 A, since larger rolls will generally tend to increase the surface in contact with the polymer in nip 22 . Thus, if downstream operations or take up apparatus are capable of faster speeds, or larger diameter rolls are used, higher operating speeds for the direct roll process just described are possible. [0023] The product of the just described process is a virtually full dense and translucent UHMWPE sheet, i.e. an UHMWPE sheet having a density of about 0.95 to about 0.98 g/cc. [0024] While the apparatus used to practice the process of the present invention is depicted herein as vertically oriented, the process will operate equally well in a horizontal configuration, i.e. with the polymer powder being fed to gap 22 between two horizontally parallel calender rolls 24 and 24 A. In this orientation, powder 14 is metered from a heated hopper located above horizontally parallel calender rolls 24 and 24 A so that powder 14 is fed from above into gap 22 and the product sheet 28 is drawn from below gap 22 . All other operating procedures, i.e. temperature control and gap setting variations remain the same. [0025] While not critical to the successful practice of the present invention, and clearly variable depending upon the particular polyolefin being processed, roll surface roughnesses of from about 4 to about 8 RMS have been found suitable for the processing of the preferred UHMWPE materials described herein. [0026] Post-processing of coherent sheet 28 to obtain a highly useful UHMWPE ballistic sheet, film, tape or fiber is performed in much the same fashion as and in apparatus similar to that described in issued U.S. Pat. No. 7,348,053, issued Mar. 25, 2008, i.e. by drawing coherent sheet 28 which are referred to and incorporated herein in their entirety. [0027] Referring now to FIG. 2 , the drawing apparatus 40 utilized to achieve the thickness reductions of the coherent sheet produced as just described that result in production of the preferred UHMWPE products of the present invention 10 comprises: [0028] a payoff 42 , a godet stand 44 including heated godet rolls 46 (to anneal the product) and nip rolls 48 for establishing and maintaining tension in the line, a first draw zone 50 , a first in-line tension sensor 52 , a second godet stand 54 , a second draw stand 56 , a second in-line tension sensor 58 , and unheated take-up rolls 68 . As seen from FIG. 1 , the input or starting material of this process is generally the thick, compacted and rolled but unoriented product of the compaction step of the prior art production process. According to the preferred process of the present invention, the input or starting material in the drawing/calendaring process steps described below is, of course, coherent sheet 28 that emerges from gap 22 in the process described above. [0029] Each of the elements of the apparatus just described and utilized in the successful practice of the present invention are well known in the film and fiber drawing arts as is their combination in a line of the type just described. Consequently, no detailed description of such a line is required or will be made herein and the reader is referred to the numerous design manuals and descriptions of such apparatus commonly available in the art. [0030] Maintaining a constant tension of between about 0.5 and about 5 g/denier, and preferably between about 0.8 and 3 g/denier during drawing is also important to the production of product having the required “thinness” and other enhanced properties specified herein. The term “denier” as used herein is defined as the weight in grams of 9000 meters of the product film, tape, sheet or fiber. At tension levels below 0.5 g/denier no significant drawing or reduction will be obtained while at tension levels above about 5 g/denier the material will tend to separate. In the case of drawing, tension is a function of the feed polymer and can vary broadly depending thereon and the ranges just specified refer to those found useful with particular preferred UHMWPE commercial starting materials. [0031] Total reductions achieved during drawing and calendaring will generally be between about 50:1 and about 170:1 or more depending again upon the input raw material and the end use to which the product is to be applied. Such total drawing and calendaring is computed as the multiple of each of the individual reductions achieved by each of the combined process steps. [0032] According to a highly preferred embodiment of the present invention, drawing is performed in line with direct rolling as described hereinabove. In such a continuous process, calender rolls 24 and 24 A become payoff 42 of drawing apparatus 40 . Such an arrangement provides a highly efficient method for practicing the novel production process of the present invention. [0033] After thickness reduction by drawing in the apparatus shown in FIG. 2 according to the processing parameters just described, the UHMWPE films, sheets, fibers or tapes thus produced exhibit heats of fusion at or above about 243 joules/gram, tenacities in the range of from about 18 and 20 g/d, tensile moduli between about 1200 and about 1800 g/d and elongations in the range of from about 1.6 to about 2.0 percent. [0034] There has thus been described a novel process for the production of coherent polyolefin, preferably UHMWPE, sheet and high tenacity, highly oriented polyolefin, preferably UHMWPE, sheet, film, tape or fiber that eliminates the need for the prior art compaction step which, until the development described herein, was considered necessary for the successful production of such materials. [0035] As the invention has been described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the same may be varied in many ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Any and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.
A process for the production of virtually full density polyolefin suitable for further processing by drawing to form a high tenacity, highly oriented polyolefin sheet comprising: a) feeding a metered amount of polyolefin powder into the nip between two heated calender rolls initially set at a gap smaller than the size of the smallest polyolefin powder particle and at a temperature above the melting point of the powder; b) rolling the powder through the nip under these conditions until a coherent sheet of polyolefin is produced: and c) once a coherent sheet of polyolefin exits the nip lowering the temperature in the nip to a temperature below the melting point of the polyolefin powder and increasing the gap to a desired level above the thickness of the largest powder particle. Apparatus for the performance of such a process is also described.
1
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1) Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to brassieres. The invention relates more particularly to brassieres including non-underwire and underwire brassieres, and blanks and methods for making such brassieres, wherein the blanks are formed from circularly knit fabric tubes. [0003] 2) Description of the Related Art [0004] Brassieres are generally designed to provide support, shaping, and separation of the wearer's breasts. Conventionally, brassieres for larger-breasted women often include underwires extending along the lower margins of the breast cups. Underwires provide a level of stability, or at least the perception of stability, that fabric alone generally cannot provide, in part because fabric cannot support compressive forces the way underwires can. Typically, brassieres are fashioned in a cut-and-sew manner, as exemplified for instance in U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,312. A brassiere made in this manner may consist of more than a dozen separate fabric pieces sewn together. One advantage of the cut-and-sew method is that different areas of the brassiere can be given different properties, since the various fabric pieces can be of different knits, different yarns, etc. It may be advantageous, for example, to make some portions of the brassiere resiliently stretchable to hug the wearer's body, while other portions are relatively unstretchable for greater stability. [0005] The cut-and-sew method, however, is disadvantageous in that it entails a great number of cutting and sewing operations. Accordingly, methods of fashioning brassieres from circularly knit fabrics have been developed in an effort to improve the speed and efficiency of production. For example, commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,479,791 and 5,592,826 disclose methods for making non-underwire brassieres from circularly knit tubular blanks. The brassieres are made from single-ply tubular blanks that have a turned welt at one end to form a torso portion of the brassiere. A series of courses for defining breast cups and front and rear shoulder straps are integrally knit to the turned welt. The brassiere requires sewing only for joining the front and rear shoulder straps to each other. The '826 patent discloses modifying the knit structure along outer edges of the breast cups nearest the wearer's arms to form panels having a greater resistance to coursewise stretching than the remainder of the fabric blank. The relatively unstretchable panels provide increased lift and support. [0006] U.S. Pat. No. 6,287,168 overcomes some of the aforementioned problems by providing a brassiere formed from a circularly knit fabric tube 50 , as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the '168 patent. The blank is knit to have two pairs of breast cups 24 , torso encircling portions 26 and central panels 28 that are arranged in mirror image about a fold region 56 along which the blank is folded so that the cups, torso encircling portions and central panels overlap and form a two-ply structure. Advantageously, the central panel can be knit to have greater resistance to stretching than the cups and torso encircling portions for an effect similar to cut-and-sew brassieres but without seams for additional wearer comfort. Despite the minimal seams, however, the brassiere still requires the use of elastic banding 46 to secure the edges of the overlapping material together, as shown in FIG. 1 of the '168 patent. Elastic banding has the aesthetic drawback in that it can sometimes show through a blouse. In addition, elastic banding, depending upon its location, can reduce wearer comfort. [0007] Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a brassiere that provides adequate and comfortable support for the wearer while at the same time reducing the use of elastic banding and seams. It would be further advantageous if the brassiere were constructed of a circular knit fabric tube to minimize the amount of cutting and stitching necessary to construct the brassiere. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0008] The present invention addresses the above needs and achieves other advantages by providing a brassiere for extending around a wearer's torso and supporting the wearer's breasts. The brassiere includes a torso strap supporting a pair of breast cups which in turn support the wearer's breasts. The breast cups are constructed of a two-ply fabric, preferably a circularly knit fabric, and each of the breast cups has a fold line positioned along at least a portion of its upper edge so as to improve wearer comfort and eliminate the need for elastic trim along the upper edge and thereby reduce seams visible through clothing. Optionally, the fold may be knit to have a thinner material than the remaining plies to facilitate formation of a crisp fold along the upper edge of the breast cup, which helps the fold lie flat against the wearer's skin and thereby imparts a smooth, finished appearance. Also, an underwire may be attached along a lower edge of each of the breast cups to provide extra support. [0009] In one embodiment, the brassiere of the present invention includes a torso strap and a pair of breast cups. The torso strap has at least one pair of ends. A two-ply fabric material having an inner, body-adjacent layer and an outer layer defines the pair of breast cups. The breast cups are attached adjacently to each other and extend between the ends of the torso strap. Each of the breast cups has a lower edge that when worn extends under a respective one of the wearer's breasts. The lower edge includes a seam extending at least partly therealong. An upper edge of each of the breast cups is configured to extend over at least an upper portion of the respective one of the wearer's breasts. The upper edge is defined by a fold line between the inner and outer layers so as to provide a comfortable fit for the wearer. [0010] In another aspect, the upper edge is configured to extend along a medial portion of the wearer's breast. More particularly, the breast cups are attached at a point between the wearer's breasts and each folded upper edge extends laterally upwards from the attachment point along the medial portions of the wearer's breasts. [0011] The torso strap may also be constructed of a two-ply material and includes at least one edge defined by a fold line between its plies. Preferably, the fold line defines a lower edge of the torso strap. The torso strap may be separated into a pair of lateral panels each having a free end opposite the torso strap's attachment to one of the breast cups. Cooperative fastener members attached to the free ends of the two panels allow the free ends to be releaseably joined so that the torso strap can be secured about the wearer's body. [0012] The two-ply fabric material defining the breast cups may be formed of a circularly knit fabric blank folded upon itself along the fold line defining the upper edge of each of the breast cups. The free edges of the breast cups may have underwires either disposed against an exterior side of one of the plies, or between the plies to provide extra support for the wearer's breasts. [0013] In yet another embodiment, the present invention includes a blank for making a brassiere. The blank includes a first series of courses defining a first pair of breast cup panels and a first torso strap panel. The first series of courses begins at a first end of the fabric structure and progresses toward an opposite, second end of the fabric structure. An end of the first series of courses defines an upper edge of the breast cup panels and a lower edge of the torso strap panel. A second series of courses is knit to the end of the first series of courses, progressing to the second end of the fabric structure. The second series of courses defines a second pair of breast cup panels and a second torso strap panel arranged in mirror image to the corresponding panels of the first series of courses. In this manner, the fabric structure can be folded about a fold line located between the first and second series of courses to create a two-ply structure having the first breast cup panels and the first torso strap panel overlying the second breast cup panels and the second torso strap panel, respectively. [0014] Preferably, the fabric structure is a circularly knit fabric tube, which may have a turned welt at one or each end of the tube. Also, the fold line may have a thinner knit than the rest of the blank so as to facilitate sharp folding so that these edges of a finished brassiere that are formed by the fold will lie flat against the wearer's skin. [0015] The present invention has many advantages. For instance, the smooth upper medial edge on each of the breast cups and the smooth bottom edge of the torso strap minimizes the amount of stitching and or banding needed to form the brassiere. Banding and seams tend to show through clothing, creating unsightly lines, especially when in contact with the clothing, such as on the top edge of a breast cup immediately beneath a blouse or shirt. Avoiding the use of seams and/or banding on the upper edge of the breast cup where a blouse or top generally makes close contact therefore improves the aesthetic appearance of the wearer. In addition, reduction of banding and stitching tends to reduce the effort and cost of constructing the brassiere. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) [0016] Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein: [0017] [0017]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a two-ply brassiere of one embodiment of the present invention being worn by a wearer; [0018] [0018]FIG. 2 is a plan view of the brassiere of FIG. 1 laid flat; [0019] FIGS. 3 - 5 are sectional views of the brassiere of FIG. 1 along the section lines shown in FIG. 2; [0020] [0020]FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a tubular blank defining panels of the brassiere of another embodiment of the present invention; and [0021] [0021]FIG. 7 is a plan view of the tubular blank of FIG. 6 cut longitudinally and laid flat. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0022] The present inventions now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all embodiments of the invention are shown. Indeed, these inventions may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. [0023] A brassiere 10 of one embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The brassiere includes a pair of breast cups 14 , a torso strap 16 attached to the breast cups and a pair of shoulder straps 20 attached to the breast cups and the torso strap. The brassiere 10 also includes an underwire 24 sewn to each breast cup for further stability, as shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5 . Each underwire 24 is encased in a fabric casing 26 and the casing is sewn or otherwise attached to the respective breast cup. [0024] The breast cups 14 and torso strap 16 preferably have a knit structure that makes them resiliently stretchable vertically and horizontally. The breast cups 14 and torso strap 16 can be knit, for example, from various types of face yarns depending on the desired properties of the fabric, and the face yarns can be of various deniers. The selection of the face yarns and the knit depend primarily on the desired characteristics of the fabric such as the hand, appearance, texture, etc. The breast cups 14 and torso strap 16 can also incorporate elastomeric yarns such as spandex (bare and/or covered) or the like so as to impart resiliency to the fabric. [0025] If desired, portions of the breast cups 14 and torso strap 16 may be knit to achieve greater resistance to stretching, as described in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,287,168 which is incorporated herein by reference. For instance, some parts of the breast cups 14 and torso strap 16 may be knit from different yarns or can have a different configuration of stitch loops than the other parts. [0026] The torso strap 16 in the illustrated embodiment is formed in two halves comprising one lateral panel having one end attached to one of the breast cups 14 and another lateral panel having one end attached to the other breast cup. The free end of one of the halves of the torso strap has fastener members 28 , such as hooks, attached to it. The free end of the other half of the torso strap has cooperative fastener members 30 , such as eyes, attached to it for engagement with the opposite fastener members 28 so that the brassiere can be engaged about the torso of a wearer. [0027] The brassiere 10 preferably has a two-ply construction as best seen in the cross-sectional views of FIGS. 3 through 5. Each of the breast cups 14 and the torso strap 16 are formed from a piece of fabric, preferably cut from a single, continuous piece of circular-knit fabric, folded upon itself to define an inner ply 32 that faces the wearer's body and an outer ply 34 that faces outward. Advantageously, the plies of the breast cups are folded so as to strategically place their edges formed by folding for maximum comfort and to minimize the appearance of seams through outer clothing. For instance, as can be seen in the illustrated embodiment, a fold line of the plies of each of the breast cups 14 is positioned so as to form a bandless upper, medial edge 38 . A fold line of the torso encircling strap 16 is on the bottom of the torso encircling strap so as to form a bandless bottom edge 50 . The orientation and size of the smooth upper edge of the breast cups 14 can be changed to suit the style or type of the brassiere and still be within the scope of the present invention. For instance, a lateral portion of the upper edge may be smooth and seamless. [0028] The lower, free ends of the plies of each of the breast cups 14 are folded over (forming a four-ply region for a smooth edge) and stitched together with the same stitching used to secure the fabric casing 26 enclosing the underwire 24 to the breast cups, as shown by the sectional view in FIG. 3. In non-underwire brassieres, the free edges of the breast cups can be secured by stitching, ultrasonically welding, gluing, or otherwise attaching a strip of elastic or non-elastic banding that is wrapped over the free edges of the breast cups for a finished edge. Also, the underwire can be attached in other configurations, such as by being sealed or stitched between the plies of the breast cups 14 , or housed in the fabric casing 26 stitched onto the front of the breast cups. [0029] Medial portions of the free ends of the plies forming the torso encircling strap 16 adjacent the breast cups 14 are also secured to the breast cups by stitching or otherwise attaching the fabric casing 26 and underwire 24 to the breast cups. In particular, the medial portions of the free ends of the torso strap 16 plies are secured between the plies of the breast cups 14 and the casing 26 , as shown by the sectional view in FIG. 5. The remainder of the free ends of the plies along the upper edge of the torso strap 16 and the lateral edges of the breast cups 14 are secured together by extending the portions of the shoulder straps 20 thereover. The shoulder straps are preferably formed of a strip of banding 36 folded over on itself and joined together. The banding is also wrapped about the free edges of the plies of the breast cups 14 and torso strap 16 and secured thereto, as shown by the sectional view of FIG. 4. [0030] The brassiere 10 preferably is fabricated from a circularly knit fabric tube 40 , as shown in FIG. 6. The tube 40 preferably has a turned welt 42 formed at one end and may have another turned welt (not shown) at the other end to prevent the tube from raveling and to facilitate handling of the fabric in subsequent fabrication processes as described below. Knitting of the tube 40 begins by knitting the turned welt 42 . A first series of courses is then knit to the turned welt 42 so as to form a first tubular structure 40 a defining panels 14 for forming the breast cups and the torso strap 16 . The first series of courses terminates at a fold region 46 that will define the lowermost edge of the finished brassiere. [0031] Preferably, the fold region 46 is knit to be thinner than the rest of the fabric tube, which can be accomplished, for example, by dropping the heavier yarns for a few courses (e.g., for about 8 courses) such that only the lighter yarns are knit for those courses. Next, a second series of courses is knit to the end of the first series of courses so as to form a second tubular structure 40 b forming an extension of the first tubular structure 40 a . The second tubular structure 40 b defines breast cup panels 14 and torso strap panel 16 in mirror image to the corresponding features of the first tubular structure about the fold region 46 . At the end of the second series of courses, an optional turned welt can be knit and the fabric tube 40 is taken off the circular knitting machine. [0032] By folding the fabric tube 40 about the fold region 46 , the second tubular structure 40 b can be positioned in overlying relation to the first tubular structure 40 a so that the breast cup panels and torso strap panels of the two tubular structures are overlying and in registration with each other. If it is desired to fabricate a brassiere having a single continuous torso strap 16 (i.e., such that the wearer dons the brassiere by slipping it over the head and onto the torso), the folded fabric tube 40 can then be cut along sew lines defining the outlines of the breast cup panels 14 and the torso strap panels. In particular, a pair of the overlapping breast cup panels 14 are separated from the other pair of the overlapping breast cup panels and the overlapping torso panels 16 prior to folding and stitching. [0033] The panels are then stitched together into the above-described finished arrangement by rotating the breast cup panels 14 until the fold lines 38 are oriented as the upward medial edges of the breast cups, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The medial portions of the free edges of the plies forming the torso encircling strap 16 are secured to the adjacent portions of free edges of the breast cups 14 by attachment of the underwire 24 and its fabric casing 26 , as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5. Attachment of the fabric casing also attaches the breast cups 14 together. The shoulder straps 20 are attached to the remaining free edges of the breast cup panels 14 and the torso panels 16 . It should be noted that these steps may be performed in different orders, such as cutting and then folding each of the panels. [0034] Alternatively, the fabric tube 40 can be slit along a longitudinal line 48 located generally diametrically opposite from the breast cup panels 14 , as shown in FIG. 6, and the slit tube can be opened up into a flat configuration as depicted in FIG. 7. The resulting flat blank can then folded about the fold region 46 , and then the steps of cutting and attaching the underwires and the shoulder straps 30 can be peformed. In this case, the torso strap 26 is formed in two halves and fastener members 28 , 30 are attached to the ends of the two halves as with the brassiere 10 of FIG. 2. This fabrication method enables the girth of the torso strap to be reduced from the full girth of the fabric tube 40 , if desired. [0035] The flat fabric blank of FIG. 7 can be boarded, if desired, to make it lay flat and to take out wrinkles. The turned welt 42 or welts can facilitate handling the blank during the boarding and other processes, and also prevent the edges of the blank from curling and raveling. [0036] Preferably, the breast cups 14 are molded after the fabric tube 40 is slit and breast cup panels are folded about the fold region 46 , so that the breast cups are shaped with a desired contour. To this end, the fabric at least in the breast cup regions includes a heat-settable yarn. Molding can be performed on a conventional molding device, which generally includes a heated convex form and a frame that stretches the fabric over the form so that the heat-settable yarn is softened while in the stretched condition. After softening, the fabric is removed from the form and the heat-settable yarn cools so as to permanently retain the contoured shape of the breast cup. If desired, one two-ply breast cup may be placed over the other two-ply breast cup prior to molding so that both cups are molded simultaneously. [0037] It is also possible to fabricate a blank for the brassiere by circularly knitting a two-ply fabric tube. The tube is essentially knit as one long turned welt by knitting a first series of courses that will become an outer ply of the blank and by knitting a second series of courses that will become the inner ply of the blank. For example, the tube can be knit on a circular knitting machine having cylinder needles and dial needles, the cylinder needles being used to knit the first series of courses and the dial needles being used to knit the second series of courses. The knitting of two-ply tubes is a process known to those of skill in the art, and hence is not further described herein. By knitting the tube as a two-ply structure, the tube does not require turned welts at the ends such as included with the previously described one-ply tube, and the blank comes off the knitting machine as a two-ply structure so as to eliminate the need to fold the blank before cutting. [0038] The present invention has many advantages. For instance, the smooth upper medial edge 38 on each of the breast cups 14 and the smooth bottom edge 50 of the torso strap 16 minimize the amount of stitching and or banding needed to form the brassiere 10 . Banding and seams tend to show through clothing, creating unsightly lines, especially when in contact with the clothing, such as on the top edge of a breast cup immediately beneath a blouse or shirt. Avoiding the use of seams and/or banding on the upper edge of the breast cup where a blouse or top generally makes close contact therefore improves the aesthetic appearance of the wearer. In addition, elimination of banding and stitching tends to reduce the effort and cost of constructing the brassiere 10 . [0039] Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which these inventions pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the inventions are not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.
A brassiere for extending around a wearer's torso and supporting the wearer's breasts. The brassiere includes a torso strap supporting a pair of breast cups which in turn support the wearer's breasts. The breast cups are constructed of a two-ply fabric, preferably a circularly knit fabric, and each of the breast cups has a fold line positioned along at least a portion of its top edge so as to improve wearer comfort and reduce seams visible through clothing. Also, an underwire may be attached to an exterior side of one of the plies of the two-ply material of each of the breast cups to provide extra support. Optionally, the fold may be knit to have a thinner material than the remaining plies to facilitate formation of a smooth folded upper edge of the breast cup with a finished appearance.
3
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/863,071 entitled “Solid High Aspect Ratio Via Hole Used For Burn-In Broads, Wafer Sort Probe Cards, and Package Test Load Boards with Electric Circuitry” filed Oct. 26, 2006 which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirely. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention is related generally to fabrication of mounting structures (e.g., printed circuit or wiring boards) for electronic devices. More specifically, the present invention is related to a fabrication technique for producing high aspect ratio via holes in the mounting structures. BACKGROUND For application that require a printed circuit board (PCB) with a plurality of layers and a high density of interconnects, via holes have traditionally been fabricated by mechanically drilling a series of holes through the plurality of layers and then plating the holes with low resistivity metals. However, plating a long and narrow via hole has proven to be problematic. In order to have a sufficiently uninterrupted metal layer deposited within the via hole, aspect ratios (i.e., board thickness to hole diameter) have typically been limited to 15:1 for high volume, low cost PCBs and 36:1 for low volume, high cost PCBs. As packaging technology continues to advance and the pitch between electrical pads coupled to ends of the plated vias decreases, there is a need to substantially increase the aspect ratio of via holes even further. This need is particularly true in the automated test equipment (ATE) industry for burn-in boards used for burn-in test, load boards used for package test, and probe cards used for wafer test. Probe cards, in particular, often require a 50:1 or 75:1 aspect ratio via hole for the 50 or more layers needed to internally route the PCBs. Thus, probe cards are extremely expensive owing in part to the layer and high aspect ratio requirements. In order to further reduce the cost of testing in ATE systems, more devices must be tested in parallel. As more devices are tested in parallel, more routing layers are needed to route electrical test signals to and from devices under test (DUTs). Consequently, the aspect ratio of the PCBs must be substantially increased beyond a 36:1 ratio. The increased routing layers results in an overall increase in thickness of the board. Various methods of producing multilayered PCBs are known in the art. A commonplace production technique in the manufacture of some printed circuit boards is to form printed circuitry on both sides of a planar rigid or flexible insulating substrate. In addition, such boards also typically include several parallel and planar alternating inner layers of insulating substrate material and conductive metal. Exposed outer sides of the laminated structure are typically provided with circuit patterns and metal inner layers typically contain circuit patterns. Conductive interconnections are provided between the various conductive layers or sides of the board in multilayered PCBs. The interconnections are commonly achieved by providing metallized conductive holes (i.e., conductive vias; also referred to in the printed circuit field as plated thru-holes or PTHs) in the board which communicate with faces and layers requiring electrical interconnection. Typically, thru-holes are drilled (by mechanical or laser drilling means) or punched into or through the board at desired locations. Drilling or punching provides newly-exposed surfaces including via barrel surfaces and via peripheral entry surfaces. The dielectric substrate, comprising a top surface, a bottom surface, and at least one exposed via hole surface, consisting partly or entirely of insulating materials, is then metallized, generally by electroless metal depositing techniques, albeit other deposition processes are also known in the field. When mechanically drilling a via hole through a board, care must be taken not to unintentionally drill through metallization layers that are not intended to be electrically connected to the via. Controlling the drill location within the layers of the PCB has proven to be difficult. As a result of the difficulty, large anti-pads must be created in internal and external layers of the PCB. The large anti-pads prevent inadvertent contact with particular metal layers but also limit electrical performance of the signals and create crosstalk for tight pitch devices. Further, the large anti-pads limit an overall surface density of vias. With reference to FIG. 1 , an enlarged section of a prior art PCB board 100 demonstrates difficulties encountered in contemporary via production. The prior art PCB includes a plurality of dielectric sheets 101 . The dielectric sheet 101 material is usually comprised of an organic material such as fiberglass-reinforced epoxy resin (e.g., FR-4), polytetrafluoroethylene (e.g., Teflon®, a trademark of E.I. du Point De Nemours & Co., Wilmington, Del.), Driclad® (a trademark of Endicott Interconnect Technologies, Inc., Endicott, N.Y.), and similar materials known to one of skill in the art. Since the plurality of dielectric sheets 101 are nonconductive they are typically “seeded” and plated with a copper conductive layer 103 . After the copper conductive layer 103 and other conductive traces or routings (not shown) are produced, each of the plurality of dielectric sheets 101 is laminated together. After lamination, a via hole 105 is mechanically drilled through the stacked plurality of dielectric sheets 101 . To avoid any electrical contact between the copper conductive layers 103 and the via hole 105 , large non-conductive anti-pads 107 , produced on each sheet 101 prior to lamination, prevent unintended electrical communications. A conductive via plating 109 ideally is uninterrupted on sidewalls of the via hole 105 to permit electrical communications between upper and lower surfaces of the PCB 100 . However, as the aspect ratio of the via 105 increases, production of an uninterrupted conductive via plating 109 becomes problematic. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1 , interrupted conductive via plating 109 may be present in via 105 . Therefore, what is needed is a simple, economical, and robust means of producing vias in PCBs which have high aspect ratio vias which are fully uninterrupted electrically, and require no large are anti-pads. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In an exemplary embodiment, the present invention is a method for fabricating a circuit board suitable for mounting electronic components. The method includes drilling a plurality of through-holes in a plurality of dielectric sheets, forming a conductive film on at least one side of each of the plurality of dielectric sheets, and substantially filling each of the plurality of through holes with a conductive material. The conductive material is both electrically and thermally uninterrupted from a first face to a second face of each of the plurality of dielectric sheets. The plurality of dielectric sheets are then sequentially mounted, one atop another, to form the circuit board. The sequential mounting step is performed after the steps of drilling the plurality of through-holes, forming the conductive layer, and substantially filling the plurality of through-holes. In another exemplary embodiment, the present invention is a method for fabricating a probe card suitable for mounting electronic components. The method includes drilling a plurality of through-holes in a plurality of dielectric sheets and forming a conductive film on at least one side of each of the plurality of dielectric sheets. The conductive film is arranged to define electrical traces. Each of the plurality of through holes is substantially filled with a conductive material. The conductive material is electrically and thermally uninterrupted from a first face to a second face of each of the plurality of dielectric sheets. Each of the plurality of dielectric sheets is sequentially mounted, one atop another, to form the probe card. The sequential mounting step is performed after the steps of drilling the plurality of through-holes, forming the conductive layer, and substantially filling the plurality of through-holes. The probe card is fabricated to allow mounting into an automated test equipment system. In another exemplary embodiment, the present invention is a probe card for mounting into an automated test equipment system where the probe card comprises a plurality of dielectric sheets. Each of the plurality of dielectric sheets has a conductive film on at least one face thereof where the conductive film is arranged to define electrical traces. Each of the plurality of dielectric sheets further has a plurality of through-holes contained therein where the plurality of through-holes are substantially filled with an electrically conductive material with at least one of the plurality of through-holes arranged to traverse the probe card and having an aspect ratio of least 50:1. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a section of a printed circuit board having a plurality of layers and a plated via. FIG. 2 is an exemplary cross-sectional view of a PCB in accord with an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Various embodiments described herein present a novel method, and resulting PCB and probe card, for fabricating high aspect ratio via holes to replace conventionally produced mechanically-drilled or laser-drilled vias drilled subsequent to lamination of various layers. In ATE applications, high aspect ratio via holes of the present invention allow high density and tight pitch placement required for testing today's various electronic devices such as high density integrated circuit memory devices. With reference to FIG. 2 , a completed exemplary printed circuit board 200 includes a plurality of dielectric sheets 201 A- 201 D. Each of the plurality of dielectric sheets 201 A- 201 D may be comprised of, for example, any of the organic materials known in the art. Additionally, DiClad, CuClad and others (available from Arlon-MED, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.), Park-Nelco 4000-13 (available from Park Electrochemical Corporation., Anaheim, Calif.), Rogers 3000/4000, Duroid® and (available from Rogers Corporation, Rogers Conn.), Duraver® and others (available from Isola GmbH, Dueren, Germany) and other materials may all be employed. Each of the plurality of dielectric sheets 201 A- 201 D may be formed from other rigid, semi-rigid, and flexible electrically insulative materials as well. Additionally, each of the plurality of dielectric sheets 201 A- 201 D may be comprised of materials different from an adjacent layer. A layer of conductive plating 203 A- 203 C is applied to one or both faces of the plurality of dielectric sheets 201 A- 201 D. Note that, for example, the top conductive plating layer 203 C may actually be comprised of two different layers, one on an uppermost surface of the third dielectric sheet 201 C and another on the lower surface of the fourth dielectric sheet 201 D. The layer of conductive plating 203 A- 203 C may be a continuous conductive layer. Alternatively, the layer of conductive plating 203 A- 203 C may be a patterned layer forming electrical routing traces. Each of the plurality of dielectric sheets 201 A- 201 D may be of formed from materials of different thicknesses and each layer of conductive plating 203 A- 203 C may be optimized in thickness for a given application. For example, a ground or power layer may require a thicker conductive plating than a high frequency, low current data signal. Also, each layer of conductive plating 203 A- 203 C may be comprised of a different conductive material such as copper, nickel, tantalum, tungsten, titanium, gold and other conductive materials known in the art depending upon electrical and thermal needs for a particular layer. Unlike fabrication techniques employed in the prior art, each of the plurality of dielectric sheets 201 A- 201 D has a plurality of holes drilled (e.g., by mechanical or last drilling techniques, known in the art) and substantially filled prior to lamination to form the exemplary printed circuit board 200 . If needed to provide electrical isolation, small anti-pads (not shown) may be added to one or more faces of a dielectric sheet. Once the plurality of via holes are drilled, they are either fully or substantially filled with a conductive material thus forming substantially filled conductive vias 205 A- 205 D. A substantial fill will be sufficient to assure both thermal and electrical continuity between each end of the substantially filled conductive vias 205 A- 205 D. The conductive material may include individual materials or combinations of materials such as copper, titanium, tungsten, tantalum and other conductive materials known in the art. Blind or buried vias 205 E, 205 F may also be fabricated using this technique by drilling only through one or more of the plurality of dielectric sheets 201 A- 201 D prior to lamination. In addition to being excellent electrical conductors, the substantially filled conductive vias 205 A- 205 D are also excellent thermal conductors. The conductive vias 205 A- 205 D constructed as described herein conduct heat better than prior art via holes which are made with silver epoxy or copper epoxy, even if the prior art holes could be fully filled. As an example, solid copper has a thermal conductivity of 400 W/m·K while silver epoxy has a thermal conductivity of 2 W/m·K and copper epoxy has a thermal conductivity of 1 W/m·K. Due to the high thermal conductivity of the conductive vias 205 A- 205 D, the printed circuit board 200 may mate to a thermal water block (not shown) to dissipate heat generated in and around the PCB 200 . In such a case, the conductive vias 205 A- 205 D act as low impedance thermal paths for heat to conduct from one side of the PCB 200 to the other. If the printed circuit board 200 is air cooled, the conductive vias 205 A- 205 D act as conductive/convective heat sinks removing heat from the printed circuit board 200 . Assembly of the exemplary printed circuit board 200 may be completed once each of the plurality of dielectric sheets 201 A- 201 D has received a conductive plating 203 A- 203 C and the conductive vias 205 A- 205 D are substantially filled. Each of the plurality of dielectric sheets 201 A- 201 D are sequentially laminated. In a specific exemplary embodiment, the exemplary printed circuit board 200 is fabricated from two types of dielectric (not shown). One dielectric is referred to as a prepreg and the other dielectric is referred to as a core. The prepreg is comprised of the same material composition as the core but has not been fully cured (i.e., hardened). First, a layer of copper is deposited on both sides of the core material by, for example, sputtering. Secondly, the deposited copper is patterned on both sides by use of a traditional photolithography process. Via holes are drilled (e.g., mechanically formed or by laser ablation) through the core followed by a subsequent plating/filling of the drilled via holes thus electrically connecting opposing layers of copper on the core. A layer of copper is deposited on one side of the prepreg material. The prepreg copper layer is then patterned and via holes are drilled. In this specific exemplary embodiment, lamination of the prepreg to the core layer is accomplished by first aligning fiducial marks on each layer to an opposing layer (the materials are semi-translucent). The two layers are laminated together by an application of heat and pressure (e.g., approximately 300° C. at 170 kPa (about 25 psig)) wherein the prepreg starts to flow and acts as an epoxy. The patterned copper image of the core material sinks into the prepreg and bonds. The copper image on the core material displaces prepreg material which flows to the outer edges of the panel. Excess prepreg material may be cut off after the last lamination step. Vias of the prepreg side are then plated thus making electrical contact with underlaying traces on the core layer. The procedure is repeated as many times as needed to build up a multi-layer printed circuit broad. Although only four individual layers are shown in FIG. 2 , fabrication techniques described herein are readily applicable to printed circuit boards containing 80 or more layers. For example, a 0.4 mm pitch (in both x- and y-directions) having via holes with an aspect ratio of 75:1 in a completed 0.375″ thick PCB with 80 layers has been produced by methods provided herein. Also, by substantially filling each of the via holes, solder is prevented from being wicked into the hole during subsequent mounting of electronic components on surfaces of the completed PCB. With continued reference to FIG. 2 , in a specific exemplary embodiment, outer layers of the exemplary printed circuit board 200 are plated with nickel (not shown) to cover any surface imperfections that my have been created by the sequential lamination process. Nickel plating processes are known in the art. Since the vias have been made flat on the outer layers by use of the nickel plating process, the vias will have a large flat surface area that may be mated to a water block as described above. The heat generated by the devices on the PCB can now be removed more efficiently owing to enhanced thermal conductivity achievable through the smoothed surface. After plating with nickel, a two step gold plating process may be used. First, gold is deposited over all exposed ends of the vias 205 A, 205 D of the PCB 200 to a thickness of, for example, about 125 nanometers (i.e., approximately 5 μin). The set of solderable contact points 209 are masked with photoresist to prevent any additional gold plating. Remaining exposed contact points receive additional plating for a total gold thickness of about 1.25 μm (approximately 50 μin) forming a set of thickly plated contact points 207 . Hence, depending on the application of the via hole, a particular thickness of gold is plated allowing each via hole metallization to be optimized independent of a neighboring via. Alternatively, the conductive vias 205 A- 205 D may be directly soldered, with or without a dog bone trace, and with or without a solder pad. For example, the set of solderable contact points 209 plated with 125 nanometers of gold may be used to mount a plurality of integrated circuit devices 211 . A plurality of device pads 213 on the integrated circuit devices 211 provide electrical contact points to which contact devices may be mounted. The contact devices may include solder bass/solder paste 215 or balls from a ball grid array (BGA) or contacts from other package types. A mechanical interface 217 , such as an interposer or socket, may be used to mount the integrated circuit devices 211 to the printed circuit board 200 through the set of thickly plated contact points 207 . In the foregoing specification, the present invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments thereof. It will, however, be evident to a skilled artisan that various modifications and changes can be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims. For example, a skilled artisan will recognize that alternative techniques and methods may be utilized to plate or deposit certain layers described herein. The alternative techniques and methods are still included within a scope of the appended claims. For example, there are frequently several techniques used for forming a material in additional to plating (e.g., chemical vapor deposition, plasma-enhanced vapor deposition, epitaxy, atomic layer deposition, sputtering, etc.). Although not all techniques are amenable to all material types described herein, one skilled in the art will recognize that multiple methods for fabricating a material may be used. Also, various alloys, compounds, and multiple layers of stacked materials may be used, such as with conductive materials formed within the vias. These and various other embodiments and techniques are all within a scope of the present invention. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.
A method, and apparatus resulting from the method, for fabricating a circuit board suitable for mounting electronic components. The method includes drilling a plurality of through-holes in a plurality of dielectric sheets, forming a conductive film on at least one side of each of the plurality of dielectric sheets, and substantially filling each of the plurality of through holes with a conductive material. The conductive material is both electrically and thermally uninterrupted from a first face to a second face of each of the plurality of dielectric sheets. The plurality of dielectric sheets are then sequentially mounted, on atop another, to form the circuit board. The sequential mounting step is performed after the steps of drilling the plurality of through-holes, forming the conductive layer, and substantially filling the plurality of through-holes.
7
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field Of The Invention The invention relates to a hydrophobically coated abrasive grain based on corundum or silicon carbide, to its use in synthetic resin bonded abrasives, and to a process for producing it. 2. Background Art The performance efficiency of elastically or rigidly bonded abrasives is determined not only by the hardness and toughness of the abrasive grain, but to a considerable extent also by the strength of the bonding. In synthetic resin bonded abrasives the essential water resistance of the bonding represents a considerable technical problem for wet grinding. The most frequently used abrasive grains based on corundum or silicon carbide have good water wettability without special preliminary treatment, which makes it possible for water to penetrate between the grain and the bonding agent and which entails a weakening of the bonding after storage or use under water. Therefore, quite a few attempts have been made to make abrasive grain hydrophobic, i.e., water repellant, to prevent or at least reduce such decline in the strength of the bonding under the effect of water. There has been a partial success through treatment with silanes, such as, (3-aminopropyl)triethoxy-silane, as described in manufacturer's publication SF-1159 of Union Carbide Corporation (Silicons Division). However, it has been shown that the improvement in the characteristics of the abrasive grain that can thus be achieved is not lasting, but rather disappears again after a few months of storage. The abrasive grain treated in this manner, therefore, had to be further processed as quickly as possible, which had the result that the treatment was suitably undertaken only at the place of manufacture of the abrasives, and not in large lots at the place of manufacture of the abrasive grain, which in itself would be more economical. Further, the process itself is not as free of problems as it first seems. Fine grain sizes (e.g., F120 to F1200) tend toward agglomerate formation. The conditions for the necessary drying with the silane solution after the wetting of the abrasive grain must be maintained exactly to prevent hydrolysis or thermal decomposition, and finally silane is by no means toxicologically harmless, which leads to environmental and safety problems at the places of manufacture of the abrasives which are often not equipped to handle dangerous materials. BROAD DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION An object of the invention is to provide an abrasive grain which has been made durably hydrophobic and which has good bonding in synthetic resin masses which is not significantly diminished even under the effect of water. Another object of the invention is to provide a process for producing such abrasive grain in a simple and economical way without endangering personnel and the environment. The invention objects are attained by the abrasive grain and the processes of the invention. The invention involves abrasive grain composed of corundum or silicon carbide, which contains an unbonded, unfused coating of 0.001 to 5.0 percent, relative to the weight of the abrasive grain, of microdispersed hydrophobic silicon dioxide. The invention also involves a process for producing the invention abrasive grain wherein untreated abrasive grain, based on corundum or silicon carbide, is coated by mixing it in a dry condition with the microdispersed hydrophobic silicon dioxide. The invention also involves a process for producing the invention abrasive grain wherein untreated abrasive grain composed of corundum or silicon carbide is coated by mixing or spraying with a suspension of the microdispersed silicon dioxide in a vaporizable liquid and subsequent drying. It has been found that abrasive grain based on corundum, by which all kinds of aluminum oxide abrasives are meant, such as, normal corundum also known as regular aluminum oxide, blue corundum, semifriable fused alumina and white fused alumina, and zirconia/alumina as well as sintered alumina, just as abrasive grain based on silicon carbide or grain mixtures, by coating with microdispersed hydrophobic silicon dioxide without the use of a bonding agent and without high temperature treatment, can be made durably hydrophobic. The reduction or even the elimination of wettability by water, as is measured with the determination of the rise in height according to FEPA, was to be expected on the basis of the known properties of the microdispersed hydrophobic silicon dioxide. However, what is completely surprising is that the silicon dioxide adhering only superficially does not simply fall away under mechanical stress and thus reduce the strength of test pieces or abrasive wheels but rather, to the contrary, it even increases the strength. The amount of microdispersed hydrophobic silicon dioxide deposited suitably is 0.001 to 5.0 percent and preferably 0.1 to 1.0 percent, each range being relative to the weight of the abrasive grain. The optimum amount depends on the size of the grain and, thus, the specific surface of the abrasive grain; however, the advantageous effect hardly changes, even when the optimum amount is exceeded, over a relatively large range, thus no exact dosing is necessary. The microdispersed hydrophobic silicon dioxide preferably has a particle size of the primary particles (indicated as d 50 value) of 5 to 100 nm and a specific surface (according to BET) of 80 to 300 m 2 /g. Particularly preferred are products with a primary particle size of 7 to 20 nm and a specific surface of 100 to 150 m 2 /g. Such a product is sold, for example, by the Degussa company under the name Aerosil® R 972 or Aerosil® R812 or by the Cabot company under the name Cab-o-sil TS 720®. A further improvement in the properties of the abrasive grain according to the invention is attained by additional treatment with a silane of the general formula H 2 N-(CH 2 )n-Si(OR) 3 , wherein n is a whole number from 2 to 4 and R is an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms. Such treatment is suitably performed, in a manner known in the art, on the abrasive grain already coated according to the invention. For such subsequent treatment, however, the limitations initially described hold true as to the durability of the additional improvement attained and the disadvantages in carrying out the process. The production of the abrasive grain coated according to the invention advantageously is done by simply mixing commercially-available, untreated, abrasive grain of the desired grain size with the corresponding amount of the microdispersed hydrophobic silicon dioxide. The mixing procedure can be done using a commercially-available mixer (e.g., asymmetric moved mixer, rotary mixer or gravity mixer) and without other additives. The microdispersed hydrophobic silicon dioxide can be suspended in a suitable nonaqueous liquid and applied to the abrasive grain by mixing the untreated abrasive grain with the suspension or by spraying the untreated abrasive grain with the suspension and subsequent evaporation of the liquid. For suspension of the microdispersed hydrophobic silicon dioxide, for example, liquid hydrocarbons, such as naphtha or heavy gasoline and mixtures thereof are suitable, but also ketones, such as acetone, alcohols, such as, isopropanol and esters, such as, ethyl acetate, are also suitable. The abrasive grain according to the invention is preferably suitable for use in synthetic resin bonded abrasives, such as grinding wheels and abrasive cutting wheels or roughing wheels, and indeed particularly for those which are used for wet grinding. However, the scope of the invention also includes the production of abrasive agents which are supported, such as, grinding belts, for the abrasive grain of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The following examples illustrate the invention and the properties of the abrasive grain of the invention. EXAMPLE 1 Production of the coated abrasive grain by dry mixing In an asymmetric moved mixer, 100 kg of untreated abrasive grain was mixed with 0.5 kg (0.5 percent by weight) of microdispersed hydrophobic silicic acid (Degussa Aerosil® R 972) for 30 minutes. The following grain sizes were coated: regular aluminum oxide Dural® Dural® F30 and P120 blue corundum Dural® HT F24 semifriable fused alumina Abramant® F36 white fused alumina Abramax® F46 and F54 silicon carbide Carbogran® dark F36, F80 and F180 EXAMPLE 2 Silanization according to prior art In an asymmetric moved mixer, 100 kg of untreated abrasive grain was mixed for 20 minutes with a 1 percent aqueous silane solution (silane: A1100 of Union Carbide Corporation) and was subsequently dried at 110° to 120° C. The amount of the silane solution depended on the size of the grain, thus, for Example 1, 1 was needed for grain 24 and 3.6 1 was needed for grain 54. EXAMPLE 3 Wettability tests With the abrasive grain sizes treated according to Example 1, capillarity determinations according to the FEPA standard 44-D-1386 were performed. As a comparison, the same test was performed with the corresponding untreated abrasive grain sizes as well as with two silanized according to Example 2. The measured rises in height are listed in Table 1. TABLE 1__________________________________________________________________________Rise in heights in mm according to FEPA 44-D1986 According to the invention, SilanizedType of Grain Grain Size Untreated Example 1 Example 2__________________________________________________________________________Regular aluminum oxide F 30 66 ± 3 0 45 ± 2 P 120 190 ± 5 0 165 ± 4Blue corundum F 24 34 ± 2 0 --Semifriable fused F 36 26 ± 3 0 --aluminaWhite fused alumina F 46 65 ± 3 0 --Silicon carbide F 36 46 ± 3 0 -- F 80 147 ± 4 0 -- F 180 190 ± 5 0 --__________________________________________________________________________ EXAMPLE 4 Bending strength Test rods having the dimensions of 120 mm×60 mm×15 mm were produced with untreated abrasive grain sizes F 54 of white fused alumina F 54 (Abramax®), treated according to Example 1, silanized according to Example 2 as well as treated first according to Example 1 and then in addition according to Example 2 from two different production lots. To each of the test rods 15.8 kg of abrasive grain and 4.2 kg of phenolic resin mixture (30 percent of liquid and 70 percent of solid resin) were mixed to a homogenous mass, pressed in a press mold at 210 bars into rods of the desired size and cured at 180° C. for 7 hours. The density of the finished rods was 2.7 g/cm 3 . On each of ten test rods, the bending strength in the dry state as well as after 5 days storage in a saturated soda solution of 40° C. was determined. The values found are reported in Table 2: TABLE 2__________________________________________________________________________Bending strengths (in N/cm.sup.2 of the corundumgrain sizes according to Example 4 (meanvalues and ranges of dispersion) According to According to the invention, Silanized the inventionGrain/Conditions Untreated Example 1 Example 2 and silanized__________________________________________________________________________Lot 1Dry 3510 ± 130 4350 ± 150 3550 ± 100 4370 ± 120Wet 2340 ± 100 2980 ± 250 2315 ± 150 3240 ± 140Lot 2Dry 3890 ± 260 4800 ± 190 4010 ± 130 4480 ± 190Wet 1970 ± 150 2330 ± 330 2160 ± 170 3350 ± 230__________________________________________________________________________ EXAMPLE 5 Abrasive performance in surface grinding From the same abrasive grain sizes as in Example 4, synthetic resin bonded grinding discs of the dimension 400 mm ×40 mm×40 mm (mold 1) were produced as follows: 75 percent by weight of abrasive grain, 17 percent by weight of phenolic resin mixture (liquid and solid) and 8 percent by weight of filling materials were worked into a homogeneous free flowing mass and then pressed into discs at 210 bars. The discs were heated for curing in a furnace over 10 hours to 180° C., left for 8 hours at this temperature and then cooled over 6 hours to room temperature. The density of the discs was 2.55 g/cm 3 . A part of the discs was stored in saturated soda solution at 40° C. for 7 days. The abrasive performance was determined with surface grinding on nickel chromium steel (18/8) and indicated in the usual manner as grinding ratio G: ##EQU1## The abrasive performances determined thusly are set out in Table 3: TABLE 3__________________________________________________________________________Grinding ratios of the grinding discs according to Example 5 According to According to the invention, Silanized the inventionGrain/Conditions Untreated Example 1 Example 2 and silanized__________________________________________________________________________Without aging 7.4 8.7 8.1 8.7After aging in 5.2 6.2 6.0 6.9soda solution__________________________________________________________________________ EXAMPLE 6 Abrasion performance in abrasive cutting From each of an untreated grain mixture of semifriable fused alumina (Abramant®) and one treated according to the invention according to Example 1, each consisting of 25 percent by weight of grain F24, 50 percent by weight of grain F30 and 25 percent by weight of grain F36, synthetic resin-bonded abrasive cutting wheels with the dimension 230×2.5×22 mm were produced as follows: 65 percent by weight of abrasive grain mixture, 20 percent by weight of phenolic resin mixture (liquid and solid) and 15 percent by weight of filler materials (cryolite, pyrite) were mixed into a homogeneous moist mass and were pressed with two external fabrics in a press mold at 270 bars into abrasive cutting wheels. The wheels were cured at 180° C. Some of the wheels were each kept in boiling water for 75 minutes. The abrasive performance was determined on flat rolled steel made of nickel chromium steel (18/8, WSt No. 4305) of the cross-section 50 mm ×20 mm with a commercially available abrasive cutting machine. For each wheel ten cuts were made and afterwards the decrease in the diameter of the wheel was determined. Table 4 shows the results of the tests: TABLE 4______________________________________Wear of the abrasive cutting wheel according to Example 6 According to the inventionGrain Untreated Example 1______________________________________Decrease in the diameter of thewheelWithout storage (i.e., in water) 8.33 ± 0.66 7.66 ± 0.57With storage (i.e., in water) 12.66 ± 0.57 10.66 ± 0.57Mean increase in wear by storage 4.33 3.00(in water) (mm)Relative increase in wear 100% 70%______________________________________ EXAMPLE 7 Abrasive performance in abrasive cutting Out of a silicon carbide grain mixture of grain size 0.4 to 1.0 mm (Carbogran®), six abrasive cutting wheels were produced analogously to Example 6 and were stored in boiling water. The composition was: 75 percent by weight of silicon carbide, 0.4 to 1.0 mm 15 percent by weight of phenolic resin mixture (liquid and solid) 10 percent by weight of filler materials (cryolite, pyrite) The wheel pressure was 200 bars; the curing took place at 190° C. The abrasive performance was determined on vibration compressed concrete bars having a cross section of 80 mm×60 mm. For this purpose, five cuts per wheel were performed with a commercially available abrasive cutting machine and then the decrease in the diameter of the wheel was determined. The results are set out in Table 5: TABLE 5______________________________________Wear of the abrasive cutting wheel according to Example 7 According to the inventionGrain Untreated Example 1______________________________________Decrease in the diameter of the wheelWithout storage (i.e., in water) 9.6 ± 0.5 8.3 ± 0.5With storage (i.e., in water) 13.2 ± 0.7 11.2 ± 0.7Mean increase in wear by storage 3.6 2.9(in water) (mm)Relative increase in wear 100% 80%______________________________________
The strength and water resistance of the binding of abrasive grain on the basis of corundum or silicon carbide into synthetic resin bonded abrasive agents is improved by a surface treatment with microdispersed hydrophobic silicon dioxide.
2
FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] Embodiments of the invention relate to the field of orthopedic surgery, and more particularly, to implants to be placed between vertebrae in the spine. BACKGROUND [0002] Spinal stabilization is one approach to alleviating chronic back pain caused by disabled disk material or excessive movement of individual vertebrae. Conventional stabilization techniques include fusing two or more vertebrae together to circumvent or immobilize the area of excessive movement. Normally, the vertebral disk material which separates the vertebrae is removed and bone graft material is inserted in the space for interbody fusion. In addition to, or in place of, the bone graft material, a spinal implant may be inserted in the intervertebral space. [0003] The conventional surgical approach for stabilization has been posteriorly for ease of access to the spine and to avoid interfering with internal organs and tissues. Usually the implant site is prepared to maintain natural lordosis and to accept, a certain sized implant within certain pressure limits. This requires considerable time and skill by the surgeon. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART [0004] U.S. Pat. No. 8,556,979, issued Oct. 15, 2013, describes an expandable fusion device capable of being installed inside an intervertebral disc space to maintain normal disc spacing and restore spinal stability. The fusion device includes a body portion, a first end plate, and a second end plate; both of these end plates can be moved in a direction away from the body portion or towards the body portion into an unexpanded configuration. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0005] Embodiments of the invention are directed to an expandable spinal fusion device comprising upper and lower sections with depending sidewalls forming a cube-like or rectangular structure with a hollow center. The upper and lower sections comprise a top and a bottom surface, respectively, for engaging adjacent vertebrae, a slidable mechanism for expanding or compacting the device, and a hollow center allowing for packing with bone graft or similar bone growth inducing material. The slidable mechanism comprises slots or grooves on each of the sidewalls depending from the top and bottom surfaces, and a distractor. The distractor comprises a rod, a body and an actuator for enabling distraction. The rod can be telescopic or a jack screw type rod. The distractor comprises a body with protruding members, rollers or pins, for engaging the grooves which are positioned in the exact location directly opposite from each other. When the distractor is actuated, the body slides upwards, downwards or sideways depending on the groove geometry. [0006] The device is inserted between the adjacent vertebrae and expanded or increased in height to engage the opposing surfaces of the adjacent vertebra. The adjacent vertebrae are forced apart as the height of the implant increases. The spinal fusion device may be used unilaterally or bilaterally. [0007] Accordingly, it is an objective of the instant invention to teach a posterior surgical approach for placement of an adjustable spinal implant for interbody fusion, allowing the implant to be inserted through a small incision and increased in size in situ. [0008] It is another objective of the instant invention to teach a spinal implant which allows the surgeon to provide for lordosis intraoperatively and to distract through the implant. [0009] It is yet another objective of the instant invention to teach an implant facilitating interbody fusion through bone graft or an ingrowth type implant. [0010] Although embodiments are directed to posterior surgical approaches and to provide for lordosis intraoperatively, it is to be understood that the invention may be employed in cervical and thoracic spinal procedures as well as from any direction, that is, anterior, posterior and lateral. [0011] Other objectives and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustration and example, certain embodiments of this invention. The drawings constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary embodiments of the present invention and illustrate various objects and features thereof. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0012] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the spinal implant in a contracted position; [0013] FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1 ; [0014] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the spinal implant in an expanded position; [0015] FIG. 4 is a side view of FIG. 3 ; [0016] FIG. 5 is a cross sectional overlay of FIG. 4 ; [0017] FIG. 6 is a cross sectional of FIG. 2 ; [0018] FIG. 7 is a cross section of FIG. 4 ; [0019] FIG. 8 is an exploded view of the implant with an alignment tube; [0020] FIG. 9 is an exploded view of the implant without an alignment tube. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0021] 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. [0022] It should be understood that numerous specific details, relationships, and methods are set forth to provide a full understanding of the invention. One having ordinary skill in the relevant art, however, will readily recognize that the invention can be practiced without one or more of the specific details or with other methods. The present invention is not limited by the illustrated ordering of acts or events, as some acts may occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other acts or events. Furthermore, not all illustrated acts or events are required to implement a methodology in accordance with the present invention. [0023] Embodiments of the invention may be practiced without the theoretical aspects presented. Moreover, the theoretical aspects are presented with the understanding that Applicants do not seek to be bound by the theory presented. [0024] Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including 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. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein. [0025] As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms “including”, “includes”, “having”, “has”, “with”, or variants thereof are used in either the detailed description and/or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising.” [0026] Expandable Spinal Fusion Device(s) [0027] A spinal fusion is typically employed to eliminate pain caused by the motion of degenerated disk material. Upon successful fusion, a fusion device becomes permanently fixed within the intervertebral disc space. [0028] Referring now to the Figures, the spinal fusion device is inserted into the intervertebral space in the insertion mode to replace damaged, missing or excised disk material. In an exemplary embodiment, the device 10 comprises an upper section 11 , a top surface 12 , a lower section 13 , a bottom surface 14 , a body portion 18 and a distractor 55 . The device may be made of conventional materials used for surgical implants, such as stainless steel and its many different alloys, titanium, titanium alloys, metallic alloys, polymeric materials, plastics, plastic composites, ceramic and any other metal or material with the requisite strength and biologically inert properties. [0029] In an exemplary embodiment, the upper section 11 of the device 10 comprises a top surface 12 for engaging the end plate of a vertebra and the lower section 13 comprises a bottom surface 14 for engaging the end plate of adjacent vertebra. The top surface 12 and bottom surface 14 are planar to provide large contact areas with each vertebra. In an exemplary embodiment, the top and bottom surfaces 12 and 14 each end at one end with a sloping or angled edge 15 , 16 running the width of the top 12 and bottom 14 surfaces, respectively. In an exemplary embodiment, the top surface ends with an edge 15 sloped towards the bottom surface, and the bottom surface comprises an edge 16 sloped towards the top surface. In other embodiments, only the top surface has a sloped edge. In another embodiment, only the bottom surface has a sloped edge. In yet other embodiments, the top and bottom surfaces lack a sloped edge. [0030] The device 10 is hollow 20 , allowing for insertion of bone graft, bone graft material, scaffolds or any tissue or cellular material. In an exemplary embodiment, bone graft or similar bone growth inducing material can be introduced around and within the fusion device to further promote and facilitate bone fusion. The fusion device is hollow in the center, further providing a space for packing with bone graft or similar bone growth inducing material. Such bone graft or bone growth inducing material can be packed, prior to, subsequent to, or during implantation of the fusion device. [0031] The device 10 has two extreme positions and is adjustable infinitely between these positions. The expanded position 100 is the sum of the height of the upper section 11 and the lower section 13 . The compact position 101 is the height of the sides 21 or 22 of the body portion and the sum of the thickness of the top surface 12 and bottom surface 14 . The top surface 12 and the bottom surface 14 contact the body portion 18 when the device is in a compact or unexpanded position with the upper section side walls 23 being able to slidably fit into the hollow area. It is to be understood that the placing of the side walls of the upper and lower sections is interchangeable, in that the sidewalls of the lower section can be placed at a distance further apart than the side walls of the upper section. In this embodiment, the upper section sidewalls slide down the inner side walls of the lower section sidewalls. Conversely, the upper section side walls are placed at a wider distance than the lower section sidewalls so that the upper section sidewalls slide over the lower section side walls during the extension or when the device is in a compacted position. In another embodiment, the upper and lower section sidewalls are placed equidistant from each other so that the sidewalls rest upon each other when the device is in the unexpanded or compact position. The device can be rotated along the longitudinal axis 180 degrees so that the upper section becomes the lower section and vice versa. [0032] The upper section 11 comprises a top surface 12 with a large aperture 20 to facilitate bone ingrowth after implantation, and opposing depending sidewalls 23 and 24 projecting from the top surface 12 and positioned parallel to each other. The depending side walls 23 , 24 terminate in a flat plane and each side wall possesses at least one slot or groove 70 for engaging a protruding member, rollers or pins 52 of the distractor body 55 ; the protruding member dimensioned to slidably fit in the slots or grooves 70 . The angle of the slot or groove relative to a 90° angle to the horizontal plane can vary so that the maximum expanded position can be increased or decreased. For example, if the groove is vertical at a 90° angle to the horizontal plane, the maximum expanded position is greater than if the slot or groove is at a 45° angle to the horizontal plane. However, it is to be understood that a slot or groove having, for example, a 45° angle to the horizontal plane would not only expand the device vertically, but also horizontally. The slot or groove 70 engages the protruding member 52 of the distractor 55 to guide the relative movement of the sections, maintaining the distractor and the depending sidewalls in alignment. [0033] The bottom surface 14 of the lower section 13 has a large aperture 20 to facilitate bone ingrowth after implantation. The lower section 13 comprises opposing upstanding sidewalls 40 , 41 projecting from the bottom surface 14 and positioned parallel to each other. The distance between the opposing sidewalls 40 , 41 is dimensioned to be less than the distance between the opposing sidewalls 23 and 24 of the upper section 11 so that the upper and lower sections can slidably move between the expanded and compact positions of the device. The depending side walls 40 and 41 terminate in a flat plane, and each side wall possesses at least one slot or groove 71 for engaging a protruding member 52 of the distractor 55 , dimensioned to slidably fit in the slots or grooves 71 . The protruding member can be any type, size or shape, for example, rollers, pins, as long as these protruding members can be engaged by the slots or grooves 71 . The angle of the slots or grooves 71 of the lower depending side walls 40 and 41 and the angle of the slots or grooves 70 of the upper depending side walls 23 and 24 is greater than 0° and up to 180° relative to each other. The slots or grooves 70 , 71 engage the protruding members, rollers or pins 52 of the distractor 55 to guide the relative movement of the sections, maintaining the distractor and the depending sidewalls in alignment. The slots or grooves 70 , 71 on each opposing sidewall are diametrically opposed on the opposite side walls. [0034] The depending sidewalls of the upper and lower sections and the slot or groove of each sidewall are smooth to provide ease in the relative sliding contact between the sidewalls and between the protruding members 52 of the distractor. In alternative embodiments, the slots or grooves may comprise jagged steps which are positioned to provide a lock-step expansion when the device height is adjusted. [0035] In an exemplary embodiment, the device 10 comprises a body portion 18 . In an exemplary embodiment, the body portion 18 has a first end 17 , a second end 19 , a first side portion 26 connecting the first end 17 and the second end 19 and a second side portion 27 connecting the first end 17 and the second end 19 . The first end 17 of the fusion device 10 includes at least one angled surface, a grooved end and a flat end or planar end plate. In preferred embodiments, the first end 17 comprises multiple angled surfaces. In an exemplary embodiment, there are at least two opposing angled surfaces 30 , 31 forming a generally wedge-shape. In other preferred embodiments, there are at least two opposing angled surfaces 30 , 31 and a flat end or planar end plate 32 wherein the angled surfaces do not meet but culminate at the flat end 32 at a first end, forming a generally wedge shape; and at the opposing end, the angled surfaces culminate to form a recepticle for receiving the sloped edges of the top and bottom surfaces when the device is in a compacted or unexpanded form. In an exemplary embodiment, the top edge 15 and the bottom edge 16 are angled so as to run parallel with the angled surfaces 30 of the first end 17 . [0036] The second end 19 includes an opening 60 which may include threading. The opening 60 is dimensioned to fit a distractor 55 . In an exemplary embodiment, the distractor 55 comprises an actuation member 51 , a rod 54 and a distractor body 55 . The actuation member 51 is located on the outer surface 52 of the second end 19 , and a member 53 of the second end 19 aligns the rod 54 with the distractor body 55 . The rod 54 , which extends into the hollow area of the distractor body 55 , may be threaded or telescopic for slidably moving the distractor body 55 within the hollow center of the device 10 . Although the term “rod” is used, it is merely descriptive and encompasses any shape or form as long as it can move the body of the distractor. In an exemplary embodiment, the distractor body 55 is dimensioned to fit in the hollow center of the device and to provide a large volume for the placing of bone graft, bone graft inducing material, scaffolds or any tissue or cellular material. In an exemplary embodiment, the rod 54 is attached to the distractor body 55 . The distractor body 55 comprises a first end 80 , a second end 81 , a first side portion 82 connecting the first end 80 to the second end 81 , and a second side portion 83 connecting the first end 80 to the second end 81 . The first side portion 82 and the second side portion 83 each comprise at least one, preferably two protruding members, rollers or pins 52 which are dimensioned to slidably fit into the grooves or slots 70 , 71 in the sidewalls of the upper and lower sections. The first end 80 , in exemplary embodiments is a planar surface. In some embodiments, an alignment tube 84 is attached at the center of the planar surface of the first end 80 . The alignment tube 84 may be hollow and threaded, or may be hollow and smooth, and dimensioned for insertion into support aperture 79 . In preferred embodiments, the rod 54 is a jack screw for engagement of a threaded bore 85 at the second end 81 of the distractor body 55 . A bracket 86 is attached to the second end 19 of the body portion 18 . In an exemplary embodiment, the bracket 86 comprises a bore 87 which has a larger countersunk bore 88 for receiving the rod 54 . The bore 87 and countersunk bore 88 are aligned with the bore 85 of the distractor body 55 . As illustrated in FIG. 9 , the alignment tube can be removed and still provide stability to the distractor. [0037] The distance between the top surface 12 and the bottom surface 14 is adjustable by moving the upper section 11 relative to the lower section 13 . The protruding members 52 of the distractor slide downwards when the distractor is actuated and the distance between the upper and lower section decreases. Conversely, the protruding members 52 of the distractor slide upwards when the distractor is actuated and the distance between the upper 11 and lower section 13 increases. The distractor can be a telescopic mechanism whereby the distractor comprises a member, for example, a telescopic rod, for moving the distractor body 55 by a sliding mechanism and, optionally, a locking mechanism to lock the distractor at a desired position. The distractor is not limited to a sliding mechanism, but can utilize any mechanism as long as the distractor can cause the distractor body 55 to move. [0038] The device is inserted into the disk space between adjacent vertebrae with the top surface in contact with the end plate of one vertebra and the bottom surface in contact with the end plate of the adjacent vertebra. When the surgeon actuates the distractor, the rod 54 is extended into the cavity, pushing the distractor body 55 and the protruding members 52 to slide along the slots or grooves 70 , 71 thereby changing the distance between the top and bottom surfaces 12 , 14 as the sidewalls move apart, thereby expanding the device 10 . When the actuator is actuated in the opposite direction, the rod member 54 retracts, pulling the distractor body 55 towards the end of the outer wall to which the distractor 55 is fastened. The extending of the rod member 54 can be accomplished by a variety of means, including a pushing or pulling mechanism or a rotating mechanism utilizing a screw and thread means. The telescopic rod, in this embodiment, comprises one or more rods of equal and/or varying lengths, each rod having a circumference slightly smaller than the previous rod so that when the actuator is actuated the rods can extend beyond the length of the first rod or retract into each other. [0039] The invention has been described in detail with reference to preferred embodiments thereof. However, it will be appreciated that those skilled in the art, upon consideration of this disclosure, may make modifications and improvements within the spirit and scope of the invention. The following non-limiting examples are illustrative of the invention. [0040] All documents mentioned herein are incorporated herein by reference. All publications and patent documents cited in this application are incorporated by reference for all purposes to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent document were so individually denoted. By their citation of various references in this document, Applicants do not admit any particular reference is “prior art” to their invention.
A spinal fusion device that is expandable. The device features a top and bottom surface for engaging adjacent vertebrae, a hollow center for stacking of bone or bone growth material, and a slidable mechanism with grooves for expanding or unexpanding the device.
0
RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/040,960, filed Apr. 21, 1987 now abandoned which is a continuation in-part of Ser. No. 06/763,301 filed Aug. 2, 1985 for "Modified Cellulosic Fibers" which in turn is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 06/576828 filed Feb. 3, 1984 for "Modified Polysaccharide Materials." BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to the modification of polysaccharide materials by treatment with an amide. When such polysaccharide materials are cellulosic fibers, webs comprising such modified fibers and untreated fibers exhibit increased bulk and absorbency. DEFINITIONS For purposes of this invention, a "water-wettable polysaccharide" is one which is either insoluble in water or capable of absorbing water and being swollen thereby. As used herein, the term "cellulosic fibers" refers to fibers comprising cellulose, a linear, water-wettable polysaccharide, whether existing as a single constituent in a larger natural aggregate such as wood pulp, bagasse and cotton linters, or as a derivative of the natural aggregate such as alpha pulp or viscose rayon. The term "fines" means cellulosic fibers less than 2 mm in length. The term "consistency" means the weight of fibers in a pulp suspension or wetted fibrous batt or web usually expressed as a percentage. For example, ten pounds of oven dry fibers in one hundred pounds of a mixture of water and fibers would be a suspension of 10% consistency. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the preparation of novel cellulosic fibers comprising the reaction product of untreated cellulosic fibers, preferably wood pulp, with N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide. The reaction is carried out in the presence of alkali by combining the N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide with a high consistency aqueous mixture of the cellulosic fibers or by applying it in the form of a solution to a batt or web of cellulosic fibers. The consistency of said mixture should be at least 10% in order to effect a satisfactory efficiency of the reaction. Optimally, mixtures are of 20-45% consistency. Batts or webs are generally of greater than 45% consistency. By following the teachings of the present invention, efficiencies, (as measured by nitrogen assays of washed fibers) of from 40% to greater than 70% can be obtained. The reaction is preferably allowed to proceed for several days at ambient temperature, for example 25° C., or for a day at a slightly elevated temperature, for example 35° C. While the reaction can be accelerated and brought to completion within hours or minutes at temperatures above 50° C., provided that the temperature of the aqueous medium remains below its boiling point, the desired modification of the fibers, as measured by increased bulk and absorbency of the resulting fibrous web, is not as great as that obtained at lower temperatures. As will be appreciated by those familiar with the prior art pertaining to treatment of cellulose with acrylamides, this preference for ambient temperatures represents a teaching in the direction opposite of that taught by the prior art. It represents not merely an effort to protect the cellulose from degradation in hot alkali but the deliberate favoring of a reaction, not fully understood by the present inventor, which produces unexpected and heretofore unknown benefits in terms of increased bulk and absorbency of the resulting fibrous web. Free radical initiators should be excluded from the reaction medium, possibly because they neutralize the reactive sites on N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide for carbamoylethylation, namely, the double bonds. Air can likewise have a poisoning effect on the desired reaction. After the N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide and cellulosic fibers are combined, it is necessary to exclude air from the materials while the reaction is taking place. In order for the desired reaction to proceed quiescent, non-aerated conditions which do not permit the introduction of air, should be employed. While obviously some air is generally dissolved in water and may be entrapped in the interstices of a batt of fibers, if the reactants are freely exposed to ambient air, virtually no N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide will be found to have reacted with the cellulosic fibers. It will therefore be apparent that conditions or actions which cause air to be entrapped or entrained in the medium, such as application by spraying must be remedied by subsequent purging of air from the medium. Applying the N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide by compressive means, such as in a high consistency refiner or by immersion or flooding, as illustrated in Example 7 herein, is preferred. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In accordance with the method of the present invention, the reaction is carried out in a high consistency aqueous mixture of cellulosic fibers or by applying the N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide in solution to a batt or web of cellulosic fibers, for example pulp lap. The amount of N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide to be dissolved in the aqueous alkaline medium with the cellulosic fibrous material should be sufficient to impart the desired increase in bulk and absorbency. Above about 5% N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide by dry weight of the fibers there is no additional effect on the fibers. Insufficient N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide, generally below 0.2%, will produce no perceptible change in the bulk or total water absorption of a web of the fibers, although any measurable amount of N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide produces a measurable increase in absorbency i.e. the rate of absorption. In practice using sufficient N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide to cause from about 0.5 to 2% by dry weight of the fibers to react with the fibers produces a level of modification sufficient for commercial applications. While a certain amount of alkali is necessary for the reaction of the invention, it has been found that it is not necessary to apply alkali with the N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide or to combine them prior to application. It may be applied either before or after the N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide as well as with it, in an amount equivalent in alkali strength or hydroxyl (OH - ) ion contribution to up to ten parts by weight sodium hydroxide to fiber, and preferably 2 to 3 parts by weight. As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, sodium hydroxide is the most convenient source of alkalinity in a pulp mill, but other sources such as potassium hydroxide and trisodium phosphate (Na 3 PO 4 ) can be substituted. Preferably, the alkali is applied as a dilute solution, e.g. 1% of sodium hydroxide, by spraying or dipping as will be more fully described in the examples which follow. The novel modified fibers of this invention may be used in combination with conventional papermaking fibers to produce webs which exhibit increased bulk and absorbency. The modified fibers of the present invention improve the bulk and absorbency of the base web in direct proportion to the percentage of modified fiber in the blend. Alternatively, blending can permit a reduction in basis weight while retaining bulk and absorbency. By way of illustration, in a web containing 30% modified fiber, basis weight was reduced by 25% without loss of bulk and absorbency as compared with a web without modified fibers of the present invention. Another utility of the fibers of the invention is as a replacement for any of the known super absorbent fibers such as the "super slurper" fibers for use in a variety of absorbent products such as diapers, sanitary napkins, hospital dressings and the like. Unlike the typical super-absorbent fibers which characteristically have a gelatinous or "slimy" feel when wet, the fibers made in accordance with the present invention retain their wood pulp-like feel to the touch. A further advantage of the present invention is that the modified fibers exhibit wet resilience. That is to say, the fibers retain their bulk when wet which is important in many absorbent products, such as diapers, where the shape and volume of the product when wet plays an important part in the function of the product, e.g. in retaining fit and wicking. Previous inventors have attempted to achieve these same properties, but found it necessary to employ rather elaborate and severe chemical conditions to achieve only some of these properties. For example, Lask, U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,595 granted Feb. 3, 1981, discloses a method to produce "swellable carboxyalkylcelluloses" from a two-part chemical system comprising first a carboxyalkyl etherifying agent and second a crosslinking agent in an aqueous alkaline medium. Furthermore, a very much larger proportion of the etherifying agent and alkali based on the weight of fiber is required by the process of Lask relative to N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide, which is employed by Lask solely to crosslink the etherifying agent. In the present invention no such etherifying agent is employed, a much lower alkali concentration is required and the reaction chemistry of N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide resembles that of the carbamoylethylation class of reactions as opposed to crosslinking as described by Lask. However, inasmuch as there is an abundance of non-cellulosic substances present in typical sources of cellulosic fibers, e.g., wood pulp, amylase starch and regenerated cellulose, some other reaction may be responsible for the modification produced in accordance with the present invention. The present inventor is unaware of any disclosure in the prior art which would suggest such results from N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide Indeed, several other amides and acrylates were tried but did not produce clear improvements in absorbency and bulk. These compounds include Acrylamide N-Methylolacrylamide Bisacrylamide Glyoxal N-Isopropylacrylamide N-N Dimethylamino ethyl methacrylate Triallylcyanurate Glycidyl Acrylate Acrylic Acid The remarkable results attained with N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide in accordance with the present invention are especially surprising in view of the prior art. The alkali concentrations employed in the present invention are relatively low. In such alkali media of relatively low concentration, the base catalyzed reaction of cellulose with acrylamide has long been believed to produce carbamoylethylcellulose. U.S. Pat. No. 2,338,681 granted to Bock et al Jan. 4, 1944. There is no suggestion in the prior art that carbamoylethylcellulose provides greater bulk and absorbency to webs. Indeed, the pertinent prior art suggests that such forms of cellulose are soluble in water when sufficiently modified with acrylamide. Bikales et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,029,232 granted Apr. 10, 1962. Bikales et al observed in Example 8 that paper made from cellulose treated with N-n-propylacrylamide is stronger than from untreated pulp. However, they reported no change in absorbency of the fibers. Applicant's fibers, in contrast, form weaker webs having greater absorbency and bulk. It is to be concluded, therefore, that the reaction product of the present invention has a chemical composition different from or comprises something in addition to carbamoylethylated cellulose as understood by the prior art. Without wishing to be bound by theory, the present inventor believes that the high pulp consistencies employed in accordance with the present invention and the absence of a continuous aqueous phase tend to constrain the N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide to react at the surface of the fiber. These features are in sharp contrast to Bikales, et al. whose teachings suggest a continuous aqueous phase voluminous enough to keep the high concentration of salt in solution and to form intimate contact between the fibers and salt solution. Treatment of wood pulp fibers treated in accordance with the present invention results in extended hydrophilicity, increased brightness and receptivity to ink, and in fibers which are more readily debonded thus resulting in bulkier, softer paper than the same fiber in the untreated form. There is at the same time no perceptible change in the structural appearance of the fibers. These improved properties are retained by the fibers when subjected to typical stress to which pulp fibers are subjected, for example, boiling water, moderately strong acid and alkali, and bleaching chemicals. Bleaching with chlorine, chlorine dioxide, hydrogen peroxide, ozone and combinations of such bleaching steps will not undo the fiber modification. This persistence of the structural integrity of the fibers (as well as the improved properties) further distinguishes the fibers resulting from the process of the present invention from those carbamoylethylated cellulose fibers of the prior art which are soluble in water. See U.S. Pat. No. 3,029,232, Column 5, lines 14-15. The method of the present invention is not limited to any particular type of cellulosic fiber and has been successfully employed on a wide variety of wood pulps, both chemical and mechanical, hard wood and softwood, bagasse, secondary (recovered waste paper) and rayon staple fibers. In one embodiment of the present invention, the N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide reagent is combined with the sodium hydroxide used for the second extraction stage during a bleaching sequence such as CEHED, chlorine-alkali extraction--hypochlorite-alkali extraction--chlorine dioxide or CEDED, chlorine-alkali extraction--chlorine dioxide-alkali extraction--chlorine dioxide. The temperature e.g. 60° C., and duration, typically one hour, of such a stage are sufficient for the modification reaction to be completed. The final bleach stage (chlorine dioxide) serves as a neutralization and washing step. The present invention provides overall improvement in the wood pulps produced by "high yield" or mechanical pulping processes, e.g. thermomechanical and refiner mechanical pulps which are characterized in having larger hemicellulose and carbohydrate contents than chemical pulp. Since, as previously mentioned, the modification imparted to cellulosic fibers by N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide survives delignification treatments, the aforementioned treatment of "high yield" or mechanical pulps can be advantageously combined with a delignification step, either prior to or subsequent to application of the method of the present invention. Mechanical pulps are desirable in that they are produced in high yield, but have found limited use in absorbent paper products due to their rigid structure. In the past, attempts have been made to produce fibers which have enhanced flexibility compared to groundwood, refiner mechanical pulp, thermomechanical pulp, chemi-refiner and chemi-thermomechanical pulp though delignification. Unfortunately, total or partial delignification produces pulps with reduced bulk. The latter phenomenon is disadvantageous when the end-use of the fiber is in absorbent products. In accordance with the present invention mechanical fibers can be made flexible while maintaining or improving their bulk characteristics. These fibers are subjected to, for example, ozonization whereby at least partial delignification is achieved, resulting in low bulk high-bonding fibers, which upon subsequent treatment in accordance with the present invention results in a pulp with high brightness, bulk and flexibility. Alternatively, the method of the present invention can be applied prior to the delignification stage. In this connection, it is to be noted that fibers treated in accordance with the present invention exhibit sharp reductions in bleach chemical demand. A further advantage of the present invention is that when short cellulosic fibers, hereinafter called fines, are modified in accordance with the present invention, they become non-binding and dispersible. This feature has significant economic implications. In particular, it permits the use of pulp furnishes containing a high proportion of fines without the normal difficulties. Wood fines, an assortment of particulate wood products which pass through a 75 micron opening, exhibit rather noticeable adhesive properties uncommon to regular wood fibers. Consequently, when isolated and dried they form a dense agglomerated structure which resists being dispersed in water. In this agglomerated state, fines interfere with both the manufacture of absorbent papers and their product qualities. When fines are treated in accordance with the present invention, they become soft and dispersible in water after drying. By way of illustration, a stone ground wood pulp containing 23% fines, when formed into a mat from an aqueous dispersion, dried into a rough textured non-dispersible mass. When the same pulp was treated in accordance with the method of present invention with 2.5% N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide based on dry pulp weight, neutralized and dried, the treated fines were found to be soft and dispersible. It can be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains that a large number of variations may be effected in reacting the cellulosic fibrous material with N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide in accordance with the reaction procedures described above, without materially departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The following examples will more fully illustrate the embodiments of this invention. In the examples all temperatures are in degrees Celsius. The basis weight of webs is expressed in grams per square meter. "Wet pick-up" is expressed as a percent by weight of the dry fibers to which the solution is applied. The abbreviation "TWA" stands for "total water absorbed" and is determined on a gram for gram basis, e.g. a TWA of 2 means 2 grams of water were absorbed for each gram of fiber. The ratio of bulk to basis weight is a means of comparing the bulk of webs of different basis weight. A larger ratio indicates greater bulkiness (lesser density) and is regarded as an improvement in sanitary tissue. This ratio and TWA are the principal criteria for measuring the improvements produced in accordance with the present invention. "Breaking length" is the estimated length at which the web would break under its own weight. It is derived from a measurement of the tensile strength of the web and related to its basis weight. While non-empirical, it is useful in comparing webs of different weights. Tensile measurements were obtained on a Thwing Albert Tensile Tester in accordance with TAPPI Standard Number T 456m-49. Tensile was measured cross direction (CD) and machine direction (MD) for a dry strip. All tensile values are reported as ounces/inch. These values may be converted to the standard metric unit of grams per 15 millimeters by multiplying by 16.775. EXAMPLE 1 A roll of paper having a basis weight of 30 grams per square meter and made from northern softwood kraft pulp was saturated by means of a gravure apparatus to the extent of 74% wet pick-up with a solution comprising 6% by weight, N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide and 5% potassium hydroxide. The resulting impregnated web had a consistency of 58%. After a 14-day reaction period at room temperature in sealed plastic wrap, specimens were withdrawn for evaluation. The results are shown in Table 1. Sample A is a dry sheet made from the same lot of northern softwood kraft pulp as was treated in this Example. Sample B represents Sample A after refining in a Valley beater to increase its breaking length. Sample C represents the modified pulp described in this Example and was found to contain 1.93% by weight N,N-methylenebisacrylamide. Sample D is a sheet made from a dispersion of the sheets of Samples B and C mixed in equal proportions, formed into a web and dried. It contains, of course, one-half the amount of N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide, namely 0.97% by weight. EXAMPLE 2 Modified fiber in accordance with the present invention was produced by feeding northern softwood kraft pulp saturated to the extent of 330% wet pick-up with a solution comprising 2.9% N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide and 1.4% potassium hydroxide into a steam-jacketed high consistency continuous refiner mixing device heated to 80° C. where it resided for two minutes. The reacted pulp was collected at a consistency of 28%, diluted and acidified with phosphoric acid to pH 7 and transferred to a paper machine where the modified pulp was blended with untreated northern softwood kraft in the proportion of 50% by dry weight to all the fibers to produce towel weight webs of 41 g/m 2 . The results are presented in Table 2. TABLE 1______________________________________ Bulk to Basis Breaking Basis Weight Length TWA Weight______________________________________A. Control 44.0 2621 2.84 4.8B. Control Refined 39.0 9040 1.92 4.3C. Modified Fiber 41.0 945 5.40 7.1D. B/C = 1/1 Blend 44.0 4114 3.72 5.2______________________________________ TABLE 2______________________________________% Modified Fiber in Blend 0 40Pulp Freeness 680 709(Canadian Standard)Basis Weight g/m.sup.2 40.0 41.0Assayed N,N'--methylenebisacrylamide 0 .66% by weight of dry fiber in webPhysical Properties24-ply bulk (millimeters) 4.6 4.9TWA (g/g) 3.7 5.6Stretch (percent)Machine Direction 12.0 11.5Cross Direction 1.7 2.7Dry TensileMachine Direction 38.9 19.5Cross Direction 30.3 16.5______________________________________ EXAMPLE 3 Sheets of dry lap pulp (southern softwood kraft weighing 800 g/m 2 on an air dry basis) were uniformly impregnated with a solution at a temperature of 50° comprising 2.5% N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide and sufficient sodium hydroxide to achieve a pH of 11.5 using a gravure type applicator so as to provide a wet pick-up of 56% and a consistency of 64%. The impregnated pulp was rolled-up, enclosed in plastic film and allowed to react at room temperature for 30 days before quenching to pH 7.0 with a very dilute solution of aqueous phosphoric acid. The modified pulp contained 1.57% by weight N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide 56% of the amount applied based on nitrogen assays. The modified pulp was blended with untreated, beaten southern softwood pulp in the proportion of 35% by dry weight to all the fibers to produce towel weight webs of approximately 50 and 40 g/m 2 . The results are presented in Table 3 in which "basis weight" is abbreviated B.W. and "breaking length" is B.L. and "absorbency" is ABS. The degree of refining (REFINE) by means of a Valley beater, is represented in minutes. Refining of the samples with modified pulp was used to achieve a breaking length comparable to that of the control. As may be seen, a web of comparable TWA and bulk can be achieved at a much lower basis weight by incorporation of the modified pulp of the present invention. TABLE 3__________________________________________________________________________REFINEB.W. BULK DENSITY BULK MDT CDT B.L. TWA ABS.(min)g/m.sup.2 mm g/cc B.W. oz/in oz/in m g/g secs.__________________________________________________________________________CONTROL WEB AT HIGH BASIS WEIGHT5 53.2 5.28 0.516 6.61 53.40 37.67 939.89 2.8 22.5MODIFIED PULP SUBSTITUTION IN WEB HAVING LESSER BASIS WEIGHT7 49.5 5.59 0.437 7.54 32.1 21.9 595.67 3.7 6.915 43.1 4.64 0.531 7.20 46.0 29.2 950.78 2.9 30.5__________________________________________________________________________ EXAMPLE 4 60 grams of a debonded softwood kraft fluff pulp were separated into two 30 gram batts. One batt was treated with 56 grams of aqueous liquor containing 1.1 gram sodium hydroxide; and the other with 56 grams of aqueous liquor containing 1.8 grams N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide. The two batts were combined and mixed together for twenty minutes in a model N-50 HOBART institutional kitchen mixer, having a paddle which rotates within an open-topped cylindrical steel container, typically used for kneading dough. The calculated consistency was 35% and the amount of N,N'methylenebisacrylamide was 3% by weight of the total weight of the pulp. The pulp was then placed into a self-sealing plastic bag and left at 35° C. in a laboratory oven over night (16 hours). The pH was then neutralized with dilute phosphoric acid and handsheets were made from both the treated and untreated pulp. The following test data was obtained: ______________________________________Basis Bulk to AbsorbencyWeight TWA Basis Weight (Seconds)______________________________________Untreated 49.0 4.97 5.05 3.5FluffTreated 47.9 8.3 9.93 0.5Fluff______________________________________ EXAMPLE 5 Forty pounds of southern softwood kraft were slurried in 1% sodium hydroxide, then dewatered to a 50% consistency in a high pressure screw press sold under the trademark PRESSAFINER by C-E Bauer, subsidiary of Combustion Engineering, Inc., Model 560. Twenty pounds were kneaded as a aqueous control and the remaining 20 pounds kneaded with 10 pounds of neutral aqueous solution of 0.2 pounds N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide (i.e. 1% of the fiber weight) in an atmospheric double disk refiner. The calculated consistency for both was 40%. After storing both lots at ambient temperature for two weeks in separate sealed 55-gallon drums, samples of each lot were pH neutralized with dilute phosphoric acid, reslurried and made into handsheets. The following test data was obtained: ______________________________________Basis Bulk to AbsorbencyWeight TWA Basis Weight (Seconds)______________________________________Alkali 35.1 3.59 5.80 6.5ControlTreated 40.8 8.43 8.20 1.0______________________________________ EXAMPLE 7 To illustrate the importance of applying the N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide and alkali separately, fluff pulp fibers of the same type as in Example 4 were treated with a solution containing both N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide and sodium hydroxide. 20 pounds of pulp were slurried in water, dewatered to 50%, then kneaded in the double disc refiner with 10 pounds of an aqueous liquid containing 0.3 pounds sodium hydroxide plus 1.2 pounds N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide (6% by weight of the pulp). The calculated consistency was 40%. After storing the treated pulp at ambient temperature for two weeks in a sealed 55-gallon drum, the pH of a sample was neutralized with dilute phosphoric acid, the pulp slurried and handsheets made. The following data were obtained: ______________________________________Basis Bulk to AbsorbencyWeight TWA Basis Weight (Seconds)______________________________________Treated 61.6 8.29 10.2 0.7______________________________________ Although the N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide dosage was six times greater in this example than in Example 5, the improvements in desirable properties were about the same. EXAMPLE 7 Forty pounds of southern softwood kraft dry lap pulp was treated with forty pounds of a neutral aqueous solution containing 1% N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide. These damp sheets were air-dried at ambient temperatures, then fluffed in a hammermill. A 60 gram sample of this fluff was then hand-kneaded, in a self sealing plastic bag, with 170 grams of a 1% aqueous sodium hydroxide solution. The bag was sealed and left at 35° C. in a laboratory oven for 92 hours. The product was pH neutralized with dilute phosphoric acid, slurried and made into handsheets together with a sample of the dry lap. The following test data was obtained: ______________________________________Basis Bulk to AbsorbencyWeight TWA Basis Weight (Seconds)______________________________________Control 49.2 3.35 4.90 2.7Treated 49.9 9.11 8.40 0.6______________________________________ It is apparent from the foregoing Examples 4-7 that the order of chemical application is not critical to the modification reaction of the present invention. The absorbent products of the present invention can be used in a variety of applications where absorbency is desired. In particular they are useful in applications such as feminine hygiene products, catamenial devices, disposable diapers and non-wovens for hospital and surgical use. It is apparent that other variations and modifications may be made without departing from the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that the forms of the present invention described above are illustrative only and not intended to limit the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Disclosed are modified cellulosic fibers comprising the reaction product of linear, water-wettable polysaccharides with N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide and methods of making same. The materials are useful in the preparation of products characterized by their increased bulk and absorbency.
2
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] The invention described and claimed hereinbelow is also described in European Patent Application EP 10 006 531.7 filed on Jul. 23, 2010. This European Patent Application, whose subject matter is incorporated here by reference, provides the basis for a claim of priority of invention under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d). BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] The invention relates to a device for controlling the flow of a liquid or gaseous medium. [0003] A known device for controlling the flow of a liquid or gaseous medium (EP 1 536 169 A1) includes a 2/2 directional control valve having a valve element that controls a valve opening through which the medium can flow, and an electromagnet that actuates the valve element. The valve element is disposed in a valve chamber formed in a valve housing; the valve opening, which is situated between a valve inlet and a valve outlet, is formed in the valve chamber. The valve opening is enclosed by a valve seat with which the valve element interacts to close and open the valve opening. The electromagnet includes a magnetic circuit having a solenoid coil or excitation coil, an armature sleeve that accommodates the solenoid coil on the outside and is closed by an armature plug, and a solenoid armature that is guided in the interior of the armature sleeve. [0004] The solenoid armature is held, in an axially displaceable manner, in the armature sleeve using two flat springs disposed on the upper and lower end faces; together with the armature plug, the solenoid armature limits a working air gap contained in the magnetic circuit. The armature sleeve protrudes into the valve chamber. The point of entry is sealed against the valve housing by a sealing ring. The valve element includes a sealing holder having a plug, which is inserted axially into the solenoid armature, and a sealing plate that is accommodated in the sealing holder and interacts with the valve seat. The closed state of the valve is brought about by a valve closing spring that acts on the solenoid armature; the valve closing spring is disposed in a blind hole in the solenoid armature, bears against the armature plug, and presses the sealing plate against the valve seat. [0005] When current is supplied to the electromagnet, the solenoid armature is displaced axially against the spring force of the valve closing spring, and the solenoid armature lifts the valve element off of the valve seat, thereby opening the valve opening and, depending on the lift of the valve element, a larger or smaller volume of medium flows from the valve inlet via the valve chamber to the valve outlet. The valve chamber is filled continually with medium, and so the medium constantly flows around the valve element and the end face of the solenoid armature. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0006] The problem addressed by the invention is that of providing a device for controlling the flow of a liquid or gaseous medium, that has a large dynamic range and therefore makes it possible to control the flow of extremely different flow volumes of the medium in a fine, precise, and oscillation-free manner. [0007] In keeping with these objects and with others which shall become apparent hereinafter, one feature of the present invention resides, briefly stated in a device for controlling a flow of a medium selected from the group consisting of a liquid medium and a gaseous medium, comprising at least one flow opening for the medium; a movable valve element for controlling said flow opening; and at least one damping body acting on said valve element. [0008] The device according to the invention has the advantage that, due to the at least one damping body that is preferably viscoelastic, acts on the movable valve element, and is composed e.g. of a gel-type material, the valve element is damped in a speed-dependent, “dynamic” manner as it moves in a reciprocating manner, thereby preventing the flow from fluctuating. [0009] Smaller changes in flow are implemented with little delay. When flow volumes are greater, oscillations of the valve element during flow control are prevented. The attainable dynamic range is greater than 1:2000. Gel damping prevents the transition from stiction to kinetic friction i.e. “stick slip”. In contrast to friction damping, gel damping does not result in greater hysteresis. Examples of the gel-type material that is advantageously used for the damping body are e.g. polyurethane gel and silicone gel. Other damping means or other damping material can also be used for the damping body. [0010] According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the movable valve element includes a sealing element that interacts with a valve seat that encloses the at least one flow opening, and includes a solenoid armature—which is fixedly connected to a sealing element—of an electromagnet and a bearing element that is fixedly connected to the solenoid armature and/or sealing element in order to support the valve element with minimal friction. The at least one damping body that acts on the valve element can act directly or indirectly on one of the movable valve element parts e.g. on the solenoid armature and/or on the sealing element and/or on its bearing element. As a result, a large number of possibilities exist for integrating the at least one damping body in a structurally appropriate manner, with consideration for structural conditions inside the device. The damping body is disposed such that it is exposed to compression pressure when the sealing element lifts off of the valve seat. [0011] According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the valve element extends into a valve chamber formed in a valve housing; a flow opening and valve seat are formed in the valve chamber. The damping body can be disposed in the valve chamber and can bear e.g. against the chamber wall. [0012] According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the bearing element is formed by a flat spring that is situated in the valve chamber. The flat spring is secured in the valve housing on the edge, while the sealing element and solenoid armature are fastened in the center on the flat spring. In this case, it can be advantageous in terms of design that the at least one damping body acts e.g. on the flat spring and bears against the flat spring on one side and, on the other side, against the wall of the valve chamber opposite the flat spring. To optimize the damping, a plurality of damping bodies, which are disposed e.g. at identical circumferential angles relative to each other, can be situated in the valve chamber in the manner described. [0013] According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the flat spring is preloaded toward the valve seat and, together with an adjustment spring that acts on the solenoid armature, influences the closing force of the valve element. [0014] The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the present invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0015] FIG. 1 a longitudinal sectional view of a device for controlling the flow of a liquid or gaseous medium according to the present invention, [0016] FIG. 2 a top view of a flat spring, on which damping bodies are placed, in the device according to the present invention shown in FIG. 1 . DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [0017] The device, which is shown as an example in a longitudinal sectional view in FIG. 1 , for controlling the flow of a liquid or gaseous medium which is also referred to as a fluid, flowing, or streaming medium, includes at least one flow opening 11 for the medium, and a movable valve element 12 for controlling flow opening 11 , wherein preferably at least one viscoelastic damping body 13 acts on valve element 12 to control the flow of the medium through flow opening 11 in a fine, precise manner despite very different flow volumes. [0018] Valve element 12 , which is actuated by an electromagnet 14 , includes a solenoid armature 15 of electromagnet 14 , a sealing element 16 which interacts with a valve seat 17 that encloses flow opening 11 to control flow opening 11 , and a bearing element 18 for supporting valve element 12 in a low-friction or largely frictionless manner, wherein solenoid armature 15 , sealing element 16 , and bearing element 18 are movable parts that are securely interconnected, and the at least one damping body 13 acts on one of these valve element parts. Damping body 13 is disposed such that it is exposed to compression pressure when sealing element 16 lifts off of valve seat 17 . Damping body 13 is composed e.g. of a gel-type material, wherein e.g. polyurethane gel or silicone gel can be used. [0019] Structurally, the device is composed of a valve 19 and electromagnet 14 which actuates valve 19 . In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1 , valve 19 is designed as a 2/2 directional control valve, although it can also be designed e.g. as a 3/2 directional control valve. Valve 19 includes a two-pieced valve housing 20 that is composed of a valve body 21 and a valve cover 22 that closes valve body 21 . A valve chamber 23 is provided in valve housing 20 , the chamber walls of which are formed by valve body 21 and valve cover 22 . Valve seat 17 , which encloses flow opening 11 , is formed on valve body 21 in valve chamber 23 . Valve chamber 23 is connected via a first channel 24 , which extends toward flow opening 11 , to a first valve connection 25 , and is connected via a second channel 26 to a second valve connection 27 . Channels 24 , 26 are formed in valve body 21 . [0020] Electromagnet 14 includes solenoid armature 15 and a magnetic core 28 , which is situated coaxially to solenoid armature 15 , a solenoid coil 29 that is slid onto magnetic core 28 , and a pot-type magnet housing 30 that accommodates magnetic core 28 and solenoid coil 29 . Magnet housing 30 , which partially extends over valve body 21 , securely encloses valve cover 22 and incorporates it, as a magnetic yoke, in the magnetic circuit of electromagnet 14 . Solenoid armature 15 extends through a central opening 31 in valve cover 22 . A valve closing spring 32 that is disposed in a central axial bore 33 in magnetic core 28 acts on the end face of solenoid armature 15 facing away from sealing element 16 . The preload of valve closing spring 32 and, therefore, the closing force of valve element 12 is adjusted using an adjusting screw 35 that can be screwed in a threaded section 34 of axial bore 33 . [0021] In the embodiment shown, bearing element 18 of valve element 12 is designed as a flat spring 36 which is disposed in valve chamber 23 and is secured in valve housing 20 on the edge that extends between valve body 21 and valve cover 22 , and which is securely connected in the center to sealing element 16 and solenoid armature 15 . Sealing element 16 is disposed on the end face of solenoid armature 15 and is pressed into solenoid armature 15 e.g. using a plug 161 , wherein plug 161 is inserted through a central hole 361 in flat spring 36 , thereby fixedly clamping flat spring 36 between sealing element 16 and solenoid armature 15 . Flat spring 36 , which is shown in FIG. 1 in its clamped position in valve housing 20 , is depicted in FIG. 2 in a top view together with a plurality of damping bodies 13 installed thereon, wherein damping bodies 13 are shaded to enhance their visibility. [0022] Damping bodies 13 , which are preferably gel-like, are disposed in valve chamber 23 such that they are offset relative to each other in the circumferential direction. They bear against flat spring 36 on one side and, on the other side, against valve cover 22 which forms one of the walls of valve chamber 23 , whereby they are fastened to valve cover 22 , preferably being bonded thereto. Three such damping bodies 13 , which are offset from each other by 120°, are present in the embodiment shown, as depicted in FIG. 2 . Advantageously, flat spring 36 is preloaded toward valve seat 17 and contributes to the closing force of valve element 12 . [0023] To ensure that solenoid armature 15 is contactlessly displaceable in central opening 31 in valve cover 22 , a further bearing element 37 for valve element 12 is provided on the side of solenoid armature 15 facing away from bearing point 18 . Further bearing element 37 is a flat spring 38 which is disposed between solenoid armature 15 and magnetic core 28 , and which bears against the end face of solenoid armature 12 on one side and, on the other side, against the end face of magnetic core 28 . Further flat spring 38 has the same shape as flat spring 36 of bearing element, which is depicted in FIG. 2 , although with a smaller outer diameter. Damping bodies 13 that are placed on flat spring 36 , as shown in FIG. 2 , are not included, of course. [0024] It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of constructions differing from the types described above. [0025] While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a device for controlling the flow of a liquid or gaseous medium, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention. [0026] Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.
A device for controlling the flow of a liquid or gaseous medium, has at least one flow opening for the medium, and a movable valve element for controlling the flow opening. At least one damping body, which is preferably viscoelastic and acts on the valve element, is provided for obtaining a large dynamic range of the device in order to control flow in a fine, precise, and oscillation-free manner across a broad range of flow volume.
5
FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to feedback control means for controlling the operation of yarn feed gearboxes, and more particularly, to an electromechanical feedback control means for monitoring and controlling a stepless warp knitting machine yarn feed gearbox. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In warp knitting operations it is of critical importance that the feed yarn be delivered from a yarn beam at a prescribed rate. Otherwise, the yarn may be overslacked or overtensioned, causing defects and yarn breakage. Therefore, the rotational speed of the yarn beam must be carefully controlled to insure an appropriate rate of yarn feed. Controlling yarn delivery is complicated by the nature of the delivery mechanism, i.e., a linear, overlapped yarn being unwound from a cylindrical beam. As yarn is taken off of the beam, the effective diameter of the beam is reduced and, as a result, less yarn is delivered per revolution of the beam. Thus, in order to maintain a constant rate of delivery, it is necessary to increase the rotational speed of the beam in accordance with the reduction in beam diameter. Devices have been developed to compensate for the dynamically decreasing beam diameter as discussed above. One such compensation device in wide use is the stepless variable cone gear let-off. Let-offs of this type function as continuously variable gearboxes for adjusting the gear ratio between the yarn beam drive means and the yarn beam. Adjustment is accomplished by adjusting the speed of a spindle extending from the let-off. If no force acts on the spindle and it is allowed to spin freely, then the gear ratio remains constant and the beam speed is not altered. The gear ratio and, thus, the speed of the beam are increased if the speed of the spindle is increased by an external drive means. The gear ratio and, thus, the speed of the beam are decreased if the speed of the spindle is decreased by an external drive means or inhibitor. After the gear ratio has been adjusted by manipulation of the spindle as discussed above such that beam speed and beam diameter result in a prescribed yarn delivery rate, the spindle is again allowed to spin freely until another adjustment needs to be made. A more detailed discussion of the operation and construction of a stepless variable cone gear let-off is discussed below in the detailed description of the preferred embodiment. In order to provide feedback between the yarn beam and the let-off, mechanical control and feedback means have been implemented. Such means typically include a measuring arm having a roller in contact with the yarn on the beam. As the beam turns, the roller turns at the rate of travel of the yarn surface which is the same as the rate of the yarn delivery. A mechanical linkage, typically comprising chains and pulleys, connects the roller to the aforementioned spindle. When the rotation rate of the roller exceeds that of the spindle, the spindle speed is increased. When the rotation rate of the roller is less than that of the spindle, the spindle speed is inhibited. Mechanical control and feedback means as described above suffer from several significant drawbacks. Because the entire feedback system is mechanical, it is prone to wander from its original settings, requiring periodic checks and readjustments. Further, if the roller is fomed of metal or some other hard and durable material, it tends to slip on the yarn, providing inaccurate feedback. If the roller is made from rubber or similar material, it tends to wear down, resulting in a smaller diameter roller and, again, inaccurate feedback. Moreover, the mechanical linkage typically includes a chain and a geared pulley affixed to the spindle. In the knitting environment, there exists a tendency for fiber, dust, and yarn remnants to accumulate about the chain and gear pulley. Thus, the mechanical linkage must be periodically cleaned. Such mechanical feedback means do not lend themselves to convenient modification of settings. Thus, there exists a need for a more reliable means for controlling stepless variable cone gear let-offs which overcomes the deficiencies in accuracy, maintainability, and variability of the mechanical feedback means of the prior art. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a yarn feed gearbox control system for use with a warp knitting machine of the type having a main shaft or cam shaft and operative to control the let-off speed of a yarn feed gearbox. The gearbox, which may be of conventional construction, controls the rate of yarn delivery from a yarn beam and includes an adjustment spindle extending therefrom. The control system includes a yarn feed rate detector which measures the rate of yarn delivery from the beam. The control system also includes a computer which receives yarn feed rate signals from the yarn feed rate detector and generates control signals corresponding to the yarn feed rate signals. A control device forming a part of the control system controls the speed of rotation of the spindle in accordance with the aforementioned control signals. Preferably, the yarn feed rate detector includes a first roller, at least one magnet mounted on the first roller, and a roller sensor mounted adjacent the first roller and which generates a roller signal in response to the presence of the magnet adjacent the roller sensor. More preferably, the yarn feed rate detector is further provided with a second roller. The second roller maintains frictional contact with the yarn on the beam such that it rotates as yarn is delivered. The aforementioned first roller is maintained in contact with the second roller such that as the second roller rotates, the first roller rotates at the speed of yarn delivery from the beam. Preferably, the first roller is formed from a wear-resistant material and the second roller is formed from a high friction material. This configuration allows the use of a rubber roller in contact with the yarn without sacrificing accuracy due to wear of the rubber roller. The above-described control device is preferably a torque motor. Moreover, the control device may further include a drive gear mounted on the torque motor for rotation therewith, a driven gear mounted on the spindle for rotation therewith, the drive gear and the driven gear being intermeshed. The control system may be further provided with a main shaft detector which measures the speed of rotation of the main shaft. The computer receives main shaft speed signals from the main shaft detector and generates the aforementioned control signals in accordance with the main shaft speed signals. Moreover, the computer may further include a counter to count the pulses generated by the main shaft detector. The control system may be further provided with a beam revolution detector for generating a revolution signal corresponding to each revolution of the yarn beam. Pulses generated by the beam revolution detector are received and counted or used to decrement from a set point by the computer. The computer may then control the actuation of the knitting machine and/or alarms in accordance with the number of pulses (i.e., the number of revolutions of the beam) received. An object of the present invention is to provide a yarn feed gearbox control system which overcomes the deficiencies of mechanical feedback gearbox control systems according to the prior art. Namely, it is an object of the present invention to provide a gearbox control system which achieves enhanced accuracy, maintainability, and variability. A primary object of the present invention is to provide a computer control and monitoring device for conventional stepless knitting machine yarn feed gearboxes. An object of the present invention is to provide such a control system for gearboxes which utilizes a torque motor operable to increase or decrease the speed of a spindle forming a part of the gearbox. An object of the present invention is to provide such a gearbox control system having electronic means for measuring the rate of yarn delivery. Moreover, an object of the present invention is to provide a control system as described above including electronic means for monitoring the number of revolutions of the yarn beam and a computer operable to present an alarm in response to a prescribed number of revolutions. The preceding and further objects of the present invention will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art from a reading of the figures and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment which follow, such description being merely illustrative of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of the control system according to the present invention shown mounted on and as used with a conventional stepless variable cone gear let-off, yarn beam, and knitting machine; FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, side cross sectional view of the control device forming a part of the control system of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the roller detector forming a part of the present invention, shown resting on a yarn beam; and FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of the yarn feed gearbox control system according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to FIG. 1, a control system 10 according to the present invention is shown therein mounted on a let-off 100 and a yarn beam 14. Control system 10 serves in conjunction with let-off 100 to control the rate of delivery of yarn 12 from beam 14. Let-off 100 may be, for example, as provided on a Mayer knitting machine. With further reference to FIG. 1, conventional let-off 100 is driven by means of change gear 101 which drives bevel cone 102. Second cone 104, which is driven by friction ring 103, drives worm shaft 105 and worm wheel 106. Worm wheel 106 is connected to the support of beam shaft 11. If the speeds of measuring spindle 108 (which rotates within housing 109) and the worm differ from each other, pawls (not shown) move vertically and turn a ratchet wheel (not shown) in a preselected direction. The ratchet wheel is connected to a thread spindle (not shown) on which friction ring 103 is situated. The thread spindle revolves with the ratchet wheel and moves friction ring 103 along between cones 102,104. The ratio in the cone gear is, therefore, altered. As a result, beam shaft 11 turns slower or faster. Beam 14 is fixedly secured to beam shaft 11 and turns therewith. When the speeds of measuring spindle 108 and the worm are the same, the pawls return to their central position, and no further adjustment takes place. Let-offs as described above are well-known and their operation will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art. Control system 10 functions to measure the rate of yarn delivery from beam 14, compare the rate of yarn delivery with a desired rate, and adjust the speed of spindle 108 in a manner causing let-off 100 to adjust the rotational speed of beam shaft 11 (and, thus, beam 14) as needed. The yarn delivery rate measuring function of control system 10 is accomplished by roller detector 30 and main shaft detector 90. The desired settings are prescribed via input means or keypad 28 of computer 20. The comparative function of control system 10 is accomplished by central processing unit (CPU) 22 of computer 20. Control signals corresponding to such comparisons are received and implemented by control device 60 which serves to increase or decrease the rotational speed of spindle 108. Beam revolution detector 80 is provided to allow the operator to monitor the number of revolutions of beam 14 and to allow for preset events corresponding to the number of revolutions. As best seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, roller detector 30 serves to measure the actual speed of yarn delivered from beam 14. Primary support arm 32 is preferably adjustably secured to the frame or wall of the knitting machine by support assembly 31 and is thereby held in contact with yarn 12 on beam 14. Doughnut shaped primary roller 34 is rotatably mounted on primary support arm 32 by bearings 38 on either end thereof. Support bracket 50 extends upwardly from primary support arm 32, and secondary support arm 42 is mounted thereon such that secondary support arm 42 may pivot about pin 51. Secondary roller 44 is mounted by means of bearings 48 on the end of secondary support arm 42 opposite support bracket 50. Secondary roller 44 is held in firm contact with primary roller 34 by the biasing arrangement of screw 52, spring 52a and platform 53. Magnets 46 are imbedded in roller 44 such that as they rotate about bearings 48, they pass adjacent hall effect sensor 40 mounted in cavity 41 formed in secondary support arm 42 proximate the periphery of roller 44. Hall effect sensor 40 is electrically connected (not shown) to computer 20. Hall effect sensor 40 may be, by way of example, product number UGN 3140U/A3142EU available from Allegro Microsystems, Inc. Secondary roller 44 is preferably formed from a hard, wear resistant material such as aluminum. Primary roller 34 preferably has a rubber coating or sleeve 36. Rubber coating or sleeve 36 serves to enhance frictional contact between primary roller 34 and yarn 12, thereby reducing slippage therebetween. The rate of rotation of secondary roller 44 corresponds directly to the rate of delivery of yarn 12, regardless of the diameter of primary roller 34. Therefore, the wear of rubber coating or sleeve 36 and the resulting dimunition in diameter will not affect the accuracy of the measurements of roller detector 30. To further reduce slippage, roller detector 30 preferably includes two coaxial, side-by-side primary rollers 34 with a single, relatively long secondary roller 44 overlaying and in contact with both primary rollers 34. An encoder may be used in place of hall effect sensor 40 and magnets 46 of roller detector 30. As best seen in FIG. 1, main shaft detector 90 includes gear 94 fixedly mounted on main shaft or cam shaft 16 of the knitting machine. Hall effect sensor 92 is mounted over a peripheral edge of gear 94 and serves to count the teeth of gear 94 as they rotate past hall effect sensor 92. Hall effect sensor 92 is preferably a differential hall effect sensor having a permanent magnet mounted on the back of sensor 92 (i.e., on the side of sensor 92 opposite gear 94). Hall effect sensor 92 may be, for example, product number A3056EU available from Allegro Microsystems, Inc. Hall effect sensor 92 distinguishes between the valleys and peaks of gear 94 by measuring the flux across hall effect sensor 92. This flux is lesser than nominal for the valleys and greater than nominal for the peaks. For each peak or valley of gear 94 which passes by sensor 92, sensor 92 generates a pulse which is received by counter 24 of computer 20. Preferably, gear 94 has one hundred twenty or more teeth to provide higher resolution to the process as described below. It will be appreciated that because each turn of main shaft 16 results in a single needle stitch of the knitting machine, if gear 94 has one hundred twenty teeth, hall effect sensor 92 will generate one hundred twenty pulses for each needle stitch. As best seen in FIG. 1, beam revolution detector 80 includes permanent magnet 84 embedded in worm wheel 106 and hall effect sensor 82 mounted adjacent worm wheel 106 such that as beam 14 rotates, magnet 84 passes by sensor 82. With each such occurrence, hall effect sensor 82 generates a pulse which is received by computer 20. Each pulse thereby corresponds to a single, complete revolution of beam 14. In this way, computer 20 is able to monitor and count the number of revolutions of beam 14 over a given period of time and compare the count with a given set point. As best seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, control device 60 includes case 62 which houses torque motor 64, drive gear 66, motor shaft 68, and driven gear 70. Case 62 includes tubular housing 67 which is adapted to receive spindle housing 109. Housing 109 is secured within housing 67 by means of key slot 75 and threaded bore 74, each of which are formed in housing 67, and key stock 74b and set screw 74a. More particularly, set screw 74a is tightened down, thereby driving key stock 74b into frictional engagement with the outer surface of housing 109. Preferably, an identical arrangement (not shown) is provided at a position on housing 67 radially offset from that shown in FIG. 2 by 90°. Spindle 108 extends through housing 67 and housing 109 and into case 62. Alignment of spindle 108 is maintained by bearings 110. Motor shaft 68 extends from torque motor 64 and drive gear 66 is fixedly mounted thereon. Driven gear 70 is secured to the end of spindle 108 and is intermeshed with drive gear 66. Torque motor 64 preferably has low friction so that when it is in idle mode (i.e., turned off), it does not load spindle 108, but has enough available torque and speed so that when it is energized it is able to offset the spindle speed in either direction. Suitable motors include torque motor product number 3TK6A-AULA available from Oriental Motor Co. of Japan. To further reduce the load of torque motor 64 on spindle 108 when torque motor 64 is idling, a 0.8:1 step down gear ratio (for example, drive gear 66 being a sixty tooth gear and driven gear 70 being a forty-eight tooth gear) may be selected with gears 66,70 loosely matched. As noted above, computer 20 includes CPU 22 and counter 24. Computer 20 is further provided with conventional display 26 and input means 28, preferably including a keypad. With reference to FIG. 4, CPU 22 receives pulses generated from roller detector 30, beam revolution detector 80, and main shaft detector 90, the pulses from main shaft detector 90 first being counted by counter 24. CPU 22 further receives input from input means 28. Computer 20 outputs to display 26 and control device 60. More particularly, computer 20 generates signals via driver 23 to control device 60 causing torque motor 64 to provide drive force in a reverse or forward direction in accordance with the operation discussed below. Driver 23 may be, For example, a triac. The control system of the present invention may be utilized as follows. The machine operator first inputs a reference point value representing the desired inches of yarn to be delivered per rack of the knitting machine. Such values are typically known for a given fabric and stitch pattern and are conventionally expressed in terms of inches per rack. One rack is equal to 480 stitches of the knitting machine. As yarn is delivered from beam 14, primary roller 34 in contact with yarn 12 rotates, in turn causing secondary roller 44 to rotate. As secondary roller 44 rotates, hall effect sensor 40 generates a pulse to computer 20 for each given length of yarn delivered from beam 14 (e.g., 1.2 inches per pulse). For each revolution of main shaft or cam shaft 16, hall effect sensor 92 generates a given number of pulses to counter 24 (e.g., one hundred twenty pulses per revolution or stitch). For each pulse from sensor 40, CPU 22 inputs from counter 24 the number of pulses from sensor 92 received since the last pulse received from sensor 40 and resets the counter. Because the inches per pulse of sensor 40 and revolutions per pulse of sensor 92 are known constants, CPU 22 is able to calculate the essentially instantaneous rate of yarn delivery in inches per rack. More particularly, the actual yarn delivery rate (inches per rack) may be determined according to the following equation: ##EQU1## where OD r is the outside diameter (inches) of roller 44; R is the number of revolutions of the main shaft per rack; P REV is the number of pulses per revolution of main shaft 16; P c is the pulse count from counter 24 at the time of a given pulse from sensor 40 (pulses); and N r is the number of magnets on roller 44. For each pulse of sensor 40, after calculating the current inches per rack value, CPU 22 compares the measured inches per rack with the previously input reference point inches per rack. If the measured inches per rack and the reference point inches per rack are different and the deviation exceeds a prescribed amount, computer 20 actuates motor 64 to provide torque in a direction appropriate to offset the speed of spindle 108 and thereby control let-off 100. (It will be appreciated that when motor 64 is actuated in a reverse direction against the rotation of spindle 108, the rotation of spindle 108 typically will be held or inhibited rather than reversed.) Control system 10 thereby readjusts the speed of beam 14 until the measured inches per rack match or fall within a prescribed range of deviation from the reference point inches per rack. Once the measured inches per rack are the same as or close enough to the reference point inches per rack, computer 20 deactuates motor 64, allowing driven gear 70 to spin freely such that there is no offset effect on spindle 108. Beam 14 then maintains the current speed. The preferred amount of deviation between the reference value and the measured value triggering actuation and deactuation of motor 64 is in the range of -0.1 to +0.1 inches per rack. Control system 10 also includes an alarm function and an automatic stop function. The operator may input at input means 28 a set point number of revolutions of beam 14 which he or she would like to occur prior to actuation of the alarm and/or automatic stop functions. The operator may at this time request either the sounding of an alarm or flashing of a display after the set number of revolutions has occurred. The operator may also request that the knitting machine automatically stop after a set number of revolutions of beam 14. Any combination of the above operations may be chosen as well. Computer 20 receives and counts pulses from hall effect sensor 82, each of the pulses corresponding to a revolution of beam 14. When the number of counted pulses equals the set point number or numbers, computer 20 actuates the desired function. Alternatively, computer 20 may count down from the operator set point, decrementing upon receiving each pulse from sensor 82. Computer 20 may also simply display this information so that the operator can read at any given time the number of revolutions of beam 14 which have occurred. Moreover, each of the above functions may be automatically implemented, not requiring the operator to input any set points. The present invention may, of course, be carried out in other specific ways than herein set forth without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the invention. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.
A yarn feed gearbox control system for controlling the let-off speed of a yarn feed gearbox. The control system is adapted for use with a warp knitting machine having a main shaft and a gearbox operative to control the feed rate of yarn delivery from a yarn beam, the gearbox including an adjustment spindle extending therefrom. The control system includes a yarn feed rate detector which measures the rate of yarn delivery from the beam, a computer which receives yarn feed rate signals from the yarn feed rate detector and generates control signals corresponding thereto, and a control device which controls the speed of rotation of the spindle in accordance with the control signals. The control system may be further provided with a main shaft detector to measure the speed of rotation of the main shaft of the knitting machine. The control system may also be provided with a beam revolution detector to generate a revolution signal corresponding to each revolution of the yarn beam. Signals from the beam revolution detector may be utilized to control the actuation of an alarm and/or to stop the knitting machine. The yarn feed rate detector preferably includes a two roller assembly.
3
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to characterization of particles suspended in a fluidic medium. In particular, the invention is directed to an apparatus and method for simultaneously characterizing the fluorescence and motility of cell, bacteria and particles in fluids. Conventional cell characterization systems generally employ characterization techniques that are directed to either conventional fluorescence measurements or conventional motility measurements using primarily visible light. Cell characterization systems utilizing visible light to interrogate the specimen provide standard motility parameters and cell count. Systems employing a fluorescence technique provide standard fluorescent parameters such as membrane integrity. The motion of unstained cells is utilized to identify motion characteristics of living cells in standard microscopy. In the context of semen analysis identifying the motion characteristics includes determining for example the sperm motility and mean sperm velocity where sperm motility is understood as that fraction of sperm moving among the sperm in the specimen sample. Cell characterization, and primarily sperm motility characterization, is regularly utilized for animals, such as horses and bulls, to establish the reproductive quality of their sperm which is integral in the evaluation of their breeding potential. In addition, motility analysis is important in the diagnosis of reproductive abnormalities in human males. Conventional techniques of cell characterization to measure standard motility parameters primarily utilize illumination in the visible light spectrum. A radiation generating source, emitting radiation in the visible light spectrum, is directed onto a specimen and the light is refracted by both the fluidic medium and the cells contained therein. The refracted light is conditioned and directed, by appropriate optics, onto a light sensitive device which measures light incident thereon. Utilizing conventional electronics and data processing techniques, the refracted light is analyzed for desired information, for example, standard cell motility parameters. Examination of fluorescing cells is utilized in microbiology to provide information on cell membrane integrity and, with respect to sperm cells, acrosomal integrity. The acrosome, a baglike structure surrounding the head of the sperm cell, must be substantially intact and able to withstand acrosomal reaction for spermatozoa to penetrate the zona pellucida surrounding the ovum. The characterization of the acrosome integrity is of great importance in reproduction study and abnormality diagnosis. In addition to acrosomal integrity, characterizing fluorescing cells provides detailed cell fluorescence and motility information, for example, cell brightness and cell velocity. Generally, fluorescence is induced by the illumination of a specimen stained with an appropriate fluorophore wherein the wavelength of the illumination is substantially within the fluorophore absorption peak bandwidth. The fluorophore absorbs the shorter wavelength radiation and, due to the fluorescing characteristics of the fluorophore, causes photon emission at a wavelength longer than that of the irradiating illumination. In addition, the emitted photons tend to have a wavelength within the visible light wavelength spectrum. The wavelength of the emitted photons is substantially dependent upon the fluorescence characteristics of the fluorophore and the wavelength of the irradiating illumination. Fluorescent light characterization systems frequently employ ultra violet light to stimulate cells which are stained with a fluorophore dye. The ultra violet light generating source is directed onto a specimen stained with a fluorescence dye and, as described above, the specimen absorbs the ultra violet radiation. The dye, within both the cells and fluidic medium comprising the specimen, emits photons having wavelengths in the visible light spectrum. As in the case of refracted light, the emitted light is conditioned and directed, by appropriate optics, onto a light sensitive device which measures light incident thereon. Generally, the radiation sensitive device is an eyepiece or a camera in an instrument which often is a microscope. Appropriate electronics and data processing techniques are again used to obtain desired information. A primary shortcoming of the conventional fluorescent light characterization systems is the techniques employed to induce fluorescence. The excitation radiation is generally a continuously irradiating source. The intense irradiation of the specimen is phototoxic and consequently destroys the living cells under investigation. In addition, these systems employ excitation radiation having wavelength characteristics that are also substantially phototoxic and, as described above, generally results in destruction of the living cell. As a result of the phototoxic effects, systems employing such techniques generally fail to accurately characterize general cell motility parameters as well as membrane integrity and cell fluorescent intensity. In addition, conventional fluorescent light characterization system do not employ techniques to permit rapid assessment of the quantitative estimates of fluorescent brightness directly. This feature would permit a determination of the quantity of fluorophore present in the cell on an absolute scale. Conventional systems utilize a technique providing relative estimates of the amount of fluorophore present and thus fail to accurately characterize a crucial property of the cell. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Broadly speaking, the present invention provides a system for simultaneously characterizing the motility and fluorescence of specimen including cells, bacteria and particles in a fluidic medium. The system includes an illumination source for generating a first illuminating beam and directing it onto the specimen where it will be absorbed by said cell, bacteria or particle. The wavelength of this source is selected such that the cells, bacteria or particles will absorb it and emit fluorescent light at a second, longer wavelength. The system further includes a second illumination source for generating a second illuminating beam at a wavelength which is longer than the first illuminating beam. The second illumination beam is directed onto the specimen where it will be transmitted through the specimen. An imaging element is positioned to receive light transmitted through the specimen, light scattered by the specimen, and emitted from fluorescent light and direct it onto a radiation sensing element. A fluorescent filter element is positioned to intercept the emitted light directed by the imaging element and attenuate unwanted wavelengths of that light. The system may further include an optical phase-shift element for translating the phase of predetermined portions of the transmitted light without substantially translating the phase of the scattered light. The optical phase shift element may include an optical phase-shift plate, positioned to intercept the transmitted light, having an optically retarding portion to provide a negative phase contrast image of the refracted light. Conversely, the optical phase-shift element may include an optical phase-shift plate positioned so as to optically retard the scattered light, to provide a positive phase contrast image of said refracted light. The radiation sensing element generates output signals representative of the intensity of a light beam incident thereon. The radiation sensing element may includes an array of radiation detectors, wherein each detector generates an intensity signal representative of the intensity of the portion of a light beam incident thereon. Suitable radiation detectors include charge coupled devices or the like. A microprocessor element, having a timing element and a processing element, provides timing signals to the illumination sources, and processes and generates the motility and fluorescence information. The timing element, coupled to the first illumination source and the second illumination source, generates control signals whereby the first and second illumination sources in response to the control signals generate the first and second illumination beams each for a short period and in an intercalated non-overlapping sequence. The processing element, coupled to the timing element and the radiation sensing element and further being responsive to the sensing element output signals, generates the cell motility parameters and the cell fluorescence information. In another embodiment of the invention, the first illumination source generates an illumination beam at least one wavelength. The illumination beam is selectively filtered thereby providing an incident radiation beam having a wavelength selected from a plurality of predetermined wavelengths. A fluorescent filter element, having a plurality of pass bands, is correlated to the illumination sequence to attenuate unwanted wavelengths of the emitted light which correspond to the wavelength of the incident beam. In yet another embodiment of the invention, at least two illumination sources generate, in an non-overlapping intercalated sequence, illumination beams where each is absorbed by said cell, bacteria or particle. As in the previous embodiment, a fluorescent filter element, having a plurality of pass bands, is correlated to the illumination sequence to attenuate unwanted wavelengths of the emitted light which correspond to the wavelength of the incident beam. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The foregoing and other objects of this invention, the various features thereof, as well as the invention itself, may be more fully understood from the following description, when read together with the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 illustrates in schematic form an exemplary embodiment of the cell motility and fluorescence characterization system in accordance with the present invention; FIG. 2 illustrates in schematic form the fluorescent excitation unit of the characterization system of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 depicts a internal configuration of the radiation sensing unit of FIG. 1; FIG. 4 illustrates in schematic form a second embodiment of the cell motility and fluorescence characterization system in accordance with the present invention; FIG. 5 illustrates in schematic form the fluorescent excitation unit of the system of FIG. 4; FIG. 6 illustrates in schematic form the fluorescent multiple wavelength excitation filter assembly of FIG. 5; FIG. 7 illustrates in schematic form the fluorescent multiple wavelength filter assembly of FIG. 5; FIG. 8 illustrates in schematic form a third embodiment of the cell motility and fluorescence characterization system in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating a method of measuring characteristics and motility of cells, bacteria and particles in accordance with the principles of this invention. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of a cell motility and fluorescence characterization system in accordance with the present invention. The system may be considered as a combination of three subsystems. One such subsystem includes the light sources directing both fluorescence exciting and illuminating light onto a specimen; a second subsystem includes the optical system for directing the resultant light beams from the specimen onto a radiation detecting device. This system also provides for some modification of the resultant light beams. A third subsystem is a timing and analysis system which provides for intercalated operation of the light sources as well as analysis of data received from the detector. The light source subsystem includes an illumination unit 14 having a visible or infra red light illumination source 66, powered by a switching power supply 64, for directing a beam 14a within the visible light spectrum onto a specimen 18 supported on specimen holder 16. This subsystem also includes fluorescence excitation unit 12 which generates radiation having a wavelength capable of exciting fluorescence in the specimen and directs the output beam 12a along axis 40 to impinge upon specimen 18. The second subsystem directs both transmitted and scattered light and fluorescently emitted light from the specimen 18 along an optical path onto the radiation sensing unit 24. In the illustration of FIG. 1, the optical beams from the specimen are redirected by reflector 28 through imaging lens 30, optical phase shift assembly 32 and fluorescent filter assembly 34 onto radiation sensing unit 24. The third subsystem generally is comprised of microprocessing unit 26 which includes a timing unit 52 and a data processing unit 54. The timing 52 provides output timing control signals to both light source 12 and power supply 64 of light source 14. The timing unit 52 is also interconnected to the radiation sensing unit 24. Signals indicative of the timing sequence of signals provided to the light sources as well as signals provided to or from radiation sensing unit 24 are provided to data processing unit 54. In addition, electrical signals resulting from the detection of incident light at radiation sensing unit 24 are provided as an input to data processing unit 54. As earlier indicated, the primary function of the overall system is to provide for illumination of the cells to be tested with both illuminating light in the visible region, which light will be refracted, depending upon the cell size, distribution and density and transmitted to form a first image at radiation sensing unit 24, and also to provide fluorescence exciting radiation onto the cell to be absorbed by appropriate fluorophore stains and re-emitted to produce a second image at radiation sensing unit 24. The timing circuit generates signals for appropriate intercalation of triggering the two different light sources so that interspersed images from the visible illumination and the emitted light are detected. The sequence of signals generated by the radiation sensing unit 24 in response to the light impingement upon it is delivered to data processing unit 54 to synchronize the processing and develop output information indicative of the fluorescence and motion parameters of the cells in the tested specimen. FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a cell motility and fluorescence characterization system 10 in accordance with the present invention. System 10 includes a fluorescence excitation unit 12, an illumination unit 14, a specimen holder 16 captively supporting specimen 18, an optic directing element 20, an optical conditioning element 22, a radiation sensing unit 24, for example, a camera or a charge couple device, and a microprocessing unit 26 including a timing unit 52 and a data processing unit 54. In the illustrative embodiment, optic directing element 20 is comprised of reflector 28 and imaging lens 39. Reflector 28 is positioned to direct beams 12b and 14b propagating along axis 36, to propagate along axis 38 toward optical conditioning element 22 and radiation sensing unit 24. Imaging lens 39 is positioned transverse to propagation axis 38 defining an image plane that is parallel to the substantially planar surface of specimen holder 16 wherein specimen 18 lies. Optical conditioning element 22 is comprised of an optical phase-shift element 32 and a fluorescent filter element 34. Optical phase-shift element 32 is positioned transverse to propagation axis 38. In addition, fluorescent filter element 34 is also positioned transverse to propagation axis 38. Illumination unit 14 is comprised of a power supply 64 and a visible light illumination source 66, for example, a light emitting diode. The power supply is capable of providing appropriate electrical pulses to the light emitting diode. Illumination source 66 generates a radiation beam 14a having a wavelength substantially within the visible light spectrum, for example 660 nm, or 6600 angstroms. Illumination source 66 is positioned such that beam 14a is directed onto specimen 18 wherein the light scattered by specimen 18, beam 14b, propagates along axis 36. In the illustrative embodiment, fluorescence excitation unit 12 is electrically connected, via line 26a, to timing unit 52. Illumination unit 14 is L electrically connected, via line 26b, to timing unit 52. Radiation sensing unit 24 is electrically connected to timing unit 52 and data processing unit 54 via lines 52a and 54a respectively. Data processing unit 54 is electrically connected, via line 54b, to time unit 52. In addition pulse power supply 66 is electrically connected, via line 64a, to illumination source 66. FIG. 2 illustrates a fluorescence excitation unit 12 in conjunction with specimen holder 16 and specimen 18 of system 10 of FIG. 1. Fluorescence excitation unit 12 is comprised of a trigger unit 42, a fluorescence excitation filter element 44, a radiation element 46, and an optical fiber element 50. Radiation element 46 generates radiation having a wavelength substantially within the ultra violet or visible spectrum, for example 350 to 690 nm, or 3500 to 6900 angstroms. Radiation element 46 is positioned such that the generated illumination is incident upon fluorescence excitation filter element 44. The filtered illumination is directed onto optical fiber element 50. Optical fiber element 50 optically couples the filtered illumination of radiation element 46 to fluorescence directing element 48. Fluorescence directing element 48 is positioned such that beam 12a propagates along axis 40 and is incident upon specimen 18, and beam 12b, the fluorescent light emitted by the fluorophore contained within specimen 18, propagates substantially along axis 36 toward reflector 28. In operation, timing unit 52 commands, in an non-overlapping intercalated sequence, fluorescence excitation unit 12 and illumination unit 14 to generate an associated illumination beam. The resultant transmitted/scattered or fluorescently emitted beam, 14b or 12b respectively, is directed by reflector 28 to propagate along propagation axis 38. Optical conditioning unit 22 conditions the beams such that the transmitted beam is translate into primarily an amplitude modulated wave and the emitted beam is filtered to isolate and pass radiation having a wavelength substantially within the visible light spectrum and thereby attenuate radiation having a wavelength consistent with beam 14a. The modified refracted and emitted beams are focused on the aperture of radiation sensing unit 24 which generates analog signals in response to the incident radiation. Microprocessor unit 26, and in particular data processing unit 54, receives the analog signals, generates a digital representation and processes the data for desired information. In particular, radiation sensing unit 24 transmits an acquisition ready signal to timing unit 52. Timing unit 52 in response generates a trigger signal to either fluorescent excitation unit 12 or illumination unit 14. Any desired non-overlapping intercalated illumination sequence may be employed. Timing unit 52 is synchronized to data processing unit 54 which employs various processing techniques depending upon which excitation unit was utilized in generating the data. For the purpose of clarity and brevity and without intending to limit the invention to any specific illumination sequence, timing unit 52 in response to a first acquisition ready signal, generates a first trigger signal which is applied to standard fluorescent excitation unit 14, and in response to a second acquisition ready signal, generates a second trigger signal which is applied to fluorescent excitation unit 12. In response to the first trigger signal, applied on line 26b, pulsed power supply 64 delivers sufficient electrical power to visible or infrared light illumination source 66 to generate radiation beam 14a. Beam 14a has a wavelength within the visible light spectrum and has temporal characteristics consistent with the trigger signal. The pulse width of illumination beam 14a is typically 3 to 6 milliseconds wherein the trigger signal frequency is typically 60 Hz. Beam 14a is incident upon specimen 18 and is partially transmitted and partially scattered by the cells and fluidic medium within specimen 18. Transmitted beam 14b propagates along propagation axis 36 and is redirected by reflector element 28 to propagate along propagation axis 38. Beam 14b is incident upon imaging lens 39 which is spatially positioned and optically designed to form beam 14b onto retarding disk 32a of optical phase shift element 32. Generally, unstained cells are virtually transparent and thereby provide little contrast with the fluidic medium of specimen 18. Beam 14b results from beam 14a passing through the substantially transparent particles which retards the phase of the region of the wave occupied by the cells. Thus the emerging wave is no longer perfectly planar but contains a phase modulated portion resulting from the delay of the wave caused by the cells in specimen 18. Optical phase shift element 32 is utilized to create a phase contrast image, either positive or negative. Optical phase shift element 32 substantially translates beam 14b, which is primarily a phase modulated wave, into a primarily amplitude modulated wave having either positive or negative phase contrast image property. An amplitude modulated wave having a negative phase contrast image property is obtained by employing an optical phase shift element with a retarding disk. A negative phase contrast image property is such that the cells appear bright on a dark background. In contrast, an amplitude modulated wave having a positive phase contrast image property is obtained by employing an optical phase shift element with a retarding window. A positive phase contrast image property is such that the cells appear dark on a bright background. Refracted beam 14b is then incident upon fluorescent filter element 34. Refracted beam 14b propagates through fluorescent filter element 34 without substantial attenuation. Fluorescent filter element 34 is designed to substantially attenuated radiation having a wavelength consistent with beam 12b, generated in fluorescence excitation unit 12 by short wavelength radiation element 46. Thus, the wavelength of refracted beam 14b is sufficiently long to pass through filter element 34, without substantial attenuation, onto the aperture of radiation sensing unit 24. Radiation sensing unit 24 generates analog voltages representative of the intensity of the radiation beam incident upon its aperture. Data processing unit 54 acquires the analog voltages, generates a corresponding digital representation, and stores the digital data. When radiation sensing unit 24 is prepared to acquire and measure the intensity of another image, sensing unit 24 transmits a data acquisition ready signal to timing unit 52 which generates the second trigger signal. For the reasons as described above, time unit 52 applies the second trigger signal, on line 26a, to fluorescence excitation unit 12. With reference to FIG. 2, and by way of example, in response to the second trigger signal trigger unit 42 generates a sufficient voltage differential across terminal 46a and 46b of radiation element 46 to cause ionization of the gas within element 46 resulting in photon emission having a broad band spectrum. The pulse width of the photon emission is typically 1 to 10 microseconds. Element 46 may consist of a laser, providing light at wavelengths suitable for fluorescent excitation. The broad band radiation is directed onto fluorescence excitation filter element 44 which substantially attenuates photons having wavelengths that are outside the fluorophore absorption bandwidth. The pass band of filter element 44 is tailored to the fluorescence characteristics of the fluorophore used to stain specimen 18. The filtered radiation is directed onto optical fiber 50 which transmits the radiation to fluorescence directing unit 48. Fluorescence directing unit 48 focuses filtered radiation beam 12a onto specimen 18 to induce fluorescence of the fluorophore within specimen 18. Fluorescence directing unit 48 may be spatially positioned such that the angle of incidence of beam 12a is close to the normal, thereby reducing any backscattering effects. As described above, beam 12a is substantially absorbed by the fluorophore which re-radiates, generally within 100 nanoseconds. Emitted radiation beam 12b has a wavelength within the visible light spectrum while the particular characteristics are dependent upon the wavelength of beam 12a and the fluorescence characteristics of the fluorophore used in staining specimen 18. With reference to FIG. 1, the emitted fluorescent light beam 12b, propagates along axis 36 and is redirected by reflector 28 to propagate along axis 38. Emitted beam 12b is incident upon imaging lens 39 which is further spatially positioned and designed to focus beam 12b on the aperture of radiation sensing unit 24 without substantial energy loss in propagating through optical phase shift element 32. Beam 12b avoids substantial energy loss by avoiding the central attenuating phase-shift region, retarding disk 32a, of optical phase shift element 32. Emitted beam 12b is then incident upon fluorescent filter element 34. As described above, fluorescent filter element 34 is designed to substantially attenuate radiation having a wavelength consistent with beam 12b, generated by short wavelength radiation element 46. The wavelength of emitted beam 12b is sufficiently long to propagate through filter element 34 without substantial attenuation; however, energy having a wavelength consistent with beam 12a is substantially attenuated. The pass band characteristics of fluorescent filter element 34, as with fluorescence excitation filter element 44, are tailored to the fluorescence characteristics of the fluorophore used to stain specimen 18. The modified emitted beam 12b is then incident upon the aperture of radiation sensing unit 24. As described previously, radiation sensing unit 24 generates analog voltages representative of the intensity of the radiation beam incident upon its aperture. Data processing unit 54 acquires the analog voltages, generates a corresponding digital representation, and processes the acquired data. Radiation sensing unit 24 may be, for example, a charge coupled device (CCD). FIG. 3 illustrates the sensing portion of radiation sensing unit 24 employing a CCD. Unit 24 includes an array of radiation sensing elements, defined as pixels. Each pixel generates an analog voltage signal representative of the illumination intensity of the radiation at the spatial location of the pixel. Such commercial manufactures as Honeywell, Philips, NEC and Xybion provide cameras specifying CCD pixel arrays typically to approximately 600×500. The pixel sensitivity is approximately 10 -6 lux which is sufficient to measure the cell fluorescence intensities on the order of approximately 4×10 -4 lux for fluorescein based fluorophores present in cells at 1 ppm concentration. The radiation sensing unit may also included an image intensifier unit to increase the amount of light incident upon each pixel. Note, utilizing higher concentrations of fluorophore provides greater fluorescent illumination and consequently greater image contrast and definition. As detailed above, data processing unit 54 acquires the analog data from radiation sensing unit 24. Processing unit 54 converts the analog data into digital data and stores the digital data as a frame in a memory array. Processing unit 54 analyzes each frame to identify the position of each cell. Data processing unit 54 further stores the frame sequence information as well as information pertaining to the excitation unit activated to generate the frame data. Comparison of frames generated by the same radiation source provides cell temporal variations. Furthermore, fluorescent frames provide information such as membrane integrity, acrosomal status, fluorescent intensity, and fluorescent cell tracks. It should be noted, data processing unit 54 may employ an identical analysis technique for data acquired from both visible light illumination and fluorescence illumination. In both cases, the specimen appears as bright cells against a dark background. It should be noted that the fluorophore used may be for example, among others, fluorescein isothiocyanate, tetrarhodime isothiocyanate, 1-anilino-8-napthalene sulfonate, Hoechst 33258, Hoechst 33258, rodamine 123 and acridine orange. These stains characteristically bind primarily to the cell, or particular areas of interest within the cell, and generally not to the fluidic medium. Consequently, when the specimen is irradiated with the short wavelength radiation beam, the large amount of dye retained within the cell fluoresces strongly whereas the minimal amount of dye retained within the fluidic medium fluoresces weakly. Thus, the cells appear bright against a black background. For example, 1-anilino-8-napthalene sulfonate (ANS) is a dye having the characteristics of emitting strong fluorescence when bound to for example hydrophobic regions of proteins in cells. However, in an aqueous solution, ANS is weakly fluorescent having an emission peak at 515 nm. Comparatively, the quantum yield of bound ANS is approximately 200 times greater than ANS in an aqueous solution while the emission peak shifts to 454 nm with an absorption peak at 350 nm. System 10 utilizes these characteristics to provide clear images of areas of interest within the cells wherein these areas appear bright against a dark background. A second embodiment of the present invention, illustrated in FIG. 4, offers the advantage of multiple fluorescence wavelength investigation. System 10.1 includes multiple wavelength fluorescence excitation units 12.1 and a multiple fluorescent filter element 34.1 wherein both are electrically connected to timing unit 52 via lines 26c and 26d respectively. The operation of system 10.1 is substantially similar to system 10 of FIG. 1. System 10.1, however, utilizes multiple fluorescence excitation units 12.1 to provide a plurality of fluorescence excitation wavelengths to interrogate specimen 18. In addition, multiple fluorescent filter element 34.1 provides a plurality of pass bands to accommodate the plurality of fluorescence excitation wavelengths. Timing unit 52 synchronizes the multiple fluorescence wavelength interrogation in providing a pass band at fluorescent filter element 34.1 corresponding to the fluorescent light emitted by specimen 18. As described above, the characteristics of the fluorescent light emitted is dependent upon the excitation radiation generated by excitation unit 12.1 in inducing fluorescence. Thus, to insure proper operation timing unit 52 synchronizes the fluorescence excitation radiation and the band pass of the fluorescent filter. In addition, data processing unit 54 stores information pertaining to the interrogation wavelength with the frame data. FIG. 5 illustrates multiple wavelength fluorescence excitation unit 12.1 of system 10.1 of FIG. 4. Fluorescence excitation unit 12.1 is substantially similar to unit 12 of FIG. 1, however, unit 12.1 includes a multiple fluorescence excitation filter element 44.1. FIG. 6 illustrates a multiple fluorescence excitation filter element 44.1 having a rotating disk type configuration. Fluorescent excitation filter element 44.1 includes a excitation filter disk element 44' which is mechanically coupled to motor element 144. Filter disk 44' is designed such that portions of the disk have predefined filtering characteristics. Motor element 144 rotates filter disk element 44' to alter that portion of the disk upon which the broad band radiation is incident and thereby redefine the wavelength of beam 12a. Motor element 144 is controlled, via line 26c, by timing unit 52 which synchronizes the pass band of excitation filter disk 44' with fluorescent filter element 34.1. FIG. 7 illustrates a multiple fluorescent filter element 34.1 having a rotating disk type configuration. Fluorescent excitation filter element 34.1 includes a excitation filter disk element 34' which is mechanically coupled to motor element 134. As with excitation filter element 44.1, fluorescent filter element 34.1 is designed such that portions of the disk provide predefined filtering characteristics substantially symmetrical to the filtering characteristics of excitation filter element 44.1. Motor element 134 rotates filter disk element 34' to alter that portion of the disk upon which the beam 12b is incident. Motor element 134 is controlled, via line 26d, by timing unit 52 which synchronizes the pass band of fluorescent filter disk element 34.1 with excitation filter element 44.1. FIG. 8 illustrates a third embodiment of the present invention which also offers the advantage of multiple fluorescence wavelength interrogation. System 10.2 includes multiple wavelength fluorescence excitation units 12 and a multiple fluorescent filter element 34.1 which is identical to filter element 34.1 of the second embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4. Each excitation unit 12 generates a short wavelength radiation beam 12b having an associated excitation wavelength. As described above, filter element 34.1 provides a plurality of pass bands to accommodate the plurality fluorescence excitation wavelengths. Timing unit 52 synchronizes excitation units 12 with filter element 24.1 to insure a proper pass band within the propagation path of beam 12b. As with all the previous embodiments, the excitation units are triggered in an intercalated fashion. Consequently, any triggering sequence may be employed wherein the triggering sequence may or may not be periodic. The data processing is synchronized with the triggering sequence to provide proper data analysis. FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing the steps of the method of this invention. The initial step is one of staining the cells, bacteria or particles, whose characteristics are to be measured, with a fluorescent dye and placing the stained cells, bacteria or particles on a support element such as a slide. A trigger sequence is initiated which first illuminates the specimen with light at a first wavelength that is absorbed by the dye and reemits light at a longer wavelength, then illuminates the specimen with light at a second wavelength, longer than the first, and transmits light refracted from the second illumination and light emitted from the dye through a filter, which attenuates all wavelengths shorter than this first wavelength. This filtered light is transmitted onto a sensor which provides output signals in response to received radiation. These output signals are analyzed to determine the characteristics of the specimens. The triggering sequences are arranged so that short periods of light at the first wavelength are intercalated with periods of light at the second wavelength. The sensor generates a timing signal to control the trigger sequence. The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.
An apparatus and method for determining motility and other characteristics of cells in a fluid medium employing both the scattering and transmission of light through that medium and the absorption of shorter wavelength light by the cell with subsequent emission of fluorescent light. Both forms of light are imaged on an image detection apparatus, the output of which is analyzed as a function of time to produce the information concerning the characteristics of the cell.
2
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Extensive use is made of asphalt paving as a means for surfacing for general traffic use, both on primary and secondary roads, as well as parking lots and, in some locations, as sidewalks. Asphalt is a dark brown to black cementitious material in which the predominating constituents are bitumens which occur in nature or are obtained in petroleum processing. The Asphalt Institute considers the term "asphalt" to include asphalt cements, asphalt fluxes, asphalt cutbacks, asphalt emulsions, asphalt road oils, roofing and waterproofing asphalts and all other asphalts and asphalt residuums used in the manufacture of asphalts and asphalt specialties. Such widespread use creates an ongoing demand for repair and preventative maintenance. Over prolonged periods of time, for various reasons, the asphalt surface deteriorates or fails or is otherwise damaged and requires repair. Pavements in need of maintenance or repair can exhibit any or all of the following conditions: "Raveling" is the progressive separation of aggregate particles in a pavement from the surface downward. Usually, the fine aggregate comes off first and leaves little "pock marks" in the pavement surface. As the process continues, larger and larger particles are broken free, and the pavement soon has the rough and jagged appearance typical of surface erosion. Raveling can result from lack of compaction during construction, construction during wet or cold weather, dirty or disintegrating aggregate, poor mix design, or extrinsic damage to the pavement. "Shrinkage Cracks" are interconnected cracks forming a series of large blocks, usually with sharp corners or angles. They are caused by volume changes in the asphalt mix, in the base, or in the subgrade. "Alligator Cracks" are interconnected cracks forming a series of small blocks resembling an alligator's skin or chicken-wire. In most cases, alligator cracking is caused by excessive deflection of the surface over unstable subgrade or lower courses of the pavement. The unstable support usually is the result of saturated granular bases or subgrade. The affected areas in most cases are not large; sometimes, however, they will cover entire sections of a pavement, and when this happens, it usually is due to repeated loadings exceeding the load-carrying capacity of the pavement. "Upheaval" is the localized upward displacement of a pavement due to swelling of the subgrade or some portion of the pavement structure. In colder climates, upheaval is commonly caused by expansion of ice in the lower courses of the pavement or the subgrade. It may also be caused by the swelling effect of moisture on expansive soils. "Pot Holes" are bowl-shaped holes of various sizes in the pavement, resulting from localized disintegration of the pavement under traffic. Contributory factors can be improper asphalt mix design, insufficient pavement thickness, or poor drainage. Also, pot holes may simply be the result of neglecting other types of pavement distress. "Grade Depressions" are localized low areas of limited size which may or may not be accompanied by cracking. They may be caused by traffic heavier than that for which the pavement was designed, by settlement of the lower pavement layers, or by poor construction methods. The major failure of asphalt surfacing results from moisture penetration of the base material. This penetration of moisture is generally caused and/or accelerated by overloading small units of area through numerous repetitive cycles until the asphalt covering disrupts or separates. Once this occurs, of course, moisture seeps into the base material and not only naturally deteriorates the material, but also may freeze and cause separation of large amounts or quantities of material which are reduced to small particles by continued use of the surface thus eventually causing a hole or depressed area commonly called a "pot hole" as set forth earlier. In order to prevent or minimize this type of damage from occurring, the asphalt surface must be periodically sealed with a seal coat solution that penetrates any separations or disruptions in the asphalt surface thus preventing moisture from entering therein. If, however, the pot hole occurs, the only way to prevent additional damage is to trim and excavate the failed area or pot hole, remove any dust, dirt or excess material, reseal the exposed base to preclude any additional moisture from entering therein and replacing the removed asphalt surface with a cold or hot asphalt mix and tamping, compacting, or rolling the hot or cold mix until it achieves the proper density and elevation with respect to the surrounding asphalt surface. General repair and maintenance of asphalt paving is usually the responsibility of City, County, State and Federal governmental agencies although numerous private contractors also represent not only themselves but also such governmental agencies and owners of parking lots in shopping centers, apartments, etc., in seal coating asphalt surfaces or repairing damaged such surfaces. The number and size of vehicles and equipment which are needed to repair asphalt surfaces depends, of course, upon the quantity of work to be done; however, even in small jobs with just a few pot holes to repair, the vehicles and equipment generally used include a two-and-a-half ton dump truck with cold mix, a portable air compressor driven by an auxiliary power unit and which is pulled by the dump truck, pneumatic tools such as chisels, hammers, air pressure nozzles, tampers and liquid spraying wands, all of which utilize compressed air generated and stored by the air compressor and its associated tank, a portable, gas-fired emulsion tank or sealing compound solution tank, a one-half ton pickup truck which is used to pull the compressor and miscellaneous hand tools such as brooms, shovels, mops, and the like. In addition, at least one person is required to operate each vehicle and perform the required work. Generally a crew of four individuals are involved in such an asphalt repairing operation. In general, the entire repair fleet goes to the area having the damaged asphalt surface. The air compressor is driven by an auxiliary power unit and is used to compress air to a usable operating pressure. The gas-fired heat source is started to heat the emulsion liquid in the emulsion tank. The emulsion is a petroleum based liquid that is old and well-known in the art and is used as a sealing-bonding agent to prevent moisture seepage from passing any surface coated with the emulsion. To facilitate its use in a wide variety of applications, in varying climatic conditions and with an extensive range of aggregates, emulsified asphalt is manufactured in several different grades. However, as a general matter, emulsified asphalt is an emulsion of asphalt cement and water that contains a small amount of an emulsifying agent. It is a heterogeneous system containing two normally immiscible phases (asphalt and water) in which the water generally forms the continuous phase of the emulsion, and minute globules of asphalt form the discontinuous phase. Depending on the emulsifying agent, emulsified asphalt may be one of two types: cationic, having electro-positively-charged asphalt globules, or anionic, having electro-negatively-charged asphalt globules. During the time the emulsion is heating, the crew connects the desired pneumatic tools to the air compressor and trims away the partially failed asphalt surface. For instance, around a pot hole, an area is removed which totally surrounds and is at least one foot from the damaged area and, generally, the trimmed hole would be roughly rectangular in shape. Further, the hole will be to a depth required to remove any damaged or loose materials. In the next step, an air nozzle is connected to the air compressor and high pressure air is used to remove all excess soil and material from the repaired area. Next the cleaned, prepared area is coated with a light application of a tack coat, an emulsified asphalt diluted with water and otherwise known as the emulsion. It is used to ensure a bond between the surface being repaired and the overlying course of asphalt which consists of mineral aggregate bonded together with the emulsified asphalt. As stated earlier, there are many different types of emulsified asphalts, and presently there are sixteen different grades each designed for a specific use. The repaired area is then filled with a dense-graded asphalt mix which may be either hot mix or cold mix but is generally cold mix for small jobs. The cold mix asphalt consists of mineral aggregate uniformly coated with emulsified asphalt and is old and well-known in the art. The cold mix asphalt is then shoveled into the hole to be repaired and a pneumatic tamping or compacting tool is attached to the pressurized air source and used to tamp or compact the asphalt tightly into place. If the hole is more than six inches deep, each layer of asphalt applied to the hole is compacted thoroughly so that the cold mix and emulsion are firmly bonded. The hole is built up to grade by the addition of the subsequent emulsion, asphalt layers with enough berm added so that settling and road action will eventually blend the patch with the surrounding asphalt. At this time, the repair crew moves to the next location and the procedure is repeated. It is readily apparent that the investment in personnel, vehicles and equipment is high relative to the amount of actual work needed to be performed. In addition, much of the equipment is specifically designed to accomplish one job only. For example, the air compressor which is towed by one of the vehicles is simply used to provide compressed air and has no other function. The same thing is true for the emulsion tank and the vehicles where the vehicles usually carry the tools and cold mix and, of course, they tow the emulsion tank and the air compressor. It is obvious, then, that the equipment and personnel required to patch asphalt paving as set forth above involves such expense as to preclude a small business owner such as an apartment owner or shopping center owner from operating and maintaining his own equipment for such asphalt repairs. The advantage, of course, of using multiple vehicles and separately towed emulsion tanks and air compressors is that the towed items can be unhooked from the vehicles when the job is completed and the vehicle can be used for other functions. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Since many requirements for patching and preventative maintenance are small jobs which require short periods of time to complete the maintenance, the present invention is uniquely designed as a module of readily detachable equipment that will fit on a relatively small vehicle such as a one-half ton to one ton utility pickup or other similar vehicle which will allow multiple use of the vehicle inasmuch as when the patching or maintenance job is completed the module may be removed and the vehicle used in other areas of service. The module is simple in construction, low in cost and designed for ease of operation and may be mounted or demounted in less than 30 minutes and may be operated by one person who can accomplish the same task as was performed by the personnel and equipment listed previously. Since this low cost module can be easily mounted on the utility body of a small pick-up truck, small business owners who usually own such a relatively inexpensive general purpose truck, can afford to own a module for use on such truck and thus do their own patching of their asphalt covered parking areas. Thus, the invention relates to a system for repairing asphalt surfaces including vehicles for transporting a compressor and a gas-fired emulsion tank and carrying cold mix asphalt and pneumatic tools and is an improvement comprising a single vehicle having a fluid cooled engine and a utility body for containing cold mix asphalt, a tank removably attached to the vehicle for storing a liquid used in asphalt applications and repair, an air compressor driven by the vehicle engine, an air storage tank removably attached to the vehicle and coupled by conduits to and pressurized by the air compressor, means for selectively coupling the pneumatic tools to the air storage tank and means coupling the vehicle cooling fluid to the liquid storage tank in a heat transfer relationship for heating the liquid in the storage tank to a usable temperature whereby pneumatic tools such as chisels, hammers, tampers and air nozzle assemblies may be used to prepare an asphalt surface for repair and apply the stored liquid thereto for effecting a specific purpose. The invention also relates to a portable module for removable attachment to a vehicle used to repair asphalt surfaces, the vehicle having an air compressor with supply conduits and a fluid cooled propulsion means, the module comprising a frame for removable attachment to the vehicle utility body, a first tank attached to the frame for storing pressurized air, means removably coupling the first tank to the vehicle air compressor for receiving pressurized air therefrom, a second tank attached to said frame for receiving a liquid for use in asphalt applications, first means removably coupling the second tank to the cooling fluid with supply conduits for heating the liquid used for asphalt applications, second means coupling pressurized air from the first tank to the second tank to pressurize the second tank and means for enabling selectively coupling of pneumatic tools such as chisels, hammers, air pressure nozzles, compactors and liquid spraying wands to the first and second tanks for preparing an asphalt surface for repair and applying the asphalt liquid thereto for effecting a specific purpose. Finally, the invention relates to a method of preparing asphalt surfaces comprising the steps of providing a vehicle having a propulsion means, an air compressor driven by the propulsion means, a utility body for containing asphalt paving material and pneumatic tools such as chisels, hammers, air pressure nozzles, tampers and liquid spraying wands for repair of an asphalt surface, removably attaching an asphalt repair module frame to the vehicle, the module comprising a first tank attached to the frame for storing pressurized air, means removably coupling the first tank to the compressor for receiving pressurized air therefrom, a second tank attached to the frame for receiving a liquid for use in asphalt applications, heating means attached to the second tank in heat transfer relationship with the liquid used for asphalt applications, means coupling pressurized air from the first tank to the second tank to pressurize the second tank and selectively attaching the pneumatic tools to the first and second tanks for shaping, cleaning, sealing and patching an asphalt surface whereby one person may transport and use the materials necessary to repair an asphalt surface. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a more complete understanding of the present invention and for further objects and advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the entire system illustrating the manner in which the air pressure tank receives air from the compressor on the vehicle engine and how the emulsion tank is constructed to utilize the cooling fluid from the vehicle engine to heat the emulsion to the desired temperature. FIG. 2 illustrates the details of the compressor installation on the vehicle engine. FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic illustration of the portable module which may be removably attached to the side walls of a vehicle utility body. FIG. 4 is a front view of the portable module illustrating the details of the control panel. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Although the present invention may be used to repair relatively large areas of the damaged asphalt surfaces set forth previously as well as to apply a thin emulsified asphalt surface treatment known as seal coating to large areas of asphalt surfaces to waterproof and improve the texture of the wearing surface, the preferred embodiment herein is especially useful for patching "pot holes" as will be discussed hereafter. FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of the novel invention and the manner in which it is coupled to a vehicle engine to utilize the services of the existing engine without the requirement of additional equipment. In FIG. 1, the vehicle engine, generally designated by the numeral 10, is any standard type fluid cooled engine having a fluid pump 12 which is driven by a fanbelt 14 attached to drive shaft pulley 16. The fluid pump 12, of course, force circulates the fluid through the engine for purposes of cooling. Obviously, the "fluid" for cooling the engine in this case is water or a water based antifreeze chemical. However, the "fluid" could also include steam or the like if the invention were used with a steam engine. Thus, any heat producing fluid generated in the normal operation of an engine or propulsion device may be coupled through conduits for heating purposes as to be discussed hereafter. The preferred embodiment, however, utilizes water as the heat producing fluid. The water which is heated by the engine and cooled by the radiator, not shown, is also circulated through the vehicle heater system for purposes of heating the interior of the vehicle cab. The temperature in the cab is maintained by a control within the cab (not shown) which regulates the amount of hot water circulating through the heater coils. The elements located within the border defined by the numeral 18 are part of the portable module shown in FIG. 3 and are mounted on the module at the back of the vehicle and are coupled to the vehicle engine 10 by means of conduits 20, 22, 24 and 26. Compressor 28 may be any of the well-known air compressors which may be mounted on and driven by a propulsion means such as engine 10 and which is complete with an integral governor and air filter. In FIG. 1, fanbelt 14 which is driven by driveshaft pulley 16 also passes over compressor pulley 30 to drive the compressor. The output of the compressor is coupled through conduit 20 to a one way check valve 32 and thence to quick disconnect panel 34. As will be explained hereinafter, quick disconnect panel 34 is mounted on the vehicle body near the back of the vehicle near that part of the vehicle where the portable module is to be mounted and the hoses from the module can be easily and quickly connected to quick disconnect panel 34. The pressurized air passes through quick disconnect panel 34 to conduit 36 which is coupled to air pressure tank 38. The tank 38 includes a bleed valve 40, a regulator or control valve 42 and a pressure guage 44. Conduit 46 couples the air pressure to a quick disconnect 48 to which any pneumatic tools may be connected for operation. Control valve 42 adjusts the amount of pressure which is applied to the pneumatic tool and pressure gauge 44 provides the operator an indication of how much pressure is being applied to the tool in use. The emulsion tank 50 has a filler cap 52 through which the liquid emulsion 54 may be transferred into the container 50. Inside of the emulsion tank 50 is a coiled conduit 56 made for example of copper which is immersed in the emulsion 54 in heat transfer relationship thereto. Conduit 26 receives hot water from the pressure side of water pump in any convenient place but in the preferred embodiment it is taken from a "T" connection placed in the pressure line to the hot water heater of the vehicle. Conduit 26 is coupled to quick disconnect panel 34 and the input conduit 58 of emulsion tank 50 is connected to the other side of quick disconnect panel 34. Thus the hot water from the vehicle engine circulates through pressure conduit 26, through quick disconnect panel 34, conduit 58, the input of emulsion tank 50 and through the conduit coil 56 inside the emulsion tank wherein the hot water transfers its heat to the emulsion 54 thus raising its temperature. The return conduit 60 returns the coolant back to quick disconnect panel 34 and conduit 24 to the return side of the coolant supply for the vehicle engine 10. While FIG. 1 is simply a schematic diagram of the system, it does not illustrate all of the system details well within the skill of the art to implement this invention; however, it will be understood that conduits 24 and 26 for transporting the hot water and the hot water return could be coupled by means of a "T" connection to the input and return hot water lines to the vehicle's heater whereby the controls in the vehicle cab for regulating the heater or cab temperature would also be used to regulate the temperature of the water being used to heat the emulsion 54 in tank 50. The output of air pressure tank 38 on line 68 is not only coupled via conduit 70 back to quick disconnect panel 34 and returned to the compressor, but it is also connected through control valve 64 to a pressure gauge 62 whereby the pressure in emulsion tank 50 may be regulated by control valve 64. Emulsion tank 50 also has a safety valve 66 which is set to open at a predetermined pressure in order to prevent over-pressurization of the tank 50. Emulsion tank 50 has an outlet conduit 68 to which is coupled a shut-off valve 70. A quick disconnect nozzle 72 is coupled to shut-off valve 70 and the spraying wand may be quickly attached to the outlet conduit 68 by use of quick disconnect 72. While the above-described manner of utilizing the cooling liquid from the vehicle engine cooling system to heat the contents of the emulsion tank forms the preferred embodiment of the present system, it should be understood that the emulsion could be heated in several other ways as, for instance, by a fuel-fired source such as butane, propane or other gas which may be ignited and the fire produced thereby controlled in a heat transfer relationship with said emulsion. Such a fuel-fired source of heat could be located in and confined to a cylindrical tube formed in or attached to the base of the emulsion tank in heat transfer relationship thereto. Such other means for heating the emulsion are contemplated by this invention so long as the emulsion tank and its heating source are portable and removably attached to the single vehicle used in the present invention to patch asphalt surfaces. Thus, reviewing the operation of the system, various conventional pneumatic tools such as chisels, hammers, compactors, and air nozzle assemblies may be connected to quick disconnect 48 to receive high pressure air from pressure tank 38. With the use of a pneumatic hammer, the outline of the area to be patched is cut and the cut extends at least one foot outside of the distressed area. The outline should be square or rectangular with two of the sides at right angles to the direction of traffic. As much of the pavement is excavated as is necessary to reach firm support. If a patch is to be an integral part of the pavement, its foundation must be as strong or stronger than that of the original roadway. This may mean that some of the subgrade will also have to be removed. The faces of the excavation should be straight and vertical. After the distressed material has been removed to the proper depth, an air nozzle assembly may be attached with quick disconnect 48 and used to further clean the area to be repaired by blowing away all loose dust and particles. Next, a spraying wand is attached to quick disconnect 72 and a tacking coat, a light application of the emulsion, is applied to the vertical faces of the excavation to ensure a bond between the surface being paved and the cold mix asphalt that is to be used to fill the excavation. The cold mix is then shoveled into the excavation and the pneumatic compactor is attached by hoses to quick disconnect 48 and the high pressure air used to operate the compactor to ensure proper compaction of the cold mix. Upon completion of the compaction, the surface of the patch should be at the same elevation as the surrounding pavement. The vehicle can then be moved to the next location for repairing the damaged asphalt or a pot hole. FIG. 2 discloses the details of the air compressor assembly which is mounted to and driven by the vehicle propulsion means. Compressor 28 is attached to the engine block in any convenient location by appropriate mounting brackets 74. Fanbelt 14 which is driven by the engine driveshaft is also coupled to pulley 30 which drives compressor 28. As the air is compressed, it is coupled through line or conduit 22 to quick disconnect panel 34 as shown in FIG. 1. Pressure regulator return line 20 is coupled back from pressure storage tank 38 to pressure control valve 76. Pressure control valve 76 is of the type which can be used to adjust a desired output pressure from the compressor 28 at which time the air compressor is disengaged by a clutch assembly (not shown) to remove the load from the vehicle engine. Thus the air compressor 28 provides a load on the propulsion means of the vehicle only when it is pressurizing the air in tank 38 to the desired pressure. Once that pressure has been reached the clutch assembly (not shown) which is old and well-known in the art disconnects the compressor 28 from drive pulley 30. FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic illustration of the portable, low cost module which may be removably attached to the side walls 82 of a vehicle utility body 33. The module comprises a frame 78 which has a U-shaped base 80 that is properly dimensioned and shaped to fit over the side walls 82 of a vehicle utility body 33. The U-shaped module base 80 allows the operator of the vehicle to easily shovel, dump or otherwise remove the patching material 83, either hot mix or cold mix, from the pickup bed or box 81 by going under U-shaped module base 80. Mounted on said frame 78 is air pressure storage tank 38 and emulsion tank 50. Heating coils 56 are shown within tank 50 for receiving the cooling liquid from the vehicle propulsion means in order to heat the emulsion within tank 50. It will be seen that the conduit 56 is in heat transfer relationship with any material in tank 50. Air pressure tank 38 and emulsion tank 50 are secured to frame 78 by means of brackets 84 and 86 which are bolted to frame 78. A temperature gauge 88 is mounted on the face of vertical panel 90 with a thermocouple 92 being connected to and protruding within tank 50 in order to give a visual indication of the temperature of the emulsion therein. Quick disconnect box 34 is located under frame 78 in the corner of the vehicle utility body 33 as illustrated by arrow 35. Quick disconnect units are mounted within orifices 94, 96, 98 and 100. Since quick disconnect junction box 34 is permanently mounted in the corner of the vehicle utility body 33, the two lines from the air compressor are permanently connected into one side of the quick disconnects at orifices 94 and 96 while the two conduits from the vehicle cooling system are permanently connected to one side of the quick disconnects at orifices 98 and 100. Thus, when frame 78 is mounted on the vehicle box 82, the two conduits from the air pressure tank 38 shown in FIG. 1, that is conduits 36 and 70, are simply connected to the quick disconnects in orifices 94 and 96 and the two conduits 58 and 60 from emulsion tank 50 are connected to the quick disconnects installed in orifices 98 and 100. When it is desired to remove the module, all of these hoses or conduits are disconnected and the entire module is removed from the vehicle simply by lifting frame 78 off the vehicle body 82. The size and capacity of the compressed air tank and the emulsion tank may vary as needed. FIG. 4 is a partial front view of the portable module illustrating the details of a control panel mounted thereon. Air pressure gauge 44 and air pressure control valve 42 are both mounted on the control panel in order to have easy access by the operator. Thus, the operator can set the desired air pressure simply by watching air pressure gauge 44 while control valve 42 is being adjusted. In like manner, while watching pressure gauge 62 and adjusting control valve 64, the operator can control the amount of air pressure in emulsion tank 50. Also mounted on vertical panel 90 is quick disconnect 48 which is connected to the air pressure tank 38 shown in FIG. 1. Thus when it is desired to utilize any particular pneumatic tool, the conduit coupled to that pneumatic tool is simply attached with quick disconnect 48 and the pressure applied thereto may be adjusted by control valve 42 to the proper value. FIG. 4 also illustrates the manner in which the frame 78 is shaped at base 80 to fit over the side walls 82 of vehicle utility body 33 for portable mounting thereto. Frame 78 may be securely attached to side walls 82 in any well-known means such as by bolts or braces, not shown. Thus, there has been disclosed a technical achievement including a unique, portable, modular assembly for removable attachment to a vehicle which forms a self-contained system that will allow as few as one person to repair or patch asphalt surfaces and has in the self-contained sysem all the materials and equipment necessary to repair an asphalt surface including a pressurized source of air, a tank of heated emulsion which is also under pressure as desired for spraying on an asphalt surface, cold mix for patching the asphalt surface and the necessary pneumatic tools and equipment such as brushes, shovels and the like, all of which are carried by the single vehicle. After the patching or maintenance is completed, the portable module may be removed from the vehicle in order that the vehicle may be used in other areas of maintenance or service. Thus, by utilizing a compressor mounted on and driven by the vehicle engine, a separately pulled compressor and auxiliary power unit is eliminated. By utilizing the cooling liquid of the vehicle's water cooled engine, a separately pulled emulsion tank and heating source is eliminated. By mounting on the vehicle utility body a portable module containing the air pressure storage tank and emulsion tank with flexible quick disconnect hoses and a quick disconnect junction box to couple the compressed air storage tank and the emulsion tank heating coils to the vehicle air compressor and cooling system, respectfully, the system is easily operated and controlled by a single individual, is economical and inexpensive to own and enables a general purpose vehicle to be adapted to this specialized use of asphalt patching and then returned to other service or use by simply disconnecting the hoses and removing the module. Thus, the asphalt repairs themselves become relatively economical and low in cost. It will also be understood that wherever the term "asphalt surface" is used herein, it will also apply to any other surface such as concrete and the like which can be repaired and maintained with the asphalt patching materials described herein. While the invention has been described in connection with a preferred embodiment, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to the particular form set forth, but on the contrary, it is intended to cover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
In a system for repairing asphalt surfaces including an emulsion tank, air pressure source, emulsion heating source, pneumatic tools and a vehicle having a fluid cooled engine and a utility body for containing asphalt repairing material, the improvement comprising an emulsion tank removably mounted on said vehicle for containing a water soluable, air cured, sealer-bonding agent, an air compressor mounted on and driven by said vehicle engine, an air storage tank removably mounted on said vehicle and coupled to said compressor and pressurized thereby, means for selectively coupling air from said pressurized tank to said pneumatic tools and said emulsion tank and means coupling said vehicle cooling fluid to said emulsion tank for heating said emulsion to a usable temperature whereby certain of said pneumatic tools may be selectively driven by said compressed air in said storage tank to trim a damaged asphalt surface, spray emulsion over said trimmed are under pressure from said compressed air tank, and compact said asphalt repairing material into said trimmed and sealed area thereby repairing said damaged asphalt area.
4
RELATED APPLICATIONS AND INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE This application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/412,576 filed Nov. 11, 2010. The foregoing applications, and all documents cited therein or during their prosecution (“appln cited documents”) and all documents cited or referenced in the appln cited documents, and all documents cited or referenced herein (“herein cited documents”), and all documents cited or referenced in herein cited documents, together with any manufacturer's instructions, descriptions, product specifications, and product sheets for any products mentioned herein or in any document incorporated by reference herein, are hereby incorporated herein by reference, and may be employed in the practice of the invention. More specifically, all referenced documents are incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual document was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the field of plant breeding and more particular to the development of inbred spinach line SP6504. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Spinach ( Spinacia oleracea ) is a flowering vegetable plant in the family of Amaranthaceae. It is native to southwestern and central Asia, but nowadays is being cultivated worldwide, mostly in temperate regions. The consumable parts of spinach are the leaves. These are produced during the first stage of the life cycle of a spinach plant, during which the plant forms a leaf rosette. The second stage is the flowering stage or bolting stage. Bolting is the growth of an elongated stalk with flowers grown from within the main stem of a plant. During the bolting stage it is not possible anymore to harvest any marketable product of the plant. The leaves of a spinach plant are usually sold loose, bunched, in prepackaged bags, canned, or frozen. There are three basic types of spinach, namely savoy, semi-savoy and smooth. Savoy has dark green, crinkly and curly leaves. Flat or smooth leaf spinach has broad smooth leaves. Semi-savoy is a hybrid variety with slightly crinkled leaves. Citation or identification of any document in this application is not an admission that such document is available as prior art to the present invention. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a new inbred line of spinach plants, called SP6504. Seeds of inbred spinach line SP6504 have been deposited with the National Collections of Industrial, Marine and Food Bacteria (NCIMB) in Bucksburn, Aberdeen AB21 9YA, Scotland, UK and have been assigned NCIMB Accession No. 41759. In one embodiment, the invention provides a spinach plant exhibiting a combination of traits including medium bolting, light green leaf color at maturity, medium growth rate, arrow shaped leaf, round pointed leaf tip, and resistance against downy mildew ( Peronospora farinose f.sp. spinaciae (Pfs)) races 1 to 7, 9, and 11, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 41759. (The growth rate of the spinach plant of the invention, e.g. SP6504, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 41759, is comparable to Bloomsdale. The bolting of the spinach plant of the invention, e.g. SP6504, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 41759, is also comparable to Bloomsdale (e.g. US20100031381). And the color of the spinach plant of the invention, e.g. SP6504, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 41759, is akin to Hollandia, see also table 2.) In one embodiment, the invention provides a spinach plant designated SP6504, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 41759. In an embodiment of the present invention, there also is provided parts of a spinach plant of the invention, including parts of a spinach plant having a combination of traits including medium bolting, light green leaf color at maturity, medium growth rate, arrow shaped leaf, round pointed leaf tip, and resistance against downy mildew ( Peronospora farinose f.sp. spinaciae (Pfs)) races 1 to 7, 9, and 11, and one or more morphological or physiological characteristics tabulated herein, including parts of inbred spinach line SP6504, wherein the plant parts are suitable for sexual reproduction, which include, without limitation, microspores, pollen, ovaries, ovules, embryo sacs or egg cells and/or wherein the plant parts are suitable for vegetative reproduction, which include, without limitation, cuttings, roots, stems, cells or protoplasts and/or wherein the plant parts are tissue culture of regenerable cells in which the cells or protoplasts of the tissue culture are derived from a tissue such as, for example and without limitation, leaves, pollen, embryos, cotyledon, hypocotyls, meristematic cells, roots, root tips, anthers, flowers, seeds or stems. The plants of the invention from which such parts can come from include those wherein representative seed of which has been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB 41759. With regard to morphological or physiological characteristics, it is understood that these are compared when plants are grown in the same environmental conditions. In another embodiment there is a plant grown from seeds, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 41759. In a further embodiment there is a plant regenerated from the above-described plant parts or regenerated from the above-described tissue culture. Advantageously such a plant has morphological and/or physiological characteristics of inbred spinach line SP6504 and/or of plant grown from seed, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB 41759—including without limitation such plants having all of the morphological and physiological characteristics of inbred spinach line SP6504 and/or of plant grown from seed, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB 41759. Accordingly, in still a further embodiment, there is provided a spinach plant having all of the morphological and physiological characteristics of inbred spinach line SP6504, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB 41759. Such a plant can be grown from the seeds, regenerated from the above-described plant parts, or regenerated from the above-described tissue culture. A spinach plant having any of the aforementioned resistance(s), a spinach plant having any of the aforementioned resistance(s) and one or more morphological or physiological characteristics recited or tabulated herein, and a spinach plant advantageously having all of the aforementioned resistances and the characteristics recited and tabulated herein, are preferred. Parts of such plants—such as those plant parts above-mentioned—are encompassed by the invention. In one embodiment, there is provided progeny of inbred spinach line SP6504 produced by sexual or vegetative reproduction, grown from seeds, regenerated from the above-described plant parts, or regenerated from the above-described tissue culture of the inbred spinach line or a progeny plant thereof, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB 41759. In another embodiment, there is provided progeny of inbred spinach line SP6504 produced by sexual or vegetative reproduction, grown from seeds, regenerated from the above-described plant parts, or regenerated from the above-described tissue culture of the inbred spinach line or a progeny plant thereof, in which the regenerated plant exhibits a combination of traits including medium bolting, light green leaf color at maturity, medium growth rate, arrow shaped leaf, round pointed leaf tip, and resistance against downy mildew ( Peronospora farinose f.sp. spinaciae (Pfs)) races 1 to 7, 9, and 11, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB 41759. Progeny of the inbred spinach line SP6504 can be modified in one or more other characteristics, in which the modification is a result of, for example and without limitation, mutagenesis or transformation with a transgene. In still another embodiment, there is provided progeny of inbred spinach line SP6504 produced by sexual or vegetative reproduction, grown from seeds, regenerated from the above-described plant parts, or regenerated from the above-described tissue culture of the inbred spinach line or a progeny plant thereof, in which the regenerated plant is exhibits a combination of traits including medium bolting, light green leaf color at maturity, medium growth rate, arrow shaped leaf, round pointed leaf tip, and resistance against downy mildew ( Peronospora farinose f.sp. spinaciae (Pfs)) races 1 to 7, 9, and 11. Like most vegetables varieties, spinach varieties are usually hybrids. The breeding of a hybrid spinach variety basically involves four steps: The first step comprises selecting and crossing of plants in order to obtain plants with desired traits, such as e.g. disease or pest resistances, better yield, better tolerance to climatic conditions, etc. The second step comprises selfing those plants with superior traits for several generations in order to produce inbred lines. Although these lines are different from each other, each line will become highly uniform after several generations of inbreeding. The third step comprises crossing the inbred lines to produce hybrid plants. Finally, the inbred lines that give rise to the best hybrid are identified. From there, commercial production of hybrid seed can start. In one embodiment, the invention comprises a method of producing a hybrid spinach seed comprising crossing a first parent spinach plant with a second parent spinach plant and harvesting the resultant hybrid spinach seed, wherein said first parent spinach plant or said second parent spinach plant is a spinach plant of the invention, e.g., a plant which exhibits a combination of traits including medium bolting, light green leaf color at maturity, medium growth rate, arrow shaped leaf, round pointed leaf tip, and resistance against downy mildew ( Peronospora farinose f.sp. spinaciae (Pfs)) races 1 to 7, 9, and 11, or a spinach plant having any of the aforementioned resistance(s) and one or more morphological or physiological characteristics tabulated herein, including a spinach plant of inbred spinach line SP6504, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB 41759. In still a further embodiment, the invention comprises a method of producing a spinach cultivar containing a combination of traits including medium bolting, light green leaf color at maturity, medium growth rate, arrow shaped leaf, round pointed leaf tip, and resistance against downy mildew ( Peronospora farinose f.sp. spinaciae (Pfs)) races 1 to 7, 9, and 11, comprising: crossing a mother spinach plant with a father spinach plant to produce a hybrid seed; growing said hybrid seed to produce a hybrid plant; selfing said hybrid seed to produce F2 progeny seed; selecting said F2-plants for having medium bolting, light green leaf color at maturity, medium growth rate, arrow shaped leaf, round pointed leaf tip, and resistance against downy mildew ( Peronospora farinose f.sp. spinaciae (Pfs)) races 1 to 7, 9, and 11. The invention even further relates to a method of producing spinach comprising: (a) cultivating to the vegetative plant stage a plant of inbred spinach line SP6504, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB 41759, and (b) harvesting spinach from the plant. The invention further comprehends canning, freezing or packaging the spinach plants or leaves. Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to not encompass within the invention any previously known product, process of making the product, or method of using the product such that Applicants reserve the right and hereby disclose a disclaimer of any previously known product, process, or method. It is further noted that the invention does not intend to encompass within the scope of the invention any product, process, or making of the product or method of using the product, which does not meet the written description and enablement requirements of the USPTO (35 U.S.C. §112, first paragraph) or the EPO (Article 83 of the EPC), such that Applicants reserve the right and hereby disclose a disclaimer of any previously described product, process of making the product, or method of using the product. It is noted that in this disclosure and particularly in the claims and/or paragraphs, terms such as “comprises”, “comprised”, “comprising” and the like can have the meaning attributed to it in U.S. Patent law; e.g., they can mean “includes”, “included”, “including”, and the like; and that terms such as “consisting essentially of” and “consists essentially of” have the meaning ascribed to them in U.S. Patent law, e.g., they allow for elements not explicitly recited, but exclude elements that are found in the prior art or that affect a basic or novel characteristic of the invention. These and other embodiments are disclosed or are obvious from and encompassed by, the following Detailed Description. DEPOSIT The Deposit with NCIMB Ltd, Ferguson Building, Craibstone Estate, Bucksburn, Aberdeen AB21 9YA, UK, under deposit accession number NCIMB 41759 was made pursuant to the terms of the Budapest Treaty. Upon issuance of a patent, all restrictions upon the deposit will be removed, and the deposit is intended to meet the requirements of 37 CFR §1.801-1.809. The deposit will be maintained in the depository for a period of 30 years, or 5 years after the last request, or for the effective life of the patent, whichever is longer, and will be replaced if necessary during that period. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The following Detailed Description, including the Examples, given by way of example, but not intended to limit the invention solely to the specific embodiments described, may be best understood in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, incorporated herein by reference, in which: FIG. 1 shows leaf shapes; and FIG. 2 shows leaf tip shapes. FIGS. 1 and 2 are provided to assist the reader in appreciating the appearance round pointed leaf tip, and arrow shaped leafs of the inventive spinach. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The invention provides methods and compositions relating to plants, seeds and derivatives of a new inbred line of spinach plants herein referred to as inbred spinach line SP6504. Inbred spinach line SP6504 is a uniform and stable line, distinct from other such lines. Crossing inbred spinach line SP6504 with another distinct inbred spinach line will yield uniform F1 hybrid progeny plants. The F1 may be self-pollinated to produce a segregating F2 generation. Individual plants may then be selected which represent the desired phenotype in each generation (F3, F4, F5, etc.) until the traits are homozygous or fixed within a breeding population. Inbred spinach line SP6504 was developed out of a cross between GB.25375 and an experimental F1 00.20125. After 3 selection and selfing cycles, a final round of mass selection was performed, selecting for uniformity. TABLE 1 Breeding history of SP6504 (M = mass selection). Year 1 Cross between GB.25375 and an experimental F1 00.20125 Year 1 F2 Generation gown Year 2 F3 generation grown Year 3 F4 generation grown Year 4 F4.M1 In one embodiment, a plant of the invention has all the morphological and physiological characteristics of inbred spinach line SP6504. These physiological and morphological characteristics of spinach of the invention, e.g., line SP6504, are summarized in table 2. Embodiments of the invention advantageously have one or more, and most advantageously all, of these characteristics. TABLE 2 Physiological and morphological characteristics of SP6504 and comparison variety Buffalo. Line/Cultivar SP 6504 Buffalo For patent or comparison Patent Comparison Characteristics Species Spinacia Spinacia oleracea L. oleracea L. Ploidy Diploid Diploid Maturity Growth Rate Medium (Long Medium (Long Standing Standing Bloomsdale) Bloomsdale) Days from planting to prime 34 23 market stage Plant (prime market stage) Habit Flat (Viroflay) Flat (Viroflay) Size Medium Large (Giant Nobel) Spread (cm) 48 58 Height (cm) 11 14 Seedling Cotyledon Width (mm) 5 8 Length (mm) 73 75 Tip Pointed Round Color Light Green Light Green Color Chart Name RHS CC RHS CC Color Chart Value 144A 144A Leaf (First Foliage Leaves) Shape Ovate Ovate Base Lobed Lobed Tip Pointed Round-pointed Margin Slightly Curled Curled under Upper Surface Color Medium Green Light Green (Giant Nobel) (Hollandia) Color Chart Name RHS CC RHS CC Color Chart Value 137 B 137 C Lower surface Color Lighter Same (compared with upper) Color Chart Name RHS CC RHS CC Color Chart Value 137 C 137 C Leaf (Prime Market Stage) Surface Smooth (Viroflay) Smooth (Viroflay) Shape Arrow-shaped Arrow-shaped Base Straight Straight Tip Round-pointed Round Margin Flat Slightly Curled Upper Surface Color Light Green Medium Green (Hollandia) (Giant Nobel) Color Chart Name RHS CC RHS CC Color Chart Value 144 A 146 A Lower surface Color Lighter Lighter (compared with upper) Color Chart Name RHS CC RHS CC Color Chart Value 146 B 144 A Luster Dull Dull Blade Size Medium Large (Giant Nobel) (Virginia Savoy) Blade Lobing Lobed Lobed Petiole Color Medium Green Medium Green Color Chart Name RHS CC RHS CC Color Chart Value 144 A 144 C Petiole Red Pigmentation Absent Absent Petiole Length to the Blade 6 7 (cm) Petiole Length Medium Medium Petiole Diameter (mm) 6 5 Petiole Diameter Medium Medium Seed Stalk Development Start of bolting (10% of the Medium (Long Medium(Long plants) Standing Standing Bloomsdale) Bloomsdale) Height of Stalk (cm) 55 70 Leaves on Stalk of Female Many Many plant Leaves on Stalk of Male plant — — Plants that are Female 91-100% 36-65% Plants that are Male — — Plants that are Monoecious — — Seed Surface Smooth Smooth Disease reaction Pf1 Resistant Resistant Pf2 Resistant Resistant Pf3 Resistant Resistant Pf4 Resistant Resistant Pf5 Resistant Resistant Pf6 Resistant Resistant Pf7 Resistant Resistant Pf8 Susceptible Resistant Pf9 Resistant Resistant Pf10 Susceptible Resistant Pf11 Resistant Susceptible Downy mildew isolate Susceptible Susceptible US2209 Fusarium Intermediate Not tested White Rust Not tested Not tested Curly Top Virus Not tested Not tested CMV Susceptible Susceptible Colletotrichum Intermediate Not tested Winter Hardiness Not tested Not tested In an embodiment, the invention relates to spinach plants that has all the morphological and physiological characteristics of the invention and have acquired said characteristics by introduction of the genetic information that is responsible for the characteristics from a suitable source, either by conventional breeding, or genetic modification, in particular by cisgenesis or transgenesis. Cisgenesis is genetic modification of plants with a natural gene, coding for an (agricultural) trait, from the crop plant itself or from a sexually compatible donor plant. Transgenesis is genetic modification of a plant with a gene from a non-crossable species or a synthetic gene. Just as useful traits that can be introduced by backcrossing, useful traits can be introduced directly into the plant of the invention, being a plant of inbred spinach line SP6504, by genetic transformation techniques; and, such plants of inbred spinach line SP6504 that have additional genetic information introduced into the genome or that express additional traits by having the DNA coding there for introduced into the genome via transformation techniques, are within the ambit of the invention, as well as uses of such plants, and the making of such plants. Genetic transformation may therefore be used to insert a selected transgene into the plant of the invention, being a plant of inbred spinach line SP6504 or may, alternatively, be used for the preparation of transgenes which can be introduced by backcrossing. Methods for the transformation of plants, including spinach, are well known to those of skill in the art. Vectors used for the transformation of spinach cells are not limited so long as the vector can express an inserted DNA in the cells. For example, vectors comprising promoters for constitutive gene expression in spinach cells (e.g., cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter) and promoters inducible by exogenous stimuli can be used. Examples of suitable vectors include pBI binary vector. The “spinach cell” into which the vector is to be introduced includes various forms of spinach cells, such as cultured cell suspensions, protoplasts, leaf sections, and callus. A vector can be introduced into spinach cells by known methods, such as the polyethylene glycol method, polycation method, electroporation, Agrobacterium -mediated transfer, particle bombardment and direct DNA uptake by protoplasts. To effect transformation by electroporation, one may employ either friable tissues, such as a suspension culture of cells or embryogenic callus or alternatively one may transform immature embryos or other organized tissue directly. In this technique, one would partially degrade the cell walls of the chosen cells by exposing them to pectin-degrading enzymes (pectolyases) or mechanically wound tissues in a controlled manner. A particularly efficient method for delivering transforming DNA segments to plant cells is microprojectile bombardment. In this method, particles are coated with nucleic acids and delivered into cells by a propelling force. Exemplary particles include those comprised of tungsten, platinum, and preferably, gold. For the bombardment, cells in suspension are concentrated on filters or solid culture medium. Alternatively, immature embryos or other target cells may be arranged on solid culture medium. The cells to be bombarded are positioned at an appropriate distance below the macroprojectile stopping plate. An illustrative embodiment of a method for delivering DNA into plant cells by acceleration is the Biolistics Particle Delivery System, which can be used to propel particles coated with DNA or cells through a screen, such as a stainless steel or Nytex screen, onto a surface covered with target spinach cells. The screen disperses the particles so that they are not delivered to the recipient cells in large aggregates. It is believed that a screen intervening between the projectile apparatus and the cells to be bombarded reduces the size of projectiles aggregate and may contribute to a higher frequency of transformation by reducing the damage inflicted on the recipient cells by projectiles that are too large. Microprojectile bombardment techniques are widely applicable, and may be used to transform virtually any plant species, including a plant of inbred spinach line SP6504. Agrobacterium -mediated transfer is another widely applicable system for introducing gene loci into plant cells. An advantage of the technique is that DNA can be introduced into whole plant tissues, thereby bypassing the need for regeneration of an intact plant from a protoplast. Agrobacterium transformation vectors are capable of replication in E. coli as well as Agrobacterium , allowing for convenient manipulations. Moreover, advances in vectors for Agrobacterium -mediated gene transfer have improved the arrangement of genes and restriction sites in the vectors to facilitate the construction of vectors capable of expressing various polypeptide coding genes. The vectors have convenient multi-linker regions flanked by a promoter and a polyadenylation site for direct expression of inserted polypeptide coding genes. Additionally, Agrobacterium containing both armed and disarmed Ti genes can be used for transformation. In those plant strains where Agrobacterium -mediated transformation is efficient, it is the method of choice because of the facile and defined nature of the gene locus transfer. The use of Agrobacterium -mediated plant integrating vectors to introduce DNA into plant cells, including spinach plant cells, is well known in the art (See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,250,560 and 5,563,055). Transformation of plant protoplasts also can be achieved using methods based on calcium phosphate precipitation, polyethylene glycol treatment, electroporation, and combinations of these treatments. A number of promoters have utility for plant gene expression for any gene of interest including but not limited to selectable markers, scoreable markers, genes for pest tolerance, disease resistance, nutritional enhancements and any other gene of agronomic interest. Examples of constitutive promoters useful for spinach plant gene expression include, but are not limited to, the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) P-35S promoter, a tandemly duplicated version of the CaMV 35S promoter, the enhanced 35S promoter (P-e35S), the nopaline synthase promoter, the octopine synthase promoter, the figwort mosaic virus (P-FMV) promoter (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,619), an enhanced version of the FMV promoter (P-eFMV) where the promoter sequence of P-FMV is duplicated in tandem, the cauliflower mosaic virus 19S promoter, a sugarcane bacilliform virus promoter, a commelina yellow mottle virus promoter, the promoter for the thylakoid membrane proteins from spinach (psaD, psaF, psaF, PC, FNR, atpC, atpD, cab, rbcS) (see U.S. Pat. No. 7,161,061), the CAB-1 promoter from spinach (see U.S. Pat. No. 7,663,027), the promoter from maize prolamin seed storage protein (see U.S. Pat. No. 7,119,255), and other plant DNA virus promoters known to express in plant cells. A variety of plant gene promoters that are regulated in response to environmental, hormonal, chemical, and/or developmental signals can be used for expression of an operably linked gene in plant cells, including promoters regulated by (1) heat, (2) light (e.g., pea rbcS-3A promoter, maize rbcS promoter, or chlorophyll a/b-binding protein promoter), (3) hormones, such as abscisic acid, (4) wounding (e.g., wun1, or (5) chemicals such as methyl jasmonate, salicylic acid, or Safener. It may also be advantageous to employ organ-specific promoters. Exemplary nucleic acids which may be introduced to the multileaf trait spinach of this invention include, for example, DNA sequences or genes from another species, or even genes or sequences which originate with or are present in spinach species, but are incorporated into recipient cells by genetic engineering methods rather than classical reproduction or breeding techniques. However, the term “exogenous” is also intended to refer to genes that are not normally present in the cell being transformed, or perhaps simply not present in the form, structure, etc., as found in the transforming DNA segment or gene, or genes which are normally present and that one desires to express in a manner that differs from the natural expression pattern, e.g., to over-express. Thus, the term “exogenous” gene or DNA is intended to refer to any gene or DNA segment that is introduced into a recipient cell, regardless of whether a similar gene may already be present in such a cell. The type of DNA included in the exogenous DNA can include DNA which is already present in the plant cell, DNA from another plant, DNA from a different organism, or a DNA generated externally, such as a DNA sequence containing an antisense message of a gene, or a DNA sequence encoding a synthetic or modified version of a gene. Many hundreds if not thousands of different genes are known and could potentially be introduced into a plant of inbred spinach line SP6504. Non-limiting examples of particular genes and corresponding phenotypes one may choose to introduce into a spinach plant include one or more genes for insect tolerance, pest tolerance such as genes for fungal disease control, herbicide tolerance, and genes for quality improvements such as yield, nutritional enhancements, environmental or stress tolerances, or any desirable changes in plant physiology, growth, development, morphology or plant product(s). Alternatively, the DNA coding sequences can affect these phenotypes by encoding a non-translatable RNA molecule that causes the targeted inhibition of expression of an endogenous gene, for example via antisense- or cosuppression-mediated mechanisms. The RNA could also be a catalytic RNA molecule (i.e., a ribozyme) engineered to cleave a desired endogenous mRNA product. Thus, any gene which produces a protein or mRNA which expresses a phenotype or morphology change of interest is useful for the practice of the present invention. (See also U.S. Pat. No. 7,576,262, “Modified gene-silencing RNA and uses thereof.” U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,230,158, 7,122,720, 7,081,363, 6,734,341, 6,503,732, 6,392,121, 6,087,560, 5,981,181, 5,977,060, 5,608,146, 5,516,667, each of which, and all documents cited therein are hereby incorporated herein by reference, consistent with the above INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE section, are additionally cited as examples of U.S. patents that may concern transformed spinach and/or methods of transforming spinach or spinach plant cells, and techniques from these US Patents, as well as promoters, vectors, etc., may be employed in the practice of this invention to introduce exogenous nucleic acid sequence(s) into a plant of inbred spinach line SP6504 (or cells thereof), and exemplify some exogenous nucleic acid sequence(s) which can be introduced into a plant of inbred spinach line SP6504 (or cells thereof) of the invention, as well as techniques, promoters, vectors etc., to thereby obtain further plants of inbred spinach line SP6504, plant parts and cells, seeds, other propagation material harvestable parts of these plants, etc. of the invention, e.g. tissue culture, including a cell or protoplast, such as an embryo, meristem, cotyledon, pollen, leaf, anther, root, root tip, pistil, flower, seed or stalk. The invention further relates to propagation material for producing plants of the invention. Such propagation material comprises inter alia seeds of the claimed plant and parts of the plant that are suitable for sexual reproduction. Such parts are for example selected from the group consisting of seeds, microspores, pollen, ovaries, ovules, embryo sacs and egg cells. In addition, the invention relates to propagation material comprising parts of the plant that are suitable for vegetative reproduction, for example cuttings, roots, stems, cells, protoplasts. According to a further aspect thereof the propagation material of the invention comprises a tissue culture of the claimed plant. The tissue culture comprises regenerable cells. Such tissue culture can be derived from leaves, pollen, embryos, cotyledon, hypocotyls, meristematic cells, roots, root tips, anthers, flowers, seeds and stems. (See generally U.S. Pat. No. 7,041,876 on spinach being recognized as a plant that can be regenerated from cultured cells or tissue). Also, the invention comprehends methods for producing a seed of a “SP6504”-derived spinach plant comprising (a) crossing a plant of inbred spinach line SP6504, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB 41759, with a second spinach plant, and (b) whereby seed of a “SP6504”-derived spinach plant form (e.g., by allowing the plant from the cross to grow to producing seed). Such a method can further comprise (c) crossing a plant grown from “SP6504”-derived spinach seed with itself or with a second spinach plant to yield additional “SP6504”-derived spinach seed, (d) growing the additional “SP6504”-derived spinach seed of step (c) to yield additional “SP6504”-derived spinach plants, and (e) repeating the crossing and growing of steps (c) and (d) to generate further “SP6504”-derived spinach plants. The invention additionally provides a method of introducing a desired trait into a plant of inbred spinach line SP6504 comprising: (a) crossing a plant of inbred spinach line SP6504, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB 41759, with a second spinach plant that comprises a desired trait to produce F1 progeny; (b) selecting an F1 progeny that comprises the desired trait; (c) crossing the selected F1 progeny with a plant of inbred spinach line SP6504, to produce backcross progeny; (d) selecting backcross progeny comprising the desired trait and the physiological and morphological characteristic of a plant of inbred spinach line SP6504; and (e) repeating steps (c) and (d) three or more times in succession to produce selected fourth or higher backcross progeny that comprise the desired trait and all of the physiological and morphological characteristics of a plant of inbred spinach line SP6504, when grown in the same environmental conditions. The invention, of course, includes a spinach plant produced by this method. Backcrossing can also be used to improve an inbred plant. Backcrossing transfers a specific desirable trait from one inbred or non-inbred source to an inbred that lacks that trait. This can be accomplished, for example, by first crossing a superior inbred (A) (recurrent parent) to a donor inbred (non-recurrent parent), which carries the appropriate locus or loci for the trait in question. The progeny of this cross are then mated back to the superior recurrent parent (A) followed by selection in the resultant progeny for the desired trait to be transferred from the non-recurrent parent. After five or more backcross generations with selection for the desired trait, the progeny are heterozygous for loci controlling the characteristic being transferred, but are like the superior parent for most or almost all other loci. The last backcross generation would be selfed to give pure breeding progeny for the trait being transferred. When a plant of inbred spinach line SP6504, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB 41759, is used in backcrossing, offspring retaining the combination of traits including medium bolting, light green leaf color at maturity, medium growth rate, arrow shaped leaf, round pointed leaf tip, and resistance against downy mildew ( Peronospora farinose f.sp. spinaciae (Pfs)) races 1 to 7, 9, and 11 are progeny within the ambit of the invention. Backcrossing methods can be used with the present invention to improve or introduce a characteristic into a plant of the invention, being a plant of inbred spinach line 6504. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,705,206 (incorporated herein by reference consistent with the above INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE section), for a general discussion relating to backcrossing. The invention further involves a method of determining the genotype of a plant of inbred spinach line SP6504, representative seed of which has been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB 41759, or a first generation progeny thereof, comprising obtaining a sample of nucleic acids from said plant and detecting in said nucleic acids a plurality of polymorphisms. This method can additionally comprise the step of storing the results of detecting the plurality of polymorphisms on a computer readable medium and/or transmitting the results of detecting the plurality of polymorphisms, e.g., by telephony or by means of computer (e.g., via email). The plurality of polymorphisms are indicative of and/or give rise to the expression of the morphological and physiological characteristics of inbred spinach line SP6504. Spinach leaves are sold in packaged form, including without limitation as pre-packaged spinach salad or as canned spinach or as frozen spinach. Mention is made of U.S. Pat. No. 5,523,136, incorporated herein by reference consistent with the above INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE section, which provides packaging film, and packages from such packaging film, including such packaging containing leafy produce, and methods for making and using such packaging film and packages, which are suitable for use with the spinach leaves of the invention. Thus, the invention comprehends the use of and methods for making and using the leaves of the spinach of the invention, as well as leaves of spinach derived from the invention. The invention further relates to a container comprising one or more plants of the invention, or one or spinach plants derived from a plant of the invention, in a growth substrate for harvest of leaves from the plant in a domestic environment. This way the consumer can pick very fresh leaves for use in salads. More generally, the invention includes one or more plants of the invention or one or more plants derived from spinach of the invention, wherein the plant is in a ready-to-harvest condition, including with the consumer picking his own, and further including a container comprising one or more of these plants. Having thus described in detail preferred embodiments of the present invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to particular details set forth in the above description as many apparent variations thereof are possible without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention.
Spinach, parts thereof, and the making and use thereof, including with respect to the inbred spinach line called SP6504 are disclosed.
0
FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a method for improving the fertilizing capability of sperm cells. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The effects of He—Ne laser irradiation on various aspects of cell metabolism have been recognized in recent years. Extensive literature exists on the application of low-power laser irradiation in various biological systems. The therapeutic effects of laser irradiation are usually attributed to the laser parameters, i.e. wavelength, intensity, coherency, polarization or monochromaticity of the light. Cohen et al. Photochemistry and Photobiology , 1998, 68 (3), pp. 407-413 describes that irradiation of mouse spermatozoa with a 630 nm Helium Neon laser enhances their fertilizing potential. Breitbart et al. reported in the Annual Meeting of the French Andrology Society , held at Issy-les-Moulinaux on Dec. 6 to 8, 1999, that irradiation of human sperm with a low energy He—Ne laser improves the ability of poor quality sperm to penetrate egg cells. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is based on the surprising finding that the positive effect of He—Ne laser on sperm fertilizing capability, described by Cohen et al. and Breitbart et al, may also be achieved by any other light source having wavelengths ranging from about 300 to about 1000 nm. Light whose wavelength is in the above range will be referred to hereinafter as ‘light in the extended visible range’. Light having wavelengths between 1000 and about 2000 nm is less efficient, and in any case is hannless to the cells. Therefore, a light source emitting light with a spectrum between, for instance, 600 to 2000 nm may also be used according to the invention. Thus, the invention provides a method for improving the fertilizing capability of sperm cells by irradiating them with light in the extended visible range, having an intensity of 1 to 1000 mW/cm 2 , provided that this light is not a He—Ne laser light. Preferably the light intensity is between 10 and 500 mW/cm 2 , and more preferably between 40 and 100 mW/cm 2 . The inventors found out that when only UVA light (i.e. light in the range from 300 to 400 nm) is used, an intensity of about 2 mW/cm 2 is preferable and when light in the range of 400 to 800 nm is used, 40 mW/cm 2 intensity is most preferable. The preferable intensity of light of the full extended visible spectral range may be roughly evaluated according to the spectrum of the light source, although the most preferable intensity is to be determined experimentally. Preferably, the light irradiation should last for 0.5 to 10 minutes, more preferably between 2 and 5 minutes. In particular, the light irradiated on the sperm cells in accordance with the present invention may be any non-laser light, be it monochromatic or polychromatic, polarized or non-polarized, coherent or incoherent. Polychromatic in this sense may be any light having a spectrum broader than 5 nm, preferably broader than 20 nm. In particular, polychromatic light having a spectral breadth covering all the visible range, and possibly a wider range, such as the light emitted by a halogen lamp, may be implemented in the method of the invention. Another non-limiting example of a light source that may be used for the light irradiation in accordance with the invention is a light-emitting diode. The method of the invention may also be carried out by irradiating the cells with any laser, which is not He—Ne, and which emits light in the extended visible range. The method of the invention may be implemented by irradiating the sperm cells in vitro or in vivo. In the last case, if the sperm is of a mammal the epididymis of that mammal should be irradiated. DETAILED DESCRIPTION In order to understand the invention and to see how it may be carried out in practice, a non-limiting example is described hereinafter in detail. The effect of light irradiation on human sperm penetration ability was studied using the Zona-free hamster egg (SPA) model. Ejaculated spermatozoa from 14 men were irradiated for 2 minutes with a halogen lamp, having a glass filter to filter out the light in the UVA range. The intensity of the illumination was 40 mW/cm 2 . In controlls, the illumination was omitted. Ejaculates were allowed to liquefy for 10 to 30 minutes. A small aliquot (0.2 to 0.4 ml) was kept for analysis and the remaining volume was immediately diluted according to the semen viscosity in one or two volumes of Tes-Tris (TEST, Sigma Chemical Co, St Louis, Mo.) yolk buffer and kept in vertical tubes at 4° C. for 18 to 22 hours. At the end of incubation, the supernatant was carefully removed. Then, in addition to the protocol described by Samuel T, Soffer Y, and Caspi E in Clin Exp Immunol 1987; 67: pp. 454-9, a sperm layering and rise up procedure was done as follows: The sedimented sperm were resuspended in 0.25 ml Biggers, Whitten and Wittingham Buffer (BBW), enriched with 1.75% w/v bovine serum albumin (BSA), fraction V (Sigma Chemical Co), overlaid with 1 ml of the same medium in 30° inclined tubes and the sperm allowed to rise-up for one hour in a CO 2 incubator (at 37° C., under 5% CO 2 atmosphere and saturated humidity). The supernatant containing motile spermatozoa was centrifuged and sperm pellet resuspended in a small amount of BWW and finally adjusted to a concentration of 5 to 10×10 3 cells/ml. A 0.1 ml drop of this sperm suspension was prepared and kept in the CO 2 incubator until addition of eggs. Female golden hamsters were superovulated as already described in the above-mentioned publication by Samuel et al. In this study, the females were 7 to 9 weeks old and operated on not later than 16 hours after human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) administration. The recovered eggs were kept at room temperature until insemination, and successively treated with Hyaluronidase (0.1 %, Sigma Chemical Co) and Trypsin (0.05%, Sigma Chemical Co) for the removal of cumulus and zona pellucida respectively. After thorough washing in 4 to 6 BWW drops, 20 to 30 zona-free eggs were immediately transferred for insemination to a sperm drop. The drops were covered with paraffin oil and further incubated for 3 hours. If the final sperm concentration was less than 5·10 6 cells/ml, the incubation was extended to 4 to 5 hours. Sperm preparations having less than 8·10 5 cells/ml were not used. At the end of the incubation, the eggs were washed to remove unattached sperm, carefully flattened under a coverslip supported by four dots of paraffin-wax, and fixed with 2.5% gluteraldehyde (Sigma Chemical Co). Before staining with lacmoid stain (0.05%, Sigma Chemical Co), dehydration was performed, using a methylalcohol-acetic acid solution (40/60 v/v). The eggs were observed under a phase contrast microscope at a magnification of 400×. Penetration of eggs by sperm was indicated by the presence of swollen (decondensed) heads and/or tails in the egg cytoplasma. The percent of penetrated eggs and penetration index (total number of decondensed sperm/total number of eggs) were recorded. The percentage of penetrated eggs (SPA percent) observed with irradiated sperm was compared to that of control. The results showed that 50% of the poor sperm increased SPA percent by 50% or more, while good sperm showed no improvement of SPA.
A method for improving the fertilizing capacity of sperm involves irradiating the sperm cells with light in the extended visible range (300-1,000 nm) having an intensity of 1 to 1,000 mW/cm 2 wherein the light substantially does not contain light outside the extended visible range and the light is not produced by laser.
0
FIELD [0001] The present disclosure relates to internal combustion engines, and more particularly to monitoring restricted air flow through an air intake of an internal combustion engine. BACKGROUND [0002] The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art. [0003] Internal combustion engines combust a fuel and air mixture to produce drive torque. More specifically, air is drawn into the engine through a throttle. The air is mixed with fuel and the air and fuel mixture is compressed within a cylinder using a piston. The air and fuel mixture is combusted within the cylinder to reciprocally drive the piston within the cylinder, which in turn rotationally drives a crankshaft of the engine. [0004] Engine operation is regulated based on several parameters including, but not limited to, intake air temperature (IAT), manifold absolute pressure (MAP), throttle position (TPS) and engine RPM. With specific reference to the throttle, the state parameters (e.g., air temperature and pressure) before the throttle are good references that can be used for engine control and diagnostic. For example, proper functioning of the throttle can be monitored by calculating the flow through the throttle for a given throttle position and then comparing the calculated air flow to a measured or actual air flow. As a result, the total or stagnation air pressure before the throttle (i.e., the pre-throttle air pressure) is critical to accurately calculate the flow through the throttle. Alternatively, the total pressure and/or static pressure can be used to monitor air filter over-restriction. [0005] An air filter is often used in an internal combustion engine to remove contamination from the induction air. Over a period of use the air filter can become plugged and over-restrict the air flow into the engine. Other factors can affect the air flow through the throttle such as, for example, the air intake becoming plugged by dirt or a foreign substance or object, which can also result in an over-restricted air flow condition. The over-restricted air flow condition can reduce performance, reduce fuel economy and increase engine emissions. Therefore, it is important to determine whether air flow is over-restricted. SUMMARY [0006] Accordingly, the present invention provides a method of monitoring air flow restriction in an air intake of an internal combustion engine. The method includes monitoring a plurality of manifold absolute pressure (MAP) samples and determining respective MAP thresholds corresponding to each of the MAP samples. Each of the MAP samples is compared to its respective MAP threshold. A percentage of failed MAP samples is determined based on the comparing and an over-restricted air intake condition is selectively indicated based on the percentage of failed MAP samples. [0007] In other features, the step of determining respective MAP thresholds includes monitoring a throttle position and an engine RPM associated with each of the MAP samples, and determining a respective MAP threshold for a particular MAP samples based on the throttle position and the engine RPM associated therewith. The respective MAP threshold is determined from a look-up table. [0008] In other features, the method further includes modifying each of the MAP thresholds. The step of modifying includes monitoring an intake air temperature and a mass air flow (MAF) associated with each of the MAP samples, and determining a respective modification factor for a particular MAP threshold based on the intake air temperature and the MAF. The particular MAP threshold is modified by multiplying the particular MAP threshold by its corresponding modification factor. The method further includes determining the respective modification factor from a look-up table. [0009] In still another feature, the method further includes determining a throttle position, and executing the method when the throttle position is greater than a threshold throttle position. [0010] In yet another feature, the over-restricted air intake condition is indicated when the percentage failed is greater than a threshold percentage. [0011] Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. It should be understood that the description and specific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. DRAWINGS [0012] The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way. [0013] FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an internal combustion engine system that is regulated in accordance with the air intake over-restriction control of the present disclosure; [0014] FIG. 2 is a graph of exemplary manifold absolute pressure (MAP) versus engine RPM traces for a plurality of restricted air intakes for a fixed throttle position; [0015] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps that are executed by the air intake over-restriction control of the present disclosure; and [0016] FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram illustrating exemplary modules that execute the air intake over-restriction control. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0017] The following description of the preferred embodiment is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses. For purposes of clarity, the same reference numbers will be used in the drawings to identify similar elements. As used herein, the term module refers to an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, or other suitable components that provide the described functionality. [0018] Referring now to FIG. 1 , an exemplary internal combustion engine system 10 is illustrated. The engine system 10 includes an engine 12 , an intake manifold 14 and an exhaust manifold 16 . Air is drawn into the intake manifold 14 through an air filter 17 and a throttle 18 . The air is mixed with fuel, and the fuel and air mixture is combusted within a cylinder 20 of the engine 12 . More specifically, the fuel and air mixture is compressed within the cylinder 20 by a piston (not shown) and combustion is initiated. The combustion process releases energy that is used to reciprocally drive the piston within the cylinder 20 . Exhaust that is generated by the combustion process is exhausted through the exhaust manifold 16 and is treated in an exhaust after-treatment system (not shown) before being released to atmosphere. Although a single cylinder 20 is illustrated, it is anticipated that the pre-throttle estimation control of the present invention can be implemented with engines having more than one cylinder. [0019] A control module 30 regulates engine operation based on a plurality of engine operating parameters including, but not limited to, a throttle position (TPS), a mass air flow (MAF), a manifold absolute pressure (MAP), an effective throttle area (A EFF ), an intake air temperature (IAT) and an engine RPM. IAT, MAF, MAP and engine RPM are determined based on signals generated by an IAT sensor 32 , a MAF sensor 34 , a MAP sensor 36 and an engine RPM sensor 38 , respectively, which are all standard sensors of an engine system. A EFF is determined based on TPS, which is determined by a throttle position sensor 42 , which is also a standard sensor. A barometric pressure (P BARO ) is monitored using a barometric pressure sensor 40 . [0020] The air intake over-restriction control of the present disclosure determines whether the air intake is so restricted that it is considered over-restricted and the air flow into the engine is unacceptably low. More specifically, MAP values will be lower as the air flow restriction of the induction system increases and RPM values increase. This is graphically illustrated in FIG. 2 for an exemplary fixed TPS of greater than 80%. The data points and curve fit associated with the label 0% indicate those of a normal air intake (i.e., normally restricted air flow). The data points and curve fit associated with the labels 50% and 80% indicate those that are associated with increasingly restricted air intake. More specifically, the 50% data points and curve fit corresponds to a 50% restricted air flow and the 80% data points and curve fit to an 80% restricted air flow. A 100% restricted air flow (not shown here) means the intake system is over-restricted. As can be seen, the MAP values decrease with increasing RPM and decrease more rapidly based on the level of intake restriction. [0021] The air intake over-restriction control considers MAP values that are monitored above a threshold TPS (TPS THR ) (e.g., 80% TPS) because there is greater separation between a normally restricted and an over-restricted induction system at TPSs above TPS THR . Accordingly, the control of the present disclosure provides improved accuracy and reduction of hardware costs over traditional systems that implement a mechanical gauge located within the induction system, to measure the intake system pressure loss. More specifically, the detection of an obstruction in the induction system can be achieved with the present disclosure by using software and existing engine sensors. [0022] The air intake over-restriction control monitors MAP and compares MAP to a threshold MAP (MAP THR ). MAP THR is determined based on TPS and RPM. More specifically, a first fuzzy-logic based look-up table is used to determine MAP THR using TPS and RPM as the table inputs. MAP THR is then modified based on IAT and MAF. More specifically, a second fuzzy-logic based look-up table is used to determine a modification coefficient (k MOD ), with IAT and MAF as the table inputs. MAP THR is multiplied by k MOD to provide the modified MAP THR . Use of the fuzzy-logic based tables and modification of MAP THR increases precision in the algorithm by providing a large matrix of failure thresholds based on TPS, RPM, IAT and MAF. These two-dimensional fuzzy logic tables are very fast in making rapid precise decisions based on interpolation of data points within the two-dimensional tables from input variables (i.e., TPS, RPM, IAT, MAF). [0023] The air intake over-restriction control compares several MAP samples to corresponding MAP THR 's and determines what percentage of the MAP samples failed (% failed). A failure is defined as a particular MAP sample being less than its corresponding MAP THR . If % failed is greater than a threshold percentage (% THR ), the air intake over-restriction control indicates that an over-restricted air intake condition exists. [0024] Referring now to FIG. 3 , exemplary steps that are executed by the air intake restriction control will be described in detail. In step 300 , sample and fail counters are initialized. In step 302 , control determines whether TPS is greater than a threshold TPS (TPS THR ). If TPS is greater than TPS THR , control continues in step 304 . If TPS is not greater than TPS THR , control loops back. In step 304 , control increments the sample counter. [0025] Control determines MAP THR based on TPS and RPM in step 306 . In step 308 , control modifies MAP THR based on IAT and MAF, as discussed in detail above. Control determines whether MAP is less than MAP THR in step 310 . If MAP is less than MAP THR , control continues in step 312 . If MAP is not less than MAP THR , control continues in step 314 . In step 312 , control increments the fail counter. [0026] In step 314 , control determines whether the sample counter is greater than THR. If the sample counter is not greater than THR, control loops back to step 302 . If the sample counter is greater than THR, control continues in step 316 . In step 316 , control determines % failed based on the fail counter and the sample counter values. Control determines whether % failed is greater than % THR in step 318 . If % failed is not greater than % THR , control indicates that the air flow is not over-restricted in step 322 and control ends. If % failed is greater than % THR , control indicates that the air flow is over-restricted in step 320 and control ends. [0027] Referring now to FIG. 4 , exemplary modules that execute the air intake restriction control will be described in detail. It is anticipated that the exemplary modules described herein can be combined, as sub-modules, into a single module or multiple modules. [0028] The exemplary modules include a comparator module 400 , a sample counter module 402 , a comparator module 404 , a MAP THR module 406 , a modification module 408 , a comparator module 410 , a fail counter module 412 , a % failed module 414 and a comparator 416 . The comparator module 400 determines whether TPS is greater than TPS THR and generates a corresponding signal based thereon. The sample counter module 402 increases the sample counter based on the signal from the comparator module 400 . The comparator module 404 determines whether the sample counter is greater than THR and generates a signal based thereon. [0029] The MAP THR module 406 determines MAP THR based on TPS and RPM. The modification module 408 modifies MAP THR based on IAT and MAF, as described in detail above. The comparator module 410 determines whether MAP is less than the modified MAP THR . The fail counter module 412 is selectively incremented based on the signal generated by the comparator module 410 . The % failed module 414 determines % failed based on the output of the sample counter module 402 , the output of the comparator module 404 and the output of the fail counter module 412 . The comparator module 416 determines whether % failed is less than % THR and generates a signal based thereon. Whether the air flow is over-restricted is determined based on the signal. [0030] Those skilled in the art can now appreciate from the foregoing description that the broad teachings of the present invention can be implemented in a variety of forms. Therefore, while this invention has been described in connection with particular examples thereof, the true scope of the invention should not be so limited since other modifications will become apparent to the skilled practitioner upon a study of the drawings, the specification and the following claims.
A method of monitoring air flow restriction in an air intake of an internal combustion engine includes monitoring a plurality of manifold absolute pressure (MAP) samples and determining respective MAP thresholds corresponding to each of the MAP samples. Each of the MAP samples is compared to its respective MAP threshold. A percentage of failed MAP samples is determined based on the comparing and an over-restricted air intake condition is selectively indicated based on the percentage of failed MAP samples.
5
RELATED CASE This application is a continuation-in-part of copending application Ser. No. 599,185, filed Apr. 9, 1984 now abandoned. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a shock-absorbing shoe construction, particularly applicable to light-weight athletic shoes of the general variety popularly known as sneakers. Foot comfort for the athlete and for those who jog or walk briskly for general exercise has been the target of many and varied proposals for shoe construction. And the broad concept of using a pneumatic cushion as part of the heel and/or sole construction has been known for the better part of a century, illustratively through King U.S. Pat. Nos. 541,814 of 1895 and Maddocks 1,011,460 of 1911. In more recent years, efforts have been directed to providing substantially uniformly absorbent action along the full length of the foot, either by employing specially fabricated pneumatic sheet material (as in Sindler U.S. Pat. 2,100,492), or by incorporating a full-length inflatable bladder in the sole (as in Reed U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,677,904 and in Cortina 2,863,230), or by providing an outsole with a substantially uniform distribution of air-filled cavities over the full area of the sole (as in Gardner U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,012,855, Petrosky 4,129,951, Khalsa, et al. 4,133,118, Moss 4,170,078, and Doak 4,397,104), or by providing a tread characterized by a distributed plurality of resilient "posts" served by interconnecting channels and a common source of pneumatic pressure (as in Muller U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,412). European Pat. No. 0,032,084 and German Provisional Patent Offenlegungsschrift No. OS 2,460,034 are illustrative of various arrangements to so construct the sole as to enable pneumatic preloading of all or selected regions of the foot. These more recent structures are unduly complex, and they do not recognize or provide for the kind of distributed shock-absorbing resilience which is needed for alternating or intermittent jog/walk exercise. BRIEF STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to provide an improved shoe construction of the character indicated, offering maximum comfort for both jogging and walking modes of use of the same shoe. A specific object is to provide a shoe construction wherein shock-absorbing pneumatic action is to different degree, as a function of location along the length of the shoe, progressing from near-zero absorbance at the forefoot region, and achieving selectively variable maximum absorbance throughout substantially the rear half of the shoe. Another specific object is to achieve the above objects with essentially simple structure, lending itself to inexpensive mass-production. A further object is to provide a shoe construction meeting the above objects and affording relatively simple access for repair and/or replacement of a damaged bladder. The invention achieves the foregoing objects with what amounts to a two-part sole configuration, wherein the first or upper part is the flexible bottom panel of a subassembly with shoe-upper structure, and wherein the second or lower part is formed to characterize the upper layer or lining of the tread of the shoe. The characterizing establishes (1) a first zone in the form of a large upwardly open pocket with peripheral sidewalls and an internal wall at substantially the midsection of the shoe, (2) a second or forefoot zone which is essentially void-free and which is offset from the first zone, and (3) an intermediate or transition zone of plural upwardly open pockets, between the first and second zones. An inflatable bladder conforms generally to walls of the large pocket and has valve and tube access through the heel part of the sidewall, for inflation purposes. And the flexible bottom panel of the shoe-upper subassembly includes a removably secured part which provides access for repair and/or replacement of the bladder. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The invention will be described in detail for a preferred embodiment, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a side view in elevation of a shoe embodying the invention; FIG. 2 is a plan view of a molded component of the sole of the shoe of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of the lower region of shoe-upper structure, in readiness for assembly to shoe-sole structure of FIG. 2; FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the sole structure of FIG. 2, taken on the alignment 4--4 of FIG. 2; FIGS. 5 and 6 are sectional views, respectively taken at 5--5 and at 6--6 in FIG. 2; FIG. 7 is a partly broken-away side view of a bladder component of the shoe of FIG. 1; FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view, primarily of the assembled sole of a modified shoe of the invention, with the bladder component thereof installed; FIG. 8A is a perspective view on a reduced scale, to show the bladder component of FIG. 8; FIG. 9 is a fragmentary exploded view in perspective, to illustrate separably related parts to enable servicing and/or replacement of the bladder component; FIGS. 10, 11, and 12 are similar transverse sectional views, taken at the respective longitudinal locations 10--10, 11--11, and 12--12 of a removable panel of FIG. 1; and FIG. 13 is a fragmentary view in elevation, taken from the aspect 13--13 of FIG. 9. In FIG. 1, a shoe which illustratively embodies the invention is seen to comprise a light-weight upper 10 of woven synthetic fiber with externally sewn leather or leather-like reinforcements 11 in and around the toe region and at 12-13 in the heel region; further such reinforcements are provided at 14 for lacing eyelets, and at 15 to complete the reinforced integrity of the top of the shoe. The sole 16 extends the length of the shoe, being thinnest at the forefoot region and rising gradually thorugh the arch to a well-elevated heel region. The sole is characterized (1) by substantially no compliant yieldability, but relatively great flexibility, at the forefoot region, designated A, (2) by maximum compliant yieldability (and essentially no flexibility) throughout substantially the rear half of the shoe, designated B, and (3) by progressively increasing compliant yieldability (and reducing flexibility) in a transition zone C which interconnects regions A and B. A cleated tread 17 characterizes the underside of sole 16, and a rising peripheral sidewall 18 is an integral formation of the sole, throughout regions B and C; in FIG. 4, the cleated underside of the sole is seen to be a feature of a lower ply which extends the full length of the sole and which includes a cap or toe-lapping formation 19 secured around the toe of upper 10. Finally, to complete the description of FIG. 1, a pneumatic-inflation fitting 20, which is part of an internally captive elastomeric bladder 21 (see FIG. 7), projects through a limited opening in sidewall 18, at the heel. In accordance with a feature of the invention, the upper 10 is a subassembly having a bottom-surface layer 22 (see FIG. 3) of elastomeric material. In manufacture of the shoe, layer 22 is bonded to structural contours of the molded elastomeric upper surface or layer 23 of sole 16 (see FIG. 4), it being noted that peripheral sidewalls 18 are integral formations of the molded layer 23. More particularly, the molded layer 23 is viewed in plan in FIG. 2 and comprises a thin solid area 25 at the forefoot region A. In approach to intermediate region C, the thickness of area 25 builds for smooth transition to the rising profile of intermediate region C. Region C is characterized by a cluster of upwardly open generally rectangular pockets 26-27-28 of progressively increasing vertical extent. In the rear zone C, a single large upwardly open pocket 30 is defined by a thin bottom panel 31, by sidewalls 18 rising therefrom, and by the generally central internal wall 32 at which zones B and C are adjacent. For purposes of well-seated assembly to and support of the shoe-upper subassembly 10, the sidewall section features an integral upper flange 33 which extends inwardly and is preferably further characterized by a short outer rib 34. This flange 33 and rib 34 feature of the sidewall section is shown at the heel (FIG. 4), across the region B of the large pocket 30 (FIG. 6), and across the intermediate region C of clustered pockets (FIG. 5). In other words, the support afforded by flange 33 extends peripherally and continuously through all zones and reduces to zero near the toe end of zone A. The only interruption in continuity of sidewall 18 is at the heel, where a local opening 35 and adjacent recess in the web of the sidewall section are configured to receive bladder 21 and its inflation-valve fitting 20. In preparation for assembly of the shoe of FIG. 1, the upper assembly 10 will first have been completed, to the point of consolidating various lining laminations to the elastomeric bottom layer 22. Specifically, the regions A and C of layer 22 are lined with and bonded to a thin slightly cushioning layer 36 of expanded flexible plastic sheet, such as an expanded urethane, with layer 36 extending forwardly and up around the front of the toe. Toe protection is further enhanced by another layer 37 of expanded plastic material bonded to and lining the toe region of layer 36; and a relatively thin panel 38 of more stiffly flexible felt or fiber board, with feathered ends and edges, is bonded to layer 36 and is thus laminated to layers 22 and 36 in regions A and C. In addition, a second but substantially thicker panel 39 of stiff and relatively inflexible felt or fiber board, also with feathered ends and edges, is laminated to layer 22 in region B, with feathered-end overlap into region C, and over the feathered end of panel 38. Preferably, the described laminations of the bottom of the upper assembly 10 are peripherally stitched in the feathered-edge areas, to assure retention of all lamination bonding. Further assembly proceeds by taking the molded elastomeric part 23 and inserting bladder 21 in pocket 30, with the nut of the inflation fitting 20 tightly set to clamp the same across the sidewall opening 35. After first applying a coat of adhesive over the entire exposed bottom surface of layer 22, the upper subassembly is so applied to the molded part 23 that peripheral margins of panel 22 seat securely on flange areas 33, within and located against the peripheral rib 34, it being understood that, at the toe end, flange areas 33 will have merged with the thin surface of the molded part 23, and that in the presence of clamp action to promote full bonding, the panel 22 will also have bonded to upper edges of dividers between pockets 26-27-28, thus sealing off all of these pockets. Having bonded molded part 23 to the upper subassembly, the tread panel 17 of the sole is similarly applied in bonded registry with the smooth underside of part 23. In this connection, it is helpful to inflate bladder 21 while allowing adhesive to cure in a clamped application of tread panel 17. At the toe end, tread panel 17 is in bonded overlap with the toe end of the upper 10, and a dashed line 40 in FIG. 4 will be understood to designate a region and orientation for riveted fastening of the tip end of tread panel 17 to the reinforced top of upper 10. Detail of construction of upper 10 has been omitted as being irrelevant to the sole construction of the invention, but a preference is indicated to complete the shoe by insertion of a molded cushion insole, suggested by phantom outline 41 in FIG. 4. The described shoe construction will be seen to achieve all stated objects. Firm forefoot support is via the region A of greatest importance to the jogger. Progressive compliant yieldability in the intermediate zone assures the jogger against shock other than to the forefoot, even when jogging on uneven or gravelly surfaces. On the other hand, the energetic walker can adjust the shock-resisting and support properties of the region B to suit his comfort and style, and the progressive cluster of sealed pockets 26-27-28 in zone C provides a comfortable transition of compliant support, down to the firm-footed feeling which derives from minimum cushioning of forefoot support. The relative inflexibility of plate 39, which fully spans region B and receives direct load-bearing support from inner wall 32, assures against any "mushy" feeling or action within region B. Finally, the inwardly canted nature of sidewalls 18, as best seen in FIG. 6, contributes to the firm-footed feel of the shoe, in that sidewall deflection under load is characterized by a laterally inward thrust from both sides, thus contributing to foot-positioning stability. In the embodiment of FIGS. 8 to 13, a relatively short intermediate zone B provides transition of compliant action, from a forefoot region A of relatively firm support via a continuous layer 50 of slightly foamed rubber, to the controllable compliance provided by a bladder 51, for the longitudinal extent of a heel region C. A single molded elastomeric tread panel constitutes the bottom layer 52, and the firmly compliant layer 50 extends the full length of the shoe, being bonded to layer 52 and cut out in the region C to provide peripherally continuous sidewall definition of the large elongate pocket 53 which contains, locates, and laterally buttresses bladder 51, when inflated. As shown, an additional layer 54, which may be of the same material and/or piece as layer 50, overlaps regions B and C and is cut to the profile of pocket 53; layer 54 elevates the heel region C with respect to the forefoot region A and is downwardly ramped or feathered at 55 to provide the indicated transitional compliance in region B. An apertured plate 56 of relatively stiff material is seen in the lower part of FIG. 9 to complete subassembly of shoe-sole structure, plate 56 being peripherally continuously bonded to the elevating layer 54; plate 56 is shown to be of a suitable plastic and to include an upstanding flange portion 57 which skirts the back of the heel, extending longitudinally forward on both sides of the heel, for approximately half the longitudinal extent of pocket 53. The bladder 51 peripherally conforms to the peripheral inside wall of pocket 53 and is seen in FIGS. 8 and 8A to feature upper and lower panels which are locally bonded or tufted at longitudinally and laterally spaced points 51" so as to avoid any tendency to balloon when pressurized. It is clear that bladder 51 may also be used, as an alternative, in place of the bladder 21 in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 7. In accordance with a feature of the invention, the pocket 53 is accessible for repair and/or replacement of bladder 51, via a panel 60 which is removably retained in reference to inner sole structure of the shoe. In the form shown, a plate 61 is configurated with a relatively wide rim 61' which continuously surrounds a central opening for access to pocket 53. Plate 61 is relatively stiff and is perforated near its outer margin, for stitched incorporation into a subassembly of shoe-upper structure. The remainder of shoe-upper structure is unimportant to the invention and is therefore not shown in detail; however, pertinent fragments of the toe and heel ends of the shoe-upper structure are suggested at 62--62' in FIG. 8, with a thin flexible inner panel 63 lapping regions A and B of the sole subassembly, and plate 61 lapping region C and a part of region B. When the two subassemblies are bonded to each other, plate 61 will be understood to derive peripherally continuous support from plate 56, and shoe-upper structure at 62' will be seen to derive well-nested locating support via skirt formation 57. More specifically, and as best shown in FIG. 9, the inner edge which defines the access opening of plate 61 is rabbeted to provide a virtually peripherally continuous flange 64 upon which a peripherally continuous flange 65 of panel 60 may seat. The thickness of flange 65 and the depth of the rabbeted edge are the same, so that in seated assembly to plate 61, the upper surfaces of panel 60 and of plate 61 will be flush. Interengaging formations of panel 60 and plate 61 are at the respective longitudinal ends of pocket 53 and are such as to enable a degree of upwardly arched compliant response to upward force from a bladder 51; and a steel core strip 60' embedded in panel 60, and almost longitudinally coextensive therewith, stiffens this response. At the heel end, the interengaging formations comprise a longitudinally projecting integral lug 66 (see FIGS. 9 and 13) of panel 60, engaging through a slot 67 in the flange 64 of plate 61 and beneath the rim thereof. At the engageable forward end, these formations comprise (a) an upstanding thinly headed stud 68, the top surface of which is substantially in the geometrical plane of the nearby upper surface of the rim of plate 61, and (b) the aperture 69 of a tongue-like projection 70 of panel 60. The aperture 69 is in a locally recessed region 71 of tongue 70 and removably accommodates through-passage of the head of stud 68. A thin clip 72 is slidable within recess 61 to permit its slotted end 73 to engage under the head of stud 68, to thus retain panel (60) assembly to plate 61; a local fingernail recess 74 in clip 72 facilitates manipulative access, to actuate clip 72 out of retaining engagement to stud 68, thus releasing the forward end of panel 60, for upward hinging about the point of heel engagement at 66/67, in the course of removing panel 60. At this point, access is direct to bladder 51, which is relatively soft and flexible, even at the outer flange 51' of its inflation device, so that the entire bladder can be extracted from its pocket, when desired. FIG. 9 illustrates a preference that in view of the elongate configuration of the central opening of plate 61, this opening shall be locally retained by a narrow integral transverse bridge member 75, thus assuring against any outward bulging of the elongate sides of plate 61. Bridge 75 thus precisely retains flange 64 in supporting relation with the panel flange 65. Bridge 75 is preferably located in the longitudinally central region of panel 60, i.e., central in respect of the longitudinal end connections of panel 60 to plate 61. And in the access-opening regions on either longitudinal side of bridge 75, panel 60 is stiffened by extra thickness (at 76 and 76', respectively); also, the thickness of panel 60 is centrally reduced by a transverse groove 77 in its lower surface, for enhanced central flexing action in response to cyclical body weight application against inflated-bladder pressure. The embodiment of FIGS. 8 to 13 will be seen to provide substantially all the compliant-action features of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 7, with the additional feature of ready maintenance, through repair and/or replacement of the inflatable bladder. In both cases, the use of a cushioning in-sole insert (41 in FIGS. 1 to 7; 78 in FIGS. 8 to 13) is preferred. As seen in FIG. 9, such an insert (78) is desirably molded with an upstanding heel flange 79 for heel-stabilizing comformability. Such an insert (78) is self-stabilizing to innerwall contours of the shoe-upper structure and therefore requires no bonding. Bladder removal thus involves the simple steps of removing the insert (78), sliding clip 72 out of stud (68) engagement, lifting tongue 70, and removing panel 60 to gain direct access. If, as is currently preferred, the check-valve action at the bladder inflation device is entirely via elastomeric resilience (as in inflated football constructions), an inflated bladder 51 can be readily deflated by hypodermic needle insertion at the inflation device, followed by finger pressure via the access opening, which was gained by removal of panel 60. It is then possible to manipulate bladder 51, as by pinched-finger grip, pulling the inflation device inwardly through its access port 51"' at the heel end of the base layer 50. To load a new repaired bladder 51 back into the pocket 53, a string should first be passed through access port 51"' then tied to the inflation-device end of the bladder 51. While pulling the string, the bladder is flexed as necessary to bring it under bridge 75, finally pulling the inflation device end through port 51"', at which point the string connection can be severed or untied. Panel 60 is then assembled by inserting lug 66 in slot 67 and then hinging the same down into stud (68) engagement through tongue aperture 69, whereupon the connection is retained by sliding the slot of clip 72 under the head of stud 68. The insert 78 is slipped into position and inflation pressure delivered to the bladder, as by pumped delivery of air at 51'. Although the invention has been described in detail for preferred embodiments, it will be understood that modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. And it should be clear that the feature of the removable panel 60 is equally applicable to other shoe-cushioning configurations including that of FIGS. 1 to 7.
The invention contemplates a shock-absorbing shoe sole which provides adjustably inflated pneumatic support at the rear half of the sole, and a graduated reduction of shock-absorbing from the inflated support region, to a forefoot-support region of minimum compliant yieldability. The construction involves two separate parts, one of which is molded with surface configurations to confront the other part, and the graduated-support action derives from bonding these two parts to each other, with an inflatable bladder substantially conforming to and deriving peripherally confining restraint from at least one such surface configuration. In one embodiment, a removable in-sole panel provides access for repair and/or replacement of the inflatable bladder.
0
RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The invention herein disclosed is related to co-pending application Ser. No. S2000/0711 filed on Sep. 7, 2000 entitled “Cross-Point Switch for a Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop” naming Aedan Diarmid Cailean Coffey as inventor (Attorney docket number PI29278); to co-pending application Ser. No. S2000/0706 filed on Sep. 7, 2000 entitled “A Data Gathering Device for a Rack Enclosure” naming Aedan Diarmid Cailean Coffey et al as inventors (Attorney docket number PI29273); and to co-pending application Ser. No. S2000/0709 filed on Sep. 7, 2000 entitled “Performance Monitoring in a Storage Enclosure” naming Aedan Diarmid Cailean Coffey et al as inventors (Attorney docket number PI29276). FIELD OF INVENTION [0002] This invention relates to an analyser of the performance of a bus included within a storage enclosure. BACKGROUND OF INVENTION [0003] Performance improvements in storage and processors, along with the move to distributed architectures such as client/server systems, have spawned increasingly data-intensive and high-speed networking applications, such as multimedia and scientific visualisation. Such applications have placed growing demands of the performance on the interconnects between host computers and input/output devices in terms of their reliability, speed and distance. [0004] Fibre Channel (FC) is a general name for an integrated set of standards being developed by ANSI (American National Standards Institute) whose purpose is to act as a universal high-speed interface for computers and mass storage. It is designed to combine the best features of channels and networks, namely the simplicity and speed of channel communications and the flexibility and interconnectivity of protocol-based network communications. FC is a data transfer protocol that provides a highly reliable, gigabit interconnect technology that allows concurrent communications among workstations, mainframes, servers, data storage systems and other peripherals using Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) and Internet Protocol (IP) protocols. FC supports multiple topologies, including a Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL), which can scale to a total system bandwidth on the order of a terabit per second. However, system performance limitations may be introduced as a result of inefficient system configuration, e.g., where a legacy device on a network bus determines the overall bus speed. In such situations, it is clearly of benefit for a network analyst to be able to monitor the performance of the network and optimise its configuration and/or diagnose faults. [0005] When a problem occurs on a Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) it can be extremely difficult to determine the nature of the problem and identify which device on the loop is causing the problem. This is the case because from a logical point of view, an arbitrated loop is a single, continuous path composed of links and nodes, wherein each node has at least one port which can act as a transmitter, receiver or both. Hence it can be difficult to identify the specific node involved in a device failure since there may be no obvious indication of the location of the failure point in the loop. [0006] Conventional analysers of a Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) performance are large and expensive stand-alone devices, which are usually connected to a FC-AL, only when it is suspected that a problem exists thereon. Such stand-alone FC-AL analysers provide very detailed analyses of bus traffic, in addition to a wide range of user-selectable capture modes and triggering options. DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION [0007] The present invention provides a fibre channel analyser for analysing the operation of a fibre channel arbitrated loop to which a plurality of devices are connectable, said analyser being adapted to be housed in an enclosure which, in use, houses at least one of said devices and comprising: [0008] means for extracting data from the fibre channel, [0009] means for processing extracted data; and [0010] means for communicating processed data to an environmental control and monitoring unit through a secondary communication bus. [0011] The invention extends the functionality of the system environmental control and monitoring unit to encompass an analysis of the fibre channel itself, and by using the host communication facilities of the monitoring unit, the footprint of the analyser can be made such that it can be housed within the enclosure. [0012] Preferably, the analyser is sufficiently small and inexpensive to be included directly within a FC-AL enclosure thereby enabling continuous on-line monitoring of the FC-AL bus and the provision of an early warning system of FC-AL bus performance degradation. [0013] Preferably, the analyser does not provide as detailed an analysis of the FC-AL bus performance as a conventional stand-alone FC-AL analyser, however the invention does provide sufficient information to enable a network analyst to perform a status check of the system. Further, the analyser preferably also provides information on the transmission of both ARB (Arbitrate) and LIP (Loop Initialisation) ordered sets. This is important because, the presence of a LIP on an FC-AL can indicate that a new loop port has been added to the loop, a loop failure has been detected, or a port suspects that another port on the loop may be hung. Further, the LIP emitting loop port may be unable to co-ordinate transmission of the LIP sequence with current loop traffic. If the initialising loop port begins transmission of LIP while frames are being sent on the loop, it is possible that one or more of the frames may be corrupted. [0014] Preferably, the analyser arranged to be located on one of a number of branches from the FC-AL and not in the loop itself. Disks and hosts are located in the FC-AL wherein data is actively repeated from one node on the FC-AL to another, with a subsequent delay arising from the repeating process associated with each node. Further, if one node on the loop fails then the entire transmission process on the rest of the loop also fails. The preferred embodiment analyses activity occurring on the loop but does not itself contribute to loop delay. Further the branching connection structure employed with the analyser means that a failure in the analyser will not cause the rest of the loop to fail. [0015] Preferably, the analyser comprises one or two chips as opposed to the multiple chips and cards in existing stand-alone systems and analysers. [0016] Preferably, the monitoring unit comprises an Enclosure Services processor communicating with the bus controller by methods including the SCSI Enclosure Services (SES) or SCSI Access Fault Tolerant Enclosure (SAF-TE) protocols. The SCSI Enclosure Services (SES) processor includes facilities for FC-AL bus monitoring by the addition of: [0017] a control page to enable a user to specify the levels of analysis of bus performance required; and [0018] a status page containing processed data results from the analysis performed by the bus analyser. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0019] The features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the invention, taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which: [0020] [0020]FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a broad overview of a Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) Analyser and the manner in which it relates to other elements in an integrated data gathering system for a Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL); [0021] [0021]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the components of a frame; [0022] [0022]FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the components of a Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL); [0023] [0023]FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a broad overview of an example scenario showing how a Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) analyser might be used on a Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop; [0024] [0024]FIG. 5 is a more detailed diagram of the cross-point switch illustrated in FIG. 1 (A specific example of the manner in which it might be used is made with reference to the example scenario shown in FIG. 4); and [0025] [0025]FIG. 6 is a detailed block diagram of the FC-AL analyser of FIG. 1. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT [0026] [0026]FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a broad overview of a Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) and the manner in which it relates to other elements in an integrated data gathering system for the FC-AL. The overall operation of this system is described in co-pending application entitled “Data Gathering Device for a Rack Enclosure” naming Aedan Diarmid Cailean Coffey et al as inventors (Attorney docket number PI 29273). [0027] In the preferred embodiment, a plurality of disks ( 80 ) are housed in a rack and engage a back-plane ( 10 ) within the rack through edge-connectors (not shown). The disks are electrically and logically connected to form two FC-AL Loops A and B via respective hubs, each comprising a cross-point switch (also known as cross-bar switch) ( 30 , 30 ′) as described in related patent application number entitled “Cross-Point Switch for a Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop” naming Aedan Diarmid Cailean Coffey as inventor (Attorney docket number PI29278). The disks are then in turn configured to form a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) or Just a Bunch of Disks (JBOD). [0028] A pair of FC-AL analysers ( 70 , 70 ′) are preferably located on each of pair of SCSI Enclosure Services (SES) processor boards ( 4 , 4 ′), with each board being associated with one of Loops A or B. Nonetheless, the analysers may also be located on the back-plane ( 10 ) or wherever else in the integrated data gathering system as would enable the analyser to be on the FC-AL. The operation of both SES processor boards ( 4 , 4 ′) is identical and so reference will only be made in the present description to the board 4 and its components. [0029] Again, the positioning of the analysers on the FC-AL is managed by the cross-point switch ( 30 ), however, it should be recognised that the analysers could also operate via a modified conventional type port-bypass circuit by sacrificing the benefits of using the cross-point switch, as explained below. [0030] According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the FC-AL analyser ( 70 ) serves as an adjunct to the SES Processor ( 7 ). The SES Processor ( 7 ) of the preferred embodiment provides online monitoring and control of variables predominantly associated with the enclosure environment (e.g. temperatures at different locations in the enclosure, fan speed, power supply voltages and currents and presence/absence of I/O controls, loop relay circuits and device drivers). Further details of the SES Processor ( 7 ) can be obtained in co-pending patent application entitled “Performance Monitoring in a Storage Enclosure” naming Aedan Diarmid Cailean Coffey et al as inventors. [0031] In FIG. 1 it can be seen that the SES processor ( 7 ) is in bi-directional communication with disks ( 80 ) on the FC-AL, via one of a pair of Data Gatherer Chips ( 50 , 50 ′) through an Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) bus ( 54 ) and an Enclosure Services Interface (ESI) bus ( 52 ) (also known as Small Form Factor SFF-8067). (Where data gatherer chips are not employed, the SES processor can connect directly to the ESI ports of the disks.) [0032] Through communication between components of the FC-AL itself, communications from the SES processor ( 7 ) to FC-AL disks ( 80 ) are transmitted to a Host CPU (not shown) on the FC-AL. Further references to communication between the SES processor ( 7 ) and a host CPU will assume communication through the Data Gatherer Chip ( 50 ) and FC-AL disks ( 80 ) and will assume that the host CPU is a node on the FC-AL itself. [0033] Since this operation of the analyser ( 70 ) involves the detection of transmission errors on a FC-AL, it is useful at this point to briefly review fibre channel (FC) transmission protocols, the FC-AL topology and the types of errors that occur in such systems. [0034] The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model for FC is structured with 5 independent layers as follows; [0035] FC- 0 which defines the physical media and transmission rates [0036] FC- 1 which defines the transmission protocol including serial encoding and decoding rules, special characters, timing recovery and error control. [0037] FC- 2 which defines the framing protocol and flow control [0038] FC- 3 which defines the common services [0039] FC- 4 which defines the application interfaces that can execute over FC such as SCSI, IPI and IP. [0040] From this it can be seen that the FC protocol does not have its own command set, but merely manages the data transfer between participating devices and thus inter-operates with existing upper-level protocols such as Small Computer System Interface (SCSI- 3 ), Intelligent Peripheral Interface (IPI) and Internet Protocol (IP). Hence a complete analysis of a FC-AL could include a higher-level analysis of the SCSI protocol commands issued on the FC-AL network in addition to the lower-level analysis of the FC protocol. [0041] Hence, the analyser 70 not solely limited to the analysis of FC characters, but can also be extended to include the analysis of SCSI commands on the FC-AL, by integrating the functionality of SCSI analyser ( 5 ) as described in related patent application number entitled “Performance Monitoring in a Storage Enclosure” naming Aedan Diarmid Cailean Coffey et al as inventors (Attorney docket number PI 29276), with that of the FC-AL analyser ( 70 ). [0042] Fibre Channel (FC) Components [0043] Devices that can be accessed via FC are known as nodes. FC nodes have at least one port (known as an N-port) such ports can act as transmitters, receivers or both. The term NL_port is used to designate a N_port that can support arbitrated loop functions in addition to basic point-to-point functions. A node that initiates a transaction is known as an originator, the node that answers it is called a responder. [0044] Fibre Channel (FC) Transmission Protocols [0045] Before it is transmitted every byte of data is encoded into a 10 bit string known as a transmission character (using an 8B/10B encoding technique (U.S. Pat. No. 4,486,739)). Each unencoded byte is accompanied by a control variable of value D or K, designating the status of the rest of the bytes in the transmission character as that of a data character or a special character respectively. [0046] The encoding from an 8-bit data byte into a 10-bit code is achieved according to an 8B/10B-translation table and a running disparity calculated from a bit-stream. The running disparity is calculated as the number of ones minus the number of zeros sent in the bit-stream and is proportional to the DC level of the bit-stream. The 8B/10B-translation table includes two entries, corresponding to a positively or negatively valued running disparity for each 8-bit data byte. The entry is chosen to keep the running disparity for a given 8-bit data byte between +1 and −1 so that the DC balance is maintained near zero. [0047] In general, the purpose of this encoding process is to ensure that there are sufficient transitions in the serial bit-stream to make clock recovery possible. The 8B/10B encoding technique supplies sufficient error detection and correction to permit use of low cost transceivers, as well as timing recovery methods to reduce the risk of radio frequency interference and ensure balanced, synchronised transmissions. [0048] Whilst, every 8-bit data byte is encoded as a 10 bit transmission character according to this encoding process, there are however, many more possible 10 bit transmission characters than are needed to map to particular 8-bit data bytes. Only one of the remaining 10 bit encodings is of interest in this present description, namely the K28.5 transmission character. This character contains a “comma”, a 7-bit string that cannot occur in any data transmission character (i.e. a transmission character corresponding to a data character) because of this, the K28.5 is used as a special control character. [0049] As discussed above, the 8B/10B encoding technique provides a means of synchronisation to a received signal, however it also provides a means for error detection. Invalid transmission characters are transmission characters that have not been defined according to the 8B/10B-translation table. Invalid transmission characters also includes those transmission characters that are received or transmitted with an incorrect running disparity. [0050] All information in FC is transmitted in groups of four transmission characters called transmission words (40 bits). Some transmission words have the K28.5 transmission character as their first transmission character and are called ordered sets. Ordered sets provide a synchronisation facility which complements the synchronisation facility provided by the 8B/10B encoding technique. Whilst phase locked loops (PLLs) enable synchronisation on the bit level with the assistance of the 8B/10B encoding technique, the responder also needs to synchronise with the originator at the 40 bit level. Ordered sets provide for both bit and word synchronisation. Such synchronisation establishes word boundary alignment, since the K28.5 transmission character can not be transmitted across the boundaries of any two adjacent ordered sets unless an error has occurred. Synchronisation is deemed to have occurred when the responder identifies the same transmission word boundary on the received bit-stream as that established by the originator. [0051] An ordered set may be a frame delimiter, a primitive signal or a primitive sequence. A frame delimiter includes one of a Start_of_Frame (SOF) or an End_of_Frame (EOF). These ordered sets immediately precede or follow the contents of a frame, their purpose is to mark the beginning and end of frames. Frames will be discussed in more detail below. Primitive signals are normally used to indicate events or actions. The set of primitive signals is comprised of the Idle and Receiver Ready (R_RDY) ordered sets. An Idle is a primitive signal transmitted continuously over the link when no data is being transmitted. The Idle is transmitted to maintain an active link over a fibre and enables the responder and originator to maintain bit, byte and word synchronisation. The R RDY primitive signal indicates that an interface buffer is available for receiving further frames. Primitive sequences are used to indicate states or conditions and are normally transmitted continuously until something causes the current state to change. Such sequences include Offline (OLS), Not Operational (NOS), Link Reset (LR) and Link Reset Response (LRR), all of which are used in the process of initialising a link between two N-ports [0052] A frame is the smallest indivisible packet of information transmitted between two N_Ports. FIG. 2 shows a diagrammatic representation of a frame. A frame ( 110 ) is comprised of a Start of Frame (SOF) ordered set ( 112 ), a header ( 114 ), a payload ( 116 ), the Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) ( 118 ) and an End_of_Frame (EOF) ordered set ( 120 ). The header ( 114 ) contains information about the frame, including routing information (the source and destination addresses ( 122 and 124 ), the type of information contained in the payload ( 126 ) and sequence exchange/management information ( 128 ). [0053] The payload ( 116 ) contains the actual data to be transmitted and can be of variable length between the limits of 0 and 2112 bytes. The CRC ( 118 ) is a 4-byte record used for detecting bit errors in the frame when received. The total size of a frame can be variable but must be an even multiple of four bytes so that partial transmission words are not sent. Individual frame sizes are transparent to software using the FC because the groups of one or more related frames responsible for a single operation are transmitted as a unit, such units being known as sequences. [0054] Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) [0055] FC-AL is a loop interconnection topology that allows up to 127 participating node ports (one of which can be a fabric loop port providing attachment to a switched fabric) to communicate with each other without the need for a separate switched fabric. Instead of a centralised approach to routing, the FC-AL distributes the routing function to each loop port. [0056] [0056]FIG. 3 shows a diagrammatic representation of a four node FC-AL. The FC-AL comprises four nodes ( 130 , 131 , 132 and 133 ) connected together via their ports ( 134 , 135 , 136 and 137 ). Information flows between the ports in a unidirectional fashion. [0057] The arbitrated loop configuration is created by connecting a transmit output section of each port to a receive input section of the next loop port (e.g. connecting the transmit output section of Node 1 Port 1 ( 139 ) to the receive input section of Node 2 Port 2 ( 140 )). Signal transmission continues through the remaining nodes on the FC-AL, until the signal reaches its designated responder. In other words, information from a given port (i.e. the originator) flows around the loop to its designated responder through each of the intermediate ports. Each port on the loop contains a repeater ( 146 , 147 , 148 and 149 ) allowing frames and ordered sets to pass through the port. [0058] Loop-specific protocols are defined to control loop initialisation, arbitration and the opening and closing of loop circuits. These protocols use primitive signals and primitive sequences comprised of loop-specific ordered sets. The loop-specific ordered sets act as an addendum to those ordered sets previously defined by the Fibre Channel Standard, which have been specifically developed to implement the FC-AL protocols. [0059] FC-AL does not add any new frame delimiter ordered sets. Additional Primitive Signals include those for arbitration (e.g. ARBx), clock synchronisation (e.g. SYNx), and opening (e.g. OPNy) and closing (CLS) communications between specific nodes. Additional Primitive Sequences include those for loop initialisation (LIP) and loop port bypass and enablement. [0060] Operation of the FC-AL [0061] Loop initialisation is used to initialise the loop, assign addresses to the ports on the loops, known as Arbitrated Loop Physical Address (AL_PA), and provide notification that the configuration may have changed. Loop initialisation is achieved by means of the Loop Initialisation Primitive (LIP) sequence and a series of loop initialisation frames. Any loop port on the loop is capable of starting loop initialisation by entering the initialising state and transmitting one of the LIP sequences. [0062] The loop is a common resource shared by all loop ports. In order to ensure that information from one loop port does not interfere with information from another, each loop port must arbitrate for access to the loop and win arbitration before they transmit frames of their own on the loop. When a device is ready to transmit data, it arbitrates for access to the loop by transmitting the Arbitrate (ARBx) Primitive Signal, where x=the Arbitrated Loop Physical Address (AL_PA) of the device, which it then transmits to the next node in the loop. [0063] If no other device wishes to transmit, the ARBx is transmitted around the loop through each node in turn, until it returns to the original arbitrating node. Once the node has received its own ARBx Primitive Signal it has gained control of the loop. [0064] However, if more than one device on the loop is arbitrating at the same time, when an arbitrating device receives another device's ARBx, it compares the x value of the received ARBx (i.e. the AL_PA of the originator) with its own AL PA. The device transmits the ARBx with the numerically lower AL_PA while the ARBx with the numerically larger AL_PA is blocked. Thus the device with the lower AL_PA will gain control of the loop first. Once that device relinquishes control of the loop, the other device will have another chance at arbitrating for control. [0065] After a loop port has won arbitration (and hence has become an originator), it must then select a destination port (or a responder port) before sending frames to that port. This selection process is known as opening the destination port and uses the open (OPN) ordered set that the originator transmits to the responder. Once this happens, there essentially exists a point to point connection between the two devices. Only the originator and responder ports in the loop circuit are able to originate frame transmission. All the other devices in the loop between the originator and the responder device simply repeat the data. [0066] As long as the loop circuit is active, the originator and responder ports have full use of the loop's bandwidth. Each loop may simultaneously transmit and receive data. When the two ports have completed communication with each other, the circuit is closed and the loop is made available for use by other ports. [0067] FC-AL Errors [0068] (1) Link Errors [0069] Link errors can occur during the transmission of the ordered sets used to implement the loop protocols. Most link errors will result in an 8B/10B error manifested as either an invalid transmission character or running disparity error. Some link errors may result in a valid but incorrect transmission character being decoded. If a node on an FC-AL receives an invalid transmission character while in the monitoring or arbitrating states, it substitutes any valid character for the invalid transmission character in order to create a valid word. [0070] This behaviour introduces the possibility that a node could detect an invalid transmission character of an ordered set destined for another node and replace any transmission character in the ordered set with a different one. The substitution may result in an ordered set being unrecognisable by the receiving node. There is also the possibility that an ordered set could be transformed into a different valid ordered set, or that an AL_PA value in the ordered set could be transformed into a different AL_PA value. [0071] If an ordered set is corrupted and unrecognisable, the action taken by a receiving node depends on the current state of the node. An invalid ordered set can be either retransmitted, discarded with the port continuing normal transmission with an appropriate fill word or another ordered set. [0072] (2) Loop Protocol Errors [0073] Loop Protocol Errors can occur as a result of lost ordered sets, incorrect ordered sets or unexpected ordered sets. A lost ordered set is one that is never recognised by its intended recipient. It could have been corrupted by a link error or due to a failure in the sending port. Lost ordered sets result in an expected action never occurring, an incorrect action occurring or the action occurring at the wrong port. [0074] The errors can occur during any of the loop protocols, including arbitration, while opening or closing a loop circuit and during frame transmission or initialisation. For instance errors during the arbitration protocol may result in one or more ARB primitives being lost or corrupted. [0075] (3) Other Errors [0076] In addition to the errors that are unique to the FC-AL topology, the FC-AL environment is also subject to all of the normal errors that can occur in non-loop environments. A frame may be lost or misrouted if it is delivered to the wrong port or if the SOF delimiter is corrupted. A frame may contain a CRC error. A frame may also contain an invalid transmission word. An invalid transmission word is recognised by the responder when one of the following conditions is detected; an invalid transmission character is detected within a transmission word (in accordance with the 8B/10B-translation table), a special character alignment error is detected. (e.g., a K28.5 character is received as an odd-numbered character). In addition, errors can affect the flow control mechanisms using R_RDY and ACK ordered sets. [0077] Turning now to the FC-AL analyser, FIG. 4 depicts a broad overview of an example scenario showing how the FC-AL analyser might be used on a Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop. This diagram serves only to provide an example of an application of a FC-analyser and should in no way be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. FIG. 4 should be viewed in conjunction with FIG. 1 to observe how the simplified representation of the analysis of a FC-AL shown in FIG. 4, relates to the integrated data gathering system for a FC-AL shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 should also be viewed in conjunction with FIG. 5 to observe how the logical connections between the devices on the FC-AL shown in FIG. 4 are physically implemented in a cross-point switch ( 30 ). [0078] Looking initially at FIG. 4, there are shown two FC-AL analysers, namely FC-AL Analyser 0 ( 150 ) and FC-AL Analyser 1 ( 152 ) corresponding to either the analysers 70 or 70 ′ in FIG. 1. The analysers are connected to the FC-AL via branches from the loop at points ( 154 ) and ( 156 ) respectively. The FC-AL has five nodes therein, of which three are hard disks (Disk 0 ( 158 ), Disk 1 ( 160 ) and Disk 2 ( 162 )). Of the remaining nodes one is a host CPU, Host A ( 164 ), with an AL_PA of 42 and the other is a repeater ( 166 ). [0079] The purpose of a repeater is as follows; while it is possible to transmit signals for considerable distances over coaxial cable without degradation, differences in impedance across connections between components leads to degradation of a signal and the necessity for repeaters to filter and amplify the signal. Since the disks in a FC-AL receive and actively transmit signals through their ports they effectively act as repeaters themselves. However, it is necessary to space the disks evenly about the FC-AL to achieve balanced signal repetition. In a FC-AL with few disks, it is necessary to supplement the repeating activity of the disks by means of additional repeaters. However, whilst repeaters act to improve the quality of a transmitted signal, they have the disadvantage of adding to the latency of the loop. Taking these two issues into account, the cross-point switch as will be described in FIG. 5, provides the facility for user-configurable or automatic, arrangement and use of repeaters, in order to optimise the performance of the FC-AL. [0080] As can be seen from above, a repeater basically takes the fibre channel signal and cleans up the edges but does not alter the timing. A retimer takes the signal in it's serial form, extracts the clock with a PLL (phase locked loop) and retransmits the data synchronised to a new, externally provided clock, thus removing jitter. A disk is a retimer, and both repeaters and retimers are available as standalone devices or embedded in other devices such as port bypass circuits. [0081] Returning to FIG. 4, the two FC-AL analysers, (FC-AL Analyser 0 ( 150 ) and FC-AL Analyser 1 ( 152 )) sample data from the FC-AL through their connection points ( 154 and 156 ). The data sampled from the FC-AL, by the two FC-AL analysers is shown in the diagram as Serial Data to Analyser (through connections C 6 and B 7 ( 32 and 34 )). [0082] The two FC-AL analysers, (FC-AL Analyser 0 ( 150 ) and FC-AL Analyser 1 ( 152 )) are each equipped with a SCSI Enclosure Services (SES) Processor Interface ( 172 and 174 respectively). The SES Processor Interface ( 172 and 174 ) enables bi-directional communication between the FC-AL Analyser ( 150 and 152 ) and the SES Processor ( 7 ). Such bi-directional communications are comprised of configuration commands sent to a given FC-AL Analyser from the SES processor ( 7 ) (shown in the diagram as Analyser_Control_Signal) and performance-related data transmitted from the FC-AL analyser to the SES processor ( 7 ) (shown in the diagram as Analyser_Data). Communications between the FC-AL analysers ( 150 and 152 ) and the SES processor ( 7 ) are conducted through respective ESI busses ( 40 and 42 ). The methods for configuring the FC-AL analysers ( 150 and 152 ) will be described in further detail later in this section. [0083] [0083]FIG. 4 also shows as an example, an ARB ordered set ( 184 ) transmitted from Host A ( 164 ) to the next node on the FC-AL, namely a Disk 0 ( 158 ). The presence of the ARB ordered set ( 184 ) indicates that Host A ( 164 ) desires to gain control of the FC-AL as described earlier. [0084] Whilst a single FC-AL analyser ( 150 or 152 ) provides very detailed information concerning activity on the FC-AL at its connection point ( 154 or 156 ), the particular benefits of the embodiment become more evident on comparing the data from a multiplicity of such analysers. [0085] In FIG. 4, a FC-AL with two FC-AL analysers (FC-AL Analyser 0 ( 150 ) and FC-AL Analyser 1 ( 152 )) is shown. If, for example, on comparing the number of LIP ordered sets detected by both analysers, it is found that the number of LIP ordered sets detected by FC-AL Analyser 0 ( 150 ) is greater than that detected by FC-AL Analyser 1 ( 152 ), then such would indicate that Disk 2 ( 162 ) is likely to be a source of LIP ordered sets. Such in turn would indicate that Disk 2 ( 162 ) was out of synchronisation with respect to the rest of the components on the FC-AL. [0086] [0086]FIG. 4 shows the logical connections between the devices in the specific example described above, however, FIG. 5 shows how these logical connections are implemented physically by means of a cross-point switch. [0087] A cross-point switch (or cross-bar switch) (CPS) comprises a matrix of switches connected by signal lines, thereby creating a switching device with a fixed number of inputs and outputs. A CPS ( 30 ) can be constructed according to one of the following architectures: [0088] (i) Concentration: more input lines than output lines [0089] (ii) Expansion: more output lines than input lines [0090] (iii) Connection: an equal number of input and output lines [0091] In the example given in FIG. 5, a CPS ( 30 ) with connection architecture (a square matrix of switches) is employed with 8 inputs and 8 outputs. It must be emphasised once again, that this diagram serves only as an example of an implementation of the CPS ( 30 ) and should in no way be considered as limiting the scope of the invention. The inputs to the CPS ( 30 ) are located on the left-hand side of the square matrix and are labelled with letters A to H from the top down. The outputs from the CPS ( 30 ) are located at the bottom of the square matrix and are labelled 0 to 9 running from left to right. At the intersection of each input and output line, there is provided a switched connection which, for the purposes of the present description, will be labelled with the letter and number of the input and output lines between which the switched connection can make or break a circuit. In FIG. 5, closed connections (switches) are shown as solid circles and open switches are shown as hashed circles. Solid lines are used to indicate a signal transmitted from a connected input device to a connected output device, whereas unused CPS input and output lines are shown as shaded lines. [0092] A range of devices are connected to the inputs and outputs of the CPS ( 30 ), these devices correspond to the devices described earlier in relation to FIG. 4. The output of Disk 0 is connected to CPS input A, the output of Disk 1 is connected to CPS input B and the output of Disk 2 is connected to CPS input C. The output of the repeater ( 166 ) is connected to CPS input E and the output of Host A is connected to CPS input F, the other inputs to the CPS (D, G and H) remain unconnected. [0093] Disk 1 receives its input from CPS output 0 via CPS connection A 0 and Disk 2 receives its input from CPS output 1 via CPS connection B 1 . Further, the repeater ( 166 ) and Host A receive their inputs from CPS outputs 2 and 3 respectively, via CPS connections C 2 and E 3 respectively. Disk 0 , FC-Analyser 0 ( 150 ) and FC-Analyser 1 ( 152 ) receive their inputs from CPS outputs 4 , 6 and 7 via CPS connections F 4 , C 6 ( 32 in FIG. 4) and B 7 ( 34 in FIG. 4) respectively. The logical links in the FC-AL depicted in FIG. 4 are shown with the corresponding alphanumeric designation from the CPS connection loops shown in FIG. 5. [0094] Looking at the FC-AL in FIG. 4, it can be seen that Host A ( 164 ) is logically connected to Disk 0 ( 158 ). This association is physically implemented in FIG. 5 by connecting the output from Host A on CPS input line F to CPS output line 4 through the fifth switch on CPS input line F. Similarly the logical connection between Disk 0 and Disk 1 in FIG. 4 is physically implemented in FIG. 5 by connecting the output from Disk 0 on CPS input line A to CPS output line 0 through the first switch on CPS input line A. [0095] It can also be seen in FIG. 4 that Disk 1 is connected both to Disk 2 and FC-Analyser 1 ( 152 ). However, whilst Disk 2 is logically an element in the FC-AL, the FC-Analyser 1 ( 152 ) samples data from the FC-AL on a branching connection therefrom, without itself contributing to the latency of the FC-AL. Such connection structure is physically implemented in FIG. 5 by connecting the output voltage signal from Disk 1 on CPS input line B to the CPS output lines 1 and 7 through the second and eighth switches on the CPS input line B. The FC-Analyser 1 ( 152 ) is connected to the CPS output line 7 through the CPS connection loop B 7 ( 34 ) and the Disk 2 is connected to the CPS output line 1 through the CPS connection loop Bl ( 188 ). However, whilst Disk 2 continues the FC-AL by transmitting its output to CPS input line C, the FC-Analyser 1 ( 152 ) transmits the results of its analyses directly to the SES processor ( 7 ) and thereby does not itself contribute to the loop delay on the FC-AL. From the SES processor ( 7 ), the results of the FC-AL analysis are processed and transmitted to a disk on the FC-AL via the Data Gatherer Chip ( 50 ) (shown in FIG. 1 but not in FIG. 4) through SPI and ESI busses (( 54 ) and ( 52 ) in FIG. 1). [0096] For the sake of brevity, the physical connections between the remaining nodes and FC-analyser for the FC-AL depicted in FIG. 4 will not be described here, but can be ascertained on examination of FIG. 5. [0097] The SES processor ( 7 ) is also in bi-directional communication with any FC-analysers ( 70 ) (via 40 and/or 42 ) and unidirectional communication with the CPS ( 30 ) (via 36 ). The bi-directional link between the SES processor ( 7 ) and the host CPU ( 82 ), enables the SES processor ( 7 ) to transmit the results of any environmental monitoring or traffic analysis from the FC-AL analyser ( 70 ) to the host CPU ( 82 ). However, the bi-directional link also enables the host CPU ( 82 ) to issue configuration commands to the SES processor ( 7 ), which the SES processor ( 7 ) in turn transmits to the CPS ( 30 ) and/or the FC-AL analyser ( 70 ). [0098] The communication links between the host CPU ( 82 ) and the FC-AL analyser ( 70 ) via the SES processor ( 7 ) allows the FC-AL analyser ( 70 ) to be programmed by the user to measure particular analytical variables relating to the performance of the FC-AL. Such user-configurable data acquisition is enabled by software, running on the host CPU ( 82 ) (for example Vision, further details available at http://www.eurologic.ie/products/vision.htm), which packets the configuration requirements of the user into a form that can be interpreted by the SES processor ( 7 ) (e.g. configuration pages). On receiving this information the SES processor ( 7 ) determines the appropriate destination for the configuration commands and transmits it to the destination in the appropriate form. [0099] Similarly, information from the FC-AL analyser ( 70 ) is transmitted to the SES processor ( 7 ) as, for example, a status page, and thence to Vision (or other similar software) on the host CPU ( 82 ) and displayed to the user in a more accessible format. [0100] Communication between the host CPU ( 82 ) and the CPS ( 30 ) via the SES processor ( 7 ) allows the configuration of the on/off states of the different switches in the CPS matrix ( 30 ) to be programmed by the user. Such configuration of the CPS ( 30 ) thereby determines the connection sequence of nodes in the FC-AL and the structure and placement of the branching connections for FC-Analysers on the FC-AL. Configuration of the CPS ( 30 ) by the user is also enabled by software running on the host CPU ( 82 ) (for example Vision as described above). [0101] Thus, on start-up, the system operates in an autonomous mode wherein any disks connected to the storage rack transmit a signal to the Data Gatherer Chip ( 50 ) on the Pres 1−m lines, FIG. 1. This signal notifies the Data Gatherer Chip ( 50 ) of the presence of the connected disks and the SES processor ( 7 ) in turn obtains this information from the Data Gatherer Chip ( 50 ). (Alternatively, if data gatherer chips 50 , 50 ′ are not employed, the SES Processors could receive the present inputs P directly from the disks, although this would increase the cost of the edge connector required to bring the signals onto the SES processor board ( 4 ).) The SES Processor then informs the CPS ( 30 ) to make the appropriate connections to form the loop between the disks and host(s), and once the loop has been established, it is then possible for a user to configure the CPS ( 30 ) as desired both to re-order devices within the loop and to select the points at which the analysers connect to the loop. [0102] The advantages of this method of connecting the FC-AL analyser ( 70 ) and FC-AL nodes via the CPS ( 30 ) is that firstly it is possible to for the user to selectively place the FC-AL analyser ( 70 ) on the FC-AL loop without contributing to the latency of the FC-AL. Whilst the process of reporting the results of the FC-AL analyser's analyses contributes to the traffic on the FC-AL, such contribution constitutes approximately 0.1% of the bandwidth of the FC-AL and as such is not significantly detrimental to the performance of the FC-AL. [0103] Secondly, it is possible for the user to re-order the connections between the different FC-AL nodes a facility that is not available with a conventional port bypass circuit. [0104] [0104]FIG. 6 shows a more detailed block diagram of the FC-AL analyser ( 70 ) itself. Serial data on the FC-AL (shown in FIG. 4 as Serial Data to Analyser ( 32 )) is transmitted to a serialiser-deserialiser (SERDES) ( 244 ). In the embodiment shown, the SERDES ( 244 ) employed is a Vitesse 7126 . However, it should be recognised that the scope of the invention is not limited to a particular SERDES ( 244 ). The SERDES ( 244 ) samples the received serial data ( 32 ). The sampled data is re-timed by the SERDES ( 244 ) according to an internal clock. The internal clock is phase-locked to the received serial data ( 32 ) (further details can be obtained from Vitesse Data Sheet VSC7126). [0105] The SERDES ( 244 ) has two outputs in this embodiment. To generate the first output, the re-timed data is deserialised into two 10-bit characters. The two 10 bit characters are concatenated to form a 20 bit character and output onto a 20 bit data bus as Deser_FC-AL_Data ( 246 ). [0106] To generate the second output, the SERDES ( 244 ) detects FC comma characters in the sampled serial data ( 32 ). The detected comma is output on a separate bus from the deserialised data as FC-AL_Status_Data. ( 252 ). The FC AL_Status_Data ( 252 ) is stored in a status register ( 254 ) and output as FC-AL_Status ( 256 ). The component of the embodiment to which this data is transmitted will be discussed later in the description. [0107] Returning to the Deser_FC-AL_Data ( 246 ), consecutive characters on the 20 bit wide bus are stored in one of two data registers, namely FC_AL Data Register 0 ( 258 ) and FC-AL Data Register 1 ( 260 ). The FC-AL Data Register 0 ( 258 ) and FC-AL Data Register 1 ( 260 ) each have another input, namely control signals on a Load_Reg_ 0 ( 248 ) line and a Load_Reg_ 1 ( 250 ) line respectively. Such signals act to enable and disable the ability of a given register to accept an input. Such signals thereby determine to which of the two registers a given character from the Deser_FC-AL_Data ( 246 ) is transmitted. However, in this embodiment the FC-AL Data Register 0 ( 258 ) and FC-AL Data Register 1 ( 260 ) take alternate turns in accepting characters from the Deser_FC-AL_Data ( 246 ). [0108] The FC-AL Data Register 0 ( 258 ) and FC-AL Data Register 1 ( 260 ) have one output each, along which they output their 20 bit characters as FC-AL Coded_Data_ 0 ( 262 ) and FC-AL Coded_Data_ 1 ( 264 ) respectively. These two outputs are transmitted together to two, separate detection modules, namely an ordered set detection module and a 10B/8B decoding module. [0109] Looking at the first of these modules, namely the ordered set detection module, this module is shown as an Ordered_Set_Detect block ( 266 ) in FIG. 6. This module serves to detect ordered sets in data sampled from the FC-AL. The ordered set detection module ( 266 ) also performs run-length checking. [0110] Whilst the Ordered_Set_Detect block ( 266 ) supports the detection of a pre-defined set of commonly occurring ordered sets, it is also a user programmable component, enabling the user to specify particular ordered sets to be detected. Such configuration commands are transmitted to the Ordered_Set_Detect block ( 266 ) by the SES Processor ( 7 ) via the SES Processor Interface ( 240 ). The configuration commands are depicted in FIG. 5 as an Analyser_Control_Signal ( 242 ). [0111] The Ordered_Set_Detect block ( 266 ) also has as an input, the output signal from the status register ( 254 ) namely the FC-AL_Status ( 256 ). Such input enables the Ordered_Set_Detect block ( 266 ) to serve as a means of status checking and K28.5 detection. [0112] Having detected and identified specific ordered sets, the Ordered_Set_Detect block ( 266 ) produces three outputs, namely, SOF ( 268 ), EOF ( 270 ) and Filtered_Ordered_Sets ( 272 ). Looking at the first two of these outputs (i.e. SOF ( 268 ) and EOF( 270 )), the Start_of_Frame (SOF) ordered set ( 112 ) and End_of_Frame (EOF) ordered set ( 120 ) are isolated from a given set of ordered sets which had been detected and identified by the Ordered_Set_Detect block ( 266 ). The isolated ordered sets are then transmitted to a CRC Verification Block ( 282 ) along the SOF ( 268 ) line for the Start_of_Frame ordered sets ( 112 ) and EOF ( 270 ) line for the End_of_Frame ordered sets ( 120 ). This description will return to the CRC Verification Block ( 282 ) later. [0113] We return now to the third output from the Ordered_Set_Detect block ( 266 ), namely the Filtered_Ordered_Sets ( 272 ). Following the isolation of the Start_of_Frame (SOF) and End_of_Frame (EOF) ordered sets, the Filtered_Ordered_Sets ( 272 ) output is used to transmit the remaining ordered sets detected and identified by the Ordered_Set_Detect block ( 266 ) to a set of ordered set counters ( 274 ). The ordered set counters ( 274 ) will be described later in the description. [0114] Turning now to the second module to which the FC-AL Data Register 0 ( 258 ) and FC-AL Data Register 1 ( 260 ) transmit their outputs, this is shown in the diagram as a module comprised of four 10B/8B Decoding blocks ( 276 ). The purpose of the 10B/8B Decoding blocks ( 276 ) is to decode the 40 bits characters received from the FC-AL Data Registers ( 258 and 260 ) (i.e. FC-AL Coded_Data 0 ( 262 ) and FC-AL Coded Data 1 ( 264 )) into 32 bit characters. Such decoding is performed in accordance with the inverse of the 8B/10B encoding scheme described earlier. The resulting 32 bit characters are output from the 10B/8B decoding blocks along a single bus (shown as FC-AL Decoded_Data ( 278 ) in FIG. 6) to two further modules, namely the CRC Verification Block ( 282 ) and a Frame Detection Block ( 280 )). Each of these modules will be discussed in greater detail later in the description. [0115] Returning to the ordered set counters ( 274 ), the LIP counters ( 284 ), ARB counters ( 286 ) enumerate the number of occurrences of these common ordered sets over a period of time. Further, in correspondence with the facility for user-programmable, specific ordered set detection provided by the Ordered_Set_Detect block ( 266 ) as described above, the ordered set counters ( 274 ) also count the occurrences of the user specified ordered sets. Such counters are depicted as OS counters x 0 -xn ( 288 ) in FIG. 6. [0116] The ordered set counters ( 274 ) will also count the number of occurrences of Run Length Disparities (RLDs) in the RLD counter ( 290 ). An RLD is used as an indicator of lack of synchronisation but is not strictly an ordered set. The ordered set counters ( 274 ) have one output which is transmitted to the SES processor ( 7 ) via the SES processor interface ( 240 ). [0117] Returning now to the CRC Verification Block ( 282 ), it will be recalled that this block has three inputs, SOF ( 268 ), EOF ( 270 ) and FC-AL Decoded_Data ( 278 ). The CRC Verification Block ( 282 ) uses the information from the CRC ( 118 ) part of the frame so delimited, to enable error detection in the associated frame. The validity or invalidity of a frame as detected by the CRC Verification Block ( 282 ) is flagged as such by the CRC Verification Block ( 282 ) and output as a Frame_Validity_Flag ( 292 ). The Frame_Validity_Flag ( 292 ) is transmitted to two separate modules namely the Frame Detection Block ( 280 ) and a block of counters for the number of occurrences of valid and invalid frames ( 294 ) over a period of time. The data from the number of valid frames and number of invalid frames counters ( 294 ) are output to the SES processor ( 7 ) via the SES processor interface ( 240 ). [0118] Returning to the Frame Detection Block ( 280 ), it will be recalled that this block has two inputs, namely the Frame_Validity_Flag ( 292 ) and the FC-AL Decoded Data ( 278 ). The Frame Detection Block ( 280 ) isolates header information such as source address, destination address etc. from a frame. If the CRC Verification Block ( 282 ) flags that the associated frame was invalid via the Frame_Validity_Flag ( 292 ) signal, then the information isolated in the Frame Detection Block ( 280 ) is transmitted to a block of registers, namely the Last Bad Frame Data Registers ( 296 ) as Assessed_Frames_Data ( 298 ). In the Last Bad Frame Data Registers ( 296 ) individual isolated frame attributes are written to their corresponding register (e.g. source address etc.). However, if the CRC Verification Block ( 282 ) flags that the associated frame was valid, then the information isolated in the Frame Detection Block ( 280 ) is discarded. [0119] The data contained in the Last Bad Frame Data Registers ( 296 ) are output to the SES processor ( 7 ) via the SES processor interface ( 240 ). However, if the data received by the FC-AL analyser is of very poor quality (i.e. with a high rate of invalid frames) it is possible that received frames may be recognised as invalid faster than it is possible for the SES processor ( 7 ) to read the data from the Last Bad Frame Data Registers ( 296 ). In such circumstance, the number of invalid frames counter ( 294 ) will continue incrementing itself in response to the recognised bad frames. However, in order to reduce the risk of overwriting data in the Last Bad Frame Data Registers ( 296 ), the Last Bad Frame Data Registers ( 296 ) are such that it is not possible to write more information to them until their current contents have been read by the SES processor ( 7 ). For example the Last Bad Frame Data Registers ( 296 ) comprises a sample and hold component, with a sampling rate matching the rate at which the SES processor ( 7 ) can recover the data from the Last Bad Frame Data Registers ( 296 ). Hence if frames are being recognised as being invalid faster than the SES processor ( 7 ) can read the header data from the Last Bad Frame Data Registers ( 296 ), the Last Bad Frame Data Registers ( 296 ) will only hold data from the last invalid frame detected by the CRC Verification Block ( 282 ). [0120] In summary, the FC-AL analyser accepts as input, data from the FC-AL and configuration commands from the SES processor ( 7 ) and outputs to the SES processor ( 7 ) the information from the ordered set counters ( 274 ), the Last Bad Frame Data Registers ( 296 ) and the number of valid and invalid frames counters ( 294 ). [0121] Where the SES processor ( 7 ) receives information from more than one analyser ( 70 ) on a loop, it can then collate this information and even make a diagnosis of a problem on the loop, before reporting this problem to a host application.
A fiber channel analyzer for analyzing the operation of a fiber channel arbitrated loop (FC-AL) to which a plurality of devices are connectable is disclosed. The analyzer is adapted to be housed in an enclosure which, in use, houses at least one of the fiber channel devices. The analyzer extracts data from the fiber channel, processes the extracted data; and communicates processed data to a SES Processor through a secondary communication bus.
7
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 662,873 filed Mar. 1, 1976, now abandoned, which in turn is a continuation of application Ser. No. 454,817 filed Mar. 26, 1974 and now abandoned. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to fastener placing apparatus for placing fasteners of the type comprising a threaded first part which is pulled towards and/or into a second part to place the fastener. Such fastener placing apparatus comprises an abutment for abutting the second part of a fastener to be placed, and a threaded member for engaging with the threaded first part of the fastener, the threaded member being rotatable and reciprocable with respect to the abutment. Such apparatus is hereinafter referred to as "fastener placing apparatus of the type defined," and one form is described in detail in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,014. It has been found that, in such tools in which the threaded mandrel has no permissible movement sideways from alignment with the tool axis, the rate of breakage of mandrels in use of the tool is unexceptably high, due to initial mis-alignment of the tool causing too much sideways bending stress on the mandrel. It is an object of this invention to reduce the breakage rate of mandrels consequent upon initial mis-alignment of the tool. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention provides, in one of its aspects, apparatus for placing a fastener by pulling a threaded first part of the fastener towards and/or into a second part of the fastener, which apparatus comprises abutment means having an abutment face for abutting the second part of the fastener and defining a tool axis at right angles to said abutment face, a threaded mandrel for threadedly engaging the first part of the fastener, and a tubular auxiliary member coaxial with said tool axis and surrounding said mandrel with clearance, said auxiliary member being reciprocable along said tool axis relative to said abutment means and projecting forwardly of said abutment means when at the forward end of its reciprocation, said mandrel being reciprocable and rotatable and having limited freedom to move out of alignment with said tool axis, said freedom to move being limited by the auxiliary member. Preferable the auxiliary member is arranged to prevent contact of the threaded member with the abutment, at least while the threaded member is rotating. The auxiliary member may be in the form of a sleeve or other tube-like member surrounding part of the threaded member. The auxiliary member may be interposed between the threaded member and the abutment member. The arrangement is such that, in use of the apparatus to place a fastener, the auxiliary member also engages the fastener and such engagement may assist in preventing undesired deformation or collapse of the fastener. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a longitudinal axial section through a fastener placing tool; FIG. 2 shows the tool with the threaded member in the initial stage of engagement with a misaligned fastener; FIG. 3 shows the tool and fastener in complete engagement and in alignment with each other; FIG. 4 is a longitudinal axial section through part of a fastener placing tool, illustrating, on a smaller scale than that of FIGS. 1 to 3, another embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 5 shows, on a reduced scale, a reversible rotary air motor unit for use in driving the placing tools. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The fastener placing tool of this example comprises a generally cylindrical body 11 to one end of which (the forward end) is secured a tubular extension 12. A generally tubular nose-piece 13 projects forwardly from the extension 12, and is substantially closed at its forward end by an annular end wall which provides an annular abutment face 14 for engaging with the second part of a fastener to be placed by the tool. The abutment face 14 constitutes the abutment hereinbefore referred to. The threaded member previously referred to is provided by a mandrel 15. The mandrel comprises an elongate stem which extends forwardly through the annular end wall of the nosepiece, and a radially enlarged head 19 at the rearward end of the stem. The stem has an externally threaded part 16 adjacent to the forward end and an unthreaded part 18 between the head 19 and the threaded part 16. Forwardly of the threaded part 16 is an unthreaded probe portion 17 which is tapered at its extreme forward end and assists in engaging the mandrel in a fastener. The probe portion 17 and the unthreaded part 18 of the stem have reduced diameters compared with the diameter of the threaded part 16, their diameters being approximately equal to the root diameter of the threaded part 16. The threaded part 16 is adapted to threadedly engage the threaded first portion of a fastener. The head 19 of the mandrel has a hexagonal socket 21 in its rear end face. This hexagonal socket is a slack fit on a hexagonal key 22 which is secured in a hexagonal socket in the front end of a rotatable and reciprocable drawbar 23 located inside the extension 12 and the front end of the body 11. The key 22 provides a rotary driving connection between the drawbar and the mandrel. The auxiliary member is provided by a tube 24 which surrounds the unthreaded part 18 of the mandrel stem. In this embodiment the tube 24 is integral with a hollow boss 25 which is secured to the front end of the drawbar 23 and holds the mandrel and key in driven engagement with the drawbar. The head 19 of the mandrel is joined to the exterior of the unthreaded portion 18 through a conically tapering face 26 which seats against a complementary conical face 27 within the boss 25. The drawbar 23, the boss 25 and the tube 24 are rotatable together about the longitudinal axis 28 of the tool body. The annular abutment face 14 is perpendicular to and concentric with this tool axis 28. The slack fit of the mandrel head 19 within the boss 25 and of the mandrel hexagonal socket 21 on the hexagonal key 22 allow the mandrel to move out of alignment with the drawbar, pivoting about a position located at the hexagonal key and socket, within the limits imposed by the clearance between the inside of the tube 24 and the exterior of the unthreaded portion 18 of the mandrel. The maximum angular misalignment possible between the mandrel axis 29 and the tool axis 28 is about 3°. The placing tool is driven by an air motor unit 52 of conventional kind shown in FIG. 5. The air motor unit 52 is secured to the rear end of the cylindrical body 11 of the placing tool by engagement of a male screw thread 53 on the motor unit with a complementary screw thread 54 in the rear end of the body 11. The motor unit contains a reversible rotary air motor 55 which is supplied with compressed air via an air line, and has an output member 56 which is rotated by the air motor and provides a rotary drive for the placing tool. The output member has a hexagonal socket 57 for receiving a complementary hexagonal key to be rotated. The motor unit includes an on/off valve 58 and a reversing valve 59 each with appropriate manual controls, whereby the operation of the air motor can be controlled. The placing tool body contains a lead-screw device indicated generally at 31 whereby the rotary drive imparted by the motor unit is either transmitted to rotate the drawbar 23 or is translated into reciprocatory movement of the drawbar 23, as will become apparent. As the mandrel 15 is held in driven engagement with the drawbar, the mandrel executes rotatory and reciprocatory movements corresponding to those of the drawbar. The leadscrew device 31 comprises a generally tubular nut housing 60 which is mounted for rotation about the tool axis between two thrust bearings 62, 64. A hexagonal key 66 which is able to engage in the output member 56 of the motor unit, to be rotated thereby, is pinned in the bore of the nut housing 60 and projects rearwardly of the body 11. An internally screw threaded nut 68 is pinned within the bore of the nut housing adjacent to the forward end thereof so as to be rotatable with the nut housing at a fixed position on the tool axis. The drawbar 23 is in two sections and comprises an elongate bolt 70 and a socket adaptor 72. The bolt 70 is externally threaded and extends through the nut 68 in threaded engagement therewith and forwardly into the body extension 12. The rear end of the bolt is formed with an enlarged bolt head 74 having a peripheral groove 76 in which is seated a nearly circular bandspring 78. One end of the bandspring is keyed to the bolt head and the other end is free. The bandspring 78 is not rotatable relative to the bolt head. The bandspring is resiliently compressed radially inwardly by the surrounding nut housing 60 so that it resiliently expands into engagement with the internal surface of the nut housing. According to the direction of any relative rotation between the nut housing 60 and the bolt 70, the bandspring will assume either a leading condition in which it tends to expand and transmit a large frictional force (that is to say, a high torque) between the nut housing and the bolt, or a trailing condition in which it will transmit a lesser torque than in the leading condition. When the tool is to be used for placing fasteners having a right-hand thread, the bandspring is arranged to transmit the greater torque in a clockwise sense as viewed from the left hand end in the drawings, and conversely, when the fastener has a left hand thread, the bandspring is arranged to transmit the greater torque in the anticlockwise sense. By reason of the frictional engagement provided between the nut housing and the bandspring, the bandspring provides a torque limiting rotary connection between the nut housing and the drawbar and the connection is assymmetric in the sense that it will transmit a greater torque in one sense of rotation than in the opposite sense. The bandspring 78 is not always essential since the function of providing a torque limiting rotary connection having an assymetric characteristic which it performs can be performed by frictional engagement of the bolt head 74 against the nut 68 at the appropriate time, provided that a second torque limiting rotary connection which is necessarily provided is endowed with an assymmetric characteristic. Thus, when the bolt head 74 moves fully forwardly into engagement with the nut 68 it tends to jam into frictional engagement with the nut so that when the direction of rotation of the nut is reversed a certain finite torque is required to separate the bolt head from the nut. Thus a torque up to this amount can be transmitted from the nut to the drawbar and the bandspring then serves only to duplicate the torque limiting rotary connection between the head 74 and the nut 68 as a fail safe measure. The socket adaptor 72 is secured to the forward end of the bolt 70, being threadedly engaged and pinned therein, so that the adaptor 72 and bolt are rotatable and reciprocable as a unit. The socket adaptor 72 provides a hexagonal socket in which is engaged the hexagonal key 22 so that the mandrel 15 is keyed for rotation with the drawbar. The socket adaptor 72 also receives the hollow boss 25 whereby the mandrel is held captive to the drawbar so as to reciprocate with the drawbar. A second torque limiting rotary connection in the form of a slipping clutch 80 having an assymmetric characteristic to enable omission of the bandspring is provided between the drawbar and the tool body 11. The clutch 80 comprises a movable clutch member 82 which is keyed to the bolt 70 of the drawbar for rotation therewith and so as to be movable axially relative to the drawbar. The movable member 82 is formed with a rearwardly facing ring of teeth 84 each having two faces which slope in mutually opposite directions of rotation of the ring and which are engageable with similarly sloping faces of a complementary ring of teeth 86 formed on a forwardly facing end surface of the body 11. The movable member 82 is permanently urged rearwardly by a helical spring 88 so that its teeth interengage those of the body 11 which constitutes a fixed member of the clutch. The two oppositely directed faces of each tooth of the two rings of teeth slope at different angles, all of the more steeply sloping faces of each set being directed in the same sense of rotation and engaging the steeply sloping faces of the teeth of the other ring. Thus the slipping clutch 80 also has assymmetric torque transmitting characteristics and is arranged so that, for placing right hand threaded fasteners, a greater torque can be transmitted from the drawbar to the body in a clockwise direction and conversely for left-handed threaded fasteners. The spring 88 is supported between washers 90, 92 on a sleeve 94 which has an external flange 96 at its forward end. The rearward end of the nosepiece 13 has an external flange 98 disposed between the flange 96 and an inwardly directed flange 100 at the forward end of the extension 12. The nosepiece 13 and the sleeve 94 are able to move rearwardly relative to the extension 12 from the position shown in FIG. 1 to the position shown in FIG. 3 and in doing so compress the spring 88 so that the movable member 82 of the clutch is pressed more strongly into engagement with the fixed member, thereby increasing the torque transmissible by the slipping clutch in both directions of rotation. However, when the nosepiece is in its fully forward position, as shown in FIG. 1, the pressure exerted by the spring 88 is sufficient to keep the clutch members lightly engaged so that a low torque can be transmitted by the clutch. When this low torque is then exceeded the mutually engaging sloping faces of the two clutch members ride up each other, causing the movable member to move axially forwardly against the urging of the spring until the teeth of the movable member ride over those of the fixed member thus causing relative rotation between the two clutch members. The operation of the lead screw device whereby the mandrel can be rotated and reciprocated will now be described in relation to a fastener having a right hand thread. Initially, as shown in FIG. 1, the nosepiece 13 is in its forward position, the slipping clutch members being lightly engaged, and the drawbar 23 is fully forward with the bolt head 74 jammed against or at least abutting the nut 68. The air motor is actuated to rotate the nut housing 60 and with it the nut 68 in a clockwise direction. Friction between the bolt head 74 and the nut 68, aided by that between the nut housing 60 and the bandspring causes the drawbar to rotate so that the movable clutch member 82 rotates relative to the fixed member, i.e., the body 11, and the mandrel 15 is rotated. The tool is offered up to a fastener 32 (shown in FIG. 2) so that the rotating mandrel is entered into threaded engagement with the fastener. As the mandrel advances into the fastener, so the relatively rearwardly moving fastener comes into abutment with the nosepiece 13 moving it rearwardly and thus increasing the force exerted by the spring 88 on the movable clutch member 82. Eventually the slipping clutch 80 is able to transmit more torque than both the bandspring and the friction between the bolt head and the nut, with the result that the drawbar is prevented from rotating. However, the nut continues to rotate and as a consequence the non-rotating drawbar moves axially rearwardly thereby placing the fastener as will be explained in greater detail below. Once the fastener is fully placed the direction of rotation of the motor is reversed, so that the nut rotates in the opposite sense. The nosepiece is still at its rearward position so that the slipping clutch is still preventing rotation of the drawbar relative to the body and therefore the drawbar moves axially forwards until the bolt head again strikes the nut, and in this process the nosepiece is permitted to move forwardly with the fastener also so that the spring pressure on the movable clutch member decreases. Once the bolt head 74 strikes the nut, the slipping clutch is overtorqued and slips so that the drawbolt again rotates, this time in the anticlockwise sense, and thus disengages the mandrel from the fastener. The fastener 32 is generally tubular and comprises an internally threaded first part 33 formed integrally with a second part having an unthreaded tubular intermediate portion 35 and an outwardly extending head flange 34 which is joined to the first part by the tubular intermediate portion 35. The fastener is inserted, with the threaded first part leading, into a suitably sized aperture in a panel 36 until the flange 34 abuts the near face of the panel. The method of using the tool to place the fastener is generally that the operator actuates the tool to rotate the mandrel in a clockwise direction and offers the threaded end part 16 of the mandrel into the fastener, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The threaded part 16 of the mandrel engages with the threaded first part 33 of the fastener and draws the tool towards the fastener, the operator pushing the tool gently towards the panel 36. The abutment face 14 of the nosepiece then meets the flange 34 of the fastener, and as illustrated in FIG. 3, the nosepiece 13 is thereby caused to be displaced relatively towards the tool body (or rather the tool body is moved forwardly with respect to the nosepiece) and this causes the leadscrew device 31 of the tool to be actuated to stop clockwise rotation of the drawbar and to retract the drawbar rearwardly relative to the tool body. When the drawbar 23 is retracted with respect to the tool body, the mandrel 15 is also retracted by the transmission of the axial thrust from the boss 25, which is secured to the drawbar, to the mandrel 15 through the two aubtting frustoconical faces 27 and 26 respectively. Since the operator is still pressing the tool towards the panel, the abutment face 14 of the nosepiece holds the fastener head flange 34 against the panel, and the pull on the mandrel which is engaged with the threaded first part 33 of the fastener causes the fastener to contract axially by outwards buckling of the intermediate portion 35. This forms an annular bulge or flange in the body of the fastener which, together with the head flange 34, grips the panel 36 securely, thus installing the threaded fastener in the panel. The tool is then disengaged from the placed fastener by reversing the drive to unscrew the mandrel from the fastener. It should be noted that when the nosepiece is fully displaced in the tool body with the drawbar and mandrel still unretracted (the position shown in FIG. 3), there is still clearance between the rear face of the end wall of the nosepiece and the front of the boss 25. The permissible movement of the mandrel so that its axis 29 can diverge from alignment with the tool axis 28 allows the tool to be offered up to, and initially engaged with the fastener, with the tool axis slightly out of alignment with the fastener axis as illustrated in FIG. 2. The mandrel can align itself with and threadedly engage the fastener whilst still rotating out of alignment with the tool axis, the hexagonal key 22 and socket 21 acting as a universal joint. The amount of mis-alignment between the axes of the tool and mandrel is limited by the contact of the unthreaded portion 18 of the mandrel with the forward end of the tube 24. Once the mandrel has been screwed sufficiently far into the threaded first part of the fastener, the forward end of the tube 24 enters into the second part of the fastener and brings the axes of the tool and fastener into mutual alignment so that the abutment face 14 of the nosepiece 13 can abut the head 34 squarely. The tube 24 also performs a second function in that, when the mandrel is retracted with respect to the nosepiece and tool body to collapse the intermediate portion 35 of the fastener as previously described, the presence of the tube 24 inside this portion prevents this portion of the fastener from collapsing inwardly. The tube 24 is also retracted in unison with the mandrel 15, and therefore does not interfere with the pulling of the threaded part 33 of the fastener towards the head flange 34. In the foregoing embodiment, the auxiliary member was formed as an integral part comprising the tube 24 and the boss 25. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4 which is generally similar to the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 3 and in which the same reference numerals are used to indicate similar parts, two separate parts are provided to perform the functions performed by the integral tube 24 and boss 25 of the foregoing embodiment. Thus, in this embodiment, a tubular cap 40 is secured to the forward end of the drawbar 23 and holds the head 19 of the mandrel 15 in driven engagement with the forward end of the drawbar. Instead of a hexagonal key and socket arrangement for transmitting rotary drive from the drawbar to the mandrel, as in the previous embodiment, there is provided a key and slot arrangement. Thus, the mandrel head 19 is provided with a diametrical slot 42 in its rear end face and the drawbar is formed integrally with a key 44 which extends diametrically across the forward end face of the drawbar, providing a wide, thin forward projection, analogous to a screwdriver blade, which enters into the slot 42 in the head of the mandrel whereby rotation of the drawbar is transmitted to the mandrel. The stem 18 of the mandrel projects forwardly through an aperture 45 in the forward end of the cap 40 and forwardly through the annular nosepiece 13 of the tool. The head of the mandrel is a loose fit inside the cap 40 and the cap has a conical face 27 complementary to the conically tapering face 26 of the mandrel head to form a seating through which rearward axial thrust from the drawbar can be transmitted through the cap 40 to the mandrel. As the head of the mandrel is a loose fit within the cap and the key 44 is a loose fit within the slot 42, the mandrel is permitted to move out of alignment with the axis of the drawbar, pivoting about a position located at the slot in the mandrel head. The auxiliary member in this embodiment is in the form of a sleeve 46 comprising a tube 47 which surrounds the unthreaded part 18 of mandrel clearance, and an external flange 48 at the rearward end of the tube. The tube 47 extends through and is a sliding fit in the annular end wall at the forward end of the nosepiece, and the flange 48 is adapted to abut the internal surface 50 of the end wall so that the sleeve is retained in the nosepiece. It will be appreciated that the mandrel has some freedom of movement so that its stem can move out of alignment with the tool axis, this freedom of movement being limited by the tube 47 which is located in the annular end wall of the nosepiece. In FIG. 4, the drawbolt is shown in its most rearward position, the mandrel and sleeve being fully retracted relative to the abutment face of the nosepiece. Before the tool in this condition can be used to place a fastener, it will be necessary to return the drawbolt forwardly by operating the drive in reverse to that used when placing a fastener. When the drawbolt is thus returned to its forward position the mandrel is advanced forwardly so that the stem projects further beyond the abutment face 14. At the same time, the forwrd end of the cap 40 abuts the flange 48 and so the sleeve is pushed forwardly so that the tube 47 also projects forwardly of the abutment face. In order to place a fastener, the tool is then operated to rotate the mandrel in a sense appropriate to threadedly engage with the threaded portion of the fastener and, as the mandrel progressively enters into the fastener, the tube 47 also progressively enters into the second part of the fastener where it serves to prevent the fastener collapsing inwardly as previously explained. As in the previous embodiment, progressive entry of the mandrel and tube 47 into the fastener eventually causes the nosepiece of the tool to be displaced rearwardly thereby causing the lead screw device to cease rotating the mandrel and to cause it to retract. The sleeve 46 is pushed rearwardly into the nosepiece by the rearward movement of the first part of the fastener under the influence of the retracting mandrel. In this embodiment however, the sleeve is floating and is not obliged to rotate with the mandrel as it is in the previous embodiment although it may do so if the rotating mandrel moves sufficiently out of alignment with the tool axis to frictionally engage the sleeve. As the sleeve does not necessarily rotate with the mandrel it will have little tendency to impart rotation with a fastener with which it becomes engaged. This is of advantage during the placing of the fastener and also particularly during removal of the tool from a fastener which due to an error of judgement of the tool operator has not firmly gripped the panel in which it has been placed. In such circumstances it can happen that the friction between the fastener and the tube is greater than that between the fastener and the panel 36. Therefore if the tube were to be positively driven to rotate with the mandrel, difficulty would occur in disengaging the mandrel from the fastener. Thus by arranging that the sleeve is not positively driven to rotate with the mandrel but rather tends to restrain rotation of the fastener, disengagement of the mandrel from the fastener is facilitated. The fastener placing tool of the foregoing examples is advantageous in that it allows a certain amount of angular mis-alignment between the tool and the fastener, at least in the initial stages. The invention is not restricted to details of the foregoing example.
A tool for placing fasteners of the kind having a threaded first part which is pulled towards and/or into a second part to place the fastener without the need to accurately align the tool with the fastener, comprises a tubular nosepiece providing an annular abutment face for abutting the second part of the fastener and a mandrel which extends through the nosepiece and has a threaded part which projects forwardly of the abutment face for threadedly engaging the first part of the fastener. A draw bar which is rotatable and reciprocable on the tool axis which extends through the annular abutment face at right angles thereto transmits rotary and reciprocating motion to the mandrel through a universal joint whereby the mandrel is given freedom to move pivotally out of alignment with the tool axis. A tube surrounds part of the mandrel and limits the freedom of movement of the mandrel, and is movable along the tool axis. In one embodiment the tube is reciprocated and rotated with the mandrel and in another embodiment, the tube is not obliged to rotate or reciprocate with the mandrel. The tube projects forwardly of the abutment face when at the forward end of its reciprocation and engages the fastener and assists correction of alignment of the tool and prevents inward collapse of the fastener.
1
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to and fully incorporates by reference, U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/641,376 filed on 2 May 2012. TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates to a modular welding system which can be used with both left-handed and right-handed wire drive motor assemblies. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Welding, such as gas metal arc welding, requires a continuous feed of metal wire to the welding tip, torch, nozzle, or gun, for use in the welding process. Wire feeders generally include a reel stand for holding a reel of wire and a wire drive module that draws wire from the reel and supplies it to the welding tip. Wire feeders are provided as single and double header wire feeders, and additionally are typically available in both bench and boom mounted versions. In addition to the wire feeder, a welding system generally also includes welding gun connections, inlet gas connector (if necessary) with associated torch connector as well as a user interface with various required and optional control systems and interconnections. The wire feeder is often secured to the welding unit. With a single header wire feeder, wire from the wire feeder reel stand is routed to the welding unit according to the location of the wire drive system, i.e., on the left-hand side or right-hand side depending on the location of the drive motor. In a dual header wire drive, both wire reels and wire drive motors are positioned on both sides of the welding unit. While this obviates the left-handedness or right-handedness of the unit, it effectively increases both the size and cost of the unit. With single header wire feeders, one possible solution to switching from a right-handed drive motor to a left-handed drive motor would be to simply rotate the entire wire drive and any associated controllers. However, this solution is not ideal because of cable routing and physical workspace limitation issues; for example the user interface may be in a position where it cannot be adjusted. With dual header wire feeders, this solution requires maintaining additional, if substantially identical, product lines, manufacturing additional components, and requiring additional overhead to warehouse and shelve these products. Therefore, there is a recognized need for a reversible wire feeder that may be interchangeably configurable to be used with a left-handed or right-handed wire feeder. There is therefore recognized a need in the art for a wire feed unit that may be configured to provide dual wire feeding in a small footprint, or may be configured to provide either single or dual wire feeding with a single unit. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a modular welding system which includes at least the following: at least one controller module, each of the at least one controller modules comprising at least one gas inlet connector and at least one welding control cable connector; at least one user interface module operatively connected to the at least one controller module; at least one separable wire drive module positionable from a first position to a second position, each of the separable wire drive modules comprising a feed module, the wire drive module connected to and in operative communication with the at least one controller module such that repositioning the wire drive module from the first position to the second position maintains the at least the at least one gas inlet connector, the at least one welding control cable connector and optionally the at least one user interface connector, on the same plane; and at least one wire feed means, which in one embodiment is a reel stand for supporting a reel of wire and providing the wire to the wire feeder, while in another embodiment is a welding wire box through which welding wire exits through an opening in the box; wherein the wire drive module is configurable to feed wire in either a first position or a second position. In one aspect of the invention, the at least one separable wire drive module is positionable from the first position to the second position by rotation of the wire drive module about a central longitudinal axis of the wire drive module which is parallel to a wire feed axis. In another aspect of the invention, the at least one separable wire drive module is positionable from the first position to the second position by rotation of the wire drive module about a central vertical axis of the wire drive module which is normal to a wire feed axis. In yet another aspect of the invention, the at least one wire drive module further includes first and second connectors for selectively engaging the controller module upon rotation of the wire drive module. The invention is not limited to a single welding system, but includes systems which have two welding systems in which there is at least two controller modules, at least two separable wire drive modules, each module having one wire drive positionable from a first position to a second position, each of the separable wire drive modules including a feed module, the wire drive module connected to and in operative communication with at least one controller module (optionally two controller modules) such that repositioning the wire drive module from the first position to the second position maintains the position of at least some of the connectors affixed to the controller modules in the same plane or surface. The invention also includes a method for changing a wire feeder in a welding system from at least one welding wire drive which is positioned on one side of the wire feeder to an opposed side of the wire feeder including the following steps (without regard to order): providing at least one modular wire feeder having a controller module, at least one separable and repositionable wire drive module having a wire feeder, at least one user interface module, and a wire reel stand, the controller module, the wire drive module and the user interface module in operative connectivity; removing the welding wire drive from one side of the at least one wire feeder module to the opposed side of the wire feeder without repositioning any of the operative connectivity; positioning the at least one wire reel stand to match one of the wire feeder modules; reattaching the wire drive module to the opposed side of the at least one wire feeder without repositioning any of the operative connectivity; and controllably feeding wire from a reel of welding wire on the at least one wire reel stand through the wire feeder. The method also encompasses the step of providing at least two modular wire feeders and also where the step of providing at least two modular wire feeders includes a first wire feeder which is positioned in a right-hand arrangement and a second wire feeder which is positioned in a left-hand arrangement. The step of selecting a first or second position for a modular wire feeder includes the use of a switch on the user interface module for interface with the first wire feeder or the second wire feeder, the employment of which selectively engages to control one of the first or second wire feeders. In still another aspect of the invention, a modular welding system is disclosed for use with a wire feeder for left- or right-hand wire feed, which includes: a controller module comprising at least a power connector and a gas inlet at one end of the controller module; a user interface module operatively connected to the controller module, the user interface module positioned at an opposed end of the controller module; a separable and repositionable wire drive module operatively connected to the controller module, the wire drive module further including a positionable wire feeder; a means for using either a left-handed or right-hand wire drive module without repositioning of the user interface module or the controller module. As before, the separable wire drive module is positionable (a) from a first position to a second position by rotation of the wire drive module about a central longitudinal axis of the wire drive module which is parallel to a wire feed axis or (b) from a first position to a second position by rotation of the wire drive module about a central vertical axis of the wire drive module which is normal to a wire feed axis. The modular welding system further optionally includes a means for detecting if the wire feeder is in a left-hand or right-hand arrangement. These and other objects of this invention will be evident when viewed in light of the drawings, detailed description and appended claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention may take physical form in certain parts and arrangements of parts, a preferred embodiment of which will be described in detail in the specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and wherein: FIG. 1 a is a front perspective view of a prior art right-handed welding wire feed system with spindle, associated wire drive system and user interface; FIG. 1 b is a side perspective view of a prior art four roll drive right-handed welding wire feed drive system; FIG. 1 c is a side perspective of a prior art two roll drive right-handed welding wire feed drive system; FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a left-handed modular wire feeder; FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a right-handed modular wire feeder similar to that illustrated in FIG. 1 ; FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a left-handed wire feed module shown in FIG. 2 ; FIG. 5 is a cutaway view of a wire drive module taken along line 5 - 5 in FIG. 2 ; FIG. 6A is a side view of the wire drive module illustrated in FIG. 3 ; FIG. 6B is a side view of the wire drive module of FIG. 6A with the feed cover removed; FIG. 6C is a side view of the wire drive module of FIG. 6A illustrating the drive shaft; FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the modular wire feeder illustrating plug-in capability; FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the wire feeder; FIG. 9A is a front plan view of multiple wire feeders in which the control modules are interposed between the wire drive modules positioned both above and below; FIG. 9B is a front plan view of multiple wire feeders in which the control modules are positioned below each wire drive modules; and FIG. 10 is a plan view of a user control interface. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The best mode for carrying out the invention will now be described for the purposes of illustrating the best mode known to the applicant at the time of the filing of this patent application. The examples and figures are illustrative only and not meant to limit the invention, which is measured by the scope and spirit of the claims. Referring now to the drawings, wherein the showings are for the purpose of illustrating an exemplary embodiment of the invention only and not for the purpose of limiting same, FIG. 1A illustrates a prior art right-handed drive motor welding wire feed system 100 with welding wire spindle 102 , associated wire drive system 104 and user interface 106 . While a welding wire spindle is illustrated in the Figure, there is no need to limit the invention to the same, and welding wire feeding means would include welding wire sourced from a box. As better illustrated in FIGS. 1B & 1C , wire drive systems are available with a two roll drive, see FIG. 1C , and a four roll drive, see FIG. 1B . As illustrated with this particular wire drive system 104 , the system includes at least one tensioner 108 to set the tension upon the welding wire and either a pair of drive rolls 110 a , 110 b , better illustrated in FIG. 1C or two pairs of drive rolls, 112 a , 112 b and 114 a , 114 b better illustrated in FIG. 1B . Fastening hub 116 is affixed to the protruding axle of the drive wheels for securing engagement. In an optional aspect of the invention, split wire guide 118 is positioned between the drive wheels for full welding wire support throughout the drive path. As shown in FIG. 2 , modular wire feeder 20 includes controller module (illustrated as positioned within base 22 , although the module could be positioned within modular wire feeder 26 or user interface module 24 ), user interface module 24 , wire drive module 26 with left-handed wire feeder 28 as well as welding wire reel stand 30 with spindle 32 . Appropriate modules are connected to one another, mechanically and/or electrically, providing communication therebetween, the electronic connection including wireless transmission. As better illustrated in FIG. 3 , controller module 22 includes power cable 34 and optionally, gas line 36 providing shielding gas for the welding operation. When appropriate, control module 22 includes interface 38 for connecting to and utilizing the shield gas and power, for example to a separate or integral welding unit. User interface module 24 is operatively connected to controller module 22 by means of user interface cable 40 , recognizing that wireless connectivity is within the scope of this invention. User interface cable 40 receives input from user interface module 24 and electronically communicates appropriate information to control module 22 , which in turn, communicates appropriate information to wire drive module 26 or other components. Control module 22 communicates with user module 24 through interface cable 40 , providing power, gas flow information, or other data useful in the welding process. User interface module 24 optionally includes dials, displays, or other control or display elements as known in the art. As illustrated in FIG. 3 , wire drive module 26 is connected to controller module 22 by means of wire drive cable 42 which communicates information between controller module 22 and wire drive module 26 , the information including, but not limited to, the rate of wire transfer, size of wire, wire tension and other information. As illustrated in more detail in FIG. 4 , the basic configuration of wire drive module 26 includes housing 44 and wire feeder 28 . As illustrated in the figure, housing 44 is generally rectangular, having opposed top 46 and bottom 48 as well as opposed left 50 and right 52 sides. These designations are intended to be illustrative rather than limiting, and not intended to convey a specific arrangement or position of wire drive module 26 . As will become apparent from the following description and drawings, wire drive module 26 is positionable in several different arrangements. As further shown in FIGS. 4 & 6A , wire feeder 28 includes wire receiving end 54 and wire exiting end 56 , often, but not necessarily, a circular aperture. Wire from the reel positioned onto spindle 32 of wire reel stand 30 is received in receiving end 54 of feeder 28 , straightened, and fed through the wire exiting end 56 at a rate communicated to wire drive module 26 by controller module 22 as set by the user at user-interface 24 . It should be noted that spindle 32 is positionable on either side of wire reel stand 30 as illustrated in a comparison of FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 illustrates. FIG. 5 is a cutaway view showing the internal arrangement of wire drive module 26 . In this figure, housing 44 contains drive motor 58 that rotates drive shaft 60 by means of a series of gears, a worm gear, belt, or other configuration known in the art. Drive motor 58 is shown as being perpendicular to drive shaft 60 , although it should be recognized that the drive motor is be of any arrangement including parallel, perpendicular, or angled relative to drive shaft 60 . As illustrated, the drive shaft extends between opposed left 50 and right 52 sides of housing 44 . In the arrangement shown in FIG. 4 , wire feeder 28 has been positioned on the left 50 side of housing 50 . The wire feeder as shown includes feeder cover 62 , drive shaft engagement gear 64 , drive rolls 66 A-B, and wire feed path 68 through which wire is capable of being fed. FIGS. 6A-C show a side view of wire drive module 26 and wire feed module 28 in various stages of disassembly. In FIG. 6A , wire feed module 28 is shown with cover 62 in place. Welding wire 68 enters feed module 28 at receiving end 54 and exits feed module 28 at wire exiting end 56 . In FIG. 6B , cover 62 has been removed, showing drive system 70 and welding wire 68 passing through the system. Drive system 70 includes drive shaft engagement gear 64 that is coupled to drive shaft 60 . As shown, drive shaft 60 includes a keyed or shaped end that enables rotational movement to be transmitted to drive shaft engagement gear 64 . In FIG. 5B , drive shaft 60 is shown with a triangular cross-section, however it will be apparent that a variety of arrangements including square, hexagonal, keyed, or other arrangements are contemplated. As illustrated in the figure, drive system 70 include feed plate 72 onto which a number of drive rolls 66 A-D are rotatably mounted. These drive rolls serve various purposes, including straightening, feeding, aligning, and regulating wire 68 as it is fed through feed module 28 . The drive rolls are driven by the drive shaft engagement gear 64 , and therefore feeds or retracts the wire as required. FIG. 6C shows a side view of wire drive module 26 with wire feeder 28 removed. Visible in this view is drive shaft 60 . As illustrated in this figure, drive shaft 60 is accessible from either side of drive module 26 . This allows wire feeder 28 to be installed to either left- 50 or right-hand side 52 of drive module 26 . Drive shaft 60 engages drive shaft engagement gear 64 by protruding slightly from the sides of the housing or drive shaft engagement gear 64 extends into housing 44 to engage drive shaft 60 . Alternatively, wire drive module 26 is manufactured as described above and housing 44 is constructed so that only one end of drive shaft 60 is exposed, thereby preventing contamination of the internal components of drive shaft 60 . It will be apparent that the above-described apparatus allows for a modular wire drive system. The wire drive system allows for a user to select either a left- or right-hand feed and change from one system to another without additional cost, parts, or product lines. As illustrated in FIG. 7 , wire drive module 26 is rotatable (either by fixed increments or by free rotation), but preferably at least by 180° about an axis A to present either a left- or right-handed wire feed. Wire drive module 26 is connected to controller module 22 through connector 74 , such as a 19-pin control cable connection (or other control cable with different numbers of pins or orientations or communication protocol dictated by other electrical considerations), or by means of a cable (better illustrated in FIG. 1 ) between wire drive module 26 and controller module 22 . If a direct connection is preferred, connector 74 is keyed so as to indicate to the controller module whether wire drive module 26 is in a left- or right-hand arrangement. One implementation of this arrangement includes connector 74 offset from the center as shown by ports 76 A, 76 B in wire drive controller module 22 depending on the arrangement. For example, in a left-hand feed arrangement connector 74 engages first port 76 A; and in a right-hand feed arrangement connector 74 engages second port 76 B. The engagement of first or second ports 76 A, 76 B communicate pertinent information to wire drive controller module 22 , e.g., the arrangement of the wire drive module. In this aspect, when wire drive module 26 is switched between the left- and right-hand feed arrangements, wire feeder 28 will generally not have cover 28 positioned thereupon, but will have a more mirror image front and rear components to the housing so that wire properly enters receiving end 54 and exits wire exiting end 56 of the wire feeder. As illustrated, wire feeder 28 is rotatable about drive axis 60 allowing receiving end 54 of the wire feeder to be positioned toward wire reel stand 30 . As illustrated in FIG. 8 , wire drive module 26 is rotatable about an axis B-B. Positioning wire feeder 28 on either the left- or right-hand side without requiring adjustment of the wire feeder. According to this arrangement, wire drive module 26 includes cable 78 extending from the rear of module 26 that connects to controller module 22 . When wire drive module 26 is rotated about axis B-B, cable 78 does not need to be adjusted to accommodate this adjustment. As shown in FIGS. 9A & 9B , multiple modular wire feeders 20 ′, 20 ″ are illustrated adjacent to one another, thereby allowing two welders to be operated simultaneously. Unlike current generation wire feeders, these are stackable on top of one another as shown or positionable in a side-by-side arrangement. The feeders 20 ′, 20 ″ are positioned with corresponding control modules 22 ′, 22 ″ adjacent to one another ( FIG. 9A ) or separated from one another ( FIG. 9B ) as desired. An advantage when using multiple modular wire feeders 20 ′, 20 ″ is the ability to use dual-mode user interface module 80 for controlling two (or more) feeders as shown in FIG. 10 . As illustrated in the figure, dual-mode user interface module 80 is provided with selector 82 which embodies various forms, e.g., a switch, button, lever, or other device and indicator lights 84 A, 84 B indicating whether the first- or second-feeder 20 ′, 20 ″ is being controlled. Additional remaining controls 86 , include controls for voltage, wire feed speed, gas flow rate, and other parameters are substantially identical to those provided for a single feed control module 24 ( FIGS. 2 & 3 ). An operator selects the desired parameters for first wire feeder 20 ′, then press the selector 82 and control the parameters for second wire feeder 20 ″. Indicator lights 84 A, 84 B are provided to indicate to the user which system is being controlled. Also disclosed is a novel method of using a modular wire feeder as shown in the appropriate figures. According to this method modular wire feeder 20 is provided having control module 22 , user interface module 24 , wire drive module 26 having a wire feeder 28 , and wire reel stand 30 having spindle 32 . Either a left- or right-hand wire feed arrangement is selected according to the needs of the user by repositioning spindle 32 to the appropriate side of wire reel stand 30 . Wire reel stand 30 is arranged so that spindle 32 is arranged in a left- or right-hand feed arrangement and wire drive module 26 is positioned in the same arrangement. According to one option in the method, wire feeder 28 is removed from one side of wire drive module 26 and reaffixed to its opposed side. Further according to this embodiment, wire drive module 26 includes drive shaft 60 driven by drive motor 58 . Drive shaft 60 extends between the left and right sides of wire drive module 26 and wire feeder 28 engages drive shaft 60 from the appropriate side. Drive shaft 60 preferably includes a shaped end, such as a hexagonal, triangular, keyed or other shape for engaging drive shaft engagement gear 64 of wire feeder 28 . It is however, recognized that a shaped end is not an absolute requirement of the invention and other methodologies of fixing the shaft are within the scope of the invention, e.g., use of a set screw or a “C-shaped” shaft. According to another option in the method, wire feeder 28 is reversible, rotatable, or reconfigurable (for example by switching input and output bearings). Wire drive module 26 is rotatable about an axis A-A, allowing the feeder to be positioned upon either side of control module 22 . With this option, wire drive module 26 includes connector 74 and ports 76 A, 76 B on control module 22 . When the wire feed module is in a first configuration (e.g., left-hand feed), connector 74 engages a first port 76 A while in a second configuration connector 74 engages second port 76 B. Control module 22 optionally automatically detects which port 76 A or 76 B is engaged and therefore will know whether wire drive module 26 is in the left- or right-hand feed arrangement. According to yet another option in the method, wire drive module 26 is rotatable about an axis B-B. Wire drive module 26 includes cable 78 positioned in one instance on the back of wire drive module 26 so that the relative position of the cable 78 —module 26 interface is not changed when drive module 26 is rotated. When multiple modular wire feeders 20 ′, 20 ″ are employed, for example in a stacked or side-by-side arrangement, the modules are stackable so that either a left- or right-handed wire feeder is positioned above or below. Once wire feeder 20 (or feeders 20 ′, 20 ″) has been selected and arranged, control module 22 is connected to user interface module 24 . This connection may be by a direct connection, cable connection, or wireless connection. User interface module 80 typically includes means for controlling two or more wire feeder units 20 ′, 20 ″. User interface module 80 includes selector switch 82 , two or more indicator lights 84 A, 84 B, and controls 86 similar to those for user interface module 24 controlling a single feeder. In this arrangement, the method for operating multiple wire control modules includes the step of engaging selector 82 to select wire control module 20 ′, configuring wire control module 20 ′, and selecting another wire control module 20 ″ by means of selector 82 . This allows for multiple wire feed modules to be provided and controlled from a single user interface module. The best mode for carrying out the invention has been described for purposes of illustrating the best mode known to the applicant at the time. The examples are illustrative only and not meant to limit the invention, as measured by the scope and merit of the claims. The invention has been described with reference to preferred and alternate embodiments. Obviously, modifications and alterations will occur to others upon the reading and understanding of the specification. It is intended to include all such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.
A modular welding system which can switch between right-handed and left-handed wire feeders by use of the modular design and without having a duplicative dual feed system is disclosed. This aspect is applicable to robotic welding as well as boom-mounted welding operations.
1
[0001] This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-219135, filed Aug. 28, 2008, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Technical Field [0003] The present invention relates to a technology of printing an image by using recording materials including special glossy material with special gloss. [0004] 2. Related Art [0005] According to the related art, after a background layer is formed on a print medium, printing is additionally performed on the background layer (for example, see JP-A-2002-530229). Such a method may be used for various printing methods. For example, in relation to an ink jet printer, after a metallic ink layer is formed on a print medium, color ink is printed on the metallic ink layer, so that metallic color with various hues can be produced. [0006] However, when printing metallic color while restricting the special glossy effect by a certain degree, the amount of metallic ink used must be reduced. In such a case, dots of the metallic ink are visible, so a decrease in the graininess of a printed image may become a problem. Such a problem occurs not just in the ink jet printer but in various printing apparatuses. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0007] An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to effectively print metallic color while allowing a special glossy effect to be compatible with fine granularity in a printed image. [0008] One embodiment of the invention is directed to a printing apparatus for performing printing by using a plurality of glossy recording materials, the printing apparatus comprising a carriage coupled to a print head having a plurality of ejection heads, wherein the carriage is further coupled to at least one cartridge coupled to the plurality of ejection heads, wherein the cartridge contains at least two kinds of glossy recording materials having different concentrations; a control circuit couple to the carriage and the plurality of ejection heads, and configured to control the plurality of ejection heads to perform printing, using at least one of the two kinds of glossy recording materials; and wherein the control unit is further configured to control a degree of desired special glossy effect by controlling a usage of the at least two kinds of glossy recording materials. [0009] In one aspect, the at least two kinds of glossy recording materials are comprised of a low-concentration glossy recording material and a high-concentration glossy recording material. [0010] In another aspect, when the degree of desired special glossy effect is increased, the control unit performs the printing by decreasing the usage of low-concentration glossy recording material while increasing the usage of high-concentration glossy recording material. [0011] In another aspect, when the degree of desired special glossy effect corresponds to an index less than or equal to a maximum achievable degree of gloss of the low-concentration glossy recording material, the control unit performs the printing by primarily using the low-concentration glossy recording material. [0012] In another aspect, the at least two kind of glossy recording materials have reflection angle dependence after being printed on a surface of a print medium. [0013] In another aspect, the control unit is capable of adjusting the special glossy effect by changing the usage of the high-concentration glossy recording material while maintaining the usage of the low-concentration glossy material at a constant level. [0014] In another aspect, the at least two kinds of glossy recording materials have reflection angle dependence after being printed on a surface of a print medium. [0015] In another aspect the at least two kinds of glossy recording materials include metal pigments, and wherein the metal pigments in one kind of glossy recording material have a density that is different from a density of another kind of glossy recording material. [0016] Another embodiment is directed to a method for performing printing by using a plurality of glossy recording materials, the method comprising: using a control unit, performing printing by filling at least a part of a print area of a print medium with dots formed by using at least two kinds of glossy recording materials having different concentrations; and using the control unit, controlling a degree of desired special glossy effect on the print area of the print medium by controlling a usage of at least two kinds of glossy recording materials. [0017] Another embodiment is directed to an application program on a computer system coupled to a printing apparatus, for controlling the operation of the printing apparatus to perform printing by using a plurality of glossy recording materials including a low-concentration glossy recording material and a high-concentration glossy recording material, the application program causing the computer system to execute using a control unit, printing by filling at least a part of a print area of a print medium with dots formed by using the plurality of glossy recording materials having different concentrations; and using the control unit, controlling a degree of desired special glossy effect on the print area of the print medium by controlling a usage of the plurality of glossy recording materials. [0018] Another embodiment is directed to a printed product printed by a plurality of glossy recording materials including a low-concentration glossy recording material and a high-concentration glossy material, the printed product including a print area of a print medium, at least part of which is filled with dots formed by using at the low-concentration glossy recording material and the high-concentration glossy material. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0019] The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numbers reference like elements. [0020] FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment of the invention. [0021] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a computer serving as a printing control apparatus. [0022] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printer. [0023] FIG. 4 is a graph showing the difference of characteristics of the glossiness of a printed product due to difference densities of metal pigment in metallic ink. [0024] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a printing process. [0025] FIG. 6 is a graph showing a method of determining the usage amounts of low density metallic ink and high density metallic ink. [0026] FIG. 7 is a graph showing a method of determining the usage amounts of low density metallic ink and high density metallic ink according to a modification. [0027] FIG. 8 is a graph showing a method of determining the usage amounts of low density metallic ink and high density metallic ink according to a modification. [0028] FIG. 9 is a graph showing a difference of characteristics of an index value regarding a special glossy effect of a printed product, which is caused by a difference of metal pigment in metallic ink. [0029] FIG. 10 is a graph showing a difference of characteristics of an index value regarding a special glossy effect of a printed product, which is caused by a difference of metal pigment in metallic ink. DETAILED DESCRIPTION A. Outline of a Printing System [0030] FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing a printing system 10 according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 1 , the printing system 10 includes a computer 100 serving as a printing control apparatus, and a printer 200 that prints an image under the control of the computer 100 . The printing system 10 may serve as a printing apparatus in a broad sense by allowing all elements thereof to be integrally formed with each other. [0031] The printer 200 according to the embodiment has Cyan ink, Magenta ink, Yellow ink and Black ink as color ink, and metallic ink. The metallic ink allows a special glossy effect to be produced on a printed product, and detailed description thereof will be given later. According to an embodiment, the color ink includes the black ink. [0032] The computer 100 includes a predetermined operating system installed therein, and an application program 20 executed under the control of the operating system. The operating system has a video driver 22 and a printer driver 24 . For example, if image data ORG is received from a digital camera 120 through a peripheral device interface 108 , the application program 20 displays an image, which is represented by the image data ORG, on a display 114 through the video driver 22 . Further, the application program 20 outputs the image data ORG to the printer 200 through the printer driver 24 . The image data ORG, which is sent to the application program 20 from the digital camera 120 , includes the three primary colors of red R, green G and blue B. [0033] The application program 20 according to an embodiment, can designate a region (hereinafter, referred to as a color region), which is filled with the three primary colors of R, G and B, and a region (hereinafter, referred to as a metallic region), which is filed with metallic color, in an arbitrary region of the image data ORG The metallic region may overlap the color region. More specifically, the two regions may be designated such that a color image is formed with the metallic color used as a background color. Further, the application program 20 can designate the level of an index regarding the special glossy effect. That is, the degree of the special glossy effect of the metallic region can be designated and controlled. The index regarding the special glossy effect will be described in detail later. [0034] The printer driver 24 includes a color conversion module 42 , a halftone module 44 and a print control module 46 . The print control module 46 includes a metallic dot formation module 47 and a color print module 48 . [0035] The color conversion module 42 converts RGB color components of the color region of the image data ORG into color components, such as Cyan C, Magenta M, Yellow Y and Black K, which can be expressed through the printer 200 , with reference to a prepared color conversion table LUT. [0036] The halftone module 44 performs halftone processing relative to the color-converted image data by the color conversion module 42 , such that the gray scale of the image data is represented by a distribution of dots. In one embodiment, the well-known ordered dither method may be used for the halftone processing. In another embodiment, other half tone processing may be used. Further, in addition to the half tone processing method, an error diffusion method, and a tone production method by density pattern and a halftone technology may be used for the halftone processing. [0037] The print control module 46 rearranges the halftone-processed image data in a sequence by which the image data is transmitted to the printer 200 , and outputs the rearranged data to the printer 200 as print data. Further, the print control module 46 controls the printer 200 by outputting various commands such as a print start command or a print end command to the printer 200 . [0038] According to an embodiment, the print control module 46 includes the metallic dot formation module 47 and the color print module 48 . The metallic dot formation module 47 forms metallic ink dots on the metallic region designated by the application program 20 , and the color print module 48 forms color ink dots with respect to the halftone-processed image, that is, the image of the color region. B. Apparatus Configuration [0039] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the computer 100 serving as the printing control apparatus. The computer 100 is generally known in the art and includes a CPU 102 , a ROM 104 , a RAM 106 and the like, which are connected with each other through a bus 116 . [0040] The computer 100 includes a disk controller 109 for reading data from a flexible disk 124 , a compact disk 126 and the like, a peripheral device interface 108 for transmitting and receiving data to and from a peripheral device, and a video interface 112 for driving a display 114 . The peripheral device interface 108 is connected to the printer 200 and a hard disk 118 . Further, if the digital camera 120 or a color scanner 122 is connected to the peripheral device interface 108 , image processing can be performed relative to images obtained through the digital camera 120 or the color scanner 122 . Further, if a network interface card 110 is installed at the computer 100 , the computer 100 can read data stored in a memory device 310 through a communication line 300 . If image data to be printed is obtained, the computer 100 prints the image data by controlling the printer 200 through the functions of the printer driver 24 . [0041] Hereinafter, the configuration of the printer 200 will be described with reference to FIG. 3 . As shown in FIG. 3 , the printer 200 includes a mechanism that transfers a print medium P using a sheet transfer motor 235 , a mechanism that allows a carriage 240 to reciprocate in an axial direction of a platen 236 using a carriage motor 230 , a mechanism that drives a print head 241 mounted on the carriage 240 to eject ink and form dots, and a control circuit 260 that controls signal exchange among the sheet transfer motor 235 , the carriage motor 230 , the print head 241 and a manipulation panel 256 . [0042] The mechanism, which allows the carriage 240 to reciprocate in the axial direction of the platen 236 , includes a sliding shaft 233 , which is installed in parallel to a shaft of the platen 236 such that the carriage 240 slidably moves, a driving belt 231 extending between a pulley 232 and the carriage motor 230 , and a position sensor 234 that detects the original position of the carriage 240 . [0043] The carriage 240 includes a color ink cartridge 243 that stores the color inks such as Cyan ink C, Magenta ink M, Yellow ink Y and Black ink K. Further, the carriage 240 includes metallic ink cartridges 242 that each store two kinds of metallic inks S 1 and S 2 . The print head 241 provided at a lower portion of the carriage 240 includes ink ejection heads 244 to 247 corresponding to the four kinds of the color inks, and ink ejection heads 248 and 249 corresponding to the two kinds of the metallic inks. The ink cartridges 242 and 243 are installed in the carriage 240 from the top to the bottom, so the inks can be supplied to the ejection heads 244 to 249 from the cartridges 242 and 243 . [0044] The control circuit 260 of the printer 200 includes the CPU, the ROM, the RAM, the peripheral device interface and the like, which are connected with each other through the bus. The control circuit 260 controls main scanning and sub-scanning operations of the carriage 240 by controlling operations of the carriage motor 230 and the sheet transfer motor 235 . Further, if the print data is received from the computer 100 through the PIF, the control circuit 260 drives the ink ejection heads 244 to 249 by supplying driving signals corresponding to the print data to the ink ejection heads 244 to 249 in correspondence with the main scanning and sub-scanning operations of the carriage 240 . [0045] The printer 200 having the hardware configuration as described above drives the carriage motor 230 to allow the ink ejection heads 244 to 249 to reciprocate relative to the print medium P in the main scanning direction. Further, the printer 200 drives the sheet transfer motor 235 to move the print medium P in the sub-scanning direction. The control circuit 260 forms ink dots of appropriate colors at appropriate positions on the print medium P by driving the nozzles at proper times based on the print data corresponding to the reciprocation (main scanning) of the carriage 240 and the movement (sub-scanning) of the print medium P. In this way, the printer 200 can print a color image on the print medium P. In one embodiment, the metallic ink is contained in the detachable cartridge installed in the printer 200 . However, in another embodiment the metallic ink may be contained in an ink tank provided separately from the printer 200 , and the ink tank may be connected with the printer 200 . In yet another embodiment, the metallic ink may be contained in a container integrally formed with the printer 200 . C. Characteristics of Metallic Ink [0046] As described above, in one embodiment the printer 200 in the embodiment has the metallic ink cartridge 242 that receives the two kinds of the metallic inks S 1 and S 2 . The metallic ink allows the special glossy effect to be produced on the printed product. For example, the metallic ink may use an oil-based ink composition including metal pigments, organic solvents and resins to produce the metallic effect. In order to effectively obtain a metallic effect, in one embodiment the metal pigment includes flat plate-shaped particles. When the flat plate-shaped particle has a long diameter of X, a short diameter of Y and a thickness of Z in a plane, it is preferable that a 50% average particle diameter R50 of the particle is 0.5 μm to 3 μm, which corresponds to a diameter of a circle calculated from an area of the X-Y plane of the flat plate-shaped particles. In this embodiment, it is also preferred that a formula R50/Z>5 is satisfied. For example, the metal pigment may be formed using aluminum or an aluminum alloy and may also be formed by crushing a metal deposition film. The metal pigment included in the metallic ink may have a density of about 0.1 weight % to about 10.0 weight %. However, the metallic ink is not limited to the above composition. That is, the metallic ink may employ various compositions if the metallic ink includes special glossy material with special gloss. Further, the metallic ink has optical properties such as reflection angle dependence after the metallic ink is printed on the surface of the print medium, so the metallic ink has various appearances corresponding to different observation angles. [0047] Further, the two kinds of the metallic inks used for the embodiment include metal pigments having densities different from each other. In one embodiment, the metallic ink including the metal pigment having a relatively high density will be referred to as high density metallic ink, and the metallic ink including the metal pigment having a relatively low density will be referred to as low density metallic ink. In one embodiment, the low density metallic ink S 1 has a composition of aluminum pigment of 0.5 weight %, glycerin of 20 weight %, triethyleneglycol monobutyl ether of 40 weight %, and BYK-UV3500 of 0.1 weight % (manufactured by BYK Chemie of Japan). The high density metallic ink S 2 has a composition of the aluminum pigment of about 1.5 weight %, the glycerin of about 20 weight %, the triethyleneglycol monobutyl ether of about 40 weight %, and the BYK-UV3500 of about 0.1 weight %. [0048] Hereinafter, the difference in characteristics between the low density metallic ink S 1 and the high density metallic ink S 2 will be described with reference to FIG. 4 . FIG. 4 is a graph showing the glossiness (incidence angle is 20°) of a printed product as a function of a duty, which represents a ratio of dots occupied in a print region, when performing printing by using the low density metallic ink S 1 and the high density metallic ink S 2 . As shown in FIG. 4 , in the case of using the low density metallic ink S 1 , as the duty is increased from zero, the glossiness is increased. When the duty has a value of D 1 , the glossiness reaches the maximum value B 1 max (about 200) of the low density ink. Then, as the duty is increased more, the glossiness is significantly reduced. In the case of using the high density metallic ink S 2 , as the duty is increased from zero, the glossiness is increased with a higher slope as compared with the case of using the low density metallic ink S 1 . When the duty has the value of D 1 , the glossiness reaches the maximum value B 2 max (about 500) of the high density ink. Then, as the duty is increased more, the glossiness is slightly reduced. As described above, there is a large difference in the glossiness of the printed product depending on the amount of the metal pigment included in the metallic inks S 1 and S 2 . [0049] Further, the glossiness may be represented by one index regarding the special glossy effect of the metallic region. There are exceptions, but the special glossy effect is increased as the glossiness is increased. That is, as it can be seen from FIG. 4 , the special glossy effect is increased using the metallic ink including the metal pigment with the high density and significantly varies depending on the duty, as compared with the case of using the metallic ink including the metal pigment with the low density. In this regard, when printing using the metallic ink including the metal pigment with the high density, the special glossy effect can be significantly increased. However, when performing printing in which the special glossy effect is restricted, the duty is reduced and the dots of the metallic ink are visible, so the fine granularity of the printed image may be reduced. When printing using the metallic ink including the metal pigment with the low density, the special glossy effect cannot be significantly increased. However, when performing printing in which the special glossy effect is restricted, the dots of the metallic ink are not easily visible and the duty is relatively large, so the fine granularity of the printed image may be improved. D. Printing Process [0050] Hereinafter, the printing process performed by the printer driver 24 under the control of the computer 100 will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the printing process according to one embodiment. If the printing process starts, the computer 100 receives image data including the color region and the metallic region from the application program 20 through the printer driver 24 (Step S 100 ). In addition, the computer 100 receives an index value regarding the special glossy effect of the metallic region. The received index value may be set in advance, or may be selected by a user through the application program 20 . According to one embodiment, the index value represents the glossiness. For example, the computer 100 receives an input with the glossiness having a value of 300. In another embodiment, the computer 100 may receive a ratio with respect to the maximum value of the index value or a gray scale number representing the degree of the special glossy effect, instead of the index value. [0051] After the image data is received, the computer 100 converts the RGB image data to CMYK image data with respect to the color region of the image data (Step S 1102 ). After the CMYK image data is obtained, the computer 100 performs halftone processing by using the halftone module 44 to generate data which can be transmitted to the printer 200 (Step S 104 ). After the halftone processing, the computer 100 prints the metallic region included in the image data, which is received in Step S 100 , by controlling the printer 200 through the metallic dot formation module 47 (Step S 106 ). If the metallic region is completely printed, the computer 100 controls the printer 200 through the color print module 48 so that the halftone-processed color region is printed (Step S 108 ). [0052] The printing process will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 6 . FIG. 6 is a graph showing the amount of the low density metallic ink S 1 and the high density metallic ink S 2 which are used for printing the metallic region. As shown in FIG. 6 , when the desired glossiness received in Step S 100 is equal to or less than the maximum gloss value B 1 max of the low density ink, the computer 100 performs printing by using only the low density metallic ink S 1 corresponding to the received glossiness. When the desired glossiness received in Step S 100 corresponds to the maximum gloss value B 1 max of the low density ink, the amount of the low density metallic ink S 1 used corresponds to the duty D 1 shown in FIG. 4 . [0053] Further, when the desired glossiness received in Step S 100 is larger than the maximum gloss value B 1 max of the low density ink, the computer 100 performs printing by using the low density metallic ink S 1 and the high density metallic ink S 2 . More specifically, as the degree of desired glossiness received in Step S 100 is increased, the amount of the low density metallic ink S 1 used is reduced and the amount the high density metallic ink S 2 used is increased. In the event when the degree of desired glossiness received in Step S 100 corresponds to the maximum gloss value B 2 max of the high density ink, the amount of the high density metallic ink S 2 used corresponds to the duty D 1 and the amount of the low density metallic ink S 1 used is zero. [0054] The amount of the ink used may be easily determined by using a table in which the index value regarding the special glossy effect corresponds to the usage amounts of the low density metallic ink S 1 and the high density metallic ink S 2 . Further, the arrangement of dots formed by the low density metallic ink S 1 and dots formed by the high density metallic ink S 2 may be determined by the combination of the usage amounts of the low density metallic ink S 1 , the high density metallic ink S 2 , and a distribution of the two kinds of dots. [0055] In one embodiment, when the desired glossiness is equal to or larger than the maximum gloss value B 1 max of the low density ink is received, the duty of the low density metallic ink S 1 and the high density metallic ink S 2 is equal to the constant duty D 1 through the sum of the two duties. However, the embodiments of the invention are not limited thereto. That is, the duty may not necessarily be constant. For example, the duty may be increased as the desired glossiness is increased. Further, when the desired glossiness is equal to or less than the maximum gloss value B 1 max of the low density ink, even though the high density metallic ink S 2 is used at the same time, no problem occurs if the low density metallic ink S 1 is mainly used. [0056] When performing the printing within the range of the index regarding the special glossy effect, the desired degree of glossiness may not be obtained by using the low density metallic ink S 1 , by which the fine granularity of the printed image may be easily ensured. In such a case, the metallic region is printed by combining the low density metallic ink S 1 and the high density metallic ink S 2 . At this time, as the received index regarding the special glossy effect is increased, the amount of the low density metallic ink S 1 used is reduced and the use amount of the high density metallic ink S 2 is increased. More specifically, when performing printing in which the special glossy effect is restricted, the duty of the high density metallic ink S 2 is reduced. In this situation, the desired graininess of the printed image may not be achieved. However, as the special glossy effect is increased, the duty of the high density metallic ink S 2 is increased, so the graininess of the printed image does not matter. Thus, as the required special glossy effect is reduced, printing is performed by mainly using the low density metallic ink S 1 by which the fine granularity may be easily ensured. Further, as the required special glossy effect is increased, printing is performed mainly using the high density metallic ink S 2 having a large special glossy effect. Consequently, the metallic color can be properly printed while preventing the fine granularity of the printed image from being reduced. [0057] When performing the printing within the range of the index regarding the special glossy effect which can be obtained using the low density metallic ink S 1 by which the fine granularity of the printed image may be easily ensured, only the low density metallic ink S 1 is used. Thus, the metallic color can be properly printed while ensuring the fine granularity of the printed image. [0058] In one embodiment, the maximum gloss value B 1 max of the low density ink is employed as a threshold value and the usage amounts of the low density metallic ink S 1 and the high density metallic ink S 2 vary depending on the desired glossiness. However, the threshold value is not limited to the maximum gloss value B 1 max of the low density ink. That is, the threshold value may be properly set by taking the duty of the metallic ink and the graininess of the printed image into consideration. For example, when the graininess is not a serious problem in a range of a low duty, the threshold value may be set to be less than the maximum gloss value B 1 max of the low density ink. [0059] In another embodiment, the printer 200 can store the two kinds of the metallic inks including the metal pigment with densities different from each other, and the computer 100 uses one or a combination of the two kinds of the metallic inks in response to the special glossy effect required for the printed product, so that the fine granularity of the printed image can be compatible with the special glossy effect. However, metallic ink to be used is not limited to the two kinds of the metallic inks. For example, the printer 200 may store three kinds or more of metallic inks. In such a case, the computer 100 may use one or M combinations (M denotes an integer of 2 or more) of N kinds of the metallic inks (N denotes an integer of 3 or more) in response to the special glossy effect required for the printed product. Thus, the special glossy effect and the fine granularity can be controlled in a wider range, so that printing can be performed to obtain desired special glossy effect while properly ensuring the fine granularity. [0060] In another embodiment, the computer 100 prints the metallic region by varying the amount of the low density metallic ink S 1 used depending on the special glossy effect required for the printed product. However, a predetermined amount of the low density metallic ink S 1 may be used in a predetermined range (in FIG. 7 , glossiness of B 3 to B 4 ) of the required special glossy effect. For example, as shown in FIG. 7 , the low density metallic ink S 1 corresponding to a duty D 2 may be always used and the amount of the high density metallic ink S 2 used may be changed in a range of from zero to a duty D 3 according to the required special glossy effect. The predetermined range may be properly set. For example, the predetermined range may be set between the maximum gloss value B 1 max of the low density ink and the maximum gloss value B 2 max of the high density ink as shown in FIG. 6 . Thus, the fine granularity can be ensured using the low density metallic ink S 1 , so that the fine granularity can be compatible with the special glossy effect. [0061] In another embodiment, the computer 100 uses one or a combination of the two kinds of the metallic inks in response to the special glossy effect required for the printed product, so that the fine granularity of the printed image can be compatible with the special glossy effect. However, only one of the two kinds or more of the metallic inks stored in the printer 200 may be always used. For example, as shown in FIG. 8 , when the input glossiness is equal to or less than a threshold value B 5 , the metallic region may be printed only with the low density metallic ink S 1 . However, when the input glossiness is larger than the threshold value B 5 , the metallic region may be printed only with the high density metallic ink S 2 . In the case of using only the high density metallic ink S 2 , if the amount of the high density metallic ink S 2 used exceeds the amount corresponding to a duty D 5 smaller than the duty D 1 , the fine granularity can be compatible with the special glossy effect in a case in which the graininess of the printed image does not matter. [0062] In another embodiment, the glossiness is used as the index regarding the special glossy effect. However, the index regarding the special glossy effect is not limited thereto. That is, various indexes can be used. For example, an index value In 1 regarding the special glossy effect, which is expressed by Equation 1 below, may be used. Further, an index value In 2 regarding the special glossy effect, which is expressed by Equation 2 below, may be used. [0000] ln   1 = 2.69  ( L 1 * - L 3 * ) 1.11 L 2 * 0.86 Equation   1 L* 1 : lightness when a light receiving angle is 30° (irradiation angle is −45°) L* 2 : lightness when a light receiving angle is 0° (irradiation angle is −45°) L* 3 : lightness when a light receiving angle is −65° (irradiation angle is −45°) [0000] ln   2 = 3  ( L 1 * - L 3 * ) L 2 * Equation   2 [0066] FIG. 9A is a graph showing the relationship between the density of metal pigment and the index value In 2 regarding the special glossy effect. As shown in FIG. 9A , in the case of using the low density metallic ink S 1 , as the duty is increased, the index value In 2 regarding the special glossy effect is also increased. However, the slope of the increase in the index value In 2 is gentle and the index value In 2 does not reach 2 even if the duty has a value of 50. Meanwhile, in the case of using the high density metallic ink S 2 , as the duty is increased, the index value In 2 regarding the special glossy effect is also increased. However, the slope of increase in the index value In 2 is steep as compared with the case of using the low density metallic ink S 1 . Further, when the duty has a value of 50, the index value In 2 reaches about 6. Meanwhile, referring to FIG. 4 showing the relationship between the index value (glossiness) and the duty, the peak of the index value (glossiness) is indicated by the duty D 1 , and the index value (glossiness) is reduced if the duty exceeds the peak. However, the peak of the index value In 2 regarding the special glossy effect does not occur in the duty range of 5 to 50 shown in FIG. 9A . [0067] When the index value In 2 regarding the special glossy effect is received in Step S 100 , the computer 100 may determine the usage amounts of the low density metallic ink S 1 and the high density metallic ink S 2 based on FIG. 9B (Step S 106 ). That is, when the index value In 2 regarding the special glossy effect is equal to or less than a value I 1 (which corresponds to a duty D 6 of the low density metallic ink S 1 ), only the low density metallic ink S 1 is used. Further, when the index value In 2 regarding the special glossy effect is positioned between the value I 1 and a value I 2 (which corresponds to a duty D 6 of the high density metallic ink S 2 ), the amount of the low density metallic ink S 1 used may be gradually reduced and the amount of the high density metallic ink S 2 used may be increased. Determination of the usage amounts of the low density metallic ink S 1 and the high density metallic ink S 2 are not limited to the example of FIG. 9B . That is, the determination of the usage amounts of the inks S 1 and S 2 may be performed in various ways, similarly to the embodiment in which the glossiness is employed as the index value. [0068] For example, an index value In 3 regarding the special glossy effect, which is expressed by Equation 3 below, may be used as an index value regarding the special glossy effect. FIG. 10 is a graph showing the relationship between the density of metal pigment and the index value In 3 regarding the special glossy effect. The relation shown in FIG. 10 is similar to the relation shown in FIG. 9A , so the usage amounts of the low density metallic ink S 1 and the high density metallic ink S 2 may be determined similarly to the case of using the index value In 2 regarding the special glossy effect. [0000] In 3= L* 1 −L* 3   Equation 3 [0069] In another embodiment, the printing system 10 (printing apparatus in a broad sense) including the computer 100 and the printer 200 performs the printing process as shown in FIG. 5 . However, the CPU of the control circuit 260 of the printer 200 may perform printing process equal to the printing process. Thus, image data received from a digital camera and various memory cards and the like can be properly printed through the printer 200 , without using the computer 100 . [0070] In another embodiment, the printer 200 is a serial ink jet printer that forms ink dots by ejecting ink droplets on the print medium P while moving the ink ejection heads 244 to 249 . However, the printing scheme is not limited thereto. For example, the invention can be applied to a printer, in which ink ejection heads are arranged over a width of the print medium P, and a laser printer that forms dots by attaching toner powder of each color on the print medium using static electricity, instead of ejecting ink droplets. Further, when the invention can be applied to the laser printer, toner powder including metal pigment and the like is used instead of metallic ink. In addition, the invention can be properly applied to a press using a plate. [0071] The application program or functions described in this application may be implemented as software code to be executed by one or more processors using any suitable computer language such as, for example, Java, C++ or assembly using, for example, conventional or object-oriented techniques. The software code may be stored as a series of instructions, or commands on a computer-readable medium, such as a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a magnetic medium such as a hard-drive or a floppy disk, or an optical medium such as a CD-ROM. Any such computer-readable medium may also reside on or within a single computational apparatus, and may be present on or within different computational apparatuses within a system or network. [0072] The present invention can be implemented in the form of control logic in software or hardware or a combination of both. The control logic may be stored in an information storage medium as a plurality of instructions adapted to direct an information processing device to perform a set of functions disclosed in embodiments of the present invention. Based on the disclosure and teachings provided herein, a person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate other ways and/or methods to implement the present invention. [0073] The above description is illustrative and is not restrictive. Many variations of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of the disclosure. The scope of the invention should, therefore, be determined not with reference to the above description, but instead should be determined with reference to the pending claims along with their full scope or equivalents. [0074] The embodiment of the invention has been described. However, the embodiment of the invention is not limited thereto. That is, various modifications can be made within the scope of the invention. For example, the invention can be realized in the form of a printing method, a program, a storage medium, a printed product and the like, as well as the printing apparatus.
A printing apparatus, a printing method, an application program and a printing medium are disclosed. The printing apparatus is coupled to a control circuit which with the help of the application program, controls the operation of the printing apparatus. The printing apparatus contains at least two kinds of glossy recording materials with different concentrations. The printing apparatus performs glossy printing on a printing medium by controlling the usage of the two kinds of glossy recording materials.
8
RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/624,936 filed on Sep. 23, 2012. The contents of the above applications are all incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein in their entirety. FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to projectiles and launch-systems, more particularly, to non-lethal projectiles and launch-systems for riot control. [0003] Control of crowds and of areas where demonstrators gather is often achieved by the use of non-lethal riot control agents such as tear gas, stun grenades, pepper spray, etc. [0004] Most conventional means for delivering the non-lethal riot control agents to the controlled crowd or area is done by firing the riot control agents using concentrated gas, created from pyrotechnic explosion or compressed gas, through some type of tube, e.g. barrel or tube canister, which gives a direction to the flight of the riot control agents. [0005] The non-lethal effects depend on the payload carried by non-lethal projectiles. The most common payloads cause the following effects: kinetic damage (caused by physical hitting of the projectile), irritation (caused by irritant agent, such as tear gas, pepper powder, irritant liquid, etc.), shock and distraction (caused by flash-bang charge), incapacitation (caused by discharging a high voltage electric charge), disorientation (caused by smoke), etc. Also, there are payloads that combine two or more effects. [0006] The design of prior art non-lethal projectiles depends on the type of the launcher used for their launching. Various forms of non-lethal projectiles are known. For example, such projectiles are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,733,727, in U.S. Pat. No. 7,143,699, and in many others. However, due to launchers' main shared concept of shoving projectiles through a tube, the generic design of projectiles is similar: they are designed to be shoved off from the tube by the power of concentrated gas. Therefore, the generic size and shape of prior art non-lethal projectiles is a bullet-like or shell-like size and shape. [0007] The main drawback of prior art non-lethal projectiles is the fact that the pyrotechnic or pneumatic mechanisms of the launchers of the non-lethal projectiles constitute limitations for the different characteristics of counter-personnel non-lethal kinetic systems. Two significant limitations are: (1) the possibility of permanent damage, caused by direct hitting; and (2) the limited range of distances of the launchers, from the crowds that need to be controlled, over which the projectiles are both effective and safe. [0008] There is therefore a need for non-lethal projectiles, and for launch-systems thereof, that will significantly reduce the possibility of direct hitting and, simultaneously, will be equally effective and safe at different distances. [0009] Skeet shooting is a sport in which a shooter shoots at flying clay targets (saucer-like clay objects) that are commonly called “clay pigeons” and that are swung into the air by a manual thrower or by a launcher. [0010] Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematic illustration of a prior art manual thrower P 1 and a clay target P 2 . The clay target P 2 is inserted into the manual thrower P 1 which is then swung in the required direction. [0011] FIG. 2 is a side view schematic illustration of a prior art mechanical launcher P 3 . Mechanical launcher P 3 includes a launching arm P 4 on which clay target P 2 is loaded prior to launching and a spring P 5 . When mechanical launcher P 3 is operated to launch clay target P 2 , spring P 5 releases the energy stored within it and causes launching arm P 4 to sweep clay target P 2 in the required direction. [0012] FIG. 3 a is a side view schematic illustration of a prior art automatic launcher P 6 in its unloaded state. Automatic launcher P 6 is equipped with a magazine P 7 which holds a multitude of clay targets P 2 and dispenses clay targets P 2 individually onto a launching surface P 8 . Launcher body P 9 includes electrical motors, springs and other mechanisms required for reloading and launching processes. When magazine P 7 drops a clay target P 2 onto launching surface P 8 , launching arm P 4 is released by main body P 9 to sweep clay target P 2 in the required direction. [0013] Exemplary patent documents that describe conventional clay target launchers include U.S. Pat. No. 5,259,360, U.S. Pat. No. 7,263,986 and US Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0100345. These three documents are incorporated by reference for all purposes as if fully set forth herein. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0014] The background art does not teach or suggest non-lethal projectiles and launch-systems which do not use compressed gas as a means to propel non-lethal riot control agents into crowds or areas that need to be controlled. [0015] The present invention overcomes these deficiencies of the background art by providing exemplary non-lethal projectiles and by providing launch-systems for the projectiles. However, it should be noted that despite the description of the payloads of the projectiles of the present invention as non-lethal, it also is possible to use lethal agents in conjunction with the described projectiles and launch-system. [0016] According to the present invention there is provided a projectile including: (a) a payload carrier; (b) an incapacitating agent, enclosed within the payload carrier; and (c) an activating mechanism, for activating the incapacitating agent, that includes: (i) a sensor for sensing a launch of the projectile without changing a shape of the projectile, and (ii) a timer for delaying the activating until a predetermined delay after the sensor senses the launch. [0017] According to the present invention there is provided a projectile including: (a) a payload carrier; (b) an incapacitating agent, enclosed within the payload carrier, and (c) an activating mechanism, for activating the incapacitating agent, that includes a receiver for receiving, subsequent to the projectile having been launched, an activation signal that instructs the activating mechanism to activate the incapacitating agent. [0018] According to the present invention there is provided a device, for launching a projectile, including: (a) a communication mechanism for transmitting a signal to the projectile; and (b) an arm for directly contacting and moving the projectile to launch the projectile. [0019] According to the present invention there is provided a method of crowd control comprising the steps of: (a) providing a projectile that includes: (i) a payload carrier, (ii) an incapacitating agent, enclosed within the payload carrier, and an activating mechanism, for activating the incapacitating agent, selected from the group consisting of: (A) a first activating mechanism that includes: (I) a sensor for sensing a launch of the projectile without changing a shape of the projectile, and (II) a timer for delaying the activation until a predetermined clearly after the sensor senses the launch, and (B) a second activating mechanism that includes a receiver for receiving, subsequent to the projectile having been launched, an activation signal that instructs the activating mechanism to activate the incapacitating agent; (b) launching the projectile, to travel over the crowd to be controlled, by directly contacting and moving the projectile with a solid arm, and (c) using the activating mechanism, activating the incapacitating agent when the projectile is above the crowd. [0020] The two basic embodiments of a projectile of the present invention both include a payload carrier, an incapacitating agent enclosed within the payload carrier, and an activating mechanism for activating the incapacitating agent. An “incapacitating agent” is an agent that, when activated by the activating mechanism, renders people or animals, at whom the projectile is launched, temporarily or permanently incapable of performing whatever action the user of the projectile is trying to prevent or delay. In the discussion below of the preferred embodiments, the exemplary preferred activating mechanisms are called “ignition units”. [0021] Preferably, the projectile does not have its own propulsion mechanism for launching and/or propelling the projectile towards its intended target, but instead must be launched by a separate launching device. [0022] Preferably, the projectile is disk-shaped. Most preferably, the shape of the projectile is the shape of a conventional “clay pigeon” such as commonly is used in sports such as skeet shooting and trap shooting. [0023] Although, as noted above, the activated incapacitating agent could be an agent that permanently incapacitates or even kills its target, it is preferred that the incapacitating agent be a riot control agent that is intended to incapacitate its target only temporarily. Such a riot control agent could be either passive or active. A passive riot control agent is an agent, such as pepper powder, that is deployed as such by the activating mechanism. An active riot control agent is a riot control agent that participates as a reactant in a chemical reaction that is initiated by the activation mechanism. In some preferred embodiments, the incapacitation of the target of the projectile is caused by a chemical product of the reaction, for example an irritant such as is produced by a conventional tear gas grenade. In other preferred embodiments, the incapacitation of the target of the projectile is caused by a physical effect of the reaction, for example the flash and bang of a stun grenade. [0024] In the first basic embodiment of a projectile of the present invention, the activating mechanism includes a sensor and a timer. The sensor senses the launching of the projectile without changing the shape of the projectile. The timer delays the activating of the incapacitating agent until a predetermined delay after the sensor senses that the projectile has been launched. That the sensor operates without changing the shape of the projectile distinguishes the projectile of the present invention from e.g. a stun grenade whose lever springs off the grenade when the grenade is thrown. [0025] Preferably, the activating mechanism also includes a mechanism for setting the predetermined delay. Most preferably, the mechanism for setting the predetermined delay includes a mechanism, such as an electrical contact on a surface of the projectile, or an antenna, for receiving a signal in which the predetermined delay is encoded. Alternatively, the mechanism for setting the predetermined delay includes an interface for manually setting the predetermined delay. [0026] Preferably, the sensor senses the launch of the projectile by sensing an acceleration of the projectile. [0027] In the second basic embodiment of a projectile of the present invention, the activating mechanism includes a receiver for receiving, subsequent to the projectile having been launched, an activation signal that instructs the activating mechanism to activate the incapacitating agent. [0028] A basic device of the present invention for launching a projectile includes a communication mechanism for transmitting a signal to the projectile and an arm for launching the projectile by directly contacting and moving the projectile. [0029] In one class of preferred embodiments, the communication mechanism includes an antenna for transmitting the signal wirelessly. The signal could include an activation instruction. The signal could include timing information. [0030] In another class of preferred embodiments, the signal includes timing information. More preferably, the communication mechanism then includes one or more electrical contacts for transmitting the timing information to the projectile when the electrical contact(s) is/are in electrical communication with (a) corresponding electrical contact(s) of the projectile. In a first most preferred embodiment, the arm includes a receptacle, into which the projectile is loaded for launch, that includes the electrical contact(s). In second and third most preferred embodiments, the device also includes a launching surface on which the projectile is placed for launching, and the electrical contact(s) is/are on the launching surface. The third most preferred embodiment also includes a magazine for holding a plurality of the projectiles and for dispensing each projectile individually onto the launching surface so that the electrical contact(s) of the communication mechanism is/are in electrical communication with the corresponding electrical contact(s) of the dispensed projectile. [0031] According to the crowd control method of the present invention, a projectile of the present invention is launched, to travel over the crowd to be controlled, by directly contacting and moving the projectile with a solid arm, and using the activating mechanism to activate the incapacitating agent when the projectile is above the crowd. Usually the crowd to be controlled is a crowd of people but it also could be a crowd of animals. The requirement to launch the projectile via the direct contact of a solid arm is one of the features of the method that distinguishes the method from conventional methods that rely on pyrotechnic or pneumatic mechanisms for launching crowd control projectiles. Although in principle the “solid arm” used to launch the projectile could be the arm and hand of a guard or a policeman who flings the projectile over the crowd like a Frisbee, it is preferable to use one of the launchers of the present invention to launch the projectile. [0032] Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS [0033] Various embodiments are herein described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: [0034] FIG. 1 is a perspective schematic illustration of a prior art manual thrower and a prior art clay target; [0035] FIG. 2 is a side view schematic illustration of a prior art mechanical launcher; [0036] FIG. 3 a is a side view schematic illustration of a prior art automatic launcher in its unloaded state; [0037] FIG. 3 b is side view schematic illustration of exemplary modified automatic launcher (MAL) of the present invention in its unloaded state; [0038] FIG. 3 c is a top view schematic illustration of a contacting surface of an automatic launcher, according to the present invention; [0039] FIG. 4 a is a perspective top-side view schematic illustration of a projectile of the present invention; [0040] FIG. 4 b is an exploded schematic illustration of a projectile of the present invention; [0041] FIG. 5 a is a cross sectional view of the first embodiment of a payload carrier; [0042] FIG. 5 b is an exploded schematic illustration of the first embodiment of a payload carrier; [0043] FIG. 6 a is a cross sectional view of the second embodiment of a payload carrier; [0044] FIG. 6 b is an exploded schematic illustration of the second embodiment of a payload carrier; [0045] FIG. 7 a is a cross sectional view of the third embodiment of a payload carrier; [0046] FIG. 7 b is an exploded schematic illustration of the third embodiment of a payload carrier; [0047] FIG. 8 a is a perspective top-side view schematic illustration of the first embodiment of an ignition unit; [0048] FIG. 8 b is a perspective bottom-side view schematic illustration of the first embodiment of an ignition unit; [0049] FIG. 8 c is a block diagram of the electronic system of the first exemplary embodiment of an ignition unit; [0050] FIG. 9 a is a perspective top-side view schematic illustration of the second embodiment of an ignition unit; [0051] FIG. 9 b is a perspective bottom-side view schematic illustration of the second embodiment of an ignition unit; [0052] FIG. 9 c is a perspective top-side view schematic illustration of an embodiment of a payload carrier's shell used with the second embodiment of an ignition unit; [0053] FIG. 9 d is a block diagram of the electronic system of the second exemplary embodiment of an ignition unit; [0054] FIG. 9 e is a cross sectional view of the contact strips that are added to the payload carrier's shell for the second embodiment of an ignition unit; [0055] FIG. 10 a is a perspective top-side view schematic illustration of the third embodiment of an ignition unit; [0056] FIG. 10 b is a perspective bottom-side view schematic illustration of the third embodiment of an ignition unit; [0057] FIG. 10 c is a block diagram of the electronic system of the third exemplary embodiment of an ignition unit; [0058] FIG. 11 a is a perspective top-side view schematic illustration of the fourth embodiment of an ignition unit; [0059] FIG. 11 b is a perspective bottom-side view schematic illustration of the fourth embodiment of an ignition unit; [0060] FIG. 11 c is a block diagram of the electronic system of a fourth exemplary embodiment of an ignition unit; [0061] FIG. 12 a is a perspective view of a modified manual thrower (MMT) of the present invention; [0062] FIG. 12 b is a block diagram of the electronic system of an exemplary modified manual thrower (MMT) of the present invention; [0063] FIG. 13 is a top-view schematic illustration of the mechanical embodiment of an acceleration sensor; [0064] FIG. 14 is a block diagram of the electronic system of an exemplary modified automatic launcher (MAL) according to the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [0065] The principles and operation of a crowd control projectile and launcher according to the present invention may be better understood with reference to the drawings and the accompanying description. [0066] Referring again to the drawings, FIG. 3 b is side-view schematic illustration of a modified automatic launcher (MAL) 40 in its unloaded state, according to the present invention. MAL 40 is automatic launcher P 6 modified according to the principles of the present invention. MAL 40 includes a fire-control unit 41 and is equipped, on launching surface P 5 , with a contacting surface 40 a used by fire-control unit 41 to communicate with the second embodiment of ignition unit 1 a (not not shown in the present illustration) that is described below, through contact strips 21 a (shown in FIG. 9 c below) and contacts 21 (shown in FIG. 9 b below). Also, MAL 40 is equipped with an antenna 40 b which is used by fire-control unit 41 to communicate with the first embodiment of ignition unit 1 a (not shown in the present illustration) that is described below and that is equipped with an antenna 20 a (shown in FIG. 8 a below). [0067] FIG. 3 c is a top-view schematic illustration of contacting surface 40 a of MAL 40 , according to the present invention. Contact surface 40 a is equipped with several electrical contacts 42 b (see FIG. 14 below) that are used to communicate data with the second embodiment of ignition unit 1 a (not shown in the present illustration). Each electrical contact 42 b is connected to fire-control unit 41 via a data contact wire 42 c . All of the electrical contacts 42 b are surrounded by an insulating surface 42 a that electrically insulates electrical contacts 42 b from each other and from launching surface P 8 . [0068] FIG. 4 a is a perspective top-view schematic illustration of a projectile 1 of the present invention. [0069] The overall shape and size of projectile 1 is that of the kind of generally disk-shaped or inverted-saucer-shaped clay target that is commonly used in sports such as skeet shooting and trap shooting and that commonly is referred to generically as a “clay pigeon”. The standard size of such targets is 110 mm overall diameter and 25-26 mm thickness for international competition and 108 mm overall diameter and 28-29 mm thickness for American competition. There also are specialized targets such as “battue” targets that are thinner than the standard targets and “rabbit” targets that are thicker than the standard targets. So-called “midi” targets have a diameter of about 90 mm. So-called “mini” targets have a diameter of about 60 mm and a thickness of about 20 mm. [0070] FIG. 4 b is an exploded schematic illustration of projectile 1 showing that projectile 1 includes a payload carrier 1 b and an ignition unit 1 a . Four different preferred embodiments of ignition unit 1 a are described below. Three different embodiments of payload carrier 1 b are described below. [0071] FIG. 5 a is cross sectional view of the first embodiment of payload carrier 1 b . This embodiment of payload carrier 1 b includes as its payload a passive payload such as powder or liquid. [0072] FIG. 5 b is an exploded schematic illustration of the first embodiment of payload carrier 1 b . This embodiment of payload carrier 1 b includes a payload shell 5 , a pyrotechnic fuse 6 , a passive payload 7 and a passive payload bottom cover 8 . [0073] According to the present invention all types of ignition unit 1 a described below can be installed in the recess 9 on the top surface of a first embodiment 1 b of a payload carrier. Pyrotechnic fuse 6 is located between the pyrotechnic fuse nest 20 m in the bottom of an ignition unit 1 a (not shown in the present figure) and passive payload 7 , through a hole 5 a in shell 5 . Pyrotechnic fuse 6 is ignited by the ignition unit 1 a . After its ignition, pyrotechnic fuse 6 creates an explosion that tears through the bottom cover 8 and/or disconnects bottom cover 8 from shell 5 . Then, passive payload 7 is dispersed in the air as passive payload 7 falls out of shell 5 . [0074] FIG. 6 a is cross sectional view of the second embodiment of a payload carrier 1 b . This embodiment of the payload carrier 1 b includes as its payload an active payload that produces an irritant material such as smoke or tear gas. [0075] FIG. 6 b is an exploded schematic illustration of the second embodiment of payload carrier 1 b . This embodiment of payload carrier 1 b includes a payload shell 5 , a pyrotechnic fuse 6 , a secondary payload canister 10 , an igniter washer 13 , an active payload 11 and an active payload bottom cover 14 . [0076] According to the present invention all types of ignition unit 1 a described below can be installed in the recess 9 on the top surface of second embodiment 1 b of a payload carrier. Pyrotechnic fuse 6 is located between the pyrotechnic fuse nest 20 m in the bottom of an ignition unit 1 a (not shown in the present figure) and igniter washer 13 , through hole 5 a in shell 5 and hole 10 in secondary payload canister 10 . Ignition unit 1 a ignites pyrotechnic fuse 6 , which in turn ignites igniter washer 13 . The burning of igniter washer 13 along the surface of active payload 11 produces an irritant agent. One example of active payload 11 is a mixture of a lachrymator such as CS or CN and a heat generating material such as smokeless powder. Combustion of the heat generating material vaporizes the lachrymator. The irritant agent thus produced is concentrated within an open space 12 . The irritant agent, being hot and pressurized, tears membranes 10 b and is dispersed in the air through holes 10 a in secondary payload canister 10 and holes 5 b in shell 5 . [0077] FIG. 7 a is cross sectional view of the third embodiment of payload carrier 1 b . This embodiment of payload carrier 1 b includes as its payload an explosive charge that creates a loud noise accompanied by a blinding flash of light, in the manner of a stun grenade. [0078] FIG. 7 b is an exploded schematic illustration of the third embodiment of payload carrier 1 b . This embodiment of payload carrier 1 b includes a payload shell 5 , a pyrotechnic fuse 6 , a secondary payload canister 10 , an explosive charge 16 and an explosive charge bottom cover 17 . [0079] According to the present invention all types of ignition unit 1 a described below can be installed in the recess 9 on the top surface of the third embodiment of payload carrier 1 b . Pyrotechnic fuse 6 is located between the pyrotechnic fuse nest 20 m in the bottom of ignition unit 1 a (not shown in the present figure) and explosive charge 16 , through a hole 5 a in shell 5 and hole 10 c in secondary payload canister 10 . Ignition unit 1 a ignites pyrotechnic fuse 6 , which in turn ignites explosive charge 16 . The explosion of explosive charge 16 produces a loud noise accompanied by a temporarily blinding flash. [0080] FIG. 8 a is a perspective top-view schematic illustration of a first embodiment of ignition unit 1 a. [0081] FIG. 8 b is a perspective bottom-view schematic illustration of the first embodiment of ignition unit 1 a. [0082] FIG. 8 c is a block diagram of the electronic system of the first exemplary embodiment of ignition unit 1 a . The launching of a projectile 1 that includes this embodiment of ignition unit 1 a preferably is done using a modified manual thrower (MMT) (described below with reference to FIGS. 12A and 12B ), a modified mechanical launcher (MML) (described below with reference to FIG. 14 ) or a modified automatic launcher (MAL) (described above with reference to FIG. 3 b and below with reference to FIG. 14 ). The electronic system of the first exemplary embodiment of ignition unit 1 a includes a power source 20 d , which supplies power through an activation button 20 c that is operatively connected to an antenna 20 a , a data transmitter 20 e , a data receiver 20 f , a power source tester 20 g , an acceleration sensor 20 h and a micro-switch 20 j . A data processor 20 i receives data from data receiver 20 f , from the power source tester 20 g and from the acceleration sensor 20 h , and outputs data to a LED light 20 b , to micro-switch 20 j and to data transmitter 20 e . Data transmitter 20 e outputs data it gets from activation button 20 c and from data processor 20 i to antenna 20 a for transmission to a fire control unit such as fire control unit 24 b of FIG. 12 a below or fire control unit 41 of FIG. 3 b above and FIG. 14 below. Micro-switch 20 j receives data from data processor 20 i and from activation button 20 c and outputs a direct current (DC) voltage to a DC/DC converter 20 k which converts the received DC voltage to a level suitable for ignition of pyrotechnic fuse 6 of payload carrier 1 b (not shown in this figure) in contact with a pyrotechnic fuse nest 20 m. [0083] Upon system startup using activation button 20 c , power source tester 20 g informs data processor 20 i when the power source 20 d voltage level is suitable for operation of ignition unit 1 a and data processor 20 i then lights up LED light 20 b . Data processor 20 i then receives required data (such as detonation command, delay time, identification number, etc.) via wireless transmission from fire-control unit 24 b or 41 (not shown in the present figure) via antenna 20 a and data receiver 20 f , and then signals a “ready” signal back through data transmitter 20 e and antenna 20 a , or by signaling with LED light 20 b . When projectile 1 is launched, acceleration sensor 20 h senses the launch and signals to the data processor 20 i that projectile 1 has been launched. Upon receiving the launch indication from acceleration sensor 20 h , data processor 20 i starts to count down the delay time received before launch or waits for a detonation command, after which, data processor 20 i signals micro-switch 20 j to pass the required DC voltage to pyrotechnic fuse nest 20 m via DC/DC converter 20 k , thereby detonating pyrotechnic fuse 6 (not shown in present figure). [0084] FIG. 9 a is a perspective top view schematic illustration of a second embodiment of ignition unit 1 a. [0085] FIG. 9 b is a perspective bottom view schematic illustration of the second embodiment of an ignition unit 1 a. [0086] FIG. 9 c is a perspective top view schematic illustration of the payload's shell 5 required for use with the second embodiment of an ignition unit 1 a. [0087] FIG. 9 d is a block diagram of the electronic system of the second exemplary embodiment of an ignition unit 1 a . The launching of a projectile 1 that includes this embodiment of ignition unit 1 a should be done by modified manual thrower (MMT) ( FIG. 12 a ), modified mechanical launcher (MML) or modified automatic launcher (MAL) ( FIG. 3 b ). The electronic system of the second exemplary embodiment of an ignition unit 1 a includes a power source 20 d , which supplies power through an activation button 20 c that is operatively connected to a data transmitter 20 e , a data receiver 20 f , a power source tester 20 g , an acceleration sensor 20 h and a micro-switch 20 j . A data processor 20 i receives data from data receiver 20 f , power source tester 20 g and acceleration sensor 20 h and outputs data to a LED light 20 b , to micro-switch 20 j and to data transmitter 20 e . Data transmitter 20 e outputs data it gets from activation button 20 c and from data processor 20 i to the ignition unit's contacts to fire-control unit 21 . Micro-switch 20 j receives data from data processor 20 i and from activation button 20 c and outputs a direct current (DC) voltage to a DC/DC converter 20 k which converts this DC voltage to a level suitable for ignition of pyrotechnic fuse 6 (not shown in this figure) connected to pyrotechnic fuse nest 20 m. [0088] Upon system startup using activation button 20 c , power source tester 20 g informs data processor 20 i when the power source 20 d voltage level is suitable and data processor 20 i lights up LED light 20 b . Data processor 20 i then receives required data (such as a delay time, an identification number, etc.) via wire transmission from the electrically contacting surface 40 a of an automatic launcher's fire-control unit 41 (not shown in the present figure), from the similar fire-control unit of a mechanical launcher, or from the data contacts 21 a of an MMT's fire-control unit 24 b (not shown in the present figure) via data receiver 20 f , the ignition unit's contacts to fire-control unit 21 , and contact strips 21 a that connect between the ignition unit and data contacts 24 a of MMT 24 or contacting surface 40 a of FIG. 3C . Then, data processor 20 i signals a “ready” signal back through data transmitter 20 e or by signaling with LED light 20 b . When projectile 1 is launched, acceleration sensor 20 h senses the launch and signals to data processor 20 i that projectile 1 has been launched. Upon receiving the launch indication from acceleration sensor 20 h , data processor 20 i starts to count down the delay time received before launch. At the end of the countdown, data processor 20 i signals micro-switch 20 j to pass the DC voltage to pyrotechnic fuse nest 20 m via DC/DC converter 20 k , thereby detonating pyrotechnic fuse 6 (not shown in present figure). [0089] FIG. 9 e is a cross sectional view of the contact strips 21 a that are added to the payload carrier's shell 5 for use with the second embodiment of an ignition unit 1 b . Contact strips 21 a , mounted on the payload carrier's shell 5 as is shown in FIG. 9 e , connect between the second embodiment of an ignition unit 1 b (not shown in present figure) and data contacts 24 a of an MMT (shown in FIG. 12 a ) or contacting surface 40 a of an MAL or MML (shown in FIG. 3 c ). The ignition unit's contacts to fire-control unit 21 (shown in FIG. 9 b ) are connected, during the manufacturing process, to the surfaces 21 b of the contact strips 21 a . Surfaces 21 e of contact strips 21 a are in contact with data contacts 24 a of an MMT (shown in FIG. 12 a ) or contacting surface 40 a of a MAL or MML (shown in FIG. 3 c ) when projectile 1 is loaded into the MMT or onto the MAL or MML for launch. [0090] FIG. 10 a is a perspective top view schematic illustration of a third embodiment of ignition unit 1 a. [0091] FIG. 10 b is a perspective bottom view schematic illustration of the third embodiment of ignition unit 1 a. [0092] FIG. 10 c is a block diagram of the electronic system of the third exemplary embodiment of ignition unit 1 a . The launching of a projectile 1 that includes this embodiment of ignition unit 1 a can be done by a modified manual thrower (MMT), by a modified mechanical launcher (MML), by a modified automatic launcher (MAL) or by any prior art thrower/launcher. The electronic system of the third exemplary embodiment of ignition unit 1 a includes a power source 20 d , which supplies power through an activation button 20 c that is operatively connected to a timing setting switch 22 , to a power source tester 20 g , to an acceleration sensor 20 h and to a micro-switch 20 j . A data processor 20 i receives data from timing setting switch 22 , from power source tester 20 g and from the acceleration sensor 20 h and outputs data to a LED light 20 b and to a micro-switch 20 j . Micro-switch 20 j receives data from data processor 20 i and from activation button 20 c and outputs a direct current (DC) voltage to a DC/DC converter 20 k that converts this DC voltage to a level suitable for ignition of pyrotechnic fuse 6 (not shown in this figure) connected to pyrotechnic fuse nest 20 m. [0093] Upon system startup using activation button 20 c , power source tester 20 g informs data processor 20 i when the power source 20 d voltage level is suitable and data processor 20 i lights up LED light 20 b . Data processor 20 i then receives a delay time from timing setting switch 22 . Then, data processor 20 i signals a “ready” signal back by signaling with LED light 20 b . When projectile 1 is launched, acceleration sensor 20 h senses the launch and signals to data processor 20 i that projectile 1 has been launched. Upon receiving the launch indication from acceleration sensor 20 h , data processor 20 i starts to count down the delay time received before launch. At the end of the count down, data processor 20 i signals micro-switch 20 j to pass the DC voltage to pyrotechnic fuse nest 20 m via DC/DC converter 20 k , thereby detonating pyrotechnic fuse 6 (not shown in present figure). [0094] FIG. 11 a is a perspective top view schematic illustration of a fourth embodiment of ignition unit 1 a. [0095] FIG. 11 b is a perspective bottom view schematic illustration of the forth embodiment of ignition unit 1 a. [0096] FIG. 11 c is a block diagram of the electronic system of the fourth exemplary embodiment of ignition unit 1 a . The launching of a projectile 1 that includes this embodiment of ignition unit 1 a can be done by a modified manual thrower (MMT), by a modified mechanical launcher (MML), by a modified automatic launcher (MAL) or by any prior art thrower/launcher. The electronic system of the fourth exemplary embodiment of ignition unit 1 a includes a power source 20 d , which supplies power through an activation button 20 c that is operatively connected to a power source tester 20 g , to an acceleration sensor 20 h and to a micro-switch 20 j . A data processor 20 i has a default delay time programmed therein by the manufacturer of ignition unit 1 a and receives data from power source tester 20 g and from acceleration sensor 20 h , and outputs data to a LED light 20 b and to micro-switch 20 j . Micro-switch 20 j receives data from data processor 20 i and from activation button 20 c and outputs a direct current (DC) voltage to a DC/DC converter 20 k that converts this DC voltage to a level suitable for ignition of pyrotechnic fuse 6 (not shown in this figure) connected to pyrotechnic fuse nest 20 m. [0097] Upon system startup using activation button 20 c , power source tester 20 g informs data processor 20 i when the power source 20 d voltage level is suitable, and data processor 20 i lights up LED light 20 b . Then, data processor 20 i signals a “ready” signal back by signaling with LED light 20 b . When projectile 1 is launched, acceleration sensor 20 h senses the launch and signals to data processor 20 i that projectile 1 has been launched. Upon receiving the launch indication from acceleration sensor 20 h , data processor 20 i starts to count down the default delay time that has been programmed by the manufacturer. At the end of the countdown, data processor 20 i signals micro-switch 20 j to pass the DC voltage to pyrotechnic fuse nest 20 m via DC/DC converter 20 k , thereby detonating pyrotechnic fuse 6 (not shown in present figure). [0098] FIG. 12 a is a perspective view of a modified manual thrower (MMT) 24 . MMT 24 includes a fire-control unit 24 b , data contacts 24 a of a fire-control unit 24 b , an antenna 24 c of fire-control unit 24 b , a screen 24 d of fire-control unit 24 b , a fire button/timing setting switch 24 e of fire-control unit 24 b , an “on/off” switch 24 f of fire-control unit 24 b , a mode switch 24 h of fire control unit 24 b , and a body 24 g that terminates in a launch receptacle 24 i in which data contacts 24 a are embedded. Payloads 1 are loaded into receptacle 24 i for launching. A payload 1 , whose ignition unit 1 a is the second embodiment of ignition unit 1 a , is loaded into receptacle 24 i for launching so that contact strips 21 a make electrical contact with data contacts 24 a. [0099] FIG. 12 b is a block diagram of the electronic system of the fire control unit 24 b of MMT 24 . The electronic system of fire control unit 24 b includes a power source 24 i , which supplies power through an “on/off” switch of fire-control unit 24 f , that is operatively connected to an antenna 24 c , to a data receiver 24 j , to a data transmitter 24 k , to a fire button/timing setting switch 24 e of fire-control unit 24 b , a screen 24 d , and a data processor 24 m . Mode switch 24 h is connected to data transmitter 24 k and to data receiver 24 j and directs data to/from antenna 24 c or data contacts 24 a according to the embodiment (first or second) of the ignition unit 1 a that is installed in a launched projectile 1 . If the embodiment of ignition unit 1 a is the first embodiment of ignition unit 1 a , then mode switch 24 h directs data to/from antenna 24 c . If the embodiment of ignition unit 1 a is the second embodiment of ignition unit 1 a , then mode switch 24 h directs data to/from data contacts 24 a . Fire button/timing setting switch 24 e has two optional functions: to set the delay time for the first and second embodiments of ignition units 1 a and to issue the detonation command for the first embodiment of ignition unit 1 a . Data processor 24 m receives data from on/off switch 24 f , from fire button/timing setting switch 24 e and from data receiver 24 j and outputs data to screen 24 d and to data transmitter 24 k. [0100] Upon system startup using on/off switch 24 f , the user sets mode switch 24 h and fire button/timing setting switch 24 e according to the type of ignition units 1 a in use. Data processor 24 m receives data from fire button/timing setting switch 24 e and transfers the data via data transmitter 24 k and mode switch 24 h , which directs the data via antenna 24 c or via data contacts 24 a to ignition unit 1 a . The data received from ignition unit 1 a is directed by mode switch 24 h to data receiver 24 j and then to data processor 24 m . Information received by data processor 24 m is displayed on screen 24 d. [0101] FIG. 13 is a top view schematic illustration of a mechanical embodiment of an acceleration sensor 20 h . This embodiment of acceleration sensor 20 h includes arm members 25 a , springs 25 b , first accelerometer contacts 25 c , second accelerometer contacts 25 d and an external member 25 e. [0102] After the launching of a projectile 1 , the centrifugal force created by the spinning of projectile 1 compresses springs 25 b that are placed between arm members 25 a and external member 25 e . As a result, first accelerometer contacts 25 c touch second accelerometer contacts 25 d , and acceleration sensor 20 h outputs a signal to data processor 20 i (not shown in this figure) to inform data processor 20 i that projectile 1 has been launched. [0103] FIG. 14 is a block diagram of the electronic system of fire control unit 41 of a MAL. The electronic system of fire control unit 41 includes a power source 41 a , which supplies power through an “on/off” switch 41 b , that is operatively connected to antenna 40 b , to a data receiver 41 f , to a data transmitter 41 c , to sensors 41 d , to an input keyboard 41 e , to a screen 41 m , and to data processor 41 k . Mode switch 41 j is connected to data transmitter 41 c and to data receiver 41 f and directs data to/from antenna 40 b or electrical contacts 42 b according to which embodiment of ignition unit 1 a is installed in the launched projectiles 1 . If the embodiment of ignition unit 1 a that is installed in projectiles 1 is the first embodiment of ignition unit 1 a , then mode switch 41 j directs data to/from antenna 40 b . If the embodiment of ignition unit 1 a that is installed in projectiles 1 is the second embodiment of ignition unit 1 a , then mode switch 41 j directs data to/from electrical contacts 42 b . Input keyboard 41 e is used to input different required data, such as a delay time for the first and second embodiments of ignition units 1 a ; the immediate detonation command for the first embodiment of ignition unit 1 a ; the number of projectiles to launch; the direction of fire, etc. Sensors 41 d collect environmental data such as the angle of the launcher, the wind direction and speed, and/or the ambient temperature, and output the environmental data to data processor 41 k . Data processor 41 k receives data from on/off switch 41 b , from input keyboard 41 e , from sensors 41 d and from data receiver 41 f , and outputs data to screen 41 m , to data transmitter 41 c and to the motors and the launching button of MAL 40 , which are placed in the main body of the MAL (not shown in this figure). [0104] Upon system startup using on/off switch 41 b , the user sets mode switch 41 j and uses input keyboard 41 e to input all required data. Data processor 41 k receives data from input keyboard 41 e and transfers the received data via data transmitter 41 c and mode switch 41 j , which directs the data to antenna 40 b or to electrical contacts 42 b . Data received from the ignition unit 1 a of a projectile 1 that is to be launched is directed by mode switch 41 j to data receiver 41 f and then to data processor 41 k . Data received from sensors 41 d and from input keyboard 41 e is transferred by data processor 41 k to the MAL's motors and launching button. Information received by processor 41 k is displayed on screen 41 m. [0105] Prior art mechanical launcher P 3 of FIG. 2 is modified to be a MML of the present invention in a manner similar to how prior art automatic launcher P 6 of FIG. 3 a is transformed into MAL 40 of the present invention. The description above of MAL 40 applies, mutatis mutandis, to a MML of the present invention. In particular, the description above of the structure and use of fire control unit 41 applies, mutatis mutandis, to the fire control unit of a MML of the present invention. [0106] While the invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, it will be appreciated that many variations, modifications and other applications of the invention may be made. Therefore, the claimed invention as recited in the claims that follow is not limited to the embodiments described herein.
A crowd control projectile includes a payload carrier, an incapacitating agent inside the payload carrier, and an activating mechanism for activating the incapacitating agent. The activating mechanism includes a sensor and a timer. The timer delays the activation until a predetermined delay after the sensor senses that the projectile has been launched. Alternatively, the activating mechanism includes a receiver for receiving an activation signal after the projectile has been launched. Preferably, the projectile has the shape of a clay pigeon. A launcher of such a projectile includes a communication mechanism for transmitting a timing signal or an activation signal to the projectile and an arm for launching the projectile by direct contact. To control a crowd, the projectile is launched over the crowd by direct contact with a solid arm and the activating mechanism is used to activate the incapacitating agent when the projectile is above the crowd.
5
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The subject matter disclosed herein relates to industrial testing systems and particularly to a system for detecting deflection of components of industrial machines. Deflection may be defined as the amount a structural component is displaced or deformed under a load. In many industrial machines, such as, for example, large scale generators, components such as ripple springs are compressed during installation. The deflection of the components is measured to ensure that the deflection is within design tolerances. Previous measuring methods included manually measuring the relative positions of a number of points on the component using a hand tool to determine the overall deflection of the component. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION According to one aspect of the invention, a deflection measurement probe includes a body portion having a cavity defined by the body portion, a first positional measurement sensor disposed in the cavity of the body portion, the first positional measurement sensor including a sensor tip extending from the body portion operative to contact a measurement surface, and a second positional measurement sensor disposed in the cavity of the body portion, the first positional measurement sensor including a sensor tip extending from the body portion operative to contact a measurement surface. According to another aspect of the invention, a measurement system includes a processor and a measurement probe communicatively connected to the processor, the measurement probe comprising a body portion having a cavity defined by the body portion, a first positional measurement sensor disposed in the cavity of the body portion, the first positional measurement sensor including a sensor tip extending from the body portion operative to contact a measurement surface, and a second positional measurement sensor disposed in the cavity of the body portion, the first positional measurement sensor including a sensor tip extending from the body portion operative to contact a measurement surface. According to yet another aspect of the invention, a method for measuring deflection of a surface of an object includes aligning a measurement probe assembly with the surface of the object, disposing an alignment pin of the measurement probe assembly on the surface of the object, applying a force to the measurement probe assembly such that sensor tips of the measurement probe assembly contact the surface of the object, instructing a processor communicatively connected to the measurement probe assembly to measure the position of the sensor tips, and calculating a difference in relative position of the sensor tips. These and other advantages and features will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The subject matter, which is regarded as the invention, is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other features, and advantages of the invention are apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of an inspection system. FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of an illustrated embodiment of a probe assembly. FIG. 3 illustrates a top partially cut-away view of the probe assembly. FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of an example of a sensor of FIG. 2 . FIGS. 5-7 illustrate side views of the operation of the probe assembly of FIG. 2 . FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary method for measuring the deflection of a component. The detailed description explains embodiments of the invention, together with advantages and features, by way of example with reference to the drawings. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of an inspection system 100 . The system includes a processor 102 communicatively connected to a display device 104 , an audio device 105 such as a speaker, an input device 106 that may include, for example, a keyboard, mouse, or other type of input device, and a memory 108 . A probe controller 110 is communicatively connected to the processor 102 , and may include for example, a processor, input and output connections, and a power supply. A probe assembly 112 is communicatively connected to the probe controller 110 . A calibration block 101 includes a flat surface that is operative to mechanically engage the probe assembly 112 during system calibration procedures. Though the illustrated embodiment shows a separate probe controller 110 and processor 102 in alternate exemplary embodiments, the probe controller 110 and the processor 102 may, for example, be included in a single housing unit, or share a single processor. FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of an illustrated embodiment of a probe assembly 112 . The probe assembly 112 includes a body portion 202 and a plurality of transducers sensors disposed in the body portion 202 . The sensors 204 of the illustrated embodiment are differential variable reluctance transducers (DVRT) however, alternate embodiments may include other types of sensors such as linear variable differential transformers (LVDT). Though the illustrated embodiment includes an arrangement of five DVRTs, alternate embodiments may include any number of DVRTs. The probe assembly 112 includes alignment pins 206 and a connector and cable assembly 208 that is connected to the probe controller 110 (of FIG. 1 ). FIG. 3 illustrates a top partially cut-away view of the probe assembly 112 . In the illustrated embodiment, the sensors 204 are secured in a parallel and coplanar arrangement in an interior cavity of the body portion 202 by fasteners 302 however, alternate embodiments may secure the sensors 204 to the body portion 202 using other means such as, for example, an adhesive or epoxy material, a pinning arrangement or other type of fastening means. The longitudinal axes 301 of the alignment pins 206 are arranged in parallel and coplanar to the longitudinal axes 303 of the sensors 204 in the illustrated embodiment however, in alternate embodiments, the alignment pins 206 may be arranged in a different plane than the sensors 204 . The alignment pins 206 are biased with springs 304 such that a compressive force along the longitudinal axis of the pins 206 will push the pins 206 into the body portion 202 . FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of an example of a sensor 204 . In the illustrated embodiment the sensor 204 is a DVRT type sensor that includes a sensor portion (coil) 402 , a compressive spring 404 , a spring stop 406 , an end bearing 408 and a nickel titanium core 410 disposed in a tubular body portion 412 . A spherical tip portion 414 is disposed on the distal end of the core 410 . In operation, the position of the core 410 is detected by measuring the differential reluctance of the coil 402 using a sine wave excitation and synchronous demodulator (disposed in the probe controller 110 of FIG. 1 ) connected to the sensor 204 with a conductive lead 416 . FIGS. 5-7 illustrate side views of the operation of the probe assembly 112 . The illustrated embodiment includes a ripple spring 502 (test object), and a wedge 504 (alignment assembly or other surface). In the illustrated embodiment, the wedge 504 is used to secure the ripple spring 502 in position in an electrical machine. The alignment assembly 504 includes alignment pin holes 508 and orifices 506 that allow the probe assembly 112 to be repeatedly aligned in a particular position for repeated measurement tasks. The test object is not limited to ripple springs, and may include any object with a surface that may be tested for deflection. An alignment assembly is useful for repeated measurements; however an alignment assembly is not necessary to perform deflection measurements. Referring to FIG. 6 , in operation, a technician manually aligns the alignment pins 206 with the alignment pin holes 508 and inserts the alignment pins 206 into the alignment pin holes 508 . The alignment pins 206 contact a surface 602 of the ripple spring 502 (test object). A force 601 is applied by the technician on the body portion 202 of the probe assembly 112 that compresses the spring biased alignment pins 206 . Referring to FIG. 7 , the compression of the alignment pins 206 allows the tip portions 414 of the sensors 204 pass through the orifices 506 of the wedge 504 to contact the surface 602 of the ripple spring 502 . The position of each of the tip portions 414 of the sensors 204 is determined by measuring the differential reluctance of the coil 402 (of FIG. 4 ). The position of each sensor 204 is output by probe controller 110 to the processor 102 . The processor 102 calculates the differences in relative positions of each sensor 204 to determine an overall deflection of the ripple spring 502 . FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary method for measuring the deflection of a ripple springs in an electrical machine similar to the ripple spring 502 (of FIG. 5 ) using the system 100 (of FIG. 1 ). Though the illustrated embodiment describes measuring a ripple spring 502 a similar method may be performed to measure the deflection of any material surface. In this regard, in block 802 , the probe 112 is aligned with a test surface of the ripple spring 502 . The probe 112 may be aligned using, for example, an alignment wedge or other alignment means such as a visual indicator or mark on the ripple spring 502 . In block 804 , the alignment pins are placed in contact with the surface of the ripple spring 502 . A force is exerted by a technician on the probe 112 to compress the alignment pins 206 and induce contact between sensors 204 and the ripple spring 502 in block 806 . In block 808 , an instruction is sent to the processor 102 to measure the position of each sensor. The position of each sensor 202 is measured and the deflection of the surface (i.e., difference in relative position of each sensor tip) is calculated in block 810 . In some embodiments, the measurement may be associated with an identifier of the measured ripple spring 502 and saved in the memory 108 . In block 812 , the measurement is compared to a specification threshold value (e.g., less than 20% deflection). If the measurement of deflection is less than the threshold value, an indication that the measurement is satisfactory may be output to a user in block 814 . The output indication of a satisfactory measurement may include, for example, a visual indication on the display device 104 or an associated tone may be output by the audio device 105 . If the measurement is greater than the threshold value, an indication of an unsatisfactory test is output in block 816 , and the ripple spring may be adjusted or replaced and re-measured. While the invention has been described in detail in connection with only a limited number of embodiments, it should be readily understood that the invention is not limited to such disclosed embodiments. Rather, the invention can be modified to incorporate any number of variations, alterations, substitutions or equivalent arrangements not heretofore described, but which are commensurate with the spirit and scope of the invention. Additionally, while various embodiments of the invention have been described, it is to be understood that aspects of the invention may include only some of the described embodiments. Accordingly, the invention is not to be seen as limited by the foregoing description, but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.
A deflection measurement probe includes a body portion having a cavity defined by the body portion, a first positional measurement sensor disposed in the cavity of the body portion, the first positional measurement sensor including a sensor tip extending from the body portion operative to contact a measurement surface, and a second positional measurement sensor disposed in the cavity of the body portion, the first positional measurement sensor including a sensor tip extending from the body portion operative to contact a measurement surface.
6
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/131,910, filed May 23, 2011 which is a National Stage Application of International Application No. PCT/EP2009/065910 filed Nov. 26, 2009, claiming priority based on European Patent Application No. 08020713.7, filed Nov. 28, 2008. The entire disclosures of the prior applications are considered part of the disclosure of the accompanying divisional application, and are hereby incorporated by reference. [0002] The present invention concerns a method of decorating an element. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Methods of making decorations as raised portions on a base or substrate such as a watch dial or a bezel are known from the prior art. These methods consist in manufacturing the decorations and the base separately and then securing them to each other. [0004] Thus, in order to fix the decorations to the base, it is known to use bonding, soldering or setting techniques. [0005] However, these methods are not without drawbacks. Indeed, first they require a high level of precision. This precision is due to the fact that the decorations are often of very small size, i.e. of the order of the millimetre. This then requires adapting the tools used to manufacture the decorations according to the size of the decorations, in the knowledge that the smaller the size of the decorations, the more expensive the tools. [0006] Moreover, another drawback of these methods is that the assembling process, which must be precise, generally requires human intervention, involving not simply an increase in costs but also a greater risk of assembling errors. [0007] There is also known from FR Patent No 1,280,803 a method of making decorations on a dial. This method consists in placing a mould with pattern cavities on the dial and filling them via galvanoplasty. The mould is then removed leaving only the dial with the decorations. [0008] One drawback of this system is that the indices are not well secured. Indeed, they are made on the surface of the dial without any means of ensuring the decorations are properly secured to said dial. [0009] Moreover, by definition, galvanoplasty does not allow the deposition of elements over a large thickness, and this technique is therefore limited. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0010] It is an object of the present invention to provide a three-dimensional decoration method which overcomes the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art by proposing a less expensive and simpler method. [0011] The invention therefore concerns an aforementioned three-dimensional decoration method, which is characterized in that it includes the following steps: a) taking the element, said element including anchoring means for improving the securing of the decoration to said element; b) making a mask of the desired thickness of the decorations, and having at least one opening; c) placing said at least one opening in the mask against the place to be decorated, so as to form at least one mould; d) filling said at least one mould by hot shaping with an at least partially amorphous material; e) removing the mask. [0017] One advantage of this method is its simplicity. Indeed, the base or substrate and the decorations were previously made separately before being assembled to each other. With the method according to the present invention, the decorations are made at the same time that they are assembled to said base. Advantageously according to the invention, all of the decoration can also be made at the same time. [0018] Another advantage is that the use of a mask means that a great diversity of decoration shapes can be made, but also that the height of the decorations can be very simply adjusted. Indeed, the shape of the decorations is directly linked to the shapes of the openings in the mask. [0019] Moreover, the thickness of the mask directly determines the height of the corresponding decorations. It thus becomes easy to modify the shape of the decorations simply by replacing the mask used. [0020] Another advantage is that the method fixes the decorations securely to the base. [0021] Another advantage is the use of amorphous metal, which allows the decorations to be very precise. Indeed, when the amorphous metal is heated to reach a temperature comprised between the vitreous transition temperature Tg and crystallisation temperature Tx of said material, the viscosity thereof is greatly decreased without losing the amorphous structure. The amorphous material thus becomes easier to shape since it can then perfectly match all of the details of the mould into which it is pressed. [0022] Advantageous embodiments of the decoration method are described herein. [0023] One advantage of these embodiments is that they allow the decorations to be fixed more securely to the base. [0024] The invention also concerns an aforementioned three-dimensional decoration method which is characterized in that it includes the following steps: a) taking the element, said element including anchoring means for improving the securing of the decoration to said element, said anchoring means including at least one part mounted in a through cavity in said element located at the place that has to be decorated; b) making a mask of the desired thickness of the decorations, and having at least one opening; c) placing said at least one mask opening against the place to be decorated so as to form at least one mould; d) filling said at least one mould with a material via galvanoplasty; e) removing the mask. [0030] The invention further concerns an aforementioned three-dimensional decoration method, which is characterized in that it includes the following steps: a) taking the element, said element including anchoring means for improving the securing of the decoration to said element; b) making a mask of the desired thickness of the decorations, and having at least one opening; c) placing said at least one mask opening against the place to be decorated so as to form at least one mould; d) filling said at least one mould by injecting it with material so that the element is at least partially amorphous; e) removing the mask. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES [0036] The objects, advantages and features of the method according to the present invention will appear more clearly in the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention, given solely by way of non-limiting example and illustrated by the annexed drawings, in which: [0037] FIGS. 1 a to 1 e show schematically the various steps of the method according to a first embodiment of the present invention; [0038] FIGS. 2 a to 2 e show schematically the various steps of the method according to a second embodiment of the present invention; [0039] FIGS. 3 a to 3 e show schematically the various steps of the method according to a third embodiment of the present invention; and [0040] FIGS. 4 a to 4 e show schematically the various steps of the method according to a first alternative of a fourth embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0041] This description concerns a three-dimensional decoration method for a watch dial. However, this example will be taken by way of non-limiting example and it is evident that this method may be applied to any sort of element such as a watch bezel or any other element able to receive three-dimensional decorations. [0042] FIGS. 1 a to 1 e show a first embodiment of the present invention. [0043] In a first step a), a dial 1 is made. This dial 1 has a top face 2 and a bottom face 3 . Dial 1 may be made in a metal or metal alloy and/or another commonly used material, such as ceramic or enamel. Dial 1 is made by known methods, such as machining, moulding or other techniques. [0044] The top surface 2 of dial 1 may have any shape, i.e. have a flat or curved, smooth or sculpted profile, such as notched, for example by engine-turning or circular graining. [0045] In a second step b), a mask 4 is made and then placed on top surface 2 of dial 1 . This mask 4 has openings 4 ′. These openings 4 ′ define the shape and thickness of the future decorations 5 . Mask 4 may also have a non-constant thickness thus allowing decorations 5 of different thicknesses to be made. [0046] Thus, when mask 4 is placed on dial 1 , this is carried out such that openings 4 ′ in mask 4 are located above the areas of dial 1 that have to be decorated. It is thus clear that openings 4 ′ form a mould the bottom of which is closed by dial 1 . [0047] Thus the shapes and dimensions of mask 4 and dial 1 may or may not be identical. [0048] In a third step, called step c), the mould thereby formed by dial 1 and mask 4 is filled with the material forming decorations 5 . [0049] In a first variant, opening 4 ′ is filled by hot forming. This technique uses adaptation of the viscosity of materials so as to fill spaces completely and thus allow homogenous and precise manufacture of decorations 5 . [0050] It is therefore necessary to have a material, such as, for example, a precious or non-precious metal or metal alloy, which may, for example, be made amorphous. To achieve this, the material is made liquid at a higher temperature than its melting temperature and then cooled quickly. This thus prevents the atoms from being structured. [0051] During production of this amorphous material, the latter is preferably shaped as a preform. This preform has a similar appearance to the part to be made. In this example, the decorations 5 to be made on dial 1 may be hour symbols arranged in a ring around dial 1 . Thus, the preform made of amorphous material preferably has an annular shape. The width of the preform is at least equal to the width of the hour symbols. [0052] Subsequently, dial 1 is placed in a hot press and then covered by mask 4 , such that openings 4 ′ are above the places that are to receive decorations 5 . The preform made of amorphous material is placed above mask 4 . The whole assembly is then heated to a temperature comprised between the vitreous transition temperature Tg and crystallisation temperature Tx of said material. Within this temperature interval, the viscosity of the amorphous material is greatly decreased without losing the amorphous structure. The amorphous material then becomes easier to shape since it can then be perfectly moulded to all the details of the mould into which it is pressed. [0053] Once this temperature interval has been reached, pressure is exerted in order to fill said moulds and then the material is cooled sufficiently quickly to preserve the amorphous state. [0054] Surface finishes may be carried out before mask 4 is removed. Indeed, the finish of the vertical walls of decorations 5 may be carried out by sculpting the walls 4 a of mask 4 straight away. The finishes of the horizontal surfaces of decorations 5 may be carried out after any surplus material has been removed, thus providing a contrast in finish between the various surfaces of decorations 5 . [0055] In a second variant, the mould formed by dial 1 and mask 4 is filled by galvanoplasty. This technique is used to make metal decorations 5 . To achieve this, a bath including suitable metal ion salts is used. As with the hot forming method, mask 4 is placed on dial 1 so as to form a mould whose bottom is made electrically conductive. The conductive parts of dial 1 are then connected to an electrode and the whole assembly is then dipped into said bath. Using a counter-electrode, an electrical current is then sent so as to achieve galvanoplastic electrolysis. This galvanoplasty produces a migration of the metal ions of the bath to the conductive parts of dial 1 so as to form decorations 5 . Of course, those skilled in the art of galvanoplasty will adapt the parameters depending upon the material and thickness of decorations 5 , without requiring any explanation thereof in the present invention. [0056] In a third variant, decorations 5 are made by metal injection. The dial 1 -mask 4 unit is placed in an injection moulding machine capable of filling the moulds with liquid metal in order to create said decorations 5 . Preferably, the metal used will be brought to a temperature that is at least higher than the vitreous transition temperature Tg and will be cooled so as to give the metal an amorphous structure. The amorphous structure then allows less solidifying shrinkage compared to a metal with a crystalline structure. [0057] A fourth step d) may be carried out in order to remove any surplus material deposited during step c). This surplus deposited material is removed by lapping or any other possible means, such as, for example, by a chemical bath. [0058] Finally, in a step e), mask 4 is removed from dial 1 taking care not to damage the decorations. A dial 1 is thus obtained whose top surface 2 includes decorations 5 . [0059] In a second embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 a to 2 e , step a) consists in making dial 11 which will be decorated. However, this embodiment differs in that cavities 6 are present on the top surface 12 of dial 11 . These cavities 6 are made at the places where decorations 5 are to be made. Preferably, cavities 6 have a smaller section than that of decorations 5 . They are intended to form anchoring means 7 for better securing decorations 5 . [0060] The securing of anchoring means 7 may be more or less important depending upon the inclination of walls 6 a of cavities 6 relative to a vertical plane. Thus, the walls of cavities 6 may belong to said vertical plane or be inclined relative to said plane. Anchoring means 7 in cavity 6 will be of better quality if the inclination of walls 6 a of cavity 6 produces a section that increases towards the bottom surface 13 of dial 11 . Indeed, the opposite situation does not provide good anchoring efficiency. [0061] Step b) consists in placing mask 4 on dial 11 but by ensuring that cavities 6 and the openings in mask 2 communicate with each other in order to form a mould. [0062] In step c), said mould is filled so as to form said decorations 5 but also anchoring means 7 . This anchoring means 7 includes a part 8 formed in cavity 6 . This part 8 is formed of the material deposited in step c) and therefore forms a single part with the decoration 5 associated therewith. The shapes of walls 6 a of cavities 6 thus improve the anchoring of decorations 5 . [0063] Steps d) and e) of this second embodiment are identical in every way to steps d) and e) of the first embodiment. Thus a dial 11 is obtained with a top surface 12 including decorations 5 provided with part 8 . [0064] In a third embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 a to 3 e , step a) consists in making the dial 21 which is to be decorated. However, this embodiment differs in that there are cavities 6 on the top surface 22 of dial 21 and holes 6 ′ on the bottom part 23 of dial 21 . These cavities 6 and holes 6 ′ communicate with each other to form an opening. [0065] Preferably, the section of holes 6 ′ will be larger than the section of cavities 6 . Likewise, the depth of cavities 6 will preferably be larger than that of holes 6 ′. The section of the space formed by cavity 6 and hole 6 ′ may also vary in a uniform manner or hole 6 ′ may be arranged to form a step relative to the section of cavity 6 . [0066] Step b) consists, as in the second embodiment, in placing mask 4 on dial 21 ensuring that the openings 4 ′ in mask 24 communicate with the cavities 6 and incidentally with holes 6 ′ so as to form a mould. This step b) also consists in placing dial 21 on means 9 for closing one end of said mould substantially at the level of bottom surface 23 . [0067] Step c) consists in filling each mould, i.e. opening 4 ′, cavity 6 and hole 6 ′. Thus, the anchoring means 7 of the third embodiment includes part 8 ′ formed by cavity 6 and hole 6 ′. This embodiment is more efficient than the preceding one because the shoulder present between cavity 6 and hole 6 ′ improves the anchoring of decorations 5 . [0068] Step d) of this third embodiment is the same as that of the preceding embodiments. Step e) consists in removing mask 4 but also closing means 9 . A dial 21 is thus obtained with a top surface 22 including decorations 5 provided with part 8 ′. [0069] In a fourth embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 a to 4 e , step a) consists in making a dial 31 provided with through cavities 6 ″. [0070] Step b) is the same as in the third embodiment, i.e. it consists in placing mask 4 on closing means 10 so as to form the mould?. This means 10 includes hollows 100 which communicate with cavities 6 ″ when dial 31 is placed on means 10 . These hollows 100 may have any shape, i.e. may have straight or inclined sides 100 a. Advantageously, the section of hollows 100 will be greater than that of cavities 6 ″. Each mould for a decoration 5 thus consists of the space created by an opening 4 ′ in mask 4 , a cavity 6 ″ and a hollow 100 . [0071] Step c) consists in filling the mould with the material forming decorations 5 . Thus, as previously, openings 4 ′, mask 4 , cavities 6 ″ are filled, as well as hollows 100 . This configuration secures decorations 5 in a similar manner to that of the third embodiment but without the drawback of having to pierce dial 31 with two different sections and through two different sides. [0072] In this embodiment, it is thus clear that the anchoring means 7 includes part 8 ″ and closing means 10 . [0073] However, in the alternative where support 10 is used only for carrying dial 31 during step c), anchoring means 7 also includes this support 10 . [0074] Optional step d) is the same as for all the preceding embodiments. [0075] Step e) is the same as in the third embodiment, i.e. it consists in removing mask 4 and closing means 10 . A dial 31 is thus obtained with a top surface 32 including decorations 5 provided with part 8 ″, one portion of part 8 ″ projecting from the bottom surface 33 of dial 31 . It is clear that the projecting part can then be used as the feet for dial 31 . [0076] However, an alternative to step e) also consists in not separating support 10 from dial 31 . A dial 31 is thus obtained with a top surface 32 having decorations 5 provided with part 8 ″ and closing means 10 . [0077] It will be clear that various modifications and/or improvements and/or combinations evident to those skilled in the art may be made to the various embodiments of the invention set out above without departing from the scope of the invention defined by the annexed claims. Cavities 6 , 6 ″ or holes 6 ′ may be provided with additional anchoring means 7 , for example in the form of bumps. These bumps are placed on walls 6 a or on the bottom of cavities 6 . The bumps are filled with the same material and at the same time as decorations 5 so as to offer more efficient anchorage. [0078] Moreover, it will of course be clear that the filling operation performed in step c) is not limited to the methods cited and that any other material filling method may be used.
A method of decorating an element. This method includes the following steps: taking the element ( 1, 11, 21, 31 ), the element including anchoring for improving the securing of the decoration ( 5 ) to the element; making a mask ( 4 ) of the desired thickness of the decorations ( 5 ), and having at least one opening ( 4′ ); placing the at least one opening in the mask ( 4 ) against the place to be decorated so as to form at least one mould ( 4′, 6, 6′, 6″,100 ); filling the at least one mould with an at least partially amorphous material via hot forming; and removing the mask ( 4 ).
1
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a receiver for receiving differential phase shift keying data and, more particularly, to such a receiver that can be used in a noisy environment such as power line carrier applications. Data is transferred between two points in a data communication system in a variety of ways. In some cases the baseband signal itself is applied directly to the communication channel without the aid of a carrier signal. In other cases, a carrier signal is used. When a carrier signal is used, data is impressed on the communication channel in an assortment of ways such as modulating the amplitude of the carrier wave, modulating the frequency of the carrier wave or modulating the phase of the carrier wave. Phase modulation of the carrier wave has been increasing in popularity particularly in power line carrier applications. The use of such receivers in applications such as power line carrier requires the receiver to reject prodigious amounts of noise. The receiver should also be designed so that it can be integrated to thus reduce the cost of its fabrication. Prior art receivers principally rely upon analog components which make integrated fabrication more difficult if not impractical. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The receiver according to the present invention efficiently rejects noise and can be readily integrated. This receiver demodulates differential phase shift keying data wherein the data has bit values dependent upon whether the phase of a carrier signal is inverted or not inverted during a bit interval. This receiver includes an input circuit for receiving differential phase shift keying data, an oscillator for supplying an oscillator signal, a phase detector connected to the input circuit and to the oscillator for providing a phase detection output signal dependent upon the difference in phase between the oscillator signal and the differential phase shift keying data, an oscillator controller connected to the phase detector and to the oscillator for controlling the phase of the oscillator signal in response to the phase detection output signal, a phase sense detector connected to the input circuit and to the oscillator for providing a phase sense output signal dependent upon the phase relationship between the differential phase shift keying data and the oscillator, a data clock connected to the oscillator and to the phase sense detector for providing a data clock signal defining a bit interval, and a bit detector connected to the phase sense detector, to the data clock and to the oscillator for providing demodulated output data bits dependent upon the differential phase shift keying data. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other features and advantages will become more apparent from a detailed consideration of the drawings in which: FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of the receiver according to the present invention; FIG. 2 shows in more detail the amplifier of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 shows in more detail the phase detector of FIG. 1; FIG. 4 shows a timing diagram for the phase detector of FIG. 3; FIG. 5 shows the gain switch of FIG. 1; FIG. 6 shows the integrator and voltage controlled oscillator of FIG. 1; FIG. 7 shows the divider circuit of FIG. 1; FIG. 8 shows the phase sense detector of FIG. 1; FIG. 9 shows the bit boundary detector of FIG. 1; FIG. 10 shows the timing diagram associated with the bit boundary detector of FIG. 9; FIG. 11 shows the timing diagram of FIG. 10 but wherein the signals are subjected to noise; FIG. 12 shows the data clock of FIG. 1; FIG. 13 shows the bit detector of FIG. 1; FIG. 14 shows a timing diagram of the signals associated with the bit detector of FIG. 13; FIG. 15 shows the NRZ circuit of FIG. 1; and, FIG. 16 shows the lock detector of FIG. 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION In FIG. 1, incoming data is supplied to the INPUT and then to amplifier 1 which amplifies the incoming signal with enough gain to produce a logic level output. This logic level output from amplifier 1 is connected to phase detector 100 which compares the phase of the incoming signal with the phase from the oscillator signal produced by the voltage controlled oscillator. Phase detector 100 produces an output which is dependent upon the difference in phase between the two signals. In the specific embodiment disclosed herein, the output signal from phase detector 100 has a duty cycle which is dependent upon the difference in phase between the incoming signal and the voltage controlled oscillator signal. The output from phase detector 100 is supplied through analog switch 200 which is responsive to lock detector 1000. If the carrier signal is missing or if the receiver is in an out-of-lock condition for a predetermined amount of time, gain switch 200 is closed to shorten the loop time constant to give rapid acquisition of the signal. When the receiver loop is in lock, however, switch 200 is open making the time constant very long in order to reduce the loop's susceptibility to noise. The output from switch 200 is supplied to integrator and voltage controlled oscillator 300 which integrates the duty cycle and supplies a voltage to the input of the voltage controlled oscillator as a function of the duty cycle. The output from the voltage controlled oscillator supplies a divider circuit for providing the various frequencies needed to operate the receiver shown in FIG. 1. Thus, phase detector 100 and integrator and VCO 300 provide a phase locked loop the gain of which is controlled by gain switch 200. The output from amplifier 1 is also supplied to phase sense detector 500 which provides a digital output signal having a value dependent upon whether the input carrier is in or out of phase with the voltage controlled oscillator derived clock signal. Bit boundary detector 600 responds to the output from the phase sense detector 500 and to the signal from the voltage controlled oscillator for determining the boundaries of the bit intervals which define the beginning and the end of a bit. The bit boundary detector provides a sync signal which is used to periodically resync the data clock to the incoming signal. Data clock 700 provides output pulses at the middle and at the end of each bit interval. Bit detector 800 responds to the voltage controlled oscillator signal, the pulses from data clock 700 and the phase sense detector signal for extracting the bits from the incoming differential phase shift keying data. This bit detector is essentially a digital integrator which will integrate each data bit so that noise can be more effectively rejected. The data bits which are produced by bit detector 800 are converted to nonreturn-to-zero (NRZ) bits by circuit 900 and supplied to the output data terminal. FIG. 2 shows amplifier 1 of FIG. 1 in more detail. Amplifier 1 comprises input terminals 2 and 3 for connection to the transmission medium which may, for example, be power lines in a power line carrier application. This incoming data signal is connected through isolation transformer 4 to a three stage AC amplifier comprising inverters 5, 6 and 7. These inverters are provided with enough gain to saturate the last stage, i.e. inverter 7, thus producing a logic-level signal. The output from this last stage of amplification is connected to the corresponding input of phase detector 100 shown in more detail in FIG. 3. Phase detector 100 includes D flip-flop 101 having its D terminal connected to the output of amplifier 1, its set and reset terminals grounded and its clock terminal connected to an output of divider circuit 400 which output produces an output frequency which is two times the carrier frequency. The Q output from D flip-flop 101 is connected to one input of EXCLUSIVE OR 102 the other input of which is connected directly to the output of amplifier 1. This arrangement provides a phase detector which is insensitive to signal polarity but which produces an output duty cycle which is proportional to phase within 180° limits. The timing diagram for phase detector 100 is shown in FIG. 4. The 2F clock signal is applied to the clock terminal of D flip-flop 101 and the amplifier output signal is applied to the D terminal. As can be seen from FIG. 4, the EXCLUSIVE OR produces a signal which has a duty cycle proportional to the difference in phase between the signal appearing at the Q output of D flip-flop 101 and the phase of the output from amplifier 1. When these two signals are in phase, the EXCLUSIVE OR output has a 50% duty cycle. In the case where the oscillator signal leads the incoming data by 45°, a phase detector signal is produced which has a 75% duty cycle. In the case where the oscillator signal lags the incoming data signal by 45°, a phase detector signal is produced which has a 25% duty cycle. The output from phase detector 100 is supplied to the input of gain switch 200 shown in more detail in FIG. 5. This switch includes analog switch 201 which responds to the in-lock signal for producing a very long time constant when the phase locked loop is in an in-lock condition. In this event, switch 201 is open and resistor 202 is connected between the input of gain switch 200 and its output. In the case where the phase locked loop is out of lock for a predetermined amount of time, switch 201 closes to shorten the time constant by shorting resistor 202. The output from gain switch 200 is connected to the input of the integrator and voltage controlled oscillator 300 shown in more detail in FIG. 6. Accordingly, the phase detector output is integrated by integrator 301 to produce an output voltage which has a value proportional to the duty cycle of the phase detector output signal. This voltage is applied to the voltage control terminal of the voltage controlled oscillator 302 which produces an output frequency four times the frequency of the carrier signal. The output signal from the voltage controlled oscillator is connected as an input to frequency divider 400 shown in FIG. 7. This frequency divider which consists of three D flip-flops, divides the 4F signal down into 2F, 1F and 1/2F signals for use by the receiver. As can be seen, phase detector 100, gain switch 200, integrator and voltage controlled oscillator 300 and divider 400 form a phase locked loop for locking onto the phase of the incoming differential phase shift keying data. The phase detector as disclosed herein will lock up to either the normal carrier phase or the inverted carrier without a transient when the inversion occurs. The output from amplifier 1 is also connected to the input of the phase sense detector 500 shown in more detail in FIG. 8. Specifically, EXCLUSIVE OR 501 combines both the output from amplifier 1 and the 1F oscillator signal as an input to the D terminal of D flip-flop 502. D flip-flop 502 is clocked by the 2F signal to provide a phase sense output signal from the Q terminal of D flip-flop 502. As shown in FIG. 10, the phase sense output signal depends upon the phase of the incoming data signal. In the differential phase shift keying arrangement of the present invention, a logic 1 is transmitted by inverting the carrier for one bit time and a logic 0 is transmitted by not inverting the carrier for one bit time. Accordingly, if a 0 bit is transmitted, the carrier signal is not inverted so that the amplifier output and the 1F clock signal will match resulting in a logic level 0 output from EXCLUSIVE OR 501. The 0 at the D input of flip-flop 502 is clocked by the 2F input and results in a 0 output on the Q terminal of D flip-flop 502. In the example shown, the first 1 bit results from an inversion of the carrier frequency so that the inputs to the EXCLUSIVE OR 501 no longer match to produce a 1 input to the D terminal of D flip-flop 502. This 1 is clocked through to the output Q by the 2F clock signal. Since the carrier is not inverted back again for the subsequent 0 bit, a mismatch will continue to exist at the inputs to EXCLUSIVE OR 501 producing a logic level 1 at its output which is clocked through the Q output. The next 1 bit, however, will result in an inverted carrier again which will cause the phase of the amplifier output signal and the 1F clock signal to again match for producing a logic level 0 at the output of EXCLUSIVE OR 501. This logic level 0 is clocked through the the Q output of D flip-flop 502. FIG. 10 shows additional bits and how the phase detector reacts to provide its output signal. The output from phase sense detector 500 is connected as an input to the bit boundary detector 600 shown in more detail in FIG. 9. The phase sense circuit is applied to the U/D terminals of counters 601 and 602 of bit boundary detector 600. Bit boundary detector 600 provides a pulse at the end of each bit time if the bit edge can be identified from the incoming signal. This pulse is used to resynchronize the data clock as described hereinafter. The phase sense signal controls the direction in which counters 601 and 602 count the 2F clock. The 2F clock is supplied through NAND gate 603 as long as counter 601-602 has not reached its minimum 0 count or its maximum count. Counter 601 is connected to count each of the 2F pulses and counter 602 is connected to count 2F pulses when counter 601 is full. Thus, counter 601-602 will sample the phase sense signal twice per carrier cycle, counting up if the signals are in phase and down if the signals are out of phase. The output of counter 601 which enables counter 602 to count is also connected to one input of OR gate 604 which receives another input through inverters 605 from the phase sense detector output. The output of OR gate 604 is connected through inverter 606 as one input of NAND gate 607 which combines the outputs of counter 602 for controlling the D input of D flip-flop 608. Flip-flop 608 is clocked by the 2F clock signal for producing the MAX output signals. The MAX output is used to reset R-S flip-flop 609 which is set by the MIN output from D flip-flop 610 the D input of which is derived from OR gate 611 having one input connected from the output of the phase sense detector and the other input coming from the output of counter 602 indicating that the counter has reached its minimum. As can be seen from the timing diagram shown in FIG. 10, the counter begins counting up when the phase sense signal goes high and will stop counting when it reaches its maximum count of 2F. It begins down counting the next time that the phase sense signal goes low. The maximum output signal is provided whenever the counter has attained a full count and the minimum output signal is generated whenever the counter has attained its minimum count of 0. The MAX and MIN signals are used to control R-S flip-flop 609 as shown with the MAX signal setting the R-S flip-flop and the MIN signal resetting it. R-S flip-flop signal 609 controls the D input to D flip-flop 612 which is clocked by the 2F clock signal. The outputs from R-S flip-flop 609 and D flip-flop 612 are combined by EXCLUSIVE OR 613 to provide the sync signal. Again as shown in FIG. 10, the D flip-flop output follows the R-S flip-flop output and the EXCLUSIVE OR gate will provide the pulses as shown. In this manner, the EXCLUSIVE OR gate 613 will reliably generate pulses on 1-0 bit sequences and will usually provide pulses on 1-1 bit sequences. As shown in FIG. 10, reliably generated pulses are shown in solid lines and the usually generated pulses are shown in dashed lines. In the presence of noise bursts, the count will not necessarily reach minimum or maximum levels at the end of each bit time. It may arrive late in the case of the 1-0 sequence and it may not arrive at all in the case of a 1-1 sequence. FIG. 11 shows the timing signal shown in FIG. 10 in the presence of noise. The pulses produced in the presence of noise as shown in FIG. 11 will still serve to resynchronize the data clock even though they may be late and infrequent. Data clock 700 is shown in more detail in FIG. 12. This data clock is a counter which counts the 2F clock signal to produce an output pulse on its Q7 output terminal having a leading edge in the middle of a bit interval and a trailing edge at the end of each bit interval. Data clock 700 is periodically reset by the sync signal it receives from bit boundary detector 600. In this manner, the data clock is synchronized to the incoming data stream. The leading edge at the most significant output of the counter is used as the data clock since this leading edge should occur in the exact center of each bit time. The trailing edge should occur at the end of the bit time. This trailing edge is used to preset the digital integrator at the beginning of each bit time. The digital integrator is part of bit detector 800 shown in more detail in FIG. 13. The two D flip-flops 801 and 802 together with OR gate 803 and inverter 804 produce a narrow pulse one 2F clock cycle after each bit time starts. This pulse presets counter 805-806 to a count which is equal to half of its range. The digital integrator is used to clean up noisy phase information. The phase sense signal again controls whether or not counter 805-806 counts up or down and the clock signals are again disconnected from the counter if the counter reaches its maximum or minimum counts. Counter 805-806 will count the 2F clock and provide an appropriate integrated bit at its output DPSK data. Thus, as shown in FIG. 14, the data clock output cycle is shown and provides the narrow pulses at the output of inverter 804 to preset counter 805-806 at its mid range. In the example shown the first 1 bit causes the counter to count up and integrate the first bit as received until it is again preset. If a 1 bit follows, the signal has been inverted again and the counter will count down on an average until it is again preset. The circuit of FIG. 15 will convert this DPSK data to nonreturn-to-zero (NRZ) data. The DPSK data is clocked through the first D flip-flop 901 at the end of the bit interval. Second flip-flop 902 and EXCLUSIVE OR gate 903 convert the DPSK data into NRZ data. Accordingly, if present data is the same as old data, the output from the converter is low. Conversely, if the present data is different from the old data, then the output from the converter goes high. Finally, FIG. 16 shows lock detector 1000 in more detail. This circuit is again a counting type averager. Up/down counter 1001-1002, the range of which is limited by gates on its clock inputs, is used to determine how long the loop has been out of lock. A continuous input at half the carrier frequency conditions the counter to count down towards 0. A second circuit, sensitive to phase errors greater than plus or minus 45°, conditions the counter to count up at two times the carrier frequency. The count will, on the average, increase towards the full count of counter 1001-1002 if phase errors greater than 45° are present more than 1/4 of the time. For an out-of-lock condition or missing carrier, phase errors are present half the time. The most significant output of the counter is used to indicate the in or out-of-lock condition for controlling gain switch 200. In order to generate the count up signal, the signal X0R1, which is representative of the difference in phase between the carrier and the oscillator signal and which is driven to be identical to the 2F clock by the phase locked loop circuit, is EXCLUSIVE ORed with the 2F signal. Any discrepancy between these signals shows up as a 1 at the new EXCLUSIVE OR gate's output. When the input signal leads the 1F clock by 45° to 90°, it is necessary to store the fact that an error has occurred. D flip-flop 1003 stores this error and holds it for a 90° period. Second D flip-flop 1004 clocks in this error and resets 45° later. In this manner, error pulses, if present, will appear between count down pulses so they do not interfere with each other. The count down signal is generated by D flip-flop 1005 which is clocked by the 4F signal. Because the direction that counter 1001-1002 counts is controlled by the 2F clock, and because the 2F clock is also used in order to synchronize the count up portion of the circuit and the count down portion of the circuit, the count up clock signals will be used to clock counter 1001-1002 during one half cycle of the 2F clock signal and the count down signal will be used to decrement the counter during the other half cycle of the 2F signal. Assuming that an error persists for the requisite amount of time, the in-lock signal will be provided for controlling gain switch 200 to change the loop time constant of the phase lock loop in order to speed up the response of the phase lock loop if the system is not locked up to the carrier. If the circuit is locked up to a carrier, it should take a very large and long series of errors (caused by noise) in order to cause the local oscillator to drift any significant amount. If the circuit is not locked, the loop should be fast to allow rapid lock up. A delay of about two bit times may be chosen before changing the time constant. Most noise pulses will be gone by this time, or lock will be well under way.
A receiver for demodulating differential phase shift keying data, the data having bit values dependent upon whether the phase of a carrier is inverted or not inverted during a bit interval, the receiver having a phase locked loop oscillator for locking up with the phase of the carrier, a phase detector for sensing differences in phases between the oscillator signal and the incoming data, an oscillator controller for controlling the output phase of the oscillator in response to the phase detector, a phase sense detector which detects whether or not the carrier has been inverted, a data clock responsive to the oscillator and to the phase sense detector for providing a data clock signal defining a bit interval, and a bit detector responsive to the phase sense detector, the data clock and the oscillator for integrating the incoming data.
7
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/661,697 filed Feb. 27, 1991, abandoned, which is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 247,279, filed Sept. 21, 1988 and now U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,346. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention generally relates to caulks, sealants, and grouts. More specifically, the invention relates to an erodible caulk composition containing an antimicrobial such as a quaternary ammonium salt which may be dispensed through manual application to surfaces or by extrusion from any appropriate dispenser. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The troublesome reoccurrence of food born diseases caused by psychotropic, pathogenic micro-organisms has created strong concern within the food process industry and has fueled a search for new environmental sanitation products targeted at these micro-organisms. Public awareness of food born diseases has dramatically increased recently due to the occurrence of epidemics of both listeriosis and salmonellosis. The symptoms of these diseases can manifest a number of different forms. In neonatal infants, the disease often can be characterized by symptoms of sepsis or meningitis. In pregnant women, the disease often takes the form of a puerperal sepsis or non-specific flu-like illness which can result in the premature delivery of stillborn or acutely ill infants. Doyle, M. P.; Food Borne Pathogens of Recent Concern; Ann. Rev. Nutr. 1985; Vol. 5, pages 25-41. The FDA has responded to outbreaks of listeriosis and salmonellosis with expanded plant audits and new test protocols to isolate pathogens in those areas which foster microbiological contaminants. Pathogens present in the general plant environment will eventually find their way onto floors, into the drains as well as cracks and crevices and other small openings or voids where microbial growth may occur. Previous attempts at preventing microbial growth include U.S. Pat. No. 3,597,772 to Leavitt et al which discloses a lavatory sanitation body comprising any nonionic, cationic, and amphoteric synthetic detergent in combination with an acidic agent. EP Appln. No. 0,227,108 to Fukuchi et al discloses an oral composition generally comprising a toothpaste which includes carboxy methyl celluloses, anionic surfactants such as sodium lauryl sulfate, plasticizers such as propylene glycol, and alkyl amides. The alkyl amides are preferably alkylolamide fatty acid esters having 9-18 carbon atoms. U.K. Patent No. 1,520,238 to Paulus et al discloses an antimicrobial caulk composition generally comprising an antimicrobial such as tetraethylthiuram disulfide and benzyl alcohol-hemiformal, hydroxy cellulose, polyphosphates, water and a pigment. The paste in major portion is comprised of hydroxy cellulose with the active antimicrobial being a combination of tetramethylenethiuram disulfide and benzyl alcohol hemiformals. In use, the composition is intended to be used in paints, paper material, and adhesives. U.S. Pat. No. 4,571,410 to Nevins et al discloses a solvent base caulk comprising a solvent, an ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer mixture, a water white hydrocarbon resin such as an alpha-methylstyrene based resin, a thickening agent such as a glycol. Optionally, the composition may also comprise plasticizers, bactericides and antioxidants. Nevins et al disclose the use of a bactericide at 0.5-10 parts or antimicrobial such as Vinyzene from Morton Thiokol. U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,957 to Holtshousen discloses an antibacterial cream generally comprising an antibacterial povidone-iodine constituent held in a hydrocarbon/polyol cream base. The cream may also comprise emulsifier such as a higher fatty acid or alcohol and may be used for topical applications such as burns on human or animal body skin. EP Appln. No. 0,055,023 to Riffkin discloses an antiseptic adhesive composition generally comprising a rubbery elastomer such as a polyurethane or polyisobutylene, a water soluble or swellable hydrocolloids such as gelatin or pectin, and an antiseptic or germicidal agent such as an iodine, phenolic, and the like. Optionally, the Riffkin composition may also comprise a plasticizer, an antioxidant, or cohesive strengthening agent among other ingredients. The Riffkin composition is ultimately used to formulate adhesives for bandages for applications such as dermal ulcers and burn therapy. U.S. Pat. No. 4,624,713 to Morganson et al discloses a solid rinse agent which generally comprises polyoxypropylene-polyoxyethylene block copolymer surfactants, urea, water, and various dispensing rate adjusting additives including carboxylic acids and alkanolamides for providing the desired rate of solubilization. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with a first aspect of the invention there is provided an erodible antimicrobial caulk composition comprising an antimicrobial and a hardener. Optionally, the erodible antimicrobial caulk composition may comprise, plasticizers such as alkyl glycols, solubility modifiers, organic and inorganic fillers, surfactants and detergents, solvents, acidulants and dyes as well as processing aids which will assist in formulation of the product, among other constituents. In accordance with a further aspect of the invention there is also provided a method of using the various embodiments of caulk disclosed herein. In this context, the caulk is placed into various areas of use and, without need of equipment, dispensed through simple water contact in cleaning and rinsing operations. Once subjected to water contact, the caulk erodes dispensing the antimicrobial agent dispersed within the composition. The composition of the caulk may be altered to provide various levels of erosion, i.e., a controlled solubility or release mechanism for the antimicrobial agent. The caulk may either be dispensed from a tube through extrusion, "pressed in place" as a pre-extruded erodible rope, or otherwise manually applied as a paste or putty and inserted into position. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURE FIG. 1 is a graphical depiction of the results of a penetrometer analysis comparing one caulk embodiment of the invention against control compositions. FIG. 2 is a graphical depiction of the results of the penetrometer analysis of Working Example 70. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the food processing industry, microbial growth is dependent on many factors including the foods processed, the processing environments, including the temperature of the food processing facility as well as the frequency with which the facility is cleaned. Ultimately, microbes are removed or destroyed through cleaning and sanitizing processes which rely on disposal or drainage. Consequently, any stagnant space within the food process facility, such as floor and wall cracks or crevices, presents an optimum host environment for the continued growth of microbes and bacterial contaminants which may lead to food born infectious diseases. By providing an active chemical cleaner which is capable of "sanitizing", the caulk of the invention precludes the growth of all but the most insignificant amount of microscopic contaminants. Accordingly, the sanitizing agent used in the caulk of the invention preferably satisfies the definition of "sanitizer" as by the AOAC Official Methods of Analysis, Germicidal and Detergent Sanitizing Action §4.028 (1984). This AOAC use-dilution protocol is one of a small number of procedures generally recognized and professionally accepted for measuring biocidal activity. The sanitizing agent used in the caulk of the invention should provide a "sanitizing" efficacy which will cause at least 3 log count reduction or 99.9% in the number of organisms within 30 seconds to enable use within food processing environments as required by EPA Guidelines for the food processing industry. The disclosed chemical sanitizer is intended to ensure a continuous controlled release of the active sanitizing agents as well as detergents for the life of the caulk. Moreover, the caulk of the invention is intended to provide a certain degree of variability within its own chemical and physical properties. As a result, the caulk may be applied to any number of food processing environments while still providing effective sanitizing action on in place. For example, the caulk of the invention is intended to have the same level of efficacy in a cold water, low flow drain environment as in a hot water, high flow drain environment with the variance of certain constituents and the chemical sanitizer. Constant sanitizing efficacy is provided by varying the concentration and solubility of the sanitizing agent of the invention. The Caulk The invention is an erodible sanitizing caulk composition comprising a sanitizer and a hardener which controls the consistency and the dissolution rate of the composition once subjected to an aqueous flow. The sanitizing agent may be one or more agents which function to provide the microbicidal activity in the caulk. Specifically, the sanitizing agent used should preferably fall within the well defined category of "sanitizers" having the capability to provide the necessary reduction in bacteria. Moreover, the chosen sanitizing agent may also function to deodorize the undesirable odors which often accompany microbial growth. Biofilm build up tends to result from the growth of bacteria within the drain region or in crevices or cracks which line floor areas. Other soils such as milk soils and animal or vegetable processing by-products which also form in these regions, in turn, result in bacterial growth. The formation of this residue creates a harboring environment for the sustained growth of more bacteria. Accordingly, the chemical used as the sanitizing agent is intended to function as a detergent assisting in the cleaning and removal of biofilms and other soils in the general environment. Generally, any solid or liquid chemical agent having a "sanitizing" level of bacteriocidal efficacy may be used as the sanitizing agent in the caulk. Chemical compositions known to impart sanitizing efficacy include aldehydes, carboxylic acids, peracids and peroxygen compounds, iodine and iodine complexes, interhalogens, phenolics, surface-active agents including acid-anionic, amphoteric and cationic surfactants, nitrogen compounds and polymers including alkylamines, and inorganic and organic halogen releasing agent such as chlorine, chlorine dioxide, bromine releasing agents and mixtures thereof. Representative compositions which could be used as the sanitizing agent of the present invention are commonly available aldehydes such as formaldehyde and glutaraldehyde and respective condensate derivatives; alkylamines such as N-Dodecyl-1, 3-propane diamine and salts thereof; polymeric moieties such as polyhexamethylene biguianide available commercially as Vantocil™, Cosmocil™, and Baquacil™ sold by ICI Americas Inc. and ionene polymers such as WSCP sold by Buckman Laboratories, Inc.; saturated or unsaturated carboxylic acids such as C 8-14 fatty acids including octanoic acid, decanoic acid, dodecanoic acid, as well as dicarboxylic acids like sorbic acid, fatty acid mixtures, or fatty acid mixtures with other antimicrobial agents including hydrogen peroxide; iodophors such as iodine-nonionic surfactant complexes, iodine-polyvinyl pyrrolidone complexes, iodine-quaternary ammonium chloride complexes, and amphoteric iodine-amine oxide complexes and the like; interhalogen compounds such as iodine monochloride and iodine trichloride or their respective polyhalide anions; anionic surfactants such as dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid, sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium 1-octane sulfonate; amphoteric compounds such as the ampholyte dodecyldi-(aminethyl)-glycines marketed by Goldschmidt AG under the tradename Tego™, or the imidazole ring derivatives called Miranol™ by Miranol Chemical, Inc.; cationic surfactants such as the alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chlorides and alkyl dimethyl ethyl benzyl ammonium chlorides or blends thereof distributed under the BTC™ trademark by Stepan Company or the Bardac®, Barquet® and Hyamine® series by Lonza, Inc.; cationic bisbiguanides such as the chlorhexidine salts; substituted phenolics such as o-phenylphenol, 2,4,5-trichlorophenol, P-tert-amylphenol o-benzy-p-chlorophenol commercially available from sources such as Dow Chemical company and Mobay Chemical Company; bis-phenols such as hexachlorophene and dichlorophene; organic chlorine releasing agents such as cyanurates, isocyanurates and cyanuric acids, which are commercially available from FMC and Monsanto as their CDB and ACL product lines, respectively; encapsulated or unencapsulated inorganic chlorine releasing agents such as alkalis and alkaline earth hypochlorites including NaOCl, KOCl, LiOCl, Ca(OCl) 2 and the like as well as chloramine and bromamine derivatives such as Chloroamine-T™ and Dichlora-mine-T™ manufactured by EM Laboratories, dichlorodimethyl hydantoin and bromochlorodimethyl hydantoin produced by BASF Corp. Wyandotte and Great Lakes respectively. When a carboxylic acid sanitizer is used in the caulk of the invention, an acidulant may also be used to maintain the appropriate pH. Acidulants generally function to provide a pH in the caulk of the invention which allows for the reduction of antimicrobial growth. Carboxylic acids function more effectively to provide sanitizing efficacy, at a lower pH. Generally, for the carboxylic acids mentioned above, a pH ranging from about 1.5 to 4.5, preferably from about 2.0 to 3.5 and most preferably from about 2.5 to 3.0 is desirable. Further, acidulants generally found useful include organic and inorganic (mineral) acids such as citric acid, lactic acid, acetic acid, glycolic acid, adipic acid, tartaric acid, succinic acid, propionic acid, malic acid, alkane sulfonic acids, cycloalkane sulfonic acids, as well as phosphoric acid, nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, and the like or mixtures thereof. The concentration of these acids may generally range from 2.0 wt-% to 20.0 wt-% depending upon the required pH's indicated above as well as the dilution of the acid. Also found to be useful as the sanitizing agent within the caulk of the present invention are cationic surfactants including quaternary ammonium chloride surfactants such as n-alkyl(C 12-18 ) dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride, n-alkyl (C 14-18 ) dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride, n-alkyl (C 12-14 ) ethyl benzyl ammonium chloride, n-alkyl (C 12-18 ) ethyl benzyl ammonium chloride, n-tetradecyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride monohydrate, n-alkyl (C 12-14 ) dimethyl 1-naphthylmethyl ammonium chloride and dodecyl dimethyl ammonium chloride commercially available from manufacturers such as Stepan Company and Lonza Inc. In one preferred mode, the sanitizing agent is a cationic quaternary alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride having an alkyl chain length which generally can range from about C 8 to C 18 . Quats have been found to be most preferable due to their commercial availability, easy incorporation into formulas and high sanitizing efficacy. These sanitizing agents are also preferred because of their compatibility to high water temperatures to the presence of high organic loads, stability and broad spectrum antimicrobial efficacy in variable high and low pH wash systems, inherent chemical deodorizing, and their non-staining, non-bleaching, non-corrosive nature. More preferably, the alkyl chain length of a quat will be from C 10 to about C 16 or mixtures thereof. Most preferably, the sanitizing agent used within the invention is a quaternary ammonium chloride conforming to the formula [CH 3 (CH 2 ) 13 N(CH 3 ) 2 CH 2 CH 6 H 5 ]Cl-- which in essence has a mixture of n-alkyl chain lengths including 60 wt-% C 14 , 30 wt-% C 16 , 5 wt-% C 12 , and 5 wt-% C 18 and is commercially available from Stepan Co. as BTC™ 8249 and Lonza Inc. as BARQUAT™4280. The concentration of the sanitizing agent within the caulk of the invention is dependent on a great number of factors including the intended environment of application, i.e., the volume of drain flowage over time, the temperature of the drain flowage, the hardness of the contact water, the sanitizing agent or agents used within the caulk, the physical volume of the caulk once in place and the concentration of the other constituents, such as the hardeners used in the caulk. With these considerations in mind, the concentration of the sanitizing agent can vary broadly from about 2 wt-% to about 80 wt-% of the caulk. Given certain applications, the sanitizing agent may comprise a very small percentage of the formula if the intended performance requires a rapidly soluble sanitizing caulk. Conversely, the sanitizing agent may be utilized at extremely high percentages in caulks designed for very slow or controlled dissolving. Practicalities such as the physical characteristics of the caulk including the rate of hardening of the caulk of the invention most often dictate that the sanitizing agent be present in an intermediate concentration range from about 5 wt-% to 10 wt-% up to 60 wt-% of the caulk. Preferably, the sanitizing agent is present in a range of about 15 to 50 wt-% of the caulk which provides the greatest formulatory ease for varying the concentrations of hardeners within the formulation. The caulk of the invention may also comprise a hardener. The primary functions of the hardener are to provide the desired malleability in the formed caulk and to control or modify the solubility of the sanitizing agent once mixed into the caulk and formed into an area of use. The nature of the caulk of the invention is such that more than one hardener may be used and, further, it is possible to optionally use a separate and distinct constituent to modify solubility. The hardener used should be capable of forming a homogeneous matrix with the sanitizing agent when mixed. Only with a homogeneous mixture of hardener and sanitizing agent will the caulk be able to provide a uniform dissolution when exposed to drainage or other moisture. Moreover, given an intended use, the selected hardener by itself or in combination with an additional solubility modifying constituent should be able to promote varying degrees of aqueous solubility depending on the hardener chosen and the hardener concentration within the caulk. Generally, any agent or combination of agents which provides the requisite degree of hardness and aqueous solubility may be used if compatible with the sanitizing agent. However, if the caulk is to be used in food process environments where there will be a high flow of heated drainage, the hardener should provide a relatively low degree of aqueous solubility. Such food processing environments are usually found in the critical filling and processing areas located within the food processing facilities. In contrast, if the intended food processing environment has a lower flow or cool water drainage, the hardener should provide for a higher degree of aqueous solubility allowing release of an effective amount of the sanitizing agent from the caulk of the invention. The hardener may be selected from any organic or inorganic compound which imparts a hardness and/or controls soluble character when placed in an aqueous environment. Compositions which can be used in the caulk of the invention to vary hardness and solubility include amides such as stearic monoethanolamide, lauric diethanolamide, and stearic diethanolamide available from Stepan Chemical as NINOL™ amides, and Scher Chemical Company as SCHERCOMID™ amide products. Nonionic surfactants have also been found to impart varying degrees of hardness and solubility to the caulk of the invention. Often, to improve compatibility the nonionic surfactant may be combined with a coupler such as propylene glycol, hexylene glycol or polyethylene glycol commercially available from Union Carbide Corporation as CARBOWAX™. Nonionics useful in this invention include alkyl phenol ethoxylates, dialkylphenol ethoxylates, alcohol ethoxylates, and ethylene oxide/propylene oxide block copolymers such as the PLURONIC™ surfactants commercially available from BASF Wyandotte, glycol esters, polyethylene glycol esters, sorbitan esters, polyoxyethylene sorbitan esters, sucrose esters, glycerol esters, polyglycerol esters, polyoxyethylene glycerol esters, polyethylene ethers. Nonionics particularly desirable as hardeners are those which are solid at room temperature and have an inherently reduced aqueous solubility. Other compositions which may be used as hardeners within the caulk of the invention include urea also known as carbamide; modified starches or cellulosics which have been made water soluble through an acid or alkaline treatment processes including the acid processed amylose fraction of potato starch and various inorganics which impart solidifying properties to a heated liquid matrix upon cooling such as calcium carbonate, sodium sulfate and sodium bisulfate. The hardener used in the invention can be any number of agents or combination of agents. However, for pre-extruded caulks which are manually pressed in place, amides and urea have been found to further the intended functions of the drain sanitizing article of the present invention. Specifically, alkanolamides provide formulation ease when combined with sanitizing agents, such as cationic surfactants, which allows for varied degrees of hardness and solubility and, in turn, versatile application to the many environments found in the food processing industry. Straight chain alkanoic acid amides provide a higher degree of insolubility with a corresponding higher degree of hardness. Generally, the alkyl chain of these amides ranges from C 12 to about C 18 . Alkanoic chains such as, for example, stearic chains, when part of an amide hardener produce a caulk wherein the sanitizing agent dissolves slowly as the hardener dissolves or disperses. Moreover, maintaining the amide as a monosubstituted amide, instead of a di-substituted amide, also ensures a high degree of insolubility and hardness. In contrast, branched or di-substituted amides provide a higher degree of aqueous solubility with a lower degree of hardness and a resulting increase in chemical sanitizer solubility. It is thought that the degree of hardness in the resulting chemical sanitizer is related to the melting point of the amide constituent. Moreover, a di-substituted amide having an alkanoic chain of about C 12 to C 14 such as, for example a lauryl chain, defines a caulk having greater aqueous solubility and a much more malleable character. Hardeners such as lauric diethanolamide offer a contrasting extreme to hardeners such as a stearic monoethanolamide, and are more applicable to low flow, cold runoff drain environments. Another hardener and solubility modifier found to be useful in the caulk of the invention is urea. The addition of urea to the caulk provides hardness without the usual decrease in aqueous solubility. As a result, urea can be used to provide a relatively high degree of aqueous solubility while maintaining a high degree of hardness. Such a caulk may be useful for areas which receive an inordinately low flow of drainage but yet have a persistently high degree of microbial load. The quantity of hardener used varies depending upon the same considerations which affected the quantity or concentration of the sanitizing agent. In fact, if a solid sanitizing agent is used such as a cationic surfactant like a naphthalene substituted quaternary ammonium chloride such as dimethyl 1-naphthyl methyl ammonium chloride there may be no need at all to include a hardener. However, a certain concentration of hardener is generally desirable within the caulk of the invention for purposes of altering the solubility of the caulk. Complimenting the broad general range of the sanitizing agent the hardener may be present at a level which varies from about 10 to about 70 wt-% of the caulk. Preferably, the hardener is present at a concentration of about 20 to 60 wt-% and most preferably a concentration of about 30 to 50 wt-% which provides the most versatility in the hardness and solubility of the caulk. One preferred hardener has been found to be a bis(alcohol ethoxylate) adipate comprising a dicarboxylic acid derivative formulated from adipic acid having either carboxyl end group esterified and capped with a C 18 ethoxylated alcohol. The resulting compound, a bis(alkyl alcohol ethoxylate) adipate, has the general formula: [CH.sub.3 (CH.sub.2).sub.x --(OCH.sub.2 CH.sub.2).sub.y --OCH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 O--C(O)(CH.sub.2).sub.2 ].sub.2 wherein x ranges from about 7 to 21, preferably about 15 to 19 and most preferably about 17 to 19, and y ranges from about 20 to 60, preferably about 30 to 50, and most preferably about 38 to 42. Applicants have found that surfactants of this general formula are highly sensitive to shear stress allowing easy application of caulks formulated with these surfactants. Further, these surfactants have been found to provide caulks of the invention with a homogenous character and a stable viscosity over a broad temperature range. In one preferred embodiment, this nonionic surfactant is combined with dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid at a pH of about two or less. In another preferred embodiment of the caulk of the invention, this nonionic surfactant may be used with phosphoric acid at a pH of 3 or less and an acid-anionic sanitizer such as dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid or sulfonate, sodium lauryl sulfonate, sodium 1-octane sulfonate or mixtures thereof. When used as a hardener, the surfactants of this general formula are used at a concentration level ranging from about 10 wt-% to 70 wt-%, preferably from about 20 wt-% to 60 wt-%, and most preferably from about 30 wt-% to 50 wt-%. The composition of the invention may also comprise a plasticizer. Generally, the plasticizer's function within the caulk is to increase the caulk's workability, flexibility or dispensibility. Further, a plasticizer may be used to lower the melt viscosity, the second order transition temperature, or the elastic modulus of the caulk. Generally, the plasticizer may be melt mixed with the caulk or intermixed into the caulk through a common solvent with removal of the solvent by evaporation. Generally, plasticizers affect the caulk through any number of mechanisms including increasing lubricity by decreasing intermolecular friction, decreasing the resistance to destruction of three dimensional crystals, and by increasing volume between polymeric constituents within the caulk allowing ease of movement between molecular constituents. To this end, the plasticizer may comprise any organic or inorganic compound, monomeric moiety or polymeric composition suitable for these functions including water; short chain, long chain and cyclic saturated or unsaturated alcohols, aldehydes, carboxylic acids, and derivatives thereof; glycerols, polyglycerols, glycols and polyglycols, including copolymers, ethers and esters thereof; ethoxylated and alkoxylated amines; phosphate esters; any number of petroleum hydrocarbons and hydrocarbon mixtures or derivatives such as mineral oils, petrolatums, and paraffin waxes; any number of refined natural oils derived from vegetable or animal origin and their reaction derivatives; or mixtures thereof. When in use, plasticizers may be present in the system at a concentration ranging from about 0 wt-% to 50 wt-%, preferably about 5 wt-% to 40 wt-%, and most preferably about 10 wt-% to 30 wt-%. The inclusion of a greater concentration of plasticizer will tend to affect the physical properties of the caulk of the invention. Specifically, a greater concentration of plasticizer may tend to lower the melting point of the caulk while at the same time making the caulk more susceptible to dissolution through heated flow. In contrast, the omission of a plasticizer or the minimalization of plasticizer concentration may result in a caulk which is not easily formed into place or susceptible to dispensing through standard dispenser mechanisms such as applicator tubes and the like. Caulk Formulation Depending upon the given environment of application for the caulk, the caulk may comprise any assortment of ingredients including antimicrobials, hardeners, fillers plasticizers, acidulants, dyes, and the like. For example, if the caulk of the invention comprises one or more antimicrobials and a hardener, the caulk may generally be formulated by heat melting the constituents together at a temperature which will not destabilize the antimicrobial generally ranging from about 125° F. to 225° F., preferably from about 135° F. to 215° F., and most preferably about 145° F. to 205° F. depending upon the antimicrobial system of the composition. Once the formulation has been adequately heated and the ingredients melted and blended together, the composition is allowed to cool. In order to produce the desired malleability or softness in the caulk, the caulk may be additionally kneaded or extruded to provide a penetrometer rating ranging from about 150 mm to 400 mm, preferably about 250 mm to 400 mm, and most preferably about 325 mm to 375 mm. The penetrometer rating may be obtained through any number of pressing, kneading, extrusion or other processes known to those of skill in the art. One method known to those of skill in the art is ASTM method D217-60T as provided for in Example 42 herein. Such processing is especially relevant where the composition comprises a urea hardener. While not wishing to be bound by any given theory, Applicants believe that urea sets up an extended crystalline structure which is formed through mixing and extended heating. Upon cooling, the crystalline structure forms and solidifies. By pressing, kneading or extrusion, the crystalline structure is broken down by physical action which affects modulation of plasticity. If a caulk is desired which can be dispensed from a caulk tube or other dispenser known to those of skill in the art, the composition may additionally comprise a constituent which modulates plasticity chemically. We have found that a solid having a given penetrometer hardness provides the following physical characteristics: ______________________________________Hardness Relative Consistency______________________________________<50 mm Very Hard Solid 50-150 mm Hard Solid150-250 mm Soft Solid250-400 mm Very Soft Solid______________________________________ In order to provide a caulk which may be easily pressed in place a penetrometer rating of 150 mm is preferred. In order to provide a caulk which may be extruded from a tube, a penetrometer rating of at least 250 mm is preferred. WORKING EXAMPLES Applicant now provides working examples which are intended to illustrate the various aspects, features, and advantages of the invention. However, these examples should not be construed as, in any way, limiting of the invention. EXAMPLES 1 THROUGH 36 The erodible caulk composition of the invention (Examples 1-36), was mixed by charging the sanitizer into a mixing tank and heating with appropriate agitation. This controlled agitation prevents the entrapment of air and, in turn, excessive foam in the mix. The hardener and optionally the plasticizer are then slowly metered into the sanitizing agent with continued agitation. The mixture is then heated and agitated until a hardening constituent is melted or dissolved. Once dissolved, the caulk compositions were then decanted into individual containers. ______________________________________CONSTITUENT (Wt-%) 1 2 3______________________________________Alkyl Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium 42.00 42.00 42.00ChlorideStearic Diethanolamide 24.00 23.99 23.99Stearic Monoethanolamide 12.00 12.00 12.00PROPYLENE GLYCOL (USP) 21.50UREA 22.00 21.50Morton FL Yellow G 0.01 0.01MAZU DF-210 SX (dimethylsiloxane) 0.50 0.50______________________________________CONSTITUENT (Wt-%) 4 5 6______________________________________Alkyl Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium 42.00 42.00 42.00ChlorideStearic Diethanolamide 23.99 24.49 24.49Stearic Monoethanolamide 12.00 12.00 8.50PROPYLENE GLYCOL USP 10.75 21.50 25.00Morton FL Yellow G 0.01 0.01 0.01MAZU DF-210 SX (dimethylsiloxane) 0.50Isopropanol (91% w/v) 10.75______________________________________CONSTITUENT (Wt-%) 7 8 9______________________________________Alkyl Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium 42.00 42.00 42.00ChlorideStearic Diethanolamide 27.99 31.99 32.00Stearic Monoethanolamide 8.00 4.00PROPYLENE GLYCOL USP 22.00 22.00 26.00Morton FL Yellow G 0.01 0.01______________________________________CONSTITUENT (Wt-%) 10 11 12______________________________________Alkyl Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium 42.00 42.00 39.00ChlorideStearic Diethanolamide 28.00 30.00 31.98Stearic Monoethanolamide 4.00 2.00PROPYLENE GLYCOL USP 26.00 26.00 26.00Morton Blue E 0.02Dextrin (yellow) 3.00______________________________________CONSTITUENT (Wt-%) 13 14 15______________________________________Alkyl Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium 36.00 25.00 37.00ChlorideStearic Diethanolamide 31.98 31.98 27.99Stearic Monoethanolamide 8.00PROPYLENE GLYCOL USP 26.00 26.00 22.00Morton FL Yellow G 0.015 0.01 0.01Morton Blue E 0.005 0.01Dextrin (yellow) 6.00 17.00Bentonite, refined 5.00montmorillonite clay______________________________________CONSTITUENT (Wt-%) 16 17 18______________________________________Alkyl Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium 39.00 36.00 42.00ChlorideStearic Diethanolamide 28.00 28.00 32.98Stearic Monoethanolamide 8.00 8.00PROPYLENE GLYCOL (USP) 22.00 22.00 22.00Morton FL Yellow G 0.02Fumed Silica 3.00 6.00Silica 3.00______________________________________CONSTITUENT (Wt-%) 19 20 21______________________________________Alkyl Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium 42.00 39.00 42.00ChlorideStearic Diethanolamide 29.98 32.98 24.50Stearic Monoethanolamide 12.00PROPYLENE GLYCOL (USP) 22.00 25.00Morton Blue E 0.02 0.02Silica 6.00 3.00Ethanol 21.50______________________________________CONSTITUENT (Wt-%) 22 23 24______________________________________Alkyl Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium 42.00 42.00 42.00ChlorideStearic Diethanolamide 24.50 24.50 24.50Stearic Monoethanolamide 12.00 12.00 12.00Silica 10.75Ethanol 10.75 21.50Mineral Oil 21.50______________________________________CONSTITUENT (Wt-%) 25 26 27______________________________________Alkyl Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium 35.00 42.00 35.00ChlorideStearic Diethanolamide 31.50 24.50 31.50Stearic Monoethanolamide 12.00 12.00 12.00Ethanol 21.50Mineral Oil 21.50Polyethylene Glycol (mw 4000) 21.50______________________________________CONSTITUENT (Wt-%) 28 29 30______________________________________Alkyl Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium 35.00 30.00 25.00ChlorideStearic Diethanolamide 24.50 24.50 24.50Stearic Monoethanolamide 12.00 12.00 12.00Mineral Oil 28.50 33.50 38.50______________________________________CONSTITUENT (Wt-%) 31 32 33______________________________________Alkyl Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium 20.00 10.00 10.00ChlorideStearic Diethanolamide 24.50 24.50 24.50Stearic Monoethanolamide 17.00 17.00 17.00Mineral Oil 38.50 48.50 38.50PETROLATUM 10.00______________________________________CONSTITUENT (Wt-%) 34 35 36______________________________________Alkyl Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium 20.00 20.00 20.00ChlorideStearic Diethanolamide 24.50 24.50 24.50Stearic Monoethanolamide 14.50 15.50 15.50Morton FL Yellow G 0.02Mineral Oil 41.00 40.00 39.98______________________________________ WORKING EXAMPLES 37-39 A study was conducted to measure antimicrobial levels present in use dilutions of erodible sanitizing caulk during dispensing at various water temperatures. An analysis of antimicrobial concentration at differing water flow temperatures was undertaken using the formulation of Working Example 36. The conditions for each analysis are provided along with results. EXAMPLE 37 70° F. Water, 25-30 psi, 9" cylinder ______________________________________ Wt. Loss %Wt. in gms. Loss Time (Minutes)______________________________________67.24 -- -- 063.75 3.49 5.19 559.60 4.15 11.36 1057.53 2.07 14.44 1554.34 3.19 19.19 2049.96 4.38 25.70 2546.17 3.79 31.34 3042.75 3.42 36.42 3540.32 2.43 40.04 4037.80 2.52 43.78 4535.11 2.69 47.78 5032.35 2.76 51.89 5530.19 2.16 55.10 60______________________________________ Based on the results provided above, 37.05 gm caulk product were dispensed in 60 min. which equals 6.669 gm active antimicrobial quat based on 90% active alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride in the formula at 20%. 6.669 gm alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride in 9564 gm water based on 159.4 gm/min. equals 696.8 ppm active alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride in the use dilution. EXAMPLE 38 95° F. water, 25-30 psi, 9" cylinder ______________________________________ Wt. Loss %Wt. in gms. Loss Time (Minutes)______________________________________68.68 -- --54.89 13.79 20.08 543.07 11.82 37.29 1031.67 11.40 53.89 1521.40 10.27 68.84 2015.13 6.27 77.97 258.52 6.61 87.59 304.44 4.08 93.54 352.22 2.22 96.77 401.05 1.17 98.47 450.18 0.87 99.74 50______________________________________ Based on the results above, 68.5 gm caulk product were dispensed in 50 min. which equals 12.33 gm active antimicrobial based on 90% active alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride in the formula at 20%. 12.33 gm alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride in 7970 gm water based on 159.4 gm/min. equals 1544.6 ppm active alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride in the use dilution. EXAMPLE 39 120° F. water, 25-30 psi, 9" cylinder ______________________________________ Wt. Loss %Wt. in gms. Loss Time (Minutes)______________________________________61.14 -- -- 037.80 23.34 38.17 515.50 22.30 74.65 10 1.32 14.18 97.84 15______________________________________ Based on the results above, 59.82 gm caulk product were dispensed in 15 min. which equals 59.82 gm active antimicrobial based on 90% active alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride in the formula at 20%. 59.82 gm alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride in 2391 gm water based on 159.4 gm/min. equals 4483.3 ppm active alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride in the use dilution. EXAMPLE 40 A non-food contact sanitizing test was performed on Example 36 against E. aerogenous with a 5 minute contact time. Test was performed in the presence of a 5% serum and 5% milk organic soil load. Product was prepared at a concentration of 120 ppm active quat in 500 ppm hard H 2 O. Results are as follows: ______________________________________Log Reductionof Colony Forming Units 5% Serum 5% Milk______________________________________ >3.0 >3.0______________________________________ Example 36 with both organic soil loads achieved >3.0 log reduction against E. aerogenous which is the required standard for non-food contact sanitizing. EXAMPLE 41 A second non-food contact sanitizing test was performed on Example 36 against S. aureus with a 5 minute contact time. The test was performed in the presence of an organic soil represented by 5% serum and 5% milk. The product was prepared at a concentration of 120 pm active quat in 500 ppm hard H 2 O. Results are as follows: ______________________________________Log Reductionof Colony Forming Units 5% Serum 5% Milk______________________________________ >3.0 >3.0______________________________________ Example 36 with both organic soil load achieved >3.0 log reduction against S. aureus, the required standard for non-food contact sanitizing. EXAMPLE 42 A penetrometer analysis was undertaken on the formulation of Example 36. The control formulations comprised: ______________________________________Constituent Control A Control B______________________________________Alkyl Dimethyl Benzyl 55.00 42.00Ammonium ChloridePropylene Glycol 5.00 5.00Stearic Diethanolamide 21.91Stearic Monoethanolamide 39.98 10.97Urea 19.65Morton Perox Red 32 0.02Morton Blue E 0.02MAZU DF-210 SX 0.45(dimethylsiloxane)______________________________________ Penetrometer results can be seen in FIG. 1 from using an evaluation at 70° F. over 30 seconds using a modification of ASTM standard method D217-60T, Cone Penetration of Lubricating Grease. A Precision Penetrometer Model 73510 was refitted with a Precision Needle #73520 (in place of standard cone), designed for evaluation of hard and semi-solids. Penetration time was increased from 5 to 30 seconds. EXAMPLE 43-69 Using the same formulatory method as before (Examples 1-36), Examples 43-69 were then formulated with constituents as follows: ______________________________________Constituent (Wt-%) 43 44 45______________________________________H.sub.2 O 15.00 30.00 24.00Pluronic F-108(Polyoxyethylene(256M)Polyoxypropylene 40.00 35.00 28.00(54M))Ethanol 25.00 15.00 12.00Octanoic Acid 10.00 10.00 8.00Phosphonic Acid 10.00 10.00 8.00(75% w/v)Decanoic Acid 12.00Dodecanoic Acid 8.00______________________________________Constituent (Wt-%) 46 47 48______________________________________H.sub.2 O 35.00 90.00 20.00Alkyl Dimethyl 20.00Benzyl AmmoniumChloridePluronic F-108(Polyoxyethylene256M)Polyoxypropylene 30.00(54M)Ethanol 15.00Octanoic Acid 10.00Phosphonic Acid 10.00(75% w/v)Stearic Diethanolamide 10.00Bis(alcohol C-18 60ethoxylate.sub.40) adipate______________________________________Constituent (Wt-%) 49 50 51______________________________________H.sub.2 O 10.00 30.00Alkyl (C.sub.l2) Dimethyl 20.00 20.00Benzyl AmmoniumChloride (ECOLAB)Alkyl (C.sub.14) Dimethyl 20.00Benzyl AmmoniumChloride (Stepan)Bis(alcohol C18 70.00 50.00 70.00ethoxylate.sub.40) adipatePropylene Glycol 10.00______________________________________Constituent (Wt-%) 52 53 54 55______________________________________H.sub.2 O 85.00 75.00 50.00Alkyl (C.sub.12) Dimethyl 5.00 5.00 5.00Benzyl AmmoniumChloride (ECOLAB)Alkyl (C.sub.14) Dimethyl 20.00 20.00Benzyl AmmoniumChloride (Stepan)Bis(alcohol C18 60.00 10.00 10.00ethoxylate.sub.40) adipatePolyethylene Glycol 10.00 25.00(mw 8000)Propylene Glycol 20.00______________________________________Constituent (Wt-%) 56 57 58______________________________________H.sub.2 O 50.00 82.00 80.00Alkyl Dimethyl 5.00 5.00 5.00Benzyl AmmoniumChlorideBis(alcohol C18 20.00 10.00 10.00ethoxylate.sub.40) adipatePolyethylene Glycol 5.00(MW 400)Propylene Glycol 25.00White Mineral Oil 3.00______________________________________Constituent (Wt-%) 59 60 61______________________________________H.sub.2 O 82.00 85.00 80.00Alkyl Dimethyl 5.00 10.00Benzyl AmmoniumChlorideBis(alcohol C18 10.00 10.00 10.00ethoxylate.sub.40) adipateAlfol 1012 Alcohol 3.00Dodecyl Benzene 5.00Sulfonic Acid(97% w/v)______________________________________Constituent (Wt-%) 62 63 64______________________________________H.sub.2 O 65 75.55 75.00Alkyl Dimethyl 15.00Benzyl AmmoniumChlorideBis(alcohol C18 30 20 10.00ethoxylate.sub.40 adipateSulfonic Acid 5 4.45(97% w/v)______________________________________Constituent (Wt-%) 65 66______________________________________H.sub.2 O 62.00 50.00Bis(alcohol C18 47.00ethoxylate.sub.40) adipatePolyethylene Glycol 35.00DistearateDodecyl Benzene 3.00 3.00Sulfonic Acid(97% w/v)______________________________________Constituent (Wt-%) 67 68 69______________________________________H.sub.2 O 25.00 47.00 44.00Bis(alcohol C18 47.00 47.00 47.00ethoxylate.sub.40) adipatePropylene Glycol 25.00 3.00 6.00Dodecyl Benzene 3.00 3.00 3.00Sulfonic Acid(97% w/v)______________________________________ EXAMPLE 70 An experiment was then undertaken to determine whether a caulk hardened with urea could be softened by kneading. Control B of Example 42 was evaluated by kneading with a Hobart model N-50 blender (similar to typical home cake/dough mixer). After the Control B formulation was made by hot melt/pour method and split, it was allowed to cool to room temperature and harden. Half was kneaded after 24 hours; half after 48 hours. The purpose of the first cooling was to allow urea crystals to develop before fracturing through the kneading process. The results of the analysis can be seen in FIG. 2. The above discussion, examples, and data illustrate our current understanding of the invention. However, since many variations of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention, the invention resides wholly in the claims hereinafter appended.
The invention is an erodible antimicrobial caulk composition having a sanitizer and a hardener which controls the consistency and the dissolution rate of the composition once subjected to an aqueous flow. Also disclosed is a method of preparing the erodible caulk composition. These caulks are useful in institutional food preparation and food serving environments including restaurants, hospitals, day care facilities, nursing homes, and the like as well as institutional food harvesting and processing environments including food and beverage processing plants, dairy farms and dairy plant operations, red meat, poultry and fish preparation and processing environments, and the like, including post process food transport and distribution channel environments such as trucks and grocery or foodstuff retailers.
2
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO), and more particularly, to a VCO that is not affected by the variations of the process and the bias voltage source. 2. Description of the Prior Art Please refer to FIG. 1 . FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a conventional VCO 100 . The VCO 100 comprises a reference current source module 110 and a clock signal generating module 120 . The reference current source module 110 functions to generate reference currents I BIAS and I 1 , as well as the voltages V A and V B . The clock signal generating module 120 generates a clock signal CLK with a frequency corresponding to the level of the voltages V A and V B . The reference current source module 110 comprises P-type Metal Oxide Semiconductor (PMOS) transistors Q P1 and Q P2 , and N-type Metal Oxide Semiconductor (NMOS) transistors Q N1 and Q N2 . The source (first end) of transistor Q P1 is coupled to the bias voltage source V DD ; the gate (control end) of the transistor Q P1 is coupled to the gate of the transistor Q P2 ; the drain (second end) of the transistor Q P1 is coupled to the drain of the transistor Q N1 . The source (first end) of the transistor Q P2 is coupled to the bias voltage source V DD ; the gate (control end) of transistor Q P2 is coupled to the gate of the transistor Q P1 ; the drain (second end) of the transistor Q P2 is coupled to the drain of the transistor Q N2 . The source (first end) of the transistor Q N1 is coupled to the bias voltage source V SS (ground end); the gate (control end) of the transistor Q N1 is utilized to receive the reference voltage V REF ; the drain (second end) of transistor Q N1 is coupled to the drain of the transistor Q P1 . The source (first end) of the transistor Q N2 is coupled to the bias voltage source V SS ; the gate (control end) of transistor Q N2 is coupled to the drain of transistor Q P2 ; the drain (second end) of transistor Q N2 is coupled to the drain of transistor Q P2 . The transistor Q N1 receives the reference voltage V REF and drains the current I BIAS , with the magnitude corresponding to the voltage level of the reference voltage V REF , from the transistor Q P1 . The transistors Q P2 and Q N2 form a current mirror for generating the current I 1 and the corresponding control voltages V A and V B , where the current I 1 is a replica of the current I BIAS . Hence, the voltages V A and V B can then drive the current source of the clock signal generator 120 to generate a current with the same magnitude as the current I BIAS , and further generate the clock signal CLK with the frequency corresponding to the current generated by the current source of the clock signal generator 120 . However, the threshold voltage level of the Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) transistor is influenced by the process variation. According to the current generating formula of the NMOS transistor: I=K ( V GS −V TH ) 2   (1); where K represents a constant, V GS represents the voltage difference between the gate and the source of the NMOS transistor, and V TH represents the threshold voltage of the NMOS transistor, the current I BIAS being drained by the transistor Q N1 of the reference current source module 110 can be calculated from the above formula as below: I BIAS =K ( V REF −V SS −V TH ) 2   (2). From formula (2), it can be seen that even in the presence of constant reference voltage V REF , the reference current I BIAS is still dependent on the threshold voltage V TH and the bias voltage source V SS , consequently affecting the magnitude of the replicated current I 1 and the subsequently generated voltages V A and V B . Therefore, since the current generated by the clock signal generating module 120 is controlled by the voltages V A and V B , the frequency of the output clock signal CLK is inevitably affected, causing great inconvenience. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO) that is not affected by the process or the bias voltage source. The VCO generates a clock signal with a frequency corresponding to a reference voltage. The VCO comprises a reference current source generating module and a clock signal generating module. The reference current source generating module comprises an amplifier, a resistor and a first transistor. The amplifier comprises a positive input end for receiving the reference voltage, an negative end, and an output end coupled to the negative end of the amplifier. The resistor is coupled between the negative end of the amplifier and a ground end. The first transistor comprises a first end coupled to a bias voltage source, a control end coupled to the output end of the amplifier, and a second end. The first transistor generates a reference current according to the reference voltage. The clock signal generating module outputs the clock signal with the corresponding frequency according to the reference current. These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a conventional VCO. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a VCO of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the main band-gap voltage reference circuit of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the temperature-rise-dependent current generating circuit of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Please refer to FIG. 2 . FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a VCO 200 of the present invention. The VCO 200 comprises a reference current source module 210 and a clock signal generating module 220 . The reference current source module 210 functions to generate reference currents I BIAS and I 2 , as well as voltages V A and V B . The clock signal generating module 220 generates a clock signal CLK with a frequency corresponding to the levels of the voltages V A and V B . The reference current source module 210 comprises two PMOS transistors Q P3 and Q P4 , an NMOS transistor Q N3 , a resistor R 1 , a main band-gap voltage reference circuit 211 , and an amplifier AMP 1 . The source (first end) of the transistor Q P3 is coupled to the bias voltage source V DD ; the gate (control end) of the transistor Q P3 is coupled to the output end of the amplifier AMP 1 ; the drain (second end) of the transistor Q P3 is coupled to the negative input end of the amplifier AMP 1 and the resistor R 1 . The resistor R 1 is coupled between the negative input end of the amplifier AMP 1 and the bias voltage source V SS . The positive input end of the amplifier AMP 1 is coupled to the main band-gap voltage reference circuit 211 for receiving the reference voltage V REF ; the negative input end of the amplifier AMP 1 is coupled between the resistor R 1 and the source of the transistor Q P3 ; the output end of the amplifier AMP 1 is coupled to the gate of the transistor Q P3 . The source (first end) of the transistor Q P4 is coupled to the bias voltage source V DD ; the gate (control end) of the transistor Q P4 is coupled to the gate of the transistor Q P3 ; the drain (second end) of the transistor Q P4 is coupled to the drain of the transistor Q N3 . The source (first end) of the transistor Q N3 is coupled to the bias voltage source V SS ; the gate (control end) of the transistor Q N3 is coupled to the drain of the transistor Q P4 ; the drain (second end) of the transistor Q N3 is coupled to the drain of the transistor Q P4 . The positive input end of the amplifier AMP 1 is coupled to the main band-gap voltage reference circuit 211 for receiving the reference voltage V REF . Hence, the negative input end of the amplifier AMP 1 is accordingly clamped to the level of the voltage V REF . As shown in FIG. 2 , the current (which is equivalent to the reference current I BIAS ) flowing through the resistor R 1 is (V REF /R 1 ). Therefore, since the reference current I BIAS is clamped to (V REF /R 1 ), varying the bias voltage source and/or the threshold voltage no longer affects the reference current I BIAS . The current I 2 , which is replicated from the current mirror formed by the transistors Q P4 and Q N3 , inherent the characteristics of the reference current I BIAS and avoids being affected by the bias voltage and/or the threshold voltage. As a result, the current source generated by the clock signal generating module 220 , which is controlled by the voltages V A and V B , is impervious to the bias voltage source and the threshold voltage. Hence, the clock signal CLK outputted from the clock signal generating module 220 can be generated with the accurate frequency corresponding to the voltage level of the reference voltage V REF . Please continue referring to FIG. 2 . The clock signal generating module 220 comprises m inverting modules 221 ˜ 22 m . The number of inverting modules (which is equivalent to m) in the clock signal generating module 220 must be odd, for being able to generate the clock signal (the clock signal cannot be generated with an even number of inverting modules). Each inverting module comprises an inverter, an NMOS transistor, a PMOS transistor, and a capacitor. The inverter of every inverting module is utilized to receive the signal generated from the inverting module of the previous stage, and the received signal is then inverted for outputting to the inverting module of the next stage. The outputted signal of the m th inverting module is utilized as the final outputted clock signal CLK, and meanwhile the outputted signal of the m th inverting module is fed back to the inverter of the 1 st inverting module. For instance, the 1 st inverting module 221 comprises an inverter INV 1 , a transistor Q N41 , a transistor Q P51 , and a capacitor C 1 . The transistors Q N41 and Q P51 form a current mirror for replicating the current I 2 , which is replicated from the current mirror formed by the transistor Q P4 and Q N3 . The source of the transistor Q P51 is coupled to the bias voltage source V DD ; the gate of the transistor Q P51 functions to receive the voltage V A ; the drain of the transistor Q P51 is utilized to output the current I 2 . The source of the transistor Q P41 is coupled to the bias voltage source V SS ; the gate of the transistor Q P41 functions to receive the voltage V B ; the drain of the transistor Q P41 is utilized to drain the current I 2 . The inverter INV 1 comprises two current ends, an input end, and an output end. The two current ends of the inverter INV 1 are coupled to the drain of the transistor Q P51 and the drain of the transistor Q N41 respectively, for receiving/draining current accordingly. In other words, the current flowing through the inverter INV 1 is equivalent to the current I 2 . The input end of the inverter INV 1 is coupled to the output end of the inverter INV m of the inverting module 22 m , for receiving the clock signal CLK; the output end of the inverter INV 1 is coupled to the capacitor C 1 and the input end of the inverter INV 2 of the inverting module 222 of the next stage. The capacitor C 1 is coupled between the output end of the inverter 221 and the bias voltage source V SS . Hence, the inverter 221 can adjust the duration of the inverted signal being outputted (due to the presence of capacitor C 1 , the time required for capacitor C 1 to charge/discharge depends on the magnitude of current I 2 ), according to the magnitude of the received current I 2 . For instance, when the inverter INV 1 receives an input signal with the low voltage level, if the current I 2 is at a relative higher level, the response time required for the inverter INV 1 to output an output signal with the high voltage level (inverted from the input signal with the low voltage level) is relatively shorter; and vice versa. The structure and operation principle of the inverter modules of other levels can be extrapolated from the discussion above and is omitted hereafter for brevity. The VCO of the present invention comprises a reference current source module which is unaffected by the variations of the process and the bias voltage source. Hence, the VCO of the present invention can generate a clock signal with a stable frequency. The frequency of the generated clock signal is adjusted according to the input reference voltage V REF without being affected by the variations of the process and the bias voltage source. Furthermore, in the reference current source module 210 of the present invention, the reference voltage V REF outputted from the main band-gap voltage reference circuit 211 can be designed to be temperature-related. For instance, when the temperature rises, the voltage level of the reference voltage V REF also rises accordingly, and vice versa; when the temperature declines, the level of reference voltage V REF decreases accordingly. The above relation can be formulated as below: V REF =V REF — INI ×(1+ JT )  (3); or V REF =V REF — INI ×(1− JT )  (4); where V REF represents the reference voltage V REF , which is adjusted according to the temperature, outputted from the main band-gap voltage reference circuit 211 ; V REF — INI represents the default reference voltage outputted from the main band-gap voltage reference circuit 211 ; T represents the level of temperature variation; J represents a temperature variable (positive value). Hence, through such design formulated in formula (3), when the temperature rises, the reference voltage V REF also increases, resulting in an increase of the currents I BIAS (I BIAS =V REF /R 1 ) and I 2 . Because of the current increase, the response speed of the inverting modules of the clock signal generating module 220 is accelerated, consequently affecting the frequency of the clock signal CLK to increase accordingly. In contrast, when the temperature declines, the reference voltage V REF decreases, resulting in a decline of the currents I BIAS (I BIAS =V REF /R 1 ) and I 2 . Because of the current drop, the response speed of the inverting modules of the clock signal generating module 220 is decelerated, consequently affecting the frequency of the clock signal CLK to decrease accordingly. Please refer to FIG. 3 . FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the main band-gap voltage reference circuit 211 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3 , the main band-gap voltage reference circuit 211 comprises a temperature-rise-dependent current generating circuit 2111 , a temperature-drop-dependent current generating circuit 2112 and a resistor R REF . The temperature-rise-dependent current circuit 2111 functions to generate a temperature-rise-dependent current I T+ , which increases as the temperature rises. The temperature-drop-dependent current circuit 2112 functions to generate a temperature-drop-dependent current I T− , which increases as the temperature decreases. The resistor R REF is coupled between the bias voltage source V SS and the output ends of the temperature-rise-dependent current generating circuit 2111 and the temperature-drop-dependent current generating circuit 2112 for receiving the temperature-rise-dependent current I T+ and the temperature-drop-dependent current I T− . The voltage across the resistor R REF is equivalent to the reference voltage V REF [where V REF =R REF ×(I T+ +I T− )] outputted by the main band-gap voltage reference circuit 211 . Please refer to FIG. 4 . FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the temperature-rise-dependent current generating circuit 2111 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4 , the temperature-rise-dependent current generating circuit 2111 comprises a temperature-rise-dependent band-gap voltage reference circuit 400 , an amplifier AMP 2 , a resister R X , six transistors Q 5 ˜Q 10 , and a switch SW 1 . The transistors Q 5 ˜Q 10 are PMOS transistors. The aspect ratios (width/length) of the transistors Q 5 ˜Q 10 are 1:6/4:5/4:4/4:3/4:2/4, respectively. Hence, with identical gate voltage supplies, the ratio of the current generated by the transistors Q 5 ˜Q 10 are also 1:6/4:5/4:4/4:3/4:2/4, respectively. The temperature-rise-dependent band-gap voltage reference circuit 400 functions to generate a temperature-rise-dependent reference voltage V REFT+ . The voltage level of the temperature-rise-dependent reference voltage V REFT+ increases with the temperature. The positive input end of the amplifier AMP 2 is coupled to the temperature-rise-dependent band-gap voltage reference circuit 400 , for receiving the reference voltage V REFT+ . Hence, the negative input end of the amplifier AMP 2 is inherently clamped to the voltage V REFT+ . The sources of the transistors Q 5 ˜Q 10 are coupled to the bias voltage source V DD ; the gates of the transistors Q 5 ˜Q 10 are coupled to the output end of the amplifier AMP 2 ; the drain of the transistor Q 5 is coupled to the negative input end of the amplifier AMP 2 . As shown in FIG. 4 , the current I X flowing pass the resistor R x is equivalent to (V REFT+ /R X ). Hence, the gate of the transistor Q 5 is controlled by the amplifier AMP 2 , for ensuring the magnitude of the current I X outputted is kept at (V REFT+ /R X ). Similarly, as controlled by the amplifier AMP 2 , the magnitudes of the currents outputted by the transistors Q 6 ˜Q 10 are (6/4)I X , (5/4)I X , (4/4)I X , (3/4)I X , (2/4)I X , respectively. The switch SW 1 comprises input ends I A , I B , I C , I D , and I E , an output end O, and a control end C. Each of input ends I A ˜I E of the switch SW 1 is coupled to the drain of the transistors Q 6 ˜Q 10 , for receiving the currents (6/4)I X , (5/4)I X , (4/4)I X , (3/4)I X , (2/4)I X , respectively. A control signal S C received by the control end C of the switch SW 1 , the switch SW 1 switches one of input ends I A ˜I E of the switch SW 1 to couple to the output end O of the switch SW 1 , for directing the received current to output as the temperature-rise-dependent current I T+ of the temperature-rise-dependent current generating circuit 2111 . For instance, when the switch SW 1 switches the input end I E of the switch SW 1 to couple to the output end O of the switch SW 1 , the temperature-rise-dependent current I T+ outputted is (2/4)I X , which is equivalent to (2/4)×(V REFT+ /R X ). The switch SW 1 can be realized with a set of fuses. For instance, the switch SW 1 can comprise five fuses, where one end of each fuse is coupled to the drain of the corresponding transistors Q 6 ˜Q 10 respectively and the other end of each fuse is coupled to the output end O of the switch SW 1 . The user can burn down fuses selectively to determine the magnitude of the outputted temperature-rise-dependent current I T+ of the temperature-rise-dependent current generating circuit 2111 . For instance, the user can burn down all fuses but the one coupled between the transistor Q 10 and the output end O of switch SW 1 , resulting in the temperature-rise-dependent current I T+ to be (2/4)I X . The structure and operation principle of the temperature-drop-dependent current generating circuit 2112 is similar to the temperature-rise-dependent current generating circuit 2111 , and the relative description is omitted hereafter for brevity. The only difference being that in the temperature-drop-dependent current generating circuit 2112 is: the band-gap voltage reference circuit being utilized is a temperature-drop-dependent band-gap voltage reference circuit (as opposed to the temperature-rise-dependent band-gap voltage reference circuit used in the temperature-rise-dependent current generating circuit 2111 ), where the voltage level of the generated reference voltage decreases as the temperature increases. To sum up, the present invention provides a VCO that is not only unaffected by the variations of the process and the bias voltage source, but is also able to adjust the frequency of the output clock signal according to the temperature variation, hence providing great convenience. Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention.
A VCO includes a reference current module and a clock signal generating module. The reference current module generates a reference current according to a reference voltage. The clock signal generating module generates a clock signal according to the reference current. The reference current module utilizes the negative feed-back mechanism to keep the generated reference current at the predetermined size without being changed with the variation of the process and the bias source.
7
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is related to a method of automatic programming by which the channels where broadcasting signals exist are automatically searched and memorized in VTR or TV etc, and especially to a channel scanning method which reduces the scanning time of the whole channel to have the automatic program be completed in a shorter time. 2. Description of the Prior Art Recently, as the use of cable TV has spread, the number of receivable broadcasting channels has increased rapidly. Because increase of scanning time of the whole channel is caused by the increase in the number of the broadcasting channels, the execution time of the automatic program which memorizes and programs the broadcasting channels needs more time. FIG. 2 is a change view of tuning frequency to illustrate the traditional method of channel scanning. With FIG. 2, the traditional method of channel scanning is looked into. The frequency data fo of a specific channel is transmitted to the tuner by the micom. Then, for 300 ms after transmission of the frequency data fo, the synchronizing signal is detected. At this time, if the synchronizing signal is not detected, the detection of the synchronizing signal is continued with the frequency data being increased 8 steps each of 0.25 MHz. That is, if the synchronizing signal is not detected in 300 ms after transmission of frequency data fo, the frequency data is increased 0.25 MHz and the synchronizing signal is detected for 30 ms. If the synchronizing signal is not detected at this time, too, the frequency data is again increased 0.25 MHz and synchronizing signal is detected for 30 ms. Such a detection of the synchronizing signal is continued until the frequency data is fo+2 MHz, the frequency data is decreased to fo 2 MHz. And then, the synchronizing signal is detected for 30 ms per each step with the frequency data being increased 8 steps each fo 0.25 MHz once. If the synchronizing signal is detected while the synchronizing signal is detected in this way, the channel of that frequency is judged as the channel in which the broadcasting exists and memorized by micom. In succession, the synchronizing signal of the next channel is detected. As mentioned above, when the synchronizing signal is detected by the traditional channel scanning method, the synchronizing signal detection time consumed per a channel is 780 ms as shown in FIG. 2. Hence, much time is needed to scan the whole channel. Especially, there is a demerit that the scanning time of the whole channel becomes longer and longer as the number of broadcasting channels increase. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to reduce the detection time of the synchronizing signal which needs much more time in the traditional method of channel scanning. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is the system constitution view of the present invention. FIG. 2 is the traditional change view of the tuning frequency in a specific channel. FIG. 3 is the change view of the tuning frequency of the present invention in a specific channel. FIG. 4 is the disposition state view of the NTSC broadcasting signal. FIG. 5 is the view of the state and selectivity properties of the intermediate frequency signal when the n-channel is tuned. FIG. 6 is the flow chart of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the channel scanning method according to the present invention is described with figures. FIG. 1 is the system constitution view according to the present invention. The system which realizes the present invention is made up of the micom 1, the tuner 2, the demodulation circuit 3 and the homodyne detection circuit 4. The clock and the data with the tuning data of a specific channel is delivered to the tuner 2 in the phase locked loop system by the micom. When this tuning data is applied to the tuner 2, a specific channel is tuned. Then, the intermediate frequency signal(IF signal) is outputted from the tuner 2. This IF signal is applied to the demodulation circuit 3 and is demodulated. Accordingly, the video signal is outputted from the demodulation circuit 3 and this video signal is delivered to the homodyne detection circuit 4. Thus, the synchronizing signal which exists in the video signal is detected by the homodyne detection circuit 4. If the synchronizing signal is detected at this time, the synchronizing signal decision output according to the detection of the synchronizing signal in the homodyne detection circuit 4 is applied to the micom 1. According to it, the specific channel in which the synchronizing signal is detected is memorized by the micom 1 and the process mentioned above is repeated using the next channel. In the case that the synchronizing signal is not detected in the homodyne detection circuit 4, the process mentioned above is repeated with the frequency of a specific channel being increased. Now, how much the channel scanning time is reduced by the channel scanning method according to the present invention is to be described. FIG. 3 is the change view of the tuning frequency to illustrate the channel scanning method according to the present invention. The selected frequency data fo of a specific channel is transmitted to the tuner 2 by the micom 1. If the synchronizing signal is not detected in 300 ms from that time, the frequency data is dropped to fo -0.25 MHz and the synchronizing signal is detected for 30 ms. If the synchronizing signal is not detected at this time, the frequency data is dropped to fo -0.5 MHz again and the synchronizing signal is detected for 30 ms. If the synchronizing signal is not detected at this time, too, the synchronizing signal of the next channel is detected. Accordingly, the time needed to detect the synchronizing signal of one channel is 360 ms. As mentioned above, the traditional channel scanning method detects the synchronizing signal by changing the tuning frequency to fo±2 MHz and the channel scanning method of the present invention detects the synchronizing signal by changing the tuning frequency to fo-0.5 MHz. So, the channel scanning time by the channel scanning method of the present invention becomes shorter than that of the traditional method. Next, the reason why the frequency is altered only to fo-0.5 MHz in the channel scanning time shortening method according to the present invention is discussed. FIG. 4 shows the disposition state of the frequency of the NTSC broadcasting signal and FIG. 5 shows the states and selectivity properties of the intermediate frequency signal when the n-channel is tuned. When the IF signal is looked around on the basis of the frequency Pn(FIG. 5), the detection of the synchronizing signal is possible in the static tuning state from the frequency PnI-4 MHz to PnI+1. So, if the tuning frequency is detuned to do-0.5 MHz, the detection of the synchronizing signal from the frequency of the intermediate frequency signal PnI-4 MHz to PnI+5.1 MHZ becomes possible. This means that, from the thinking of the frequency of the broadcasting signal(RF), the detection of the synchronizing signal from the frequency Pn+4 MHz to Pn-1.5 MHz is possible. That is, the detection of the synchronizing signal from the frequency fo+4 MHz to fo-1.5 MHz is possible without execution of the automatic fine tuning(AFT). So, the detection time of the synchronizing signal consumed per a channel in an automatic program is shorted by over 1/2 the time from 780 ms in the traditional case to 360 ms. The scanning method of channel according to the present invention of which the detection time of the synchronizing signal of the channel is shortened as mentioned above is described in detail with the flow chart shown in FIG. 6. When the automatic program is started, the frequency data of the first channel fo is transmitted to the tuner 2 by the micom 1 and the synchronizing signal is detected for 300 Ms. If the synchronizing signal is detected in 300 ms, the channel in which the synchronizing signal is detected is memorized. Contimuously, the process mentioned above is repeated with the channel being increased and the channel in which the synchronizing signal is detected is memorized. The detection of the synchronizing signal like this is executed to the last channel. If the synchronizing signal is not detected in 300 ms, the frequency data f1 that the tuning frequency is changed to fo-0.25 MHz is transmitted and the synchronizing signal is detected for 30 ms. If the synchronizing signal is detected at this time, the channel of that time is memorized and the operation of scanning the next channel is executed. In the case that the synchronizing signal is not detected, the frequency data that the frequency is changed to f1-0.25 MHz is transmitted again and the synchronizing signal is detected for 30 ms. If the synchronizing signal is detected at this time, too, the channel is memorized and the synchronizing signal is not detected, the channel of this time is judged as the channel where the synchronizing signal does not exist or the broadcasting signal does not exist. If the synchronizing signal is not detected in the first 300 ms like this, the synchronizing signal is detected twice for 30 ms with the frequency being dropped 0.25 MHz. In doing so, if the synchronizing signal is not detected, it is judged as the channel where the broadcasting signal does not exist, and if the synchronizing signal is detected in the said 360 ms, the channel of that time is memorized and the synchronizing signal of the next channel is detected. Therefore, while the detection time of the synchronizing signal of a channel in the automatic program by the traditional channel scanning method is 780 ms, that of the channel scanning method according to the present invention is 360 ms, and the scanning time of the channel can be reduced to at least one half of the scanning time.
A channel scanning method for reducing scanning time of a channel in automatic channel memory of TV, VCR, or other video appliance is disclosed. To reduce the scanning time, a microcomputer detects synchronization signals for 300 ms after transmitting frequency data for broadcasting channel to tuner and the micom detects synchronization signals for 30 ms per step in dropping frequency data. The synchronization signal detecting time is 360 ms and is shorter than the prior time of 780 ms.
7
FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to ceiling grids, comprised of intersecting and perpendicular rows of elongated struts or members, that are attached to and suspended from ceilings of rooms and other building spaces, such as office spaces, storage areas, and data centers, to function as the framework for directly and/or indirectly supporting other structural members and room or building accessories. In particular, this invention relates to elongated struts or members, both structural and non-structural, that can be used in such a ceiling grid. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Ceiling grids comprised of intersecting and perpendicular rows of elongated struts or members, both structural and non-structural struts or members, have been in use for decades. Those ceiling grids are usually directly attached to and suspended from the structure comprising the ceiling of a room or other building space, such as a concrete slab. The elongated structural struts or members of those ceiling grids directly or indirectly support other structural members and room or building accessories, such as light fixtures, HVAC conduits, sprinkler systems, etc., in the rooms or other building spaces in which they are installed. In certain environments, it is desirable that the ceiling grids include elongated structural struts or members that have (1) the desired load capacity and (2) an architectural or aesthetic finish when viewed from underneath the ceiling grid. In addition, it is often desirable that a variety of other structural members and room or building accessories can be attached to or otherwise supported by the elongated structural struts or members at any location along the elongated structural struts or members. While some elongated structural struts or members for ceiling grids have been developed that have (1) the desired load bearing capacity, (2) an architectural or aesthetic appearance when viewed from underneath the ceiling grid, and (3) the capability that other structural members and room or building accessories can be attached to the elongated structural struts or members at any location along the struts or members, there is always a need for elongated structural struts or members for ceiling grids with improved load bearing capacity and/or aesthetic appearance, and with the capability that other structural struts or members and room or building accessories can be attached to the elongated structural struts or members at any location along the struts or members. In addition, there is always a need for improved elongated non-structural struts or members for ceiling grids that can be readily and securely attached to the elongated structural struts or members of those grids and have an architectural or aesthetic finish when viewed from underneath the grids. This invention addresses those needs, as well as other needs that are readily apparent to those of skill in the art. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An elongated structural ceiling grid member according to one embodiment of this invention may include an open-ended upper portion formed by a floor and a first set of parallel and spaced sidewalls extending from and substantially perpendicular to the floor. Each of the first set of parallel and spaced sidewalls may include a lower flat wall section and an upper section that is continuous with the lower flat wall section and extends towards the other of the first set of parallel and spaced sidewalls. The upper-ended upper portion may have a first opening (1) opposite the floor and (2) defined by the upper sections of the first set of parallel and spaced sidewalls. The elongated structural ceiling grid member of this embodiment may also include an open-ended lower portion formed by a ceiling and a second set of parallel and spaced sidewalls extending from and substantially perpendicular to the ceiling. Each of the second set of parallel and spaced sidewalls may include an upper flat wall section and a lower section that is continuous with the upper flat wall section and extends towards the other of the second set of parallel spaced sidewalls. The open-ended lower portion may have a second opening (1) opposite the ceiling and the first opening and (2) defined by the second set of parallel and spaced sidewalls. The elongated structural ceiling grid member of this embodiment may also include first and second flanges. The open-ended upper portion, the open-ended lower portion and the first and second flanges may have longitudinal axes that are substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the elongated structural ceiling grid member. The floor and ceiling may be integral. The first flange may be attached to the lower section of one of the second set of parallel and spaced sidewalls and extend substantially perpendicular in the lateral direction to the upper flat wall section of that parallel and spaced sidewall. The second flange may be attached to the lower section of the other of the second set of parallel and spaced sidewalls and extend substantially perpendicular to the upper flat wall section of that parallel and spaced sidewall. In some embodiments of the elongated structural ceiling grid members of this invention, the upper sections of the first set of parallel and spaced sidewalls may be hooks having free ends that are located in vertical planes between the vertical planes of the lower flat wall sections of the first set of parallel and spaced sidewalls. In other embodiments of the elongated structural ceiling grid members of this invention, the lower sections of the second set of parallel and spaced sidewalls may be hooks that have free ends that are located in vertical planes between the vertical planes of the upper flat wall sections of the second set of parallel and spaced sidewalls. In yet other embodiments of the elongated structural ceiling grid members of this invention, the first and second flanges may be elongated bars that extend laterally beyond and outside of the upper flat wall portions of the second set of parallel and spaced sidewalls. In further embodiments of the elongated structural ceiling grid members of this invention, the lower flat wall portions of the first set of parallel and spaced sidewalls are in substantially the same planes as the upper flat wall portions of the second set of parallel and spaced sidewalls. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of an elongated structural strut for ceiling grids according to one embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is an elevation view of the elongated structural strut for ceiling grids of FIG. 1 . FIG. 3 is a top perspective view, partially sectionalized and partially in phantom for clarity, of four of the elongated structural strut for ceiling grids illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 , joined by a connector to form intersecting and perpendicular rows of the struts. FIG. 4 is an elevation view of three of the elongated structural strut for ceiling grids illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 , joined by a connector to form a T-intersection of the struts. FIG. 5 is a top perspective view of an elongated non-structural strut for ceiling grids according to one embodiment of this invention. FIG. 6 is an elevation view of the elongated non-structural strut for ceiling grids of FIG. 5 . FIG. 7 is a top perspective view of two of the elongated non-structural strut of FIGS. 5 and 6 attached to an elongated structural strut of FIGS. 1 and 2 , to form an intersection of perpendicular rows of the elongated non-structural struts and the elongated structural struts. FIG. 8 is a top perspective view of a ceiling grid comprised of a plurality of the elongated structural strut for ceiling grids of FIGS. 1 and 2 and a plurality of the elongated non-structural strut of FIGS. 5 and 6 . FIGS. 9A, 9B, 9C and 9D are a series of schematic views illustrating how the connector of FIG. 3 can be attached to the elongated structural strut for ceiling grids of FIGS. 1 and 2 . FIG. 10 is a top perspective view, partially in phantom for clarity, of two of the elongated structural strut for ceiling grids illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 , joined by a connector to form a corner of a ceiling grid. DETAILED DESCRIPTION As stated, FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate one embodiment of an elongated structural strut for ceiling grids of this invention, elongated structural strut 10 . Elongated structural strut 10 has a longitudinal axis that extends the length of elongated structural strut 10 . Elongated structural strut 10 includes upper portion 12 , lower portion 14 and lower flanges 16 and 18 . In this embodiment of the elongated structural struts of the invention, upper portion 12 and lower portion 14 are integral, and extruded from stock of the same material. In other embodiments of the elongated structural struts of this invention, upper portion 12 and lower portion 14 can be two or more separate components joined together by welding or any other well-known fastening method/mechanism. Upper portion 12 includes floor 20 and sidewalls 22 and 24 , which, in this embodiment of the elongated structural struts of this invention, are integral. In other embodiments of the elongated structural struts of this invention, the floor and sidewalls of the upper portion can be multiple components joined together. In this embodiment of the elongated structural struts of the invention, sidewalls 22 and 24 are parallel, mirror images that are substantially perpendicular to floor 20 . Also, in this embodiment of the elongated structural struts of the invention, sidewall 22 includes flat wall portion 23 and hook 26 . Flat wall portion 23 begins at a longitudinal edge of floor 20 and extends upward. Hook 26 is formed by the upper portion of sidewall 22 , above and continuous with flat wall portion 23 . Similarly, in this embodiment of the elongated structural struts of the invention, sidewall 24 includes flat wall portion 25 and hook 28 . Flat wall portion 25 begins at the other longitudinal edge of floor 20 and extends upward. Hook 28 is formed by the upper portion of sidewall 24 , above and continuous with flat wall portion 25 . Floor 20 and sidewalls 22 and 24 define upper chamber 50 with opening 52 defined by hooks 26 and 28 . The function of hooks 26 and 28 is to provide portions of sidewalls 22 and 24 that extend inwardly from flat wall portions 23 and 25 , respectively, without closing opening 52 . In use, hooks 26 and 28 can engage support members that are used to attach elongated structural strut 10 to a ceiling, as explained below. In other embodiments of the elongated structural struts of the invention, the upper portions of the sidewalls can have any shape that results in those portions extending inwardly, without closing the opening between the sidewalls. One advantage of hooks 26 and 28 over other “shapes” is that hooks 26 and 28 provide a “loop” to firmly engage a rod, flange, etc. that fits into and is received in the “loop.” Also, the sidewalls of the upper portions of other embodiments of the elongated structural struts of this invention do not have to include flat wall portions, such as flat wall portions 23 and 25 . Rather, the sidewalls can have any configuration and/or shape that results in the sidewalls partially defining a chamber between them. Lower portion 14 includes ceiling 30 and sidewalls 32 and 34 , which, in this embodiment are integral. In other embodiments of the elongated structural struts of this invention, the ceiling and sidewalls of the lower portion can be multiple components joined together. In this embodiment of the elongated structural struts of this invention, sidewalls 32 and 34 are parallel, mirror images that are substantially perpendicular to ceiling 30 . Also, in this embodiment of the elongated structural struts of this invention, sidewall 32 includes flat wall portion 33 and hook 36 . Flat wall portion 33 begins at a longitudinal edge of ceiling 30 and extends downward. Hook 36 is formed by the lower portion of sidewall 32 , below and continuous with flat wall portion 33 . Similarly, in this embodiment of the elongated structural struts of the invention, sidewall 34 includes flat wall portion 35 and hook 38 . Flat wall portion 35 begins at the other longitudinal edge of ceiling 30 and extends downward. Hook 38 is formed by the lower portion of sidewall 34 , below and continuous with flat wall portion 35 . Ceiling 30 and sidewalls 32 and 34 define lower chamber 54 with opening 56 defined by hooks 36 and 38 (and the innermost ends of flanges 16 and 18 ). The function of hooks 36 and 38 is to provide portions of sidewalls 32 and 34 that extend inwardly from flat wall portions 33 and 35 , respectively, without closing opening 56 . In use, hooks 36 and 38 can engage or otherwise support other structural members, room and building accessories, apparatus to support room and building accessories, etc. In other embodiments of the elongated structural struts of this invention, the lower portions of the sidewalls can have any shape that results in those portions extending inwardly, without closing the opening between the sidewalls. As stated above, one advantage of hooks 36 and 38 over other “shapes” is that hooks 36 and 38 provide a “loop” to firmly engage a rod, flange, etc. that fits into and is received in the “loop.” Also, the sidewalls of the lower portions of other embodiments of the elongated structural struts of this invention do not have to include flat wall portions, such as flat wall portions 33 and 35 . Rather, the sidewalls can have any configuration and/or shape that results in the sidewalls partially defining a chamber between them. As can be determined from FIGS. 1 and 2 , in this embodiment of the elongated structural struts of the invention, flat wall portions 23 and 33 of sidewalls 22 and 32 are in substantially the same planes and flat wall portions 25 and 35 of sidewalls 24 and 34 are in substantially the same planes. Flange 16 is attached to hook 36 of sidewall 32 by spot welds, such as spot welds 40 , as shown in FIG. 2 . Flange 16 is oriented substantially perpendicular to flat wall portion 33 of sidewall 32 in the lateral direction and abuts sidewall 32 at the apex of hook 36 . Flange 16 extends laterally beyond and outside of flat wall portion 33 to provide a surface to support other structural members, room and building accessories, etc. The inner surface of flange 16 is in substantially the same plane as the innermost surface of hook 36 . Similarly, flange 18 is attached to hook 38 of sidewall 34 by spot welds 42 , as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 . Flange 18 is oriented substantially perpendicular to flat wall portion 35 of sidewall 34 in the lateral direction and abuts sidewall 34 at the apex of hook 38 . Flange 18 extends laterally beyond and outside of flat wall portion 35 to provide a surface to support other structural members, room and building accessories, etc. The inner surface of flange 18 is in substantially the same plane as the innermost surface of hook 38 . While, in this embodiment of the elongated structural struts of this invention, flanges 16 and 18 are elongated bars attached to lower portion 14 , in other embodiments of the elongated structural struts of this invention, flanges 16 and 18 can be integral with lower portion 14 . Also, in yet other embodiments of the elongated structural struts of this invention, flanges 16 and 18 can have a shape other than an elongated bar, as long as they include a portion that can support other structural members and room and building accessories such as light fixtures, HVAC conduits, piping, etc. As can be determined from FIGS. 1 and 2 , each of upper portion 12 , lower portion 14 and flanges 16 and 18 has a longitudinal axis that is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of elongated structural strut 10 . As stated, FIG. 3 illustrates four of the elongated structural strut for ceiling grids illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 and described above, elongated structural struts 10 a , 10 b , 10 c and 10 d , connected at one of their ends to form intersecting and perpendicular rows of the struts. Elongated structural struts 10 a , 10 b , 10 c and 10 d are joined by connector assembly 44 , which includes wing member 46 and U-shaped connector 48 . Wing member 46 is a flat member that includes center portion 59 and integral wings 58 a , 58 b , 58 c and 58 d that extend outward from center portion 59 . Wings 58 a , 58 b , 58 c and 58 d are oriented at 90° from each other. Wings 58 a , 58 b , 58 c and 58 d are affixed to elongated structural struts 10 a , 10 b , 10 c and 10 d , respectively, as described below. U-shaped connector 48 is a continuous member formed of top portion 60 , sidewalls 62 and 64 and mating flanges 66 and 68 . Mating flange 66 mates with wing 58 d and is affixed to elongated structural strut 10 d with wing 58 d . Mating flange 68 mates with wing 58 b and is affixed to elongated structural strut 10 b with wing 58 b . While, in this embodiment of the invention, wing member 46 and U-shaped connector 48 are separate components, in other embodiments, they can be integral. Also, in other embodiments, the connector assembly can be of any shape or configuration as long as it has surfaces that can be attached to four elongated structural struts that are arranged to form intersecting and perpendicular rows of the struts and a surface that enables it to be connected to a ceiling rod assembly, as described below, or to any other apparatus employed to attach and suspend the connector assembly to and from a ceiling. In this embodiment of the invention, wing 58 a is attached to elongated structural strut 10 a by bolt 70 a and retaining block 72 a , wing 58 b and mating flange 68 are attached to elongated structural strut 10 b by bolt 70 b and retaining block 72 b , wing 58 c is attached to elongated structural strut 10 c by bolt 70 c and retaining block 72 c , and wing 58 d and mating flange 66 are attached to elongated structural strut 10 d by bolt 70 d and retaining block 72 d , respectively. Bolts 70 a , 70 b , 70 c and 70 d have external threads that threadedly engage internal threads of holes in retaining blocks 72 a , 72 b , 72 c and 72 d , respectively. The shafts of bolts 70 a , 70 b , 70 c and 70 d are received in holes in wings 58 a , 58 b , 58 c and 58 d , respectively. The shafts of bolts 70 b and 70 d are also received in holes in mating flanges 68 and 66 , respectively. Retaining blocks 72 a , 72 b , 72 c and 72 d have a width less than, but a length greater than, the width of openings 52 a , 52 b , 52 c and 52 d of upper portions 12 a , 12 b , 12 c and 12 d of elongated structural struts 10 a , 10 b , 10 c and 10 d , respectively, for reasons described below. Connector assembly 44 can be attached to elongated structural struts 10 a , 10 b , 10 c and 10 d in at least the following ways. One way is illustrated, in part, by FIGS. 9A-9D . First, before connector assembly 44 is placed on elongated structural struts 10 a , 10 b , 10 c and 10 d , bolt 70 a and retaining block 72 a are loosely connected to wing 58 a , bolt 70 b and retaining block 72 b are loosely connected to wing 58 b and mating flange 68 , bolt 70 c and retaining block 72 c are loosely connected to wing 58 c , and bolt 70 d and retaining block 72 d are loosely connected to wing 58 d and mating flange 66 (the loose connection of bolt 70 b and retaining block 72 b to wing 58 b and mating flange 68 is illustrated in FIG. 9A ). Connector assembly 44 is then positioned above elongated structural struts 10 a , 10 b , 10 c and 10 d , with wing 58 a located above elongated structural strut 10 , wing 58 b and mating flange 68 located above elongated structural strut 10 b , wing 58 c located above elongated structural strut 10 c , and wing 58 d and mating flange 66 located above elongated structural strut 10 d . Alternatively, if connector assembly 44 is already installed, elongated structural struts 10 a , 10 b , 10 c and 10 d are positioned below connector assembly 44 , with elongated structural strut 10 a located below wing 58 a , elongated structural strut 10 b below wing 58 b and mating flange 68 , elongated structural strut 10 c below wing 58 c , and elongated structural strut 10 d below wing 58 d and mating flange 66 . Either way, retaining blocks 72 a , 72 b , 72 c and 72 d are positioned relative to openings 52 a , 52 b , 52 c and 52 d such that the widths of retaining blocks 72 a , 72 b , 72 c and 72 d are substantially aligned with openings 52 a , 52 b , 52 c and 52 d , so that retaining blocks 72 a , 72 b , 72 c and 72 d can fit through openings 52 a , 52 b , 52 c and 52 d , respectively. The alignment of retaining block 72 b with opening 52 b is illustrated in FIG. 9A . Next, connector assembly 44 is lowered, or elongated structural struts 10 a , 10 b , 10 c and 10 d are raised (if connector assembly 44 is already installed), until retaining blocks 72 a , 72 b , 72 c and 72 d pass through openings 52 a , 52 b , 52 c and 52 d and are received in chambers 50 a , 50 b , 50 c and 50 d , respectively. As noted above, the width of retaining blocks 72 a , 72 b , 72 c and 72 d is less than the widths of openings 52 a , 52 b , 52 c and 52 d , respectively. The passing of retaining block 72 b through opening 52 b into chamber 50 b is illustrated in FIG. 9B . Once the top surfaces of retaining blocks 72 a , 72 b , 72 c and 72 d pass below the free end of hooks 26 a and 28 a , hooks 26 b and 28 b , hooks 26 c and 28 c , and hooks 26 d and 28 d , respectively, retaining blocks 72 a , 72 b , 72 c and 72 d are rotated such that portions of retaining blocks 72 a , 72 b , 72 c and 72 d overlap the free ends of those hooks. The rotation of retaining block 72 b is illustrated in FIG. 9C . Bolts 70 a , 70 b , 70 c and 70 d are then tightened until retaining blocks 72 a , 72 b , 72 c and 72 d firmly engage the free ends of hooks 26 a and 28 a , hooks 26 b and 28 b , hooks 26 c and 28 c , and hooks 26 d and 28 d , respectively. The tightening of bolt 70 b and engagement of retaining block 72 b with the free ends of hooks 26 b and 28 b are illustrated in FIG. 9D . Another way of connecting connector assembly 44 to elongated structural struts 10 a , 10 b , 10 c and 10 d , i.e., connecting wing 58 a to elongated structural strut 10 a by bolt 70 a and retaining block 72 a , wing 58 b and mating flange 68 to elongated structural strut 10 b by bolt 70 b and retaining block 72 b , wing 58 a to elongated structural strut 10 c by bolt 70 c and retaining block 72 c , and wing 58 d and mating flange 66 to elongated structural strut 10 d by bolt 70 d and retaining block 72 d , is as follows. Connector assembly 44 is placed on elongated structural struts 10 a , 10 b , 10 c and 10 d such that wing 58 a is above elongated structural strut 10 a , wing 58 b and mating flange 68 are above elongated structural strut 10 b , wing 58 c is above elongated structural strut 10 c , and wing 58 d and mating flange 66 are above elongated structural strut 10 d , but without bolts 70 a , 70 b , 70 c and 70 d and retaining blocks 72 a , 72 b , 72 c and 72 d attached thereto. Alternatively, if connector assembly 44 is already installed, elongated structural struts 10 a , 10 b , 10 c and 10 d are positioned below connector assembly 44 such that elongated structural strut 10 a is below wing 58 a , elongated structural strut 10 b is below wing 58 b and mating flange 68 , elongated structural strut 10 a is below wing 58 a , and elongated structural strut 10 d is below wing 58 d and mating flange 66 , but without bolts 70 a , 70 b , 70 c and 70 d and retaining blocks 72 a , 72 b , 72 c and 72 d attached thereto. Once connector assembly 44 and elongated structural struts 10 a , 10 b , 10 c and 10 d are in the proper relative position, bolts 70 a , 70 b , 70 c and 70 d are inserted through the holes in wing 58 a , wing 58 b and mating flange 68 , wing 58 c , and wing 58 d and mating flange 66 , respectively. The lower ends of bolts 70 a , 70 b , 70 c and 70 d extend into upper chambers 50 a , 50 b , 50 c and 50 d through openings 52 a , 52 b , 52 c and 52 d , respectively. Retaining blocks 72 a , 72 b , 72 c and 72 d are then positioned on the threaded ends of bolts 70 a , 70 b , 70 c and 70 d , respectively, such that areas of retaining blocks 72 a , 72 b , 72 c and 72 d overlap with hooks 26 a and 28 a , hooks 26 b and 28 b , hooks 26 c and 28 c , and hooks 26 d and 28 d , respectively. Bolts 70 a , 70 b , 70 c and 70 d are then tightened until retaining blocks 72 a , 72 b , 72 c and 72 d firmly engage hooks 26 a and 28 a , hooks 26 b and 28 b , hooks 26 c and 28 c , and hooks 26 d and 28 d , respectively. Yet another way of connecting connector assembly 44 to elongated structural struts 10 a , 10 b , 10 c and 10 d , i.e., connecting wing 58 a to elongated structural strut 10 a by bolt 70 a and retaining block 72 a , wing 58 b and mating flange 68 to elongated structural strut 10 b by bolt 70 b and retaining block 72 b , wing 58 c to elongated structural strut 10 c by bolt 70 c and retaining block 72 c , and wing 58 d and mating flange 66 to elongated structural strut 10 d by bolt 70 d and retaining block 72 d , is as follows. Retaining blocks 72 a , 72 b , 72 c and 72 d are positioned in upper chambers 50 a , 50 b , 50 c and 50 d such that portions of retaining blocks 72 a , 72 b , 72 c and 72 d overlap with hooks 26 a and 28 a , hooks 26 b and 28 b , hooks 26 c and 28 c and hooks 26 d and 28 d , respectively. Springs, such as springs 57 a , 57 b , 57 c and 57 d in FIG. 3 , are positioned in upper chambers 50 a , 50 b , 50 c and 50 d between retaining blocks 72 a , 72 b , 72 c and 72 d and floors 20 a , 20 b , 20 c and 20 d of upper portions 12 a , 12 b , 12 c and 12 d , respectively, to “push” retaining blocks 72 a , 72 b , 72 c and 72 d in fixed positions against the free ends of hooks 26 a and 28 a , hooks 26 b and 28 b , hooks 26 c and 28 c and hooks 26 d and 28 d , respectively. Bolts 70 a , 70 b , 70 c and 70 d are then inserted through the holes in wing 46 a , wing 46 b and mating portion 68 , wing 46 c and wing 46 d and mating portion 66 , and tightened to firmly engage retaining blocks 72 a , 72 b , 72 c and 72 d against the free ends of hooks 26 a and 28 a , hooks 26 b and 28 b , hooks 26 c and 28 c , and hooks 26 d and 28 d , respectively. Connector assembly 44 can be attached to and suspended from the structure comprising a ceiling of a room or other building area, such as a concrete slab, as follows. One end of a ceiling rod assembly, such as ceiling rod assembly 61 in FIG. 3 , is attached to the ceiling structure. The other end of ceiling rod assembly 61 is attached to top portion 60 of U-shaped connector 48 . As stated, FIG. 4 illustrates three of the elongated structural strut for ceiling grids illustrated in FIG. 1 and 2 and described above, elongated structural struts 10 ′, 10 ″ and 10 ′″, joined at one of their ends to form a T-intersection of a ceiling grid (elongated structural strut 10 ′″ is not shown in FIG. 4 , but is behind and axially in line with elongated structural strut 10 ″). Elongated structural struts 10 ′, 10 ″ and 10 ′″ are joined by connector assembly 44 ′, which includes T-shaped member 46 ′ and U-shaped connector 48 ′. T-shaped member 46 ′ is a flat member that includes center portion 59 ′ (not shown) and integral wings 58 ′, 58 ″ and 58 ′″ that (1) extend outward from center portion 59 ′ and (2) are oriented 90° to each other to form a “T” (wing 58 ′″ is not shown in FIG. 4 , but is behind and in the same planes as wing 58 ″). The same as U-shaped connector 48 , U-shaped connector 48 ′ is a continuous member formed of top portion 60 ′, sidewalls 62 ′ and 64 ′ and mating flanges 66 ′ and 68 ′ (sidewall 64 ′ and mating flange 68 ′ are not shown in FIG. 4 ). While in this embodiment of the invention, T-shaped member 46 ′ and U-shaped connector 48 ′ are separate components, in other embodiments, they can be integral. Also, in other embodiments, the connector assembly can be of any shape or configuration as long as it has surfaces that can be attached to the three elongated structural struts forming the T-intersection and a surface that enables it to be connected to a ceiling rod assembly, or to any other apparatus employed to attach and suspend the ceiling grid to and from a ceiling. Connector assembly 44 ′ can be attached to elongated structural struts 10 ′, 10 ″ and 10 ′″ in the same ways that connector assembly 44 can be attached to elongated structural struts 10 a , 10 b , 10 c and 10 d . Specifically, wing 58 ′ is attached to elongated structural strut 10 ′ by bolt 70 ′ and retaining block 72 ′, wing 58 ″ and mating flange 66 ′ are attached to elongated structural strut 10 ″ by bolt 70 ″ and retaining block 72 ″, and wing 58 ′″ and mating flange 68 ′ are attached to elongated structural strut 10 ′″ by bolt 70 ′″ and retaining block 72 ′″ (bolt 70 ′″ and retaining block 72 ′″ are not shown in FIG. 4 ). Like bolts 70 a , 70 b , 70 c and 70 d and retaining blocks 72 a , 72 b , 72 c and 72 d , bolts 70 ′, 70 ″ and 70 ′″ have external threads that threadedly engage internal threads of holes in retaining blocks 72 ′, 72 ″ and 72 ′″, respectively. Also, like retaining blocks 72 a , 72 b , 72 c and 72 d , retaining blocks 72 ′, 72 ″ and 72 ′″ have a width less than, but a length greater than, the width of openings 52 ′, 52 ″ and 52 ′″ of upper portions 12 ′, 12 ″ and 12 ′″ of elongated structural struts 10 ′, 10 ″ and 10 ′″, respectively. The end result is that retaining blocks 72 ′, 72 ″ and 72 ′″ are received in upper chambers 50 ′, 50 ″ and 50 ′″ of upper portions 12 ′, 12 ″ and 12 ′″ of elongated structural struts 10 ′, 10 ″ and 10 ′″ and firmly engage the free ends of hooks 26 ′ and 28 ′, hooks 26 ″ and 28 ″, and hooks 26 ′″ and 28 ′″, respectively. In this embodiment, when elongated structural struts 10 ′ and 10 ″ are joined by connector assembly 44 ′, flanges 16 ′ (not shown) and 18 ′ abut flange 18 ″, as shown in FIG. 4 . Connector assembly 44 ′ can be attached to and suspended from ceiling structure by ceiling rod assembly 61 ′ in the same manner that connector assembly 44 can be attached to and suspended from ceiling structure by ceiling rod assembly 61 . In other embodiments, a connector assembly other than connector assembly 44 ′ can be used to join elongated structural struts 10 ′, 10 ″ and 10 ′″ in the configuration of a T-intersection. As stated, FIG. 10 illustrates two of the elongated structural strut for ceiling grids illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 and described above, elongated structural struts 10 x and 10 y , joined at one of their ends to form a corner of a ceiling grid. Elongated structural struts 10 x and 10 y are joined by L-shaped member 46 x . In this embodiment, L-shaped member 46 x is a flat member that includes center portion 59 x and integral wings 58 x and 58 y that (1) extend outward from center portion 59 x and (2) are oriented 90° to each other to form an “L.” In other embodiments, the member that joins the elongated structural struts can be of any shape or configuration as long as it has surfaces that can be attached to the two elongated structural struts forming the grid corner. L-shaped member 46 x can be attached to elongated structural struts 10 x and 10 y in the same ways that connector assembly 44 can be attached to elongated structural struts 10 a , 10 b , 10 c and 10 d . Specifically, wing 58 x is attached to elongated structural strut 10 x by bolt 70 x and retaining block 72 x and wing 58 y is attached to elongated structural strut 10 y by bolt 70 y and retaining block 72 y . Like bolts 70 a , 70 b , 70 c and 70 d and retaining blocks 72 a , 72 b , 72 c and 72 d , bolts 70 x and 70 y have external threads that threadedly engage internal holes in retaining blocks 72 x and 72 y , respectively. Also, like retaining blocks 72 a , 72 b , 72 c and 72 d , retaining blocks 72 x and 72 y have a width less than, but a length greater than, the width of openings 52 x and 52 y of upper portions 12 x and 12 y of elongated structural struts 10 x and 10 y , respectively. The end result is that retaining blocks 72 x and 72 y are received in upper chambers 50 x and 50 y of upper portions 12 x and 12 y of elongated structural struts 10 x and 10 y and firmly engage the free ends of hooks 26 x and 28 x and hooks 26 y and 28 y , respectively. As stated, FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate one embodiment of a non-structural elongated member, non-structural elongated member 74 , which can be used in a ceiling grid with the elongated structural struts of this invention. Non-structural elongated member 74 includes upper portion 76 , web 78 and flange portion 80 . While, in this embodiment of the invention, upper portion 76 , web 78 and flange portion 80 are integral, in other embodiments, they can be comprised of two or more components, welded or otherwise fastened together. Upper portion 76 includes floor 81 and spaced and parallel sidewalls 82 and 84 that extend upward from the two longitudinal edges of floor 81 to form a U-shape with floor 81 . Sidewall 82 includes threads 86 on its inner surface, and sidewall 84 includes threads 88 on its inner surface. Floor 81 and sidewalls 82 and 84 form or define threaded slot 77 . Threads 86 and 88 are offset one half turn vertically from each other, as shown in FIG. 6 . That is, each peak of thread 86 is diametrically opposed by a valley of thread 88 , and each valley of thread 86 is diametrically opposed by a peak of thread 88 . Flange portion 80 is oriented substantially perpendicular to web 78 . The bottom surface of flange portion 80 is what is visible to occupants of the room or building space that includes a ceiling grid with one or more non-structural elongated members 74 . As stated, FIG. 7 illustrates a pair of the non-structural elongated member of FIGS. 5 and 6 , non-structural elongated members 74 ′ and 74 ″, attached on opposite sides of elongated structural strut 10 , to form intersecting and perpendicular rows of the elongated structural struts and the non-structural elongated members. Specifically, non-structural elongated member 74 ′ is attached to one side of elongated structural strut 10 by connector 90 , and non-structural elongated member 74 ″ is attached to the opposite side of elongated structural strut 10 by connector 92 . In this embodiment, connectors 90 and 92 are L-shaped. The bottom arms of connectors 90 and 92 are attached to non-structural elongated members 74 ′ and 74 ″ by bolts 94 and 96 that threadedly engage threaded slots 77 ′ and 77 ″ of non-structural elongated members 74 ′ and 74 ″, respectively. The upper arms of L-shaped connectors 90 and 92 are attached to sidewalls 22 and 24 of upper portion 12 of elongated structural strut 10 by screws 98 and 100 , respectively. In this embodiment, the ends of flange portions 80 ′ and 80 ″ are recessed from the ends of upper portions 76 ′ and 76 ″ and webs 78 ′ and 78 ″, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 7 , so that the bottom surfaces of flange portions 80 ′ and 80 ″ of non-structural elongated members 74 ′ and 74 ″ and of flanges 16 and 18 of elongated structural strut 10 form a substantially flat surface. FIG. 7 illustrates one way of connecting the elongated structural struts and the non-structural elongated members of this invention to form intersecting and perpendicular rows of those struts and members. In other embodiments, the elongated structural struts and non-structural elongated members can be attached using different methods/apparatus that are sufficient to maintain the elongated structural struts and the non-structural elongated members in the desired relative positions. As stated, FIG. 8 discloses a partial ceiling grid comprised of a plurality of elongated structural struts 10 and non-structural elongated members 74 . The grid is attached to and suspended from a ceiling by a plurality of ceiling rod assemblies 61 . What has been described and illustrated herein are preferred embodiments of the invention with some variations. The terms, descriptions and figures herein are intended to be for illustration only and are not meant as limitations. Those skilled in the art will recognize that many variations are possible within the scope of the invention, as defined by the following claims.
An elongated structural ceiling grid member including an open-ended upper portion, an open-ended lower portion, and first and second flanges. The open-ended upper section is formed by a floor and a first set of second parallel and spaced sidewalls extending from and substantially perpendicular to the floor. The open-ended upper portion has an opening opposite the floor and defined by the first and second parallel and spaced sidewalls. The open-ended lower portion is formed by a ceiling and a second set of parallel and spaced sidewalls that extend from and are substantially perpendicular to the ceiling. The open-ended lower portion has a second opening opposite the ceiling and defined by the third and fourth parallel and spaced sidewalls. The first flange is attached to and extends perpendicular to the third parallel and spaced sidewall and the second flange is attached to and extends perpendicular to the fourth parallel and spaced sidewall.
4
This invention releates to an overload release clutch, and, more particularly, it relates to a release clutch which is capable of withstanding wear characteristics which commonly exist in clutches which release under overload forces. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention improves upon the overload release clutch of the type shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,835,973 and 4,220,230, the latter one being my own previous invention. The present invention differs from the prior art in that it is a release clutch which avoids wear commonly induced by the forces which operate to cause the clutch to release. The clutch shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,835,973 shows and describes only limited relative rotation of the clutch-engaging members which are not disclosed as rotating past each other in either direction of rotation. Further, the engaging members are two separate and relatively radially movable parts which must be provided for in a plurality of parts, rather than only several of one type of a movable part as in the present invention. Further, the prior art, as in my previous patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,230, differs from the present invention in that it requires certain sizing and dimensioning between the respective diameters of a ball and a pin, and they present a point contact between each other, and thus the release torque in that clutch is of a concentrated pressure requiring sturdy parts which normally must be hardened to sustain the wear. Accordingly, the present invention improves upon the prior art in that it provides for an overload release clutch which withstands release forces, and, upon release the input and output members can be rotated in both directions of rotation, relative to each other, and the release torque can be adjustably set in the clutch and there is only a minimal amount of wear and stress on the clutch parts themselves. That is, where the prior art provides for a point contact in the clutch elements, the present invention provides for a line contact with only one part thereof being a movable part and with that same part being the one which disengages the clutch. Another part then provides for retaining the clutch in the disengaged position until the clutch is re-set to again subject itself to the overload or desired torque condition. As such, the present invention does not require the strength nor hardening of parts, as in the prior art, and the clutch in the present invention is more reliable, sturdy, and durable on its nature as an overload release clutch. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a clutch showing a preferred embodiment of this invention, and with the section being taken along the line 1--1 of FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is an end elevational view of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along the arcuate line 3--3 of FIG. 2, and showing the clutch in the engaged position. FIG. 4 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 3, but showing the clutch in the disengaged position. FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5--5 of FIG. 4, at the arrow heads thereof. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The clutch is shown mounted on a shaft 10, and it has a cylindrical body 11 keyed to the shaft 10 by means of a key 12. The body 11 has a circular flange 13 which has several cylindrical openings 14 extending therethrough for movable reception and support of an equal number of balls 16, such as three which are indicated in FIG. 2. Thus the shaft 10, body 11, along with the several balls 16, all rotate in either direction of rotation as one unit, and may be either the input or the output member of this bi-directional clutch. A cylindrical shaped clutch rotor member 17 is also co-axial with the shaft 10 and is shown to be rotatably mounted on the rotor 11 by means of roller bearings 18. The member 17 is shown to have a sprocket 19 secured thereto for rotation therewith. Thus, the rotor 17 may be either the input or output rotational member of this clutch, and the member 17 is rotatable relative to the member 11, except of course when the clutch is engaged by means of the balls 16, as described hereinafter. The rotor 17 has several detents or pockets 21 which are substantially the diameter of the balls 16 and which receive a portion of the balls 16 when the clutch is in the engaged position, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. As such, the members 11 and 17 rotate in unison in that clutch engaged position. To hold the balls 16 in the clutch engaged position, a circular pressure plate 22 is co-axial with the shaft 10 and has a face 23 which bears against the balls 16 for holding the balls 16 into the detents 21 in the clutch engaged position. A circular spring plate 24 is also concentric with the shaft 10 and is adjacent the pressure plate 22 for urging the pressure plate 22 against the balls 16, for instance through the intervention of several balls 26 interposed between the plates 22 and 24. Finally, several springs, such as the spring 27, are piloted on screws 28 for pressing against the spring plate 24 and thereby press on the balls 16, as mentioned. The screws 28 of course embed in the flange 13 and are adjustable therein for adjusting the amount of pressure from the spring 27 on the balls 16 and thereby permitting adjustment of the overload torque which can be transmitted through the clutch. The screws 28 freely pass through enlarged openings 29 and 31 in the plates 22 and 24, respectively. Also, the opening 29 is elongated, and thus the plate 22 can rotate slightly and relative to the plate 24, all for the purpose of engagement and disengagement of the clutch, as hereinafter described. In that arrangement, the balls 26 are in grooves in the plates 22 and 24 to permit the relative rotation, such as in the arrangement shown in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,230 with respect to the balls 37 and the slots 38 and 39 shown in said patent. For the release action of this bi-directional clutch, the pressure plate 22 has a detent or opening 32 for each of the balls 16, and the opening 32 is shown to be slightly offset from the axial location of the respective detent 21, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 in the clutch engaged position. Therefore, each ball 16 nests with its respective detent 32, even in the engaged position, and there is a length of the detent edge 33 which is in contact with the surface 34 of the ball 16. That is, the curvature of the edge 33 and the curvature forming the exterior surface of the sphere 34 are in the same direction and are thus complimentary, rather than providing an opposite direction of curvature which presents only a point contact therebetween with the resultant high pressure upon transmission of torque and particularly upon disengagement of those two surfaces in the disengaging action of the clutch. Accordingly, the clutch is sturdy, in this regard and in these respects, and the parts do not suffer self-destructing damage. Accordingly, FIG. 3 shows the center line 36 through the axis of the ball 16 intersects the circular opening 33, and therefore the ball 16 is slightly disposed into the detent 32, to provide for the slight line contact between the ball 16 and the edge 33, as described. Also see the line contact in FIG. 5. Upon the overload limit of the clutch, the springs 27 will be overcome by means of the torsional force between the members 11 and 17, and with that force of course being applied to the ball 16. In turn, that force on the ball 16 will create an axial force on the pressure plate 22 since the balls 16 will force their way into the pressure plate detents 32, to the position shown in FIG. 4. In that position, the balls 16 are then in contact with the surface 37 of the rotor 17, and the balls are freed of the rotor detents 21, and thus the two rotational members of the clutch are free to rotate relative to each other in that clutch disengaged position as shown in FIG. 4. Again, to achieve that disengagement, the two detents 21 and 32 are circular and each has the circular edge, such as the edge 33 of the detent 32 and the edge 38 of the detent 21. That arrangement of circular edges provides for the greatest amount of surface contact between the spheres or balls 16 and the respective detents 21 and 32, so that the achievement of minimum wear and tear is obtained, and the hardening of parts is less critical than in my previous invention. To maintain the clutch in the released position shown in FIG. 4, a pin 39 is shown embedded in the body 13 adjacent each ball 16, but clear thereof and spaced therefrom. Each pin 39 has a head 41 which is received in an opening 42 in the pressure plate 22, in the clutch engaged position of FIG. 3. In the disengaged position, the head 41 is moved out of the opening 42 and abuts the transverse surface 43 on the pressure plate 22. Thus, the head 41 holds the plate 22 against the pressure of the springs 27 and thus retains the clutch in the disengaged position of FIG. 4 until the body 11 and pressure plate 22 are brought back into the engaged position shown in FIG. 3. That re-positioning is achieved by means of placing a screwdriver or the like in complimentary slots 44 in the plates 22 and 24 to achieve the clutch engagement alignment mentioned, and to do so in accordance with the disclosure in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,230. In that regard, it will be recalled that the slot 29 in the plate 22 was described as elongated, and thus it permits the relative rotation shown between the engaged and disengaged positions. In further respects, the disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,230 is incorporated herein for a basic description of that type of clutch. In the present invention, there is no contact between the balls 16 and the pins 39, and therefore the only surface hardening required is with respect to surface 43 of the pressure plate 22. Further, the head 41 of the pin 39 can be much larger than the head of the pin in my previous patent which presented a point contact between the head of the pin and the adjacent sphere or ball. The clutch is therefore arranged so that either member 11 or 17 can be the rotational input member, and the clutch can also be readily constructed for rotation of the release action in either direction. The balls 16 serve as rotational inter-connecting members disposed between these input and output members, and the action of all movable parts is axial with respect to the shaft 10. The several springs 27 provide the force-applying means for clutch engagement, and the several pins 39 provide the resistance members for overcoming the springs in the disengaged position and thereby positively retained the disengaged position. In all respects, the torque transmitting balls 16 and the disengaged pins 39 are spaced from each other and do not contact each other and therefore do not wear and tear upon each other, and thus this clutch is an improvement over the prior art. By simply locating the detent 32 on the other side of the ball axis 36 and by re-locating the enlarged opening 29, the clutch can be made to operate in the opposite direction. That is, the pins 39 can move in either direction.
Overload release clutch with input and output rotational members and with several springs forcing an interconnecting member into limited torsional connection between the rotational members. A torsion release arrangement for the interconnecting member whereby more than a point contact exists for applying the release force, and with a restrainer for selectively holding the rotational member in non-driving relation upon release action.
5
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/592,656, Filed Jul. 30, 2004. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to roadway lighting. In particular, this invention relates to highway barrier lighting systems utilizing Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). 2. Description of Related Art Conventional roadway lighting is accomplished with overhead light standards mounted to a structure (e.g. a crash barrier or other structure serving as a physical barrier). Conventional overhead luminaries are glary, and the light that is emitted is uncontrolled, resulting in light trespass. Light trespass is an issue when a viaduct or roadway passes over or near a populated area. Conventional overhead lighting systems provide relatively high light levels over a very large horizontal area including the shoulder. However, the edge or shoulder is not highlighted but rather visually blended into the roadway scene. The overhead and diffuse (multidirectional) nature of the conventional lighting does not enhance small target visibility. Small targets are visually lost under conventional roadway lighting. In the field of roadway lighting, the desire to improve small target visibility has been frustrated by the use of conventional overhead lighting. Direct overhead illumination by unfocused (diffuse, propagating in all directions) light makes small objects/targets invisible. Previous unsuccessful attempts to address the issue of small target visibility include development of asymmetric overhead light sources. A need remains in the art for an alternative strategy of lighting, which reduces light trespass into a populated or other light sensitive area, enhances small target visibility, and reduces energy consumption without compromising the safety of motorists/travelers. SUMMARY An object of the present invention is to provide roadway lighting systems which reduce light trespass, enhance small target visibility, and reduce energy consumption without compromising the safety of motorists/travelers. This object is accomplished using an LED system for providing lighting for roadways, as well as viaducts, pathways, etc. The LED system provides a strategy to mitigate light trespass and light pollution, and highlight roadway edges when motorist/traveler guidance is critical. The present roadway lighting system provides guidance to travelers, defines the edges of the roadway, illuminates animals or vehicles stopped on the shoulder, indicates on-ramp and off-ramp locations, and enhances safety of merging traffic. The LED lighting system illuminates with uni-directional lighting and thereby eliminates the problem of small target visibility. The LED system provides the necessary illumination to enhance motorist guidance (beam illumination) and highlight disabled vehicles (field illumination). Additionally, the low energy use and long lamp life of LED systems reduces maintenance and operating costs. Apparatus for lighting a roadway according to the present invention comprises an elongated barrier unit which is placed along the side of the roadway, generally parallel to the roadway. The barrier unit forms a recessed area in its roadway-facing surface. Within the recessed are of the barrier is installed an LED lighting element having a plurality of LEDs fixed in an elongated formation, oriented in a generally vertical orientation. This results in the LED lighting element providing an approximately horizontal sheet of light along the barrier. The barrier might be, for example, a continuous cast-in-place barrier, a discrete crash barrier, a snow fence, a tunnel wall, a guard rail, or a bollard. The roadway could be, for example, a viaduct, a highway, an on-ramp or off-ramp, or the like. The LED lighting element can be powered in a number of ways, including via a generator, a battery, a fuel cell, a photovoltaic system, or an electrical power supply. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an isometric drawing showing a cast-in-place roadside barrier with a recessed LED lighting system according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is an isometric drawing showing a crash barrier having a recessed LED lighting system according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a photograph of a barrier lighting system according to the present invention, in use. FIGS. 4 through 6 (prior art) show electrical and lighting details for conventional roadway lighting systems, called luminaires. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Historically, roadways and highways are lighted using luminaries on tall poles located on the edge of the pavement. This LED system provides an alternative to tall poles by providing vertical or near vertical sheet illuminance on the shoulder, thus increasing small target visibility and highlighting any animals motorists stopped on the shoulder. Since the described LED luminaire lights the vertical or near vertical sides of the barrier, the outer edge of the road is highlighted and delineated, providing excellent guidance especially during inclement weather conditions. Low power consumption, minimal light trespass on adjacent properties, and minimal light pollution, especially in non-urban areas, makes this an ideal lighting system for roadways and highways with continuous barriers, construction barriers or rail structures. The strategy for lighting a viaduct, roadway, or pathway according to the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1-3 . FIGS. 4 through 6 (prior art) show some typical roadway lighting systems. The present strategy of lighting reduces light trespass into a populated or other light sensitive area, enhances small target visibility, and reduces energy consumption without compromising the safety of motorists/travelers. FIG. 1 is an isometric drawing showing a cast-in-place barrier 102 with a recessed LED lighting system 106 according to the present invention. LED lighting element 106 includes a plurality of LEDs aligned in an elongated configuration. Barrier 102 has a recessed area 104 into which lighting element 106 is placed. Power connection 110 provides power to lighting element 106 . Junction box 108 is cast in place in barrier 102 . The LED luminaire 106 is mounted vertically and is recessed into the barrier 102 . The aiming of the luminaire provides light grazing on the barrier surface. The vertically or near vertically mounted LED luminaire 106 provides uni-directional light along the barrier face. Since the luminaire is integrated into the barrier 102 , it does not cause a hazardous projection and does not compromise the crash function of the barrier. The present roadside lighting system accentuates the roadway shoulder and barrier 102 by providing both beam and field contributions of the photometric distribution. The beam contribution of the LED system highlights obstacles such as the crash barrier 102 . The field contribution of the LED system spills light onto the roadway shoulder or other target. Disabled motorists, for example, become more visible to oncoming traffic and very little light will escape (minimize light trespass and pollution) from the roadway structures. The low energy use and long lamp life of LED systems 106 reduce maintenance and operating costs. FIG. 2 is an isometric drawing showing a discrete crash barrier 202 having a recessed LED lighting system 206 according to the present invention. This barrier lighting system is similar to that shown in FIG. 1 , in that barrier 202 includes a recessed area 204 , into which LED element 206 is placed. LED element 206 is oriented vertically, and provides a horizontal sheet of light across barrier 202 . In this example, barrier 202 is a Type 7 crash barrier, and includes a snow fence post 208 . FIG. 3 is a photograph of a barrier lighting system according to the present invention, in use on a roadway at night. A demonstration of the LED barrier illumination method was performed in December 2003. In co-operation with the Colorado Department of Transportation an unused ramp along the Denver metro stretch of Interstate 25 was fitted with temporarily mounted LED strips. A commercially available LED 24 inch strip luminaire was modified to include only white LEDs. In addition, only 12 inches (continuous length) of the strip was illuminated. The modified LED strips were mounted vertically on the barriers to provide horizontal lighting in the direction of travel. The demonstration barrier lighting was set at 80 feet; each unit cast light along the barrier for approximately 60 feet. The guidance and illumination achieved by the LED system are demonstrated in FIG. 3 . The arrows indicate the light cast by several of the LED illumination units. FIGS. 4 through 6 (prior art) show electrical and fighting details for several conventional roadway lighting systems, called luminaires, from the Colorado Department of Transportation. FIG. 4 is a plan view of a barrier luminaire. FIG. 5 is an elevation drawing of the barrier luminaire of FIGS. 4 , and 6 is a section view of the barrier of FIGS. 4 and 5 . It will be appreciated by one versed in the art that there are many possible variations on these designs, but all are typified by LED lighting systems installed recessed areas of roadside barriers which provide a generally horizontal sheet of light across the barrier. Some known and anticipated variations are described below: Variations include mounting the LED luminaire in a snow fence, guardrail or other roadside structure, a bollard, a bridge footing, or a tunnel wall. Barriers are made from a variety of geometries. Deployment of the LED lighting system is compatible with most conceivable barrier geometries. The LED luminaries can be connected to electrical power supplies or operated from a portable power supply such as generator, fuel cell, or battery storage. In addition, alternative renewable supply such as photovoltaic assemblies can also be used as the power source.
A system for lighting roadways utilizes LED lighting systems recessed into roadside barriers. The LED lighting element includes a number of LEDs fixed in an elongated formation. The LED lighting element is inserted into the barrier's recessed area in a generally vertical orientation. This results in the LED lighting system generating a horizontal sheet of light along the barrier.
4
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a faucet apparatus. 2. Related Art In a faucet apparatus, turning on of water, turning off of water, temperature adjustment and the like have been heretofore performed mechanically by manual operation of a handle, a lever and the like. Such a faucet apparatus in which a sensor portion and an operation portion are provided at a discharge port extending from a faucet body portion, and a detection signal from the sensor portion and an operation signal from the operation portion are transmitted to an operation control portion through a lead wire or a cable so as to control the operation of turning on of water and the like has been developed and used lately. In case of a faucet apparatus of this sort, however, it is required to wire the lead wire or the cable so that it is invisible from the outside. Thus, there has been such an objection that the structure of the apparatus becomes complicated inevitably, and there has also been such a problem that the structure of the apparatus is restricted and the degree of freedom in design is limited because of the wiring of these lead wire and cable. Moreover, there has been a fear that the function of the apparatus is deteriorated in this case due to disconnection of the lead wire or the cable, and the whole wiring portion has to be disassembled for repair in case of disconnection thereof, thus causing a problem of troublesome maintenance. OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a faucet apparatus having a simple apparatus construction. It is another object of the present invention to provide a faucet apparatus in which maintenance is simplified. According to a faucet apparatus of the present invention, an ultrasonic transmitter and a receiver are disposed on a water flow passage at a predetermined distance away from each other, and an ultrasonic wave transmitted from the transmitter is propagated through the flow passage as a control signal for operation control of the faucet apparatus and is received by the receiver. In the faucet apparatus of the present invention, an ultrasonic wave is employed for the control signal for operation control of the faucet apparatus and a water flow passage is used as a transmission path of the control signal. Accordingly, it is possible to omit a lead wire or a cable as a transmission path of a control signal in a conventional apparatus. As a result, even in case a sensor portion, an operation portion and the like are installed in a water flow passage such as a port discharge of the faucet apparatus, it is not required to adopt a wiring structure for concealing the lead wire or the cable. Thus, the apparatus structure may be simplified and the degree of freedom in designing the apparatus is improved significantly. Further, in the case of the present invention, there is no fear of disconnection as having been experienced in the case of using a lead wire or a cable because a water flow passage is used as a transmission path of a control signal, and maintenance is simplified since only a trouble portion needs to be disassembled for repair. The present invention takes an excellent effect when it is applied to a faucet apparatus having a configuration in which a hose extending from the faucet body is fitted with a shower head at an end thereof. In the case of this faucet apparatus, it is desirable that an operation portion is provided on the shower head so that discharge operation of water and the like when the shower is used may be operated. In this case, however, when a long lead wire or cable is adopted as a transmission path of a control signal, the long lead wire or cable has to be installed without deteriorating flexibility of the hose. Therefore, such problems are caused that the lead wire or the cable is easily disconnected due to deformation of the hose in addition to the difficulty in wiring thereof. However, when the present invention is applied to such a faucet apparatus, that is, when an ultrasonic transmitter is provided on a shower head, an ultrasonic receiver is provided on the side of the faucet body portion and a control signal for operation control of the shower is transmitted by an ultrasonic wave from the transmitter to the receiver, it is not required to wire a lead wire or a cable on the hose. Therefore, it is possible to prevent such problems and to improve the reliability of the apparatus. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment of a faucet of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a sectional explanatory view showing by enlarging a principal part of the faucet; FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a principal part showing another embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIG. 1, a single lever type shampoo faucet 10 includes a mixing valve 12 having a manual operation lever 20, a shower head 14, a fixed piping 16 and a hose 18 for connecting them. The manual operation lever 20 provided on the mixing valve 12 is for performing temperature control of water and turning on of water from the shower head 14 manually by turning it horizontally and vertically, and the mixing valve 12 feeds water adjusted to a desired temperature by means of turning operation of the lever 20 to the fixed piping 16. An electromagnetic valve 22 is provided on the fixed piping 16, and mixed water fed from the mixing valve 12 to the fixed piping 16 is supplied to the hose 18 or stopped to be supplied to the hose 18 by opening and closing of the electromagnetic valve 22. That is to say, in the faucet 10 of the present embodiment, discharge of water from the shower head 14 is controlled manually by the lever 20 in a state that the electromagnetic valve 22 is opened, and, on the other hand, discharge of water from the shower head 14 is controlled by opening and closing of the electromagnetic valve 22 in a state that the mixing valve 12 is opened by the lever 20. The hose 18 which leads water from the fixed piping 16 to the shower head 14 is made by attaching a metallic shape holder 24 having a bellows form on an outside surface of a hose body made of resin, and the hose 18 is made to run through a backup pipe 26 provided so as to be able to project from an upper surface of a cabinet 25 at a tip side thereof and a guide pipe 28 attached fixedly to the tip of the backup pipe 26 in a loose fit state. This hose 18 may be taken in and out relative to the guide pipe 28 freely. An ultrasonic transmitter 32 is provided on the shower head 14 at a portion kept in a state always filled with water by means of a watertight mechanism for instance as shown in FIG. 2 in detail. On the other hand, an ultrasonic receiver 34 is provided on the fixed piping 16. The ultrasonic transmitter 32 includes an operation portion provided with a switch which is operable from the outside, a transmission circuit portion which receives an operation signal of the switch and outputs an operation control signal and an ultrasonic wave transmitter which receives a signal from the transmission circuit portion and emits an ultrasonic wave. When the switch of the operation portion is operated, an actuation control signal having data contents corresponding to the switch is emitted from the ultrasonic wave transmitter toward the hose 18 side. The ultrasonic receiver 34 includes an ultrasonic wave receiver which receives an ultrasonic wave emitted from the ultrasonic transmitter 32 and propagating through water and a receiving circuit portion thereof, and outputs a signal received at the receiving circuit portion to a controller 36. Then, the controller 36 applies driving signals to respective control object portions in accordance with data contents of the received signal. Besides, in the present embodiment, a turning on of water/turning off of water switch is provided in the operation portion of the ultrasonic transmitter 32, and a turning on of water control signal or a turning off of water control signal is emitted as an ultrasonic wave from the ultrasonic wave transmitter by the operation of this switch. Further, the ultrasonic receiver 34 receives the ultrasonic wave with an ultrasonic wave receiver and applies the received signal to the controller 36, and the controller 36 controls opening and closing of the electromagnetic valve 22 in accordance with the received signal. In other words, when the faucet body 12 is opened, discharge of water from the shower head 14 is controlled. As described above, in the faucet 10 of the present embodiment, it is possible to control discharge of water from the shower head 14 by operating an operation switch provided on the ultrasonic transmitter 32 of the shower head 14 when the mixing valve is kept open with the lever 20. Thus, there is an advantage that the state of discharge of water can be controlled easily within reach without stretching one's arm to the mixing valve 12 purposely. Further, in the faucet 10 of the present invention, since the portion between the operation portion disposed on the shower head 14 and the controller 36 provided on the base end side of the hose 18 is constructed of an ultrasonic transmitter/receiver device, i.e. water in the hose 18 as an ultrasonic wave propagating medium, it is not required to use a lead wire or a cable as a signal transmission line. Accordingly, it is possible to construct the structure of the hose 18, or the whole shower faucet simply, and to prevent troubles caused by disconnection of the lead wire or the cable, thus improving reliability and making maintenance easier. An embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, only the operation of turning on of water/turning off of water has been controllable in the shower head 14 in the case of the previous example, but it is also possible to perform change-over control and the like for changing over discharge water quantity, water temperature or discharge water condition from a discharge opening 30 between spread discharge water and concentrated discharge water. Further, when a human body detection sensor 38 is provided on the shower head 14 so as to perform water discharge operation from the discharge port 30 automatically as shown in FIG. 3, it may also be arranged so that a detection signal of the sensor 38 is transmitted with an ultrasonic wave from the ultrasonic transmitter 32 to the ultrasonic receiver 34. Other than the foregoing, the present invention may be constructed in configurations applied with various modifications based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art within a scope not departing from the gist thereof in such a manner that it is applicable, other than the faucet 10 described in the precedent, to an ordinary shower faucet in which a hose of the shower head extends directly from the faucet body, and an ordinary faucet apparatus in which a water discharge tube extends from the faucet body and the like.
A faucet apparatus includes an ultrasonic transmitter and an ultrasonic receiver provided at a predetermined distance away from each other through a water flow passage. An ultrasonic wave transmitted from the transmitter is propagated through the flow passage as a control signal for operation control of the faucet apparatus and is received with the receiver.
8
This is a division of application Ser. No. 797,193, filed Apr. 16, 1977 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,183,074. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to the production of multilayered components, and more particularly concerns process and apparatus to produce multilayered electrical components; additionally, the products produced by the process are part of the invention. Conventional processes for producing commercial multilayer capacitors employ the following steps: 1. Casting a ceramic slip by use of a doctor blade to form a green, dried ceramic film of 0.001" to 0.002" thickness; 2. Printing a registered matrix of metal pigmented inks to form the electrodes of the finished capacitor on the ceramic film; 3. Stacking a number of the registered electrode matrices in a cavity and laminating the stack of printed ceramic sheets with pressure and heat to form a compacted structure; 4. Cutting the compacted structure as by use of a guillotine type cutter. The number of parts generated is determined by the number of electrodes in the printing matrix; 5. Thermal processing consists of a drying and bake out cycle to eliminate the organic components from the green parts, followed by a firing cycle to 2,000° F. to 2,300° F. to form the final ceramic structure. 6. Metallizing the ends of each individual capacitor element is necessary to achieve the desired electronic configuration. This is accomplished by applying a small amount of a fritted silver paint to each end of the ceramic capacitor element. After both ends are dried, the parts are fired to form metallic surfaces by which the appropriate individual electrodes within the ceramic are interconnected, and also by which the finished part may be connected to an electronic circuit. 7. Testing for the various electrical parameters completes the manufacturing process. The controls necessary to achieve a satisfactory yield of capacitors of a specified value are indicated by the mathematical relationships related in the design equation: ##EQU1## where, C=capacitance of the device n=number of active layers k=dielectric constant of ceramic film A=active area of an electrode (fired) d=fired thickness of the dielectric film (in thousandth of an inch) To achieve a given value for capacitance C one must accurately control values of these parameters, as follows: (d) Dielectric thickness (typically 0.0013"±0.0001"), and (k) Dielectric constant. Control of this parameter is not only related to "lots" (i.e. differently fired groups) but also requires a very carefully controlled firing profile for consistant results. "Lot" k values are statistically determined before releasing material to production. A number of ceramic formulations are used, each with its own unique configuration of electrical parameters. They usually are referred to as "bodies" i.e. k1200 body would be a ceramic whose k is 1200. (A) The active area of the electrode. In this regard, the electrode configuration is usually a function of mechanical constraints since it sets the size of the capacitor. Controls relating to the electrode consist of using the lowest cost precious metal electrode alloy consistent with the processing temperature and body chemistry, and controlling the electrode thickness. In this regard, changes in thickness cause a second order effect on capacitance. Also, if the electrode material is too thin as applied, areas of the electrode may be non-conductive and the effective area A will be lowered. (n) Number of active layers is important, in that once the size of the capacitor (length and width) has been set by space available, and the dielectric type and thickness are chosen as a function of the electrical circuit requirements, the number of layers (n) can be adjusted to achieve the design capacitance. Clearly, there are limits to the least and most capacitance available. The upper limit of "n" for a given part type is somewhere around 40 layers, since yield of good parts starts declining rapidly beyond that. Many parts with more layers are sold however, since high capacitance coupled with small size of a part is a premium condition and commands higher prices. It is difficult to maintain uniform, undistorted internal structures in these high layer parts because of the green ceramic density variations introduced in the manufacturing process. These result in shrinkage variations upon firing, which produce material distortions appearing as delaminations of the layered structure of the capacitor. This is the most serious mechanical defect which results from conventional production of multilayer capacitors, and one for which there is no non-destructive test available. If a production lot is sampled by making petrographic tests, and it is found that delaminations are occuring above a certain percentage (it varies as a function of end use), the whole lot must be scrapped. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a major object of the invention to provide a new process which greatly simplifies the manufacture of multilayered components, as for example by elimination of steps 4 and 6 above (these being the most costly from the standpoint of labor involved). Basically, the process includes the following steps: (a) providing a first electrode and a first electrical component and locating the electrode in a recess formed by the component to produce a first laminate sub-assembly, (b) providing a second electrode and a second electrical component and locating the electrode in a recess formed by the second component to produce a second laminate sub-assembly, and (c) locating said two sub-assemblies in mutually stacked relation, thereby to form a resultant assembly. As will appear, multiple first electrodes and first components may be formed on a first decal to produce first laminate sub-assemblies; multiple second electrodes and second components may be formed on a second decal to produce second laminate sub-assemblies; and the decals may be manipulated to remove first or type A sub-assemblies onto a setter, to remove the second or type B sub-assemblies to stack precisely on the A sub-assemblies, and this may be repeated to build-up stacks of desired numbers of electrodes, thereby to form assemblies in the form of capacitors, coils, resistances, or combinations thereof. Additional objects include the provision of methods to interconnect electrodes in stacked sub-assemblies; to locate sub-assemblies in precise registered relation; to build-up stacks with covering components at upper and lower ends of the stacks; and to achieve fabrication of such assemblies of many different sizes at very low cost and at high production rates. Further objects include the provision of apparatus or tooling to enable such fabrication, and the provision of the resultant sub-assemblies and assemblies, themselves. These and other objects and advantages of the invention, as well as the details of illustrative embodiments, will be more fully understood from the following description and drawings, in which: DRAWING DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 is a flow diagram; FIG. 2 is a plan view of a prepared decal; FIG. 3 is a plan view of the FIG. 2 decal with screen printed electrodes thereon; FIG. 4 is a plan view of the FIG. 3 composite with "A type" electrical components screen printed on the electrodes and decal; FIG. 5 is a plan view like FIG. 4 but with "B type" components screen printed on electrodes and on the decal; FIG. 6 is a plan view like FIG. 4 but with "C type" components printed directly on the decal, i.e. with no electrodes; FIG. 7 is an enlarged plan view of an "A type" component and electrode composite; FIG. 8 is a side view of the FIG. 7 composite; FIG. 9 is an enlarged plan view of a "B type" component and electrode composite; FIG. 10 is a side view of the FIG. 9 composite; FIG. 11 is an end view of the FIG. 9 composite; FIG. 12 is an enlarged plan view of a "C type" component; FIG. 13 is a side view of the FIG. 12 component; FIG. 14 is a schematic elevational view of a screening process to deposite electrodes on a decal; FIG. 15 is a schematic elevational view of a screening process to deposite electrical components, on the electrodes previously deposited as in FIG. 14; FIG. 16 is a schematic elevational view of the FIG. 15 composites after inversion on to a support, and showing peeling of the decal; FIG. 17 is a view like FIG. 16 but showing both A and B type composites, one stacked on the other, and a decal for the upper composites being peeled away; FIG. 18 is a side elevational view showing a completed multi-layered electrical assembly prior to firing; FIG. 18a is like FIG. 18, but shows a completed capacitor; FIG. 19 is a view like FIG. 7 showing a varied, i.e. A' composite; FIG. 20 is an end view of the A' composite of FIG. 19; FIG. 21 is a view like FIG. 9 showing a varied, i.e. B' type composite; FIG. 22 is an end view of the FIG. 21 composite; FIG. 23 is a view like FIG. 21, showing a varied, i.e. C 1 type composite; FIG. 24 is an end view of the C 1 composite; FIG. 25 is a view like FIG. 23 showing a further varied, i.e. C 2 type composite; FIG. 26 is a view like FIG. 12 showing a blank component; FIG. 27 is an enlarged side elevation of a stack of composites as seen in FIGS. 19-26; FIG. 28 is a perspective view of a spiral (left handed) electrode pattern; FIG. 29 is an elevational view of a composite which incorporates the FIG. 28 electrode; FIG. 30 is a perspective view of a spiral (right handed) electrode pattern; FIG. 31 is an elevational view of a composite which incorporates the FIG. 30 electrode; FIG. 32 is an elevational view of an assembly which incorporates the FIGS. 29 and 31 composites, in alternating relation, to form a coil; and FIG. 33 is an elevation showing a combination of assemblies. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, the process contemplates the provision of carriers such as flexible decals 10, which are initially prepared. Such preparation, indicated at 13, may advantageously include punching holes 11 through the rectangular decal sheets, as for example proximate to opposite corners 10a and 10b. Such holes closely fit guide posts, as are better seen at 12 in FIGS. 14-17, in order to guide the decals into accurate registration upon assembly of electrode and electrical component composites. Typical transfer decals are formed by 6 inch by 6 inch square sheets of MYLAR plastic material. The surface of the decal is further prepared by application of a thin coating of a transfer release agent 14 as for example wax. Such agent is somewhat tacky at room temperature to retain the composites for transfer, and may easily release them in response to heating of the wax. Next, multiple first electrodes are provided in spaced apart and supported relation on a first carrier, i.e. a first decal 10a. This step is indicated at 16 in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 shows rows and columns of such electrodes 17 on the decal. Referring to FIG. 14, this step may be carried out by screening a fluid mix which includes the electrode material onto the decal. Note the screen 18, suitably supported at 19, and a template 20 on the screen with openings 21 directly over the locations at which the mix is deposited onto decal as electrodes 17. A squeegee blade 23 may be passed over the template, as shown, to force fluid mix 22, through the openings 21 onto the screen and onto the decal. Note guide posts 12 passed through registration holes in the decal, screen and template. The electrodes may have rectangular shape, as shown, or any other desired shape. Electrode liquid mixes are known as "inks", and representative inks are identified as Conductive Inks produced by DuPont, Selrex, Cladan Inc., and others. Curing of the electrodes to said form may be accelerated under mild heating as indicated at 26 in FIG. 1. In addition, to the use of air drying inks for both the electrode and dielectric functions, the use of Electro-Therm inks is included. This technique enables use of an "ink" or transfer mechanism which is a solid at room temperature but is of an ink-like consistancy at temperatures 10° to 100° F. above ambient. Upon being "screened" or printed onto the substrate using a heated screen or template, the ink freezes to a "dry" or solid state and may be immediately processed to the next operational step. Such a material is a product of the Ferro Corp., and is marketed under the name "Electro-Therm Inks". Next, and as shown at 27 in FIG. 1, multiple electrical components A are deposited in the formed electrodes 17 on certain decals to produce first laminate sub-assemblies, this step also appearing in FIG. 4. Likewise, components B are deposited on formed electrodes on other decals as indicated at 28 in FIG. 1 and in FIG. 5, to produce second laminate sub-assemblies. Typically, and extending the description to FIG. 15, the source of the components consists of a comminuted dielectric material such as a ceramic, in a liquid carrier, supplied at 29. A squeegee blade 131 is passed over a template 32 to urge the liquid mix through template openings 33 and through a screen 34 for deposition on the electrodes. It will be noted that the deposition of the mix is onto part, but not all, of each electrode, and also onto the decal; for example, the electrode may protrude at one end of the deposited material A, for example, and the material A deposited on the decal at the opposite end of the electrode. This is also clear from FIGS. 7 and 8 wherein an electrode lamination 17 is shown locally protruding at 17a endwise from the component A lamination, the latter forming a three-side recess 30 in which the remainder of the electrode is received. The component A also extends at the end of the electrode, i.e. at 31, for purposes as will appear. Similarly, in FIGS. 9-11, the component B forms a recess 30 in which another electrode 17 is received, and from which the electrode protrudes at 17b. FIGS. 12 and 13 illustrate a blank component C of a size corresponding to the like sizes of components A and B, so that they may be stacked as in FIGS. 1 and 18. Step 35 in FIG. 1 indicates the screen formation of C component, also seen in FIG. 6, A, B and C components, in the FIGS. 4-6 showings, have corresponding row and column orientation, in the same spacial relation to decal corner openings 11, for later precision registration of the decals and components. The components A, B and C are allowed to cure, i.e. solidify, on the decals, as for example at room temperature, or more quickly under slight heat application (as for example by infra-red lamp heating). During such curing, the solvent or liquid carrier evaporates, allowing the component particles and resin binder to coagulate. Examples of such component mixes are those known in the trade as dielectric pastes, and are products of such companies as E. I. DuPont, and Selrex. Finally, the sub-assemblies as represented in FIGS. 4 and 5, and also FIG. 6, are brought into mutually stacked relation, thereby to form resultant assemblies. To this end, the carriers or decals are displaced to effect precision registration of the sub-assemblies, and the carriers are suitably removed, as by heat application and peeling away from the sub-assemblies. FIG. 16 shows sub-assemblies that embody component material B inverted and placed onto a plate 40, with predetermined precision location as effected by placement of decal corner openings 11 onto guide posts 12a. Slight heat application, as by lamp 41, melts the tacky wax on the decal, which held the sub-assemblies thereto during manipulation of the decal, and allowing peel-away of the decal. If necessary, a wax coating on the surface of plate 40 may be used to hold the sub-assemblies in position. Thereafter, FIG. 17 shows precision stacking of sub-assemblies embodying components A onto the sub-assemblies embodying components B, by inversion and placement of decal 10b into the position shown, with corner holes on posts 12a. Peel-away of the decal is also shown. In this manner, a built-up stack or assembly as shown at 44 in FIG. 18 may quickly be realized. Note that the stack is formed with tabs of successive electrodes in the stack exposed at opposite ends of the stack. No large laminating force, i.e. to compress the stack, is required because the metal electrode in each sub-assembly is flush with its associated component or dielectric surface, as explained above. This then obviates or prevents density distortions which in the past have led to serious delamination problems. FIGS. 17 and 18 also show the stacks on a setter 40 upon which drying and firing of the stacks takes place. This eliminates hand loading which was previously required to maintain the parts in separated relation so as not to fuse together. The exposed electrode tabs at each end of the stack melt and fuse together during the bake-out cycle, whereby alternate electrodes are electrically joined, at 17a' and 17b' to form a capacitor, as seen in FIG. 18a. Many different and more complex configurations can be made in this manner, and in both large, medium and small sizes. The preceding drawing descriptions have concerned quite simple electrodes for conceptual purposes. In actual practice, a more complicated electrode configuration can be used, as shown in FIGS. 19-27. In FIGS. 19 and 20 the flat electrode 51 has T shape or outline, the "stem" 51a of the T located inwardly of the outer sides 52a and end 52b of ceramic lamination or component 52. Note that the electrode is "sunk" in a recess 52d formed by the component 52 so that the underside 51c of the electrode is flush with the underside 52c of the component 52. The cross-bar 51d of the T-shaped electrode protrudes at the opposite end of the component 52, and also protrudes laterally beyond the laterally opposite sides 52a. This sub-assembly is designated "A". A similar "B" sub-assembly is shown in FIGS. 21 and 22, the difference being that the A and B electrode cross-bars are located at opposite ends of the ceramic components. The C 1 sub-assembly of FIGS. 23 and 24 differs in that the electrode material 53 overlaps and stands out above the end surface of the ceramic component 54. Also, it protrudes endwise at 53a, as seen in FIG. 27. This C 1 sub-assembly is adapted to form an upper "cover" in the stack formed as shown in FIG. 27. The FIG. 25 C 2 sub-assembly again differs in that the electrode material 55 is "sunk" in a recess 57 formed by ceramic component 56, as seen in FIG. 27; also the electrode material protrudes endwise at 55a. C 2 forms a lower cover at the stack. FIG. 16 shows a blank ceramic component 58, and is also shown in the stack between cover C 2 and a sub-assembly A. Upon heating of the formed stack, as during firing, the protruding electrodes 53a, 51d and 55a soften and fuse together, as indicated by dotted line 59. The same thing occurs at the opposite ends of the sub-assemblies at the opposite side of the FIG. 27 stack. A multi-plate capacitor is thereby formed. Note that electrode material associated with the covers C 1 and C 2 is exposed at opposite ends of the stack. The result of using this FIG. 27 electroding configuration is the formation of the end terminations at the same time as the stack is fired. This has more significance than merely the elimination of one step. For example, the sizes of capacitors at the small end of the spectrum is limited by the difficulty of silvering the tiny pieces. This new approach allows a five-fold reduction in size, i.e. the lower size limit would be approximately 0.010" square. Also part shapes would not be limited to parallelapipeds or cylinders; i.e. literally any area shape is possible. This new process also permits all the in-process step controls that the conventional system does. It allows the inspection of both the electrode print and dielectric print for perfection and thickness before commitment to actual construction (something the spray type systems do not do). It also makes possible the use of thinner dielectric because of the electrode/dielectric configuration (embedded electrode). This makes possible the provision of a 25 volt capacitor designed to take advantage of the lower voltage (four times the capacitance for a given volume, or less than half the precious electrode material required, for the same capacitance) rather than just derating a 50 volt unit. The elimination of the cutting operation also enables the production of a more "reliable" part for high reliability requirements. One of the major concerns of recent high reliability studies performed by Hughes Aircraft Co., for the U.S. Navy is a presence of small micro cracks that can be detected on the cover plate surfaces adjacent to the silvered ends of the capacitors. They occur randomly on parts in a given lot, and are not detectible except by visual inspection magnified 400 times or more. Such cracks have proven to be the loci of a number of failure modes experienced in life testing. The source of these cracks is the cutting operation, which is eliminated by the present invention. Besides reducing the number of steps required to manufacturer parts along with the lower capital investment required, a list of advantages for the new system is as follows: 1. Smaller parts possible to fabricate. 2. Lower voltage ratings. 3. No shape limitations. 4. In process inspection enhanced. 5. Elimination of cutting stress cracks. 6. Elimination of internal delamination caused by laminating stress disturbing green density. 7. Lower labor "content" per part, i.e. less labor required to fabricate. 8. End terminations of electrodes enable provision of a variety of tab configurations with no extra process time. 9. Inventory can partially be carried in decal form, allowing for rapid response to customers. Thus, the decals can be processed as in FIGS. 16 and 17 to build-up capacitor plates and configurations, as required. 10. The invention enables provision of a line of capacitors adapted to use with semi-conductor devices, mounted on the silicon substrates such as LSI devices in watches, calculators multi processors, etc. The procedure described above, used to manufacturer multilayer ceramic capacitors, is also adaptable to a number of other electronic ceramic devices. An example would be multilayer ferrite inductors. Referring to FIGS. 28-32, the method of producing an electrical coil includes the following basic steps: (a) forming multiple laminates, each laminate including electrically conductive material in the form of a portion of a coil, and non-conducting material laminated to said electrically conductive material, and (b) stacking said laminates so that said coil portions are located for electrical interconnection to form coil structure. In FIG. 28 a left handed spiral coil "electrode" pattern 70 is initially formed on a decal 71 in the manner described above; similarly a right handed spiral coil pattern 72 is formed on a decal 73, as seen in FIG. 30. FIGS. 29 and 31 show deposition of ferrite ceramic "component" material 74 and 75 on the two coils, to form composites "A" and "B". The formation of stack 75 shown in FIG. 32 involves stacking the upright A and inverted B composites. The coils have end terminations 76 and 77 which protrude at edges of the composites as shown in FIGS. 29, 31 and 32. Similarly, the coils have terminations 76' and 77' which are spaced inwardly from the edges of the composites. Terminations 77' extend all the way through the components 75 so as to contact terminations 76'. After heating, the interengaged terminations become fused to provide a complete coil. Laborious and expensive winding of coils is thereby obviated, and many sizes of coils can be easily fabricated at low cost. Interleaving patterns would produce transformer configurations, magnetic amplifiers, saturable reactors, solenoids, memory cores, etc. Another example would be multilayer substrates which are layered ceramic structures with buried metal circuitry. Another possibility is semiconductor packages, such as the dual line configured packages. A further possibility is the fabrication of precision registers, i.e. with electrically resistive material constituting the "electrodes". For example, series connected resistors may be provided as in the FIG. 32 stack, or in another arrangement of electrodes. Series connected resistors and coils may be provided in this way, too, and capacitors may be included, all in one stack. See FIG. 33 in this regard.
A method for fabricating electrical component assemblies includes the steps: (a) providing a first electrode and a first electrical component and locating the electrode in a recess formed by the component to produce a first laminate subassembly, (b) providing a second electrode and a second electrical component and locating the electrode in a recess formed by the second component to produce a second laminate sub-assembly, and (c) locating said two sub-assemblies in mutually stacked relation, thereby to form a resultant assembly. The components are typically provided by deposition on the electrodes and to protrude edgewise thereof beyond selected edges of the electrodes, thereby to form electrical contacts, and said locating of the sub-assemblies is carried out to cause said contacts to protrude in at least two different directions from the resultant assembly. The component typically consist of dielectric material, and the electrodes are typically deposited in the form of electrically conductive ink.
8
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11962050 filed Dec. 20, 2007, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/520,575 filed on Sep. 14, 2006, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 7,328,994, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/228,434 filed on Sep. 19, 2005, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,114,868, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/728,926 filed on Dec. 08, 2003, now issued as U.S. Pat. No 6,997,625, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/172,024 filed on Jun. 17, 2002, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,796,731, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/575,111 filed on May 23, 2000, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,488,422, the entire contents of which are herein incorporated by reference. CO-PENDING APPLICATIONS [0002] Various methods, systems and apparatus relating to the present invention are disclosed in the following co-pending applications filed by the applicant or assignee of the present invention with the present application: [0000] 6,428,133 6,526,658 6,315,399 6,338,548 6,540,319 6,328,431 6,328,425 6,991,320 6,383,833 6,464,332 6,390,591 7,018,016 6,328,417 6,322,194 6,382,779 6,629,745 7,721,948 7,079,712 6,825,945 7,330,974 6,813,039 6,987,506 7,038,797 6,980,318 6,816,274 7,102,772 7,350,236 6,681,045 6,728,000 7,173,722 7,088,459 7,707,082 7,068,382 7,062,651 6,789,194 6,789,191 6,644,642 6,502,614 6,622,999 6,669,385 6,549,935 6,987,573 6,727,996 6,591,884 6,439,706 6,760,119 7,295,332 6,290,349 6,428,155 6,785,016 6,870,966 6,822,639 6,737,591 7,055,739 7,233,320 6,830,196 6,832,717 6,957,768 7,456,820 7,170,499 7,106,888 7,123,239 6,409,323 6,281,912 6,604,810 6,318,920 6,488,422 6,795,215 7,154,638 6,859,289 6,924,907 6,712,452 6,416,160 6,238,043 6,958,826 6,812,972 6,553,459 6,967,741 6,956,669 6,903,766 6,804,026 7,259,889 6,975,429 [0003] The disclosures of these co-pending applications are incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0004] The following invention relates to a laminated ink distribution structure for a printer. [0005] More particularly, though not exclusively, the invention relates to a laminated ink distribution structure and assembly for an A4 pagewidth drop on demand printhead capable of printing up to 1600 dpi photographic quality at up to 160 pages per minute. [0006] The overall design of a printer in which the structure/assembly can be utilized revolves around the use of replaceable printhead modules in an array approximately 8 inches (20 cm) long. An advantage of such a system is the ability to easily remove and replace any defective modules in a printhead array. This would eliminate having to scrap an entire printhead if only one integrated circuit is defective. [0007] A printhead module in such a printer can be comprised of a “Memjet” integrated circuit, being an integrated circuit having mounted thereon a vast number of thermo-actuators in micro-mechanics and micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS). Such actuators might be those as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,044,646 to the present applicant, however, there might be other MEMS print integrated circuits. [0008] The printhead, being the environment within which the laminated ink distribution housing of the present invention is to be situated, might typically have six ink chambers and be capable of printing four color process (CMYK) as well as infra-red ink and fixative. An air pump would supply filtered air to the printhead, which could be used to keep foreign particles away from its ink nozzles. The printhead module is typically to be connected to a replaceable cassette which contains the ink supply and an air filter. [0009] Each printhead module receives ink via a distribution molding that transfers the ink. Typically, ten modules butt together to form a complete eight inch printhead assembly suitable for printing A4 paper without the need for scanning movement of the printhead across the paper width. [0010] The printheads themselves are modular, so complete eight inch printhead arrays can be configured to form printheads of arbitrary width. [0011] Additionally, a second printhead assembly can be mounted on the opposite side of a paper feed path to enable double-sided high speed printing. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0012] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a laminated structure mounted in an ink distribution structure of an inkjet printer includes a first layer having a plurality of discrete ink holes defined therethrough, the plurality of discrete ink holes being arranged in rows, the first layer further defining a pair of recesses for communicating ink from the two centremost rows of ink holes towards a centre of the laminated structure; a second layer defining a pair of slots each communicating ink from the pair of recesses vertically through the second layer, the second layer further defining a plurality of ink holes aligned with the ink holes of rows other than those of the two centremost rows; a third layer defining a plurality of ink holes aligned with the two outermost rows of ink holes, the third layer further defining channels for communicating ink from the plurality of ink holes in the third layer towards a centre of the laminated structure; and a fourth layer having an array of integrated circuit slots each for receiving a printhead integrated circuit. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0013] A preferred form of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: [0014] FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a print engine assembly [0015] FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the print engine assembly of FIG. 1 [0016] FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the print engine assembly of FIG. 1 . [0017] FIG. 4 is a schematic front perspective view of a printhead assembly. [0018] FIG. 5 is a rear schematic perspective view of the printhead assembly of FIG. 4 . [0019] FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective illustration of the printhead assembly. [0020] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional end elevational view of the printhead assembly of FIGS. 4 to 6 with the section taken through the centre of the printhead. [0021] FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional end elevational view of the printhead assembly of FIGS. 4 to 6 taken near the left end of FIG. 4 . [0022] FIG. 9A is a schematic end elevational view of mounting of the print integrated circuit and nozzle guard in the laminated stack structure of the printhead [0023] FIG. 9B is an enlarged end elevational cross section of FIG. 9A [0024] FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective illustration of a printhead cover assembly. [0025] FIG. 11 is a schematic perspective illustration of an ink distribution molding. [0026] FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective illustration showing the layers forming part of a laminated ink distribution structure according to the present invention. [0027] FIG. 13 is a stepped sectional view from above of the structure depicted in FIGS. 9A and 9B , [0028] FIG. 14 is a stepped sectional view from below of the structure depicted in FIG. 13 . [0029] FIG. 15 is a schematic perspective illustration of a first laminate layer. [0030] FIG. 16 is a schematic perspective illustration of a second laminate layer. [0031] FIG. 17 is a schematic perspective illustration of a third laminate layer. [0032] FIG. 18 is a schematic perspective illustration of a fourth laminate layer. [0033] FIG. 19 is a schematic perspective illustration of a fifth laminate layer. [0034] FIG. 20 is a perspective view of the air valve molding [0035] FIG. 21 is a rear perspective view of the right hand end of the platen [0036] FIG. 22 is a rear perspective view of the left hand end of the platen [0037] FIG. 23 is an exploded view of the platen [0038] FIG. 24 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the platen [0039] FIG. 25 is a front perspective view of the optical paper sensor arrangement [0040] FIG. 26 is a schematic perspective illustration of a printhead assembly and ink lines attached to an ink reservoir cassette. [0041] FIG. 27 is a partly exploded view of FIG. 26 . DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0042] In FIGS. 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings there is schematically depicted the core components of a print engine assembly, showing the general environment in which the laminated ink distribution structure of the present invention can be located. The print engine assembly includes a chassis 10 fabricated from pressed steel, aluminium, plastics or other rigid material. Chassis 10 is intended to be mounted within the body of a printer and serves to mount a printhead assembly 11 , a paper feed mechanism and other related components within the external plastics casing of a printer. [0043] In general terms, the chassis 10 supports the printhead assembly 11 such that ink is ejected therefrom and onto a sheet of paper or other print medium being transported below the printhead then through exit slot 19 by the feed mechanism. The paper feed mechanism includes a feed roller 12 , feed idler rollers 13 , a platen generally designated as 14 , exit rollers 15 and a pin wheel assembly 16 , all driven by a stepper motor 17 . These paper feed components are mounted between a pair of bearing moldings 18 , which are in turn mounted to the chassis 10 at each respective end thereof. [0044] A printhead assembly 11 is mounted to the chassis 10 by means of respective printhead spacers 20 mounted to the chassis 10 . The spacer moldings 20 increase the printhead assembly length to 220 mm allowing clearance on either side of 210 mm wide paper. [0045] The printhead construction is shown generally in FIGS. 4 to 8 . [0046] The printhead assembly 11 includes a printed circuit board (PCB) 21 having mounted thereon various electronic components including a 64 MB DRAM 22 , a PEC integrated circuit 23 , a QA integrated circuit connector 24 , a microcontroller 25 , and a dual motor driver integrated circuit 26 . The printhead is typically 203 mm long and has ten print integrated circuits 27 ( FIG. 13 ), each typically 21 mm long. These print integrated circuits 27 are each disposed at a slight angle to the longitudinal axis of the printhead (see FIG. 12 ), with a slight overlap between each print integrated circuit which enables continuous transmission of ink over the entire length of the array. Each print integrated circuit 27 is electronically connected to an end of one of the tape automated bond (TAB) films 28 , the other end of which is maintained in electrical contact with the undersurface of the printed circuit board 21 by means of a TAB film backing pad 29 . [0047] The preferred print integrated circuit construction is as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,044,646 by the present applicant. Each such print integrated circuit 27 is approximately 21 mm long, less than 1 mm wide and about 0.3 mm high, and has on its lower surface thousands of MEMS inkjet nozzles 30 , shown schematically in FIGS. 9A and 9B , arranged generally in six lines—one for each ink type to be applied. Each line of nozzles may follow a staggered pattern to allow closer dot spacing. Six corresponding lines of ink passages 31 extend through from the rear of the print integrated circuit to transport ink to the rear of each nozzle. To protect the delicate nozzles on the surface of the print integrated circuit each print integrated circuit has a nozzle guard 43 , best seen in FIG. 9A , with microapertures 44 aligned with the nozzles 30 , so that the ink drops ejected at high speed from the nozzles pass through these microapertures to be deposited on the paper passing over the platen 14 . [0048] Ink is delivered to the print integrated circuits via a distribution molding 35 and laminated stack 36 arrangement forming part of the printhead 11 . Ink from an ink cassette 93 ( FIGS. 26 and 27 ) is relayed via individual ink hoses 94 to individual ink inlet ports 34 integrally molded with a plastics duct cover 39 which forms a lid over the plastics distribution molding 35 . The distribution molding 35 includes six individual longitudinal ink ducts 40 and an air duct 41 which extend throughout the length of the array. Ink is transferred from the inlet ports 34 to respective ink ducts 40 via individual cross-flow ink channels 42 , as best seen with reference to FIG. 7 . It should be noted in this regard that although there are six ducts depicted, a different number of ducts might be provided. Six ducts are suitable for a printer capable of printing four color process (CMYK) as well as infra-red ink and fixative. [0049] Air is delivered to the air duct 41 via an air inlet port 61 , to supply air to each print integrated circuit 27 , as described later with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8 , 20 and 21 . [0050] Situated within a longitudinally extending stack recess 45 formed in the underside of distribution molding 35 are a number of laminated layers forming a laminated ink distribution stack 36 . The layers of the laminate are typically formed of micro-molded plastics material. The TAB film 28 extends from the undersurface of the printhead PCB 21 , around the rear of the distribution molding 35 to be received within a respective TAB film recess 46 ( FIG. 21 ), a number of which are situated along a integrated circuit housing layer 47 of the laminated stack 36 . The TAB film relays electrical signals from the printed circuit board 19 to individual print integrated circuits 27 supported by the laminated structure. [0051] The distribution molding, laminated stack 36 and associated components are best described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 19 . [0052] FIG. 10 depicts the distribution molding cover 39 formed as a plastics molding and including a number of positioning spigots 48 which serve to locate the upper printhead cover 49 thereon. [0053] As shown in FIG. 7 , an ink transfer port 50 connects one of the ink ducts 40 (the fourth duct from the left) down to one of six lower ink ducts or transitional ducts 51 in the underside of the distribution molding. All of the ink ducts 40 have corresponding transfer ports 50 communicating with respective ones of the transitional ducts 51 . The transitional ducts 51 are parallel with each other but angled acutely with respect to the ink ducts 40 so as to line up with the rows of ink holes of the first layer 52 of the laminated stack 36 to be described below. [0054] The first layer 52 incorporates twenty four individual ink holes 53 for each of ten print integrated circuits 27 . That is, where ten such print integrated circuits are provided, the first layer 52 includes two hundred and forty ink holes 53 . The first layer 52 also includes a row of air holes 54 alongside one longitudinal edge thereof [0055] The individual groups of twenty four ink holes 53 are formed generally in a rectangular array with aligned rows of ink holes. Each row of four ink holes is aligned with a transitional duct 51 and is parallel to a respective print integrated circuit. [0056] The undersurface of the first layer 52 includes underside recesses 55 . Each recess 55 communicates with one of the ink holes of the two centre-most rows of four holes 53 (considered in the direction transversely across the layer 52 ). That is, holes 53 a ( FIG. 13 ) deliver ink to the right hand recess 55 a shown in FIG. 14 , whereas the holes 53 b deliver ink to the left most underside recesses 55 b shown in FIG. 14 . [0057] The second layer 56 includes a pair of slots 57 , each receiving ink from one of the underside recesses 55 of the first layer. [0058] The second layer 56 also includes ink holes 53 which are aligned with the outer two sets of ink holes 53 of the first layer 52 . That is, ink passing through the outer sixteen ink holes 53 of the first layer 52 for each print integrated circuit pass directly through corresponding holes 53 passing through the second layer 56 . [0059] The underside of the second layer 56 has formed therein a number of transversely extending channels 58 to relay ink passing through ink holes 53 c and 53 d toward the centre. These channels extend to align with a pair of slots 59 formed through a third layer 60 of the laminate. It should be noted in this regard that the third layer 60 of the laminate includes four slots 59 corresponding with each print integrated circuit, with two inner slots being aligned with the pair of slots formed in the second layer 56 and outer slots between which the inner slots reside. [0060] The third layer 60 also includes an array of air holes 54 aligned with the corresponding air hole arrays 54 provided in the first and second layers 52 and 56 . [0061] The third layer 60 has only eight remaining ink holes 53 corresponding with each print integrated circuit. These outermost holes 53 are aligned with the outermost holes 53 provided in the first and second laminate layers. As shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B , the third layer 60 includes in its underside surface a transversely extending channel 61 corresponding to each hole 53 . These channels 61 deliver ink from the corresponding hole 53 to a position just outside the alignment of slots 59 therethrough. [0062] As best seen in FIGS. 9A and 9B , the top three layers of the laminated stack 36 thus serve to direct the ink (shown by broken hatched lines in FIG. 9B ) from the more widely spaced ink ducts 40 of the distribution molding to slots aligned with the ink passages 31 through the upper surface of each print integrated circuit 27 . [0063] As shown in FIG. 13 , which is a view from above the laminated stack, the slots 57 and 59 can in fact be comprised of discrete co-linear spaced slot segments. [0064] The fourth layer 62 of the laminated stack 36 includes an array of ten integrated circuit slots 65 each receiving the upper portion of a respective print integrated circuit 27 . [0065] The fifth and final layer 64 also includes an array of integrated circuit slots 65 which receive the integrated circuit and nozzle guard assembly 43 . [0066] The TAB film 28 is sandwiched between the fourth and fifth layers 62 and 64 , one or both of which can be provided with recesses to accommodate the thickness of the TAB film. [0067] The laminated stack is formed as a precision micro-molding, injection molded in an Acetal type material. It accommodates the array of print integrated circuits 27 with the TAB film already attached and mates with the cover molding 39 described earlier. [0068] Rib details in the underside of the micro-molding provides support for the TAB film when they are bonded together. The TAB film forms the underside wall of the printhead module, as there is sufficient structural integrity between the pitch of the ribs to support a flexible film. The edges of the TAB film seal on the underside wall of the cover molding 39 . The integrated circuit is bonded onto one hundred micron wide ribs that run the length of the micro-molding, providing a final ink feed to the print nozzles. [0069] The design of the micro-molding allow for a physical overlap of the print integrated circuits when they are butted in a line. Because the printhead integrated circuits now form a continuous strip with a generous tolerance, they can be adjusted digitally to produce a near perfect print pattern rather than relying on very close toleranced moldings and exotic materials to perform the same function. The pitch of the modules is typically 20.33 mm. [0070] The individual layers of the laminated stack as well as the cover molding 39 and distribution molding can be glued or otherwise bonded together to provide a sealed unit. The ink paths can be sealed by a bonded transparent plastic film serving to indicate when inks are in the ink paths, so they can be fully capped off when the upper part of the adhesive film is folded over. Ink charging is then complete. [0071] The four upper layers 52 , 56 , 60 , 62 of the laminated stack 36 have aligned air holes 54 which communicate with air passages 63 formed as channels formed in the bottom surface of the fourth layer 62 , as shown in FIGS. 9 b and 13 . These passages provide pressurised air to the space between the print integrated circuit surface and the nozzle guard 43 whilst the printer is in operation. Air from this pressurised zone passes through the micro-apertures 44 in the nozzle guard, thus preventing the build-up of any dust or unwanted contaminants at those apertures. This supply of pressurised air can be turned off to prevent ink drying on the nozzle surfaces during periods of non-use of the printer, control of this air supply being by means of the air valve assembly shown in FIGS. 6 to 8 , 20 and 21 . [0072] With reference to FIGS. 6 to 8 , within the air duct 41 of the printhead there is located an air valve molding 66 formed as a channel with a series of apertures 67 in its base. The spacing of these apertures corresponds to air passages 68 formed in the base of the air duct 41 (see FIG. 6 ), the air valve molding being movable longitudinally within the air duct so that the apertures 67 can be brought into alignment with passages 68 to allow supply the pressurized air through the laminated stack to the cavity between the print integrated circuit and the nozzle guard, or moved out of alignment to close off the air supply. Compression springs 69 maintain a sealing inter-engagement of the bottom of the air valve molding 66 with the base of the air duct 41 to prevent leakage when the valve is closed. [0073] The air valve molding 66 has a cam follower 70 extending from one end thereof, which engages an air valve cam surface 71 on an end cap 74 of the platen 14 so as to selectively move the air valve molding longitudinally within the air duct 41 according to the rotational positional of the multi-function platen 14 , which may be rotated between printing, capping and blotting positions depending on the operational status of the printer, as will be described below in more detail with reference to FIGS. 21 to 24 . When the platen 14 is in its rotational position for printing, the cam holds the air valve in its open position to supply air to the print integrated circuit surface, whereas when the platen is rotated to the non-printing position in which it caps off the micro-apertures of the nozzle guard, the cam moves the air valve molding to the valve closed position. [0074] With reference to FIGS. 21 to 24 , the platen member 14 extends parallel to the printhead, supported by a rotary shaft 73 mounted in bearing molding 18 and rotatable by means of gear 79 (see FIG. 3 ). The shaft is provided with a right hand end cap 74 and left hand end cap 75 at respective ends, having cams 76 , 77 . [0075] The platen member 14 has a platen surface 78 , a capping portion 80 and an exposed blotting portion 81 extending along its length, each separated by 120°. During printing, the platen member is rotated so that the platen surface 78 is positioned opposite the printhead so that the platen surface acts as a support for that portion of the paper being printed at the time. When the printer is not in use, the platen member is rotated so that the capping portion 80 contacts the bottom of the printhead, sealing in a locus surrounding the microapertures 44 . This, in combination with the closure of the air valve by means of the air valve arrangement when the platen 14 is in its capping position, maintains a closed atmosphere at the print nozzle surface. This serves to reduce evaporation of the ink solvent (usually water) and thus reduce drying of ink on the print nozzles while the printer is not in use. [0076] The third function of the rotary platen member is as an ink blotter to receive ink from priming of the print nozzles at printer start up or maintenance operations of the printer. During this printer mode, the platen member 14 is rotated so that the exposed blotting portion 81 is located in the ink ejection path opposite the nozzle guard 43 . The exposed blotting portion 81 is an exposed part of a body of blotting material 82 inside the platen member 14 , so that the ink received on the exposed portion 81 is drawn into the body of the platen member. [0077] Further details of the platen member construction may be seen from FIGS. 23 and 24 . The platen member consists generally of an extruded or molded hollow platen body 83 which forms the platen surface 78 and receives the shaped body of blotting material 82 of which a part projects through a longitudinal slot in the platen body to form the exposed blotting surface 81 . A flat portion 84 of the platen body 83 serves as a base for attachment of the capping member 80 , which consists of a capper housing 85 , a capper seal member 86 and a foam member 87 for contacting the nozzle guard 43 . [0078] With reference again to FIG. 1 , each bearing molding 18 rides on a pair of vertical rails 101 . That is, the capping assembly is mounted to four vertical rails 101 enabling the assembly to move vertically. A spring 102 under either end of the capping assembly biases the assembly into a raised position, maintaining cams 76 , 77 in contact with the spacer projections 100 . [0079] The printhead 11 is capped when not is use by the full-width capping member 80 using the elastomeric (or similar) seal 86 . In order to rotate the platen assembly 14 , the main roller drive motor is reversed. This brings a reversing gear into contact with the gear 79 on the end of the platen assembly and rotates it into one of its three functional positions, each separated by 120°. [0080] The cams 76 , 77 on the platen end caps 74 , 75 co-operate with projections 100 on the respective printhead spacers 20 to control the spacing between the platen member and the printhead depending on the rotary position of the platen member. In this manner, the platen is moved away from the printhead during the transition between platen positions to provide sufficient clearance from the printhead and moved back to the appropriate distances for its respective paper support, capping and blotting functions. [0081] In addition, the cam arrangement for the rotary platen provides a mechanism for fine adjustment of the distance between the platen surface and the printer nozzles by slight rotation of the platen 14 . This allows compensation of the nozzle-platen distance in response to the thickness of the paper or other material being printed, as detected by the optical paper thickness sensor arrangement illustrated in FIG. 25 . [0082] The optical paper sensor includes an optical sensor 88 mounted on the lower surface of the PCB 21 and a sensor flag arrangement mounted on the arms 89 protruding from the distribution molding. The flag arrangement comprises a sensor flag member 90 mounted on a shaft 91 which is biased by torsion spring 92 . As paper enters the feed rollers, the lowermost portion of the flag member contacts the paper and rotates against the bias of the spring 92 by an amount dependent on the paper thickness. The optical sensor detects this movement of the flag member and the PCB responds to the detected paper thickness by causing compensatory rotation of the platen 14 to optimize the distance between the paper surface and the nozzles. [0083] FIGS. 26 and 27 show attachment of the illustrated printhead assembly to a replaceable ink cassette 93 . Six different inks are supplied to the printhead through hoses 94 leading from an array of female ink valves 95 located inside the printer body. The replaceable cassette 93 containing a six compartment ink bladder and corresponding male valve array is inserted into the printer and mated to the valves 95 . The cassette also contains an air inlet 96 and air filter (not shown), and mates to the air intake connector 97 situated beside the ink valves, leading to the air pump 98 supplying filtered air to the printhead. A QA integrated circuit is included in the cassette. The QA integrated circuit meets with a contact 99 located between the ink valves 95 and air intake connector 96 in the printer as the cassette is inserted to provide communication to the QA integrated circuit connector 24 on the PCB.
An ink distribution assembly for distributing different inks from respective ink sources to a plurality of print chips which together define an inkjet printhead. The assembly includes: a longitudinal distribution molding having an ink duct for each of the different inks extending longitudinally therealong; an ink inlet port corresponding to each ink duct, each ink inlet port being in fluid communication with a respective ink source for delivering ink from each ink source to a respective one of the ink ducts; and a laminated ink distribution stack in fluid communication with the distribution molding for distributing ink from the ducts to the print chips.
1
This application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application No. 61/132,214, filed Jun. 18, 2008. FIELD The present invention relates to decking, platform, walkway, and or stage systems which incorporate non-traditional construction methods, typically used in the assembly of traditional pressure treated decks, composite decks, cement or stone patio pavers and any surface constructed to enhance outdoor and/or indoor living needs and use. The present invention particularly is a modular, portable and interlocking decking system that is predominately and ideally comprised of 100% post-consumer and/or industrial thermo-plastic waste that can easily be assembled, disassembled, stored, or transported for relocation or reconfiguration. BACKGROUND It is common for homes and other structures to be enhanced with the addition of outdoor living spaces often constructed of wood, framed with either a wood or composite surface, poured in place concrete patios or brick pavers placed over a compacted aggregate base. The first of the aforementioned construction methods, particularly wood, are subject to weather causing the structure to warp, splinter or rot. Maintenance is required to protect the structure from the elements and seal the surface from moisture. Variations in temperature and humidity cause them to expand and contract, which loosens the metal connection hardware. Commonly, installation requires a specialized skill set and is labor intensive requiring footings to be dug below the specified frost line. Additionally, pressure treated lumber is treated with chemicals exposing the installer to health risks. Lumber is also susceptible to deterioration by mildew, mold, and insects and is subject to staining. The deck is considered to be a fixed structure; therefore it cannot be relocated and only removable in a more-or-less destructive fashion. Second, there are drawbacks to pour in place patios and various paver systems. Particularly, each method requires labor-intensive excavation and can become stained. Concrete pavers are subject to cracking due to settling. Numerous designs of decking systems have been developed to address the issues associated with wood framed decks, concrete patios and pavers. U.S. Pat. No. 5,848,501 is in reference to a modular portable stage and floor system using a small number of standardized modular components to construct a temporary platform. Modular and vertical supports can be detachably coupled together in a slidably interlocked manner using a universal connector mechanism in to a support frame structure for supporting a plurality of modular deck panels. By using a small number of supports and a universal connector mechanism that is similar for all structural interconnections required to build the support frame structure, the modular portable stage and floor system is strong and stable, yet easily transported, assembled and disassembled. U.S. Pat. No. 4,691,484 is in reference to a portable deck system of any size and shape that can be packaged and shipped in a collapsible configuration in motor homes, trailers and the like for quick assembly. U.S. Pat. No. 4,622,792 is in reference to a modular deck structure comprised of a plurality of rectangular flooring platforms. U.S. Pat. No. 6,209,267 B1 is in reference to a modular decking system with finished planks for mounting on outside edges of the frames to finish the base of the deck, a railing assembly includes posts for mounting, and rectangular fence panels which are connected to the posts, mainly by sliding the panels into longitudinally extending grooves in the post. U.S. Pat. No. 6,128,880 is in reference to a modular decking system that allows the user to install decking over areas containing buried services such as cables or piping. The system is readily removable by an owner in a non-destructive manner so that it can be easily reinstalled. U.S. Pat. No. 6,804,923 B1 is in reference to a modular prefabricated deck system which includes a plurality of rectangular flooring modules. Each module may include a plurality of laminations, such as a decorative upper element, and a lower support element for supporting the module. Each module may include interlocking structure for engaging adjacent modules upon installation. U.S. Pat. No. 7,140,156 is in reference to materials for use in installing a deck including a plurality of decking tiles, each of the tiles having an outside corner angle with a hole at a predetermined location with respect to the corner and a plurality of decking tile connectors. Fasteners upstanding in the quadrants at locations align with the holes in the tiles. U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,967 is in reference to a concrete pier block having an upwardly opening recess forming an anchor seat for building elements. The recess opens out the side so that building elements can be laid horizontally therein. U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,467 is in reference to a modular construction member for the construction of decking, flooring, roofing, and the like, including a mateable connector formed integrally with the construction member for connecting successive deck members to form a deck assembly. U.S. Pat. No. 6,061,991 is in reference to a deck system that provides an easy to install deck by using unique columns, rails and planks. The rails enable quick assembly. SUMMARY It is an object of the present invention to provide a portable, modular and interlocking decking system that can be assembled and disassembled for reconfiguration, relocation and expansion. The general ease-of-use of the system and simple interlocking component design allows for the decking system to be installed in a matter of time that is significantly less than the installation of a traditional pressure treated lumber deck, composite material deck or other concrete/brick patio surface. The system is comprised of three standard components—Pad, Pier and Cam Lock—each of which interlocks together using a custom designed hand tool that is provided with the purchase of the system. The Pad serves as the deck's surface, the Piers support the Pads at each corner, and each Pad is secured in place by a Cam Lock that locks with Pier(s) below. The assembly process is intuitive; four piers will be set to support one pad. Once the pad is resting on the bearing plate of the support pier, the cam lock is then secured into place. The modularity of the system allows for a simple and easy assembly process, which allows for multiple configurations. The universal, interlocking design of the system allows for the addition of the following accessory components, consisting of, but not limited to, railings, storage bins, light fixtures, gazebos, planters, benches, tables and other accessories that will utilize the same surface pad corner recesses and cam lock system to engage and secure with a support pier. The free-floating foundation is based on individual load bearing piers resting on grade or level surface and is considered a temporary structure, allowing the system to be utilized by more than just homeowners. Renters, condominium owners and secondary residences, such as cottages or trailers, will benefit from the interlocking and modular system, ideally being able to relocate, reconfigure, expand the system or store the system if desired. The system components are designed to be easily packaged on and within the dimensions of standardized palettes traditionally used for shipping and storage purposes. A support pier has four receiver blocks that support the surface pads and can, if desired, be secured to the ground via spikes that pass through a hole within the support pier base. A receiver block is a protrusion molded atop the pier, that accepts the cam lock, the locking mechanism that ultimately secures the system together. Each pier having four receiver blocks allows for engagement with the corner recess holes of one, two, three or four surface pads based on varying configurations. A cam lock passes through the surface pad recess at each corner to lock with the support pier by means of rotating it vertically 90 degrees in a clockwise fashion with detents providing tactile feedback and locking the cam once the turn is complete. The support piers are designed to maximize bearing support and distribute dead and/or live load weight to the ground. A surface pad is designed to be easily and manually transported for easy and quick placement on the support piers. Once locked together via the cam lock engagement with support piers, the pads bear on load bearing plates within the support piers and are connected by means of the receiver blocks. Each pad has structural support webbing on its underside to distribute the live and dead load weights to the support piers. Each pad has drainage or weep holes passing through its top surface to shed and disperse water. When a surface pad is resting on the bearing plate of a support pier and a receiver block is in the bottom surface pad recesses, a cam lock will be used to lock the system in place. When a cam lock is placed through the top surface pad corner recess, the hand tool is used to turn the cam lock 90 degrees in a clockwise fashion. The cam lock mechanism is designed to give the user tactile feedback once the cam lock is turned the full 90 degrees and locked in place. Pier extension block rest atop and engages a structural pier as a means to keep deck surface level when installed on sloped grades. Similarly, a step block rest atop and engages a structural pier as a means to elevate a portion, or portions of deck pads to create a multi-level surface within one assembly. A perimeter skirting module utilizes the same method of attachment by means of a cam lock engaging a structural pier and designed to conceal support piers below deck surface. A railing system may be added to the installed deck by means of a support block secured to a structural pier. A lateral brace is attached to the support block by means of sliding a molded “t” rail into and through the “t” rail slot within the support block and vertical post is then secured to lateral brace by means of similar “t” rail/“t” rail slot method of installation. Currently developed and/or future accessories and their individual components will engage the piers and pads and utilize the same or similar method(s) of locking components or modules together with the use of a cam lock fastener. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the present invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an overall system illustrating the interaction of modular components in a state of assembly and or disassembly; FIG. 2 is a top isometric view of a support pier according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 3 is a bottom isometric view of a support pier according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 4 is a top isometric view of a support pier illustrating a spike and through hole for securing the support pier to the ground, grade, or surface below; FIG. 5 is a top isometric view of a support pier secured to grade or surface below; FIG. 6 is top isometric view of a support pier about to engage an anchor bolt secured within a fixed footer or foundation and securing hardware. FIG. 7 is a top isometric view of a support pier showing a washer and nut securing the structural pier to the anchor bolt; FIG. 8 is a top isometric view of a surface pad according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 9 is a bottom isometric view of a surface pad according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 10 is a top view of a surface pad; FIG. 11 is a section view of the surface pad of FIG. 10 ; FIG. 12 is a top isometric view of a surface pad aligning with a structural pier; FIG. 13 is a top isometric view of a surface pad bottom recess fitting onto a receiver block of a support pier FIG. 14 is a detail isometric view illustrating a surface pad corner that can be secured to a support pier at any one of four possible points of engagement; FIG. 15 is a detail isometric view illustrating a surface pad corner that can be secured to a support pier at any one of four possible points of engagement; FIG. 16 is a detail isometric view illustrating a surface pad corner that can be secured to a support pier at any one of four possible points of engagement; FIG. 17 is a top isometric view of a surface pad secured to a corresponding number of support piers according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 18 is a top isometric view of adjacent pads and piers assembled to form a surface shape according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG. 19 is a top isometric view of the cam lock according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 20 is a bottom isometric view of the cam lock according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 21 is a top isometric view illustrating a surface pad resting on a support pier with a cam lock aligned for placement; FIG. 22 is a top isometric view showing a surface pad secured to a support pier via means of a cam lock in place; FIG. 23 is a top isometric view of a cam lock and a hand tool according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 24 is a top view of a hand tool in position to rotate a cam lock; FIG. 25 is a top view of a hand tool rotating a cam lock 90 degrees in a clockwise fashion; FIG. 26 is a top view of a surface pad, structural pier, and cam lock; FIG. 27 is a section view of the surface pad of FIG. 26 , support pier, and cam lock engagement; FIG. 28 is a top isometric view of successively installed piers, pads, and cam locks; FIG. 29 is a top isometric view of a pier extension block aligned with a structural pier; FIG. 30 is a top isometric view of a pier extension blocked engaging a structural pier; FIG. 31 is an elevation view illustrating the use of a pier extension on sloped grade; FIG. 32 is a top isometric view of a step block aligned with a structural pier; FIG. 33 is a top isometric view a step block engaging a structural pier; FIG. 34 is an elevation view illustrating the use of a step block to create multi-level surfaces; FIG. 35 is a top isometric view of a module of perimeter skirting and disclosing certain aspects of an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 36 is a bottom isometric view of a perimeter skirting module according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 37 is a top isometric view of a perimeter skirting module aligned with surface pad and support piers; FIG. 38 is a top isometric view of perimeter skirting module engaging support pier; FIG. 39 is a top isometric view of a support block according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 40 is a bottom isometric view of a support block according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 41 a top isometric view of a lateral support brace according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 42 is a bottom isometric view of a lateral support brace according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 43 is a top isometric view of a support block engaging a support pier and a cam lock aligned for installation, and a lateral support brace aligned to engage with support block; FIG. 44 is a top isometric view of an extruded railing post and defining embodiments; FIG. 45 is a top view of the railing post according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 46 is a top isometric view of an extruded railing post aligned to engage a lateral support brace; FIG. 47 is a top isometric view of a railing module according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 48 is a detail isometric view of a railing module according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 49 is a top view of a railing module according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 50 is a top isometric view of a railing module aligned for engagement with railing posts; FIG. 51 is a top isometric view of a post cap according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 52 is a bottom isometric view of a post cap according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 53 is a top isometric view of an extended cam lock fastener according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 54 is a detail isometric view of the extended cam lock according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 55 is a detail isometric view of the extended cam lock according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 56 is a top isometric view of an extended cam lock fastener aligned with a post cap and railing post for engagement with surface pad and pier below; FIG. 57 is a top isometric view of multi directional railing modules sharing a common railing post; and FIG. 58 illustrates components packaged or shipped on standardized pallets. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring now to the drawings, in FIG. 1 there is shown a modular, interlocking decking system 1000 showing the basic assembly or disassembly of the core system components embodying the present invention. As hereinafter described, the decking system is modular, therefore expandable and reconfigurable and can be assembled and disassembled as desired. FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of the basic assembly and or disassembly of the core system components. Load bearing deck surface pad 10 rests upon and is supported by structural pier 1 and cam lock fastener 20 passes through load bearing deck surface pad 10 and engages structural pier 1 rotated 90 degrees securing all components in place. Perimeter skirting 70 is attached to structural pier 1 and secured by means of cam lock fastener 20 . Support block 80 rests upon structural pier 1 and is secured by means of cam lock fastener 20 . Lateral support brace 90 engages with support block 80 by means of molded interlocking component on lateral support brace 90 through molded receiver element on support block 80 . Extruded vertical post 100 engages molded interlocking component on lateral support brace 90 and molded receiver element on extruded post 100 . Railing module 200 engages extruded vertical post 100 by means of “T” member and “T” slot. Post cap 300 aligns with top opening of extruded vertical post 100 and is secured in place with extended cam lock fastener 400 . Step block 60 rests upon structural pier 1 providing a bearing surface for surface pad 10 . Load-bearing deck surface pad 10 is secured to step block 60 by means of a cam lock fastener 20 . Similarly, pier extension block 50 receives load bearing deck surface pad 10 and is secured in place by cam lock fastener 20 . FIG. 2 illustrates structural pier 1 comprised of four uniformly placed receiver blocks 5 and molded into the receiver block top surface 5 to a male detent 3 and cam slot 4 and load bearing elevated surface plate 6 . Structural support pier 1 can be secured to the grade or a substructure via through hole 7 on bearing plate 8 resting on grade shown in FIG. 3 . Fastener 501 shown in FIG. 4 aligns with hole 7 . FIG. 5 shows structural support pier 1 being anchored to the ground by means of fastener 501 passing through the hole 7 until it engages with top surface 9 of bearing plate. An anchor bolt 504 capped with optional washer 503 and secured by optional nut 502 shown in FIG. 6 secures fastener 501 . When washer 503 makes contact with top surface 9 of bearing plate as shown in FIG. 7 , structural pier 1 is secured to grade or below surface. As shown in FIG. 8 , surface pad 10 includes, at each corner, four uniformly placed through holes 11 . Weep holes 12 provide for drainage of pad surface 13 to distribute water away from the system. Structural ribs 17 distribute dead and live surface loads. As shown in FIG. 9 , receiver block receptacle 15 receives the receiver block 5 of structural pier 1 . As shown in section in FIG. 11 , molded shoulder 18 in through hole 11 on surface pad 10 to receive alignment collar 26 . As shown in FIG. 12 , surface pad 10 aligns and engages with receiver block 5 , which is part of structural pier 1 . Once aligned, FIG. 13 shows surface pad 10 engaged with structural pier 1 . As shown in FIG. 14 , FIG. 15 , and FIG. 16 , a corner surface pad 10 , can engage with receiver blocks on structural pier 1 in four possible configurations. A surface pad 10 engages with structural pier one at each corner, as shown in FIG. 17 . Further illustrating the assembly process, FIG. 18 expands upon FIG. 17 by placing surface pad 10 adjacent to surface pad 10 on structural piers 1 . As shown in FIG. 19 , cam lock fastener 20 has receiver slots 21 on cam lock surface 22 that engage with the hand tool to secure the cam lock fastener 20 in place. Additional elements of the cam lock fastener 20 are the structural support ribs 23 and ramped cam component 25 . As shown in FIG. 20 , female détente 27 engages with receiver block male détente 3 of structural pier 1 . Female détente 27 is molded into alignment collar 24 and engages with male détente 3 of receiver block 5 of structural pier 1 . The cam lock fastener 20 passes through hole 11 engaging with surface pad 10 to secure with structural pier 1 , as shown in FIG. 21 . FIG. 22 shows cam lock fastener 20 fully engaged with surface pad 10 and structural pier 1 . As shown in FIG. 23 , custom hand tool 30 engages with cam lock fastener 20 receiver slots 21 via molded driver blades 31 . The custom hand tool 30 is used to rotate cam lock fastener 20 ninety degrees in a clockwise fashion until female detent aligns with male detent and provides tactile feedback, to secure surface pad 10 to structural pier 1 , as shown in FIG. 25 . As shown in section detail in FIG. 27 , cam lock fastener 20 engages with receiver block 5 of structural pier 1 . Molded stop 40 prevents the cam lock fastener 20 from being rotated more than ninety degrees. As shown in FIG. 29 and FIG. 30 , pier extension block 50 includes receiver blocks 5 , and engages with top bearing plate 6 . The pier extension block 50 engages with receiver blocks 5 of structural pier 1 . The pier extension block 50 is utilized when the system is installed over a sloped grade. As shown in FIG. 31 , pier extension block 50 is utilized to address the shown sloped grade 55 , by engaging with structural pier 1 and surface pad 10 . Similar to the pier extension block, as shown in FIG. 32 and FIG. 33 , a step block 60 engages with receiver block 5 to allow for multiple planes of the decking system. FIG. 34 further illustrates step block 60 engaging with structural pier 1 and surface pads 10 , providing multiple surface levels. Structural pier 1 is installed over a grade 65 . As shown in FIG. 35 and FIG. 36 , perimeter skirting 70 includes recess hole 11 , load bearing surface 15 and engaging surface 14 . As shown in FIG. 37 and FIG. 38 , perimeter skirting 70 engages with structural pier 1 , butting up against outer side wall of surface pad 10 . Perimeter skirting 70 is secured to structural pier 1 by means of aforementioned cam lock fastener 20 . The system includes a multitude of accessory components that engage with the aforementioned receiver blocks 5 . As shown in FIG. 39 , a railing module component engages with a support block 80 , including a molded “T”-slot 81 and a through hole 11 as shown in FIG. 39 . As shown in FIG. 41 and FIG. 42 , a lateral support brace 90 , including a molded “T” fastener 91 and 92 which engage with aforementioned “T” slot 81 of the support block 80 . As shown in FIG. 43 , support block 80 aligns and engages with structural pier 1 , then cam lock fastener 20 is engaged with structural support pier 1 . Once cam lock fastener 20 is secured, lateral support brace 90 engages with support block 80 by means of aforementioned “T” fastener 91 and t-slot 81 . As shown in FIG. 44 and FIG. 45 , the support block 80 is engaged with structural pier 1 . Additionally, support brace 90 is engaged with support block 80 . Next, an extruded vertical post 100 includes a “T” slot receiver channel 101 and a cylindrical receptacle cavity 102 . Extruded receiver block 103 receives alignment boss 301 of post cap 300 . The extruded vertical post 100 aligns and engages with lateral support brace 90 by means of LT″ fastener 92 . As shown in FIG. 47 and FIG. 48 , railing module 200 includes “T” fastener 201 to engage with aforementioned support brace 90 . Railing module 200 aligns and engages with extruded vertical posts 100 , as shown in FIG. 50 . As shown in FIG. 51 and FIG. 52 , post cap 300 is molded with through hole 11 and alignment boss 301 , designed to engage with aforementioned extruded vertical post 100 . Completing the railing module, as shown in FIG. 53 , an extended cam lock fastener 400 , including molded structural ribbing 401 , aforementioned receiver slots 21 and ramp cam component 25 , is used to pass through post cap 300 and engage with structural pier 1 . As shown in FIG. 56 , the extended cam lock fastener 400 aligns with post cap 300 , passing through hole 11 and the cylindrical receptacle cavity 102 of extruded vertical post 100 , securing railing system components to surface pad 10 and structural pier 1 . As shown in FIG. 57 , extruded vertical post 100 is used to complete and turn the decking system corner, adjoining perpendicular railing modules 200 . As shown in FIG. 58 , the entire decking system is designed and sized to fit within standardized shipping palettes 505 . Since certain changes may be made in the foregoing disclosure without departing from the scope of the invention herein involved, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description and depicted in the accompanying drawings be construed in an illustrative and not in a limiting case.
Components for use in the assembly and installation of a modular decking system, comprised of structural free floating piers which distributes loads of deck pad to ground, piers have a pad bearing surface and four uniformly placed receiver blocks which interlock with corresponding recesses at four pad corners, an interlocking cam passes through pad recesses at deck surface and locks to piers by rotating cam with custom designed tool. The system is designed to be assembled without permanent fasteners to allow for expansion, reconfiguration or relocation, or addition of traditional and contemporary deck accessories that engage and interlock with the piers, pads and cams. One ideal manufacturing method of one or any of the system components is compression molded post-consumer and/or industrial thermo-plastic waste.
4
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-168589, filed Jun. 7, 2004, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The present invention relates to a flat display panel driving method and a flat display device, and more particularly, to a method of driving a flat display panel such as an OCB-type liquid crystal display panel capable of providing a wide viewing angle and high-speed response, and a flat display device. [0004] 2. Description of the Related Art [0005] Currently, a liquid crystal display panel utilizing characteristics such as lightness, thinness, and low power consumption is used as a display for use in television sets, personal computers and car navigation systems. [0006] A twisted nematic (TN) type liquid crystal display panel widely utilized as this liquid crystal display panel is configured such that a liquid crystal material having optically positive refractive anisotropy is set to a twisted alignment of substantially 90° between glass substrates opposed to each other, and optical rotary power of incident light is adjusted by control-ling its twisted alignment. Although this TN-type liquid crystal display panel can be comparatively easily manufactured, its viewing angle is narrow, and its response speed is low. Thus, this panel has been unsuitable to display a moving image such as a television image, in particular. [0007] On the other hand, an optically compensated birefringence (OCB) type liquid crystal display panel attracts attention as a liquid crystal display panel which improves a viewing angle and a response speed. The OCB-type liquid crystal display panel is sealed with a liquid crystal material capable of providing a bend alignment between the opposed glass substrates. The response speed is improved by one digit as compared with the TN-type liquid crystal display panel. Further, there is an advantage that the viewing angle is wide because optically self compensation is made from an alignment state of the liquid crystal material. [0008] In the OCB-type liquid crystal display panel, as shown in (a) of FIG. 7 , liquid crystal molecules 65 of a liquid crystal layer are set to a splay alignment when no voltage is applied between a pixel electrode 62 disposed on a glass based array substrate 61 and an counter electrode 64 disposed similarly on a glass based counter substrate 63 which is opposed to the array substrate 61 . Thus, when a high voltage of the order of some tens of voltages is applied between the pixel electrode 62 and the counter electrode 64 upon supply of power, the liquid crystal molecules 65 are transferred to the bend alignment. [0009] To reliably transfer the alignment state upon high voltage application, voltages opposite in polarity are applied to adjacent horizontal lines of the pixels to create a nucleus by a laterally twisted potential difference between the adjacent pixel electrode 62 and transfer pixel electrode. The alignment state is transferred around the nucleus. Such an operation is carried out for substantially one second, whereby the splay alignment is transferred to the bend alignment. Further, a potential difference between the pixel electrode 62 and the counter electrode 64 is equalized, thereby temporarily eliminating an undesired record. [0010] After the liquid crystal molecules 65 have been thus transferred to the bend alignment, a voltage exceeding a low OFF voltage, at which the liquid crystal molecules 65 are maintained in the bend alignment as shown in (b) of FIG. 7 , is applied from a drive power supply 66 during operation. Not only the OFF voltage but also a ON voltage which is higher than the OFF voltage is applicable from the drive power supply 66 as shown in (c) of FIG. 7 . Thus, the drive voltage between the electrodes 62 and 64 changes in the range of the OFF voltage to the ON voltage. Consequently, the alignment state of the liquid crystal molecules 65 is transferred between the bend alignment shown in (b) of FIG. 7 and the bend alignment shown in (c) of FIG. 7 to change a retardation value of the liquid crystal layer, thereby controlling transmittance. [0011] In the case where an OCB-type liquid crystal display panel is used for displaying an image, birefringence is controlled in association with polarizing plates. The liquid crystal panel is driven by a driver circuit such that light is shielded (for a black display) upon application of a high voltage and is transmitted (for a white display) upon application of a low voltage, for example. [0012] The driver circuit includes a scanning line driver circuit 67 which is formed integrally on the array substrate 61 as shown in FIG. 8 and from which a plurality of scanning lines Y 1 to Yn extend in a row direction, and a signal line driver circuit (not shown) from which a plurality of signal lines X 1 to Xm extend in a column direction to intersect the scanning lines Y 1 to Yn. [0013] The signal lines X 1 to Xm are divided into odd numbered signal lines X 1 , X 3 , . . . and even numbered signal lines X 2 , X 4 , . . . , and drain-source paths of thin film transistors (TFTs) 68 - 1 , 68 - 2 , . . . 68 - m ′ (m′=2m) configured as a pair of selector switches on an even number and odd number basis are connected to the respective signal lines X 1 to Xm in parallel with each other. Among them, gates of TFTs 68 - 1 , 68 - 3 , . . . of an odd numbered set is connected to a terminal 69 to which a first selection signal is supplied, and gates of TFTs 68 - 2 , 68 - 4 , . . . of an even numbered set is connected to a terminal 70 to which a second selection signal is supplied, so that a video signal supplied to each of terminals 71 , 72 is selected by the corresponding selection signal. [0014] Switching thin film transistors (TFTs) 73 are disposed at intersections between the scanning lines Y and the signal lines X in which the drain-source paths of the TFTs 68 - 1 to 68 - m ′ are inserted. Each TFT 73 has a gate connected to one of the scanning lines Y 1 to Yn, and a drain-source path connected at one end to one of the signal lines X. The other end of the drain-source path of the TFT 73 is connected to a liquid crystal capacitance element 74 , and is connected to one end of a storage capacitance element 75 . The other end of the storage capacitance element 75 is connected to a terminal 76 via a capacitance line Cs, and a storage capacitance voltage is applied from the terminal 76 . [0015] In addition, a vertical scanning clock signal and a vertical start signal are supplied to the scanning line driver circuit 67 via a terminal 77 and a terminal 78 , respectively. [0016] With such a configuration, a gate pulse from the scanning line driver circuit 67 is sequentially supplied to the scanning lines Y 1 to Yn by line-at-a-time driving method, and TFTs 73 on one scanning line X are turned on simultaneously. In synchronism with this scanning, video signals from the signal line driver circuit are supplied via the terminals 71 , 72 and the TFTs 68 - 1 to 68 - m ′ to the TFTs 73 , to store a signal charge in each liquid crystal capacitance element 74 and the corresponding storage capacitance element 75 through the drain-source path of the corresponding TFT 73 . The signal charge is held until a next scanning period has been established. Consequently, the liquid crystal capacitance elements 74 of all pixels connected to the scanning lines X are activated to display an image, the storage capacitance elements 75 are driven by a storage capacitance voltage which is applied by grounding the terminal 76 or by supplying a gate pulse in a reverse phase and supplied to the terminal 76 . [0017] In such a liquid crystal display panel, for example, in a first half of one horizontal scanning period (1H), a signal voltage having positive polarity (+) with respect to a voltage of the counter electrode 64 is written into the pixel electrode 62 connected via the TFT 68 - 1 for the signal line X 1 , and a signal voltage having negative polarity (−) with respect to a voltage of the counter electrode 64 is written into the pixel electrode 62 connected to the TFT 68 - 4 for the signal X 2 , respectively, as shown in (a) of FIG. 9 . [0018] In a latter half of 1H, a signal voltage having negative polarity (−) with respect to a voltage of the counter electrode 64 is written into the pixel electrode 62 connected via the TFT 68 - 2 for the signal line X 2 , a signal voltage having positive polarity (+) with respect to a voltage of the counter electrode 64 is written into the pixel electrode 62 connected via the TFT 68 - 3 for the signal line X 1 . [0019] In addition, in a next frame, in a first half of 1H, a signal voltage having negative polarity (−) with is respect to a voltage of the counter electrode 64 is written into the pixel electrode 62 connected to via the TFT 68 - 1 for the signal line X 1 , and a signal voltage having positive polarity (+) with respect to a voltage of the counter electrode 64 is written into the pixel electrode 62 connected via the TFT 68 - 4 for the signal line X 2 , respectively, as shown in (b) of FIG. 9 . [0020] In a latter half of 1H, a signal voltage having positive polarity (+) with respect to a voltage of the counter electrode 64 is written into the pixel electrode 62 connected via the TFT 68 - 2 for the signal X 2 , and a signal voltage having negative polarity (−) with respect to a voltage of the counter electrode 64 is written into the pixel electrode 62 connected via the TFT 68 - 3 for the signal line X 1 . In this manner, frame inversion driving and dot inversion driving are carried out, thereby preventing an application of an undesired direct current voltage and preventing an occurrence of flickering. [0021] In such an OCB-type liquid crystal display panel, the alignment state can be transferred from the spray alignment to the bend alignment by means of a voltage applied between the pixel electrode 62 and the counter electrode 64 . However, even if the bend alignment has been established, so-called inverse transfer from the bend alignment to the splay alignment easily occurs if the voltage held between the pixel electrode 62 and the counter electrode 64 is maintained at low voltage level. This raises a problem that a display image cannot be recognized. [0022] As a countermeasure against the problem caused by the inverse transfer, it necessary that a high voltage is periodically applied (black-signal inserted) to a liquid crystal layer to prevent occurrence of the reversed transfer phenomenon. However, in the case where a black signal insertion process is performed to apply a high voltage, timing signals for inserting a black signal in an input signal are produced in a process on the television set side. Thus, there is a problem that an increased number of interfaces is required between the television set side and a liquid crystal panel module side. [0023] Further, it is difficult to employ the countermeasure, because the processing capacity of a microcomputer is not enough to perform such a process on the television set side, and a design suitable to the television set side is required to be made on the liquid crystal panel side. Therefore, there is a problem that general use properties become poor. [0024] In addition, in the case where the OCB-type liquid crystal display panel is used as a flat display device for use in a television set, this display panel is used under a condition in which the ambient temperature of the flat display device ranges from about 0 to 60° C. Further, in the case where the flat display device is used as a display for use in a car navigation system, the external environment of the television set used significantly changes. As a consequence, the ambient temperature of the flat display device is believed to significantly change from below 0° C. to about 80° C., and the use under a severer environment condition than that in room must be made. Therefore, it is necessary to set operating conditions of these flat display devices to a use condition adapted to the external environment. [0025] FIG. 10 shows a result obtained by making an investigation about a temperature change which is one of the external environment changes. [0026] FIG. 10 is a gamma characteristic view in which gradation is plotted on the horizontal axis and luminance is plotted on the vertical axis. In the figure, solid line “a” indicates a case in which the ambient temperature is 20° C.; dashed line “b” indicates a case in which the ambient temperature is 40° C.; single-dot chain line “c” indicates a case in which the ambient temperature is 60° C.; and double dot chain line “d” indicates a case in which the ambient temperature is 80° C. Here, when the ambient temperature is 80° C., a black inversion region is within the range indicated by the arrow “e” shown in the figure. This range serves as a region in which a problem occurs with a display quality. [0027] In order to ensure that a problem does not occur with the display quality at this high temperature, it is necessary to set a black display voltage to be lower at the time of the high temperature. However, because it is difficult to change this setting once it has been set, the setting of the black display voltage at the time of the high temperature is kept unchanged even at the time of a room temperature of 20° C. Accordingly, the black luminance at the time of room temperature has increased from 1.1 to 2.6 cd/m 2 . Thus, the contrast is lowered from 450:1 to 170:1, and as a result, there occurs a problem that a sharp and clear image having its good contrast cannot be produced. [0028] In addition, in the flat display device using the OCB-type liquid crystal display panel, black (black signal) insertion is carried out in order to prevent an inverse transfer phenomenon. However, an increased black insertion ratio is required to prevent the reversed transfer phenomenon at the time of the high temperature. [0029] That is, FIG. 11 is a black insertion ratio characteristic view in each ambient temperature at which ambient temperature is taken on a horizontal axis and a black insertion ratio is taken on a vertical axis. This figure shows that it is necessary to increase the black insertion ratio with an increase of the ambient temperature. Because this black insertion ratio is shown as a value including a margin, such tendency does not change although slight change occurs. [0030] As described above, the black insertion ratio is increased to prevent inverse transfer at the time of a high temperature. As is the case with the black display voltage described previously, however, the black insertion ratio at the time of this high temperature is maintained as is even at the time of room temperature. Thus, there has occurred a problem that, when operation is made at the time of room temperature, the luminance is lowered from 500 cd/m 2 to 430 cd/m 2 , and the contrast is also lowered from 450:1 to 170:1. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0031] The present invention has been made in order to solve the foregoing problem. It is an object of the present invention to provide a flat display panel driving method and flat display device which reliably prevent occurrence of inverse transfer without requiring an increase in the number of interfaces. [0032] According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a flat display panel driving method for driving a flat display panel which includes a matrix array of pixels to display an image, comprising the steps of: receiving a video signal supplied externally along with a horizontal sync signal defining a horizontal scanning period and a vertical sync signal defining a vertical scanning period; writing the video signal and a non-video signal into each row of pixels in each vertical scanning period; and controlling a write timing of the non-video signal to synchronize with a write timing of the video signal; wherein the control step includes counting the number of horizontal sync signals supplied within the vertical scanning period defined by each vertical sync signal, and determining the write timing of the non-video signal based on a result of counting. [0033] According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a flat display panel driving method, wherein the result of counting is an average value of the numbers of horizontal sync signals obtained for a predetermined number of vertical scanning periods in a case where the number of horizontal sync signals is variable. [0034] According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a flat display panel driving method, wherein the control step includes obtaining a video signal holding period which is represented by a formula: number of horizontal sync signals supplied within vertical scanning period×(100−black insertion ratio)/100, and then determining a timing that is delayed by the video signal holding period from the write timing of the video signal, as the write timing of the non-video signal. [0035] According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a flat display panel driving method, wherein the control step includes measuring a temperature of the flat display panel or ambient temperature of the flat display panel, and causing a result of measurement to be reflected in the write timing of the non-video signal. [0036] According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a flat display device, which comprises: a matrix array of pixels that displays an image; a controller that receives a video signal supplied externally along with a horizontal sync signal defining a horizontal scanning period and a vertical sync signal defining a vertical scanning period; a driver circuit that is controlled by the controller and writes the video signal and a non-video signal into each row of pixels in each vertical scanning period; and an insertion timing setting section that controls a write timing of the non-video signal to synchronize with a write timing of the video signal; wherein the insertion timing setting section is configured to count the number of horizontal sync signals supplied within the vertical scanning period defined by each vertical sync signal, and then determine the write timing of the non-video signal based on a result of counting. [0037] With the flat display panel driving method and flat display device described above, the write timing of the non-video signal is determined based on a result of counting the number of horizontal sync signals supplied within the vertical scanning period defined by each vertical sync signal. Accordingly, it becomes possible not only to control an insertion ratio of the non-video signal without any restriction imposed on interfaces or the like with a television set side, but also to reliably prevent an inverse transfer phenomenon while improving general use properties. [0038] Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING [0039] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention, and together with the general description given above and the detailed description of the embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention. [0040] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the circuit configuration of a flat display device according to one embodiment of the present invention; [0041] FIG. 2 is a chart for explaining a driving method for driving a flat display panel incorporated in the flat display device shown in FIG. 1 ; [0042] FIG. 3 is a signal waveform chart for explaining the diving method shown in FIG. 2 ; [0043] FIG. 4 is a chart for explaining a modification of the driving method shown in FIG. 2 ; [0044] FIG. 5 is a signal waveform chart for explaining the modification shown in FIG. 4 ; [0045] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a modification of the circuit configuration of the flat display device shown in FIG. 1 ; [0046] FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a display principle of a conventional OCB-type liquid crystal display panel; [0047] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the circuit configuration of the liquid crystal display panel shown in FIG. 7 ; [0048] FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a driving method for driving the liquid crystal display panel shown in FIG. 8 ; [0049] FIG. 10 is a graph showing a gamma characteristic of luminance to ambient temperature that is obtained in the liquid crystal display panel shown in FIG. 8 ; and [0050] FIG. 11 is a graph showing a black insertion ratio characteristic of a black insertion ratio to ambient temperature obtained in the liquid crystal display panel shown in FIG. 8 . DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0051] Hereinafter, a flat display device according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. [0052] In the flat display device, as shown in FIG. 1 , input signals such as a vertical sync signal, a horizontal sync signal and a video signal are input from an input terminal 11 , and these input signals are supplied to a controller 13 energized by an input power supply 12 . The controller 13 incorporates a black signal insertion timing setting section 14 . The black signal insertion timing setting section 14 is composed of a black signal insertion timing determination circuit 15 and a driver control circuit 16 , and is configured to produce a timing pulse for inserting a black signal by means of the driver control circuit 16 based on a condition set by the black signal insertion timing setting section 14 . [0053] In the OCB mode, continuous application of a low voltage allows the alignment state of liquid crystal molecules to be inverse-transferred from the bend alignment to the splay alignment. The black signal is a signal for preventing the inverse transfer phenomenon, and used as an example of the non-video signal in this embodiment. A write operation for the black signal is called black insertion, and the black signal is inserted at a desired black insertion ratio for each field. The black insertion ratio is controlled as a time difference between the write timing for writing the video signal into a row (line) of the pixels and the write timing for writing the black signal into these pixels. [0054] The controller 13 supplies drive signals to a gate driver 17 and a source driver 18 , respectively. With the drive signals, the gate driver 17 and source driver 18 supply a gate pulse and a video signal to a flat display panel 19 such as an OCB-type liquid crystal display panel, respectively. To operate the gate driver 17 and the source driver 18 , a drive voltage is also supplied from a drive voltage generator circuit 20 , which is connected to the input power supply 12 . The drive voltage, gate pulse, the video signal, etc. are associated with each other to display an image on the flat display panel 19 . [0055] The black signal insertion timing setting section 14 is used to obtain a write timing of a black signal to be inserted in the period of one field, so that occurrence of the inverse transfer phenomenon can be prevented effectively. The timing for this black signal insertion is set as follows. [0056] That is, as shown in FIG. 2 , the input sync signals such as a horizontal sync signal H, a vertical sync signal VD, and a gating signal DE, etc are subjected to processing. First, counting of the horizontal sync signal H is carried out within one vertical scanning period V (=1 field) to determine the number of Hs in 1V (“a” in the figure). [0057] At the same time, a write timing of the video signal is obtained from these sync signals (“b” in the figure). [0058] The number of Hs is used to obtain a black signal insertion timing synchronized with the video signal write timing. The black signal insertion timing is set to a timing which is delayed from the video signal write timing by a period represented by a formula: number of Hs in 1V×(100−black insertion ratio)/100 (“c” in the figure), and a gate start pulse is produced (“d” in the figure) based on the thus set timing. [0059] Alternatively, the black insertion ratio may be externally set (“e” in the figure) and used to compute the black signal insertion timing. [0060] With the computational formula, it becomes possible write the black signal with a predetermined delay corresponding to the number of Hs after the video signal write timing. [0061] A description will be specifically given in more detail. The vertical sync signal VD defines 1V shown in (a) of FIG. 3 . In 1V, a plurality of horizontal sync signals H are present as shown in (b) of FIG. 3 . Counting of the horizontal sync signal H is effected by a counter that operates in response to a fall of the vertical sync signal VD. The number of Hs is counted in 1V which is a period between points indicated by arrows. As a result, it is measured that the number of Hs in 1V is, for example, 50, as shown in (d) of FIG. 3 . [0062] In addition, as shown in (e) of FIG. 3 , a display period defined by a display pulse is set at a period ranging from 6H to 48H. In this condition, the black insertion ratio can be set to a predetermined value. Assuming that the black insertion ratio is set to 20% as illustrated, computation is made using the ratio in the computational formula for the black signal write timing described previously. Assuming that the display pulse is supplied at a timing of the 6th H, the black insertion ratio 20% can be achieved by generating a start pulse A for video signal writing at the same timing of the 6th H and a start pulse B for black signal writing at a timing of the 46th H, which is delayed by 40 Hs from generation of the start pulse A. [0063] In this manner, the write timing of the black signal is optimized to obtain a required black insertion ratio. Thus, it is efficiently and reliably prevent an inverse transfer phenomenon. [0064] This black insertion is carried out for each 1V, and a black signal write timing for black signal insertion can be freely set by changing the black insertion ratio. [0065] In a television signal for a television broadcast or the like, an identical number of Hs is obtained for each 1V. Therefore, the black insertion ratio is in a stable state. The foregoing description has been given with respect to a case of the black insertion ratio in such a stable state. However, for example, in a videotape recorder that uses a video tape as a recording medium and has a special reproduction function such as fast feed or slow reproduction, there is a case where the number of Hs reproduced in 1V is variable. In this case, the black insertion timing fluctuates according to the number of Hs in 1V. Consequently, it becomes into a situation where the black insertion ratio is not kept constant. [0066] In such a case, as shown in FIG. 4 , a write timing of the video signal is obtained from the input sync signals ((a) of FIG. 4 ), and the number of Hs for each 1V on at least of continuous 2Vs or more is counted, the numbers of Hs counted between 1Vs of these 2Vs, respectively, are compared with each other, and it is detected whether or not a change occurs with the numbers of Hs ((b) of FIG. 4 ). As a result, in the case where it has been determined that a change occurs with the number of Hs, the number of Hs in the fewest 1V is determined from among them ((c) of FIG. 4 ). In the case where it has been determined that no change occurs with the number of Hs in 1V, the counted number of Hs in 1V is determined ((d) of FIG. 4 ). Thus, the video signal write timing is determined based on the numbers of Hs included in the sync signals, and computation of a black signal insertion timing is made using the computational formula described previously ((e) of FIG. 4 ), and a gate start pulse for black signal insertion is generated ((f) of FIG. 4 ). A black signal insertion write timing is set in accordance with a video signal write timing by means of the start pulse. Consequently, even if a change occurs with the number of Hs in 1V, a black signal can be always inserted at an optimal position regardless of the change in number of Hs, making it possible to ensure a predetermined black insertion ratio. [0067] That is, assume that a write pulse shown in (b) of FIG. 5 is generated in synchronism with a fall of the vertical sync signal VD as shown in (a) of FIG. 5 , and that the numbers of Hs obtained in the respective 1Vs in the video signals written by this write pulse are different from one another, that is, 525, 500, 510, 505, and 525, respectively, as shown in (c) of FIG. 5 . These signals are read in synchronism with a read pulse as shown in (d) of FIG. 5 . In this read, for example, in order to count and compare the numbers of Hs in 3Vs as shown in (e) of FIG. 5 , each V is switched, read, and stored in accordance with the sequence of Nos. 1 to 3. Therefore, in a V 1 period, the H number of 525Hs corresponding to No. 2 is stored over 3Vs as shown in (f) of FIG. 5 . Similarly, in a V 2 period, the H number of 500H corresponding to No. 3 is stored over 3Vs as shown in (g) of FIG. 5 . In a V 3 period, the H number of 510H corresponding to No. 1 is stored over 3Vs as shown in (h) of FIG. 5 . In this way, the number of Hs for each 1V in 3Vs is stored, and the numbers are compared with each other in each 1V like the respective corresponding periods V 1 , V 2 , V 3 , . . . , as shown in (i) of FIG. 5 , and it is determined whether or not a change occurs with the number of Hs for each 1V. [0068] In the case where there is a difference in number of Hs between 1Vs by the determination, for example, detection of the fewest number of Hs is carried out. As a result of the detection, computation of a black signal insertion timing is made based on the fewest number of Hs from among the H numbers among 3Vs, thereby setting a black insertion ratio in such a changed state. [0069] The numbers of Hs in 3Vs, as shown in (j) of FIG. 5 , change until a V 7 period in which all the numbers are detected to be 525 has been established. Thus, which the number of Hs is to be used depends on the specification. However, when the V 7 period is established, an essential stable operating state is set. However, even before this stable operating state is reached, it becomes possible to set the best black insertion ratio from among the insertion ratios in the case of the present embodiment. [0070] In setting the black insertion ratio, a description is given with respect to a case of setting the minimum number of Hs in 1V. A similar advantageous effect can be attained by using an average value of these three numbers of Hs or the maximum number of Hs. If the average value is used, a good black insertion ratio can be set without a great change. [0071] In this case as well, it is possible to configure setting of the black insertion ratio so as to be freely controlled from the outside. [0072] Such a flat display device is used as a display for use in image display. When the display device is used, a change occurs with an operating condition in the external environment conditions. In these environment states as well, it is desirable to change the black insertion ratio in order to ensure an optimal operating condition. [0073] Therefore, a temperature sensor is allocated at the periphery of a flat display panel on which a temperature of the flat display panel can be best sensed. The ambient temperature is detected by means of the temperature sensor; a register incorporated in a controller is converted based on the thus detected temperature; and a black insertion ratio determining section is controlled, thereby making it possible to change a timing of the black insertion ratio according to the temperature. This temperature sensor may be used for the purpose of measuring the temperature of the flat display panel itself or may be used for the purpose of measuring the ambient temperature under the external environment. [0074] That is, as shown in FIG. 6 , a temperature sensor 21 is allocated at the periphery of the flat display panel 19 or at a position at the periphery of the flat display panel 19 at which the temperature of the flat display panel 19 is best measured, thereby detecting the temperature of the flat display panel 19 itself or its ambient temperature. It is desirable that a thermister is used as the temperature sensor 21 in the use temperature range of 0 to 60° C. as in a television set or the like. Alternatively, it is desirable that a digital temperature sensor is used in the wide use temperature range from below 0° C. to about 80° C. as in a car navigation system or the like. [0075] In the present embodiment, similar components shown in the embodiment described previously are denoted by the same reference symbols, and a detailed description thereof is omitted. [0076] On the basis of the measurement temperature measured by this temperature sensor 21 , the condition setting of the black insertion timing determining circuit 15 is changed by a register converter circuit 22 provided in the controller 13 , and the black insertion timing is changed. For example, if 8-bit configured video signal is defined as a signal to be input to the controller 13 , a digital temperature sensor is used as the temperature sensor 21 . In the case where a high temperature is sensed by the digital temperature sensor, the black insertion timing determining circuit 15 is controlled to be digitally processed by the register converter circuit 22 so as to increase the black insertion ratio, so that a black display voltage is reduced, thereby making it possible to restrict the lowering of the contrast on the flat display panel 19 . In this manner, a temperature change due to a change of the ambient temperature of the flat display panel 19 is detected by the temperature sensor 21 , thereby making it possible to change the black insertion ratio in track with a temperature change. Thus, it is possible to set an optimal black signal insertion timing according to its use state. [0077] While the above embodiment has described a case in which an OCB-type liquid crystal display panel is used as the flat display panel 19 , an electroluminescent (EL) display panel can also be used. Further, in the case where the luminance of a backlight is changed according to the contents of a moving image displayed on the flat display panel 19 as well, it is possible to provide a configuration so as to change the luminance together with the black insertion ratio. Of course, various applications or modifications can occur within the range without departing from the spirit of the invention. [0078] Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
A flat display panel comprises a matrix array of pixels that displays an image, a controller that receives a video signal supplied externally along with a horizontal sync signal defining a horizontal scanning period and a vertical sync signal defining a vertical scanning period, a driver circuit that is controlled by the controller and writes the video signal and non-video signal into each row of pixels in each vertical scanning period, and an insertion timing setting section that controls a write timing of the non-video signal to synchronize with a write timing of the video signal. The insertion timing setting section is configured to count the number of horizontal sync signals supplied within the vertical scanning period defined by each vertical sync signal, and then determine the write timing of the non-video signal based on a result of counting.
6
FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a valve, a pressure control valve in particular, with a valve housing having pump, appliance and tank connections. A valve piston can be driven by a magnetic inductor for guided movement within the valve housing. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Conventional proportional pressure control valves are used, among other things, as control valves for oil-hydraulic systems to deliver a more or less constant output pressure with variable input pressure. The output pressure to be controlled is assigned by the current signal delivered by suitable triggering electronics and acting on an actuating magnet. The actuating magnet may be designed as a pressure sealed oil bath magnet with a long service life. Proportional pressure control valves serving this purpose may be directly controlled piston valves of a three-way design, that is, with pressure protection on the output side. They are employed, among other things, in oil-hydraulic systems to control couplings, in shift transmissions for exerting a specific pressure buildup and pressure reduction effect, for remote pressure adjustment, for control of pressure variation over time and for pilot control of hydraulic valves and logic elements. Conventional proportional pressure control valves employed for these purposes are characterized by poor stability, especially in the case of low-viscosity fluid media. They begin to vibrate, something especially harmful if the conventional valves are to perform special functions, for example, in motor vehicle power steering systems, areas relating to safety engineering, or the like. Generally, susceptibility to disturbances has been found to occur in the natural frequency range of the valve. The instabilities arising may result in functional failure of a valve and the relevant parts of its system. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Objects of the present invention are to provide improved valves with more stable behavior, in particular with respect to steady-state vibrations, so that the valve is also well suited for special appliances. The valve according to the present invention is provided with a hydraulic damping device having a damping chamber connected by a throttle to the connection of the appliance to convey fluid. Optionally, the pump connection or tank connection communicates with the appliance connection. In the event of displacement of the valve piston toward the choke as a result of the magnetic force of a switching magnet, the fluid stored in the damping chamber is displaced toward the appliance connection by the throttle. The displacement volume flow generates local pressure buildup by the throttle. A force directed against the deflecting force of the valve piston onto the effective pressure surface adjoining the flow restriction point may be determined. Thus, a damping effect may be exerted on the entire valve piston. As the valve piston travels back in the opposite direction, this volume of fluid must flow back away from the appliance connection into the damping space, now increasing, again by of the throttle as defined. This flow also results in damping of the vibrations which occur. In a preferred embodiment of the valve of the present invention, the throttle is in the form of a ring disk which impedes the flow of fluid between damping space and appliance connection by a flow restriction point. In one embodiment of the valve of the present invention, the flow restriction point may be in the form of a through opening inside the ring disk. Preferably, however, in an alternative embodiment, the flow restriction point is at least in part in the form of an annular passage formed between the ring disk and parts of the valve housing surrounding the ring disk. The latter solution improves damping results and can be applied cost effectively during manufacture. In addition, the annular passage can discharge into a connecting duct of the ring disk communicating with to the damping space to conduct fluid. The ring disk can be flange-connected to the valve housing at various points, the annular passage being interrupted at the connection points, just as it is by frontal mounting of the annular passage in the interior of the valve housing. A simple yet functionally reliable connection of the throttle to the remaining portion of the valve housing is obtained in this manner. In another especially preferred embodiment of the present invention, the connecting line extends at least in part parallel to the direction of advance of the valve piston inside the valve housing. This piston optionally makes connection with the tank or with the pump connection. As a result of the connecting line, the functional component proper of the valve is separated from the damping component, and, as a result, the functional reliability of the valve design is increased. Other objects, advantages and salient features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses a preferred embodiment of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Referring to the drawings which form a part of this disclosure: FIG. 1 is a top view, partly in section, of a conventional proportional pressure control valve; FIG. 2 is a top view, partly in section, of a valve according to the present invention; FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the throttle of the valve of FIG. 2; and FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the throttle of FIG. 3 . DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION For better understanding of the valve of the invention, a conventional proportional pressure control valve is described in detail with reference to FIG. 1 . The conventional valve shown in FIG. 1 includes a valve housing 10 in the form of a screw-insertion cartridge, also designated as a cartridge valve. The conventional valve is screwed or threaded into a valve receptacle 12 with its fluid connections P, T, and A, by way of external threading 11 . A is the appliance connection. P is the pump connection. T is the tank connection. The main or valve piston 16 extends longitudinally inside the valve housing 10 , and is suitably hardened and ground. A magnet system 20 , for electric actuation of the piston, includes a circuit box 22 and a controllable magneto inductor 26 introduced into a magnetic coil 24 . The magneto inductor 26 is connected to the valve piston 16 by a tappet-like actuating element 28 . The front end of element 28 rests on a resetting or pressure spring 32 , specifically, in the area of the appliance connection A. The other free end of the pressure spring 32 is in contact with a frontal inner recess in valve housing 10 . In the initial position, in which no current flows and the magneto inductor 26 has not been actuated, the valve is closed on the input side by the pump connection P. Also, on the output side, connection A communicates with the tank connection T to conduct fluid. For this purpose the valve piston 16 has on its external circumference, at a prescribed distance, an annular recess 54 . If a current signal is now applied to the magnet system 20 by the circuit box 22 , the magneto inductor 26 presses against the valve piston 16 with a force corresponding to the level of the control current. As a result, the control piston 16 is forced downward against the reset spring 32 and the fluid or oil flows from the pump connection P to the appliance connection A. If a consumer appliance device, such as a hydraulic cylinder or the like, is connected to the appliance connection A, a pressure builds up at the connection A which acts on the end surface of the control piston and generates a force opposite the magnetic force of the magnet system 20 to force the valve or control piston upward again. As a result, the inflow of the pump connection P to the appliance connection A is reduced until the pressure of the magnetic force applied to the appliance connection, and thus, the pressure value assigned by the current signal are again equal. If the consumer device requires no more pressurized fluid, for example, because the hydraulic cylinder has reached its throw limit, the valve piston 16 moves upward again and seals the pump connection P. If the output pressure drops, as a result of relief of pressure on the consumer device, below the prescribed pressure value, the magneto inductor 26 presses the valve piston 16 back downward and the control process may begin again. The maximum output pressure which may be reached, also designated as pressure stage, is established by the magnetic force. One possible method of output pressure protection at the directly controlled piston valve from appliance connection A to tank connection T is executed as follows. If the pressure at the appliance connection A increases beyond the prescribed pressure, the valve piston is displaced upward with the magneto inductor 26 until the connection of appliance connection A to the tank connection T is opened. The pressure on the appliance connection A is consequently limited. In the event of interruption of the control current, the valve piston 16 is moved upward by the pressure on connection A and the reset spring 32 . As a result, the appliance connection A is again connected to the tank connection T and the pressure on the appliance connection A drops to the tank pressure level. The proportional pressure control valve used for this purpose is characterized by poor stability, in particular when low-viscosity media are employed. In theory, harmful vibrations of the valve around the area of the valve seat 14 are possible. To counteract this harmful vibrational behavior, as is to be seen in FIGS. 2 to 4 , the valve of the present invention has a hydraulic damping device 34 . To the extent that the conventional valve elements described above are also used in the valve of the present invention, such valve elements are identified by the same reference number. The same description also applies to such valve elements in the disclosed embodiment of the present invention as well. Such elements are explained only to the extent that the embodiment of the present invention differs from that of the conventional valve previously described. The damping device 34 is provided with a damping space 36 communicating with the appliance connection A by a throttle 38 so as to conduct fluid, and being filled with fluid. Optionally, the pump connection P or the tank connection tank connection T communicates with the appliance connection A through a connecting line 40 , as a function of the position of the valve piston 16 . In the switching position illustrated in FIG. 2, the pump connection P is separated from the appliance connection A. However, pump connection P communicates at least to some extent with the tank connection T by way of the valve piston 16 . The throttle 38 is in the form of a ring disk 42 , as is shown in greater detail in FIGS. 3 and 4. The ring disk 42 impedes flow of fluid in both fluid directions between damping space 36 and appliance connection A by a throttle point 44 . The throttle point 44 results from the ring disk 42 having a clearance of about 55 to 70 μm relative to the intake opening 46 in the valve housing 10 . The ring disk 42 is otherwise sealed off from the appliance connection A. The throttle point could also be in the form of a through opening 47 , preferably in the center of the of the ring disk 42 . For production engineering reasons alone, manufacture of the mounting between ring disk 42 and intake opening 46 of the valve body 10 is simpler to accomplish and so more cost effective. As seen especially from FIGS. 3 and 4, the ring disk 42 has on its inner side facing the damping space 36 a grooved connecting channel 48 . The connecting channel 48 may be produced cost effectively, if, in manufacture of the ring disk 42 , a through opening later forming the semicircular ring channel as connecting channel 48 is made before tapping of the turned component involved. The connecting channel 48 discharges outward on both sides of the ring disk 42 . For the purpose of use of the valve illustrated in FIG. 2, recesses 50 are made in the external circumference on the valve housing 10 , to be received in a suitable valve recess 12 (not shown). The recesses receive sealing means, especially sealing rings, to ensure sealing of the interior of the valve from the environment. The ring disk 42 is hinge-connected or connected at various points 49 to the valve housing 10 . The fluid-conducting annular gap is interrupted at the hinge connecting points 49 , and by frontal mounting of the ring disk 42 on the interior of the valve housing 10 in the form of the intake opening 46 . For the purpose of reliable hinge connection and dependable retention of the ring disk 42 inside the valve housing 10 , hinge connecting points are provided at angles of 90°. At this point, the intake opening 46 narrows at various locations and the cylindrical valve receptacle 52 , which faces the appliance connection or consumer connection A on the free end of the valve, is correspondingly narrowed at these locations. Up to the four points of application, however, flow of fluid between the appliance connection A and the damping space 36 is not impeded. Since the ring disk 42 rests frontally against the valve housing, subsequent flow of fluid into the damping space 36 takes place through the connecting channel 48 , which both discharges into the damping space 36 and is connected so as to conduct fluid by way of its frontal surfaces to the throttling ring gap. As is also to be seen from FIG. 2, the connecting line 40 is mounted to extend in part parallel to the direction of travel of the valve piston 16 inside the valve housing 10 . The piston optionally communicates with the tank connection T or the pump connection P. The connecting line 40 extending parallel to the direction of displacement of the valve piston 16 inside the valve housing discharges at one of its free ends into the appliance connection A. At its other free end, line 40 discharges into a tie line 56 which discharges into the annular recess 54 in every displacement position of the valve piston 16 . The tie line 56 is sealed off from the outside by a sealing ball 58 . Like the pump connection P, the tank connection T is mounted transversely to the longitudinal direction of the valve piston 16 . A pressure equalization line 60 discharges at one end into tank connection T. The other free end of pressure equalization line 60 discharges into a pressure space 62 penetrated by the actuating component 28 of the magneto inductor 26 . In this area, magneto inductor 26 comes to rest against the valve piston 16 . The tank connection T and the pump connection P are separated from each other for fluid conduction or communication by a central valve piston component 64 having the annular recess 54 . Depending on the state of the system, and thus depending on the displaced position of the valve piston 16 and of the central valve piston component 64 , a fluid conducting connection or fluid communication is established between the appliance connection A and the tank connection T or between the appliance connection A and the pump connection P. Covering of the annular recess 54 with the pertinent connection P or T is effected for the fluid-conducting connection in question. Connections P and T otherwise discharge into a ringshaped narrowing 66 inside the valve piston 16 . These connections are separated by the central valve piston component 64 . Other piston components 68 each have conventional sealing means to seal the pertinent narrowing 66 in both directions. For the sake of better understanding of the valve of the present invention, this valve will now be discussed in greater detail on the basis of the function of the valve. When the valve or control piston 16 is displaced in the positive, X, direction, that is, toward the ring disk 42 , by the magnetic force of the magnetic system 20 , the volume of fluid present inside the damping space 36 is forced from this point in the direction of the appliance connection A, through the throttle 38 in the form of an annular gap 38 between valve housing 10 and ring disk 42 . This flow volume displaced through the ring gap generates a local pressure buildup. A damping force on the effective pressure surface of the piston 16 may be detected. A force directed against the displacing force of the valve piston 16 then exerts a damping effect over the entire axis of the valve. On any return of the valve piston 16 in the opposite, negative, X direction, this volume of fluid must now flow back again into the now expanding damping space 36 through the ring gap defined as throttle 38 . This flow again exerts an inhibiting effect on the valve piston 16 . On the basis of this inhibiting effect produced by the throttle 38 , a pressure control valve marked by high stability toward steady-state vibrations is thus developed at low cost by simple and cost-effective production engineering means, since inhibition of valve piston movement is created by the throttle 38 and the damping space 36 . Since instability conditions associated with the valve may be counteracted in this way, breakdowns during operation are prevented. The damping space 36 is a component of a central channel extending along the longitudinal axis of the valve housing 10 . The damping space 36 is bounded on one of its sides by one piston component 68 and on the other side by the throttle 38 . Both the throttle 38 and the damping space 36 are adjacent to the appliance connection A on the free, frontal, end of the valve housing 10 . In addition, the free end of the connecting line 40 , which extends parallel to the central channel, discharges into the open at the frontal termination or end of the valve housing 10 . An especially compact structure is thus achieved for the valve, one which performs its function with only one throttle point. In addition, the damping is equalized directly as a result of the effect exerted on the frontal, free, end of the lower piston component 68 . The damping space 36 is additionally characterized by the fact that this space, except for the throttle 38 , is more or less closed, in particular by way of the sealing device of piston components 68 in the direction of the narrowing 66 toward the pump connection P. While one embodiment has been chosen to illustrate the invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
A valve, especially a pressure control valve, includes a housing ( 10 ) with a pump connection (P), an appliance connection (A) and a tank connection (T). A piston ( 16 ) controlled by a magnet armature ( 26 ) is guided inside the housing ( 10 ) of the valve. The vavle is provided with a hydraulic damping device ( 34 ) having a damping chamber ( 36 ) in fluid communication with appliance connection (A) through a throttle ( 38 ). The pump connection (P) or the tank connection (T) is selectively joined to the appliance connection (A) via a connecting line ( 40 ) according to the position of the piston ( 16 ). This valve improves upon known control valves so that the control valve remains stable in terms of behavior, especially with regard to permanent oscilliations.
8
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to feedback control systems. In one particular aspect, the invention relates to individual cylinder air/fuel ratio feedback control systems for internal combustion engines. In a typical fuel injected internal combustion engine, electronically actuated fuel injectors inject fuel into the intake manifold where it is mixed with air for induction into the engine cylinders. During open loop operation, inducted air flow is measured and a corresponding amount of fuel is injected such that the intake air/fuel ratio is near a desired value. Air/fuel ratio feedback control systems are also known for controlling the average air/fuel ratio among the cylinders. In a typical system, an exhaust gas oxygen sensor is positioned in the engine exhaust for providing a rough indication of actual air/fuel ratio. These sensors are usually switching sensors which switch between lean and rich operation. The conventional air/fuel ratio control system corrects the open loop fuel calculation in response to the exhaust gas oxygen content for maintaining the average air/fuel ratios among the cylinders around a reference value. Typically, the reference value is chosen to be within the operating window of a three-way catalytic converter (NO x , CO, and HC) for maximizing converter efficiency. A problem with the conventional air/fuel ratio control system is that only the average air/fuel ratio among cylinders is controlled. There may be variations in the air/fuel ratio of each cylinder even though the average of all cylinders is corrected to be a desired value. Variations in fuel injector tolerances, component aging, engine thermodynamics, air/fuel mixing through the intake manifold, and variations in fluid flow into each cylinder may cause maldistribution of air/fuel ratio among each cylinder. This maldistribution results in less than optimal performance. Further, air/fuel ratio variations may cause rapid switching, referred to as buzzing, and saturation of the EGO sensor. One approach to regulating air/fuel ratio on an individual cylinder basis is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,300 issued to Hosoka et al. In this approach, small variations in a two-state switching EGO sensor are measured to, allegedly, determine fluctuations in individual cylinder air/fuel characteristics. In response to this measurement, the appropriate injector is regulated. The inventors herein contend that, at best, it is difficult to measure such small variations in the EGO output, and such measurement would have a poor signal/noise ratio. Further, the typical EGO sensor is easily saturated such that the needed signal variations may not be available. The inventors herein have recognized that maldistribution of air/fuel ratio among the cylinders results in periodic, time variant, fluctuations in the EGO sensor output. For example, if one cylinder is offset in a rich direction, the EGO signal would periodically show a rich perturbation during a time associated with combustion in that cylinder. Accordingly, conventional feedback control techniques, which require nonperiodic inputs, are not amenable to individual cylinder air/fuel ratio control. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the invention herein is to provide a sampled control system for maintaining the air/fuel ratio of each cylinder at substantially a desired air/fuel ratio. The above problems and disadvantages are overcome, and object achieved, by providing both a control system and a method for correcting air/fuel ratios for each of N cylinders via an oxygen sensor positioned in the exhaust of an internal combustion engine. In one particular aspect of the invention, the method comprises the steps of: sampling the sensor once each period associated with a combustion event in one of the cylinders to generate N periodic output signals; storing each of the N periodic output signals; concurrently reading each of the N periodic output signals from the storage once each output period to define N nonperiodic correction signals each being related to the air/fuel ratio of a corresponding cylinder wherein the output period is defined as a predetermined number of engine revolutions required for each of the cylinders to have a single combustion event; and correcting a mixture of air and fuel supplied to each of the cylinders in response to each of the correction signals. By utilizing the sampling and reading steps described above, an advantage is obtained of converting a periodic, time variant, sensor output into a nonperiodic, time invariant, signal. Thus, conventional feedback control techniques may be used to advantage for obtaining individual cylinder air/fuel ratio control which was not heretofore possible. In another aspect of the invention, the method comprises the steps of: providing a correction signal in response to the oxygen sensor related to an offset in average air/fuel ratio among all the cylinders; correcting a reference air/fuel ratio signal in response to the correction signal; generating a single desired fuel charge for delivery to each of the cylinders to provide a desired average air/fuel ratio among all the cylinders; sampling the oxygen sensor once each period associated with a combustion event in one of the cylinders to generate N periodic output signals; storing each of the N periodic output signals; concurrently reading each of the N periodic output signals from the storage once each output period to define N nonperiodic correction signals each being related to the air/fuel ratio of a corresponding cylinder wherein the output period is defined as a predetermined number of engine revolutions required for each of the cylinders to have a single combustion event; and correcting the desired fuel charge to generate a separate corrected fuel charge for each of the cylinders in response to each of the correction signals thereby providing a desired air/fuel ratio for each of the cylinders. An advantage of the above aspect of the invention is that the average air/fuel ratio among the cylinders is corrected on an individual cylinder basis by utilizing known feedback control techniques. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The objects and advantages described herein will be more fully understood by reading the Description of the Preferred Embodiment with reference to the drawings wherein: FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system wherein the invention is utilized to advantage; FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of various process steps performed by the embodiment shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a graphical representation of signal sampling described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2; FIG. 4A is a graphical representation of various control signals generated by the embodiment shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 4B is a graphical representation of the effect the control signals illustrated in FIG. 4A have on air/fuel ratio; and FIG. 5 is an alternate embodiment to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, in general terms which are described in greater detail later herein, internal combustion engine 12 is shown coupled to fuel controller 14, average air/fuel controller 16, and individual cylinder air/fuel controller 18. In this particular example which is referred to as a preferred embodiment, engine 12 is a 4-cycle, 4-cylinder internal combustion engine having intake manifold 22 with electronically actuated fuel injectors 31, 32, 33, and 34 coupled thereto in proximity to respective combustion cylinders 41, 42, 43, and 44 (not shown). This type of fuel injection system is commonly referred to as port injection. Air intake 58, having mass air flow meter 60 and throttle plate 62 coupled thereto, is shown communicating with intake manifold 22. Fuel rail 48 is shown connected to fuel injectors 31, 32, 33, and 34 for supplying pressurized fuel from a conventional fuel tank and fuel pump (not shown). Fuel injectors 31, 32, 33, and 34 are electronically actuated by respective signals pw 1 , pw 2 , pw 3 , and pw 4 from fuel controller 14 for supplying fuel to respective cylinders 41, 42, 43, and 44 in proportion to the pulse width of signals pw 1-4 . Exhaust gas oxygen sensor (EGO) 70, a conventional 2-state EGO sensor in this example, provides via filter 74 an ego signal related to the average air/fuel ratio among cylinders 41-44. When the average air/fuel ratio among cylinders 41-44 rises above a reference value, EGO sensor 70 switches to a high output. Similarly, when the average air/fuel ratio among cylinders 41-44 falls below a reference value, EGO sensor 70 switches to a low output. This reference value is typically correlated with an air/fuel ratio of 14.7 lbs air per 1 lb of fuel and is referred to herein as stoichiometry. The operating window of 3-way catalytic converter 76 is centered at stoichiometry for maximizing the amounts of NO x , CO, and HC emissions to be removed. As described in greater detail later herein, average air/fuel controller 16 provides fuel demand signal fd in response to mass air flow (MAF) signal from mass air flow meter 60 and the feedback ego signal from EGO sensor 70. Fuel demand signal fd is provided such that fuel injectors 31-34 will collectively deliver the demanded amount of fuel for achieving an average air/fuel ratio among the cylinders of 14.7 lbs air/lb fuel in this particular example. Individual cylinder air/fuel controller 18 provides trim signals t 1 , t 2 , t 3 , and t 4 in response to the feedback ego signal and other system state variables such as engine speed (RPM) and engine load or throttle angle (TA). Trim signals t 1-4 provide corrections to fuel demand signal fd for achieving the desired air/fuel ratio for each individual cylinder. In this particular example, trim signals t 1-4 correct fuel demand signal fd via respective summers 80, 82, 84, and 86 for providing corrected fuel demand signals fd 1 , fd 2 , fd 3 , and fd 4 . Fuel controller 14 then provides electronic signals pw 1-4 , each having a pulse width related to respective fd 1-4 signals, such that injectors 31-34 provide a fuel amount for achieving the desired air/fuel ratio in each individual cylinder. Continuing with FIG. 1, and process steps 100, 102 and 104 shown in FIG. 2, the structure and operation of average air/fuel controller 16 is now described in more detail. Average air/fuel controller 16 includes conventional feedback controller 90, a proportional integral feedback controller in this example, and multiplier 92. In a conventional manner, feedback controller 90 generates corrective factor lambda (λ) by multiplying the ego signal by a gain factor (G 1 ) and integrating as shown by step 100. Correction factor λ is therefore related to the deviation in average air/fuel ratio among cylinders 1-4 from the reference air/fuel ratio. Multiplier 92 multiplies the inverse of the reference or desired air/fuel ratio times the MAF signal to achieve a reference fuel charge. This value is then offset by correction factor λ from feedback controller 90 to generate desired fuel charge signal fd. It is noted that average air/fuel ratio control is limited to maintaining the average air/fuel ratio among the cylinders near a reference value. The air/fuel ratio will most likely vary among each cylinder due to such factors as fuel injector tolerances and wear, engine thermodynamics, variations in air/fuel mixing through intake manifold 22, and variations in cylinder compression and intake flow. These variations in individual cylinder air/fuel ratios result in less than optimal performance. Further, a cylinder having an offset air/fuel ratio leads to periodic excursions in exhaust gas oxygen content possibly resulting in periodic saturation of EGO sensor 76 and also rapid oscillations in average air/fuel ratio (see FIG. 4 between times T 0 and T 5 ). Individual cylinder air/fuel controller 18 solves these problems as described below. Referring back to FIG. 1, individual cylinder air/fuel controller 18 is shown including demultiplexer 108, synchronizer 110, observer 112, controller 114, and timing circuit 116. In general, demultiplexer 108 and synchronizer 110 convert the time varying, periodic output of the ego signal into time invariant, sampled signals suitable for processing in a conventional feedback controller. Stated another way, the ego signal is time variant or periodic because variations in individual air/fuel ratios of the cylinders result in periodic fluctuations of the exhaust output. These periodic variations are not amenable to feedback control by conventional techniques. Demultiplexer 108 and synchronizer 110 convert the ego signal into four individual signals (S 1 , S 2 , S 3 , and S 4 ) which are time invariant or nonperiodic. Observer 112 correlates information from signals S 1-4 to the previous combustion event for each cylinder. The operation of individual cylinder air/fuel controller 18 is now described in more detail with continuing reference to FIG. 1, reference to the process step shown in FIG. 2, reference to the graphical representation of the ego signal shown in FIG. 3, and reference to the graphical representation of controller 18 output shown with its effect on overall air/fuel ratio in FIGS. 4A and 4B. Demultiplexer 108 includes a conventional A/D converter (not shown) sampled every 720/N°, for a four stroke engine, where N=the number of engine cylinders. In the case of a 2-cycle engine, the sample rate (i) is 360/N°. For the example presented herein, N=4 such that the sample rate (i) is 180°. Referring to steps 120, 122 124 and 126, the ego signal is sampled at a sample rate (i) of 180° until four samples (S 1-4 ) are taken (i.e. 720°). Each sample is stored in a separate storage location. Referring for illustrative purposes to FIG. 3, an expanded view of the ego signal is shown. Samples S 1-4 are shown taken every 180° for a 720° output period associated with one engine cycle. During a subsequent engine cycle, another four samples (S 1-4 ) are taken. It is also shown in this example that the sampled values of the ego signal are limited to an upper threshold associated with lean operation (1 volt in this example) and a lower threshold associated with rich operation (minus one volt in this example). This 2-state sample information has been found to be adequate for achieving individual air/fuel ratio control. Referring to synchronizer 110 shown in FIG. 1, and step 128 in FIG. 2, all four samples (S 1-4 ) are simultaneously read from storage each output period of 720°. Accordingly, on each 720° output period, four simultaneous samples are read which are now time invariant or nonperiodic sampled signals. In response to each sampled signal (S 1-4 ), and also in response to engine speed (RPM) and engine load (TA) signals, observer 112 predicts the air/fuel ratio conditions in the corresponding cylinder utilizing conventional techniques. For example, at a particular engine speed and load, a combustion event in one cylinder will effect the ego signal a predetermined time afterwards. Controller 114, a proportional integral controller operating at a sample rate of 720° in this example, then generates four trim values t 1 , t 2 , t 3 , and t 4 as shown by step 130 in FIG. 2. Each trim value is then added to, or subtracted from, fuel demand signal fd in respective summers 80, 82, 84, and 86 to generate respective individual fuel demand signals fd 1 , fd 2 , fd 3 , and fd 4 as shown by step 132. In response, fuel controller 14 provides corresponding pulse width signals pw 1-4 for actuating respective fuel injectors 31-34. The affect of individual cylinder air/fuel feedback controller 18 is shown graphically in FIGS. 4A and 4B. For the particular example shown therein, cylinder one is running lean, and cylinders three and four are running rich. The corresponding air/fuel ratio is shown rapidly switching under control of average air/fuel controller 16 before time T 5 for reasons described previously herein. By time T 5 individual cylinder air/fuel controller 18 fully generates trim signals t 1-4 such that each individual cylinder is operating near the reference air/fuel ratio. The corresponding average air/fuel ratio is therefore shown entering a desired switching mode after time T 5 . Any switching excursions shown are inherent to a proportional integral feedback control and are within limits of EGO sensor 70. An alternate embodiment in which the invention is used to advantage is shown in FIG. 5 wherein like numerals refer to like parts shown in FIG. 1. The structure shown in FIG. 5 is substantially similar to that shown in FIG. 1 with the exception that trim signals t 1-4 are multiplexed in multiplexer 140' and, accordingly, only one summer (80') is needed. Since fuel delivery to each cylinder is sequenced in 180° increments, trim signals t 1-4 are serially provided to summer 80' for modifying fuel demand signal fd. In this manner, fuel demand signal fd is trimmed in a time sequence corresponding to fuel delivery for the cylinder being controlled. Other than this multiplexing scheme, the operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 is substantially the same as the operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. This concludes the Description of the Preferred Embodiment. The reading of it by those skilled in the art will bring to mind many alterations and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the invention described herein is equally applicable to 2-stroke engines. It may also be used to advantage with engines having any number of cylinders and fuel injection systems different from those described herein. A banked fuel injection system wherein groups or banks of fuel injectors are simultaneously fired is an example of another type of fuel injection system in which the invention may be used to advantage. Accordingly, it is intended that the scope of the invention be limited only by the following claims.
An air/fuel ratio control system and method for correcting the air/fuel ratio for each of N cylinders in an internal combustion engine having electronically actuated fuel injectors coupled to each cylinder. A first air/fuel controller provides a desired fuel command for maintaining an average air/fuel ratio among the cylinders in response to an exhaust gas oxygen sensor and a measurement of inducted air flow. A second air/fuel controller generates N trim signals by sampling the exhaust gas oxygen sensor once each combustion period, synchronizing the samples to generate N nonperiodic samples, correlating the samples with the corresponding combustion event and integrating. The fuel command to each fuel injector is then trimmed for operating each cylinder at a desired air/fuel ratio.
5
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The invention relates to a flexible printed circuit board (FPC) for liquid crystal display (LCD) module, more particularly to a FPC with an extensible element for LCD module. It can be used in the different LCD modules to achieve the purpose of simplifying manufacturing process because the extensible element can be extended when it is applied a force. [0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art [0004] While the science and technology evolved frequently, the display technology and the monitor played a very important role in the development process of the information technology. The portable devices and the display panel incorporated into each electric apparatus or meter, such as the computer, television, mobile phone, BP, and PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), provided large information in our daily life and work. Especially, the LCD (liquid crystal display), which has many advantages such as the low power consumption, low radiation, slim body and better display quality, becomes the main product in the plain display market. [0005] As illustrated in FIG. 1 , a LCD module 10 , which uses the LED (Light Emitting Diode) as the light source, comprises a LCD panel 110 , a LED back light source 120 , a light source connecting FPC (flexible printed circuit board) 130 , a panel connecting FPC 140 , a connector 150 and a PCB (print circuit board) 160 . The light source connecting FPC 130 connects the panel connecting FPC 140 via the connector 150 . However, in consideration of the reliability and the thickness, another method to connect the light source connecting FPC 130 and the panel connecting FPC 140 on the PCB 160 is achieved by a bonding or a soldering process, so as to spare the space for the connector 150 . Please refer to FIG. 2 , the light source connecting FPC 130 and the panel connecting FPC 140 is mounted on the PCB 160 by the bonding or soldering process. One end of the light source connecting FPC 130 is connected with the back light source 120 and one end of the panel connecting FPC 140 is connected with the LCD panel 110 , and the other ends of the both should be positioned and exactly connected to the PCB 160 by proper tools (not shown in FIG. 2 ). Then, the light source connecting FPC 130 and the panel connecting FPC 140 are turned over to the reverse side of the LED back light source 120 . Due to the different radiuses of these two FPCs, it is resulted in one protruding length (L′) on the light source connecting FPC 130 other than the panel connecting FPC 140 as illustrated in FIG. 2 . The circuit on the light source connecting FPC 130 can supply the power to the LED back light source 120 , and the circuit on the panel connecting FPC 140 can transmit signal to control the LCD panel 110 . The above back light source 120 uses the LED as the light source. In fact, the light source for the back light source 120 can also be CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp) or other similar luminous components. [0006] Because a FPC has flexibility and can be curved to a predetermined shape without damaging itself and the circuit thereon, it is used to serves as the light source connecting FPC 130 and the panel connecting FPC 140 . Please refer to FIG. 3 , three FPCs 310 , 320 , 330 in different size but with same circuit layout are shown for being applied to different types of LCD modules 31 , 32 , 33 . One end of the FPC 310 / 320 / 330 is connected to a LCD panel 312 / 322 / 332 and the other end of the FPC 310 / 320 / 330 is soldered to a pad 314 / 324 / 334 on the PCB (not shown in FIG. 3 ). It increases the complication of preparing the material and the space of storing the FPC. Sometimes, the shape of the FPC must be redesign once the position of the pad on the PCB is changed. As illustrated in FIG. 4 , the shape of a FPC 410 is redesign to the shape of a FPC 420 , there being same circuit layout thereon, in order to be applied to the condition that the position of the pad on the PCB is changed. It not only spends time but also wastes resource to design different FPC shapes for different LCD modules. Therefor, we need a FPC with same circuit layout to be directly applied to different LCD modules. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0007] In light of the state of the art described above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a FPC with an extensible element applicable to different LCD modules by extending the FPC to a predetermined length when a force is applied thereon. The FPC is flexible subject to its elasticity by utilizing the extensible element, and it is easy and cheap to implement this invention. [0008] It is another object of this invention to provide a FPC with an extensible element that can be applied to different LCD modules, wherein the FPC and the extensible element can be manufactured in a single (all-in-one) process. [0009] It is a further object of this invention to provide a FPC with an extensible element that can be applied to different LCD modules. After the FPC is turned over, its length will be shortened, due to the shorter distance and the elastic force between two ends thereof, to reduce the protruding length. [0010] In view of the above and other objects which will become apparent as the description proceeds, there is provided according to a general aspect of the present invention a flexible printed circuit board (FPC) for liquid crystal display (LCD) module that comprises a first end connected to a LCD panel, a second end connected to a printed circuit board (PCB), a circuit on said FPC connecting electrically said LCD panel and said PCB, and an extensible element that could extend to a first length when a force is applied thereon. [0011] Base on the idea described above, said extensible element and said FPC are manufactured in a single (all-in-one) process. [0012] Base on the aforementioned idea, said extensible element extends to said first length in a longitudinal direction upon a force applied thereon. [0013] Base on the idea described above, said extensible element extends to said first length in a laterally direction upon a force applied thereon. [0014] Base on the aforementioned idea, the shape of the cross section view of said extensible element is one selected from the group consisting of embossing, saw-tooth and arc. [0015] Base on the idea described above, the shape of the cross section view of said extensible element is composed of at least two ones selected from the group consisting of embossing, saw-tooth and arc. [0016] Base on the aforementioned idea, the shape of the cross section view of said extensible element is continuous. [0017] Base on the idea described above, the material of said FPC is one selected from the group consisting of Polymer and Polyester. [0018] Base on the aforementioned idea, said extensible element is located in a straightaway portion of said FPC so as to extend to said first length in a longitudinal direction. [0019] Base on the idea described above, wherein said extensible element is located in an oblique portion of said FPC so as to extend to said first length in a laterally direction. [0020] In view of the above and other objects which will become apparent as the description proceeds, there is provided according to a general aspect of the present invention a flexible printed circuit board (FPC) with an extensible element that extends to a first length upon a force applied thereon. [0021] Base on the idea described above, said extensible element and said FPC are manufactured in a single (all-in-one) process. [0022] Base on the aforementioned idea, said extensible element extends to said first length in a longitudinal direction upon a force applied thereon. [0023] Base on the idea described above, said extensible element extends to said first length in a laterally direction upon a force applied thereon. [0024] Base on the aforementioned idea, the shape of the cross section view of said extensible element is one selected from the group consisting of embossing, saw-tooth and arc. [0025] Base on the idea described above, the shape of the cross section view of said extensible element is composed of at least two ones selected from the group consisting of embossing, saw-tooth and arc. [0026] Base on the aforementioned idea, the shape of the cross section view of said extensible element is continuous. [0027] Base on the idea described above, the material of said FPC is one selected from the group consisting of Polymer and Polyester. [0028] Base on the aforementioned idea, said extensible element is located in a straightaway portion of said FPC so as to extend to said first length in a longitudinal direction. [0029] Base on the idea described above, wherein said extensible element is located in an oblique portion of said FPC so as to extend to said first length in a laterally direction. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0030] The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: [0031] FIG. 1 illustrates a view of a conventional LCD module using a connector to connect the light source connecting FPC and the panel connecting FPC on the PCB; [0032] FIG. 2 illustrates a view of a conventional LCD module to connect the light source connecting FPC and the panel connecting FPC on the PCB by a bonding or soldering process; [0033] FIG. 3 illustrates three FPCs in different size but with same circuit layout for being applied to different types of LCD modules; [0034] FIG. 4 illustrates a shape of the FPC that must be redesigned once for the position of a pad on the PCB is changed; [0035] FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate a top view and a side view of the FPC according to a first embodiment of this invention respectively, wherein the FPC is not forced yet; [0036] FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate a top view and a side view of the FPC according to the first embodiment of this invention respectively, wherein the FPC extends to a predetermined length upon a force applied on one end thereof; [0037] FIG. 7A illustrates a top view of the FPC according to a second embodiment of this invention, wherein the FPC is not forced yet; [0038] FIG. 7B illustrates a top view of the FPC according to the second embodiment of this invention, wherein the FPC extends to a predetermined length upon a force applied on one end thereof; [0039] FIG. 8A illustrates a top view of the FPC according to a third embodiment of this invention, wherein the FPC is not forced yet; [0040] FIG. 8B illustrates a top view of the FPC according to the third embodiment of this invention, wherein the FPC extends to a predetermined length upon a force applied on one end thereof; [0041] FIG. 9A illustrates a top view of the FPC according to a fourth embodiment of this invention, wherein the FPC is not adjusted to a predetermined shape yet; [0042] FIG. 9B illustrates a top view of the FPC according to the fourth embodiment of this invention, wherein the FPC is adjusted to the predetermined shape; and [0043] FIG. 10 illustrates a cross section view of another extensible element of the FPC according to another embodiment of this invention. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT [0044] Some illustrated embodiments of the present invention will now be described in greater detail. Nevertheless, it should be recognized that the present invention can be practiced in a wide range of other embodiments besides those explicitly described, and the scope of the present invention is expressly not limited except as specified in the accompanying claims. [0045] The material of FPC is Polymer or Polyester. Such board has flexibility, and can be curved to a predetermined shape without damaging itself and the circuit thereon. Hence, the basic concept of this invention is to design a portion of the FPC as an extensible element so as to fit different sizes of LCD modules. An FPC 50 according to a first embodiment of this invention is illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B . FIG. 5A shows a top view of the FPC 50 and FIG. 5B shows a side view of the FPC 50 . An extensible element 52 provided in the FPC 50 according to this embodiment presents a shape of an embossing and/or a saw-tooth. When one end of the FPC 50 is fixed and the other end of the FPC 50 is pulled by a force F 1 (pulling force), the FPC 50 can be extended to a predetermined length without damaging itself and the circuit thereon. The top view and the side view of the FPC 50 under an extended situation are illustrated in FIGS. 6A and 6B . Its longitudinal length is changed from an unextended length A to an extended length B (B>A). Therefore, the FPC 50 provided with the extensible element 52 can be applied to any the LCD modules that need a longitudinal length between A and B so as to achieve the purpose of applying a single FPC to different LCD modules and the demand of simplifying producing procedures. The extensible element 52 of the PFC 50 can be formed by adding a hot-press step, which does not destroy the circuit layout thereon, in the manufacturing process of the PFC. [0046] An FPC 70 according to a second embodiment of this invention is illustrated in FIGS. 7A and 7B . FIG. 7A shows a top view of the FPC 70 that is not forced yet and FIG. 7B shows a top view of the FPC 70 that has been forced. An extensible element 72 provided in the FPC 70 is located in an oblique portion of the FPC 70 according to this embodiment of the present invention. When one end of the FPC 70 is fixed and the other end of the FPC 70 is pulled by a force F 2 (pulling force), the FPC 70 can be extended to a predetermined length without damaging itself and the circuit thereon. Its lateral length is changed from an unextended length C to an extended length D (D>C). Therefore, the FPC 70 with extensive element 72 can be applied to any LCD modules that need a lateral length between C and D and thus achieves the purpose of applying a single FPC to different LCD modules and the demand of simplifying producing procedures. [0047] Besides, two or more extensible elements can be formed in a single FPC. An FPC 80 according to a third embodiment of this invention is illustrated in FIGS. 8A and 8B . FIG. 8A shows a top view of the FPC 80 that is not forced yet and FIG. 8B shows a top view of the FPC 80 that is forced. An extensible element 82 is located in an oblique portion of the FPC 80 and an extensible element 84 is located in a straightaway portion of the FPC 80 according to this embodiment of the present invention. When one end of the FPC 80 is fixed and the other end of the FPC 80 is pulled by a force F 3 (pulling force), the FPC 80 can extends to a predetermined length without damaging itself and the circuit thereon. Not only its longitudinal length is changed from an unextended length E to an extended length F (F>E), but also its lateral length is changed from an unextended length G to an extended length H (H>G). Therefore, the FPC 80 provided with the extensible elements 82 , 84 can be applied to any LCD modules that need longitudinal length between E and F and lateral length between G and H simultaneously. [0048] An FPC 90 according to a fourth embodiment of this invention is illustrated in FIGS. 9A and 9B . FIG. 9A shows a top view of the FPC 90 that is not adjusted to a predetermined shape yet and FIG. 9B shows a top view of the FPC 90 that is adjusted to a predetermined shape. Extensible elements 92 , 94 are located in oblique portions of the FPC 90 according to this embodiment of the present invention. We can adjust two ends of the FPC 90 laterally with a movement of a distance I without damaging itself and the circuit thereon. Therefore, the FPC 90 with the extensible elements 92 , 94 can be applied to a condition that the position of the pad in the LCD module is changed. [0049] Although only the extensible elements having an embossing and/or saw-tooth shape are shown in the above FIGs, any extensible elements with any geometric shapes, which can be flexible in any special directions, fall in the scope of this invention. For example, please refer to FIG. 10 , an extensible element in an arc shape is also available for this invention. Certainly, subject to the actual need, such shape (e.g. embossing, saw-tooth, and arc) can be designed as several continuous or non-continuous parts or a combination thereof. [0050] In accordance with the above concept, we can design the FPC in the shorter length, which can be extended to a predetermined length without damaging itself and the circuit thereon when it is connected on the PCB for bonding or soldering. After the FPC is turned over, the length of such board is shorter than the predetermined length due to the shorter distance and the elastic force between two ends thereof. Because the two ends thereof are fixed, the protruding length of the FPC can be reduced so as to spare the space. [0051] This invention provides a FPC with an extensible element that can be applied to different LCD modules without increasing complication of preparing the material and the space of storing the FPC. The FPC is flexible subject to its elasticity by utilizing the extensible element, and it is easy and cheap to implement this invention. Besides, this invention can not only be applied to the LCD module, but also any product which uses a FPC. [0052] Although the specific embodiments have been illustrated and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made without departing from what is intended to be limited solely by the appended claims.
A flexible printed circuit board (FPC) with an extensible element for liquid crystal display (LCD) module is provided, wherein the extensible element can extend when it is forced. It can be used for different LCD modules to achieve the purpose of simplifying manufacturing process.
7
RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/482,441, filed Aug. 13, 2004, which is the U.S. National Stage of International Application No. PCT/GB02/03029, filed on Jul. 1, 2002, published in English, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/302,717, filed on Jul. 3, 2001. The entire teachings of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Synthetic oligonucleotides are important diagnostic tools for the detection of genetic and viral diseases. In addition, oligonucleotides and modified oligonucleotides are of interest as therapeutic candidates that inhibit gene expression or protein function. Large scale synthesis of oligonucleotides for use as therapeutic candidates has become increasingly important since FDA approval of an oligonucleotide analog for the treatment of cytomegalovirus (CMV), and several other oligonucleotide analogs are currently in clinical trials. Kilogram quantities of a purified oligonucleotide analog are needed for each clinical trial. [0003] Preparation of an oligonucleotide using phosphoramidite methodology involves condensation of a nucleoside phosphoramidite and a nucleoside or a nascent oligonucleotide. The condensation reaction (also referred to herein as the coupling reaction) requires an activator (alternatively known as a coupling agent) which facilitates the reaction. The most commonly used activator is the nucleophilic activator 1H-tetrazole. However, 1H-tetrazole is explosive and, therefore, can be hazardous to use in large scale syntheses. [0004] 1H-tetrazole is a weak acid which protonates the trivalent phosphorus of the phosphoramidite during the first step of activation. A tetrazolide anion then displaces the dialkylamine group (e.g., N,N-diisopropyl amine) of the phosphoramidite during a second slower step to form a tetrazolyl intermediate which then reacts rapidly with the 5′-primary alcohol group of a nucleoside or a nascent oligonucleotide. When sterically hindered phosphoramidites, such as t-butyl-dimethylsilyl protected ribonucleoside phosphoramidites or 2′-O-methylnucleoside phosphoramidites, are used for oligonucleotide synthesis alternative activators are often needed to increase the rate of the coupling reaction. Alternative activators, such as 5-ethylthio-1H-tetrazole, 5-(p-nitrophenyl)-1H-tetrazole, and benzimidazolium triflate, are often more acidic than tetrazole and, thus, accelerate the rate of protonation of the trivalent phosphorous thereby increasing the rate of condensation. [0005] However, since tetrazole, 5-ethylthio-1H-tetrazole, 5-(p-nitrophenyl)-1H-tetrazole, and benzimidazolium triflate are acidic, they can cause premature deprotection of the 5′-hydroxy protecting group of a phosphoramidite monomer which is typically an acid labile group. Premature deprotection can produce oligonucleotide impurities that are one base longer than the desired product (referred to herein as “N+1 impurities”) and are difficult to separate from the desired product. The longer coupling times generally necessary for RNA synthesis and large scale synthesis result in an increase in premature deprotection of phosphoramidites. [0006] Therefore, non-explosive activators that promote condensation of a nucleoside phosphoramidite with a nucleoside or a nascent oligonucleotide and which may be employed without increasing side products are needed in order to make oligonucleotides more readily available for diagnostic and therapeutic use. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0007] It has been discovered that a 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one will promote condensation of a nucleoside phosphoramidite and nucleoside monomer or a nascent oligonucleotide. The 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one can be represented by Structural Formula I: [0000] [0000] In Structural Formula I, p is 0 or an integer from 1 to 4. R for each occurrence is a substituent, preferably each independently, a halo, a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic group, —NR11R12, —OR13, —OC(O)R13, —C(O)OR13, cyano, a substituted or unsubstituted aryl, a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclyl, —CHO, —COR13, —NHCOR13, a substituted or unsubstituted aralkyl, halogenated alkyl (e.g., trifluoromethyl and trichloromethyl), or —SR13. Preferably, R is halo, a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic group, —NR11R12, —OR13, —OC(O)R13, —C(O)OR13, or cyano. Alternatively, two adjacent R groups taken together with the carbon atoms to which they are attached form a six membered saturated or unsaturated ring. Preferably, the six membered ring formed is an aromatic ring. R11 and R12 are each, independently, —H, a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic group, a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, a substituted or unsubstituted aralkyl group; or together with the nitrogen to which they are attached form a heterocyclyl group. R13 is a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic group, a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, or a substituted or unsubstituted aralkyl group. X7 is O or S. Preferably, X7 is O. It is particularly preferred that X7 is O and p is 0. [0008] In a preferred embodiment, a salt complex of the 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one and an organic base can be used to efficiently promote condensation of a nucleoside phosphoramidite and nucleoside monomer or a nascent oligonucleotide. Thus, one embodiment of the invention is a salt complex of the 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one represented by Structural Formula I and an organic base. [0009] In the presence of an organic base, 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one has good solubility particularly in organic solvents that are typically used for oligonucleotide synthesis. Therefore, another embodiment of the invention is an activator solution that includes an organic solvent, an organic base and a 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one represented by Structural Formula I. The concentration of the 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one and the organic base in the activator solution can be up to the solubility of the 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1,6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one in the solvent concerned. In a preferred embodiment, the 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one and the organic base are present in a concentration range of about 0.01 M to about 2M, for example from about 0.05M to about 0.5M. Commonly, the 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1,6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one and the organic base are present at a concentration of up to 0.25M, such as from about 0.1M to about 0.25M. In a more preferred embodiment, the 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one and the organic base are present in the same molar concentration. In a preferred embodiment, the organic solvent comprises acetonitrile. In another preferred embodiment, the organic solvent comprises an organic amide, such as dimethylformamide, 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone or 1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone. [0010] In another embodiment, an oligonucleotide can be synthesized using phosphoramidite chemistry in which the coupling agent is a 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1,6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one represented by Structural Formula I. The coupling agent promotes condensation between a nucleoside or a nascent oligonucleotide having a free hydroxy or thiol group and a phosphoramidite. In a preferred embodiment, an organic base is present with the 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one during the coupling reaction. In a more preferred embodiment, the organic base is present in the same molar concentration as the 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one. [0011] The nucleoside phosphoramidite can be a monomer or an oligomer, such as a dimer or a trimer. When the nucleoside phosphoramidite is a monomer it can be represented by represented by Structural Formula IIa: [0000] [0000] In Structural Formula IIa, X1 for each occurrence is, independently, —O— or —S—. Preferably, X1 is —O— at every occurrence. X2 for each occurrence is, independently, —O—, —S—, or —NR—. Preferably, X2 is —O— at every occurrence. X3 for each occurrence is, independently, —O—, —S—, —CH2-, or —(CH2)2-. Preferably, X3 is —O— at every occurrence. In a more preferred embodiment, X1, X2, and X3 are all —O— at every occurrence. R1 is an alcohol protecting group or a thio protecting group. Preferably, R1 is an acid labile protecting group. R2 for each occurrence is, independently, —H, —F —OR6, —NR7R8, —SR9, or a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic group, such as methyl or allyl. R3 for each occurrence is, independently, —OCH2CH2CN, —SCH2CH2CN, a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic group, —OR10, —SR10, —O—CH2CH2-Si(CH3)2C6H5, —O—CH2CH2-S(O)2-CH2CH3, —O—CH2CH2-C6H4-NO2, —S—CH2CH2-Si(CH3)2C6H5, —S—CH2CH2-S(O)2-CH2CH3, or —S—CH2CH2-C6H4-NO2. R4 and R5 are each, independently, a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic group, a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, a substituted or unsubstituted aralkyl. Alternatively, R4 and R5 taken together with the nitrogen to which they are bound form a heterocyclyl group. R6 for each occurrence is, independently, —H, a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic group (e.g., methyl, ethyl, methoxyethyl or allyl), a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, a substituted or unsubstituted aralkyl, an alcohol protecting group, or —(CH2)q-NR18R19. R7 and R8 for each occurrence are each, independently, —H, a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic group, or an amine protecting group. Alternatively, R7 and R8 taken together with the nitrogen to which they are attached are a heterocyclyl group. R9 for each occurrence is, independently, —H, a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic group, or a thio protecting group. R10 is for each occurrence is, independently, a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic group, a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group or a substituted or unsubstituted aralkyl group. R18 and R19 are each, independently, —H, a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, a substituted or unsubstituted heteroaryl group, a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic group, a substituted or unsubstituted aralkyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted heteroaralkyl group or an amine protecting group. Alternatively, R18 and R19 taken together with the nitrogen to which they are attached form a heterocyclyl group. q is an integer from 1 to about 6. B is —H, a natural or unnatural nucleobase, protected nucleobase, protected natural or unnatural nucleobase, heterocycle or a protected heterocycle. [0012] In another embodiment, the phosphoramidite can be an oligomer, such as a dimer or trimer. Methods of preparing and utilizing nucleoside phosphoramidite dimers and trimers in phosphoramidite synthesis of oligonucleotides are disclosed in International Patent Application No. PCT/GB01/03973, the entire teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference. [0013] The sugar moiety of the nucleoside phosphoramidite can have either a D configuration, as in naturally occurring DNA and RNA and as in Structural Formula Ia, or it can have an L configuration. Structural Formula IIb represents an L-nucleoside phosphoramidite: [0000] [0000] In Structural Formula IIb, X1, X2, X3, R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, and B are as defined above. [0014] In another embodiment, the phosphoramidite group of the nucleoside phosphoramidite can be attached to the 5′-position of the sugar ring. In this embodiment, the nucleoside phosphoramidite can be represented by Structural Formulae IIIa and IIIb: [0000] [0000] In Structural Formulas IIIa and IIIb, X1, X2, X3, R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, and B are as defined above. [0015] In another embodiment, the 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one can be used to promote condensation of a nascent n-mer oligonucleotide (i.e., an oligonucleotide having n nucleobases) and a nucleoside phosphoramidite to form an (n+1)-mer oligonucleotide. Preferably, the nucleoside phosphoramidite can be represented by Structural Formula Ia. The nascent oligonucleotide can be represented by Structural Formula IV: [0000] [0000] In Structural Formula IV, X1, X2, X3, R2, R3, and B are as defined above. Each X4 for each occurrence is, independently, O or S. X5 for each occurrence is, independently, —OH or —SH. Preferably, X5 is —OH. R16 is a hydroxy protecting group, a thio protecting group, an amino protecting group, —(CH2)q-NR18R19, a solid support, or a cleavable linker attached to a solid support, such as a group of the formula —Y2-L-Y2-R15. Y2 for each occurrence is, independently, a single bond, —C(O)—, —C(O)NR17-, —C(O)O—, —NR17- or —O—. L is a linker which is preferably a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic group or a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic group. More preferably, L is an ethylene group. R17 is —H, a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic group or a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic group. R15 is any solid support suitable for solid phase oligonucleotide synthesis known to those skilled in the art. Examples of suitable solid supports include controlled-pore glass, polystyrene, microporous polyamide, such as poly(dimethylacrylamide), and polystyrene coated with polyethylene. In many embodiments, R16 represents a cleavable linker, such as a succinyl or oxaloyl linker, attached to a solid support. n is zero or a positive integer. [0016] The nascent oligonucleotide is contacted with the phosphoramidite and a 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one represented by Structural Formula I. [0017] In a preferred embodiment, an organic base is also present when the nascent oligonucleotide is contacted with the 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one. More preferably, the organic base is present in the same molar concentration as the 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one. The nascent oligonucleotide trivalent phosphorous linkage represented by Structural Formula V: [0000] [0000] In Structural Formula V, X1, X2, X3, X4, R1, R2, R3, R16, B and n are defined as above. [0018] The oligonucleotide represented by Structural Formula V can then be contacted with an oxidizing agent or a sulfurizing agent to form an oligonucleotide having a pentavalent phosphorous backbone represented by Structural Formula VI: [0000] [0019] In Structural Formula VI, X1, X2, X3, X4, R1, R2, R3, R16, B and n are defined as above. [0020] After oxidizing or sulfurizing the (n+1) oligonucleotide, X5 groups which did not react with the phosphoramidite can be capped by conventional capping techniques known in the art. For example, the unreacted X5 groups can be reacted with an acid chloride or an anhydride in the presence of a base. Typically, X5 groups are capped with acetyl chloride or acetic anhydride in pyridine. [0021] After the oxidation or sulfurization step or after the capping step, the (n+1) oligonucleotide can be deprotected by reacting it with a reagent to remove R1. If R1 is an acid labile protecting group, the (n+1) oligonucleotide is treated with an acid to remove R1. If R1 is a trialkylsilyl group, such as t-butyldimethylsilyl group or a triisopropylsilyl group, the (n+1) oligonucleotide can be treated with fluoride ions to remove R1. Typically, t-butyldimethylsilyl and a triisopropylsilyl are removed by treatment with a solution of tetrabutylammonium fluoride in THF or with hydrogen fluoride and a conjugate base, such as (C2H5)3N.3HF. Methods for removing t-butyldimethylsilyl can be found in Greene, et al., Protective Groups in Organic Synthesis (1991), John Wiley & Sons, Inc., pages 77-83, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. The above reaction steps, or reaction cycle, can be repeated one or more times to form an oligonucleotide of the desired length. When it is desired to obtain an oligonucleotide product in which the 5′-end group is protected, the final step of the reaction cycle can be the capping step, if a capping step is done, or the final step of the reaction can be an oxidation or sulfurization step if a capping step is not done. When the oxidation or sulfurization step or the capping step is the final step, the oligonucleotide can be represented by Structural Formula VII: [0000] [0000] In Structural Formula VII, X1, X2, X3, X4, R1, R2, R3, R16, and B are defined as above. m is an integer. [0022] Alternatively, the final step of the reaction cycle can be removal of R1 if it is desired to obtain an oligonucleotide which does not have a 5′-protecting group. When removal of R1 is the final reaction step, the oligonucleotide can be represented by Structural Formula VIII: [0000] [0000] In Structural Formula VIII, X1, X2, X3, X4, X5, R1, R2, R3, R16, B and m are defined as above. [0023] Oligonucleotides produced by the method of the present invention can be deprotected, and as appropriate cleaved from a solid support, using methods known in the art for the given protecting groups and/or solid support. [0024] 1,1-Dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-ones in the presence of an organic base promote phosphoramidite condensation reactions with at least equal efficiency as tetrazole. However, fewer undesirable side products are produced when a 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one is used instead of tetrazole. In addition, the complexes of the invention are non-explosive and therefore, safer to use than tetrazole particularly in large scale synthesis of oligonucleotides. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0025] Aliphatic groups, as used herein, include straight chained or branched C1-C18 hydrocarbons which are completely saturated or which contain one or more unconjugated double bonds, or cyclic C3-C18 hydrocarbons which are completely saturated or which contain one or more unconjugated double bonds. Alkyl groups are straight chained or branched C1-C8 hydrocarbons or C3-C8 cyclic hydrocarbons which are completely saturated. Aliphatic groups are preferably alkyl groups. [0026] Aryl groups include carbocyclic aromatic ring systems (e.g., phenyl) and carbocyclic aromatic ring systems fused to one or more carbocyclic aromatic (e.g., naphthyl and anthracenyl) or an aromatic ring system fused to one or more non-aromatic ring (e.g., 1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthyl). [0027] Heterocyclic groups, as used herein, include heteroaryl groups and heteroalicyclyl groups. Heteroaryl groups, as used herein, include aromatic ring systems that have one or more heteroatoms selected from sulfur, nitrogen or oxygen in the aromatic ring. Preferably, heteroaryl groups are five or six membered ring systems having from one to four heteroatoms. A heteroalicyclyl group, as used herein, is a non-aromatic ring system that preferably has five to six atoms and includes at least one heteroatom selected from nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur. Examples of heterocyclic groups include morpholinyl, piperidinyl, piperazinyl, thiomorpholinyl, pyrrolidinyl, thiazolidinyl, tetrahydrothienyl, azetidinyl, tetrahydrofuryl, dioxanyl and dioxepanyl thienyl, pyridyl, thiadiazolyl, oxadiazolyl, indazolyl, furans, pyrroles, imidazoles, pyrazoles, triazoles, pyrimidines, pyrazines, thiazoles, isoxazoles, isothiazoles, tetrazoles, oxadiazoles, benzo[b]thienyl, benzimidazole, indole, tetrahydroindole, azaindole, indazole, quinoline, imidazopyridine, purine, pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidine, and pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine. [0028] Azaheterocyclyl compounds, as used herein, include heteroaryl groups which have one or more nitrogen atom in the aromatic ring and heteroalicyclyl groups that have at least one nitrogen atom in the non-aromatic ring system. Preferably, azaheteroaryl compounds have five- or six-membered aromatic rings with from one to three nitrogens in the aromatic ring. Preferably, azaheteroalicyclyl compounds are five- or six-membered rings, commonly comprising one or two nitrogens in the ring. Preferred azaheterocyclyl compounds are organic bases. Examples of azaheterocyclyl compounds that are organic bases include pyrimidines, 1-alkylpyrazoles, especially 1-(C1-4 alkyl)pyrazoles, 1-arylpyrazoles, 1-benzylpyrazoles, pyrazines, N-alkylpurines, especially N—(C1-4 alkyl)purines, N-arylpurines, N-benzylpurines, N-alkylpyrroles, especially N—(C1-4 alkyl)pyrroles, N-arylpyrroles, N-benzylpyrroles, pyridines, N-alkylimidazoles, especially N—(C1-4 alkyl)imidazoles, N-arylimidazoles, especially N-phenylimidazole, N-benzylimidazoles, quinolines, isoquinolines, quinoxalines, quinazolines, N-alkylindoles, especially N—(C1-4 alkyl)indoles, N-arylindoles, N-benzylindoles, N-alkylbenzimidazoles especially N—(C1-4 alkyl)benzimidazoles, N-arylbenzimidazoles, N-benzylbenzimidazoles, triazine, thiazole, 1-alkyl-7-azaindoles, especially 1-(C1-4 alkyl-7-azaindoles, 1-aryl-7-azaindoles, 1-benzyl-7-azaindoles, pyrrolidines, morpholines, piperidines, and piperazines. Especially preferred azaheterocyclyl compounds are pyridines, such as pyridine and 3-methylpyridine, and N—(C1-4 alkyl) imidazoles, such as N-methylimidazole. [0029] An aralkyl group, as used herein, is an aromatic substituent that is linked to a moiety by an alkyl group. Preferred aralkyl groups include benzyl groups. [0030] A heteroaralkyl group, as used herein, is a heteroaryl substituent that is linked to a moiety by an alkyl group. [0031] An organic base is an organic compound that has a tendency to accept protons at pH 7. Preferred organic bases are secondary amines, tertiary amines or azaheterocyclyl compounds, each of which may be substituted or unsubstituted by one or more substituents. An aprotic organic base is an organic base that has no hydrogen bonding protons in its chemical structure before accepting a proton. Aprotic organic bases such as tertiary amines and aprotic azaheterocyclyl compounds are preferably used in conjunction with 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-ones, as described herein, to promote condensation reactions. [0032] Tertiary amines are organic bases that have a nitrogen atom which is bonded to three carbon atoms, often to three aryl, commonly phenyl, and/or alkyl groups, commonly to three alkyl groups, including for example trialkylamines such as trimethylamine, triethylamine, and diisopropylethylamine. In addition, tertiary amines can be azaheterocyclyl groups wherein the nitrogen atom is aprotic. Tertiary amines that are azaheterocyclyl groups are preferred. Examples of azaheterocyclyl tertiary amines are N-alkylpyrrolidines, N-arylpyrrolidines, N-alkylpyrroles, N-arylpyrroles, N-alkylmorpholines, N-arylmorpholines, N-alkylpiperidines, N-arylpiperidines, N,N-dialkylpiperazines, N,N-diarylpiperazines, N-alkyl-N-aryl-piperazines, quinuclidines, and 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-enes. Tertiary amines can also be azaheteroaryl or azaheteroalicyclyl compounds. [0033] Secondary amines are organic bases comprising a nitrogen bonded to a single hydrogen and to two carbon atoms. Commonly the nitrogen atom is bonded to two alkyl or aryl groups or forms part of an azaheterocyclic group. Examples of secondary amine compounds include diethylamine and diisopropylamine. [0034] Suitable substituents for aliphatic groups, aryl groups, aralkyl groups, heteroaryl groups, azaheteroaryl groups and heteroalicyclyl groups include aryl groups, halogenated aryl groups, alkyl groups, halogenated alkyl (e.g. trifluoromethyl and trichloromethyl), aliphatic ethers, aromatic ethers, benzyl, substituted benzyl, halogens, particularly chloro and fluoro groups, cyano, nitro, —S-(aliphatic or substituted aliphatic group), and —S-(aromatic or substituted aromatic). [0035] Amine, hydroxy and thiol protecting groups are known to those skilled in the art. For examples of amine protecting groups see Greene, et al., Protective Groups in Organic Synthesis (1991), John Wiley & Sons, Inc., pages 309-405, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Preferably, amines are protected as amides or carbamates. For examples of hydroxy protecting groups see Id., pages 10-142, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. A preferred hydroxy protecting group is t-butyldimethylsilyl group. For examples of thiol protecting groups see Id., pages 277-308, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. [0036] An acid labile protecting group is a protecting group which can be removed by contacting the group with a Bronsted or a Lewis acid. Acid labile protecting groups are known to those skilled in the art. Examples of common acid labile protecting groups include substituted or unsubstituted trityl groups (Id., pages 60-62), substituted or unsubstituted tetrahydropyranyl groups (Id., pages 31-34), substituted or unsubstituted tetrahydrofuranyl groups (Id., pages 36-37) or pixyl groups (Id., page 65). Trityl groups are commonly substituted by electron donating substituents such as alkoxy groups. A preferred acid labile protecting group is a substituted or unsubstituted trityl, for example 4,4′-dimethoxytrityl (hereinafter “DMT”). [0037] Nucleoside bases include naturally occurring bases, such as adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine, and uricil and modified bases such as 7-deazaguanine, 7-deaza-8-azaguanine, 5-propynylcytosine, 5-propynyluricil, 7-deazaadenine, 7-deaza-8-azaadenine, 7-deaza-6-oxopurine, 6-oxopurine, 3-deazaadenosine, 2-oxo-5-methylpyrimidine, 2-oxo-4-methylthio-5-methylpyrimidine, 2-thiocarbonyl-4-oxo-5-methylpyrimidine, 4-oxo-5-methylpyrimidine, 2-amino-purine, 5-fluorouricil, 2,6-diaminopurine, 8-aminopurine, 4-triazolo-5-methylthymine, and 4-triazolo-5-methyluricil. [0038] A protected nucleoside base is a nucleoside base in which reactive functional groups of the base are protected. Similarly, a protected heterocycle is a heterocycle in which reactive substitutents of the heterocycle are protected. Typically, nucleoside bases or heterocycles have amine groups which can be protected with an amine protecting group, such as an amide or a carbamate. For example, the amine groups of adenine and cytosine are typically protected with benzoyl protecting groups, and the amine groups of guanine is typically protected with an isobutyryl group, an acetyl group or t-butylphenoxyacetyl group. However, other protection schemes may be used. For example, for fast deprotection, the amine groups of adenine and guanine are protected with phenoxyacetyl groups and the amine group of cytosine is protected with an isobutyryl group or an acetyl group. Conditions for removal of the nucleobase or heterocycle protecting group will depend on the protecting group used. When an amide protecting group is used, it can be removed by treating the oligonucleotide with a base solution, such as a concentrated ammonium hydroxide solution, n-methylamine solution or a solution of t-butylamine in ammonium hydroxide. [0039] The term “oligonucleotide,” as used herein, includes naturally occurring oligonucleotides, for example 2′-deoxyribonucleic acids (hereinafter “DNA”) and ribonucleic acids (hereinafter “RNA”) and nucleic acids containing modified sugar moieties, modified phosphate moieties, or modified nucleobases. Modification to the sugar moiety includes replacing the ribose ring with a hexose, cyclopentyl or cyclohexyl ring. Alternatively, the D-ribose ring of a naturally occurring nucleic acid can be replaced with an L-ribose ring or the b-anomer of a naturally occurring nucleic acid can be replaced with the a-anomer. The oligonucleotide may also comprise one or more abasic moieties. Modified phosphate moieties include phosphorothioates, phosphorodithioates, methyl phosphonates, methyl phosphates, and phosphoramidates. Such nucleic acid analogs are known to those of skill in the art. Oligonuceotides comprising mixtures of two or more of the foregoing may be prepared, for example, oligonuceotides comprising mixtures of deoxyribo- and ribonucleosides, particularly mixtures of deoxyribonucleosides and 2′-O-substituted ribonucelosides, such as 2′-O-methyl or 2′-O-methoxyethyl ribonucleosides. Examples of oligonucleotides comprising mixtures of nucleosides include ribozymes. [0040] A chimeric oligonucleotide is an oligonucleotide that has both phosphodiester and phosphorothioate linkages. [0041] A synthetic oligonucleotide preferably has from 2 to about 100 nucleobases. More preferably, a synthetic oligonucleotide has 2 to about 75 nucleobases. Many synthetic oligonucleotides of current therapeutic interest comprise from 8 to 40 nucleobases. [0042] The synthesis of the oligonucleotide can be done in solution or on a solid support. When the synthesis is in solution, R16 is an alcohol, amine or thiol protecting group. After synthesis of the oligonucleotide the alcohol, amine or thiol protecting group can be removed. When the oligonucleotide is synthesized on a solid support, R16 represents a solid support or preferably a cleavable linker attached to a solid support, such as a group of formula —Y2-L-Y2-R15. In general, the solution phase synthesis or the solid phase synthesis of oligonucleotides using a 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one compound instead of tetrazole to promote condensation of a nascent oligonucleotide and a phosphoramidite monomer is carried out similar to method which have been developed for synthesis of oligonucleotides using tetrazole as an activator. Examples of typical conditions for solution phase synthesis and solid phase synthesis oligonucleotides using a 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one compound to promote the condensation reaction are set forth below. [0043] The first step of preparing the oligonucleotide involves coupling a nucleoside phosphoramidite, such as the phosphoramidite represented by Structural Formula IIa, with a nucleoside or nascent oligonucleotide that has a free hydroxy or thiol group, such as a 5-deprotected nucleoside or nascent oligonucleotide represented by Structural Formula IV. During the coupling reaction, the hydroxy or thiol group of the nucleoside or nascent oligonucleotide reacts with the nucleoside phosphoramidite by displacing the —NR4R5 group. When the synthesis is done in solution, the nucleoside or nascent oligonucleotide is often present in a concentration of about 0.001 M to about 1.0 M, and preferably the nucleoside or nascent oligonucleotide is present in a concentration of about 0.025 M to about 0.5 M. The nucleoside phosphoramidite is preferably present in a concentration of about 1.1 equivalents to about 2 equivalents with respect to the nucleoside or nascent oligonucleotide. From about 0.5 equivalents, often from about 2.5 equivalents, to about 5.0 equivalents, with respect to the nucleoside or nascent oligonucleotide, of a 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one is added to promote the condensation reaction. Preferably, the 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one is added as a salt complex with an organic base, such as a pyridinium salt, a 3-picolinium salt or an N-methylimidazolium salt. The reaction time is commonly about 20 min. to about 60 min., and an (n+1) nascent oligonucleotide with a terminal trivalent phosphorous linkage is formed, such as the nascent oligonucleotide represented by Structural Formula V. [0044] A second step of preparing an oligonucleotide involves oxidizing or sulfurizing the terminal trivalent phosphorous group of the nascent oligonucleotide. In a solution phase synthesis, the oxidation reaction is often carried out by treating the oligonucleotide with an oxidizing agent such as 12 in the presence of water or a peroxide such as t-butyl hydrogen peroxide in an organic solvent. When 12 and water are used, the oxidizing solution typically contains about 1.1 to about 1.8 equivalents of 12 in the presence of a base and a trace amount of water. The reaction is carried out in an aprotic polar solvent, such as THF, combined with a base, such as a tertiary alkylamine and about 1% water. The ratio of aprotic solvent to base is about 4:1 (vol./vol.) to about 1:4 (vol./vol.). After about 5 min. to about 20 min., the reaction mixture is poured into an aqueous solution of sodium bisulfite to quench the excess iodine, then extracted into an organic solvent. [0045] Alternatively, the terminal trivalent phosphorous group can be sulfurized using any sulfur transfer reagent known to those skilled in the art of oligonucleotide synthesis. Examples of sulfur transfer reagents include 3H-benzodithiol-3-one 1,1-dioxide (also called “Beaucage reagent”), dibenzoyl tetrasulfide, phenylacetyl disulfide, N,N,N′,N′-tetraethylthiuram disulfide, elemental sulfur, and 3-amino-[1,2,4]dithiazole-5-thione (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,096,881, the entire teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference). Reaction conditions for sulfurization of an oligonucleotide using the above reagents can be found in Beaucage, et al., Tetrahedron (1993), 49:6123, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 3-Amino-[1,2,4]dithiazole-5-thione is a preferred sulfur transfer reagent. Generally, an oligonucleotide is contacted with a solution of 3-amino-[1,2,4]dithiazole-5-thione in an organic solvent, such pyridine/acetonitrile (1:9) mixture or pyridine, having a concentration of about 0.05 M to about 0.2 M. The sulfurization reaction is commonly complete in about 30 sec. to about 2 min. [0046] After oxidation or sulfurization of the oligonucleotide, any unreacted free hydroxy or thiol groups can be capped so that they cannot react in subsequent coupling steps. Capping failure sequences allows them to be more readily separated from full length oligonucleotide product. Any reagent which will react with a hydroxy or thiol group and prevent it from reacting with a phosphoramidite can be used as a capping reagent. Typically, an anhydride, such as acetic anhydride or isobutyric anhydride, or an acid chloride, such as acetyl chloride or isobutyryl chloride, in the presence of a base is used as a capping reagent. [0047] After the capping reaction is complete, the R1 protecting group is removed. When R1 is an acid labile protecting group, R1 is removed by treating the oligonucleotide with an acid. Preferably, R1 is a trityl group, such as 4,4′-dimethoxytrityl. When the R1 is a trityl group, it can be removed by treating the oligonucleotide with a solution of dichloroacetic acid or trichloroacetic acid in an organic solvent, such as dichloromethane or toluene. Once the R1 protecting group has been removed, the reaction cycle (i.e., coupling step, oxidation or sulfurization step, capping step (optional) and deprotection step) optionally can be repeated one or more times to obtain an oligonucleotide of the desired length. [0048] A chimeric oligonucleotide can be prepared by oxidizing the terminal trivalent phosphorous group in one or more reaction cycles and sulfurizing the terminal trivalent phosphorous group in one or more different reaction cycles. Alternatively, a chimeric oligonucleotide can be prepared by selecting phosphoramidite monomers in which some of the R3 groups are protected hydroxyl groups, such as —OCH2CH2CN, and some of the R3 groups are protected thiol groups, such as —SCH2CH2CN. In this method, the oligonucleotide is oxidized after the coupling step in each reaction cycle. [0049] When it is desired to obtain an oligonucleotide product in which the R1 group remains, the final step of the reaction cycle can be the capping step, if a capping step is done, or the final step of the reaction can be an oxidation or sulfurization step if a capping step is not done. If an R1 deprotected oligonucleotide is desired, the reaction cycle can end with the deprotection step. Usually, an R1 protected oligonucleotide is the desired product if the oligonucleotide is to be purified by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). If the oligonucleotide is to be purified by ion-exchange chromatography or electophoresis, an R1 deprotected oligonucleotide is usually the desired product. [0050] The solid phase synthesis of an oligonucleotide using a 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one and, preferably, an organic base to promote condensation of a nucleoside phosphoramidite with a support bound nucleoside or nascent oligonucleotide having a free hydroxy group of thiol group generally utilizes the same reaction cycle and reagents as the solution phase synthesis. Commonly, the nucleoside is first loaded on the solid support to the maximum suitable for the particular resin used. For example, loading can be about 50 μmole to about 700 μmole per gram of support. [0051] In the condensation step, a solution of nucleoside phosphoramidite, typically having a concentration of about 0.01 M to about 1 M, preferably about 0.1 M, in an organic solvent, such as acetonitrile, is reacted with the support bound nucleoside to form a nascent oligonucleotide having a terminal trivalent phosphorous linkage. If a nucleoside phosphoramidite represented by either Structural Formula Ia or IIb is used, the nascent oligonucleotide will have a 5′-terminal trivalent phosphorous linkage after completion of the coupling reaction. If a nucleoside phosphoramidite represented by either Structural Formula IIIa or IIIb is used, the nascent oligonucleotide will have a 3′-terminal trivalent phosphorous linkage after completion of the coupling reaction. Preferably, the nucleoside phosphoramidites used can be represented by Structural Formula Ia. A solution of the 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one having a concentration of about 0.015M to about 1.5 M, often from about 0.05M to about 0.5M, preferably from 0.1 to 0.25M, is usually mixed with the solution containing the phosphoramidite monomer just prior to or during the condensation reaction. Preferably, an organic base is also present in the solution at a concentration of about 0.015M to about 1.5 M, often from about 0.05M to about 0.5M, preferably from 0.1 to 0.25M. Preferably, the organic base is present in the same molar concentration as the 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one. The 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one may be employed at a mole ratio to nucleoside phosphoramidite which is catalytic, that is sub-stoichiometric, or at a mole ratio which is stoichiometric or greater than stoichiometric. In many embodiments, the mole ratio of 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one to nucleoside phosphoramidite is in the range of from about 0.2:1 to 5:1, often from 0.25:1 to 4:1, preferably from about 0.3:1 to 2:1, for example about 1:1. Then the support bound 5′-deprotected nucleoside is contacted with the mixture for about 2 min. to about 10 min., preferably about 5 min. [0052] If the terminal trivalent phosphorous linkage is to be oxidized after the coupling reaction is complete, the solid support containing the nascent oligonucleotide is contacted with an oxidizing agent such as a mixture of 12 and water or a peroxide such as t-butyl hydroperoxide in an organic solvent such as acetonitrile or toluene. A mixture of 12 and H2O is a preferred oxidizing reagent. When a mixture of 12 and water is used other water miscible organic solvents can also be present. Typically, the solid support bound oligonucleotide containing trivalent phosphorous internucleotide linkages can be contacted with a solution of 12 in a solvent mixture of water, an aprotic, water miscible solvent, and a base. An example of a typical oxidation solution is about 0.05 M to about 1.5 M 12 in a solution of (2:80:20) water/tetrahydrofuran/lutidine (vol./vol./vol.). The solid support is typically treated with the 12 solution for about 30 seconds to about 1.5 min. [0053] Alternatively, the solid support bound nascent oligonucleotide can be contacted with a solution of a sulfur transfer reagent in an organic solvent to sulfurize the trivalent phosphorous groups. For example, the support bound oligonucleotide can be contacted with a solution of 3-amino-[1,2,4]-dithiazole-5-thione (about 0.05 M-0.2 M) in an organic solvent, such as acetonitrile or pyridine, for about 30 sec. to about 2 min. [0054] In solid phase oligonucleotide synthesis, the solid support bound nascent oligonucleotide optionally can be contacted with a solution of the capping reagent for about 30 sec. to about 1 min. Following the capping step, the deprotection step is accomplished by contacting the support bound oligonucleotide with an acid solution for about 1 min. to about 3 min. The reaction cycle can optionally be repeated one or more times until an oligonucleotide of the desired length is synthesized. As in the solution phase synthesis, an R1 protected oligonucleotide is obtained when the reaction cycle ends with either the capping step or the oxidation or sulfurization step. An R1 deprotected oligonucleotide is obtained when the reaction cycle is ended with the deprotection step. [0055] When the solid phase synthesis is completed, the oligonucleotide can be removed from the solid support by standard methods. Generally, the solid support is treated with a solution of concentrated ammonium hydroxide at 25° C.-60° C. for about 0.5 hours to about 16 hours or longer depending on the oligonucleotide sequence and whether it is desired to remove the nucleobase protecting groups during this step. The oligonucleotides are advantageously purified by methods known in the art, such as one or more of ion-exchange chromatography, reverse phase chromatography, and precipitation from an appropriate solvent. Further processing of the product by for example ultrafiltration may also be employed. [0056] A particularly preferred aspect of the present invention comprises a method for the synthesis of an oligonucleotide comprising coupling a nucleoside phosphoramidite, preferably a nucleoside 3′-phosphoramidite, with a nucleoside or nascent oligonucleotide comprising a free hydroxy group, preferably a free 5′-hydroxy group, in the presence of an activator, wherein the activator comprises a mixture of a 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one and an N-alkylimidazole, preferably N-methylimidazole. [0057] In this particularly preferred embodiment, the phosphoramidite commonly comprises a moiety of formula —P(OCH2CH2CN)N(CH(CH3)2)2. Commonly, in this embodiment, the concentration of each of the 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one and N-alkylimidazole is from 0.1 to 0.25M, and preferably the mole ratio of 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one to N-alkylimidazole is about 1:1 to about 1:1.5:1, most preferably 1:1. In this particularly preferred embodiment, the mole ratio of 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one to phosphoramidite is preferably from 0.5:1 to 2:1. [0058] The present invention is illustrated without limitation by the following Examples. EXAMPLE 1 Preparation a Salt Complex of 1,1-Dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one and Pyridine [0059] 1,1-Dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one was suspended in acetonitrile, and 1.1 eq. of pyridine with respect to the 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one was added dropwise to the suspension. The solution turned clear at the end of the addition, and a salt complex of 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one and pyridine separated out of the solution as a fine crystalline material. The crystals were washed with either ether or hexane to remove traces of pyridine and acetonitrile. 1 H NMR (DMSO) chemical shifts in ppm: 8.8 (2H, s), 8.2 (1H, q), 8.0 (1H, q) and 7.6-7.9 (6H, m). EXAMPLE 2 Preparation a Salt Complex of 1,1-Dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one and 3-Picoline [0060] A salt complex of 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one and 3-picoline was prepare in the same manner as described in Example 1. 1 H NMR (DMSO) chemical shifts in ppm: 8.8 (1H, s), 8.72 (1H, d), 8.27 (1H, d), 8.0 (2H, d), 7.77-7.93 (6H, m) and 2.45 (3H, s). EXAMPLE 3 Preparation a Salt Complex of 1,1-Dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one and N-Methylimidazole [0061] 1,1-Dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one was suspended in acetonitrile, and 1.1 eq. of N-methylimidazole with respect to the 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one was added dropwise to the suspension. The reaction mixture was concentrated under reduced pressure to form the crystalline salt which was washed with either ether or hexane to remove traces of N-methylimidazole and acetonitrile. 1 H NMR (DMSO) chemical shifts in ppm: 13.9 (1H, s), 9.03 (1H, s), 7.59-7.75 (6H, m) and 3.88 (3H, s), EXAMPLE 4 Synthesis of deoxyribo-oligonucleotides using a salt complex of 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one and an organic Base [0062] Synthesis of the oligonucleotide was carried out on DNA synthesizer Oligo Pilot II (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech). The standard phosphoramidite chemistry protocol was followed for the synthesis with slight modifications. The concentration of phosphoramidite monomers was 0.1 M in acetonitrile. The salt complex of 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one and pyridine, 3-picoline or N-methylimidazole was used in place of tetrazole as the activator during the condensation step. The concentration of the salt complex was 0.25 M in acetonitrile. The coupling time used for the chain elongation using the 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one salt complex were similar to coupling times used when tetrazole is activator. After the condensation step, the phosphite triester linkage was converted either to stable phosphate triester with iodine solution or to stable phosphorothioate triester with Beaucage reagent or 3-amino-1,2,4,-dithiazole-5-thione. At the end of the synthesis, solid supports linked with fully protected oligonucleotide were treated with 10% t-butylamine in concentrated ammonium hydroxide for 16-20 hr at 50° C. in order to release the oligonucleotide and to remove the β-cyanoethyl protecting groups and the nucleobase protecting groups. The crude oligonucleotides were analyzed by ion exchange HPLC, capillary electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and were compared to oligonucleotides prepared using tetrazole as the activator. Table 1 describes the conditions used to synthesize phosphorothioate oligonucleotide sequence 5′ TCT-CCC-AGC-GTG-CGC-CAT 3′ (SEQ ID NO 1), and Table 2 describes the results obtained from the various syntheses. The salt complex illustrated in Tables 1 and 2 is 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ6-benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one and N-methylimidazole. [0000] TABLE 1 Synthesis Parameters for synthesis of SEQ ID NO 1. Molar Activator Equiv. of Solid Scale of equiv. of vs. sulfurizing Support synthesis Amidite Amidite agent CPG- 746 Tetrazole 2.0 equ. 4.3 3.2 beads μmole CPG- 737 salt-complex 2.0 equ. 4.0 3.3 beads μmole CPG- 737 salt-complex 1.5 equ. 3.3 3.3 beads μmole Rigid 626 salt-complex 2.0 equ. 4.0 3.8 PS μmole Rigid 600 Tetrazole 2.0 equ. 4.3 4.0 PS μmole [0000] TABLE 2 Analysis and results of SEQ ID NO 1. Total FLP FLP Solid mol equ. OD by by Mol. supports Scale Activator of amidite units CGE HPLC Wt. CPG 746 Tetrazole 2.0 equ. 84504 74% 77% 5688 beads μmol CPG 737 Com Salt 2.0 equ. 82134 77% 79% 5687 beads μmol CPG 737 Com. Salt 1.5 equ. 82320 77% 79% 5689 beads μmol Rigid 626 Com. Salt 2.0 equ. 80712 76% 76% 5686 PS μmol Rigid 600 Tetrazole 2.0 equ. 75006 73% 71% 5687 PS μmol FLP = full length product, CGE = capillary gel electrophoresis, HPLC = Ion exchange HPLC [0063] 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.
A process for the synthesis of oligonucleotides using phosphoramidite chemistry is provided. The process employs as activator a 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ 6 -benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one, preferably in the presence of an organic base. The 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dihydro-1λ 6 -benzo[d]isothiazol-3-one is represented by the following structural formula: wherein p is 0 or an integer from 1 to 4; X7 is O or S; R for each occurrence is a substituent, preferably each independently, a halo, a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic group, —NR11R12, —OR13, —OC(O)R13, —C(O)OR13, or cyano; or two adjacent R groups taken together with the carbon atoms to which they are attached form a six membered saturated or unsaturated ring; R11 and R12 are each, independently, —H, a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic group, a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, or a substituted or unsubstituted aralkyl group; and R13 is a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic group, a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, or a substituted or unsubstituted aralkyl group. Preferred organic bases are pyridine, 3-methylpyridine, or N-methylimidazole.
2
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/495,122, filed Aug. 15, 2003, which is incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to CRC check sum analysis during video data testing procedures. 2. Related Art CRC analysis is used, for example in analysis of video graphics data paths. The CRC analysis records check sums associated with video data fields transmitted in the form of video pixels. Video pixels include signal frame data, such as vertical synchronization pulses, which can be used as boundaries to distinguish one pixel data field from another pixel data field. In performing the check sum analysis, CRC modules are typically used to accumulate and analyze the associated CRC pixel check sums. Traditional bench test set-ups are unable to consistently distinguish one pixel data field from another pixel data field in the absence of complicated software. Therefore, during traditional bench testing, the CRC modules continuously record pixel checksums without strict regard for pixel data field boundaries. Such continuous recording, however, creates inconsistencies within the accumulated check sums because of the CRC module's inability to distinguish the individual data fields. Consequently, the CRC module is unable to associate the accumulated check sums with their respective data fields. Several well known software techniques can be used in more formal test settings to synchronize the timing of the CRC module's activation with the occurrence of pixel data field boundaries. In these more formal test settings, this synchronism facilitates association of individual check sums with their respective data fields based upon data field boundaries defined by, for example, the vertical synchronization pulses. What is needed, therefore, is a technique that can be used during test bench debugging to facilitate synchronization between CRC module activation and the occurrence of synchronization markers. What is also needed is a technique that will enable a user to designate a particular number of data fields for CRC check sum analysis by the CRC module. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Consistent with the principles in the present invention as embodied and broadly described herein, an apparatus for conducting bench testing of data fields includes a memory configured for storing a required number representative of the data fields to be analyzed. Also included is a module, coupled at least indirectly to the memory and configured for (i) receiving an input data stream, (ii) performing cyclic redundancy check (CRC) analysis of the received data stream, and (iii) producing an output representative of an actual number of received data fields analyzed. The input data stream includes synchronization markers defining boundaries of each of the received data fields Next, a comparator is included and configured for (i) comparing the required number and the actual number of received data fields and (ii) producing a disabling signal when the actual number matches the required number. A detector is coupled to the comparator and configured for (i) receiving the input data stream and sensing a presence of the synchronization markers, (ii) receiving the disabling signal, and (iii) disabling the CRC module when the disabling signal is received. Further features and advantages of the present invention, as well as the structure and operation of various embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURES The accompanying drawings, which are embodied in and constitute part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the general description given above and detail description of the embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the invention: FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a software technique for CRC check sum analysis; FIG. 2 is an illustration of video data fields stored during CRC check sum analysis of FIG. 1 ; FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustration of an exemplary CRC check sum analysis device constructed and arranged in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is an illustration of video data fields stored within a memory of the check sum analysis device illustrated in FIG. 3 ; FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of an exemplary method of practicing an embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an exemplary computer system all of which the present invention can be practiced. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The following detailed description of the present invention refers to the accompanying drawings that illustrate exemplary embodiments consistent with this invention. Other embodiments are possible, and modifications may be made to the embodiments within the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the following detailed description is not meant to limit the invention. Rather, the scope of the invention is defined by the impending claims. It would be apparent to one of skill in the art that the present invention, as described below, may be implemented in many different embodiments of hardware, software, firmware, and/or the entities illustrated in the figures. In the actual software code with the controlled hardware to implement the present invention is not limiting of the present invention. Thus the operation and behavior of the present invention will be described with the understanding that modifications and variations of the embodiments are possible, given the level of detail presented herein. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustration of a software technique 100 , used for CRC check sum testing in formal test set-ups. The conventional software technique 100 , for example, can be used during regression testing of video systems. As illustrated in block 102 and during video scanning, for example, a CRC check sum module is enabled by using the software to set up an interrupt routine. As an initial matter, the software technique 100 must first wait for generation of an interrupt as indicated in block 104 using, for example, an interrupt service routine (ISR). Once the interrupt has been generated, the CRC module is enabled and can begin the accumulation of CRC check sums and to set up to receive its next interrupt, as indicated in block 106 . Use of the software routine 100 enables the CRC module to time the interrupts with occurrence of a synchronization marker at desired times or during specific events, such as video blanking. As noted above, synchronization markers, such as vertical synch, distinguish boundaries of one received data field from another received data field. Next, the software routine 100 , after enabling the CRC module to receive the first data field, waits for generation of another interrupt as illustrated in block 108 . Using the technique 100 , or similar techniques, a user can specify a particular number of data fields for collection analysis. The user can also synchronize the timing of the collection process. In the technique 100 , if a sufficient number of data fields has not been collected, the software routine 100 can again enable the CRC to receive an additional data field as illustrated in block 110 . Once the desired field count has been reached, all of the accumulated CRCs are examined, as illustrated in block 112 . Software routines, such as the routine 100 of FIG. 1 , enable a user to provide ISRs to the CRC module in synchronization with an occurrence of vertical synch pulses. The vertical synch pulses indicate the beginning and end of the associated data fields during CRC check sum testing. That is, the CRC module starts to collect data when active video pixels are coming in based upon the occurrence of the vertical synchronization pulse which define the pixel's boundaries. For example, an ISR can be generated to record any number of data fields and, at the same time, disable the CRC module after collection of the last data field for examination of the associated check sum values. Software routines, such as the routine 100 , facilitate a programmable number of data field counts such as 2, 3, 8 or any number, for use with CRC testing. For example, a particular number of data fields can be recorded within the CRC module. Afterwards, the field count can be checked. If the desired number has not been reached, the field count can be incremented by one, and the process is repeated until the desired number has been achieved. Further, these software routines permit specifying data collection not only in terms of field counts, but also in terms of periods of time. In this manner, the software provides the flexibility to record the check sum for any desirable increment during regression testing. During bench testing, however, software routines, such as the routine 100 , are impractical. Instead, during bench testing, testers typically use more flexible and dynamic testing methods, such as register access. Although conventional register access provides testers with a more convenient and more flexible testing technique, the associated check sum values are often inconsistent. The inconsistency results from an inability to precisely time the CRC module enablement with specific boundaries of the data fields. Additionally, register access techniques fail to provide testers with an ability to quickly change and specify the number of data fields to be recorded for the check sum analysis. FIG. 2 is an illustration of data fields stored within a memory of the CRC module during CRC check sum testing associated with the method of FIG. 1 . In FIG. 2 , the CRC module can include, for example, stored pixel data fields 200 . Within the data fields 200 are individual segments 202 , 204 , 206 , and 208 that are representative of data fields 1 through 4 . As shown in FIG. 2 , data field segments 202 and 204 are separated by a synchronization marker 210 . The segments 204 and 206 are separated by a synchronization marker 212 . And the segments 206 and 208 are separated by a synchronization marker 214 . During bench testing, however, CRC module enablement can occur for example at a time 216 , as indicated in FIG. 2 . With enablement occurring at the time 216 , the first interrupt might subsequently occur, for example, at a time 218 . The time 218 , however, occurs during the video data field 202 . The next interrupt might occur at a time 220 , during video data field 204 . A final CRC module interrupt 222 is shown to occur within data field 206 . Since the CRC module interrupts 218 , 220 , and 222 do not occur in synchronism with the synchronization markers 210 , 212 and 214 , conventional bench test debugging will produce inconsistent check sum values because of the indistinguishable data fields A 3 FIG. 3 provides a block diagram illustration 300 of an exemplary CRC checksum system 300 constructed and arranged in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In particular, the CRC checksum system 300 enables bench testers to selectively program a desired field count and provide synchronism between CRC module enablement and an occurrence of synchronization markers. This particular technique eliminates the problems noted above with regard to conventional bench testing. In FIG. 3 , an external memory device 302 , such as a register, is added to a conventional video bench test set up. The register 302 is configured to receive as an input a desired numeric field count value 304 . The field count value 304 enables a user to specifically program the number of field counts desired to perform CRC check sum analysis. During CRC check sum analysis, the desired field count value 304 is loaded into a comparator 306 for comparison with an actual field count value. A CRC module 308 is coupled to the comparator 306 and, at least indirectly, to the register 302 . The CRC module 308 receives as an input a video data stream 310 that includes, among other things, video pixel data and video synchronization markers. A detector 312 is coupled to the CRC module 308 and is structured to sense the video synchronization markers within the video data stream 310 . The detector 312 also receives as an input a CRC enablement bit 314 , which can be provided in real time by a user. During bench testing, when the user provides the CRC enablement bit 314 , an associated synchronization marker, such as the vertical synch pulse, is sensed from the video data stream 310 by the detector 312 . Consequently, an enablement command 316 is sent to the CRC module 308 . The enablement command 316 signals the CRC module 308 to begin accumulating associated CRC check sums. Among other things, the CRC module 308 provides a count of the accumulated data fields as an output along a data path 318 to the comparator 306 . The comparator 306 compares the data field count produced by the CRC module 308 with the desirable field count number 304 provided by the register 302 . When the field count number 304 matches the actual CRC field count from the data path 318 , a disablement command 320 is supplied to the detector 312 for detection of an end-point of the final collected data field. Once the required number of data fields have been accumulated within the CRC module 308 , the check sum values are recorded to another register 324 . This process is illustrated in FIG. 4 . By way of the example illustrated in FIG. 2 , FIG. 4 provides a depiction of operation of the exemplary embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 3 . In FIG. 4 , the data field segments 202 through 208 are loaded into the CRC module 308 . Here, for example, the user specifies a desirable number of field counts, such as two. That is, two data fields will be accumulated and examined for check sum analysis. In this example, the number “2” will be loaded in the register 302 . Next, the user provides the CRC enablement bit 314 of FIG. 3 to initiate collection of checksums by the CRC module 308 . Next, the detector 312 senses a presence of the synchronization marker 210 , and nearly simultaneously, provides a CRC module interrupt 400 to enable the CRC module 308 . The synchronization marker 210 indicates a beginning of the first collected data segment 204 . After the two segments 204 and 206 have been received by the CRC module 308 , the CRC module disablement command 320 is sent to the detector 312 . The detector 312 then senses the synchronization marker 214 , indicating an end of the data field segment 214 and substantially simultaneously disables the CRC module 308 . The CRC module 308 , now having two complete data fields, 204 and 206 collected therein, will load their associated accumulated check sums into the register 324 . The system 300 provides bench testers with a technique to specify the number of data fields that will be examined for checksum analysis. It also provides the bench testers with a mechanism to ensure that the number of checksums that are analyzed are representative of complete data fields. The ability to specify the number of data fields and the ability to collect checksums from complete data fields produces more consistent and reliable bench testing results. This approach, due to its consistent results, can be used to automate the testing or software/hardware QA (Quality-Assurance) for video products, which traditionally require testers to perform visual inspection. FIG. 5 is a flow chart of an exemplary method 500 of practicing the present invention. In FIG. 5 , the CRC analysis system 300 stores a desired number of fields requiring CRC analysis in the register 302 , as illustrated in block 502 . Next, video pixel data 310 is received in the CRC module 308 , as indicated in block 504 . The detector 312 senses the received video pixel data for a presence of synchronization markers, as shown in block 506 . When markers, such as the markers 210 through 214 are detected, the CRC module 308 is enabled in a manner indicated in block 508 . When the required number of video data fields has been collected, the CRC module 308 is disabled, as indicated in block 510 . Finally, the accumulated check sum values are recorded in the register 324 as indicated in block 512 . The present invention provides a function that enables a user to specify a programmable number of field counts for a CRC module to analyze the CRC check sum. It contains one register that specifies a number of fields to be recorded and a bit to enable the CRC analysis. Once CRC analysis has been enabled, the associated hardware will start performing CRC analysis at the next pixel start and continue to record the check sum until the specified number of fields has been analyzed. It terminates check sum analysis at the end of that specified field count. In bench debugging, the present invention enables users to manually program a register to specify the number of fields requiring check sum testing. This technique prevents the need for complicated test software having sophisticated ISRs. It also provides a flexible dynamic mechanism for achieving consistent CRC results during bench test debugging. FIG. 6 provides an illustration of a general purpose computer system and is provided for completeness. As stated above, the present invention can be implemented in hardware, or as a combination of software and hardware. Consequently, the invention may be implemented in the environment of a computer system or other processing system. An example of such a computer system 600 is shown in FIG. 6 . The computer system 600 includes one or more processors, such as a processor 604 . The processor 604 can be a special purpose or a general purpose digital signal processor and it's connected to a communication infrastructure 606 (for example, a bus or network). Various software implementations are described in terms of this exemplary computer system. after reading this description, it will become apparent to a person skilled in the relevant art how to implement the invention using other computer systems and/or computer architectures. The computer system 600 also includes a main memory 608 , preferably random access memory (RAM), and may also include a secondary memory 610 . The secondary memory 610 may include, for example, a hard disk drive 612 and/or a removable storage drive 614 , representing a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, an optical disk drive, etc. The removable storage drive 614 reads from and/or writes to a removable storage unit 618 in a well known manner. The removable storage unit 618 , represents a floppy disk, magnetic tape, optical disk, etc. which is read by and written to by removable storage drive 614 . As will be appreciated, the removable storage unit 618 includes a computer usable storage medium having stored therein computer software and/or data. In alternative implementations, the secondary memory 610 may include other similar means for allowing computer programs or other instructions to be loaded into the computer system 600 . Such means may include, for example, a removable storage unit 622 and an interface 620 . Examples of such means may include a program cartridge and cartridge interface (such as that found in video game devices), a removable memory chip (such as an EPROM, or PROM) and associated socket, and the other removable storage units 622 and the interfaces 620 which allow software and data to be transferred from the removable storage unit 622 to the computer system 600 . The computer system 600 may also include a communications interface 624 . The communications interface 624 allows software and data to be transferred between the computer system 600 and external devices. Examples of the communications interface 624 may include a modem, a network interface (such as an Ethernet card), a communications port, a PCMCIA slot and card, etc. Software and data transferred via the communications interface 624 are in the form of signals 628 which may be electronic, electromagnetic, optical or other signals capable of being received by the communications interface 624 . These signals 628 are provided to the communications interface 624 via a communications path 626 . The communications path 626 carries the signals 628 and may be implemented using wire or cable, fiber optics, a phone line, a cellular phone link, an RF link and other communications channels. In the present application, the terms “computer readable medium” and “computer usable medium” are used to generally refer to media such as the removable storage drive 614 , a hard disk installed in the hard disk drive 612 , and the signals 628 . These computer program products are means for providing software to the computer system 600 . Computer programs (also called computer control logic) are stored in the main memory 608 and/or the secondary memory 610 . Computer programs may also be received via the communications interface 624 . Such computer programs, when executed, enable the computer system 600 to implement the present invention as discussed herein. In particular, the computer programs, when executed, enable the processor 604 to implement the processes of the present invention. Accordingly, such computer programs represent controllers of the computer system 600 . By way of example, in the embodiments of the invention, the processes/methods performed by signal processing blocks of encoders and/or decoders can be performed by computer control logic. Where the invention is implemented using software, the software may be stored in a computer program product and loaded into the computer system 600 using the removable storage drive 614 , the hard drive 612 or the communications interface 624 . The present invention has been described above with the aid of functional building blocks illustrating the performance of specified functions and relationships thereof. The boundaries of these functional building blocks have been arbitrarily defined herein for the convenience of the description. Alternate boundaries can be defined so long as the specified functions and relationships thereof are appropriately performed. Any such alternate boundaries of thus within the scope and spirit of the claimed invention. One skilled in the art would recognize that these functional building blocks can be implemented by analog and/or digital circuits, discreet components, application specific integrated circuits, firmware, processors executing appropriate software and the like or any combination thereof. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any way of the above described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.
Provided is a system and method for performing CRC analysis in a video test bench. An exemplary system includes a memory configured for storing a required number representative of the data fields to be analyzed. A module is coupled at least indirectly to the memory and configured for (i) receiving an input data stream, (ii) performing cyclic redundancy check (CRC) analysis of the received data stream, and (iii) producing an output representative of an actual number of received data fields analyzed. The input data stream includes synchronization markers defining boundaries of each of the received data fields. Next, a comparator is configured for (i) comparing the required number and the actual number and (ii) producing a disabling signal when the actual number matches the required number. A detector is coupled to the comparator and configured for (i) receiving the input data stream and sensing a presence of the synchronization markers, (ii) receiving the disabling signal, and (iii) disabling the CRC module when the disabling signal is received.
6
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention provides a blowout-preventer-stack one-trip test tool and method for the oil-and-gas drilling industry. Drilling for petroleum, especially under water and in deep water, is a very expensive operation, with costs accruing every day whether actual drilling is occurring or not. The cost of suspending drilling operations for required safety testing is immense. The blowout preventer (BOP) or more precisely the blowout preventer stack of several different types of BOPs is a standard and required piece of safety equipment for oil- and-gas drilling. It is located at the wellhead, which, for deep-water drilling, is at the bottom of the sea. It protects against blowouts caused by kicks or bumps of sub-surface pressure rising from the well. The drill string is composed primarily of sections of drill pipe surrounded by a casing. The drill pipe moves into and out of the well as drilling progresses. The casing stays in place after it is initially set. Both the drill pipe and the casing are subject to separately varying levels of sub-surface pressure. Drilling fluid or drilling mud is injected into the drill pipe and separately into the casing at closely monitored pressures to counteract the sub-surface pressure. Blowout preventers serve the purpose of sealing off either the casing or the casing and the drill string of the entire well to prevent sub-surface pressure from overwhelming the counteracting pressure of the drilling mud. Of the various types of blowout preventers in a stack, annulars and fixed and variable rams are designed to seal the casing around the drill pipe while leaving an area to accommodate and not damage the drill pipe. The casing is more susceptible to loss of control of pressure kicks than the drill pipe is, and damage to the drill pipe can cause delays or even complete loss of a well. Blind and shear rams, however, are designed to completely seal off the entire casing, and will damage or shear any drill pipe inside the casing. Blowout preventer stacks are a regulated and required element of drilling. The regulations require that blowout preventer stacks must be tested frequently and thoroughly. Testing requires that drilling operations be suspended, that the drill string be pulled out of the hole, that a test plug be set at the wellhead, that testing of the rams and annulars be performed, that the test plug be removed, and that the drill string be run back into the hole in order to resume drilling. Drill pipe is made in typically 30-foot sections, and a drill string has to be assembled at the drilling rig from those sections of drill pipe as the drilling progresses. When the drill string is pulled out of the hole, the sections of the drill pipe have to be disassembled and stacked, and then reassembled on the next trip into the hole. Deep-water drilling requires vast lengths of drill pipe just to reach the wellhead, and then more vast lengths of drill pipe to drill into the seabed. Pulling the drill string out of the hole, running the test plug into and out of the hole, and putting the drill string back into the hole, in deep water, is an operation that can take several days and several cycles of disassembly and reassembly of thousands of sections of drill pipe. Thorough testing of a blowout preventer stack presently requires more than one trip into the hole, which further delays resumption of drilling operations, because testing of rams fixed for different diameters of pipe require the insertion and removal of those different diameters of pipe, and testing of the blind and shear rams must be performed with no pipe present in the blowout preventer at the wellhead. For some phases of BOP testing, the wellhead immediately below the BOP stack must be tightly sealed off from the well below, by the test plug, in order to prevent leakage of any pressure coming form or going into the sub-surface well and making it impossible to determine if the blowout preventers are properly holding pressure between each BOP and the test plug at the wellhead. Presently this sealing and unsealing of the test plug at the wellhead requires more than one trip into the hole and carries a risk of not being able to unseal the wellhead and resume drilling operations. The frequent and thorough testing of blowout preventer stacks is an important safety precaution that is required to be done, but at present, especially for deep-water drilling, the testing of blowout preventer stacks requires long, costly suspensions of drilling operations. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a blowout-preventer-stack one-trip test tool and method providing a solid test pin for sealing the test plug in the wellhead, a running tool for securely placing, separating from, reattaching, and removing the solid test pin, testing all fixed and variable rams and annulars and testing all blind and shear rams without damage to pipe, in one trip, and a fail-safe secondary provision for removing the solid test plug on a second trip with an emergency retrieval tool if necessary. The present invention allows thorough testing of blowout preventer stacks in significantly less downtime of suspended drilling, by providing performance of all tests of all blowout preventer components in one trip into and out of the hole, by securely sealing the standard test plug at the wellhead to prevent leakage, and by providing an improved primary method of disconnection and re-connection at the wellhead for retrieval, and also a backup secondary method for retrieval using an emergency retrieval tool. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Reference will now be made to the drawings, wherein like parts are designated by like numerals, and wherein: FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the invention assembled. FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway exploded view of the invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the invention in four stages of its use at the wellhead and blowout preventer stack. FIG. 4 is a schematic view of primary uncoupling and retrieval of the solid test pin, and the secondary, backup provision. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 , our blowout-preventer-stack one-trip test tool 1 provides a solid test pin 2 having a bottom portion threaded with standard drill-pipe threads 23 that include a first plug 23 a , a second plug 23 b , and a socket 23 c for the purpose of connecting to a standard test plug. Standard drill-pipe threading is intended to be used at relatively high torque, with no additional seal, to form a sufficient pressure-holding connection. The solid test pin further has a large entry bevel 3 , a primary connector surface 4 having threads 24 that include a plug 24 a and a socket 24 b different from standard drill-pipe threads, and a secondary connector surface 11 having standard drill-pipe threads 23 with first plug 23 a. The threading 24 with plug 24 a on the primary connector surface 4 is adapted to form a sufficient pressure-holding connection at a relatively low right-hand torque, and may be used in conjunction with a pin seal 28 mounted in a pin-seal groove 27 on the primary connector surface to increase the effectiveness of the relatively low-torque connection. The primary connector surface 4 , and the large entry bevel 3 are adapted to be easily disconnected from and reconnected with the running tool 5 while the assembly is at the wellhead, at the remote end of a long length of drill string. The secondary connector surface 11 having standard drill-pipe threads 23 with first plug 23 a is adapted to provide a backup means of retrieval in case re-connection of the running tool 5 to the primary surface connector 4 is not successfully performed. This backup means of retrieval can be performed using an emergency retrieval tool 12 instead of the running tool. The running tool 5 has a bottom portion adapted to easily disconnect and re-connect with the test pin 2 , while the assembly is at the wellhead, having a large entry bevel matching that of the solid test pin, which promotes correct placement, and having threading 24 with plug 24 a and socket 24 b matching that of the primary connector surface 4 of the solid test pin, adapted to form a sufficient pressure-holding connection at a relatively low torque. A centralizer 6 is mounted surrounding a portion of the running tool 5 , and serves to keep the tool in the center of the BOP stack during the time that it is disconnected, so that it can be more easily re-connected to the solid test pin. A drill-pipe connector 7 at the top of the running tool 5 has standard drill-pipe threading 23 with socket 23 c so that the test assembly can be run into the hold using standard drill pipe, with or without a special-purpose test joint. Referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 , in use, our blowout-preventer-stack one-trip test tool 1 is made up on a standard test plug and is lowered at the end of a drill string, through the casing 21 and the blowout preventer stack until the test plug is set in the wellhead at the mudline 20 or sea floor. The standard test plug 25 has an opening 26 that is securely plugged by the solid test pin 2 , so that no leakage occurs between the BOP stack and the well below the test plug. If the specific blowout preventer stack contains more than one fixed ram 35 , 36 , designed to accommodate different diameter sizes of drill pipe, then a special-purpose test joint 8 having various sized-pipe sections 9 corresponding to various BOP rams can be used, connected to the drill-pipe connector 7 at the top of the running tool 5 , and connected at the other end to the drill string of drill pipe. With the running tool 5 connected to the solid test pin 4 connected to the test plug 25 , the test of the deployed BOP annulars 41 , 42 , fixed rams 45 , 46 , and variable rams 47 , 48 are performed according to rig operating procedures. The annulars and fixed and variable rams seal around the drill pipe or test joint, which is in place for those tests. Before testing the BOP blind and shear rams 33 , 34 , which would damage any drill pipe at those locations, the running tool 5 is disconnected from the solid test plug 2 by performing an appropriate number of left-hand turns on the drill string. Because the connection at the primary connector surface 4 is at a low torque relative to the very high torque of standard drill-pipe connections, the disconnection of the running tool from the solid test plug will occur more easily, and before, the loosening of any other connection. The drill string is then raised so that all drill pipe, test joint 8 , and running tool 5 are safely above the level of the blind and shear rams. And then the tests of the deployed BOP blind and shear rams 43 , 44 are performed according to rig operating procedures. The solid test pin 2 remains connected to the test plug 25 , sealing the opening 26 in the test plug, during the BOP blind and shear ram test. After completion of the BOP blind and shear ram testing, the drill string with the running tool 5 is slowly and carefully lowered onto the solid test pin 2 still connected to the test plug 25 at the wellhead, and is re-connected by performing an appropriate number of right-hand turns, applying the relatively low torque needed to make the connection. During this process of re-connection, the centralizer 6 keeps the running tool centered in the BOP stack, centered over the solid test pin 2 still connected to the test plug 25 at the wellhead. At the point of re-connection, the large entry bevel 3 on the running tool 5 guides the tool for a proper re-connection. After re-connection of the running tool 5 and the solid test pin 2 connected to the test plug 25 , the test plug is un-set from the wellhead and the entire test assembly is pulled out of the hole so that drilling operations can be resumed. If the re-connection of the running tool 5 and the solid test pin 2 connected to the test plug 25 is not successfully performed, for whatever reason, the backup secondary retrieval procedure can be performed, in which the running tool is removed from the hole and from the drill string, and standard drill pipe 22 terminating in an emergency retrieval tool 12 , is run into the hole to attach to the secondary connector surface 11 , which also has standard drill-pipe threading 23 with first plug 23 a , and is located in a position where the running tool 5 passes over it, but where the emergency retrieval tool 12 can attach to it. Then the test plug 25 can be un-set from the wellhead and retrieved, allowing drilling options to be resumed. The relatively low torque required to make the connection of the running tool 5 to the solid test pin 2 is optimally not greater than 5000 foot-pounds, and the number of turns required to make or unmake the connection is optimally 7 turns. Many changes and modifications can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit thereof. We therefore pray that our rights to the present invention be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.
A blowout-preventer-stack one-trip test tool and method providing a solid test pin for sealing the test plug in the wellhead, a running tool for securely placing, separating from, reattaching, and removing the solid test pin, testing all fixed and variable rams and annulars and testing all blind and shear rams without damage to pipe, in one trip, and a fail-safe secondary provision for removing the solid test plug on a second trip with an emergency retrieval tool if necessary.
4
FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to electrical outlet boxes. More particularly, the present invention relates to an electrical outlet box having a thin wall design and localized elements for structurally reinforcing the walls of the box. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION An electrical outlet box provides a termination point for wires carrying electrical current through buildings, houses and other structures. Wiring entering an outlet box is typically connected to a particular electrical fixture or receptacle such as a lighting fixture, outlet or switch. Outlet boxes may be employed in concealed-wiring installation in which they are located within a wall or ceiling. Alternatively, outlet boxes may be used in exposed-conduit wiring installations where they are exteriorly mounted to a wall, column or ceiling and exposed to various environmental conditions. Outlet boxes isolate and protect the electrified components contained within; therefore, it is important that electrical outlet boxes remain in tact due to the potentially hazardous nature of their contents. Accordingly, outlet boxes are typically designed in order to withstand a certain amount of force which may be imparted onto the box. An outlet box may be impacted and crushed or may be pulled or twisted apart by a force acting on the conduit which is attached to the box. If the force exceeds a certain magnitude the box will plastically deform and rupture resulting in exposure of the wires and components contained within. Outlet boxes are often used in applications in which they may be subjected to destructive forces. For example, an outlet box which is exteriorly mounted in an industrial environment may be struck by machinery being operated on a manufacturing floor, or by hand trucks or forklifts traveling through a warehouse or by objects carried by individuals. Furthermore, in retail environments which simulate the "warehouse" environment outlet boxes are often exteriorly mounted and subject to possible impact by customers and/or employees. Interiorly mounted boxes are also subject to impacts and other forces since they are often only partially protected by a thin wall of sheet rock material or other thin covering. The forces which an outlet box may encounter could be of such a magnitude to cause the box to rupture thereby exposing electrified wires. A ruptured outlet box presents a hazardous condition since it creates the potential for the wires to ground or short resulting in the production of sparks which could ignite nearby combustible material. In addition, once the electrified wires within the box are exposed, electrocution of an individual may result. One might be electrocuted directly, by coming into contact with the wires, or indirectly, by coming into contact with a conducting material which is contacting the exposed wires. Due to the dangers created by a ruptured electrical outlet box, outlet boxes are designed in order to meet certain minimum structural requirements. Prior to 1993, the National Electric Code (NEC) had addressed the structural requirements for outlet boxes by requiring that sheet steel boxes less than 100 cubic inches in size have a wall thickness of at least 0.0625 inches. In 1993 the NEC was revised and an exception to the minimum wall thickness for outlet boxes was issued. The NEC, through section 370-40(b) exception No. 1, permits metal outlet boxes to be made of thinner material as long as they are equivalent in strength and other characteristics to outlet boxes having a minimum thickness 0.0625 inches. Outlet boxes of the prior art have met the strength requirement by making the walls correspond to the minimum thickness specified by the NEC. As a result of the NEC exception, it is now desirable to develop an outlet box having as thin a wall as possible while still maintaining the structural strength of a box having a wall thickness of at least 0.0625 inches. A thin wall outlet box has the advantage of offering significant cost savings for outlet box manufacturers since less material is needed. Moreover, a thinner material is easier to work with in the manufacturing process thereby reducing manufacturing time and the cost of machinery needed to produce the thin walled outlet box. Thin metal walls of the prior art have been reinforced by placing more material at certain locations on the wall. Such reinforcing structures are typically referred to as ribs and allow for the strength of the wall to be increased without the need of increasing the overall thickness of the wall. The location of the ribs is very important in order to obtain maximum strength with the least amount of material. The use of ribs to increase the structural integrity of metal electrical outlet boxes is, however, not found in the prior art. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an outlet box having a material saving thin wall design while still maintaining the structural requirements of the NEC code so that the electrical wiring and components contained within the box are adequately protected. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to provide an electrical outlet box of thin wall construction. It is a further object of the invention to provide an electrical outlet box having localized structural reinforcement means disposed on the sidewalls and corners of the box. It is still a further object of the invention to provide an electrical outlet box having reinforcing ribs disposed on the sidewalls and corners of the box. In the efficient attainment of these and other objects, the present invention provides a thin wall electrical outlet box having localized reinforcing means. The outlet box includes a bottom wall and an upwardly extending perimeter wall bounding the bottom wall and defining a lip and an upper end. The perimeter wall includes a plurality of upwardly extending sidewalls which are joined together forming a plurality of corners. The reinforcing means includes a sidewall reinforcing means which is disposed on each of said sidewalls adjacent to said lip and corner reinforcing means being located adjacent to each of said corners. As more specifically described by way of the preferred embodiment herein, the outlet box includes a rib disposed on each of the sidewalls. The ribs longitudinally extend along the sidewall substantially parallel to the lip and project inwardly toward the interior of the box. The corner reinforcement includes a plurality of outwardly projecting ribs. Each rib extends upwardly from the bottom wall to a point on the corner between the lip and the bottom wall. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a prospective view of the thin wall electrical outlet box of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the electrical outlet box of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the thin wall electrical outlet box. FIG. 4 is a bottom elevational view of the thin wall electrical outlet box. FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-section the thin wall electrical outlet box of FIG. 2 taken through lines V--V thereof. FIG. 5a is a detailed view of the sidewall rib of FIG. 5. FIG. 6 is a perspective view an alternative embodiment of the thin wall electrical outlet box. FIG. 7 is a vertical cross-section of the thin wall electrical outlet box of FIG. 6 taken through lines VII--VII thereof. FIG. 8 is a perspective view an alternative embodiment of the thin wall electrical outlet box. FIG. 9 is a vertical cross-section of the thin wall electrical outlet box of FIG. 8 taken through lines IX--IX thereof. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With reference to FIG. 1, an electrical outlet box 20 is shown. Outlet box 20 is a metallic member including a bottom wall 2 perimetrically bounded by a perimeter wall 5 which extends upwardly from bottom wall 2 to define a box interior 6. Perimeter wall 5 comprises a plurality of substantially straight sidewalls 4. In the preferred embodiment perimeter wall 5 comprises four sidewalls 4. Perimeter wall 5 also comprises a plurality of corners 16 which are formed where the sidewalls 4 are connected. Additionally, outlet box 20 has an open upper end 8 including a perimetrical lip 12. A pair of diagonally opposed ears 28 are formed on lip 12 and extend inwardly toward the box interior 6. Each of the ears 28 has an aperture 29 therethrough which is adapted to receive mounting hardware such a screw (not shown) which is used to secure a cover plate (not shown) onto the box 20. Outlet box 20 further includes a plurality of openings 10 formed in bottom wall 2 and sidewalls 4 to permit conduit and wires (not shown) to enter the box. As shown in FIGS. 1-3 outlet box 20 has a reinforcing element disposed on each of the sidewalls 4. The reinforcing element includes exterior indentations 13 extending substantially parallel to lip 12 and projecting inwardly toward box interior 6 forming an inwardly protruding sidewall rib 14. The sidewall ribs 14 are located on each of the sidewalls 4 adjacent to lip 12. The sidewall ribs 14, as shown in FIG. 5, have a generally U-shaped cross-section with a bottom portion 30 and a top 32 portion. Bottom portion 30 is wider than top portion 32. The sidewall ribs 14 are preferably formed on the sidewalls by a stamping operation. As further shown in FIGS. 1-3, corners 16 are formed where the sidewalls 4 join. In the preferred embodiment outlet box 20 is of unitary construction and is formed from a single piece of drawn material. Therefore, the sidewalls 4 are integrally formed with corners 16. The corners 16 are rounded and provide a generally smooth transition from one sidewall to the adjacent sidewall. Each corner 16 has a bottom portion 18 which curves inwardly toward bottom wall 2 and has a generally rounded trapezoidal shape which provides structural reinforcement to said box. In addition, each corner 16 has a corner rib 22 which extends from the center of the corner 16 downwardly across bottom portion 18 and onto bottom wall 2 as shown in FIG. 4. Corner rib 22 is preferably a protrusion extending outwardly formed by an indentation 21 in corner 16. Corner rib 22 has a cross-section similar to the cross-section of sidewall rib 14. Both bottom portions 18 and corner ribs 22 provide structural reinforcement to outlet box 20, thereby increasing the outlet box's 20 ability to sustain significant forces and moments. The use of ribs 14, 22 provide a localized volume increase of material which results in increased resistance to deformation. The rib also provides support to the surrounding material thereby increasing the overall strength of the area adjacent to the rib. Furthermore, the size and location of sidewall and corner ribs, 14 and 22, is very important in maximizing the increased strength benefits these ribs provide. In the preferred embodiment, outlet box 20 is a four-inch square box wherein the distance between the opposing walls is four inches. The box is preferably formed by a drawing process whereby the box is produced from one piece of material. The sidewall ribs 14 are approximately 2.6 inches in length and the lateral midline l of the rib 14, as shown in FIG. 3, is approximately 0.138 inches below lip 12. Each of the corner ribs 22 extends from approximately the lateral midline l' of box 20 downwardly onto the bottom wall 2 such that the rib ends on the bottom wall approximately 0.669 inches from the corner. The bottom 2 and sidewall 4 of the preferred embodiment have a thickness of 0.047 inches. Furthermore, each of the ribs 14 and 22 have a thickness of approximately 0.047 inches. With ribs 14 and 22 so located and with the other features of box 20 the wall thickness of 0.047 inches provides an outlet box having the structural strength equal to or greater than a prior art outlet box having a wall thickness of 0.0625 inches. Therefore, the present invention satisfies the structural requirements of the NEC using 14% less material than a similarly sized prior art outlet box having a 0.0625 inch wall thickness. An outlet box designed in accordance with the preferred embodiment has been tested by various methods for structural integrity. A pull test subjected the box to an outwardly directional load acting on opposing sidewalls of the box. A crush test was performed with the box placed between two steel plates with its open upper end down and then subjected to a load transmitted through the plates. Finally, a cantilever test was performed in which a portion of rigid conduit tubing was secured to a sidewall of the box. A force perpendicular to the tubing was applied to the tubing at a certain distance from the box resulting in a moment being imparted to the box. Two methods of measurement were employed to calculate the results of the cantilever test. One was the Permanent Deflection Angle which corresponds to the amount of angular deflection just before plastic deformation occurs. The other method was the Horizontal Change which corresponds to the amount of horizontal travel of the tubing just before the onset of plastic deformation. A chart comparing the force required to produce structural failure in the prior art outlet boxes and a box of the preferred embodiment is set forth below. ______________________________________Test 0.0625" box 0.047" box______________________________________Pull 946 lbs. 1086 lbs.Crush 1518 lbs. 2016 lbs.CantileverDeflection Angle 16.5° 20°Horizontal Change 4.32" 4.54"______________________________________ As can be seen the construction of the present invention provides higher values of structural integrity with only minimal increases in cantilever deflection. An alternative embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. While many of the features are similar to outlet box 20 of the preferred embodiment, the reinforcing means are different. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, outlet box 20' includes bottom ribs 24 located on bottom wall 2' with one rib adjacent to each of the corners 16'. An indentation in bottom wall 2' forms a protrusion which extends upwardly forming bottom rib 24. Each bottom rib 24 has a similar cross-section to the previously described ribs of the preferred embodiment, 14 and 22 of FIG. 1. Bottom rib 24 extends diagonally from one sidewall to the adjacent sidewall and is substantially parallel to corner bottom portion 18'. Bottom ribs 24 provide crush resistance to the box 20' thereby increasing the ability of box 20' to withstand crushing forces. Each sidewall 4' contains a lip roll 26 which protrudes from lip 12'. Each lip roll 26 is located substantially in the center of the corresponding sidewall 4' and runs parallel to the same. The lip roll 26 is preferably formed by bending a portion 25 of the lip protruding from the sidewall 4' toward the box interior so that the top of the lip roll 27 points toward bottom wall 2'. Alternatively, the lip roll 26' may be formed such that the lip 12' is bent outwardly as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. Additionally, outlet box 20' may incorporate a mixture of inwardly and outwardly extending lip rolls, 26 and 26', as shown in FIGS. 8. and 9. The lip rolls provides box 20' with pull and bend resistance.
An improved electrical outlet box having thin wall construction and localized elements for structurally reinforcing the box. The thin wall outlet box includes a bottom wall and a perimeter wall perimetrically bounding the bottom wall and an open upper end defined by a lip. The perimeter wall comprises a plurality of sidewalls which join together to form corners. Each of the sidewalls has a reinforcement rib longitudinally extending substantially parallel to the lip and projecting inwardly toward the interior of the box. In addition, each of the corners has an outwardly projecting rib which extends downwardly from a point on the corner between the lip and the bottom wall onto the bottom wall.
7
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims the priority benefit of French patent application number 11/56674, filed on Jul. 22, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference to the maximum extent allowable by law. BACKGROUND [0002] 1. Technical Field [0003] Embodiments generally relate to electronic circuits and, more specifically, to integrated circuits housed in a package having connection tabs adapted to transfer contacts to other components or other circuits of an electronic device. [0004] 2. Discussion of the Related Art [0005] Many electronic circuits, be they monolithic circuits, or digital or analog integrated circuits, are assembled in packages to then be assembled with other circuits or components on an electronic board, for example, a printed circuit. [0006] The packages are generally made of resin or other insulating materials and comprise conductive contacting elements to transfer connections internal to the package to the outside, to establish connections with the other electronic board circuits. [0007] The connection transfer elements may be conductive contact transfer tabs laterally coming out of the package, conductive bumps at the lower surface of the package to be transferred to corresponding conductive pads of the electronic board, etc. [0008] As a result of the miniaturization of integrated circuits, the bulk of an electronic circuit is now due more to the package bulk than to the bulk associated with the electronic functions performed by the integrated circuit. This results in a loss of space in packages having a size, among others, conditioned by the elements of connection to the outside and the intervals to be left between these elements to provide an insulation between the different external connections. [0009] It has already been provided to house, in a same package, several integrated circuits, or a circuit performing several functions, by selecting the function to be used by means of a dedicated external terminal. The circuit connection terminals (tabs or bumps) can then be configured to be assigned to one or the other function. Such a solution requires an additional terminal, which generates an increase of the package size due to its simple presence. SUMMARY [0010] An embodiment overcomes all or part of the disadvantages of known usual dual-function electronic circuits. [0011] Another embodiment provides a packaged electronic circuit capable of performing two functions without for any external terminal to be necessary to select the chosen function. [0012] Thus an embodiment provides an electronic circuit in a package, comprising two functions, the package orientation activating a single one of the two functions. [0013] According to an embodiment, the circuit comprises, on each of two opposite sides of the package, a first terminal intended to receive a power supply voltage, the respective positions of the first two terminals being symmetrical with respect to the center of the segment connecting the first two terminals. [0014] According to an embodiment, the circuit further comprises a selector of the activated function according to the direction of the power supply voltage applied between said first terminals. [0015] According to an embodiment, said selector comprises: two terminals of provision of a power supply voltage internal to the electronic circuit; and a terminal for providing a signal indicative of the circuit orientation. [0018] According to an embodiment, each first terminal is connected to one of said internal power supply terminals by a single MOS transistor. [0019] According to an embodiment, second terminals are directly connected to one or the other of the functions. [0020] According to an embodiment, second terminals are connected, via multiplexers, to said functions. [0021] The foregoing and other features and advantages will be discussed in detail in the following non-limiting description of specific embodiments in connection with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0022] FIGS. 1A and 1B are top views of an embodiment of a packaged electronic circuit in two orientations; [0023] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of an electronic circuit; [0024] FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of a selection circuit integrated to the electronic circuit; [0025] FIGS. 4A and 4B show an example of application of the circuit of FIGS. 1A and 1B ; [0026] FIGS. 5A and 5B show another example of application of the circuit of FIGS. 1A and 1B ; and [0027] FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an alternative embodiment of the electronic circuit. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0028] The same elements have been designated with the same reference numerals in the different drawings. For clarity, only those elements which are useful to the understanding of the described embodiments have been shown and will be discussed. In particular, the implementation of the functions contained in the circuit has not been detailed, embodiments being compatible with usual integrated circuit manufacturing techniques. Further, the package manufacturing has not been detailed either, embodiments being here again compatible with usual manufacturing techniques. [0029] FIGS. 1A and 1B show an embodiment of an electronic circuit in a package 1 in two assembly configurations. Package 1 integrates at least one integrated circuit (not shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B ). Package 1 supports at least four (in the shown example, eight) contact transfer terminals or elements 12 A, 12 B, and 13 . In the example of FIGS. 1A and 1B , it is assumed that these elements are tabs of electric connection to a printed circuit board, not shown. Among such tabs, two first tabs (tabs 12 A and 12 B) have a specific function. The two tabs are located on two opposite sides 14 A and 14 B of package 1 . They are besides arranged in positions such that by pivoting package 1 by 180° (in the same plane, that is, without flipping it, the front surface remaining the front surface and the rear surface remaining the rear surface), tab 12 A is in place of tab 12 B and conversely. In other words, terminals 12 A and 12 B are, in the package plane, symmetrical with respect to the center of the segment (virtual line) joining terminals 12 A and 12 B. [0030] In FIG. 1A , tab 12 A is located, in the arbitrary orientation of the drawings, at the bottom left of the circuit and tab 12 B is located at the top right, while in FIG. 1B , tab 12 B is at the bottom left and tab 12 A is at the top right. FIGS. 1A and 1B show two orientations, respectively designated with 0 and 1, of the package, the orientation of package 1 conditioning its operation. [0031] As a variation, the first terminals may have other positions around the package (for example, in the middle of sides 14 A and 14 B), provided to respect the indicated symmetry. [0032] Tabs 12 A and 12 B are intended to receive the power supply of the circuit(s) contained in the package, that is, they are intended to be connected either to a first positive or negative voltage (in the example, a positive voltage Vdd), or to ground (GND), or to a voltage of opposite sign. The direction (sign) of the D.C. voltage between terminals 12 A and 12 B, which is conditioned by the package orientation, in turn conditions the package function, that is, that of the two functions that it contains which is activated. [0033] Preferably, to ease the assembly, a visual mark or guide 16 is provided on one of the surfaces of package 1 along one of its sides. This enables the operator or the machine for assembling packages on an electronic circuit board to determine the orientation to be given to the package according to the function to be activated. The example of FIG. 1 relates to a guide of the type provided in so-called DIL (Dual-in-Line) packages. The guides may be formed in many other ways, for example, a chamfer all along the edge of a package, a small hole in an angle, etc. [0034] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of integrated circuit 2 contained in a package 1 of the type described in relation with FIGS. 1A and 1B . [0035] Circuit 2 integrates two functions 22 (FCT 1 ) and 24 (FCT 2 ). These functions may be active, passive, of variable complexity, digital, analog, etc. The circuits contained in these functions are powered by rails 21 and 23 , respectively at voltages VddInt and GNDInt corresponding to a D.C. internal power supply voltage, positive in the shown example. As a variation, this D.C. voltage is negative or bipolar (an additional terminal then directly providing the ground, if need be). Rails 21 and 23 are connected to output terminals of a selector 3 (SELECT) having as a function to transfer the voltages present on terminals 12 A and 12 B onto rails 21 and 23 , according to the orientation given to package 1 when it is assembled, that is, according to the direction of the voltage between terminals 12 A and 12 B. [0036] The other terminals 13 of package 1 are, in the example shown in FIG. 2 , respectively assigned, for three of them, to function 22 , and for the other three to function 24 . Accordingly, in this example, according to the package assembly direction, three of tabs 13 are left floating, that is, are not connected to the electronic circuit board. [0037] FIG. 3 is an electric diagram of an embodiment of selector 3 of FIG. 2 . This selector is for example based on MOS transistors and has the function of automatically transferring, between terminals 21 and 23 , the voltage applied between terminals 12 A and 12 B, in one direction or the other according to the circuit orientation. [0038] Further, selector 3 provides a signal “Orientation” on a conductor 25 . Signal Orientation is transmitted to circuits 22 and 24 to respectively activate/deactivate them according to the state of this signal. [0039] Circuit 3 is based on a network of two N-channel transistors MOS 31 and 33 and of two to P-channel MOS transistors 32 and 34 , cross connected. Transistor 31 directly connects terminal 12 A to terminal 23 . Transistor 33 directly connects terminal 12 B to terminal 23 . Transistor 34 directly connects terminal 12 B to terminal 21 . Transistor 32 directly connects terminal 12 A to terminal 21 . Further, the gates of transistors 31 and 32 are interconnected to terminal 12 B and the gates of transistors 33 and 34 are interconnected to terminal 12 A. The bulks of transistors 32 and 34 are interconnected to terminal 21 . The bulks (not shown) of transistors 31 and 33 are interconnected to terminal 23 . [0040] The four MOS transistors 31 to 34 form a rectifying bridge, reducing voltage losses. [0041] Signal Orientation is for example generated by means of an inverter 36 powered between terminals 21 and 23 and having its input directly connected to terminal 12 B. [0042] When external voltage Vdd is applied to terminal 12 A and the ground is applied to terminal 12 B, transistor 31 is blocked while transistor 33 is conductive (positive gate-source voltage). Further, transistor 34 is blocked and transistor 32 is conductive (negative gate-source voltage). As a result, voltage Vdd is transferred onto terminal 21 while the ground voltage is transferred onto terminal 23 . Signal Orientation thus has a state 1 (inverter input at state 0). [0043] Conversely, if external voltage Vdd is applied to terminal 12 B and the external ground is applied to terminal 12 A, transistors 31 and 34 are conductive and transistors 32 and 33 are blocked. As a result, terminal 12 B is connected to terminal 21 and terminal 12 A is connected to terminal 23 . Signal Orientation has a state 0. [0044] It should be noted that internal voltage VddInt is always applied in the same direction within the circuit. The difference of application direction from the outside conditions the function executed by the circuit. [0045] Other embodiments of a selection circuit 3 can be envisaged. However, the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 has the advantage of generating no substantial voltage drop in crossing the selector, only ohmic losses being generated. [0046] FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate an example of application of an electronic circuit such as described by the above drawings to the generation of a power supply voltage having its value V 1 or V 2 depending on the circuit orientation. [0047] Package 1 ′ is assumed to only comprise four external connection tabs or terminals. Circuit 1 ′ is assembled on a printed circuit board 4 which provides, at the location of package 1 ′, three pads 41 , 43 , and 45 intended to be connected to three of the four tabs of package 1 ′ according to its orientation. Pad 41 is connected to a ground conductor (GND) of board 4 . Pad 43 is connected to a positive power supply conductor Vdd of board 4 . Pad 45 provides to other circuits, not shown, of board 4 with a voltage V 1 or V 2 according to the orientation of package 1 ′. [0048] In this example, functions 22 and 24 ( FIG. 2 ) respectively are a voltage regulator providing level V 1 and a voltage regulator providing level V 2 . Thus, according to the orientation given to circuit 1 ′ on board 4 , said circuit automatically provides one or the other of the two voltage levels. [0049] FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate another example of application to an embodiment of a package 1 ″ containing an EEPROM and its control circuits. In this example, package 1 ″ comprises 2n+2 external connection terminals. n terminals on each side of the package are used to connect the signals associated with the application. For example, according to the orientation of package 1 ″, said package is capable of communicating with the outside according to a protocol known as SPI or according to another protocol known as I2C. The actual nature of the protocol is of no importance. What is desired to be underlined herein is that the memory circuit is capable of operating according to one mode or another according to its orientation. [0050] The examples of FIGS. 4A , 4 B, 5 A, and 5 B illustrate cases where the functions performed by the package are of same nature. However, it may also be provided to integrate, in the same package, electronic circuits performing different functions. [0051] FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an alternative embodiment 2 ′ of the circuits contained in the package. It shows the two functions (block 22 , FCT 1 and 24 , FCT 2 ) and selector 3 as in FIG. 2 . However, it is here assumed that the other circuit terminals (in the example, 4 ) are all used whatever the activated function. As many two-to-one, one-to-two, or bidirectional multiplexers 16 , according to the type of function performed by circuits 22 and 24 , as there are terminals 13 are thus provided, to connect each terminal 13 to one of the corresponding terminals of blocks 22 and 24 . Multiplexers 26 are controlled together by signal Orientation provided by selector 3 . [0052] It is now possible to take advantage of the discrepancy between the miniaturization of packages and the miniaturization of integrated circuits. [0053] Another advantage of the described embodiments is that their implementation requires no additional terminal on the package to select its function. [0054] The fact of using dual-function packages means a significant saving for integrated circuit manufacturers. Indeed, the additional cost due to the addition of a useless function in a package is negligible as compared with the cost generated by the inventory management and to logistics of two families of integrated circuits. [0055] Various embodiments have been described, various alterations and modifications will occur to those skilled in the art. In particular, the implementation of the described embodiments is within the abilities of those skilled in the art based on the functional indications given hereabove. Similarly, the number of terminals depends on the application. [0056] Such alterations, modifications, and improvements are intended to be part of this disclosure, and are intended to be within the spirit and the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the foregoing description is by way of example only and is not intended to be limiting. The present invention is limited only as defined in the following claims and the equivalents thereto.
An electronic circuit in a package, including two functions, the package orientation activating a single one of the two functions.
6
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for forming a thin film, and more particularly to an apparatus for forming a high-quality thin film by means of an ionized-cluster beam deposition (ICB) method. 2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 is a schematic representation showing a conventional apparatus for forming a thin film disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 54-9592. The apparatus for forming a thin film has a vacuum chamber 1 to keep its vacuum to a predetermined degree less than 10 -4 Torr. A vacuum exhaust system 2 is connected to the vacuum chamber 1 in order to evacuate the vacuum chamber 1. A crucible 3 is arranged inside the vacuum chamber 1, this crucible 3 for generating clusters of a substance 5 in the crucible by vaporizing the substance 5. A nozzle 4 is provided over the crucible 3. Furthermore, the crucible 3 is filled with the substance 5, and heating filaments 6 are arranged surrounding the crucible 3. Moreover, a heat shielding plate 7 is disposed outside the heating filaments 6 so as to intercept the heat from the heating filaments 6. A vapor source 9 includes the crucible 3, the heating filaments 6 and the heat shielding plate 7. What is indicated by numeral 8 are clusters (massive atom groups) which are formed by evaporating the substance 5 through the nozzle 4 arranged over the crucible 3. Ionization filaments 10, which emit electrons for ionization of ions, are arranged over the crucible 3. An electron beam drawing electrode 11 is disposed inside the ionization filaments 10 so as to draw electrons from the ionization filaments 10 and accelerate them. Furthermore, a heat shielding plate 12 is arranged outside the ionization filaments 10 so as to intercept the heat of the ionization filaments 10. An ionizing means 13 includes the ionization filaments 10, the electron beam drawing electrode 11, and the heat shielding plate 12. In addition, an acceleration electrode 15a and a ground electrode 15b are arranged over the ionizing means 13. The acceleration electrode 15a and the ground electrode 15b comprise an acceleration means which accelerates, in an electric field, clusters 14 ionized by the ionizing means 13 in order to provide the ionized clusters 14 with kinetic energy. A substrate 16, on which a thin film is deposited, is disposed over the acceleration electrode 15a and the ground electrode 15b. A first AC power supply 17 is connected to the heating filaments 6 mentioned above. A first DC power supply 18 is also connected to the heating filaments 6, this first DC power supply 18 causing the electric potential of the crucible 3 to be positively biased with respect to the heating filaments 6. Moreover, a second AC power supply 19 is connected to the above-mentioned ionization filaments 10. A second DC power supply 20 is also connected to the ionization filaments 10, this second DC power supply 20 causing the ionization filaments 10 to be negatively biased with respect to the electron beam drawing electrode 11. In addition, a third DC power supply 21 is connected to the crucible 3, the electron beam drawing electrode 11, and the acceleration electrode 15a. The third DC power supply 21 causes the crucible 3, the electrodes 11 and 15a to be positively biased with respect to the ground electrode 15b. The first AC power supply 17, the first DC power supply 18, the second AC power supply 19, the second DC power supply 20, and the third DC power supply 21 are all housed in a power supply device 22. The operation of the apparatus for forming a thin film will be described hereinafter. The vacuum chamber 1 is evacuated by the vacuum exhaust system 2 to approximately 10 -6 Torr. Electrons emitted from the heating filaments 6 are drawn out by the electric field applied by the first DC power supply 18. These drawn electrons collide with the crucible 3 to heat it until the vapor pressure in the crucible 3 reaches several Torr. This heating evaporates the substance 5 in the crucible 3, whereby the substance 5 is injected into the vacuum chamber 1 through the nozzle 4. The vapor of the substance 5, when passing through the nozzle 4, is accelerated and cooled by means of adiabatic expansion, and is condensed to form the clusters 8. The second DC power supply 20 causes the ionization filaments 10 heated by the second AC power supply 19 to be negatively biased with respect to the electron beam drawing electrode 11, whereby thermionic electrons emitted from the ionization filaments 10 are introduced into the inside of the electron beam drawing electrode 11. The clusters 8 then turn into ionized clusters 14 due to ionization by the electron beam emitted from the ionization filaments 10. The third DC power supply 21 causes the crucible 3, the electron beam drawing electrode 11, and the acceleration electrode 15a to be positively biased with respect to the ground electrode 15b in a ground electric potential. The acceleration of the ionized clusters 14, together with neutral clusters 8 which are not yet ionized, is controlled by means of an electric field lens formed between the acceleration electrode 15a and the ground electrode 15b. The ionized clusters 14 collide, after being accelerated, with the surface of the substrate 16 to form a thin film. As has been described above, in the conventional apparatus for forming a thin film, the properties of the thin films formed are controlled by providing the ionized clusters 14 and by controlling the kinetic energy of the clusters 14. For this reason, to form homogeneous thin films, it is necessary to lessen the variations in the kinetic energy of the atoms of an ionized cluster beam which collides with the surface of the substrate 16. It is also required that an appropriate quantity of the ionized clusters 14 collide with the substrate 16. This quantity is maintained by altering the acceleration voltage applied by the third DC power supply 21. When there are variations in the sizes of the clusters, there are also variations in the kinetic energy of the atoms colliding with the surface of the substrate 16. For example, when a voltage of 600 V is applied to the third DC power supply 21 to accelerate the ionized clusters 14, the ionized clusters 14, each composed of two atoms, collide with the substrate 16, with each atom having an energy of 300 V. At the same voltage, on the other hand, the ionized clusters 14, composed of three, four, and five atoms, collide with the substrate 16, with each atom having an energy of 200 V, 150 V, and 120 V, respectively. When a single atom which is not formed into a cluster is ionized, it is accelerated with an energy of 600 V. As mentioned above, there is a problem in that it is impossible to form homogeneous thin films when the kinetic energy of the atoms constituting the clusters which impinge upon the substrate 16 is not uniform. There is also a problem in that the collisions of small ionized clusters and ionized atoms against the substrate 16 cause damage to the substrate 16 because of the large amount of the kinetic energy at the collision. As the acceleration voltage varies, so does the amount of ionized clusters drawn. The quantity of such ions is proportional to the 1.5th power of the acceleration voltage, according to the Child-Langmuir equation. Thus, when the acceleration voltage in particular is made small so as to control the properties of the thin films, the quantity of ionized clusters reaching the substrate 16 greatly diminishes. This results in a problem in that it is impossible to form high-quality thin films by making use of the properties of the ionized clusters. There is also a problem in that as the acceleration voltage approaches 0, electrons flying out of the ionization filaments 10 impinge upon the substrate 16, thereby causing damage to the substrate 16. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been accomplished to solve the foregoing problems. Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for forming high-quality and homogeneous thin films. In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for forming a thin film comprising: a vacuum chamber; exhaust means for evacuating the vacuum chamber cluster generating means for generating, in the vacuum chamber, clusters of a substance; ionizing means for ionizing part of the clusters generated by the cluster generating means; acceleration means for accelerating both clusters ionized by the ionizing means and clusters not yet ionized to allow both types of clusters to collide with a substrate retained in the vacuum chamber; and filter means for removing ionized clusters smaller than a predetermined size. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of an apparatus according to the present invention for forming a thin film; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention for forming a thin film; and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the conventional apparatus for forming a thin film. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In FIG. 1, an apparatus for forming a thin film of the invention has a vacuum chamber 31 to keep its vacuum to a predetermined degree. A vacuum exhaust system 32 is connected to the vacuum chamber 31 to evacuate the vacuum chamber 31. A crucible 33 is arranged inside the vacuum chamber 31, this crucible 33 being used for generating the clusters of a substance 35 in the crucible by vaporizing the substance 35. A nozzle 34 is provided over the crucible 33. Furthermore, the crucible 33 is filled with the substance 35, and heating filaments 36 are arranged surrounding the crucible 33. Moreover, a heat shielding plate 37 is disposed outside the heating filaments 36 so as to intercept the heat from the heating filaments 36. A vapor source 39 comprises the crucible 33, the heating filaments 36 and the heat shielding plate 37. What is indicated by numeral 38 are clusters (massive atom groups) which are formed by vaporizing the substance 35 through the nozzle 34 arranged over the crucible 33. Ionization filaments 40, which emit an electron beam, are arranged over the crucible 33. An electron beam drawing electrode 41 is disposed inside the ionization filaments 40 so as to draw electrons from the ionization filaments 40 and accelerate them. Furthermore, a heat shielding plate 42 is arranged outside the ionization filaments 40 so as to intercept the heat of the ionization filaments 40. An ionizing means 43 comprises the ionization filaments 40, the electron beam drawing electrode 41, and the heat shielding plate 42. Moreover, a filter 60, composed of a pair of opposed electrodes 61, is arranged over the ionizing means 43 for removing small-sized clusters. A high-frequency power supply 53, for applying a high-frequency voltage, is connected to the opposed electrodes 61. In addition, an acceleration electrode 45a and a ground electrode 45b are arranged over the filter 60. The acceleration electrode 45a and the ground electrode 45b comprise an acceleration means which accelerates, in an electric field, clusters 44 ionized by the ionizing means 43 in order to provide the ionized clusters 44 with kinetic energy. A substrate 46, on which a thin film is formed, is disposed over the acceleration electrode 45a and the ground electrode 45b. A first AC power supply 47 is connected to the heating filaments 36 mentioned above. A first DC power supply 48 is also connected to the heating filaments 36, this first DC power supply 48 causing the crucible 33 to be positively biased with respect to the heating filaments 36. Moreover, a second AC power supply 49 is connected to the above-mentioned ionization filaments 40. A second DC power supply 50 is also connected to the ionization filaments 40, this second DC power supply 50 causing the ionization filaments 40 to be negatively biased with respect to the electron beam drawing electrode 41. In addition, a third DC power supply 51 is connected to the crucible 33, the electron beam drawing electrode 41, and the acceleration electrode 45a. The third DC power supply 51 causes the above crucible 33, the electron beam drawing electrode 41, and the acceleration electrode 45a to be positively biased with respect to the ground electrode 45a. The first AC power supply 47, the first DC power supply 48, the second AC power supply 49, the second DC power supply 50, the third DC power supply 51, and the high-frequency power supply 53 are all housed in a power supply device 52. The operation of the embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafter. The vacuum chamber 31 is evacuated by the vacuum exhaust system 32 to approximately 10 -6 Torr. Electrons emitted from the heating filaments 36 are drawn out by the electric field applied by the first DC power supply 48. These drawn electrons collide with the crucible 33 to heat it until the vapor pressure in the crucible 33 reaches several Torr. This heating evaporates substance 35 in the crucible 33, whereby the substance 35 is injected into the vacuum chamber 31 through the nozzle 34. The vapor of substance 35, when passing through the nozzle 34, is accelerated and cooled by means of adiabatic expansion, and is condensed to form the clusters 38. The second DC power supply 50 causes the ionization filaments 40 heated by the second AC power supply 49 to be negatively biased with respect to the electron beam drawing electrode 41, whereby thermionic electrons emitted from the ionization filaments 40 are introduced into the inside of the electron beam drawing electrode 41. The clusters 38 then turn into ionized clusters 44 due to ionization by the electron beam emitted from the ionization filaments 40. Upon application of a high-frequency voltage to the opposed electrodes 61 arranged over the ionizing means 43, the ionized clusters 44 are deflected because of the opposed electrodes 61. The amount of this deflection depends on the number of atoms which constitute a cluster: the smaller the number of atoms, the more the ionized clusters 44 are deflected. For this reason, as the high-frequency voltage applied from the high-frequency power supply 53 increases, one-atom ions and small ionized clusters 44 collide with the opposed electrodes 61 and as a result are removed. By adjusting the threshold of the high-frequency voltage, it is thus possible for the ionized clusters 44 which are smaller than a predetermined size to be removed by collision with the opposed electrodes 61. For example, on the one hand, when an acceleration voltage of 600 V is applied to form a film under the conditions where the ionized clusters 44, composed of 10 atoms or less, are removed, the kinetic energy of the atoms, which atoms constitute the ionized clusters 44 impinging upon the substrate 46, is 60 V or less. On the other hand, when the threshold of a voltage to be applied is increased to form a film where the ionized clusters 44, composed of 60 atoms or less, are removed, the kinetic energy of the atoms is 10 V or less. The third DC power supply 51 causes the crucible 33, the electron beam drawing electrode 41, and the acceleration electrode 45a to be positively biased with respect to the ground electrode 45b at ground potential. The acceleration of the ionized clusters 44, together with the neutral clusters 38 which are not yet ionized, is controlled by means of an electric field lens formed between the acceleration electrode 45a and the ground electrode 45b. Those clusters then collide with the surface of the substrate 46 to form a thin film. The high-frequency voltage applied to the opposed electrodes 61 may be applied in any manner, so long as it deflects the ionized clusters 44. It may be applied, for example, in a pulse-like manner, or it may be steadily applied. In the above-described embodiment, though the acceleration means is composed of the acceleration electrode 45a and the ground electrode 45b, it is not limited to such a construction. As shown in FIG. 2, the acceleration means may be composed of a positively biased acceleration electrode 75a, a drawing electrode 76 which is negatively biased with respect to the acceleration electrode 75a, and a grounded electrode 75b. Numeral 54 denotes a fourth DC power supply which causes the drawing electrode 76 to be negatively biased with respect to the acceleration electrode 75a. Since the fourth DC power supply 54 has a terminal voltage higher than that of the third DC power supply 51, the drawing electrode 76 is always negatively biased with respect to the ground electrode 75b. In such a case, when voltage is applied by the fourth DC power supply 54 to the space between the acceleration means 75a and the drawing electrode 76, both of which are arranged over the ionizing means 43a, the ionized clusters 44 are accelerated by this voltage and drawn toward the substrate 46. While the ionized clusters 44 are drawn toward the substrate 46, because the drawing electrode 76 is negatively biased with respect to the ground electrode 75b, the drawn ionized clusters 44 are decelerated and consequently impinge upon the substrate 46 with energy equal to the potential difference (acceleration voltage) between the acceleration electrode 75a applied by the third DC power supply 51 and the ground electrode 75b. If the voltage between the acceleration electrode 75a and the ground electrode 75b is made constant, even when the acceleration voltage is altered, it is thus possible to secure a quantity of the ionized clusters 44 which can be drawn, to a level higher than a required level. As a result, even when a small amount of the acceleration voltage is applied, it is possible to make use of the properties of the ionized clusters 44 to form thin films. For instance, when the terminal voltage of the fourth DC power supply 54 is 3000 V and it is desired that the acceleration voltage be 500 V, setting the electric potential of the drawing electrode 76 to -2500 V is sufficient. When it is desired that the acceleration voltage be 50 V, setting the electric potential of the drawing electrode 76 to -2950 V is sufficient. The ground electrode 75b remains at 0 V. Since the drawing electrode 76 is always negatively biased with respect to the grounded substrate 46, it inhibits electrons from the ionization filaments 40 from impinging upon the substrate 46. As has been described above, according to the present invention, because of the removal of the small-sized ionized clusters by the filter, it is possible to form high-quality thin films by lessening variations in the kinetic energy of the atoms constituting the clusters which collide with the substrate. It is also possible to control the properties of the thin films by altering the kinetic energy of the atoms constituting the clusters. In addition, when an acceleration means includes a positively biased acceleration electrode, a drawing electrode negatively biased with respect to the positively biased acceleration electrode, and a grounded ground electrode, even with a small amount of an acceleration voltage, it is possible to irradiate ionized clusters in a required quantity to form thin films. It is also possible to control the impingement of electrons upon the substrate, and to prevent the substrate from being damaged.
An apparatus for forming a thin film includes a vacuum chamber; an exhaust system for evacuating the vacuum chamber and a crucible for generating, in the vacuum chamber, clusters of a deposit substance. The apparatus for forming a thin film further includes an ionizing device for ionizing part of the clusters generated by the crucible; an acceleration device for accelerating ionized clusters to collide with a substrate retained in the vacuum chamber; and a filter for removing ionized clusters smaller than a predetermined size.
2
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to electronic angle of advance correction for a controlled-ignition internal combustion engine in response to pinging or knocking and engine charge. 2. Description of the Prior Art and Related Patent Applications Improvement of the automotive combustion cycle has always been a concern of the motor mechanic and was one of the guiding elements in the modification of combustion chamber architecture and the increase in the compression rate. Indeed, this latter parameter directly conditions the engine's thermodynamic efficiency. Unfortunately, the increase in the compression rate shifts the zone where the pinging appears towards the peak of the torque curve applied to the engine as a function of the angle of advance, and if the engine's compression rate continues to be raised, the advance protection clearance in relation to the pinging causes the engine to operate with characteristics which penalize it more than with a lower compression rate. Nonetheless, it may be worthwhile to make use of engines with high compression rates, in particular to improve the combustion efficiency in partial charges. To this end, if it is desired to keep an engine with acceptable acceleration performances, it should not be penalized in its transitional phases, and it should be protected from the appearance of pinging when it operates in a stabilized phase. Various devices for protecting an engine from pinging are known to the technician. These involve either increasing the richness of the mixture or reducing the advance. The first solution is implicitly achieved in the fuel-mixing device by means of an accelerator pump which enriches the mixture in acceleration phases and with the carburetor's compensating devices acting in the vicinity of the full charge, which also enrich the mixture; the second solution is really only effective when the engine is operating at a stabilized rate. In related commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 141,147 filed Apr. 17, 1980 and relating to a "Process and System for Computation and Adjustment of Optimum Ignition Advance," there is disclosed a process according to an initial aspect of the invention for calculating and adjusting the optimization of the advance in an internal combustion engine by means of a system for detecting pinging with the aid of a transducer, such as an accelerometer rigidly attached to the engine's cylinder head. This process is noteworthy in that the accelerometric signal is treated in analog form, including in particular the integration of the signal inside a given window; the resulting signal converted to numerical form; an average value C calculated proportional to the preceding n pings; two thresholds of comparison S 1 and S 2 calculated which are each a linear function of the average value C calculated previously; the numerically integrated accelerometric value compared to each of these thresholds, and from them the deduction of the presence or absence of an audible pre-ping and/or ping value which is then used to act on the programmed advance of the electronic ignition. In the same patent application, and according to a second aspect of the invention, there is disclosed a system for calculating and adjusting the optimization of the advance in an internal combustion engine by means of a system for detecting pinging by means of a transducer such as an accelerometer rigidly attached to the engine's cylinder head. This system is noteworthy in that it includes means for analog processing of the signal taken from the accelerometer, including in particular an integrator, logical integrator control means, an analog-digital converter, and a micro-computer including in particular a sequencer, a stage for calculating an average value C proportional to the preceding n pings, two stages for calculating comparison thresholds (S 1 , S 2 ) which are each a linear function of the average value C previously calculated, and means for deducing the existence or absence of an audible pre-ping and/or ping value. In this previous device, the utilization of an average value for n pings takes up a good deal of space in the micro-computer's memory. Studies pursued since the filing of this first application have shown that the average value C can be calculated by taking into account the preceding average value affected by a multiplier coefficient k and by taking into account the new measured value, and that it is not absolutely necessary to calculate two ping thresholds, the use of a "pre-ping threshold" being non-essential. However, the cylinders are treated successively one by one for detection, and the average value C is calculated from the data relating to a given cylinder at a given moment. There are thus as many average values as there are cylinders. It is therefore preferable to calculate only one ping threshold and to take into account data relating to the engine charge in order to determine the strategies for shifting the advance. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, one object of this invention is to provide a novel process and apparatus designed preferably to modify differently the angle of advance upon detecting ping signals depending on the engine's operating state and the time elapsed since detection of the last ping signals. In the engine's stabilized operating phases, the appearance of ping signals is the result of a shift in the ping limit under the influence of parameters which were not taken into account in programming the law of advance. It is therefore appropriate to shift the point of advance in order to eliminate the pinging without excessively readjusting the engine. This shifting is then progressively decremented as a function of the number of ignitions in order to return to the basic programmed law. In the engine's transitional operating phases, especially during acceleration, the appearance of ping signals is the result of a maladaptation of the richness of the mixture or of excessive response time in the ignition device. It is therefore necessary to shift the point of advance by a greater value than previously in order to make the ping signals disappear. Furthermore, the decremental shift in this instance as a function of the number of ignitions in order to return to the programmed law must be greater than in the case of the previous operation. In deceleration phases during which the appearance of ping signals is virtually nil, the device must be planned to return the decrementing devices to zero. However, caution should be exercised in the resetting of the shift to wait after an acceleration in order to anticipate the decrementing during two or more close accelerations separated by decelerations; this phenomenon occurs, for example, during a change of ratios in the transmission. The most effective method for measuring and detecting the appearance of pinging is analysis of the pressure signals in the combustion chambers. This solution is costly because of the type of transducers it requires and their number; one per cylinder. It is therefore preferable to analyze the vibrations of the engine's cylinder head by means of a seismic accelerometer. The accelerometer's signal is processed by a band-pass filter centered on the resonance frequency of the combustion chamber so as to eliminate as much as possible noises located outside the resonance band of the combustion chamber. A half- or full-wave rectification makes it possible to transform the alternating signal into a direct signal. Examination of this signal shows a component due to the variable-amplitude combustion noise as a factor of the engine's revolution speed corresponding to excitation of the cylinder head by the valves. Integration of the accelerometer signal, filtered and rectified in an angular window centered around the pressure peak in the cylinder makes it possible to increase the dynamics of the measurement and make the analysis only in a zone where pinging is possible. A window starting at the top dead center (T.D.C.) of each cylinder and lasting between 30 and 40 degrees of crankshaft rotation gives acceptable results on all types of engines used. From the integrated signal and after comparison with a predetermined threshold, it is possible to detect electronically the presence of pinging. One of the characteristics of the present invention lies in the utilization of a detection threshold that varies according to the average value of the integrated signal, cylinder by cylinder. This makes it possible to take into account any straying of sensitivity of the transducer used, the gain in the processing electronics, the noise proper to a given engine type, transmission of noise through the cylinder head, the position of the accelerometer on the engine's cylinder head, and the noise level proper to each cylinder. Any window generation method can be used, such as the P.L.L. loop with phase interlock synchronized on a T.D.C. signal, optical coder, or generation from electronic ignition associated with the present invention as it is realized. From the noise data relating to combustion during an engine cycle, there is determined an average noise value, then a threshold value which is a criterion for detection of pinging; then there is defined a decremental value relative to the law of advance if there is or was detection of pinging, and this decremental value is sent to the main advance calculator. All of this processing can be done by an analog process or by a numerical process, but considering the technological progress in digital circuits and the ever more current utilization of microprocessor circuits, the choice of the invention for a practical implementation makes use of a type 8048 type microprocessor produced by the American film "INTEL." Digital coding of the integrated noise value could be achieved with the aid of an analog-digital converter. In order to optimize the number of components, the invention employs a two-rack integrator technique. After charging the integrator's capacitor for the duration of the measurement window, it is discharged at constant current and the discharge time is measured; this is directly proportional to the value of the voltage integrated. On one of its outputs the microprocessor delivers a rectangular signal at a frequency of 400 kHz; it is only necessary to count with the internal processor counter the number of impulses during the integrator's discharge phase. A relatively simple method for finding out the engine's operating state is to analyze the pressure in the intake manifold. It is then possible to define operation at full charge or at partial charge by comparison with a fixed threshold; by differentiation with the preceding cycle, it is deduced whether it is in acceleration, positive derivative, deceleration, negative derivative, or stabilized operation, no derivative. In order to reduce the number of components, a digital-output pressure transducer is selected delivering a frequency according to the pressure in the intake manifold, and the microprocessor's internal counter is used in its operating mode as a frequency counter. To do this we need only count with the microprocessor's internal counter for a determined period of time the number of impulses delivered by the pressure transducer. The main advance calculator, making parallel advance calculations from a programmed cartography, operates independently of the correction signal generator according to the invention and queries the latter's microprocessor on the advance correction value through an external break. The microprocessor sends back to it a train of impulses the number of which is equal to the value of the decrementing to be done. It is assumed that any decrementing action is done in the same direction, reducing the advance. Use of a microprocessor therefore makes it possible to acquire data, perform calculations, and obtain results, the most important part being the processing of these data in order to obtain a result which is here the decrementing value for the angle of advance in the presence of signals revealing the existence of pinging with a decrementing value modulated as a function of the engine's operating mode and of time. The average integrated noise value in the measurement window being variable, mainly as a function of speed, it is preferable to calculate an average after each combustion cycle by individualizing it cylinder by cylinder. In order to limit the memory space corresponding to the storage of x elementary values corresponding to x preceding ignitions and of n cylinders, it is preferable to use an average value re-updated by the last noise value. To the preceding average value is added algebraically a part of the difference between the last value and the preceding value according to the formula: ##EQU1## in which k is a filtering constant and is generally a value dependent on the sign of the difference in order to obtain a good dynamic response in the transitional phases. From the average value thus defined, we determine a threshold value which determines the detection of pinging by taking into account the distribution of the previously defined average value, at low speeds where S n is a low value, decrementing at a constant value is sufficient. In the case of higher speeds where S n has a high value, the value of S n is included in calculating the ping threshhold, corresponding to the formula: C=K.sub.2 +K.sub.3 ·S.sub.n in which K 2 and K 3 are coefficients dependent solely on the physical parameters associated with use of the invention, to wit: type of engine used, gain and placement of the ping pick-up. Operation of the engine, whether on stabilized charge or not, creates a decrementing and a return to the programmed law of advance at the time of ping detection. In stabilized operation, upon each ping detection is low so as not to maladapt the engine; return to the programmed law is relatively slow so as not to cause a pumping phenomenon. In acceleration phase, it is appropriate to have protection against pinging, hence the decrementing is major if pinging is detected, but return to the programmed law is rapid. In deceleration phase, there is nothing to fear from pinging, so the decrementing devices are reset in order to return as quickly as possible to the programmed law. In the case of a change of speed where there are successive phases of acceleration, deceleration, and acceleration, resetting should be delayed under the same decrementing conditions for purposes of the second acceleration and so as to be already decremented if there was a detection of pinging during the first acceleration. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same become better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the general architecture of the electronic circuit according to the invention; FIG. 2 is a flow-chart diagram illustrating the operation of the microprocessor's control logic; FIG. 3 is a flow-chart diagram illustrating the operation of the stage of average noise value calculation inside the microprocessor; FIG. 4 is a flow-chart diagram illustrating the operation of the stage of ping threshhold value calculation inside the microprocessor; FIG. 5 is a flow-chart diagram illustrating the programming of the microprocessor applying a strategy resulting in a calculation of the angle of advance decrementing value as a function of the pressure and the pinging; and FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an implementation of the output of the microprocessor communicating with the main advance value processor. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and more particularly to FIG. 1 thereof, a piezoelectric accelerometer 10 screwed onto the cylinder head of an internal combustion engine, which has not been shown, at an appropriate point is connected by its output to a charge amplifier 11 itself connected to an active band-pass filter 12 for example in the band of frequencies from 6 to 9 kHz. The output of the band-pass filter is connected to the input of a rectifier 13 connected to an integrator 15 through a switch 34 of which a second input terminal 41 is connected to a constant-current generator 14 in order to be able to discharge at constant current a capacitor 42 located in the integrator 15, which has been charged with the signal put out by the accelerometer 10 after the latter had been amplified, filtered, rectified and integrated during the passage of a measurement window, the duration of which is controlled from point 30 by a conductor 31 acting on the position of the swinging arm of the switch 34. The integrator 15 is connected by its output to the first input of a comparator 16 receiving on its second input a comparison threshhold value established in a circuit 17. The output of the comparator 16 is connected by a conductor 43, on the one hand, to an input in a control logic 21 located inside a microprocessor 20 which is, for example, of the 8043 type of the American firm "INTEL," and on the other hand to a first input of a logic AND gate 35 connected by a second input 46 to an output of the control logic 21. The microprocessor 20 includes, in addition, the following states: an internal oscillator 22 and a counter 23, a processing stage 24 for the average noise value, a processing stage 27 for the ping threshhold detection, a processing stage 28 for the decrementing signal value, a data memory 25, an output stage 26 for the decrementing value and a memory 29 for the decrementing value. The control logic 21 is connected by a second input to the conductor 31 controlling the position of the switch 34 and by its outputs to the processing stages 24, 27 and 28 and to the memories 25 and 29, and by a conductor 45 to an input of a second logic AND gate 38 connected by its second input and a conductor 33 to a pressure transducer 32 which measures the pressure in the engine's intake manifold. The internal oscillator 22 is connected by a first output to the output stage 26 of the decrementing value and by a second output to the first input of a third logic AND gate 38 and by its output 44 to an input in the counter 23 which is connected by its output to the data memory 25. The data memory 25 is in communication with the processing stage of the average noise value 24 and with the processing stage of the decrementing value 28, the latter connected by an input with the processing stage of the ping threshhold detection 27 and by an output to the decrementing value memory 29, the latter connected by an output with the output stage 26 of the decrementing value. This latter output stage 26, upon receiving a "send" signal transmitted on a conductor 39, transmits on its output conductor 40 a number of impulses equal to the calculated decrementing value in the direction of the central angle of advance value processor. The operation of the control logic unit 21 located inside the microprocessor 20 will now be described with the aid of the flow chart in FIG. 2. Generally speaking, the start of the flow-chart is reference D; an arrow accompanied by this letter, as is the case at the bottom of FIG. 2, means a return to the start of the flow-chart. As is usual in programmed logic, the various branch joint tests made by comparator members are marked as vertical-diagonal diamond shapes, while the operations are marked as rectangles. The test results are marked 1 when positive and 0 when negative, and this determines the different branch joint routes. In an initial stage 210, the system is awaiting the start of the measurement window communicated by the conductor 31 in FIG. 1. When the corresponding signal has been received, we move on to step 211 during which the air pressure in the intake manifold is measured. For this purpose, through the conductor 45 leaving the control logic 21 in FIG. 1, the impulses delivered by the pressure pick-up 32 are authorized to be entered into the counter 23 after the passage of the signal in the logic gates 38 and 38 for a determined period of time. The counter 23 works as a frequency counter so as to obtain a numerical value showing the air pressure in the intake manifold. The ping measurement window is placed just after the T.D.C. and lasts for example for 32° of the flywheel. During this noise measurement window, the signal transmitted by the conductor 31 directly connects the integrator 15 onto the output of the filter 13 through the intermediary of the switch 34. The following diamond 212 brings about the wait at the end of the window which takes place upon the arrival of a low-level logic signal on the conductor 31 in FIG. 1. Upon reception of this signal, the following step 213 is begun. It corresponds to the decreasing slid of the integrator 15, that is, by the switch 34 the constant current generator 14 is connected to the input of the integrator 15 and causes the discharge of the capacitor 42 which had been previously charged. By the conductor 46 of the control logic outlet 21 in FIG. 1, the impulses delivered by the internal oscillator 22 are authorized through the intermediary of the AND logic gates 35 and 36 to be applied to the counter 23 during the time when the charge value of the capacity 42 integrator 15 is greater than the comparison threshhold given at the output of stage 17. The counter 23 then works as a period counter in order to appraise the length of discharge of the capacitor 42 which is the measurement of the maximum potential to which it was previously charged and which corresponds to the integrated noise value in the measurement window determined from the input 30. In the following step 214, the control logic 21 undertakes calculation of the ping threshhold in the stage 27 of the microprocessor during the discharge of the capacitor 42. The diamond 215 corresponds to the waiting for the end of the noise potential measurement. Once this measurement is finished, it allows moving on to step 216, where the control logic 21 undertakes calculation of the decrementing value in the stage 28 of the microprocessor 20. Once this calculation is completed at step 217, the entry into the memory 29 of the decrementing vaule which has just been calculated at 28 is made under the control of logic 21. The following diamond 218 corresponds to a test of the ping detection. Indeed, the last step 219 corresponds to the calculation of the average noise value in stage 24 of the microprocessor 20, and this calculation does not take place if no pinging was detected. In the presence of pinging, this last step is eliminated. FIG. 3 is a flow-chart illustrating the operation of the calculation stage 24 of the average noise value inside the microprocessor 20. This calculation stage 24 includes a storage memory 240 for the average noise value S n-1 and a storage memory 241 for the instantaneous noise value A i , both connected by their outputs in parallel to the inputs of a stage 242 in which the calculation of the difference A i -S n-1 is performed. According to the sign of this difference which appears on an output conductor 247, a stage 244 selects a value k as divider, introduced into a stage 243 called division module which is also connected to the output of stage 242, giving the value of the difference A i -S n-1 . The division module 243 is connected by its output to a stage 245 in which calculation of the new noise value is performed according to the formula: ##EQU2## This stage 245 is connected by the conductor 247 to the output of the stage 242 in which the difference A i -S n-1 was calculated in order to receive the sign from it, and also to the storage memory 240 through the intemediary of the link 248 to receive the preceding average noise value S n-1 . The calculation stage 24 ends in a stage 246 representing a step during which the new average value S n which has just been calculated is stored in the memory 240 in preparation for the following calculation. FIG. 4 is a flow-chart showing the details of the calculation stage 27 of the ping threshhold value inside the microprocessor 20. This new calculation stage includes, first, the memory 240 for the average noise value, which is that used in the preceding calculation stage 24. The memory 240 is connected by its output to the input of a stage 271 in which the multiplication k 3 · S n-1 is performed, then from stage 271 we move on to stage 272 where the value k 2 is added to the previously calculated amount. The calculation stage 27 ends in a storage memory 275 for the ping threshhold value C, which thus corresponds to the equation: C=k.sub.3 ·S.sub.n-1 +k.sub.2 in which k 2 is a decrementing value and k 3 a multiplier coefficient. FIG. 5 is a flow-chart of the calculation stage 28 of the decrementing correction value inside the microprocessor 20, applying a strategy according to the pressure, the pinging, and the operating cycle, to wit: acceleration, deceleration, charge rate stabilized or not, partial charge rate or full charge. Starting from a memory location 320 where the measurement of the preceding cycle's pressure has been memorized and a memory location 321 indicating the measurement of the calculation cycle pressure and entry into the memory in preparation for the following cycle. These two memories 320 and 321 are connected by their outputs as inputs to a stage 322 in which the difference in pressure is calculated between the two preceding measurements, from which value the strategy is determined. At post 323 it was examined whether there is stability in the pressure rate, that is, if the difference in pressure in absolute value is less than a threshhold p 1 : if yes, then proceed to the right of the diamond, otherwise to the left. Assuming that at 323 it is noted that the pressure is not stable, then at post 324 is examined whether an acceleration state exists. If yes, processing is continued to post 342 where we recharge to the value m 0 the length of the timing memorizing the acceleration. An acceleration is thus memorized with the aid of a numerical monostable located in a timing memory of the calculation stage 28. By way of example, the value m 0 varies from 400 to 800 ignition strokes. Proceeding then to the diamond 345 at which point the DECREMENTING test is performed to determine whether there is or is not advance decrementing. If there is in fact decrementing, processing proceeds to post 346 where the decrementing is damped every m 1 ignitions, m 1 being a numerical value between 150 and 300. Proceeding then to the PINGING test at 335 during which all decrements are increased by the amount n 1 , n 1 being a numerical value between 6 and 8. After this a second test is done on DECREMENTING to determine a maximum decrementing value m O at 338. If the test proves positive, at 339 processing proceeds to the operation consisting of bringing the decrementing back to m O maximum value, after which the present cycle is finished. If the tests 334 and 338 have shown a negative result, the processing leaves the flow-chart. If the test 324 showed no acceleration, processing proceeds to test 341 on TIMING. With the aid of TIMING recorder, a transitional acceleration is temporarily memorized, which may facilitate the engine's operation by easing its burden for the immediate future. Indeed, if the following scenario for the driver is imagined: he accelerates and causes pinging; immediately after he eases up on the pedal to change speeds, then accelerates again; the engine then takes advantage a second time of the correction made during the preceding acceleration to pass through a second acceleration without pinging. The TIMING recorder corresponds to a numerical monostable which is damped as soon as acceleration has ceased. The TIMING recorder is a numerical monostable which is put to its maximum by an acceleration and which makes it possible to prevent any decrementing resetting operation when deceleration is taking place. If the TIMING test is positive, processing proceeds to 344 where the operation consists of damping the TIMING recorder at each ignition. If the test 341 yields no result, processing proceeds to 343 where the operation consists of bringing all decrementing back to zero. The operations 343 and 344 have a common output which takes them directly to the end of the flow-chart. Having reviewed the strategy followed when the test 323 has revealed instability in the pressure, processing proceeds to examine the strategy when the test 323 shows that the pressure is stable. Processing leave the diamond 323 on its right and come to test 325 on TIMING. If this test is not negative, processing proceeds to operation 326 which consists of damping the TIMING as in operation 344. The output of the operation 326 joins the left output of the test 325, if the TIMING test is negative, and this joint output leads to the test 327 consisting of determining whether the internal combustion engine is operating at full charge. The result determines two slightly different strategies, although they follow parallel paths. These two strategies for operating at stabilized charge differ from the strategy for operating at unstabilized charge. Indeed, in the first two cases, processing deals with advance near the pinging, and the corrections are only made on the cylinder for which the noise has just been measured; in the other case, the advance correction affects all the cylinders. Assuming that the engine is in full charge, the test 329 establishes whether or not there is advance decrementing. If it is found that there is indeed decrementing, the operation 331 consists of damping the decrementing every m 3 ignitions, m 3 being a numerical quantity whose value is between 1000 and 2000. The output of the operation 331 joins the left output of the test 329 if it is found that there is no decrementing, and processing then proceeds to the test 332 to determine whether or not there is PINGING. If there is, processing proceeds to operation 337 which consists of increasing the DECREMENTING for the cylinder in question by the amount m 3 , a positive value equal to one or two. At the output of the operation 337 processing then continues on to test 338, already encountered previously, during which is determined the maximum decrementing value. If the test 332, like the previous test 334, makes it possible to establish that there is no decrementing, the present cycle is finished. If the test 327 on FULL CHARGE showed that operation is not under that condition, processing proceeds to the test 328 to determine whether or not there is DECREMENTING. If it is found that there is in fact decrementing, the operation 330 consists of damping this decrementing every m 2 ignitions, m 2 being a numerical amount whose value is between 400 and 800. The output of the operation 330 joins the left output of the test 328 if no decrementing is found, and processing proceeds then to the test 333 to determine whether or not there is PINGING. If yes, processing goes on to the operation 336 which consists of increasing the decrementing for the cylinder in question by the amount n 2 , a positive value that may be from three to five. At the output of the operation 336 processing proceeds on to the test 338, already encountered previously, during which is determined the maximum decrementing value. If the test 333, like the previous tests 332 and 334, makes it possible to establish that there is no pinging, the present cycle is finished. FIG. 6 shows an implementation of the output stage 26 of the calculator 20. This stage 26, working according to a method of operation by external breaking, is not marked in the flow-chart in FIG. 2 as its placement is not defined in the succession of logical tasks but is defined by the main advance calculator when a corrected decrementing value is needed. We again find the conductors 39 and 40 already shown in FIG. 1. The conductor 39, called sending conductor, is attached to the charging input of a counter 260 connected by its inputs to a memory 29 for the decrementing value and by its outputs to a zero detector 261. The output of the latter is connected to an input in a logic AND gate 262 of which the second input receives the impulses created by the internal clock of the microprocessor 20. The output of this AND gate 262 is connected to the clock input of the counter 260 which is also connected to the conductor 40 with the output of the microprocessor 20 which transmits the decrementing value to the main angle of advance calculator. 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.
A process and apparatus for electronic angle of advance correction in response to pinging and engine charge, which calculates and adjusts the optimization of the advance of an internal combustion engine by detecting pinging, including an integrator with an integration capacitor, and a microprocessor including in particular a counter connectable to a pressure transducer, a calculating stage for calculating the average integrated noise value, a calculating stage for calculating a pinging detection threshold, and a calculating stage for calculating the angle decrementing value to be transmitted to an output stage.
5
FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is in the field of computer systems and processes used for managing documents. This invention may be used in connection with computer systems for authoring electronic documents, other information and computer programs, including computer systems for creating, developing and/or modifying on-line documents and services in a client-server information system. More particularly, the invention is related to managing documents linked together by hypertext links. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION An on-line information system typically includes one computer system (the server) that makes information available so that other computer systems (the clients) can access the information. The server manages access to the information, which can be structured as a set of independent on-line services. The server and client communicate via messages conforming to a communication protocol and sent over a communication channel such as a computer network or through a dial-up connection. Typical uses for on-line services include document viewing, electronic commerce, directory lookup, on-line classified advertisements, reference services, electronic bulletin boards, document retrieval, electronic publishing, keyword searching of documents, technical support for products, and directories of on-line services. The service may make the information available free of charge, or for a fee, and may be on publicly accessible or private computer systems. Information sources managed by the server may include files, databases, and applications on the server system or on an external computer system. The information that the server provides may simply be stored on the server, may be converted from other formats manually or automatically, may be computed on the server in response to a client request, may be derived from data and applications on the server or other machines, or may be derived by any combination of these techniques. The user of an on-line service uses a program on the client system to access the information managed by the on-line service. Possible user capabilities include viewing, searching, downloading, printing, editing, and filing the information managed by the server. The user may also price, purchase, rent, or reserve services or goods offered through the on-line service. An on-line service for catalog shopping, which is an exemplary application of this technology, might work as follows. A user running a program on a client system requests a connection to the catalog shopping service using a service name that either is well known or can be found in a directory. The request is received by the server employed by the catalog shopping service, and the server returns an introductory document that asks for an identifier and password. The client program displays this document, the user fills in an identifier and password that were assigned by the service in a previous visit, and the information is sent to the server. The server verifies the identifier and password against an authorization database, and returns a menu document that is then presented to the user. Each time the user selects a menu item, the selection is sent to the server, and the server responds with the appropriate new page of information, possibly including item descriptions or prices that are retrieved from a catalog database. By selecting a series of menu items, the user navigates to the desired item in the catalog and requests that the item be ordered. The server receives the order request, and returns a form to be completed by the user to provide information about shipping and billing. The user response is returned to the server, and the server enters the order information into an order database. On-line services are available on the World Wide Web (WWW), which operates over the global Internet. The Internet interconnects a large number of otherwise unrelated computers or sites. Similar services are available on private networks called “Intranets” that may not be connected to the Internet, and through local area networks (LANs). The WWW and similar private architectures provide a “web” of interconnected document objects. On the WWW, these document objects are located at various sites on the global Internet. A more complete description of the WWW is provided in “The World-Wide Web, ” by T. Berners-Lee, R. Cailliau, A. Luotonen, H. F. Nielsen, and A. Secret, Communications of the ACM, 37 (8), pp. 76-82, August 1994, and in “World Wide Web: The Information Universe,” by T. Berners-Lee et al., in Electronic Networking: Research, Applications and Policy, Vol. 1, No. 2, Meckler, Westport, Conn., Spring 1992. Among the types of document objects in an on-line service are documents and scripts. Documents that are published on the WWW are written in the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). This language is described in HyperText Markup Language Specification— 2.0, by T. Berners-Lee and D. Connolly, RFC 1866, proposed standard, November 1995, and in “World Wide Web & HTML,” by Douglas C. McArthur, in Dr. Dobbs Journal, December 1994, pp. 18-20, 22, 24, 26 and 86. Many companies also are developing their own enhancements to HTML. HTML documents are generally static, that is, their contents do not change over time unless modified by a service developer. HTML documents can be created using programs specifically designed for that purpose or by executing a script file. The HTML language is used for writing hypertext documents, which are more formally referred to as Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) documents that conform to a particular Document Type Definition (DTD). An HTML document includes a hierarchical set of markup elements; most elements have a start tag, followed by content, followed by an end tag. The content is a combination of text and nested markup elements. Tags, which are enclosed in angle brackets (‘<’ and ‘>’), indicate how the document is structured and how to display the document, as well as destinations and labels for hypertext links. There are tags for markup elements such as titles and headers, text attributes such as bold and italic, lists, paragraph boundaries, links to other documents or other parts of the same document, in-line graphic images, and for many other features. The following lines of HTML briefly illustrate how the language is used: Some words are <B>bold</B>, others are <I>italic</I>. Here we start a new paragraph.<P> Here's a link to the <A HREF=“http://www.microsoft.com”>Microsoft Corporation</A> homepage. This sample document is a hypertext document because it contains a hypertext “link” to another document, in the line that includes “HREF=.” The format of this link is described below. A hypertext document may also have a link to other parts of the same document. Linked documents may generally be located anywhere on the Internet. When a user is viewing the document using a client program called a Web browser (described below), the links are displayed as highlighted words or phrases. For example, using a Web browser, the sample document above might be displayed on the user's screen as follows: Some words are bold, others are italic. Here we start a new paragraph. Here's a link to the Microsoft Corporation homepage. In the Web browser, the link may be selected, for example, by clicking on the highlighted area with a mouse. Typically, the screen cursor changes when positioned on a hypertext link. Selecting a link will cause the associated document to be displayed. Thus, clicking on the highlighted text “Microsoft Corporation” would fetch and display the associated homepage for that entity. The HTML language also provides a mechanism (the image or “IMG” element) enabling an HTML document to include an image that is stored as a separate file. When the end user views the HTML document, the included image is displayed as part of the document, at the point where the image element occurred in the document. Another kind of document object in a web is a script. A script is an executable program, or a set of commands stored in a file, that can be run by a server program called a Web server (described below) to produce an HTML document that is then returned to the Web browser. Typical script actions include running library routines or other applications to fetch information from a file or a database, or initiating a request to obtain information from another machine, or retrieving a document corresponding to a selected hypertext link. A script may be run on the Web server when, for example, the end user selects a particular hypertext link in the Web browser, or submits an HTML form request. Scripts are usually written by a service developer in an interpreted language such as Basic, Practical Extraction and Report Language (Perl) or Tool Control Language (Tcl) or one of the Unix operating system shell languages, but they also may be written in more complex programming languages such as “C” and then compiled to produce an executable program. Programming in Tcl is described in more detail in Tcl and the Tk Toolkit, by John K. Ousterhout, Addison-Wesley, Reading, Mass., USA, 1994. Perl is described in more detail in Programming in Perl, by Larry Wall and Randal L. Schwartz, O'Reilly & Associates, Inc., Sebastopol, Calif., USA, 1992. Each document object in a web has an identifier called a Universal Resource Identifier (URI). These identifiers are described in more detail in T. Berners-Lee, “ Universal Resource Identifiers in WWW: A Unifying Syntax for the Expression of Names and Addresses of Objects on the Network as used in the World-Wide Web, ” RFC 1630, CERN, June 1994; and T. Berners-Lee, L. Masinter, and M. McCahill, “ Uniform Resource Locators ( URL ),” RFC 1738, CERN, Xerox PARC, University of Minnesota, December 1994. A URI allows any object on the Internet to be referred to by name or address, such as in a link in an HTML document as shown above. There are two types of URIs: a Universal Resource Name (URN), and a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). A URN references an object by name within a given name space. The Internet community has not yet defined the syntax of URNs. A URL references an object by defining an access algorithm using network protocols. An example of a URL is “http://www.microsoft.com”. A URL has the syntax “scheme://host:port/path?search” where “scheme” identifies the access protocol (such as HTTP, FTP or GOPHER); “host” is the Internet domain name of the machine that supports the protocol; “port” is the transmission control protocol (TCP) port number of the appropriate server (if different from the default); “path” is a scheme-specific identification of the object; and “search” contains optional parameters for querying the content of the object. URLs are also used by web servers and browsers on private computer systems, Intranets, or networks, and not just for the WWW. A site at which documents are made available to network users is called a “Web site” and must run a “Web server” program to provide access to the documents. A Web server program is a computer program that allows a computer on the network to make documents available to the rest of the WWW or a private network. The documents are often hypertext documents in the HTML language, but may be other types of document objects as well, and may include images, audio, and/or video information. The information that is managed by the Web server includes hypertext documents that are stored on the server or are dynamically generated by scripts on the Web server. Several Web server software packages exist, such as the Conseil Europeen pour la Recherche Nucleaire (CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics) server or the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) server. Web servers have been implemented for several different platforms, including the Sun Sparc II™ workstation running the Unix operating system, and personal computers with the Intel PENTIUM™ processor running the Microsoft MS-DOS™ operating system and the Microsoft Windows™ operating environment. Web servers also have a standard interface for running external programs, called the Common Gateway Interface (CGI). CGI is described in more detail in How to Set Up and Maintain a Web Site, by Lincoln D. Stein, Addison-Wesley, August 1995. A gateway is a program that handles incoming information requests and returns the appropriate document or generates a document dynamically. For example, a gateway might receive queries, look up the answer in a database to provide a response, and translate the response into a page of HTML so that the server can send the response to the client. A gateway program may be written in a language such as “C” or in a scripting language such as Perl or Tcl or one of the Unix operating system shell languages. The CGI standard specifies how the script or application receives input and parameters, and specifies how output should be formatted and returned to the server. For security reasons, a Web server machine may limit access to files. To control access to files on the Web server, the Web server program running on the server machine may provide an extra layer of security above and beyond the normal file system and login security procedures of the operating system on the server machine. The Web server program may add further security rules such as: (a) optionally requiring input of a user name and password, completely independent of the normal user name and passwords that the operating system may maintain on user accounts; (b) allowing groups of users to be identified for security purposes, independent of any user group definitions of the operating system; (c) access control for each document object such that only specified users (with optional passwords) or groups of users are allowed access to an object, or so that access is only allowed for clients at specific network addresses, or some combination of these rules; (d) allowing access to the document objects only through a specified subset of the possible HTTP methods; and (e) allowing some document objects to be marked as HTML documents, others to be marked as executable scripts that will generate HTML documents, and others to be marked as other types of objects such as images. Access to the on-line service document objects via a network file system would not conform to the security features of the Web server program and would provide a way to access documents outside of the security provided by the Web server. The Web server program also typically maps document object names that are known to the client to file names on the server file system. This mapping may be arbitrarily complex, and any author or program that tries to access documents on the Web server directly would need to understand this name mapping. A user (typically using a machine other than the machine used by the Web server) who wishes to access documents available on the network at a Web site must run a client program called a “Web browser.” The Web browser program allows the user to retrieve and display documents from Web servers. Some of the popular Web browser programs are: Navigator™ browser from NetScape Communications Corp., of Mountain View, Calif.; Mosaic™ browser from the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA); WinWeb™ browser, from Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corp. of Austin, Tex.; and Internet Explorer™ from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash. Web browsers have been developed to run on different platforms, including personal computers with the Intel Corporation PENTIUM™ processor running Microsoft Corporation's MS-DOS™ operating system and Microsoft Corporation's Windows™ environment, and Apple Corporation's Macintosh™ personal computers. The Web server and the Web browser communicate using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) message protocol and the underlying transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP) data transport protocol of the Internet. HTTP is described in Hypertext Transfer Protocol—HTTP/ 1.0, by T. Berners-Lee, R. T. Fielding, H. Frystyk Nielsen, Internet Draft Document, Oct. 14, 1995, and is currently in the standardization process. In HTTP, the Web browser establishes a connection to a Web server and sends an HTTP request message to the server. In response to an HTTP request message, the Web server checks for authorization, performs any requested action, and returns an HTTP response message containing an HTML document in accord with the requested action, or an error message. The returned HTML document may simply be a file stored on the Web server, or may be created dynamically using a script called in response to the HTTP request message. For instance, to retrieve a document, a Web browser may send an HTTP request message to the indicated Web server, requesting a document by reference to the URL of the document. The Web server then retrieves the document and returns it in an HTTP response message to the Web browser. If the document has hypertext links, then the user may again select one of the links to request that a new document be retrieved and displayed. As another example, a user may fill in a form requesting a database search. In response, the Web browser will send an HTTP request message to the Web server including the name of the database to be searched, the search parameters, and the URL of the search script. The Web server calls a search program, passing in the search parameters. The program examines the parameters and attempts to answer the query, perhaps by sending the query to a database interface. When the program receives the results of the query, it constructs an HTML document that is returned to the Web server, which then sends it to the Web browser in an HTTP response message. Request messages in HTTP contain a “method name” indicating the type of action to be performed by the server, a URL indicating a target object (either document or script) on the Web server, and other control information. Response messages contain a status line, server information, and possible data content. The Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) specification defines a standardized protocol for describing the content of messages that are passed over a network. HTTP request and response messages use MIME header lines to indicate the format of the message. MIME is described in more detail in MIME ( Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions ): Mechanisms for Specifying and Describing the Format of Internet Message Bodies, Internet RFC 1341, June 1992. The request methods defined in the current version of the HTTP protocol include GET, POST, PUT, HEAD, DELETE, LINK, and UNLINK. HEAD, DELETE, LINK and UNLINK are less commonly used and are described in more detail in the HTTP/1.0 draft specification cited above. The GET method causes the server to retrieve the object indicated by the given URL and send it back to the client. If the URL refers to a document, then the server responds by sending back the document. If the URL refers to an executable script, then the server executes the script and returns the data produced by the execution of the script. Web browser programs normally use the GET method to send request messages to the Web server to retrieve HTML documents, which the Web browser then displays on the screen at the client computer. The PUT method, according to the HTTP specification, specifies that the object contained in the request should be stored on the server at the location indicated by a URL. However, most current server implementations do not follow this specification; instead, they simply handle all PUT requests through a single PUT script, which is generally undefined, and must be created by a service author. Web browsers generally do not use the PUT method. The POST method sends data, usually the user input parameters from an HTML form, to the server. The POST request also contains the URL of a script to be run on the server. The server runs the script, passing the parameters given in the request, and the script generates an HTML output that is returned in the response to the client. In order for a client program to send arbitrary data to the Web server using the current HTTP protocol, the client program must use either the PUT method or the POST method, as these are the only two methods that allow such data transfer to the Web server. Web browsers generally use only the POST method and generally only for the purpose of sending data in connection with forms to be processed. The combination of the Web server and Web browser communicating using an HTTP protocol over a computer network, as described above, is referred to herein as a web architecture. The web architecture described above is suitable for use in private LANs or on the Internet. A typical on-line service for use on a web architecture will now be described. This type of on-line service includes a Web server program running on a Web server machine, and a set of service files that characterize the on-line service and which are stored on the Web server. The service files include HTML documents, executable scripts or programs to dynamically produce HTML documents, and other files of service information that can be referenced and updated by the scripts and programs. The actual data and scripts that comprise a particular on-line service, including HTML documents and script programs, are generally stored on the server in a separate area designated for that service. Global information about the service is also stored, including data such as the name of the service, the name of the author, revision history, comments about the service, and authorization information. The end user of the on-line service uses a Web browser program on the client machine to send requests to the on-line service and to receive responses from the on-line service. All access by an end user of the on-line service to the service files is managed and controlled by the Web server program. For example, an on-line service might consist of a corporate homepage HTML document, with a link to a second document that is a form for searching the store catalog. The search form may have a “submit” button that causes a script to be run on the Web server, generating a list of product descriptions with prices that is then returned to the Web browser as an HTML document. Each of the HTML documents may have a link to a second script that collects and displays the items that have been ordered. The service also has configuration information, such as a list of authorized users of the service and their passwords. FIG. 1 shows the steps for using an on-line service, as seen by the end user of the on-line service on the client computer. The end user starts a Web browser program in a step 10 , and the program determines the URL of an initial document to display in a step 12 . The initial document URL may be determined from a configuration file, or may be programmed into the Web browser, or entered by the user. The browser then sends an HTTP GET request to the Web server in a step 14 , giving the URL of the desired document. The browser then waits for a response from the Web server in a step 16 . In a step 18 , the browser tests the response to determine if it indicates an error message. If the response message from the Web server indicates an error, e.g., if the requested document is not found, then the browser reports the error to the end user in a step 22 . Otherwise the response message from the Web server contains the requested document, and the Web browser formats and displays the document on the screen in a step 20 , according to the HTML language conventions. In either case, the browser waits for the user to enter the next command in a step 24 . For example, the user may request to view a new document either by selecting a hypertext link to the document, by requesting the document from a list of previously visited documents, or by entering the URL of the document that was obtained by the user through some other means. The browser tests the user command to determine if the user is requesting a new document in a step 26 . If so, processing continues at step 14 , as noted above. If the user is not requesting a new document, the browser tests the command in a step 30 to determine if it is a request to exit the program. If so, processing stops. Otherwise the command is a local command that is handled by the browser in a step 28 , without sending an HTTP request. The end user may use local viewing commands, such as commands to scroll through the document, or commands to search for a particular text string in the document. After the browser handles the local command, the browser again waits for the next user command in step 24 , as already discussed. FIG. 2 shows the operation of an on-line service as seen by the Web server program. When the server is started, it runs continuously, waiting to receive a command over the network connection from a client Web browser program in a step 40 . The server tests the received command in a step 44 to determine if it is a GET request. If so, the server examines the URL contained in the request in a step 52 to determine if the URL indicates an HTML document that is stored on the server. If the URL does refer to a document, then that document is returned to the Web browser via an HTTP response in a step 58 . Otherwise, the URL indicates a script stored on the server, and the Web server runs the script to produce an HTML document in a step 56 , and the HTML document is returned to the Web browser as noted with regard to step 58 . If the test of step 44 determines that the command is not a GET request, the server tests the command in a step 48 to determine if it is a POST request. If so, the server retrieves the parameters from the POST request in a step 54 , which include the URL and parameters for the script. The server then runs the indicated script in step 56 to generate an HTML document, which is returned to the Web browser as described above in connection with step 58 . After an HTML document is returned to the Web browser, processing continues at step 40 . If the test of step 48 determines that the command is not a POST request, the server returns an error message to the Web browser in a step 50 , formatted as an HTML document. The processing continues at step 40 , and the server again waits for the next request to repeat the process. On-line services such as those described above are in high demand. Unfortunately, the task of developing an on-line service is currently one that almost always requires extensive programming skill and much specialized knowledge. Thus, there exists a great need for tools to simplify the process of building an on-line service so that the process can be accomplished in less time, with fewer errors, and by a non-programmer. In some cases, software tools exist to help convert the data content for a service from a native format to the format required by the server, but these tools only address the conversion of data files. Many other facets of the process are not undertaken by tools currently available. In order to construct an on-line service for the World Wide Web, an author must perform a combination of the tasks, including creating a new HTML document for hypertext employed by the on-line service, creating a new script used by the on-line service, retrieving and modifying an existing HTML document from the Web server machine, retrieving and modifying an existing script from the Web server machine, and storing an HTML document or script on the Web server machine so that the Web server program will have access to it. There are several approaches known in the prior art for constructing documents and scripts usable by an on-line service, and performing the tasks noted above. During performance of the tasks discussed above, an author may need to view the connectivity of documents linked together by hypertext links. The document author may further need to navigate among linked documents while using an editing program. One conventional method for navigating among linked documents is to simply make the links active—even during editing. Thus, a link may be followed simply by selecting it. However, this approach does not enable the entire network of links to be viewed simultaneously. According to a second conventional method, a collection of linked documents may be represented by a web-like network of document icons connected by links. This method breaks down when the network becomes highly connected or even self-referential due to the density of information that must be presented. A third conventional method improves somewhat on the second method. Under this third method, only a predetermined number of levels are shown. While an improvement over the second conventional method, the third method still does not solve the problem of representing the web in such a manner that links may readily be followed either forward or back from a document. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has several aspects addressing various problems in the prior art discussed above and providing other functional benefits not available through other known techniques. One aspect of the present invention is a set of document and link data structures that store information about documents in a web of linked documents and about the links among the documents. A related aspect of the invention is a set of computer-implemented procedures to construct each of the document and link data structures. Another aspect of the invention is a set of outline view graphical data structures that are used to implement an outline view graphical user interface. A related aspect is a set of computer-implemented procedures that use the document and link data structures and the outline view graphical data structures to implement the graphical user interface accessing the outline view. Yet another aspect of the invention is a set of link view graphical data structures that are used to implement a graphical user interface map of the links, i.e., a “link map view.” A related aspect is a set of computer-implemented procedures that use the document and link data structures and the link view graphical data structures to implement the graphical user interface for the link map view. Finally, another aspect of the invention is the set of computer-implemented procedures to implement interaction between the link view and the outline view. In accordance with the present invention, a method is defined for representing relationships between linked elements on a web. The method comprises the step creating a first data structure, which for each element of the web, identifies any hyperlink references to other elements of the web. In addition, a second data structure is created, which for each element of the web, identifies any hyperlink references from other elements of the web. In regard to at least one element of the web that is selected as a focus element, any links from the focus element to any other elements and any links from other elements to the focus element are graphically displayed, using the first and the second data structures to identify the links. A graphical outline view of the web is preferably also produced, and in the outline view, relative hierarchical levels of the elements on the web are displayed. A homepage is displayed at a top level of the outline view. Other elements that are subordinate in the hierarchical levels are shown in lower levels. In the preferred form of the invention, orphan elements are included in the first and the second data structure. The orphan elements comprise elements that are not accessible by following any link from the homepage element. A user is enabled to selectively graphically display links to and from at least one other element that is not a focus element. In the preferred form of the invention, the elements typically comprise a plurality of hypertext markup language documents. A link from a first element to a second element is graphically represented by an arrow extending from the first element and pointing to the second element. Because of rules applied at their creation, neither the first nor the second data structure includes duplicate link entries. Links between the focus element and any other elements included in the first data structure are preferably graphically represented at one side of the focus element, and links between the focus element and any other elements included in the second data structure are preferably graphically represented on an opposite side of the focus element. However, other arrangements are contemplated. Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a media adapted for distribution of a computer program to enable the computer program to be executed on a computer. When the computer program is executed by a computer, it enables a visual representation of relationships between linked elements on a web to be displayed. The functions of the computer program are thus generally consistent with the method discussed above. Yet a further aspect of the present invention is directed to a system for graphically representing and displaying relationships between linked elements on a web. The system includes a memory, a display, and a processor. Machine instructions stored in the memory are executed by the processor to implement functions that are also generally consistent with the steps of the method just described. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 (prior art) is a flowchart showing the interaction between a user and an on-line service; FIG. 2 (prior art) is a flowchart showing the interaction between a web server and the on-line service; FIG. 3 is a map of the links between pages of an exemplary web; FIG. 4 is a map of a master document list; FIG. 5 is a tabular map of an index of links; FIGS. 5A-5F are tabular maps of secondary dictionaries that serve as the values of the index of FIG. 5; FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the logical steps for creation of the master document list; FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the logic for creating the index of links; FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the steps for creating the orphan list; FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the initialization of the outline view; FIG. 10 is a flowchart for the expansion of the outline by one level; FIG. 11 is a screen view showing both the outline view and link view of one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 11A is the screen view of FIG. 11, illustrating the expansion of two documents; FIG. 12 is a representation of a link view object; FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the logic for the creation of a link view object; and FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram of the functional components of a computer used in implementing the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Data Structures As used herein, a “dictionary” is a data structure that contains a list of entries, where each entry contains a key and an associated value. The key and value may be any arbitrary type of data. Various types of operations can be performed on the data structures comprising a dictionary. One operation that can be performed on the dictionary is retrieving the value associated with a given key. Another operation is the removal of the dictionary entry that corresponds to a given key. Other operations are the creation of a new entry that includes a key and a corresponding value, and the replacing of the value associated with a given key with a new value. The definition of a particular dictionary may require that each key in the dictionary be unique. Attributes of a dictionary, as used in regard to the present invention, preclude duplicate key entries in a list comprising a dictionary. The present invention operates on linked documents that are herein referred to as a “web.” A map of linked documents forming a web 301 is shown in FIG. 3 . The linked documents comprising web 301 may be stored on or accessed from one or more computer systems in a network. However, without loss of generality or limitation on the present invention, the following description specifically refers to a web whose documents are all locally stored and accessible. One of ordinary skill will understand that conventional network access mechanisms can be used to expand the procedures related to the web described below, so that they are applicable to a system that operates, for example, using Internet access mechanisms to access documents as part of the document sharing network popularly known as the World Wide Web. There are three main document and link data structures that are used in this invention: (1) a master document list 401 shown in FIG. 4; (2) an index of links 501 shown in FIG. 5; and, (3) a list of orphan pages (not shown). Master document list 401 is a list of all documents in exemplary web 301 , and is used to store for each document, a list of hypertext links from the document to other documents. The master document list is implemented as a dictionary, where keys 403 each comprise a URL for a document object, and an associated value 405 for each object is a pointer to a document structure. Each document structure contains a list of links 407 (i.e., URLs pointing to other document objects) that are contained in the document object pointed to by the key in the master document list. Referring to FIG. 5, an index of links 501 is a list of all documents in web 301 . For each document, the index of links identifies all of the other documents that have a hypertext link to the document. As shown in FIG. 5, index of links 501 is implemented as a dictionary, where each key 503 is a URL of a document object, and an associated value 505 is a secondary dictionary. As shown in the examples of FIGS. 5A-5F, each secondary dictionary contains a list of document structure pointers 509 for documents that have hypertext links to a document object, which is the document object referenced by key 503 in the example of FIG. 5 . In the secondary dictionary, each key is a pointer to a document structure, and the associated value is the same as the key. The secondary dictionary implements a list of pointers to document structures, and duplicate pointers cannot be entered into the list. To more clearly illustrate the manner in which the links between document objects in FIG. 3 are referenced in the main dictionary and secondary dictionaries, it may be helpful to provide specific examples. Exemplary master document list 401 includes a first key that is equal to the “homepage” document object. A corresponding value 407 that is shown to the right of this key is set equal to a pointer to a document structure that contains a list of each document object to which a link points from a homepage.html document object 302 , as represented by arrows in FIG. 3 that extend from the homepage.html document object to document objects a.html 304 , b.html 306 , and c.html 310 . In exemplary index of links 501 , the first entry for a key equal to homepage.html is associated with a value that is equal to secondary dictionary 1 , which is shown in FIG. 5 A. Referring to that Figure, a first listed key is equal to a value for a pointer to the document structure for document object c.html, and a second key is equal to a value for a pointer to the document structure for document object d.html. As shown in FIG. 3, document objects c.html 310 and d.html 308 are the two document objects from which links extend to homepage.html 302 . Another line in index of links 501 lists a key equal to c.html and has an associated value that is equal to secondary dictionary 4 , which is illustrated in FIG. 5 C. As shown in FIG. 5C, secondary dictionary 4 lists two keys, the first equal to a value for a pointer to the document structure for the homepage.html, and the second equal to a value for a pointer to the document structure for document object b.html. As shown in FIG. 3, both document objects homepage.html 302 and b.html 306 have links referencing document object c.html 310 , as indicated by secondary dictionary 4 . The list of orphan pages is a list of documents that are not accessible by following links from the homepage of the web. This list is used only by the outline view, as explained below. Referring to FIG. 4, it will be apparent that no paths comprising one or more links exists that can be from the homepage to either orphan page. The list of orphan pages is also implemented as an array of pointers to document structures. For example, master document list 401 indicates that for a key equal to orphan 1 .html, an associated value equals a pointer to a document structure containing a list that includes “orphan 2 .html.” As shown in FIG. 3, a link extends from document object orphan 1 .html to document object orphan 2 .html. However, the key in column 403 of the master document list that is equal to “orphan 2 .html” has a value that is equal to a pointer to a document structure containing an empty list. Referring again to FIG. 3, it will be noted that document object orphan 2 .html 314 does not have a link pointing to any other document object. Similarly, index of links 501 also includes references to the orphan pages. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, dictionaries are implemented using a CMap template class that is provided in a Microsoft Foundation Classes™ library. Arrays are implemented using a CArray template class of the Microsoft Foundation Classes library. The advantage of using these particular class implementations of dictionaries and arrays is that the classes are included as part of the Microsoft Windows™ development environment. However, other implementations of array and dictionary classes could be written, or can be obtained as part of a class library from another vendor. For this discussion, it is assumed that the present invention has been incorporated in a client-server web document authoring tool; however, it could instead be implemented in a different application. As shown in FIG. 6, the master document list is constructed by issuing a request 601 to retrieve the list of document objects in the web, and for each document object in the web, to retrieve the list of all hypertext links from that document object to other document objects, i.e., as a list of URLs. A determination is made in a step 603 as to whether the information requested is present on the server. If the information is not provided, and the web is present, the requested information is determined by the server computer in a step 605 . In either case, the requested information is returned in a step 607 . In alternative embodiments, the requested information may be determined by either the client or the server, either periodically or in response to each request, and stored on either the client or server computer. After the document list and hypertext link information has been retrieved in step 607 , a document structure in computer memory is instantiated for a single document object as the list in a step 609 . For a given document object, a dictionary entry in the master document list is created in a step 611 , using the document object URL as the key, and an associated pointer to the instantiated document structure as the value. After each document structure has been instantiated in the computer memory, the document structure is initialized with the list of all hypertext links from the corresponding document to other documents, as also provided in step 611 . This process of instantiation indicated in step 609 and of creation indicated in step 611 is repeated until all document objects in the list are exhausted, as noted in a step 613 . As shown in FIG. 7, an index of links (e.g., like exemplary index of links 501 in FIG. 5) is constructed from a master document list. First, in a step 701 , the index of links is created in computer memory as an empty dictionary. A step 702 determines if all document objects in the master document list have been processed. For each document object URL (i.e. key) in the master document list, an associated document structure (i.e., value) is retrieved in a step 703 . The procedure loops through each document's list of hypertext links as provided in a step 705 until all URLs are processed as indicated in a step 707 . The results are stored as the main and the secondary dictionaries. With reference to the exemplary master document list shown in FIG. 4, the main dictionary (e.g., index of links 501 in FIG. 5) will have a key value corresponding to each key in the master document list. For each URL, the index of links dictionary is examined in a step 709 to determine if there is an entry having a key equal to that URL. If such an entry is found, the dictionary value associated with the URL key is retrieved in a step 711 . If the entry is not found, an empty dictionary for the URL is created in a step 713 , and an entry is added to the index of links dictionary in a step 715 , using the URL as the key and the newly created URL dictionary as the value. In either case, in a step 717 , an entry is added to the URL dictionary for the document object taken from the master document list. This entry includes both a key and a value that is set to the document structure pointer for the original document structure that was retrieved from the master document list. The following explanation should help to clarify the preceding steps. As an example of the steps implemented, note that the third line in index of links 501 has a key value equal to b.html. To determine whether a non-empty secondary dictionary should be created for this URL, the document structures in the master document list are searched to find any that reference b.html. In the example shown in FIG. 4, a link to b.html is found from homepage.html. Accordingly, secondary dictionary 3 shown in FIG. 5C is created, and this dictionary includes a pointer to the document structure for the homepage.html document object. As shown in FIG. 8, the list of orphan pages is constructed after the master document list and index of links. First, in a step 801 , the homepage for the web is identified by requesting a list of valid homepage names from the server. In steps 803 and 804 , each of the names is located in the master document list of documents. The first name found is the homepage of the web, as indicated in a step 805 . Next, in a step 807 , links are followed from the homepage using a conventional search algorithm, marking each document as it is encountered during the search. Links from documents that have already been marked are not followed. The orphan list is created in a step 809 as an initially empty list. Finally, in a step 811 , the master document list is searched for documents that have not been marked, and these documents are added to the orphan list. Images are not added to the orphan list because images are used differently than text documents in a web of documents and are thus a special case. The data structures described above are used to implement the outline view and link view of a web under a graphical user interface, in accord with the present invention. Both of these views are described in the following section. Outline and Link Views The outline view has its origin at the homepage document, which is found at the top level of the outline. In this view, documents with which the homepage is linked are shown as subordinate to the homepage document. In general, a given document has links to other documents that appear as subordinate to the given document in the outline unless the other documents have already been displayed elsewhere in the outline view. Documents are shown in the outline view as text and/or bitmap “items.” The graphical representation of the web in the outline view resembles the directory tree used in the Microsoft Windows™ File Manager program. In the preferred embodiment, the standard Microsoft Windows™ tree control is used to implement the outline view; although, any hierarchical list control that allows text and bitmaps for items could alternatively be used. The method used for initializing the outline view is shown in FIG. 9 . In a step 901 , for each orphan page, an item is added at the top level of the outline tree. Next, in a step 903 , an item representing the homepage is inserted at the top level of the outline tree. Note that a pointer to the document structure for the homepage is stored as the first item in the orphan page list. In a step 905 , the tree is expanded one level deep relative to the homepage. The list of orphan pages is used exclusively for initializing the outline tree. Using the control facilities of the graphical user interface, the user expands the outline view for a given document by clicking on that document. Expanding the outline for a given document means that all hypertext links from the given document to other documents are followed, and names and icons for these other documents are displayed as subordinate to the given document in the outline. Since the link following and document displaying process can continue to an infinite depth in the case of self-referential or closed loop links, display limiting criteria are used. As shown in a step 1001 in FIG. 10, a document is selected by a user for expansion in the outline view. In a step 1003 , the program retrieves a hypertext link (URL) from the associated document structure, and in a step 1004 , determines if the link fits the current criteria that limit the documents displayed. There may be criteria that control the display of image documents, or the display of hypertext links from a document to itself, or the display of duplicate documents. For example, one useful set of criteria is: (1) do not display image documents; (2) display self-references; and, (3) do not display further links from a second instance of a document already displayed at a higher hierarchical level. The depth of self-referential display is limited by the third criterion. If the hypertext link fits the criteria, the URL for this link is used to retrieve the associated document structure from the master document list, and to insert an item in the outline tree for the document, as noted in a step 1005 . A step 1006 determines if all links have been processed, and if not, loops back to step 1003 to repeat the process. Each document structure contains an outline view object. When a document is added to the outline tree, for example, when a branch of the tree is expanded to a level that includes the document, its outline view object is updated with a reference to its outline tree item. This step serves two purposes: (1) it makes it possible to quickly find an outline tree item given a document structure; and, (2) it makes it possible to determine if a given document structure is already represented in the outline view. Detecting whether a document structure has already been represented helps to prevent the creation of a recursive tree, where a document in the tree or one of its link descendants has a link to the document in the tree. In another aspect of this invention, it is sometimes necessary to immediately expand the outline view from the homepage document down to an identified descendent document in the outline hierarchy, without manually stepping through each intervening level. For example, suppose the invention is used as part of an Editor software program. The Editor may access or create a document anywhere in the web hierarchy. When a document is saved from the Editor, or when a new document is added to the web, or when the user employs a feature of the user interface allowing the user to find an arbitrary document in the outline view, expansion of the outline to the identified descendent document is required. The expansion of the outline view to display the identified document is done by doing a breadth-first search for the document, starting at the homepage. The search is extended to each of the orphan pages if the document is not found in any branch of the links from the homepage. The search results is a chain of one or more URLs from the homepage document to the document. A breadth-first search is used because it simulates the way a typical user navigates the outline tree. However, a depth-first search could alternatively be used. The link map view shows a starting document, which serves as the focus, all documents that the starting document links to, and all documents that link to the starting document. Each document is displayed as a graphical icon, and each link between two documents is displayed as an arrow extending from a document containing the link to the target document of the link. The link map view may also show documents that are two or more links removed from the starting document in the same manner. An exemplary link view display for the web of FIG. 3 is shown in FIG. 11. A “focus” document 1101 is displayed at the center of the link view, at a level 0. Focus document 1101 has links 1103 to other documents 1105 that are shown to the right of the focus document, at a level 1. Each of links 1103 is shown as an arrow extending from focus document 1101 to one of documents 1105 at level 1. Documents 1107 that have links 1109 to focus document 1101 are shown to the left of the focus document, i.e., at level −1. Each of links 1109 is shown as an arrow extending from one of documents 1107 at level −1 to focus document 1101 . In accordance with the currently described embodiment, at the focus document level (level 0) and at each level to the right of the focus document (positive levels), only one document at a given level may be expanded to show links to documents at the next higher level. Similarly, in accordance with this embodiment, at the focus document level (level 0) and at each level to the left of the focus document (negative levels), only one document at a given level may be expanded to show links from documents at the next lower level. FIG. 11A shows the link view of FIG. 11 after expansion of links 1111 from a document “c.html” to other documents 1113 , and the expansion of links 1115 from other documents 1117 to a document “d.html.” In the exemplary embodiment, some of the details of the link view are implemented using the methods and data structures of two of the Microsoft Foundation Classes for Windows™, specifically, the scrollable view class (CScrollView) and the image list control class (CImageCtrl). The scrollable view class implements the graphical user interface for a scrollable window that gives a partial view of a link map that may be too large to display all at once. The image list class manages the storage and display of image bitmaps. The link view could also be implemented with custom programming for the scrolling window and bitmap drawing mechanisms, or by using a graphical class library from another vendor. The lists used with link view data structures are based on the CArray class of the Microsoft Foundation Classes. The data and program structure of the link view maps closely to the visible structure of the view. Each document icon displayed in the link view is represented internally by a link view object data structure as illustrated by the example of FIG. 12 . In this example, there is a “focus” link view object 1201 , representing focus document 1101 , which contains two lists: (1) a list 1203 of link view objects for documents that have links to focus document 1101 ; and, (2) a list 1205 of link view objects for documents that have links from the focus document. Each link view object 1207 contains a pointer to a document structure. Link view graphical data structures corresponding to a current state of the link view are built each time the focus item changes, for example, when the user changes the selection in the outline view or selects a command such as “move to center” from a link view context menu. FIG. 13 shows the steps implemented when the selection is changed in the outline view, beginning with a step 1301 . In a step 1303 , the link view program structure is passed a message from the outline view containing the URL for the new focus item. The URL of the new focus item is used to look up the document structure of the new focus item in the main dictionary in a step 1305 . Next, a list of documents having links to the focus document, and a list of documents having links from the focus document are constructed in a step 1307 . In the case where the URL is not found in the main dictionary, it may be concluded that there are no links from the focus document to other documents. The list of documents that have links to the focus document is built by looking up the URL of the focus document in the index of links. For each document icon at level 0 or greater, the links to other documents can selectively be expanded to show all of those documents, or collapsed to NOT show the documents. Similarly, for each document icon at level 0 or less (negative or zero levels), the links from other documents can be expanded or collapsed to selectively show or NOT show the documents. For ease of layout and display, the link view embodiments currently in use only permits a single document item to be expanded at each level other than level 0. Thus, rather than mapping the entire web in this view, only the documents “close” to the focus document are mapped. The link view program structures expand links from a given document to other documents, or to a given document from other documents in the same manner as done when determining the list of links for the focus document. In the case of links to a given document, the program looks up the URL in the index of links. In the case of links from the given document, the program looks up the URL in the main document dictionary. It is likely that software comprising machine instructions used to implement the present invention will be distributed either over a network or stored on a non-volatile storage media such as a floppy disk or a compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM) disk for distribution to end users. The invention will likely be initially provided as a client-server web document authoring tool software program, but it is also contemplated that it might be provided as a module in other types of software programs. As indicated in FIG. 14, a floppy disk 1411 on which are stored machine instructions appropriate to cause a processor 1401 to implement the logic of the present invention as discussed above can be loaded into a floppy disk drive 1409 and stored on the hard drive of a personal computer 1400 . When the program comprising these machine instructions is executed by computer 1400 , the machine instructions are loaded in memory 1403 , which includes random access memory RAM (not separately shown). Any user interaction with the program is provided through input devices 1405 , which includes a keyboard and a mouse or other pointing device (also not separately shown). The data structures developed to graphically represent the links interconnecting documents in a web are then stored in memory 1403 and/or on the hard drive, so that the outline view and link view can be presented on a display 1407 , as described above. Although the present invention has been described in connection with the preferred form of practicing it, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that many modifications can be made thereto within the scope of the claims that follow. Accordingly, it is not intended that the scope of the invention in any way be limited by the above description, but instead be determined entirely by reference to the claims that follow.
A method for representing linked document connectivity that produces an easy to use, uncluttered screen display. An outline view shows a web of documents as a limited, hierarchical outline. A link view, operatively connected to the outline view, shows a small region of the web surrounding a focus document. The outline may be expanded or contracted to show documents at several levels of the hierarchy, at each branch. The links to and from the focus document may be expanded to show a plurality of levels of connection outward from the focus document. Links may be followed to change the focus document in the link view, and documents may be selected in outline view, thereby changing the focus document.
8
[0001] This is a Continuation-In-Part application of international application PCT/EP02/02829 filed Mar. 14, 2002 and claiming the priority of German application DE 101 24 031.7 filed May 16, 2001. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] The invention relates to a reciprocating-piston machine, particularly a refrigerant compressor for an air conditioning system of a motor vehicle. [0003] DE 197 49 727 A1 discloses a reciprocating-piston machine of the type which comprises a machine housing, in which a plurality of pistons are disposed in a circular arrangement around a rotating drive shaft. The drive force is transmitted from the drive shaft via a driver to an annular pivoting disc and from the latter to the pistons, which are supported so as to be movable parallel to the machine shaft. The annular pivoting disc is mounted pivotably on a sleeve supported on the drive shaft so as to be linearly movable on the drive shaft. The driver is a pin rotationally symmetrical with respect to its major axis and having a spherical head, a slender neck portion and a cylindrical fastening portion. It projects from the machine drive shaft exactly transversely to the pivot axis of the pivoting disc and engages a radially oriented cylindrical bore of the pivoting disc. The torque that can be transmitted from the machine shaft to the pistons is limited, in particular, by the stability of the driver. [0004] It is the object of the invention to provide a reciprocating-piston machine, which transmits a higher torque and a high power for an improved operating performance. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0005] In a reciprocating-piston machine, in particular a refrigerant compressor for a motor vehicle air-conditioning system, comprising a machine shaft rotatably supported in a housing with a plurality of pistons arranged circularly around the machine shaft and an annular pivoting disc extending around, and being driven by, the machine shaft, wherein the annular pivoting disc engages the pistons via a joint arrangement disposed on a driver extending from the shaft for transmitting shaft drive forces to the pistons, the annular pivoting disc being supported by a sliding body mounted on a shaft and being pivotable about a hinge axis oriented transversely to the machine shaft, the joint arrangement of the driver is located outside a main center-plane, which extends perpendicularly to the hinge axis and through the axis of rotation of the machine shaft. [0006] The main center-plane extends between the pressure side and the suction side of the reciprocating-piston machine. The pistons on the pressure side are in a compression phase, while the pistons on the suction side are in a suction phase. To reduce torque loads on the pivoting disc during the compression movement of the pistons, it is particularly advantageous to arrange the center of the articulation portion of the driver outside the main mid-plane on the pressure side of the reciprocating-piston machine since this is where the largest forces act on the pivoting disc. It is particularly advantageous to arrange the articulation portion of the driver in such a way that the torques on the pivoting disc (in particular, on its hinge axis) are minimal during operation. It is advantageous to arrange the center of the articulation portion approximately in such a way that its perpendicular projection onto the main center-plane is at a point, where the distance of the center of the articulation portion from the axis of rotation of the machine shaft corresponds to the distances of the piston axes from the axis of rotation of the machine shaft. [0007] In a refinement of the invention, the center of the articulation portion is located, at least approximately, on a cylinder envelope defined by the piston axes. The center of the articulation portion consequently rotates approximately along the cylinder envelope and thus in each case intersects the extension line of each piston axis in the compression stroke of the piston. This results in a favorable mass distribution within the reciprocating-piston machine. [0008] Preferably, the contact point between the articulation portion and the pivoting disc is located on the cylinder envelope, which contains the piston axes. The contact point between the articulation portion and the pivoting disc therefore rotates exactly on the cylinder envelope and thus in each case intersects the extension line of each piston axis. This provides for a favorable force transmission arrangement. [0009] In a further refinement of the invention, the driver axis forms approximately a right angle with the axis of rotation of the machine shaft, that is to say the driver projects transversely from the machine shaft. This provides, for the pivoting disc, which is pivotable relative to the driver, a wide pivoting range in both directions of the machine shaft. Furthermore, it becomes possible for the driver to be mounted on the machine shaft in a particularly simple way. [0010] In accordance with the invention, the driver may have a fastening portion with a non-circular fastening cross-section and the machine shaft may have a recess with a corresponding cross-section for receiving the driver, the longest extent of the non-circular fastening cross section being arranged in a plane defined by the axis of rotation of the machine shaft and by the driver axis. The fastening cross-section is defined as a section taken transversely to the driver axis in the region of the fastening portion of the driver. As a result, a higher geometrical moment of inertia and therefore an increased stability are provided for the driver in the direction of movement of the pistons. The fastening cross-section is preferably in the form of an oval, an ellipse or a flattened circle. [0011] In a refinement of the invention, the driver is held in the machine shaft by means of a press and/or transition fit. In this case, preferably, reduced compression is provided in the direction of the shortest extent of the fastening cross-section and increased compression is provided in the direction of the longest extent of the fasting cross-section. [0012] In a particular embodiment of the invention, the driver has a neck portion with a non-circular neck cross-section, the longest extent of the non-circular neck cross-section being approximately in the direction of a geometrical center-plane of movement of the pivoting disc. The pivoting disc can assume, with respect to the driver, a first and a second reversal position (end position) and otherwise moves back and forth between the two end positions. The mid-position of the pivoting disc between the two end positions is defined by the so-called geometrical center-plane. The neck portion of the driver must allow space for the pivoting disc to pivot relative to the driver. At the same time, the driver should have as high a geometrical moment of inertia as possible, which can be achieved by providing a cross section, which is as large as possible. Both requirements are advantageously satisfied by a neck portion having an at least partially non-circular neck cross-section. The driver neck can thus be adapted more closely to the end positions of the pivoting disc. [0013] In a further refinement of the invention, a preferably radially oriented receptacle, which the driver engages in a pivotable movable manner, is provided in the pivoting disc; furthermore the dimensions of the neck cross-section are adapted to the space allowed in each case by the receptacle in the end positions of the pivoting disc. The configuration of the driver neck is directly matched to the shape of the receptacle of the pivoting disc, one half of a non-circular neck cross-section being adapted to the position of the receptacle in the first end position of the pivoting disc and the other half of the non-circular neck cross-section being adapted to the position of the receptacle in the second end position of the pivoting disc. [0014] In still a further refinement of the invention, the driver is produced integrally with the machine shaft. This results in reduced stress on the machine shaft and a low-stress and low-deformation transition between driver and machine shaft. [0015] Further features and feature combinations will become apparent from the following description on the basis of the accompanying drawings. Actual exemplary embodiments of the invention are illustrated in a simplified form in the drawings and are explained in more detail in the following description: BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0016] [0016]FIG. 1 shows a longitudinal section through a reciprocating-piston machine according to the invention, [0017] [0017]FIG. 2 shows the basic features of the reciprocating-piston machine for an explanation of the functioning of the reciprocating-piston machine according to FIG. 1, [0018] [0018]FIG. 3 shows a section through the machine shaft of the reciprocating-piston machine along the line III-III of FIG. 1, [0019] [0019]FIG. 4 shows a driver inserted into the machine shaft, [0020] [0020]FIG. 5 shows a cross-section through the driver according to FIG. 4 along line V-V, [0021] [0021]FIG. 6 shows a modified cross-section corresponding to the cross-section according to FIG. 5, [0022] [0022]FIG. 7 shows, as a detail, an illustration of a driver head, together with a neck portion, in an installation situation, with a pivoting disc (illustrated in two extreme positions), [0023] [0023]FIG. 8 shows a cross-section through the neck portion of the driver according to FIG. 7 along line VIII-VIII, and [0024] [0024]FIGS. 9 and 10 are two perspective illustrations of a driver according to the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [0025] [0025]FIG. 1 shows, in a longitudinal sectional view, a reciprocating-piston machine 1 in the form of a refrigerant compressor for a motor vehicle air-conditioning system. The reciprocating-piston machine 1 has a plurality of pistons 4 arranged in a machine housing 3 . All the piston axes 12 are arranged at a fixed distance from the axis of rotation 11 , that is to say geometrically on a cylinder envelope surrounding the machine shaft 2 . The pistons are guided in cylindrical bushes, all the piston axes 12 being oriented parallel to the axis of rotation 11 of the machine shaft 2 . The rotational movement of the machine shaft is converted into a translational movement of the pistons 4 via a force transmission arrangement explained in more detail below. FIG. 2 illustrates a simplified basic arrangement for the transmission of forces between the machine shaft 2 and pistons 4 . [0026] A sliding body in the form of a sliding sleeve 9 is slideably supported on the machine shaft 2 . An annular pivoting disc 5 is mounted on the sliding sleeve 9 , the pivoting disc 5 being displaceable, together with the sliding sleeve 9 , parallel to the direction of the axis of rotation 11 . Attached to the sliding sleeve 9 are two short pins 13 which define a hinge axis 8 which is oriented transversely to the axis of rotation 11 of the machine shaft 2 and about which the pivoting disc 5 is pivotably supported on the sliding sleeve 9 . [0027] A driver 7 is fixed in a recess 2 a of the machine shaft 2 , preferably by a press or transition fit between the fastening portion 7 c of the driver and the recess 2 a . In a modified exemplary embodiment, the machine shaft 2 and the driver 7 are produced integrally as a one piece component. Since the bending stress on the driver 7 extend into the associated recess in the shaft 2 , so that, in the case of a press fit between driver and shaft, micro-displacements occur in the press-fit joint, the bending strength of the driver 7 can be increased and therefore bending reduced if driver and shaft consist of one piece. Low-stress and low-deformation transitions can then also be provided. [0028] The driver 7 projects approximately at right angles from the machine shaft and extends, with a spherical articulation portion 7 a , into a radially open receptacle 14 of the pivoting disc (cf. FIGS. 2 and 3). Since the driver 7 is fixed to the machine shaft 2 , the displacement of the sliding sleeve 9 results in pivoting of the pivoting disc about the hinge axis 8 . When the reciprocating-piston machine is in operation, the rotation of the machine shaft 2 is transmitted to the pivoting disc via the driver 7 (rotational movement in the direction of the arrow w). [0029] A main center-plane 10 extending through the axis of rotation 11 of the shaft 2 and perpendicularly to the hinge axis 8 separates a suction side S of the reciprocating-piston machine from a pressure side D (cf. FIG. 3). The main center-plane 10 rotates with the machine shaft. [0030] In the region of each piston 4 , the pivoting disc 5 engaged at opposite sides thereof by a joint arrangement 6 which slides over the pivoting disc 5 when the latter rotates as indicated by the arrow w. When the pivoting disc 5 is inclined relative to the machine shaft 2 (as illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3 ), the pivoting disc 5 , during its rotational movement, causes the pistons located on the pressure side D to execute a compression movement and the pistons located on the suction side S to execute a suction movement. [0031] Further particulars as to the design and operation of the reciprocating-piston machine 2 may be gathered from U.S. Pat. No. 6,164,252 to which express reference is made hereby. [0032] The piston forces acting on the pivoting disc are higher on the pressure side D than on the suction side. This results in a torque about an axis 15 (FIG. 3), which extends transversely to the hinge axis 8 through the main center-plane 10 . The torque is transmitted via the pins 13 to the sliding sleeve 9 and from the latter further to the machine shaft 2 . Since the sliding sleeve thus attempts to tilt about the axis 15 in relation to the machine shaft, contact forces occur between the sliding sleeve 9 and the shaft 2 and counteract the tilting. The contact forces, on account of the friction generated by them, impede the movability of the sliding sleeve 9 and therefore the control of the compressor stroke. These contact forces are particularly low when the center of the articulation portion 7 a supporting the pivoting disc 5 is arranged outside the main center-plane 10 on the pressure side D of the reciprocating-piston machine. The articulation portion 7 a is then located nearer to the resultant of the piston forces, so that lower torques and consequently the contact forces between sliding sleeve and machine shaft are lower as they are transferred to a larger extent to be shaft 2 directly by the driver 7 . [0033] Preferably, the center of the articulation portion 7 a is arranged geometrically approximately on the cylinder envelope which contains the piston axes 12 . In this case, the receptacle 14 , which surrounds the articulation portion 7 a , preferably has a major axis 16 , which forms an angle of between 20° and 30° with the main center-plane 10 . The driver axis 17 then preferably also forms the corresponding angle with the main center-plane 8 . [0034] Moreover, the contact point P between the articulation portion 7 a and the pivoting disc 5 is preferably arranged approximately on the cylinder envelope, which contains the piston axes 12 . [0035] If appropriate, the contact point P may be located between the articulation portion 7 a and the pivoting disc 5 approximately on the cylinder envelope which contains the piston axes 12 , and the center of the articulation portion 7 a may be located outside the cylinder envelope. [0036] The forces acting essentially in the direction of the piston axes 12 on the articulation portion 7 a result, in particular on the pressure side D of the reciprocating-piston machine, in a pronounced load on the driver 7 and therefore cause elastic bending of the latter. As a result, the articulation portion 7 a is deflected or displaced out of its non-loaded position of rest. The displacement of the articulation portion 7 a causes an enlargement of the clearance volume in the cylinders. The bending plane is, in this context, a plane which is defined by the driver axis 17 and the axis of rotation 11 of the machine shaft. In order to avoid a harmful increase of the clearance volume, the fastening portion 7 c may be configured with a non-circular fastening cross-section transversely to the driver axis 17 . The fastening cross-section corresponds to the section along the line V-V in FIG. 4 and is illustrated separately in FIG. 5. As is evident from FIG. 5, the longest extent of the non-circular fastening cross section extends along a line which lies in a plane defined by the driver axis 17 and the axis of rotation 11 . As regards the situation which is illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 and where the driver 7 projects at right angles from the machine shaft 2 , the longest extent of the non-circular fastening cross section is oriented in the direction of the axis of rotation 11 of the shaft 2 . In the present instance, the non-circular fastening cross-section is in the form of an oval (FIG. 5). In modified exemplary embodiments, the non-circular fastening portion is configured, for example, as a flattened circle (cf. FIG. 6), as an ellipse or as a P 2 profile. In any event, the machine shaft 2 has, for receiving the driver, a recess 2 a with a corresponding cross-section. The recess may be configured as a blind hole or as a passage extending through the machine shaft 2 . In a modified exemplary embodiment, the machine shaft 2 and driver 7 are connected to one another in a materially integral manner. [0037] In a further exemplary embodiment, the driver 7 is held in the machine shaft 2 in the region of the fastening portion 7 c by means of a press fit, which has reduced surface pressure transversely to the orientation of the longest extent of the non-circular fastening cross-section and increased surface pressure in the direction of the longest extent of the non-circular fastening cross section. [0038] As already illustrated (FIGS. 2, 3) the driver 7 extends into a preferably radial receptacle 14 of the pivoting disc 5 . When the pivoting disc pivots between its two reversal or end positions 5 ′ and 5 ′ (cf. FIGS. 7 and 8), it assumes different orientations relative to the driver 7 , that is to say, with respect to the articulation portion 7 a , the pivoting disc 5 oscillates about a so-called geometrical center-plane 18 which extends through the hinge axis 8 . In the reversal position 5 ′, the pivoting disc 5 is oriented exactly transversely to the machine shaft 2 , and, with the driver 7 projecting transversely, the pivoting disc 5 and the driver are oriented in parallel. In the end position 5 ″, the pivoting disc assumes a maximum angle with respect to the driver 7 . At the same time, the receptacle 14 of the pivoting disc 5 is oriented in each case differently in relation to the driver 7 and therefore provides for space in a different orientation. The cross-section of a driver neck 7 b is adapted to the space provided in each case by the receptacle 14 in the end positions 5 ′ and 5 ″, thus resulting in a cross-section which is non-circular, in particular is partially lemon-shaped. The longest extent of the non-circular cross-section of the driver neck 7 b extends at least approximately in the geometrical mid-plane 18 . [0039] The surface of the driver 7 is preferably composed, at the neck portion 7 b , of two cylinder surfaces, which are each incomplete and the diameters of which are equal and smaller, by the amount of some play as the diameter of the cylindrical receptacle 14 . The geometrical center-axes 19 ′ and 19 ″ generally coincide with the center-axis 16 of the receptacle 14 in the respective end position and preferably intersect in the region of the articulation portion 7 a . This results in as high a geometrical moment of inertia as possible and in as little bending of the driver neck 7 b as possible. [0040] Since machining about both axes 19 ′ and 19 ″ by lathe or by circular grinding is necessary, it is advantageous from a manufacturing point of view to define the axis 19 ′ as the driver axis 17 . This may be provided, irrespective of the orientation of the driver 7 in relation to the machine shaft 2 . [0041] In a modified exemplary embodiment, the receptacle 14 is configured so as to be widened conically inwards, that is to say towards the machine shaft 2 . The surface of the driver neck 7 b is, in this case, composed of two incomplete cone surfaces. A lemon-shaped cross section can likewise be obtained. [0042] [0042]FIGS. 9 and 10 illustrate a further exemplary embodiment of a driver 7 according to the invention, in which case, inter alia, for the sake of making manufacture simpler, the driver neck 7 b is provided with a discontinuous surface, that is to say with a surface, which has edges.
In a reciprocating-piston machine, in particular a refrigerant compressor for a motor vehicle air-conditioning system, comprising a machine shaft rotatably supported in a housing with a plurality of pistons arranged circularly around the machine shaft and an annular pivoting disc extending around, and being driven by, the machine shaft, wherein the annular pivoting disc engages the pistons via a joint arrangement disposed on a driver extending from the shaft for transmitting shaft drive forces to the pistons, the annular pivoting disc being supported by a sliding body mounted on a shaft and being pivotable about a hinge axis oriented transversely to the machine shaft, the joint arrangement of the driver is located outside a main center-plane, which extends perpendicularly to the hinge axis and through the axis of rotation of the machine shaft.
5
[0001] This application is a U.S. national phase application based on International Application No. PCT/SE2006/050037, filed 21 Mar. 2006, claiming priority from Swedish Patent Application No. 0500672-1, filed 23 Mar. 2005. TECHNICAL AREA [0002] The present invention concerns a method and an arrangement for the feed of a chips suspension from one vessel to a subsequent digester in a continuous cooking process for the production of chemical cellulose pulp, as specified by patent claim 1 . THE PRIOR ART [0003] The use of scraper devices at the bottom of digesters and impregnation vessels in the continuous cooking of chemical cellulose pulp has been long known. The aim of these scraper devices is to ensure a continuous output of the cellulose pulp or chips from the vessel. The scraper device consists of a number of scraper arms that are arranged on the shaft that is arranged to be vertical during production. The motion of the arms in the suspension of pulp or chips counteracts the formation of blockages, the formation of channels, and other undesired effects. [0004] The above-mentioned shaft for the operation of the said scraper arms has been used since early times for the addition of fluid at the lower part of the digester or impregnation vessel. The addition of fluid occurs in this case by making the shaft hollow and leading fluid in through this way. The primary purpose of adding fluid has been to wash the pulp. This addition of fluid through the shaft has more recently been used for the dilution of the pulp with the aim of ensuring output from the vessel. U.S. Pat. No. 5,736,005 reveals a variant of such a hollow shaft in which fluid is added to a continuous digester with the aim of ensuring output from the digester. [0005] An alternative to the above-described addition of fluid with the aim of diluting and ensuring output of the pulp or chips from the digester or the impregnation vessel is to add the fluid at the lower part of the vessel through a fluid supply device through the vessel. It is preferable that this addition takes place in the vicinity of the scraper device. SE 180 289 reveals an embodiment in which the fluid supply device adds fluid close to the bottom of a container with the aim of preventing the formation of blockages of cellulose fibres. [0006] Addition of fluid by the methods that have been described above, however, involves a number of disadvantages, particularly when the addition is made to an impregnation vessel. [0007] In the cases in which the fluid is added to an impregnation vessel, the extra addition of fluid must be dealt with by the top separator in subsequent digesters, which involves a considerable extra expense at the top separator. [0008] Furthermore, the added fluid involves large volumes of fluid that the system must deal with, and this in turn involves expensive investment and high operating costs of pumps and high-pressure taps, or both. [0009] The same problem arises, naturally, also in those cases in which no fluid has been added at the bottom of the impregnation vessel due to the fluid/wood ratio of the chips suspension being so high that it is not necessary to add fluid in order to ensure output from the impregnation vessel. THE AIMS OF THE INVENTION [0010] The principal aim of the present invention is to either eliminate or reduce the above-described problems and disadvantages in association with the output of cellulose pulp from an impregnation vessel to a transfer line, where the invention allows: a reduction in the amount of fluid in the chips suspension that is fed out from the impregnation vessel to the digester, i.e. a reduction in the fluid/wood ratio; the ability initially to establish a stable flow out from the bottom of the impregnation vessel with only instantaneously increased fluid volumes, or the opportunity for increased dilution in the bottom of the impregnation vessel without the increased amounts of fluid needing for this reason to be pumped onwards into the transfer line; the ability to use a smaller and cheaper top separator in subsequent digesters as a consequence of the lower volumes of fluid, and preferably the ability to eliminate completely a top separator; the ability to use smaller and cheaper pumps or high-pressure taps, or both, that consume lower power, due to the lower volumes of fluid. [0015] These aims are achieved with an arrangement according to claim 1 . BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS [0016] The invention will be described in more detail below with the aid of the attached drawings, of which: [0017] FIG. 1 shows one preferred embodiment of an impregnation vessel in which the arrangement according to the invention is included. [0018] FIG. 2 a shows a side view with a section A-A and FIG. 2 b shows a top view of a first preferred embodiment of the bucket-shaped outlet 201 , [0019] FIG. 3 a shows a side view with a section B-B and FIG. 3 b shows a top view of a second preferred embodiment of the bucket-shaped outlet 201 , [0020] FIG. 4 a shows a side view and FIG. 4 b shows a top view of a third preferred embodiment of the bucket-shaped outlet 201 , [0021] FIG. 5 a shows a side view with a section C-C and FIG. 5 b shows a top view of a fourth preferred embodiment of the bucket-shaped outlet 201 and outlet line 301 , [0022] FIGS. 6 a , 6 b and 6 c show different embodiments of the appearance of different strainer surfaces of the bucket-shaped outlet. [0023] FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of how scraper arms 207 are arranged around shaft 106 in order to maintain the holes or slits in the strainer clean. [0024] FIG. 8 shows an embodiment of a variant of the embodiment in FIG. 4 , in which a debris trap is arranged under the bottom surface. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0025] The concept “chips suspension” will be used in the following detailed description of the invention. This term is here used to denote chips together with fluid, which suspension is treated in an impregnation vessel and fed out from the said impregnation vessel to a subsequent digester in a continuous cooking process for the production of cellulose pulp. [0026] A further expression that will be used is “fluid/wood ratio”. This expression is here used to denote the relationship between fluid and wood that is prevalent in the chips suspension. [0027] Furthermore, the expression “perforated strainer hole or slit” will be used in the description of strainer surfaces. This expression is here used to denote penetrating openings in the surface with no requirements placed on their shape. Thus, these openings may be round, square, triangular, etc. Furthermore, it is also possible to conceive that the perforations consist of penetrating slits that may be straight, bent, curved, etc. [0028] Finally, the concept “feed device” will be used. This term is here used to denote a device that is intended to feed the chips suspension from an impregnation vessel to a digester by the application of pressure. Examples of such feed devices are pumps and high-pressure taps. [0029] FIG. 1 shows the lower part of a principally cylindrical vertically arranged impregnation vessel 101 for the impregnation of chips, which impregnation vessel precedes a digester 401 in a continuous cooking process for the production of chemical cellulose pulp. The impregnation vessel has a diameter D 1 , an inlet 107 at the top of the vessel into which untreated chips are fed, and a bucket-shaped outlet 201 at the bottom of the vessel from which a chips suspension, i.e. impregnated chips with fluid, is fed out. The chips suspension in the impregnation vessel has a first fluid/wood ratio, which first fluid/wood ratio preferably lies within the interval 2 - 7 . [0030] In order to facilitate the output of the chips suspension from the impregnation vessel 101 , a mechanical stirrer 102 is arranged at the bottom of the impregnation vessel 101 , in order to obtain stirring of the chips suspension. The stirrer 102 comprises a number of scraper arms 105 , preferably two, that are arranged at the upper end of a shaft 106 that is vertically arranged. The shaft 106 is driven at its lower end by means of a directly acting driver device 107 . The stirring of the chips suspension breaks the orientation of the chips in association with the output process, such that the output from the impregnation vessel is facilitated. [0031] In order to ensure further the output of the chips suspension from the impregnation vessel 101 , dilution fluid is added in a known manner in an amount of Q 1 in the vicinity of the bottom by means of at least one dilution fluid supply nozzle 103 . The dilution fluid supply nozzles 103 are most often arranged through the wall of the impregnation vessel 101 or in the scraper arms 105 . In the embodiment in which the dilution fluid supply nozzles 103 are arranged in the scraper arms 105 , the fluid is led to the scraper arms 105 through a hole in the shaft 106 (not shown in the drawing) through which fluid flows. The total amount of dilution fluid that is added to the impregnation vessel 101 from the dilution fluid supply nozzles 103 will hereafter be referred to as Q 1 . The chips suspension after the addition of the dilution fluid has a second fluid/wood ratio, which is higher than the first fluid/wood ratio further up in the impregnation vessel, which second fluid/wood ratio is established in order to ensure an even output that is free of disturbances. This second fluid/wood ratio preferably lies in the interval 6 - 10 . Operating conditions can, however, occur in which Q 1 =0, i.e. no dilution fluid is added through the dilution fluid supply nozzles 103 , and in the cases in which the first and the second fluid/wood ratios are equal, this ratio lies in the interval 6 - 10 . [0032] In order to summarise briefly the relationship between the first and the second fluid/wood ratios, it can be stated that the chips suspension in the vessel 101 has the first fluid/wood ratio established above the second fluid/wood ratio, where the second fluid/wood ratio is established at the bottom of the vessel. The second fluid/wood ratio is at least as large as the first fluid/wood ratio, preferably larger. [0033] The chips suspension, i.e. the impregnated chips together with the fluid, is continuously fed out from the impregnation vessel 101 through a bucket-shaped outlet 201 arranged in and under the bottom of the impregnation vessel 101 below the scraper device 102 . The bucket-shaped outlet 201 has a diameter D 2 that is less than the diameter of the impregnation vessel D 1 , i.e. D 2 <D 1 . The diameter D 2 of the bucket-shaped outlet is approximately 1-1.5 m for an impregnation vessel 101 with a diameter D 1 of 3-5 m. For an impregnation vessel with a diameter D 1 of 10 m, D 2 can have a dimension of approximately 2 m. The diameter D 2 is thus less than 50% of D 1 and preferably in the interval 15-40% of D 1 . Parts of the wall of the bucket-shaped outlet, or the complete wall, consist of perforated strainer holes or slits. The strainer holes or slits are surrounded by a withdrawal space 206 at the outer wall of the outlet from which withdrawal space 206 the partial fluid volume Q 2 is withdrawn from the chips suspension by means of a pump 303 , before the remainder of the chips suspension is sent in the outlet line 301 to subsequent digesters 401 through being placed under pressure by a pressure device 302 . The outlet line 301 is connected to the wall section of the bucket-shaped outlet, which outlet line 301 has a diameter D 3 , where D 1 , D 2 and D 3 have the following relationship: D 1 >D 2 >D 3 . The chips suspension after the withdrawal of fluid has a third fluid/wood ratio, which is lower than the second fluid/wood ratio. This third fluid/wood ratio lies in the interval 5 - 9 , and is at least 1 unit, preferably at least 2 units, lower than the second fluid/wood ratio, which lies in the interval 6 - 10 . [0034] The withdrawn fluid Q 2 can then be sent to any one or to a combination of the following: Q 2 is sent in a circulation line that is connected at its first inlet end to at least one withdrawal space ( 206 ) arranged at the bucket-shaped outlet ( 201 ) and where a second end of the circulation line is connected to a recovery process (REC). A natural position if it is desired to withdraw consumed impregnation fluid, which in turn has been partly constituted by a withdrawal from the digester. Q 2 is sent in a circulation line that is connected at its first inlet end to at least one withdrawal space ( 206 ) arranged at the bucket-shaped outlet ( 201 ) and where a second end of the circulation line is connected to a dilution fluid supply nozzle ( 103 ). In this case it is solely a question of a local dilution. Q 2 is sent in a circulation line that is connected at its first inlet end to at least one withdrawal space ( 206 ) and where the second end of the circulation line is connected to a position (A) close to the top of the impregnation vessel ( 101 ). Q 2 is sent in a circulation line that is connected at its first inlet end to at least one withdrawal space ( 206 ) and where the second end of the circulation line is connected to a position (B) in a subsequent digester ( 401 ). This is done with the aim of, if it is desired at any cooking phase, to modify the digestion conditions, possibly to raise the sulphidity, or to initiate precipitation of early dissolved XYLAN onto the fibres in the digester. [0039] FIGS. 2 a and 2 b show a first preferred embodiment of the bucket-shaped outlet 201 where parts of, and preferably the complete, surface 204 of the outlet is perforated with strainer holes or slits 205 , and from which perforated surface 204 a fraction Q 2 of the fluid in the chips suspension is withdrawn with a pump 303 through a withdrawal space 206 arranged around the strainer holes or slits of the outer surface 204 . The shaft 106 (not shown in this drawing) passes through a penetrating opening 202 in the bucket-shaped outlet 201 . [0040] FIGS. 3 a and 3 b show a second preferred embodiment of the bucket-shaped outlet 201 where the surface 204 of the outlet 201 is perforated with strainer holes or slits 205 over a surrounding angle α between 90° and 270°, preferably 180°, and from which perforated surface 204 a fraction Q 2 of the fluid in the chips suspension is withdrawn by a pump 303 through a withdrawal space 206 arranged around the strainer holes or slits of the outer surface 204 . The shaft 106 (not shown in this drawing) passes through a penetrating opening 202 in the bucket-shaped outlet 201 . [0041] FIGS. 4 a and 4 b show a third preferred embodiment of the bucket-shaped outlet 201 where the outlet has a bottom surface 203 . Parts of or, preferably, the complete bottom surface 203 are perforated with strainer holes or slits 205 . From the perforated bottom surface 203 a fraction Q 2 of the fluid in the chips suspension is withdrawn by a pump 303 through a withdrawal space 206 . The shaft 106 (not shown in this drawing) passes through a penetrating opening 202 in the bucket-shaped outlet 201 . [0042] FIGS. 5 a and 5 b show a fourth preferred embodiment where the surface of the outlet line 302 is partially or fully perforated strainer holes or slits 205 . From the perforated surface a fraction Q 2 of the fluid in the chips suspension is withdrawn by a pump 303 through a withdrawal space 206 arranged around the perforated strainer holes or slits 205 in the outer surface of the outlet line. [0043] FIG. 6 a shows a fifth preferred embodiment of how the strainer surface of the bucket-shaped outlet, which consists of strainer holes or slits 205 , may appear. The complete surface is perforated in this case. [0044] FIG. 6 b shows a sixth preferred embodiment in which parts of the strainer surface are perforated by strainer holes or slits 205 . [0045] FIG. 6 c shows a seventh preferred embodiment in which parts of the strainer surface are perforated with strainer holes or slits 205 . [0046] FIGS. 7 a and 7 b shows a side view and a top view of the bucket-shaped outlet 201 where scraper arms 207 have been arranged on a shaft 106 with the aim of maintaining the strainer holes or slits in the strainer surfaces of the bucket-shaped outlet clean, such that they do not become clogged. [0047] FIGS. 8 a and 8 b show an eighth preferred embodiment of the bucket-shaped outlet 201 where the outlet has a bottom surface 203 , similar to that shown in FIGS. 4 a and 4 b . Parts of, preferably the complete, bottom surface 203 are perforated with strainer holes or slits 205 . From the perforated bottom surface a fraction Q 2 of fluid is withdrawn from the chips suspension with the pump 303 through the withdrawal space 206 . An outlet 801 is present in the bottom surface 203 with a space arranged under the bottom surface. Sluice valves 802 are arranged in the space of the outlet, which valves can be emptied of coarse material 804 that collects in this space during operation. It is an advantage if the outlet is arranged in the vicinity of the outlet line 301 , since the chips suspension passes the outlet, such that the heavy or coarse material falls down into the outlet 801 . It is an advantage if a fluid line 803 is arranged after the pump 303 at the space in the outlet 803 . In this way, output from the outlet 803 is facilitated, in that a dilution is achieved. The scraper arms 207 , which are shown in FIG. 7 , aid in transporting the material 804 to the outlet 801 . [0048] The following advantages, among others, are achieved with the invention, compared with conventional technology described above as the prior art: A reduced flow of fluid to the top separator of the digester from the pre-ceding impregnation vessel, which results in the ability to use a smaller and cheaper top separator. It is possible with a optimal embodiment to dispense completely with the top separator on the digester. a reduced fluid content of the chips suspension that leaves the impregnation vessel, which results in the ability to use smaller, cheaper and less energy-consuming pumps or high-pressure taps, or both. [0051] The invention is not limited to the embodiments described: several variants are possible within the scope of the attached patent claims. All of the following combinations, for example, are possible, individually or in combination: 1) strainer holes or slits 205 at a location on the outer surface 204 of the bucket-shaped outlet 2) strainer holes or slits 205 at a location on the bottom surface 203 of the bucket-shaped outlet 3) strainer holes or slits 205 in the outer surface 301 of the line.
The method and arrangement is for the feed of a chips suspension from one vessel to a subsequent digester in a continuous cooking process for the production of chemical cellulose pulp. The vessel has an inlet defined therein for the input of chips and an outlet defined therein for the output of a chips suspension. The chips suspension in the vessel has a first fluid/wood ratio established above a second fluid/wood ratio that is established at the bottom of the vessel. The second fluid/wood ratio is at least as great as, preferably greater than, the first fluid/wood ratio. After the output of the chips suspension from the vessel and before the chips suspension is placed under pressure for onwards transport to a subsequent digester, a fraction of fluid is withdrawn from the chips suspension, whereby a third fluid/wood ratio is established in the chips suspension.
3
TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The invention relates generally to the field of casters for movably supporting objects and, in particular, casters that can be locked to prevent the caster wheel from rotating about its running axis (wheel braking) and/or from turning about its swivel axis. BACKGROUND ART [0002] A swivel lock for a caster helps to maintain directional control (tracking) of an object that it supports, such as a cart, while the object is being moved. A wheel brake keeps the supported object from rolling unintentionally. Total locking of the caster (wheel brake and swivel lock) is the most stable condition, preventing all rolling and swiveling movement. Examples of both are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,035,864; U.S. Pat. No. 4,835,815; U.S. Pat. No. 4,205,413; U.S. Pat. No. 3,571,842; U.S. Pat. No. 4,349,937; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,725,501, to name a few. SUMMARY DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION [0003] The present invention is directed to a unique and improved caster having directional and total locking capabilities. From one perspective, the invention is directed to a lockable caster comprising a mounting member adapted to be connected to a load to be supported by the caster; a yoke, comprising two depending legs interconnected by an upper bight portion, pivotally connected to the mounting member for relative pivotal movement about a swivel axis; a wheel mounted between the legs of the yoke for rotation about a running axis; and a locking structure between the legs of the yoke adjacent the bight portion and fixed relative to the mounting member. The locking structure comprises recesses spaced so as to at least partially surround the swivel axis. A total lock mechanism is carried by the yoke and comprises a movable brake member adapted to engage the wheel to lock it against rotation, and a movable total lock tooth configured to engage any of a plurality of the recesses to lock the yoke against pivotal movement about the swivel axis in any of a plurality of total lock positions. A directional lock mechanism is carried by the yoke and comprises a movable directional lock tooth adapted to engage at least one of the recesses to lock the yoke against pivotal movement about the swivel axis in at least one directional lock (tracking) position while allowing the wheel to rotate. The number of directional lock positions is fewer than the number of total lock positions. [0004] In a preferred arrangement, all of the recesses may be coplanar, and all may lie along a circle centered on the swivel axis. For example, the locking structure may comprise a lower ball retainer of a pivot bearing assembly, and the recesses may be located at the periphery of the lower ball retainer. The directional lock tooth preferably is wider than the total lock tooth; at least one of the recesses is a directional lock recess having a width sized to accommodate the directional lock tooth; and the other recesses are equal-width total lock recesses that are equally spaced on either side of the directional lock recess(es) and are sized to accommodate the total lock tooth but not the directional lock tooth. The number of recesses engageable by the directional lock tooth preferably is fewer than the number of recesses engageable by the total lock tooth. Further, the total lock tooth preferably comprises at least two tines spaced such that each tine can engage a total lock recess, the overall width of the plurality of tines being equal to the width of the directional lock tooth so that the total lock tooth can also engage a directional lock recess. Preferably there are two diametrically opposed directional lock recesses. [0005] The total lock mechanism preferably comprises a total lock lever pivoted intermediate its ends to the yoke, with the brake member and the total lock tooth at opposite ends of the total lock lever. The directional lock mechanism preferably comprises a directional lock lever pivoted intermediate its ends to the yoke, with the directional lock tooth at one end of the directional lock lever. The total lock lever and the directional lock lever preferably are arranged side-by-side, with both pivoted to the yoke about a common pivot axis. The brake member preferably is canted toward the medial plane of the wheel so as to be engageable with the outer circumference of the wheel. [0006] Each of the lock mechanisms preferably is spring-biased away from a locked state and comprises an expanding over-center toggle mechanism pivoted to the yoke for moving the lock mechanism against the spring bias into a locked state. Each toggle mechanism preferably comprises a four-bar linkage, one link of the toggle mechanism being pivoted to its respective lock lever remote from its toothed end and having an extension forming an operating pedal for moving the lock mechanism into a locked state. The operating pedals of the toggle mechanisms preferably are arranged side-by-side, with a common release pedal pivoted to the yoke above the operating pedals and linked to each toggle mechanism for releasing either or both of the lock mechanisms from a locked state. [0007] From another perspective, the invention is directed to a lockable caster comprising a mounting member adapted to be connected to a load to be supported by the caster; a yoke, comprising two depending legs interconnected by an upper bight portion, pivotally connected to the mounting member for relative pivotal movement about a swivel axis; a wheel mounted between the legs of the yoke for rotation about a running axis; and a locking structure between the legs of the yoke adjacent the bight portion and fixed relative to the mounting member. The locking structure preferably comprises coplanar recesses spaced along a circle centered on the swivel axis, at least one of the recesses being a directional lock recess, and a greater number of other recesses being total lock recesses, which are configured differently from the directional lock recess. A total lock mechanism carried by the yoke comprises a movable brake member configured to engage the wheel to lock it against rotation, and a movable total lock tooth configured to engage any of the total lock recesses and any of the directional lock recesses to lock the yoke against pivotal movement about the swivel axis in any of a plurality of total lock positions. A directional lock mechanism is carried by the yoke and comprises a movable directional lock tooth configured to engage only the directional lock recesses to lock the yoke against pivotal movement about the swivel axis in at least one directional lock (tracking) position while allowing the wheel to rotate. [0008] In a preferred arrangement, the total lock tooth is at one end of a total lock lever, and the directional lock tooth is at one end of a directional lock lever. The two lock levers preferably are arranged side-by-side with their toothed ends adjacent each other. [0009] Further features, aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, including the best mode for carrying out the invention, when considered together with the accompanying figures of drawing. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS [0010] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one example of a locking caster according to the invention. [0011] FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the caster of FIG. 1 . [0012] FIG. 3 is a left side elevational view of the caster of FIG. 1 . [0013] FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the caster of FIG. 1 , showing details of the lock mechanisms. [0014] FIG. 5 is a partially exploded perspective view of the caster of FIG. 1 , with some parts removed, showing how the lock mechanisms interface with the lock recesses. [0015] FIG. 6 is a partially exploded perspective view of the lock mechanisms of the caster of FIG. 1 , from an opposite viewpoint. [0016] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 7 - 7 in FIG. 2 , with most of the yoke removed, showing the relationship among the total lock mechanism, the lock recesses and the wheel. [0017] FIG. 8 is a bottom plan view of the caster of FIG. 1 , with the wheel removed, showing the relationship of the lock mechanisms to the lock recesses. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0018] Referring to FIGS. 1-3 , a locking caster 2 according to the invention comprises a mounting member in the form of a plate 4 having four elongated holes 6 through which bolts, screws or other suitable fasteners can be installed to attach the caster to a load to be movably supported. A yoke 8 is connected to the plate 4 for relative pivotal movement about a swivel axis 10 by means of a pivot bearing assembly 12 and a rivet 14 or other suitable fastener. The yoke has depending legs 16 between which a ground-engaging wheel 18 is mounted for rotation about a running axis 20 by means of an axle 22 , which extends through aligned holes in the legs 16 and through bearings in the wheel, secured by a locknut 24 . The legs 16 are interconnected by an upper bight portion 26 . Also visible in these figures are a total lock operating pedal 28 , a directional lock operating pedal 30 , and a common release pedal 32 , all of which are parts of the lock mechanisms described below. [0019] Referring to FIGS. 4-8 , two side-by-side lock mechanisms 40 , 60 are carried by the yoke 8 and are selectively engageable with various recesses R formed by and between teeth 15 on the lower ball retainer 13 of pivot bearing assembly 12 . Lower ball retainer 13 is fixed relative to plate 4 . Teeth 15 and recesses R thus form a locking structure that is fixed (stationary) in relation to plate 4 . One of the lock mechanisms is a total lock mechanism 40 , which comprises a total lock lever 42 pivoted intermediate its ends to the yoke 8 about a pivot rod 34 , which is secured to the legs 16 through holes 36 . Lever 42 preferably is made of spring steel and has a projecting central tab 44 , which is flanked by curved shoulders 46 . Resilient tab 44 and shoulders 46 embrace pivot rod 34 , with the tip of tab 44 trapped against the underside of bight portion 26 (see FIG. 7 ) to bias total lock lever 42 toward an unlocked position (counterclockwise as seen in FIG. 7 ). Although shown passing beneath pivot rod 34 , for easier assembly tab 44 alternatively could be configured to pass above rod 34 and still perform its biasing function. [0020] The front (lower) end of lock lever 42 has a brake member 50 that is canted toward the medial plane 38 of the wheel 18 so as to overlie the center of the wheel tread. Brake member 50 has braking elements on its underside in the form of ribs 52 that grip the wheel tread when in a locked condition. Other types of braking elements or surfaces may be employed, depending at least in part on the type of wheel tread used. The opposite (rear) end of total lock lever 42 has a total lock tooth structure 54 in the form of two tines 56 shaped and arranged along an arc that conforms to the arc along which teeth 15 of lower ball retainer 13 are arranged. [0021] The other lock mechanism is a directional lock mechanism 60 , which comprises a directional lock lever 62 that is similar in many respects to total lock lever 42 . Directional lock lever 62 also preferably is made of spring steel, is pivoted intermediate its ends to the yoke 8 about pivot rod 34 , and has a projecting central tab 65 , which is flanked by curved shoulders 66 . Resilient tab 65 and shoulders 66 embrace pivot rod 34 , with the tip of tab 65 trapped against the underside of bight portion 26 to bias directional lock lever 62 toward an unlocked position (counterclockwise with reference to FIG. 7 ). Although shown passing beneath pivot rod 34 , for easier assembly tab 65 alternatively could be configured to pass above rod 34 and still perform its biasing function. The rear end of directional lock lever 62 has a directional lock tooth structure in the form of a single tooth 64 shaped and arranged along an arc that conforms to the arc along which teeth 15 of lower ball retainer 13 are arranged. [0022] Referring to FIG. 8 , the swivel locking relationship that involves recesses R on lower ball retainer 13 , directional lock tooth 64 and total lock tooth 54 (tines 56 ) will now be explained. The recesses R on lower ball retainer 13 are of two different sizes, all formed by teeth 15 : fourteen narrow, equal-width total lock recesses 72 , and two wider, equal-width and diametrically opposed directional lock recesses 74 . All are arranged in a circle centered on swivel axis 10 . Total lock recesses 72 are equally spaced on either side of each of the directional lock recesses 74 . The angular offsets of adjacent teeth 15 are as follows: [0000] teeth 15 that form total lock recesses 72: 20 degrees; teeth 15 that form directional lock recesses 74: 40 degrees. Thus, the space between alternate teeth 15 that form the total lock recesses 72 is equal to the width of each directional lock recess. [0023] Directional lock tooth 64 is sized to fit into (engage) only a directional lock recess 74 ; it is too wide to engage any total lock recess 72 . The tines 56 of total lock tooth 54 are sized and spaced to fit into (engage) any adjacent pair of total lock recesses 72 ; or one tine 56 can engage a single total lock recess 72 adjacent a directional lock recess 74 , with the other tine residing in that directional lock recess 74 . The pair of tines 56 together have an overall width that is equal to the width of the directional lock tooth 64 ; therefore, the total lock tooth 54 can also fit into (engage) either of the directional lock recesses 74 . Accordingly, total locking can be effected in any of eighteen swivel positions, equally spaced by 20 degrees. On the other hand, directional locking in a tracking position can be effected in only two swivel positions (with the directional lock tooth 64 engaging a directional lock recesses 74 ); and because those positions are diametrically opposed, the plane of rotation of the wheel 18 when so locked is the same regardless of which directional lock recess 74 is engaged. [0024] Upward (locking) movement of the rear toothed end of each of the lock levers 42 , 62 to engage recesses R is effected through separate but similar expanding toggle mechanisms, each comprising a four-bar, over-center linkage. Depressing common release pedal 32 (labeled “OFF”) unlocks either or both of the lock mechanisms, i.e., lowers the toothed end(s) of the lock lever(s) out of engagement with recesses R. Both toggle mechanisms are pivotally linked to the legs 16 of the yoke by a common pivot rod 86 , about which common release pedal 32 also pivots. Each toggle mechanism includes its respective lock lever 42 , 62 , which is pivotally linked by an individual pivot pin 82 held in a pair of upturned ears 84 at the front (lower) end of the lock lever. Each toggle mechanism further includes the rear extension 88 of its respective lock operating pedal 28 , 30 , and a cam link 90 individually linked to its respective pedal extension by a pivot pin 92 and nestled in a recess 33 in common release pedal 32 . The upper end of cam link 90 is pivoted to the legs 16 by common pivot rod 86 . Thus, the four “bars” of each linkage are: the yoke 8 (leg(s) 16 ); the lock lever ( 42 , 62 ) from pivot rod 34 to pivot pin 82 ; the rear extension 88 of the lock operating pedal ( 28 , 30 ) from pivot pin 82 to pivot pin 92 ; and the cam link 90 from pivot pin 92 to pivot rod 86 . [0025] The sectional view of FIG. 7 shows in broken lines the locked positions of the components of one of the lock mechanisms. When the lock operating pedal ( 28 , 30 ) is depressed, the rear extension 88 of the lock operating pedal and the cam link 90 expand the distance between pivot rod 86 and pivot pin 82 , forcing the front end of the lock lever ( 42 , 62 ) downwardly so that the lock lever pivots about pivot rod 34 , raising the opposite (rear) end of the lock lever toward the lower ball retainer 13 and its recesses R. The lock operating pedal rear extension 88 and the cam link 90 are dimensioned such that an over-center latching effect is achieved, whereby the lock operating pedal ( 28 , 30 ) snaps downwardly near the end of its travel and remains there. At the same time, a front extension 94 on cam link 90 raises common release pedal 32 . When the common release pedal 32 is in this position and is depressed, it forces the cam link 90 to rotate downwardly, raising the front end of the lock lever ( 42 , 62 ), lowering the opposite (rear) end away from the lower ball retainer 13 and its recesses R, and raising the lock operating pedal ( 28 , 30 ). [0026] When the total lock operating pedal 28 is depressed, if the tines 56 of resilient total lock lever 42 are not aligned with any of the recesses 72 , 74 , slight pivoting of the yoke and wheel (less than 20 degrees) about the swivel axis 10 will allow them to snap into engagement with one or more nearby recesses to effect total locking. When the directional lock operating pedal 30 is depressed, if the tooth 64 of the resilient directional lock lever 62 is not aligned with a directional lock recess 74 , pivoting of the yoke and wheel by less than 180 degrees about the swivel axis 10 will allow tooth 64 to snap into engagement with one of the directional lock recesses 74 to effect directional locking. Of course, if the yoke and wheel are pivoted in a direction that moves the tooth 64 toward the nearer directional lock recess 74 , locking will be accomplished by swiveling the yoke and wheel less than 90 degrees. [0027] The above-described arrangement of recesses R on stationary lower ball retainer 13 is exemplary only, and it is envisioned that the invention may encompass many variants. For example, it may be desirable to be able to lock the wheel directionally in one of two (or even more) planes of rotation (tracking positions), in which case an additional pair of diametrically opposed directional lock recesses 74 may be formed on lower ball retainer 13 , e.g., displaced 90 degrees from the first pair. Alternatively, instead of forming the directional lock recesses in diametrically opposed pairs, individual directional lock recesses 74 may be formed at positions on lower ball retainer 13 that are not diametrically opposed to one another. Further, a different number of total lock recesses 72 may be formed on lower ball retainer 13 , depending on the size of the caster and/or the requirements of the particular caster application, the sizes of the recesses and the lock teeth being adjusted accordingly. In a further variant, the recesses may be formed on a stationary plate fixed below and coaxial with lower ball retainer 13 , instead of on the lower ball retainer. In almost any variant, the recesses themselves may be formed as depressions or holes rather than being defined by the square shoulders of teeth such as those on lower ball retainer 13 . Of course, in that case, the lock teeth 54 , 64 would have to be configured appropriately to engage such recesses. [0028] It is also possible, within the scope of the invention, to deviate from the exclusively coplanar arrangement of recesses R described above. For example, two sets of recesses in spaced parallel planes may be employed: one set (e.g., the total lock recesses) formed at the periphery of stationary lower ball retainer 13 , and the other set (the directional lock recess(es)) formed along a circle on a stationary plate fixed below and coaxial with lower ball retainer 13 , or along a smaller circle on lower ball retainer 13 . With such arrangements, the directional lock lever would be differently configured so as to reach the differently placed directional lock recess(es) and clear the total lock recesses. The locations of the different sets of recesses could be reversed, in which case the total lock lever would be differently configured for reach and clearance. Those skilled in the art will recognize that further variations are within the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims. [0029] As to material selection, it is preferred that most of the parts of the caster of the invention be made of steel (e.g., stainless) for strength and durability. Possible exceptions are the pedals 28 , 30 , 32 and the cam links 90 , which preferably are molded of a stiff and durable plastic, such as HDPE. The wheel and its bearings may be made of any materials suitable for the particular application. Of course, material selection for any of the parts of the caster will be governed at least in part by particular load, environmental and regulatory requirements of the application. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY [0030] It will be readily apparent that selectively lockable casters embodying the invention can be employed to movably support a wide variety of objects and structures used in many fields, such as food service carts, equipment carts, utility carts, dollies, and patient beds, to name just a few.
A selectively lockable caster with total locking (wheel brake and swivel lock) as well as directional locking (tracking) functions. A separate lock tooth for each locking function is adapted to engage certain differently configured lock recesses. Specifically, a total lock tooth, which is part of a mechanism that also applies a brake to the wheel, is configured to engage any of the total lock recesses and any of the directional lock recesses to lock the wheel against pivotal movement about the swivel axis in any of a plurality of total lock positions. A directional lock tooth is configured to engage only the directional lock recesses to lock the yoke against pivotal movement about the swivel axis in at least one directional lock (tracking) position while allowing the wheel to rotate.
8
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In one aspect, this invention relates to controlling the rate of a cross-linking reaction which occurs during the curing of a chemical composition. In another aspect, this invention relates to an adhesive composition. In a further aspect, the invention relates to an adhesive composition which bonds to a chemically inert substance. In yet another aspect, this invention relates to bonding a chemically inert elastomeric tape to a substrate. A wide variety of coatings for sumps, tank interiors, containment linings, flooring systems and joint overlays are known. However, such coatings tend to fail upon the failure or movement of the underlying substrate to which the coatings are bonded, generally by cracking, peeling or delaminating. The problem is worse where movement between adjacent substrates is likely, such as in a corner, or along an expansion joint or crack. Coating integrity can be enhanced by adhering an elastomeric tape to the substrate along the just identified trouble areas, and then applying the coating over the tape. However, chemically inert elastomeric tapes, which are able to resist degradation by acids, bases and solvents, are very difficult to reliably bond to many substrates. An adhesive which provides good bonding, has good flexibility and gap bridging properties between concrete, vinyl, epoxy and many other substrates would be very desirable. An adhesive which retains these properties under conditions of low temperatures, where many adhesive materials become brittle, or high temperatures, where many adhesive materials loose strength, would also be very desirable. Many adhesive systems are difficult to apply in the field. Extremes of field conditions, such as extremes of temperature or humidity, can make it further difficult to apply an adhesive so as to achieve a satisfactory bond. An adhesive which may be applied at a temperature as low as 5° C. and as high as 60° C. and over a wide range of humidities, without affecting its properties, would be very desirable. A chemically resistant adhesive is needed in various industrial applications. The majority of current adhesive systems is adversely affected by strong acids, bases and solvents and is also susceptible to degradation by ozone, UV, and γ-rays. An adhesive system which is resistant to degradation by such agents, as well as to discoloration induced by these or other agents would also be very desirable. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with one embodiment of the invention there is provided a composition comprising an adhesive resin, a cross-linking regulator, and a hardener. The composition is usefully employed as an adhesive. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, the adhesive resin comprises a reactive polyolefin, at least one acrylate monomer, and an epoxy resin. An adhesive resin formed from these constituents produces an adhesive composition is well adapted for adherence to a chemically inert elastomeric tape formed from similar substances. In an even more preferred embodiment, the reactive polyolefin component comprises a halogenated and halosulfonated polyethylene which is combined with sufficient acrylate monomer to achieve solubility and sufficient cross-linking regulator to avoid gel formation when the hardener is added. The resulting adhesive composition has good initial tack and cures over a time period ranging from a few minutes to a few hours. The cured composition has outstanding resistance to aggressive chemicals and outstanding adhesion to both concrete and to an elastomeric tape formed from related materials. Also, it has been found that incorporating a minor amount of trichloroethylene into the adhesive composition provides even further improved adhesion to concrete. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The FIGURE is a schematic, cross-sectional view of a concrete slab having an inert polyolefin tape adhered thereto over a joint with the adhesive of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In accordance with one embodiment of the invention there is provided a composition comprising an adhesive resin (Part-A), a cross-linking regulator (Part-B), and a hardener (Part-C). The composition is usefully employed as an adhesive, and is especially useful for bonding inert polyolefin structures, for example joint tape, to substrates, for example, concrete. The Adhesive Resin (Part-A) Generally speaking, the resin comprises a reactive polyolefin, at least one acrylate monomer, and an epoxy resin. The resin also preferably includes a minor amount of trichloroethylene, which has been found to improve adhesion between inert polyolefin tape and concrete substrate. The Reactive Polyolefin Component The reactive polyolefin component preferably comprises a reactive halo- and halosulfonated polyolefin. More preferably, the polyolefin is chlorinated and chlorosulfonated. In the preferred embodiment, the chlorine content generally ranges from between about 20 wt % to about 50 wt %, and the sulfur content generally ranges from about 0.5 wt % to about 2.5 wt %, based on total weight of the reactive polyolefin component. Generally speaking, the reactive polyolefin component can be represented by the formula wherein X represents an alkyl group, Y represents a halide group, Z represents a halosulfonyl group, x+y+z=1, 0.2≦y≦0.5, 0.005≦z≦0.05, and 50≦n≦10,000. Usually, the reactive polyolefin component can be represented by the formula As determined by gel permeation chromatography, the molecular weight, M n , generally ranges between about 1,000 and 250,000 and the molecular weight distribution, MWD, generally ranges from 1.5 to 6.5. An exemplary material suitable for use in the invention is represented by the above formula (2) where y=0.43, z=0.011 and n≅1500. The Acrylate Monomer(s) Generally speaking, the acrylate component comprises an acrylate or methacrylate or both. The monomer(s) are preferably represented by the formula where R═H or CH 3 , and R′ is C 1 -C 15 , alkyl or alkenyl group, preferably a C 1 -C 8 alkyl or alkenyl group. Preferably, a sufficient amount of the acrylate monomer is present to solubilize the reactive polyolefin component. The most preferred acrylate monomer comprises methyl methacrylate, because of high solubility, although other acrylates and/or methacrylates also work well. The Epoxy Resin Component The epoxy resin component is generally characterized as a polyepoxide. The epoxy content generally ranges from between about 1.7 and about 2.0 epoxy functions per chain. Usually, the epoxy resin comprises a diepoxide represented by the formula wherein Ar comprises an aryl group containing between about 12 and about 24 carbon atoms. An exemplary material comprises Bis-F epoxy resin which is Bis(4-glycidyloxyphenyl)methane represented by the formula: The Cross-linking Regulator (Part-B) The cross-linking regulator, by itself, does not function as a polymerization catalyst, co-catalyst, accelerator, initiator, promotor, or free-radical generator. The regulator forms, near instantaneously, an adduct or complex, with the reactive polyolefin which can initiate polymerization of the acrylate and cross-linking of the acrylate with the reactive polyolefin. Most importantly, the cross-linking regulator prevents rapid gelling of the reactive olefin when the hardener is added. Generally speaking, the function of the cross-linking regulator can be described as that of moderating the reactive polyolefin component. The cross-linking regulator generally comprises a polyamine, usually a polyaminophenol, and preferably a polyaminoalkylphenol. An exemplary class of cross-linking regulators can be represented by the formula (HO)—Ar—(CH 2 —N—R 2 ) 3 where R is alkyl having from one to 4 carbon atoms, preferably one carbon atom and Ar is an aryl group containing from 6 to 12 carbon atoms and is preferably phenyl. A preferred regulator comprises 2,4,6-tris(dimethylarninomethyl)phenol, which can be represented by the following formula. Amounts The above described reactants for producing the adhesive composition of the invention described above are preferably combined in an admixture which is further preferably characterized by the essential absence of non-reactive solvent. The admixture generally contains in the range of from about 10 wt % to about 50 wt % of the reactive polyolefin, in the range of from about 10 wt % to about 50 wt % of the acrylate monomer, and in the range of from about 10 wt % to about 50 wt % of the epoxy resin, and lesser amounts of optional other ingredients as exemplified by the Examples herein. Hardener or Curing Agent (Part-C) Generally speaking, a sufficient amount of curing agent is added to cause the composition to become cured after a useful working life in the range of from about 3 to about 300 minutes, preferably after about a working life in the range of from about 10 to about 100 minutes. Preferably, the admixture of reactive polyolefin, at least one acrylate monomer and epoxy resin is first brought together with the cross-linking regulator to form a first reaction mixture and then the curing agents is brought together with the first reaction mixture to form a second reaction mixture. Suitable curing agents are commercially available and can generally be described as containing at least two amine functionality. Exemplary curing agents can be represented by the formula R′—HN—Z—NH—R″ wherein R′ and R″ are independently selected from the group consisting of H and a C 1 -C 4 alkyl group and Z is selected from the group consisting of a C 1 -C 15 alkyl group and a C 6 -C 10 aryl group. An exemplary curing agent is available from Shell Chemical Company under the trade name “Epicure 3251”. It contains a Mannich base of the general formula where Z is a C 1-C 15 alkyl group. Mechanism The purpose aid role of the cross-linking regulator is to control the reaction of the adhesive resin (Part-A) comprising (i) chlorinated and chlorosulfonated polyolefin, (ii) acrylates and (iii) epoxy resin. The cross-linking regulator is not merely a “polymerization inhibitor”. For convenience, the moiety is represented by the formula where (P) is polymer backbone. Reaction Without Cross-linking Regulator With no cross-linking regulator added, the reaction proceeds very quickly, forming a near instantaneous gel of cross-linked material. (P)—SO 2 Cl and CH 2 ═CHR—COOR′ essentially do not react; there is no free-radical polymerization. Cross-linking Regulator Added The cross-linking regulator forms a near instantaneous complex with the resin component according to Thus, a purpose and role of the cross-linking regulator is to stop the very fast reaction of (P)—SO 2 Cl (the—SO 2 Cl group reaction) with the curing agent (the R′—HN—functional group) to prevent pregelling. Pregelling renders the product useless. The cross-linking-regulator forms a complex with (P)—SO 2 Cl which is the free-radical source for the polymerization of acrylates (component (ii) of adhesive resin part-A). The cross-linking regulator does not act as inhibitor of polymerization. It provides sufficient “induction” period of polymerization to prevent pregelling and enough time to apply the material (ease of application). The cross-linking regulator further increases the reactivity of otherwise slow curing Bis-F-epoxy resin (part (iii) of adhesive resin Part-A). In another aspect, the invention thus provides a method for effecting a cure of a composition which contains a reactive halosulfonated polyolefin in a controlled manner. The method is carried out by combining a sufficient amount of a cross-linking regulator with the reactive halosulfonated polyolefin to hinder a self cross-linking reaction of the reactive halosulfonated polyolefin and form a stabilized composition. The stabilized composition is then cured by combining therewith an amount of a polyamine to initiate a cross-linking reaction in the reactive halosulfonated polyolefin containing the cross-linking regulator to effect a cure of said composition to a flexible, semi-solid stage. Preferably, the cure reaction occurs over a reaction period ranging from about 5 minutes to about 5 hours at a temperature in the range of from about 0° C. to about 50° C. and is sufficiently slow so that the temperature of the curing composition does not increase over about 5° C. under field conditions. Description of the Drawing The invention was developed with a view toward providing an improved a interior joint structure for a building, container or the like. With reference to the Figure, two substrates 2, 4 come together to define the joint section, such as a corner or, as shown, an expansion joint. In the illustrated embodiment, the expansion joint is filled with an elastomeric sealant 6. The substrates are usually concrete, often coated. In the illustrated embodiment, the concrete which carries a polymer coating 8. A chemically inert polyolefin tape 10 covers the joint section. An adhesive material 12 according to the invention secures the chemically inert polyolefin tape to the substrates to provide a strong bond between the substrates and the chemically inert polyolefin tape. The chemically inert polyolefin tape 10 is preferably highly resistant to strong acids and bases and is flexible and tear-resistant so as to resist loss of fluid tight integrity in the event of relative movement between the two substrates which define the joint section. A highly suitable tape for use in accordance with the invention is formed from chlorosulfonated polyethylene which has been cross-linked and has a thickness in the range of from about 0.1 to about 10 millimeters. A preferred tape is one which has been cross-linked with an aminoalkoxysilane and has a thickness in the range of from about 0.3 to about 3 millimeters, with a mid-section of the tape having a greater thickness than edge sections of the tape. An exemplary tape formed from this material is resistant to strong organic and inorganic acids, e.g., glacial acetic acid, 98% H 2 SO 4 , 70% HNO 3 , and 85% H 3 PO 4. In the method of the invention, a coating of adhesive composition in accordance with the invention is applied on a surface of a substrate alongside a discontinuity. A flexible tape, such as that just described, is positioned on the coating and in sealing relationship with the discontinuity. The coating is then permitted to cure thereby adhering the adhesive composition the substrate and to the tape to seal the discontinuity. The surface of the tape is preferably roughened prior to positioning. The invention is further illustrated by the following examples. EXAMPLE I Adhesive Resin (Part-A) The ingredients used in an exemplary adhesive resin, (Part-A), are tabulated below TABLE I Composition wt % Functionality (moles/100 gm) Hypalon H-30 26.49 3.4 (10 −2 ) —SO 2 Cl group MMA 27.68 0.277 double bond 2-EHA 5.54 0.03 double bond MTBHQ 0.03 — — 1,6-HDODA 2.21 0.02 double bond TCE 4.84 0.037 double bond EPON 862 33.21 0.195 double bond In the table above, Hypalon H-30 is a reactive polyethylene containing 43 wt % chlorine and 1.1 wt % sulfur from Dupont. MMA is methyl methacrylate. 2-EHA is 2-ethylhexylacrylate. MTBHQ is mono-t-butyl hydroquinone, a polymerization inhibitor. 1,6-HDODA is 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate. TCE is trichloroethylene. EPON 862 is Bis-F epoxy resin from Shell Chemical Co. The Part-A adhesive resin was prepared by the following procedure: 221.8 gm of MMA was taken in a metal can, placed over a cold water bath (10 -15° C.), fitted with a mechanical stirrer. Then 150 gm Hypalon H-30 and 0.27 gm MTBHQ were added. The mixture was stirred for 8 hours to dissolve most of the Hypalon H-30. The temperature of the solution was controlled below 90° F. either by adding ice in the water bath or by cold water circulation. Then the remaining Hypalon H-30 (715 gm) and 2-EHA (44.3 gin) were added and the mixture was stirred moderately while maintaining the temperature at or below 90° F., until all Hypalon H-30 dissolved completely (about 8 hours). Then, the 1,6-HDODA, TCE and EPON 862 were added respectively, and the resulting admixture was stirred for another 30 minutes to ensure complete dispersion of the ingredients. Cross-linking Regulator, (Part-B) The cross-linking regulator employed was 2,4,6-tris(dimethylaminomethyl)phenol from a commercial source. Hardener, (Part-C) The hardener employed was a Mannich base obtained from Shell Chemical Company commercially known as Epicure 3251. Preparation of Adhesive Composition An adhesive composition was prepared by stirring 100 gm of the adhesive resin (Part-A) with 6 gm of the cross-linking regulator (Part-B) for 2-3 minutes. Then, 25 gm of hardener (Part-C) was added and mixed thoroughly for 2-3 minutes. The resulting adhesive composition was then applied to the substrate. The following properties were observed for the composition. (1) Quality Control—As a quality control (QC) check, 4 gm of the adhesive resin and 5 gm of methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) were mixed to give a clear solution. To this solution, 5 gm of acetone was added, which gave a milky solution. No precipitation occurred. Precipitation would have been an indicator of material failure. (2) Viscosity—Brookfield viscosity of the adhesive resin was in the range of 10,000 to 11,000 cps (at 77° F., HB#4). (3) Gel time—A composition of Part-A/Part-B/Part-C in the ratio of 10/0.6/2.5 by weight showed a gel time of 80 minutes. The set time was observed to be about 4 hours. The test was carried at a laboratory temperature of 70° F. and 83% relative humidity. The same test done at 110° F. and 65% relative humidity showed gel time of 30 minutes and set time of 100 minutes. (4) Hang on vertical wall—The composition as in (3) above had a hang on a vertical wall of 20 mil thick at 70° F. at 83% relative humidity and 18 mil thick 110° F. at 65% relative humidity. (5) Lap shear test A—The composition as in (3) above was applied on steel coupons. Steel-to-steel lap shear was determined as per ASTM D1002-94. The material was cured for one week at 40° F. and at 155° F., respectively. The lap shear, measured at room temperature, was 2,400 psi (lbs/sq.in) for the 40° F. cure and 3,150 psi for the 155° F. cure. (6) Lap shear test B: The composition as in (3) above was applied on steel-elastomer tape-steel. The elastomer tape (polyethylene based chemically inert tape) was 1″×1″ size, and the thickness was about 80 mil. The material was cured at 40° F. for one week. The lap shear, measured at room temperature, was 790 psi. Further post cure of the material at 155° F. overnight increased the lap shear strength to 927 psi. (7) Acid Resistance Tests—the adhesive composition as in (3) above was applied on two surfaces for acid resistance tests. (a) Chlorinated polyester coated concrete for HNO 3 immersion test—The adhesive was applied on the concrete surface to a thickness of approximately 20 mil, and then immediately 2″×2″ EL-tape (Elasti-Liner joint tape) was put over the adhesive. The adhesive was cured at 65° F. for 16 hr and then at 140° F. for 8 hr. The tape was immersed in 70% HNO 3 for 3 days. Then the acid was drained out and the area was washed with water 4-5 times. No adhesive failure was observed. The tape remained strongly adhered to the coated concrete, even after 3 days of strong acid immersion. The adhesive was not eaten up underneath by strong acid. Qualitative peel test revealed tape tear off rather than adhesion failure. (b) Epoxy coated concrete for H 2 SO 4 immersion test—Epoxy coated concrete was necessary to protect it against 98% H 2 SO 4 . The adhesive test was conducted as in 7(a) using 98% H 2 SO 4 instead of nitric acid. In this case also, the adhesive did not fail. The tape remained strongly adhered to concrete. The acid formed an ablative layer on the adhesive edge. The Peel test revealed tape tear off, but not adhesion failure. EXAMPLE IV Variation of Adhesive Resin—An adhesive resin was prepared as shown in the following table: TABLE V Composition Amount (gm) wt % Hypalon H-30 26.49 39.66 MMA 27.68 41.44 2-EHA 5.54 8.30 MTBHQ 0.03 0.04 1,6-HDODA 2.21 3.31 TCE 4.84 7.25 The composition of the adhesive resin is the same as in Example I except that the epoxy resin (EPON 862) was not added. (a) To 10 gm of the above resin, 0.6 gm of 2,4,6-(dimethylaminomethyl)phenol was added, stirred 2 minutes, and then Epicure 3251 was added while continuing stirring for another 2 minutes. The adhesive composition was applied on concrete substrate (approx. 20 mil) and EL-joint tape was placed over it. The adhesive composition did not cure properly in 24 hr, and the tape was easily peeled off by hand. (b) To 10 gm of the above adhesive resin, 0.03 gm cobalt-naphthoate was added. To this resin mixture, 0.3 gm cumene hydroperoxide and 0.1 gm N,N-dimethylaniline were added while stirring for 3 minutes. The resulting composition was applied on concrete (approx. 15 mil) and EL-tape was placed over. The curing reaction was highly exothermic. The EL-joint tape swelled badly, and the edge of the tape curled upward and did not remain flat. EXAMPLE V Elastoline Joint Tape (EL joint tape)—This is a polyolefin based elastomeric tape which is highly resistant to 98% H 2 SO 4 , 70% HNO 3 , glacial acetic acid, strong organic and inorganic bases, as well as some organic solvents. A typical tape has the following composition: TABLE V Composition wt % Chlorosulfonated polyethylene 65.6 Carbon black 1.7 Titanium dioxide, white 0.2 Clay (amine modified) 16.4 Epoxy resin 7.8 Processing oil 4.6 Sulfur 0.65 Mixture of curing agents 2.9 The materials were mill mixed, extruded to a 6″ wide tape and cured at 325° F. for 30 minutes. The cured tape is flexible (300-500% elongation), high tensile (3000-4000 psi tensile strength), good tear (200-300 lb/inch Die C tear) and unaffected by strong acids and bases. Because of its strong chemical resistance, it does not adhere to any substrate using conventional adhesives. However, as shown above, adhesion is excellent when the inventive adhesive is used. While certain preferred embodiments of the invention have been described herein, the invention is not to be construed as being so limited, except to the extent that such limitations are found in the claims.
Gel formation is prevented in the reaction between a sulfonyl-chloride-containing resin and a polyamine by first forming an adduct between the resin with an aminophenol. The prevention of gel formation enables sulfonyl-chloride containing resin to be used in admixture with acrylates and epoxy resin to form a polyamine-curable adhesive composition having excellent adhesive properties and chemical resistance.
8
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to power golf carts, and more particularly to a collapsible power golf cart that may be used selectively in walking and riding modes and is collapsible for storage and transport in the trunk of a vehicle. There are many golfers whose health is such that although they need and desire the exercise afforded by walking, there are conditions under which it is necessary at times to be able to ride. For example, a golfer may be quite able ordinarily to walk flat or moderately inclined fairways, but on occasion cannot do so, and usually is unable to walk up steeply inclined fairways. There are presently available for use a wide variety of types of collapsible power golf cart that may be used either to walk behind or to ride. The walking type of collapsible power golf carts is exemplified in such U.S. Patents as Nos. 4,657,100; 4,615,406; 4,570,732; 4,570,731; 4,418,776; and 4,356,875. None of these walking type power carts is capable of accommodating riding. The riding type of collapsible power golf cart is exemplified in such U.S. Patents as Nos. 4,573,549; 4,538,695; 4,522,281; 3,648,795; 3,513,924; 3,434,558; 3,329,228; and 3,043,389. None of these riding type power golf carts permits the alternative of walking. Thus, there has not been provided heretofore a collapsible power golf cart that is convertible during a round of golf selectively to walk behind or to ride upon. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention provides a power golf cart that is convertible between one position in which a wheeled platform extends rearwardly of a power driven, wheel supported frame for supporting a person for riding, and a second position in which the wheeled platform is supported by the frame in retracted position to allow a person to walk behind the frame. It is the principal objective of this invention to provide a collapsible power golf cart that is convertible selectively for between walking and riding modes. Another object of this invention is the provision of a collapsible powered golf cart of the class described that is capable of assembly and disassembly with speed and facility for transport in the trunk of a vehicle. Still another objective of this invention is to provide a collapsible powered golf cart of the class described in which a riding platform is adjustable between a position for supporting a person for riding and a position of storage on the cart for allowing a person to walk behind the cart. A further objective of this invention is the provision of a collapsible powered golf cart of the class described that is of simplified construction for economical manufacture, maintenance and repair. These and other objects and advantages of this invention will appear from the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings of a preferred embodiment. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a convertible walking/riding golf cart embodying the features of this invention, the cart being shown adjusted to the riding mode. FIG. 2 is a rear elevation as viewed from the left in FIG. 1, parts being broken away to disclose structural details and the golf bag removed for clarity. FIG. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 3--3 in FIG. 1, the golf bag being removed for clarity. FIG. 4 is a side elevation, similar to FIG. 1, showing the cart adjusted to the walking mode. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The convertible walking/riding golf cart of this invention is formed of three basic units; namely, a drive unit, a golf bag support unit and a riding unit. These units are releasably interconnected for cooperative association in the operative configurations and are readily disconnected from each other for convenient manipulation for storage and transport in the trunk of a conventional automobile. The drive unit 10 includes a pair of laterally spaced wheels 12 mounted on the opposite ends of a transverse axle 14. The axle extends through the housing 16 of a transmission which is coupled to an electric drive motor 18 mounted on the housing. The transmission housing 16 supports a transverse frame 20 provided at its opposite ends with downwardly offset battery compartments 22 configured to removably support the pair of batteries 24. Electrical conductors 26 connect the batteries to the electric drive motor through an electronic controller 28 mounted on the frame. A golf bag support unit 30 includes an elongated hollow post 32, preferably formed of square tubing. The post is secured to the frame 20 by means of a pair of bottom brackets 34 extending forwardly from the frame and secured detachably to opposite sides of the post by means of quick disconnect pins 36. The post also is secured to the frame by means of a pair of upper brackets 38. The upper ends of these brackets are secured releasably to the post by means of quick disconnect pins 40. The brackets diverge downwardly and their lower ends are received in laterally spaced sockets 42 on the frame 20. Quick disconnect pins 44 secure the lower ends of the brackets releasably in the sockets. The post 32 thus is secured detachably to the frame 20 in an upwardly and rearwardly inclined disposition. The bottom end of the post 32 mounts a rearwardly extending skid plate 46 by which the forward, lower end of the post may be rested upon the ground. Projecting forwardly from the skid plate is an integrated golf bag support plate 48 which serves to support the bottom end of a golf bag 50. The bag extends upwardly therefrom along the forward surface of the post 32. A U-shaped retainer frame 52 is secured to the post adjacent the lower end thereof and extends forwardly to capture the lower portion of the golf bag. A strap 54 interconnects the spaced terminal ends of the retainer frame 52 and extends across the outer side of the golf bag to secure the latter releasably to the post. In similar manner, a U-shaped retainer frame 56 is secured to the post in a position adjacent the upper end of the golf bag, to confine the latter therein. The upper portion of the golf bag is retained in the frame by means of a strap 58. The golf bag may be removed from the post simply by releasing one end of each of the straps 54 and 58, as will be understood. The post 32 serves the additional function of steering the golf cart. In the embodiment illustrated, an upper telescopic post 60 is received slidably within the hollow post 32 for longitudinal adjustment relative thereto. A clamp screw 62 extends through a wall of the post 32 for releasable engagement with the upper telescopic post 60 to secure the latter in any desired position of longitudinal adjustment. The upper end of the telescopic post 60 mounts a friction sleeve 64 in which a handle bar 66 is secured for rotational adjustment about the axis of the sleeve. The handle bar illustrated is of the bicycle or motorcycle type provided with a pair of laterally spaced, rearwardly extending sections. The terminal end of one of the sections mounts a speed control 68 operated by a rotary handle 70 to effect the movement of a flexible speed control cable 72. This cable extends to the electronic controller 28, and functions by rotational manipulation of the handle 70 to operate the electronic controller to vary the speed of the drive motor 18. The opposite end section of the handle bar 66 mounts a brake control lever 74 which is connected through flexible cable 76 to a brake control 78 on the transmission 16. The third component of the convertible golf cart of this invention is a riding unit 80. This unit includes a platform 82 provided with laterally spaced, downwardly extending brackets 84 which mount the opposite ends of a transverse axle 86. The axle mounts a pair of laterally spaced wheels 88. Extending forwardly from the front end of the platform 82 is an elongated, upwardly offset tongue 90. The forward end of the tongue is configured for removable reception in a guide slot 92 formed between the frame 20 and an upstanding, inverted U-shaped tongue guide 94 on the frame. A quick disconnect pivot pin 96 extends through aligned openings in the tongue guide 94, tongue 90 and frame 20, to releasably secure the tongue to the frame for limited articulation of the tongue both horizontally and vertically. It is by this means that the riding unit 80 and drive unit 10 are movable as an integrated unit in any direction over uneven terrain. Means also is provided for adjusting the riding unit to a storage position closely adjacent the drive unit 10 when it is desired to operate the golf cart in the walking mode. In the embodiment illustrated, a suspension hook 98 extends rearwardly from the upper telescopic post 60 for the releasable reception of the pivot opening at the forward end of the tongue 90, as illustrated in FIG. 4. The riding unit 80 thus is suspended from the hook and hangs downward therefrom with the wheels 88 positioned closely adjacent the frame 20. A quick disconnect pin 98' releasably secures the tongue in the hook. A pair of anchor bars 100 are mounted pivotally at one end to the underside of the platform 82 on pivots 102. The bars are adjustable between a storage position retained in spring clips 104 under the platform and an operative position extending forwardly from the underside of the platform. the forward end of each bar is provided with an opening for registration with an opening in a bracket 106 projecting rearwardly from each battery compartment 22. A quick release pin 108 extends retractably through the aligned openings to secure the anchor bars to the frame 20. The riding unit 80 thus is secured in the storage position closely adjacent the drive unit so as not to interfere with normal walking behind the golf cart. The wheels 88 of the riding unit are positioned a distance rearwardly and upwardly from the drive wheels 12. Thus, when the golf cart is driven forwardly in the walking mode, the golf bag support post 32 may be tilted rearwardly until the wheels 88 also engage the ground behind the drive wheels 12. The golf cart thus is supported on four wheels for maximum stability. Means preferably is provided for utilizing the riding unit as a carrier for the drive unit 10 in the event that through inadvertence the batteries 24 had not been charged sufficiently to operate the drive unit to the completion of the golf round. To this end, a tongue-connecting pin 110 is carried on a bracket extending rearwardly from the lower portion of the post 32, for releasable reception of the opening in the forward end of the tongue 90. A pair of axle saddle bars 112 are mounted pivotally on opposite sides of the platform 82 by pivot pins 114. Inwardly extending stop bars 116 on the saddle bars 112 are configured to abut the upper surface of the platform 82 when the saddle bars are rotated upwardly about the pivot pins 114 to a position extending perpendicular to the platform. The upper ends of the saddle bars 84 are contoured to provide arcuate saddles 118 in which to receive the axle 14 of the drive unit. The riding unit thus supports the drive unit and golf bag support unit upon it, whereby the assembly may be wheeled manually on the wheels 88 of the riding unit, either to a transporting vehicle or to a battery charger. From the foregoing it will be readily apparent that the convertible walking/riding golf cart of this invention may be disassembled for convenient storage and transport in the trunk of a conventional automobile. This is achieved simply by retraction of the quick disconnect pins 36, 40, 44 and 96 or 98' and 108 to separate the three basic units from each other. If desired, the batteries may be removed from the compartments 22 to minimize the weight of the drive unit and thus facilitate lifting of the drive unit to and from a trunk. The golf bag 50 also may be removed from the post 32. In addition, the upper telescopic post 60 may be retracted fully into the post 32, or removed, to minimize the length of the handle bar and golf bag support unit. In preparation of use of the golf cart, the components are removed from the automobile trunk. The elongated hollow post 32 of the golf bag support unit then is secured to the drive unit 10 by connecting the post 32 to the bottom brackets 34 by the quick disconnect pins 36. The brackets 38 then are secured at their lower ends in the sockets 42, by the quick disconnect pins 44, and the upper ends of the brackets are secured to the post 32 by the quick disconnect pins 40. The golf bag 50 is secured in position on the post 32 by the straps 54 and 58. Assuming the golf cart is first to be utilized in the walking mode, the riding unit 80 is secured in the storage position illustrated in FIG. 4, by engaging the opening in the front end of the tongue 90 in the suspension hook 98, and the anchor bars 100 swung forwardly and secured to the brackets 106 by the pins 108. The golfer then manipulates the power cart by grasping the laterally spaced end sections of the handle bar 66 and rotating the speed control handle 70 to energize the drive motor 18. The wheels 12 of the drive unit thus are rotated in the forward moving direction, whereupon the golf bag support post 32 automatically is rotated in the counterclockwise direction about the axis of the axle 14. The lower end of the post 32 thus is moved upwardly a substantial distance above the ground and the handle bar is moved rearward in the grasp of the golfer. The wheels 88 of the riding unit may be brought into engagement with the ground to limit further rearward tilting of the support post 32 and golf bag 50 and thereby achieve maximum stability of the golf cart. There is ample distance between the platform 82 of the riding unit 80 and the golfer to permit the golfer to walk with normal stride behind the golf cart. The golfer may steer the golf cart to the right or left simply by manipulating the handle bar in the appropriate manner. When it is desired to stop the forward movement of the golf cart, the golfer merely rotates the speed control handle 70 in the direction to deactivate the drive motor 18. Ordinarily, the application of the brake lever 74 is unnecessary to retain the golf cart in stationary position. However, the brake control lever may be used to provide quicker stopping when desired. When the golfer approaches a steeply inclined fairway, or for any other reason finds it desirable or necessary to switch to the riding mode, the anchor bars 100 are uncoupled from the frame 20 and swung under the platform 82 to the storage position in the spring clips 104. The pins 108 are stored in the brackets 106 for subsequent use in again securing the anchor bars. The riding unit then is removed from its suspension on the hook 98. The tongue 90 then is inserted into the guide slot 92 and the quick disconnect pivot pin 96 installed to interconnect the tongue and the frame 20. The riding unit thus is switched to the operative position in which the golfer may stand upon the platform 82 in the riding mode. To propel the golf cart forwardly in the riding mode, the golfer, standing upon the platform, grasps the handle bar 66 and rotates the speed control handle 70 in the direction to activate the drive motor 18. As before, the forward driving motion of the wheels 12 causes the elongated hollow post 32 and supported golf bag 50 to rotate counterclockwise about the axle 14. The skid plate 46 thus is raised above ground and the handle bar moved rearwardly toward the golfer standing on the platform. In the event the golfer once again desires to use the golf cart in the walking mode, the riding unit 80 is transferred back to the storage position illustrated in FIG. 4. This switching between walking and riding modes may be accomplished as often as desired throughout a round of golf, and with speed and facility, as will be apparent. From the foregoing, it will be recognized that the present invention provides a power golf cart of simplified construction which may be converted with speed and facility between walking and riding modes, as often as desired during a round of golf. The three basic units of the assembly are readily separated from each other for convenient storage and transport in the trunk of an automobile, and as readily assembled into an integrated golf cart for use selectively in walking and riding modes. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the size, shape, type, number and arrangement of parts described hereinbefore. For example, the riding platform 82 may be arranged to be swung upward from a pivot at the front end of the tongue 90 and the rear end of the platform 82 secured in the storage position of FIG. 4, by any suitable latch means. For this purpose it may be desirable to mount the brackets 84 for sliding adjustment along the platform in order to move the wheels 88 downward toward the tongue 90 to a position of better balance. As another modification, the speed control assembly 68, 70 and 72 may be replaced with other, completely electrical system, such as is used in powered wheelchairs. The bicycle type handle bar may be replaced with a single handle, in the manner of conventional manual golf carts. The telescopic handle bar post 60 may be omitted, as may be the brake system. The skid plate 46 may be replaced with a wheel. These and other modifications and changes may be made, as desired, without departing from the spirit of this invention and the scope of the appended claims.
A convertible walking/riding power driven golf cart includes three detachable units; namely, a drive unit having a frame supported on wheels connected to a battery operated motor; a steering and golf bag support unit connected detachably to the drive unit and having releasable golf bag connectors and a handle bar mounting a speed control and a brake control; and a riding unit having a wheel-supported platform connected detachably to the drive unit for adjustment between an operative position extending horizontally rearward from the drive unit for supporting a person on the platform for riding, and a storage position disposed vertically closely adjacent the drive unit to allow a person to walk behind the drive unit while grasping the handle bar. The three units are quickly and easily detached from each other for storage and transport in the trunk of an automobile.
8
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] Disclosure Document No. 462033, filed Sep. 13, 1999, and Provisional Patent Application No. 60/173,838, filed Dec. 30, 1999. STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT [0002] Not Applicable REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX [0003] Not Applicable BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0004] The described invention relates to the attachment of gift bows to packages by means of a clip and the method of using same. Conventionally, individuals must use tape or one-time-use adhesive backed strips to hold the gift bow on a present or package. This usually results in the bow being dislodged and possibly lost where tape is employed or thrown away with the wrapping paper where the adhesive backed strip is employed. The present invention overcomes these problems by providing a reusable securement clip for bows. [0005] This invention eliminates the high cost of throwing away expensive bows. The reusable method is cost efficient. The combination of clips and bows can be mixed and matched, and a fun way of wrapping. These bows are so convenient and versatile for use on bags, toys, etc. as decoration. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0006] The described invention provides an improved securement means for gift bows to presents and packages. As such, the general purpose of the described invention is to provide a new and improved reusable securement means for bows that has economic and functional advantages over the existing means. [0007] The present invention provides a reusable clip securement that facilitates the efficient application of bows to wrapped packages and presents, without the manipulation of tape, twist ties and adhesive strips. The invention allows for the selection of large or small bows, different colors, and placement of the gift bow anywhere on the package and present. Not only is the present invention easy to attach, but also easy to deattach from the package for reuse, thereby eliminating waste and the cost of replacing bows. [0008] One of the novel design features of the described invention is that spare clips and bows can be purchased to extend the life of the reusable gift bow, thereby, reducing the gift bow cost to the consumer. Spare multi-color, sized clips and bows can be packaged in lightweight, durable, and recyclable plastic containers. No more throwing away money with the old method of using bows. [0009] Representative embodiments of the concepts of the described invention are illustrated in the drawings. Clips can be made of plastic or metal materials, and color coded with bow and ribbon colors. The clips should be sized in proportion with the bow, and approximately the length and width dimensions of the current adhesive-backed strip. [0010] Important features of the clip include a thin coating of rubber or equivalent frictional substance for the purpose of gripping the contact surfaces, a pointed tip to pierce all types of gift wrapping paper (regular, foil, plastic or coated), and flat surfaces for the securement of the bow bottom surface to the clip top surface. Where the ribbon is interposed between the top and bottom clip, the coated clip surfaces can assist in securing the ribbon so it will not shift or move from its desired position. The fixedly attachable means to secure the bow to the clip can be a glue substance (Super Glue™), hook & eye devices (Velcro™), or double-sided reusable/replaceable adhesive strips. When the glued bow detaches from the clip, the bow can be re-adhered to the clip with the application a glue substance or equivalent. There are equivalent repair procedures for the hook & eye devices and reusable/replaceable adhesive strips. It is favorable to select a means that allows for maximum flexibility for future repairs or replacements of the bow or clip. [0011] It is an object of the described invention to provide a new and improved reusable securement means for bows to presents and packages that have all the advantages of the prior art adhesive securement strips and none of the disadvantages. [0012] It is another object of the described invention to provide a new and improved reusable securement means for bows to presents and packages that may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed. [0013] It is a further object of the described invention to provide a new and improved reusable securement means for bows to presents and packages which are of a durable and reliable construction designed for repeated use with replacement clips and bows available to maximize the use of the gift bow. [0014] An even further object of the described invention is to provide a new and improved reusable securement means for bows to presents and packages which are susceptible of a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such gift bow economically available to the buying public. [0015] Still another object of the described invention is to provide a new and improved reusable securement means for bows to presents and packages for efficiently and neatly securing a bow and ribbon on a wrapped present or package. [0016] These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty that characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objectives attained by its uses, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0017] The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth herein will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: [0018] [0018]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention 10 [0019] [0019]FIG. 2 is a side view in detail of the clip 14 [0020] [0020]FIG. 3 is a top view of the Upper Clamp member 16 [0021] [0021]FIG. 4 is a view of the bow bottom surface 38 [0022] [0022]FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the Lower Stationary member 18 [0023] [0023]FIG. 6 is an illustration of the operation of the reusable gift bow 10 DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0024] With reference to the drawings, a new reusable gift bow embodying the principles and concepts of the present invention and generally designated by the reference number 10 will be described. [0025] The main embodiment of the reusable gift bow 10 includes a bow 12 and a clip 14 , as illustrated in FIG. 1. The clip 14 is typical of many clips that are found in commerce and available to the general public. The preferred embodiment illustrates a clip 14 that snaps together to firmly hold gift-wrapping paper. However, any clip that performs the same clamping function is adequate. [0026] The preferred embodiment clip 14 is illustrated in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 provides a side view of the clip 14 with an upper clamp member 16 and a lower stationary member 18 . The members are generally elongated and made of suitable thin plastic or sheet metal, and are hard coated with a polymer (or equivalent substance) with color pigmentation. The upper clamp member lower surface 20 and stationary member lower stationary upper surface 22 are coated with an additional hard substance of high friction coefficient for improved clamping and adhesion. The structure of the upper clamp member 16 has a longitudinally convex curve 24 extending away from the lower stationary member 18 . The length and width of the upper clamp member 16 and lower stationary member 18 are predetermined for optimized clamping of the gift-wrap disposed between the two members. When the reusable gift bow 10 is in the open position, there is a gap 26 between the upper clamp member 16 and the lower stationary member 18 . The preferred embodiment of the clip 14 can be made out of one-piece of material. However, an alternative embodiment includes the two members fixedly attached at the clip back end 28 . [0027] As illustrated in FIG. 3, Upper clamp member 16 comprises an upper clamp member aft end 30 and an upper clamp member front end 32 , which tapers inwardly into an upper clamp member curved tip 34 . Upper clamp member upper surface 36 is sized to mount bow 12 . Bow bottom surface 38 , as illustrated in FIG. 4, is fixedly attached to upper clamp member upper surface 36 by glue, adhesive, hook-and-eye device, or equivalent. These attachment applications make for easy repair of dislodged bows from the clip 14 . [0028] The structure of the lower stationary member 18 is such that it defines a generally planar projection 40 with a lower stationary member rear portion 42 , lower stationary member front portion 44 , lower stationary upper surface 22 , and lower stationary lower surface 48 . The front portion of the planar projection 40 tapers inwardly into a lower stationary member rounded tip 46 . [0029] An alternative clip embodiment (not shown) includes a biasing mechanism, to act like a spring, connected to the upper clamp member aft end 30 to the lower stationary member rear portion 42 to impose a normal force acting upon the upper clamp member lower surface 20 and the lower stationary upper surface 22 . As discussed above, the clip 14 can be one of many clips that are found in commerce and available to the generally public. Any clip that performs the same function of clamping the gift-wrapping disposed between the upper clamp member lower surface 20 and the lower stationary upper surface 22 is adequate. [0030] Another utility for the reusable gift bow 10 is the securement of a ribbon (not shown) interposed between the upper clamp member 16 and the wrapping paper. Though, the ribbon is primarily secured by other means such as tape or being tied, the clamping action of the reusable gift bow 10 will hold the ribbon in place at a fixed position thereby avoiding ribbon slippage and maintaining the desired ornamental effect. Clips with color coating can be used separately to hold ribbon in place. [0031] Other variations and modifications are of course contemplated to be within the range of protection defined by this patent. Variations in size, shape, form, function, materials or color and manner of operation, assembly and use are deemed obvious to one skilled in the art. [0032] Operation and use of the attachment mechanism of the invention is simple and straightforward. To open the reusable gift bow 10 , hold the lower stationary member 18 firmly with the thumb and forefinger, as illustrated in FIG. 6. With the other hand push up on the upper clamp member tip with the forefinger until gap 26 is created. [0033] With the reusable gift bow 10 in the open position, hold the lower stationary member 18 firmly with the thumb and forefinger, as illustrated in FIG. 6. Pierce the gift-wrap of many different materials (regular paper, foil, plastic, and coated) with lower stationary member rounded tip 46 at the desired location. Gap 26 will be sufficient to insert stationary member 16 into the slit made in the gift-wrap by lower stationary member rounded tip 46 . Once stationary member 16 is fully inserted into the slit, firmed hold the clip back end 28 with the thumb and forefinger of one hand. With the other hand push down the upper clamp member curved tip 34 with the forefinger to close the gap 26 between the lower stationary member 18 and upper clamp member 16 , whereby, the gift bow 10 is secured to the gift-wrap. [0034] To release the reusable gift bow 10 from the paper or package, firmed hold clip back end 28 with the thumb and forefinger of one hand as was done during the closing operation. With the other hand, push up on the upper clamp member curved tip 34 with sufficient force until the upper clamp member 16 lifts up creating gap 26 to remove the reusable gift bow 10 from the paper or packaging slit. Then unwrap present, retrieve the gift bow and ribbon, and store both for future wrapping. [0035] Where a ribbon is attached to the package or present, place the reusable gift bow 10 in proximity of the ribbon such that the ribbon can be interposed between upper clamp member 16 and wrapping paper. [0036] With respect to the above description, it is realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention. [0037] Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention. [0038] Accordingly, it can be seen that the reusable gift bow is a versatile, cost efficient invention that overcomes the limitations of previously taught gift bows. [0039] Although the description above contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this invention. Various other embodiments and ramifications are possible within it's scope. Thus the scope of the invention should be determined by the claims in the regular application and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given.
A reusable gift bow comprising a bow having a bottom surface, and a clip having an upper clamp member, the upper clamp member having an upper clamp member upper surface, wherein the bottom surface of the bow is fixedly mounted to the upper clamp member upper surface of the upper clamp member, whereby the reusable gift bow can be attached and released from a gift package or wrapping repeatedly without degradation or destruction of the bow.
3
TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] It is a practical and simple device on which the male dogs urinate, said device serves as a receptor and container of urine until it can be emptied into a suitable place maintaining hygiene, as well as maintaining protection of areas and furniture that they share with their owners. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] There will always be owners that do not have adequate space or the necessary possibilities to take the dogs for a walk to urinate in open spaces or green areas. One of the main problems for these owners is to daily and constantly clean the urine runoff in different areas, which is very annoying for different types of materials and surfaces such as furniture, walls, tapestry, curtains, floors, planks, rolling, carpets, etc. and it would be ideal to make it easier, in the most practical and hygienic way possible. Taking into the account the above and based on the physiological needs of male dogs to urinate and instinctively mark their territory especially when they are not puppies anymore, in vertical objects and surfaces, this invention was designed. It is a vertical and inclined receiving portable plastic container, which is being placed on the floor engaging with the surfaces to be protected avoiding the direct runoff of urine. [0003] There are other patents and products in the market and the general differences are the following: they have more than 3 parts, have moving parts, different forms, some of them must be fitted, have metallic parts and for its sizes hinder the passage of people, many of them have grid structures, holes and textures surfaces that are difficult to clean accumulating residues, therefore they are very hygienic, and it cannot be visually determined whether this device was used by the dog, both hands must be used for its manipulation, for its size, flexibility, texture and structure, they are difficult to empty and clean. [0004] Patent DE202006019256 U1/Germany/Orter, Gundula, is impractical because it has 3 parts; a movable clamping handle has metal parts. It is attached to the edge of the toilet and it makes it bulky for the everyday use. [0005] Moreover, the Chinese utility model CN202941247 has 3 pieces, a tray, a mobile deflector having almost the same size and a mesh, this makes it very bulky because of the space it occupies and it is difficult to wash and clean. [0006] Patent application US0120298046 A1 Mikael Havluciyan, like the earlier mentioned patent by the number of pieces, form and sizes makes it impractical. [0007] The international patent application WO2013101546 A1, PCT/US2012/070314 James S. Konges is an electronic audible trainer. This device is activated only with the dog's presence. It does not solve the problem of runoff and hygiene. [0008] The European patent application EP2499906 A1 Frantisek Tomecek has 3 parts; the problem of this device is that it depends on having a strainer available. It is fixedly secured and it makes it impractical and difficult to clean. [0009] U.S. Pat. No. 3,230,929 A. J. D. Tomas (1963) has 4 parts, a metal mesh cylinder, a lid, a tray and an impractical crosslinked film in every way. [0010] The Chinese utility model CN 201499511 U has 3 detachable parts, one with holes, it is difficult to wash and you cannot know without touching it whether the dog urinated in it. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0011] The present invention consists of one piece device, which is placed on the floor in open areas or is attached to flat surfaces, such as walls or furniture in order to maintain hygiene and to avoid damages by the runoff of the dog's urine. The urine leaks over the bottom part of the device where it is contained in a channel until the owner can empty and rinse it to place it again. In order to strengthen or accustom the dog to this action, it can be rewarded immediately. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0012] FIG. 1A shows the isometric view of the “Complete” embodiment. [0013] FIG. 1B shows the front view of the “Complete” embodiment. [0014] FIG. 1C shows the side view of the “Complete” embodiment. [0015] FIG. 1D shows the top view of the “Complete” embodiment. [0016] FIG. 2A shows the isometric view of the “Flat Half” embodiment. [0017] FIG. 2B shows the front view of the “Flat Half” embodiment. [0018] FIG. 2C shows the side view of the “Flat Half” embodiment. [0019] FIG. 2D shows the top view of the “Flat Half” embodiment. [0020] FIG. 3A shows the isometric view of the “Flat Half” embodiment for wall with socle. [0021] FIG. 3B shows the front view of the “Flat Half” embodiment for wall with socle. [0022] FIG. 3C shows the side view of the “Flat Half” embodiment for wall with socle. [0023] FIG. 3D shows the top view of the “Flat Half” embodiment for wall with socle. [0024] FIG. 4A shows the isometric view of the “Flat Corner” embodiment. [0025] FIG. 4B shows a top isometric view of the Flat Corner embodiment. [0026] FIG. 4C shows the side view of the “Flat Corner” embodiment 270 . [0027] FIG. 4D shows the top view of the “Flat Corner” embodiment. [0028] FIG. 5A shows an isometric view of the Socle “Flat Corner” embodiment. [0029] FIG. 5B shows the top isometric view of the “Socle Flat Corner” embodiment. [0030] FIG. 5C shows the side view of the “Socle Flat Corner” embodiment. [0031] FIG. 5D shows the top view of the “Socle Flat Corner” embodiment. [0032] FIG. 6A shows the basic parts of the device in general. [0033] FIG. 6B shows a common protective flap of devices for flat vertical surfaces. [0034] FIG. 6C shows the special cut of the attachment for walls with socle. [0035] FIG. 7A shows how the male dog urinates on the device. [0036] FIG. 7B shows when the dog performs this action; the owner rewards this behavior as part of the training. [0037] FIG. 7C shows how the device is lifted. [0038] FIG. 7D shows the action of emptying the urine in a suitable place. [0039] FIG. 7E shows how to rinse the device. [0040] FIG. 8A shows the location and components of the transmitter module of the attachment “Electronic Awards Dispenser”. [0041] FIG. 8B shows two fixing pins and urine detection terminals of the transmitter module of the attachment “Electronic Awards Dispenser”. [0042] FIG. 8C shows the components of the attachment “Electronic Awards Dispenser”. [0043] FIG. 9A shows a dog urinating on the device. [0044] FIG. 9B shows when urine is detected; it sends a radio frequency signal to the Awards Dispenser to activate the release of an award. [0045] FIG. 9C shows how you can activate the release of an award by means of a keychain size remote control. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0046] The devices come in different sizes in height from 15 cm to 50 cm depending on the size of the dog; the device is placed within the reach of the dog. One or more devices can be placed according to the diversity of the vertical areas and surfaces to protect, therefore, 5 basic embodiments are shown, and all of them are placed on the floor and depending of the surfaces to be placed. For a better understanding of the different embodiments, reference is made to the following descriptions: [0047] FIG. 1A shows a device called “Complete”, which is to be placed in the middle of open areas spaces and having a 360-degree coverage. 1 B, 1 C, 1 D are different views of it. [0048] FIG. 2A shows the “Flat Half” device having a completely flat surface in order to place it adjacent to vertical surfaces such as walls and furniture. [0049] FIG. 3A shows the “Socle Flat Half” embodiment, which besides of having a flat surface has a special cut to release the socle commonly used on the walls. [0050] FIG. 4A shows the “Flat Corner” embodiment, which has the characteristic of having a 90-degree cut so it can be coupled to wall corners so that it can be attached to walls or furniture. [0051] FIG. 5A shows the “Socle Flat Corner” embodiment, this embodiment besides of having a 90-degree cut and placed in the corners of the walls, has a cut to fit to walls with the socle. [0052] In FIG. 6A , the basic parts making up the device are shown, which comprises at the top, an integrated and rigid clamping handle for its manipulation ( 601 ). A smooth inclined surface of runoff over which the dog urinates ( 602 ). A urine containment channel ( 604 ), on both sides it has a drain for the controlled delivery of urine ( 605 ). The base of the device is always placed on the floor ( 606 ). The embodiments to be placed adjacent to vertical surfaces feature a protective edge ( 603 ). For embodiments of wall with socle there is a specific cut to release it ( 607 ). [0053] Usually, when dogs detect a new element in their environment, they mark it with urine ( FIG. 7A ), to reinforce this behavior based on the known theory “Pavlov Conditioning” for urinating on the device, they are given an award immediately ( FIG. 7B ). The urine drains into the bottom where there is a contention channel preventing scattering thereof. The owner can visually note that it was urinated without the need to touch the device by noting the accumulation of urine in the channel or because the dog asks his usual award. The owner, by holding the clamping handle, vertically raises the device ( FIG. 7C ) taking care not to spill the urine, moves it to empty in the location considered appropriate ( FIG. 7D ). Afterwards, it is simply flushed with water ( FIG. 7E ) and put it back in the same place or in another, as some dogs like to find different places to urinate. [0054] As mentioned above, in order to train and accustom the dog to urinate on the device, it must be given an award immediately for this action, but the owner is not always available. Therefore, an attachment called “Electronic Awards Dispenser” was created, that serves to reward the dog automatically. [0055] FIG. 8A shows the elements of which the attachment “Electronic Awards Dispenser” consists, the first element is the radio frequency transmitter module comprised by a small compact plastic box with an electronic circuit ( 801 ) which is fixed by a stainless pin which, in turn, serves as terminals to detect the liquid of the urine through the electrical conduction, the head of the pin is located in the lower inner part of the contention channel ( 804 ), this module can be adapted to any the above mentioned embodiments. This transmitter module has a reset button ( 803 ). A compartment for 23 A 12V type batteries ( 804 ) is also included as well as a 4-position slide switch ( 805 ) (DipSwitch) to set different combinations of frequencies. An electronic circuit integrated with the following functions: detecting the presence of the liquids through the terminal pins, sending a radio frequency signal delay of 6-12 seconds to the Electronic Awards Dispenser and disabled until it is reset by the reset button. [0056] The Electronic Awards Dispenser consists of translucent plastic container ( 807 ) with a lid ( 808 ), to be filled with awards for the dog, a plastic base ( 809 ) with an outlet conduit of awards ( 810 ), a manual release action button ( 811 ), the base contains therein a release mechanism of the awards actuated by a receiver electronic circuit of radio frequency which triggers the release mechanism of awards, with a 4-position slide switch to synchronize the same frequency as the transmitter module. Its power source is from the batteries or from a power converter. It further comprises a keychain size remote control ( 812 ). [0057] The attachment “Electronic Awards Dispenser”, when the dog urinates on the device ( FIG. 9A ), the electronic transmitter module detects the accumulation of urine in the contention channel and with delays of some seconds for the dog to finish urinating. It quietly sends a wireless radio frequency signal to the “Electronic Awards Dispenser” which is located within a short distance and in a high place so that it is not available to the dog. When receiving the signal from the transmitter, it electronically activates the release awards mechanism, releasing and dropping an award ( FIG. 9B ). The “Electronic Awards Dispenser” can also be operated manually by a release button located on the front in the same dispenser ( 801 ) or with a wireless keychain size remote control ( 812 ). The transmitter module is disabled for not sending more signals until it is reset via the reset button ( 803 ) after being rinsed. [0058] The Electronic Awards Dispenser can be activated by receiving signals from different urinals programmed with the same radio frequency channel or can be used independently or to reward the dog for any other action by the manual button or the keychain size remote control.
The invention discloses a urine receiving device from a male dog and an electronic edible awards dispenser system for dogs, the urination device is practical and simple on which the male dogs urinate. The device serves as a receptor of the urine until it is emptied. The electronic system releases awards automatically to a dog that has used the urination device. This device covers the care, hygiene and practicality needs, which are important for the owner and natural needs of the dogs in order to create a harmony in living spaces between the owners and the pets.
0
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention generally relates to a method and an apparatus for generating periodic patterns and, more particularly, to a method and an apparatus for generating periodic patterns by step-and-align interference lithography, using at least two coherent light beams with controlled intensity distribution to project onto a photo-resist coated substrate to form an interference-patterned region on the substrate. Thereafter, by means of moving the substrate or the light beams stepwisely, a large area composed of continuous patterned regions can be formed on the substrate. [0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art [0004] Interference lithography uses at least two light beams to overlap on a substrate so as to form periodic patterns on the photoresist layer on the substrate. Thereby, periodic micro-scale structures such as lines, holes, rods and the like can be manufactured. Using interference lithography, short wavelength light sources and photo-resist, instead of conventional photo-lithography equipments and photo-masks, are required to obtain periodic patterns with small line width, and enables large depth of focus. Therefore, interference lithography has been widely used in various applications such as manufacturing of Bragg gratings for optical fiber communication, opto-electronics and semiconductor light sources such as distributed feedback (DFB) lasers, distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) lasers and photonic crystal structures. Furthermore, interference lithography can also be used along with thermal treatment on a thin film to re-grow the grains and magnetize the grids on a magnetic thin film for data storage applications. [0005] Recently, with the increasing demand of large-area applications in displays, flexible electronic devices and solar cells, it is required that opto-electronic devices are manufactured with a large area. Most of these devices are formed of periodic sub-micro structures. For example, one-dimensional grating structures are used as polarizers for liquid crystal displays. Two-dimensional periodic structures are used as anti-reflection layers to enhance the transmission efficiency of solar cells, and light uniformity of backlight modules in display devices. Therefore, it is crucial to efficiently manufacture large-area periodic structures for consumer electronics industries, and lots of efforts have been made on research and development of large-area periodic structures. [0006] Conventional interference lithography is used for generating small-area periodic sub-micro structures due to the limitation of the optical configuration. In the prior art, Andreas Gombert, et al in Fraunhofer Institute use interference lithography to manufacture large-area periodic sub-micro structures, which is disclosed in “Large-area origination and replication of microstructures with optical functions,” SPIE Vol. 5454, pp. 129, 2004 and “Some application cases and related manufacturing techniques for optically functional microstructures on large areas,” Opt. Eng. 43 (11) 2525-2533, 2004. As shown in FIG. 1 , a one-step exposure is used to manufacture periodic structures. The interference lithography system uses a laser 10 to generate a light beam 100 , which is split by a beam splitter 11 and reflected by reflectors 12 to generate two coherent light beams 101 and 102 . The coherent light beams 101 and 102 overlap on a substrate 14 with a photo-resist layer thereon after passing through lenses 13 to form an interference-patterned region. [0007] However, in FIG. 1 , a large space is required for implementation because it takes a distance (21 meters as disclosed by Andreas Gombert, et al.) long enough for the spherical wave from the point light source to travel and expand to an approximate planar wave. Moreover, it takes a considerably long exposure time (for hours) to expose the photo-resist because the power per unit area decreases with the distance. Accordingly, the environment has to be precisely controlled during exposure to prevent disturbance; therefore the exposure conditions such as temperature gradient, airflow, humidity and mechanical vibration need to be stabilized. [0008] Moreover, U.S. Pat. No. 6,882,477 discloses a method and system for interference lithography utilizing phase-locked scanning beams, wherein large-size periodic patterns are formed by partially overlapping sequential boustrophedonic scans of a Gaussian beam. However, in this method, high-precision positioning control is required and the process time is long. Moreover, since the light intensity profile is a Gaussian distribution, each of the overlapped regions has to occupy 60% of a previous scanning region so as to achieve pattern uniformity. [0009] Furthermore, U.S. patent Pub. No. 2007/0023692 discloses an interference lithography method, in which an alignment window is formed by exposing a photo-resist layer on a transparent substrate (such as a glass substrate or a quartz substrate) to form large-area interference patterns by overlapping sequential scans through an alignment means under the transparent substrate. However, since the light intensity profile is a circular Gaussian distribution, uniform exposure dosage is hard to achieve because the areas of overlapped regions after multi-exposure processing are varied. Moreover, selectivity in photo-resist materials is limited, and the use of the transparent substrate makes the method less compatible with the existing Si-based semiconductor industry. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0010] It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for generating periodic patterns by step-and-align interference lithography, using at least two coherent light beams with controlled intensity distribution to project onto a substrate to form an interference-patterned region on the substrate. The period of the periodic patterns can be adjusted by varying the incident angle of the coherent light beams. [0011] It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for generating periodic patterns by step-and-align interference lithography, by moving the substrate or the light beams stepwisely to form a patterned region with a large area on the substrate. Thereby, environment can be precisely controlled during exposure to prevent disturbance such as temperature gradient, airflow, humidity and mechanical vibration. [0012] It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for generating periodic patterns by step-and-align interference lithography, using one or multiple beam shapers to convert the non-uniform intensity profiles such as of Gaussian distribution into light beams with uniform intensity profiles so that a large-area interference patterned region can be formed by stepwisely scanning small-size interference patterns formed on the substrate. [0013] It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for generating periodic patterns by step-and-align interference lithography, using four coherent light beams to form two-dimensional periodic patterns on a cylindrical substrate. [0014] In one embodiment, the present invention provides a method for generating periodic patterns by step-and-align interference lithography, comprising steps of: (a) providing at least two coherent light beams with a pattern and a substrate to be exposed; (b) exposing the substrate to the coherent light beams simultaneously to form a patterned region on the substrate; (c) adjusting a next exposing position stepwisely; and (d) repeating step (b) to step (c) until a large area of the patterned region is formed on the substrate. [0015] In another embodiment, the present invention provides an apparatus for generating periodic patterns by step-and-align interference lithography, comprising: a light generating unit, capable of generating at least two coherent light beams with a pattern; a carrier unit, capable of carrying a substrate to be exposed to the coherent light beams simultaneously to form a patterned region; and a driver unit, coupled to the carrier unit to provide a driving force to move the carrier unit stepwisely. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0016] The objects, spirits and advantages of the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be readily understood by the accompanying drawings and detailed descriptions, wherein: [0017] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional interference lithography apparatus in the prior art; [0018] FIG. 2 is a flow-chart showing a method for generating periodic patterns by step-and-align interference lithography according to one embodiment of the present invention; [0019] FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B are examples of patterns according to the present invention; [0020] FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B are examples of substrates to be exposed according to the present invention; [0021] FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram showing an apparatus for generating periodic patterns by step-and-align interference lithography according to a first embodiment of the present invention; [0022] FIG. 5B is a schematic diagram showing a substrate after multi-step exposure; [0023] FIG. 5C is a schematic diagram showing exposed regions on a substrate according to another embodiment of the present invention; [0024] FIG. 6A to FIG. 6D are examples of patterned regions on a substrate according to the present invention; [0025] FIG. 7A is a schematic diagram showing an apparatus for generating periodic patterns by step-and-align interference lithography according to a second embodiment of the present invention; [0026] FIG. 7B is a schematic diagram showing a cylindrical substrate for multi-step exposure by employing step-and-align interference lithography; [0027] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing four coherent light beams incident on a substrate to form a patterned region with a large area; [0028] FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B are examples of large-area two-dimensional periodic patterns formed by four coherent light beams; and [0029] FIG. 10 is a flow-chart showing a method for generating periodic patterns by step-and-align interference lithography according to another embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT [0030] The present invention can be exemplified by the preferred embodiment as described hereinafter. [0031] Please refer to FIG. 2 , which is a flow-chart showing a method for generating periodic patterns by step-and-align interference lithography according to one embodiment of the present invention. The method 2 comprises steps described hereinafter. First, in Step 20 , at least two coherent light beams with a pattern and a substrate to be exposed are provided. Referring to FIG. 3A , the pattern described in Step 20 can be polygonal. For example, the pattern is exemplified by but not limited to a triangle, a quadrangle and a hexagon. As shown in FIG. 3B , the pattern described in Step 20 can also be arc-sided. Please refer to FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B , showing examples of substrates to be exposed according to the present invention. In FIG. 4A , the substrate 80 to be exposed is planar; and in FIG. 4B , the substrate 81 to be exposed is arc-surfaced. For example, the arc-surfaced substrate 81 is a cylindrical substrate. In the present invention, the substrate to be exposed is one of a semiconductor substrate, a glass substrate, a plastic substrate, a metal substrate, a flexible substrate and a rubber substrate. [0032] Afterwards, in Step 21 , the substrate is exposed to the coherent light beams simultaneously so as to form a patterned interference region on the substrate. In Step 22 , a next exposing position is adjusted stepwisely. The exposing position is adjusted by varying the position of the substrate stepwisely or by adjusting the incident position of the coherent light beams stepwisely. Then, retuning to Step 21 again, the substrate is exposed to the coherent light beams simultaneously to form another patterned region, which is adjacent to the previously formed patterned region. By repeating Step 21 to Step 22 , a large-area interference patterned region is thus formed on the substrate. [0033] Please refer to FIG. 5A , which is a schematic diagram showing an apparatus for generating periodic patterns by step-and-align interference lithography according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The apparatus 3 comprises a light generating unit 31 , a carrier unit 32 , and a driver unit 33 . The light generating unit 31 is capable of generating at least two coherent light beams with a pattern. The light generating unit 31 further comprises: a beam generator 310 , a beam shaper 311 and a beam splitter 312 . The beam generator 310 is capable of generating at least a light beam 90 . In the present embodiment, the beam generator 310 is a laser generator. The beam shaper 311 is capable of receiving and shaping the light beam 90 to form a shaped light beam 91 . The light beam 90 generated from the beam generator 310 has a Gaussian distribution profile and the intensity of the light beam 90 is non-uniform. Therefore, the beam shaper 311 is used to convert the light beam 90 to a shaped light beam 91 with uniform intensity. The shape of the shaped light beam is exemplified by the examples as shown in FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B . The beam splitter 312 is capable of splitting the shaped light beam into the at least two coherent light beams 92 and 93 . [0034] The carrier unit 32 is disposed on one side of the light generating unit 31 and is capable of carrying a substrate 80 to be exposed. In the present embodiment, the carrier unit 32 is a movable platform. The substrate 80 comprises a plate 800 with a coating 801 thereon to be exposed. The driver unit 33 is coupled to the carrier unit 32 to provide a driving force to move the carrier unit 32 stepwisely. In the present embodiment, the driver unit 33 is exemplified by but not limited to a stepping motor capable of driving the carrier unit 32 to move in three dimensions. A plurality of reflectors 34 are disposed between the beam splitter 312 and the substrate 80 . The reflectors 34 are disposed at adjustment positions 35 where the rotating angle and the position are adjustable. By adjusting each of the adjustment positions 35 , the incident angle of the coherent light beams 92 and 93 onto the substrate 80 is adjustable to further adjust the period of the periodic patterns. [0035] The light generating unit 31 , the carrier unit 32 , the driver unit 33 and the adjustment positions 35 are coupled respectively to a control unit 30 to respond to a signal generated by the control unit 30 . More particularly, the operation of the apparatus for generating periodic patterns by step-and-align interference lithography is described hereinafter. The control unit 30 uses the signal to control the light generating unit 31 to generate two coherent light beams 92 and 93 , and issues the signal to control the driving unit 33 to adjust the position of the carrier unit 32 , and controls the adjustment position 35 to adjust the position of the reflectors. Then, the coating 801 on the substrate 80 is exposed to the two coherent light beams 92 and 93 simultaneously so as to form an interference patterned region on the coating 801 . [0036] Afterwards, the control unit 30 controls the driving unit 33 to stepwisely adjust the carrier unit 32 to a next exposure position. When the carrier unit 32 is moved to the next exposure position, the substrate 80 is exposed to the two coherent light beams 92 and 93 to form interference patterns as shown in FIG. 5B . The interference-patterned region 950 is formed after a first-step exposure. The interference-patterned region 951 is formed after a second-step exposure. The number 96 indicates the stepping path. In order to control the precision of the interference patterns, the position of the substrate to be exposed is controlled to move stepwisely so that the current interference-patterned region is partially overlapped with the previous interference-patterned region to form a large-area periodic patterned region. [0037] Please refer to FIG. 5C , which is a schematic diagram showing exposed regions on a substrate according to another embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, a spacing region is formed between adjacent patterned regions. In FIG. 5C , a spacing region 970 is formed between adjacent patterned regions 952 and 953 on the plate 800 , and a spacing region 971 is formed between adjacent patterned regions 952 , 953 and 954 . In the present embodiment, the interference-patterned region is a two-dimensional structure. Such a large-area periodic patterned structure with a spacing region can be used in various manufacturing processes and products, for example, photonic crystal waveguides, conductive wires, biological micro/nano paths, etc. Taking a photonic crystal waveguide for example, the spacing regions 970 and 971 can be waveguide regions and the patterned regions 952 , 953 and 954 can be photonic crystal regions. [0038] FIG. 6A to FIG. 6D are examples of patterned regions on a substrate according to the present invention. Large-area patterned regions 40 , 41 , 42 , and 43 can be formed by multi-step exposure to stitch adjacent interference-patterned regions formed by coherent light beams with different patterns. Since the area of the patterned region is determined by the overlapped regions of the light beams 92 and 93 in FIG. 5A , sub-micron scale periodic patterned regions having an area of several square centimeters or larger can be formed after a first-step exposure. Then, the periodic patterned regions can be stitched after stepwise exposure. Therefore, a large-area periodic patterned region can be formed by using multi-step exposure. [0039] Please refer to FIG. 7A , which is a schematic diagram showing an apparatus for generating periodic patterns by step-and-align interference lithography according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The elements in FIG. 7A are identical to those in FIG. 5A except that the substrate 81 to be exposed carried by the carrier unit 36 is a cylindrical substrate comprising a cylindrical plate 810 with a coating 811 thereon to be exposed. Moreover, the motor unit 37 is exemplified by but not limited to a stepping motor capable of driving the substrate 81 to rotate and driving the carrier unit 36 to move in three dimensions. By controlling the exposure position stepwisely, a large-area interference patterns can be formed on the substrate 81 , as shown in FIG. 7B . [0040] Please refer to FIG. 8 , which is a schematic diagram showing a plurality of pairs of coherent light beams incident on a substrate to form large-area periodic patterns. In the present embodiment, the apparatus in FIG. 5A or 7 A can be used for implementation. However, the apparatus in FIG. 5A or 7 A comprises a plurality of light generating units so as to generate at least four coherent light beams 92 , 93 , 92 a , and 93 a for interference lithography to form large-area two-dimensional patterns 7 a and 7 b (as shown in FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B ). For example, the two-dimensional patterns are periodic micro-scale structures such as lines, holes, rods and the like. The angle θ 1 between the coherent light beams 92 and 93 and the angle θ 2 between the coherent light beams 92 a and 93 a can be adjusted to be equal or not according to the adjustment position 35 in FIG. 5A or FIG. 7A . [0041] In addition to forming two-dimensional periodic patterns by using at least four coherent light beams in FIG. 8 , two-dimensional periodic patterns can also be formed by using the carrier unit 32 or 36 in FIG. 5A or 7 A. [0042] Please refer to FIG. 10 , which is a flow-chart showing a method for generating periodic patterns by step-and-align interference lithography according to another embodiment of the present invention. The method can be implemented by using FIG. 5A . The method 6 comprises described hereinafter. Firstly, in Step 60 , at least two coherent light beams with a pattern and a substrate to be exposed are provided. The pattern and the substrate are identical to those described in the previously embodiments and thus described thereof is omitted. [0043] Afterwards, in Step 61 , the substrate is exposed to at least two coherent light beams simultaneously to form a patterned region on the substrate. In Step 62 , the carrier unit 32 rotates to drive the substrate 80 to a fixed angle. In the present embodiment, the angle is exemplified by but not limited to 90°. In Step 63 , the substrate is exposed to the two coherent light beams simultaneously so as to form a two-dimensional patterned region on the substrate. In Step 64 , the carrier unit is controlled to move stepwisely so as to adjust the substrate to a next exposure position. By repeating Step 61 to Step 64 , a large-area two-dimensional periodic interference patterned region is thus formed on the substrate. [0044] According to the above discussion, it is apparent that the present invention discloses a method and an apparatus for generating periodic patterns by step-and-align interference lithography to form large-area periodic patterns. The features and advantages are summarized hereinafter: [0045] 1. efficiency: hundreds or thousands of interference fringes formed simultaneously in an interference region, which is unlike one-by-one formation by the conventional e-beam direct write or diamond cut; [0046] 2. reliability: fast exposure to prevent disturbance and unstable conditions such as temperature gradient, airflow, humidity and mechanical vibration; [0047] 3. seamless stitching of small-area patterns: using a beam shaper to convert the Gaussian light beam with non-uniform intensity profile into a light beam with uniform intensity; [0048] 4. availability for large-area periodic sub-micro scale structures: by using small-area interference patterned regions as steps to move the carrier unit stepwisely for multi-step exposure to stitch small-area interference patterned regions; [0049] 5. manufacturing flexibility: capability in forming two-dimensional patterns and periodic patterns on a cylindrical substrate. [0050] Although this invention has been disclosed and illustrated with reference to particular embodiments, the principles involved are susceptible for use in numerous other embodiments that will be apparent to persons skilled in the art. This invention is, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the appended claims.
The present invention provides a method and an apparatus for generating periodic patterns by step-and-align interference lithography, wherein at least two coherent light beams with a pattern are controlled to project onto a substrate to be exposed to form an interference-patterned region on the substrate. Thereafter, by means of moving the substrate or the light beams stepwisely, a patterned region with a large area can be formed on the substrate. According to the present invention, the optical path and exposure time may be shortened to reduce defect formation during lithographic processing and to improve the yield.
6
FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates generally to the field of carbon- or graphite-based nano materials, and more particularly to nano graphene platelets (NGPs), including their oxidized versions (graphite oxide nano platelets), that are dispersible in a liquid medium or a matrix material. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present discussion of the prior art will make reference to the patent literature and technical papers listed at the end of this section. [0003] The nanoscale graphene platelet (NGP) or graphene nano-sheet is an emerging class of nano materials. An NGP is a nanoscale platelet composed of one or more layers of a graphene plane, with a platelet thickness from less than 0.34 nm to 100 nm. In a graphene plane, carbon atoms occupy a 2-D hexagonal lattice in which carbon atoms are bonded together through strong in-plane covalent bonds. In the c-axis or thickness direction, several graphene planes may be weakly bonded together through van der Waals forces to form a multi-layer NGP. An NGP may be viewed as a flattened sheet of a carbon nano-tube (CNT), with a single-layer NGP corresponding to a single-wall CNT and a multi-layer NGP corresponding to a multi-wall CNT. [0004] For more than six decades, scientists have presumed that a single-layer graphene sheet (one atom thick) could not exist in its free state based on the reasoning that its planar structure would be thermodynamically unstable. Somewhat surprisingly, several groups worldwide have recently succeeded in obtaining isolated graphene sheets [Refs. 1-9]. NGPs are predicted to have a range of unusual physical, chemical, and mechanical properties. Several unique properties associated with these 2-D crystals have been discovered. In addition to single graphene sheets, double-layer or multiple-layer graphene sheets also exhibit unique and useful behaviors. In the present context, single-layer and multiple-layer graphene sheet structures are collectively referred to as NGPs. Graphene platelets may be oxidized to various extents during their preparation, resulting in graphite oxide (GO) platelets. Hence, although NGPs preferably or primarily refer to those containing no or low oxygen content, they can include GO nano platelets of various oxygen contents. [0005] Although practical electronic device applications for graphene are not envisioned to occur within the next 5-10 years, its application as a nano filler in a composite material is imminent. However, the availability of processable graphene sheets in large quantities is essential to the success in exploiting composite and other applications for graphene. The present patent application addresses issues related to the production of processable or dispersible NGPs. [0006] The processes for producing NGPs and NGP nanocomposites have been recently reviewed by the applicants, Jang and Zhamu [Ref. 9]. Basically, there are four different approaches that have been followed to produce NGPs. Their advantages and shortcomings are briefly summarized as follows: Approach 1: Formation and Reduction of Graphite Oxide (GO) Platelets [0007] The first approach entails treating laminar graphite (e.g., in most cases, natural graphite powder) with an intercalant and an oxidant (e.g., concentrated sulfuric acid and nitric acid, respectively) to obtain a graphite intercalation compound (GIC) or, actually, graphite oxide (GO). The obtained GIC or GO is then subjected to exfoliation using either a thermal shock exposure or a solution-based graphene separation approach. [0008] Technically, the acid-treated graphite is actually oxidized graphite or graphite oxide (GO), rather than pristine graphite. In the thermal shock exposure approach, the GIC or GO is exposed to a high temperature (typically 800-1,050° C.) for a short period of time (typically 15 to 60 seconds) to exfoliate the treated graphite. Typically, the exfoliated graphite oxide is then subjected to a further sheet or flake separation treatment using air milling, mechanical shearing, or ultrasonication in a liquid (e.g., water). [0009] In the solution-based graphene separation approach, the GO powder is dispersed in water or aqueous alcohol solution, which is subjected to ultrasonication. Alternatively, the GO powder dispersed in water is subjected to some kind of ion exchange or purification procedure in such a manner that the repulsive forces between ions residing in the inter-planar spaces overcome the inter-graphene van der Waals forces, resulting in graphene layer separations. [0010] In both the heat- or solution-induced exfoliation approaches, the resulting products are GO platelets that must undergo a further chemical reduction treatment to reduce (but normally not eliminate) the oxygen content. Typically even after reduction, the electrical conductivity of GO platelets remains much lower than that of pristine graphene. Furthermore, the reduction procedure often involves the utilization of undesirable chemicals, such as hydrazine. In some cases of solution-based exfoliation, the separated and dried GO platelets were re-dispersed in water and then cast into thin GO films. These films were exposed to a high temperature, high vacuum environment for de-oxygenation, but the resulting GO platelets were no longer dispersible in water or other solvents. [0011] Examples of Approach 1 are briefly discussed below: (a) Bunnell [10-12] developed a method in late 1988 that entailed intercalating graphite with a strong acid to obtain a GIC, thermally exfoliating the GIC to obtain discrete layers of graphite, and then subjecting the graphite layers to ultrasonic energy, mechanical shear forces, or freezing to separate the layers into discrete flakes. Although flakes as small as 10 nm were cited in the report [12], most of the flakes presented in the examples appeared to be thicker than 100 nm. (b) In a similar manner, Zaleski, et al. [13] used air milling to further delaminate thermally exfoliated graphite flakes. The resulting structures exhibited a specific surface area of 35 m 2 /g, corresponding to an average flake thickness of approximately 25 nm. (c) Horiuchi, Hirata, and co-workers [14-19] prepared nano-scaled graphite oxide (GO) platelets, which they coined as carbon nano-films. These films were prepared by a two-step process—oxidation of graphite and purification of the resulting graphite oxide. The oxidation of graphite was conducted using the now well-known Hummer's method [20,21], which entailed immersing natural graphite particles in a mixture of H 2 SO 4 , NaNO 3 , and KMnO 4 to obtain GICs that actually were GOs. By hydrolyzing the GIC, functional groups, such as acidic hydroxyl groups and ether groups, were introduced into the inter-graphene layer spaces. Each of the graphite oxide layers became a multiple-charge anion, having a thickness of approximately 0.6 nm. When the excess small ions derived from the oxidants (e.g., NaNO 3 , and KMnO 4 ) were thoroughly removed by a purification process, many layers tended to automatically separate from each other due to interlayer electrostatic repulsion. The resulting GO layers formed a stable dispersion in water. According to Horiuchi, et al. [14], single-layer graphene was detected. (d) It may be noted that the approach of using electrostatic repulsion to separate graphene oxide layers was pursued earlier in 1998 by Liu and Gong [22], as a first step in their attempt to synthesize polyaniline-intercalated GO. In a 3-D graphite crystal, the inter-layer spacing (L d ) is 0.335 nm, which is known to increase to 0.6-1.1 nm if graphite is oxidized to produce GO. Further, GO is hydrophilic and can be readily dispersed in aqueous solution. (e) Dekany et al. [23] observed that the inter-graphene spacing in GO was increased to L d =1.23 nm when GO particles were dispersed in 0.05 N NaOH solution. When dispersed in a 0.01 N NaOH solution, the spacing was essentially infinite, likely implying that GO was completely exfoliated to become a disordered structure. (f) Chen et al. [24] exposed GO to a temperature of 1,050° C. for 15 seconds to obtain exfoliated graphite, which was then subjected to ultrasonic irradiation in a mixture solution of water and alcohol. (g) Jang et al. [25] thermally expanded GIC or graphite oxide to produce exfoliated graphite and subjected exfoliated graphite to mechanical shearing treatments, such as ball milling, to obtain partially oxidized NGPs. (h) Thermal exfoliation as a way of producing nano-structured graphite was also attempted by Petrik [26]. (i) Thermal exfoliation of intercalated graphite or graphite oxide was conducted by Drzal et al. [27] using microwaves as a heat source. (j) Aksay, McAllister, and co-workers [7-9, 66] also used thermal exfoliation of GO to obtain exfoliated graphite oxide platelets, which were found to contain a high proportion of single-layer graphene oxide sheets, based on the BET method with nitrogen gas adsorption in the dry state and in an ethanol suspension with methylene blue dye as a probe. (k) Several polar organic compounds and polymers have been intercalated into inter-graphene or inter-flake spaces to form intercalated or exfoliated GO nanocomposites. These include poly (vinyl alcohol) [28-30], poly (acrylamide) [31], and poly (acrylic acid) [32]. Intercalation of hydrophobic polymers, such as poly (vinyl acetate) [33], into GO was also achieved by in situ polymerization. Partial reduction of a polymer-GO to a polymer-graphene nanocomposite also could be accomplished electrochemically or chemically [22,34-37]. (l) Preparation of ultra-thin films by a layer-by-layer self-assembly approach from GO nano platelets and polymer electrolytes also has been investigated [38-44]. Although the original intent of these studies was primarily to fabricate self-assembled GO-poly (ethylene oxide) nanocomposites, their first step almost always involved exfoliation and separation of GO platelets. This was evidenced by the X-ray diffraction data of the resulting structures that showed complete disappearance of those diffraction peaks corresponding to graphite oxide or pristine graphite [38,40]. (m) Stankovich et al. [45] followed the approaches of Hirata et al. [17-19] to produce and disperse graphite oxide sheets in water to obtain stable colloidal dispersions. The graphite oxide dispersion was then reduced with hydrazine, a procedure previously used by Liu and Gong earlier [22], but in the presence of poly (sodium 4-styrenesulfonate). This process led to the formation of a stable aqueous dispersion of polymer-coated graphene platelets. Stankovich et al. [46] further developed a method to produce less hydrophilic GO platelets using an isocyanate treatment. However, unless stabilized by selected polymers, the chemically modified graphene sheets obtained through these methods tend to precipitate as irreversible agglomerates due to their hydrophobic nature. The resulting agglomerates became insoluble in water and organic solvents. (n) Li et al. [47] overcame this issue by using ammonium to adjust the pH value of a dispersion of chemically modified graphene sheets in water, which served to maximize the charge density on the resulting graphene sheets. The resulting electrostatic forces acted to stabilize the aqueous suspension. (o) Si and Samulski [48] reported a chemical route to aqueous solutions of isolated graphene sheets by reducing graphene oxide in three steps. (1) pre-reduction of graphene oxide with sodium borohydride at 80° C. for 1 h to remove the majority of the oxygen functionality; (2) sulfonation with the aryl diazonium salt of sulfanilic acid in an ice bath for 2 h; and (3) post-reduction with hydrazine (100° C. for 24 h) to remove any remaining oxygen functionality. The lightly sulfonated graphene can be readily dispersed in water at reasonable concentrations (2 mg/mL) in the pH range of 3-10. Isolated graphene sheets persist in the mixture of water and organic solvents including methanol, acetone, acetonitrile, thus making it possible to further modify its surface for applications such as reinforcements in composites. This is a very tedious process, nevertheless. (p) Another very tedious process for the preparation of GO nano sheets, proposed by Becerril, et al. [67], entailed (1) intercalating-oxidizing graphite with a solution of NaNO 3 and KMnO 4 in concentrated H 2 SO 4 for 5 days; (2) washing the oxidized graphite with 5 wt. % H 2 SO 4 in water and reacting the washed oxidized graphite with a 30 wt. % aqueous solution of H 2 O 2 to complete the oxidation; (3) removing inorganic anions and other impurities through 15 washing cycles that included centrifugation, discarding supernatant liquid, and re-suspending the solid in an aqueous mixture of 3 wt. % H 2 SO 4 and 0.5 wt. % H 2 O 2 using stirring and ultrasonication; (4) carrying out another set of centrifugation and washing procedures three times using 3 wt % HCl in water as the dispersion medium and then one more time using purified water to re-suspend the solid; (5) passing this suspension through a weak basic ion-exchange resin to remove remaining acid; and (6) drying the suspension to obtain a powder. Approach 2: Direct Formation of Pristine Nano Graphene Platelets [0000] (q) Without going through a chemical intercalation route, Mazurkiewicz [49] claimed to have produced graphite nano platelets having an average thickness in the range of 1-100 nm through high-pressure milling of natural flake graphite. However, no evidence was presented [49] to show that truly thin platelets (e.g., those <10 nm in thickness) were produced. (r) Shioyama [50] prepared a potassium-intercalated GIC from highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG), initiated in situ polymerization of isoprene or styrene in the inter-graphene spaces, and then thermally decomposed inter-graphene polymer chains at a high temperature (500-1,000° C.). The volatile gas molecules served to exfoliate graphite layers, and, after the volatile gas escaped, isolated graphene sheets were obtained. Unfortunately, Shioyama did not discuss the thickness of the isolated graphene sheets. (s) Jang, et al. [3,4] succeeded in isolating single-layer and multi-layer graphene structures from partially carbonized or graphitized polymeric carbons, which were obtained from a polymer or pitch precursor. Carbonization involves linking aromatic molecules or planar cyclic chains to form graphene domains or islands in an essentially amorphous carbon matrix. For instance, polymeric carbon fibers were obtained by carbonizing polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fibers to a desired extent that the fiber was composed of individual graphene sheets isolated or separated from each other by an amorphous carbon matrix. The resulting fibers were then subjected to a solvent extraction, or intercalation/exfoliation treatment. Graphene platelets were then extracted from these fibers using a ball milling procedure. (t) Mack, Viculis, and co-workers [51,52] developed a low-temperature process that involved intercalating graphite with potassium melt and contacting the resulting K-intercalated graphite with alcohol, producing violently exfoliated graphite containing many ultra-thin NGPs. The process must be carefully conducted in a vacuum or an extremely dry glove box environment since pure alkali metals, such as potassium and sodium, are extremely sensitive to moisture and pose an explosion danger. It is questionable if this process is easily amenable to the mass production of nano-scaled platelets. One major advantage of this process is the notion that it produces non-oxidized graphene sheets since no acid/oxidizer intercalation or a high temperature is involved. (u) In 2004, Novoselov, Geim, and co-workers [1,2] prepared single-sheet graphene by removing graphene from a graphite sample one sheet at a time using a “Scotch-tape” method. Although this method is not amenable to large-scale production of NGPs, their work did spur globally increasing interest in nano graphene materials, mostly motivated by the thoughts that graphene could be useful for developing novel electronic devices. (v) Zhamu and Jang [75] developed a very effective way of exfoliating/separating NGPs from natural graphite and other laminar graphitic materials by exposing the material (without any intercalation or oxidation) to an ultrasonication treatment. This process may be considered as peeling off graphene layers at a rate of 20,000 layers per second (if the ultrasonic frequency is 20 kHz) or higher (if higher frequency). The resulting NGPs are pristine graphene without any intentionally added or bonded oxygen. Approach 3: Epitaxial Growth and Chemical Vapor Deposition of Nano Graphene Sheets on Inorganic Crystal Surfaces [0000] (w) Small-scale production of ultra-thin graphene sheets on a substrate can be obtained by thermal decomposition-based epitaxial growth [53] and a laser desorption-ionization technique [54]. A scanning probe microscope was used by Roy et al. [55] and by Lu et al. [56] to manipulate graphene layers at the step edges of graphite and etched HOPG, respectively, with the goal of fabricating ultra-thin nano-structures. It was not clear if single graphene sheets were obtained using this technique by either group. Epitaxial films of graphite with only one or a few atomic layers are of technological and scientific significance due to their peculiar characteristics and great potential as a device substrate [57-63]. The graphene sheets produced are meant to be used for future nano-electronic applications, rather than composite reinforcements. Approach 4: The Bottom-Up Approach (Synthesis of Graphene from Small Molecules) (x) X. Yang, et al. [65] synthesized nano graphene sheets with lengths of up to 12 nm using a method that began with Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of 1,4-diiodo-2,3,5,6-tetraphenyl-benzene with 4-bromophenylboronic acid. The resulting hexaphenylbenzene derivative was further derivatized and ring-fused into small graphene sheets. This is a slow process that thus far has produced very small graphene sheets. [0036] There are several major issues associated with the aforementioned processes: (1) The GO nano platelets prepared by Approach 1, albeit dispersible in water and several other polar liquids such as ethanol and acetone, are not dispersible in a wide range of organic solvents. (2) The GO nano platelets exhibit an electrical conductivity typically several orders of magnitude lower than the conductivity of pristine NGPs. Even after chemical reduction, the GO still exhibits a much lower conductivity than pristine NGPs. It appears that preparation of intercalated graphite, which involves the oxidizing agent such as nitric acid or potassium permanganate, typically and necessarily requires graphite to be heavily oxidized. Complete reduction of these highly oxidized graphite platelets hitherto has not been successfully attained. (3) The GO nano platelets, after a high degree of chemical reduction, are able to recover some of the properties of pristine graphite, but are typically no longer dispersible in water and most of the organic solvents. (4) The NGPs produced by Approach 2 and Approach 3 are normally pristine graphene and highly conducting. However, most of these processes either are not amenable to the large-scale manufacturing of NGPs or not suitable for the production of ultra-thin NGPs (<10 nm in thickness). (5) Pristine NGPs, just like reduced GO platelets, are typically not soluble or dispersible in water or most of the organic solvents. It is also difficult to homogeneously mix or disperse pristine NGPs in a polymer matrix. These features make it difficult to fabricate nanocomposite parts with good filler dispersion or good filler-matrix interfacial bonding, which are essential to the realization of good composite properties. [0042] Hence, it is an object of the present invention to provide a nano graphene platelet material that is soluble or dispersible in a range of organic solvents while maintaining good properties of pristine graphene (e.g., good electrical or thermal conductivity). [0043] It is another object of the present invention to provide a processable nano graphene platelet material that can be dispersed in a range of polymer matrices to form nanocomposites of desirable properties (e.g., achieving good electrical, thermal, or mechanical properties). 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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0119] The present invention provides a process for producing dispersible nano graphene platelet (NGP) materials that are highly conducting without having to go through a chemical reduction procedure. The electrical conductivity of NGPs in the present context was measured after the NGPs were formed into a thin film or paper or incorporated in a matrix material to form a nanocomposite. [0120] The process comprises: (a) preparing a graphite intercalation compound (GIC) or graphite oxide (GO) from a laminar graphite material; (b) exposing the GIC or GO to a first temperature for a first period of time to obtain exfoliated graphite; and (c) exposing the exfoliated graphite to a second temperature in a protective atmosphere for a second period of time to obtain the desired dispersible nano graphene platelet with an oxygen content no greater than 25% by weight, preferably below 20% by weight, further preferably between 5% and 20% by weight. It may be noted that the “exfoliated graphite” after step (b) typically has an oxygen content of greater than 25% by weight, based on chemical elemental analysis and/or X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Hence, the “exfoliated graphite” at this stage comprises primarily graphite oxide (GO). [0121] For the purpose of facilitating discussion, we may define those graphite platelets having an oxygen content higher than 15% by weight as GO nano platelets and those lower than approximately 15% as nano graphene. The pristine nano graphene refers to those NGPs that have an oxygen content less than 1% by weight. Hence, we have GO (>15% by wt. O), nano graphene (≦15% by wt. O), and pristine nano graphene (≦1% by wt. O). [0122] Preferably, the protective atmosphere comprises an inert gas (e.g., argon), nitrogen, hydrogen, a combination of nitrogen and/or hydrogen with an inert gas, or vacuum. The first temperature, hereinafter also referred to as an exfoliation temperature, is preferably between approximately 200° C. and 1,500° C., more preferably between approximately 800° C. and 1,300° C., and further preferably at least 1,000° C. In one preferred embodiment, the second temperature is at least 1,000° C. and the second period of time is at least 10 minutes. The second temperature is hereinafter also referred to as a de-oxygenation temperature. In another preferred embodiment, the second temperature is at least 1,100° C. and the second period of time is at least 5 minutes. In still another preferred embodiment, the second temperature is at least 1,200° C. and the second period of time is at least 2 minutes. [0123] The NGP prepared with this process, when formed directly into a thin film with a thickness no greater than 100 nm, typically exhibits an electrical conductivity of at least 100 S/cm. No post-process chemical reduction is needed, as opposed to most of the prior art processes where chemical reduction, using an undesirable reducing agent such as hydrazine, is required. In many cases, the NGP thin film exhibits an electrical conductivity of at least 10 S/cm, often greater than 100 S/cm, and, in some cases, greater than 600 S/cm. [0124] The laminar graphite material may be selected from the group consisting of natural graphite, artificial graphite (e.g., highly oriented pyrolytic graphite, HOPG), graphite oxide, graphite fluoride, graphite fiber, carbon fiber, carbon nano-fiber, carbon nano-tube, mesophase carbon micro-bead (MCMB) or carbonaceous micro-sphere (CMS), graphitized soft carbon, hard carbon, and combinations thereof. MCMBs or CMS are usually obtained from a petroleum heavy oil or pitch, coal tar pitch, or polynuclear hydrocarbon material (highly aromatic molecules). When such a precursor pitch material is carbonized by heat treatment at 400° to 550°, micro-crystals called mesophase micro-spheres are formed in a non-crystalline pitch matrix. These mesophase micro-spheres, after being isolated from the pitch matrix (which is typically soluble in selected solvents), are often referred to as meso-carbon micro-beads (MCMB). The MCMBs commercially available are those that have been subjected to a further heat treatment at a temperature in the range of 2,000° C. and 3,000° C. [0125] In many cases, the NGP has a specific surface area in the range of approximately 300 m 2 /g to 2,600 m 2 /g. The NGPs obtained with the presently invented process tend to contain a significant proportion of single-layer graphene (with a thickness of 0.34-0.4 nm) or graphene of few layers (<2 nm) provided the laminar graphite material is heavily oxidized during the intercalation or oxidation step. The step of preparing a graphite intercalation compound (GIC) or graphite oxide (GO) comprises subjecting the laminar graphite material to an acid and/or an oxidizer selected from sulfuric acid, nitric acid, carboxylic acid, sodium or potassium nitrate, KMnO 4 , sodium or potassium chlorate, hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), or a combination thereof. [0126] The resulting NGPs prepared according to the presently invented process, although having a minimal amount of oxygen-containing groups, remain soluble or dispersible in water and several other organic solvents, such as methanol, ethanol, acetone, NMP, and toluene. These NGPs can be further functionalized by carrying out an additional step of contacting the NGP obtained in step (c) with a reactant such that a functional group is added to a surface or edge of the nano graphene platelet, wherein the functional group is selected from alkyl or aryl silane, alkyl or aralkyl group, hydroxyl group, amine group, fluorocarbon, or a combination thereof. [0127] As indicated earlier, for practical purposes (e.g., for the purpose of facilitating discussion), the nano GO platelets that contain less than approximately 15% by weight of oxygen (hence, the electrical conductivity of a thin film made from these platelets is typically greater than 10 S/cm) are considered nano graphene platelets (NGPs). [0128] The presently invented process is superior to many prior art processes (e.g., those belonging to the aforementioned Approach 1) in several aspects: (1) For instance, as discussed earlier, Aksay, McAllister, and co-workers [Refs. 7-9, 66] used thermal exfoliation of GO to obtain exfoliated graphite oxide platelets, which were found to contain a high proportion of single-layer graphene oxide sheets. The process involved essentially an exfoliation step (e.g., at 1,050° C. for 30 seconds or in a propane torch for less than 15 seconds). Such a heat exposure, typically done in an un-protected environment containing oxygen, produces graphite oxide platelets (rather than nano graphene) that, albeit dispersible, are typically not electrically conducting. Furthermore, this prior art process did not have a good control over the oxygen content of the resulting GO platelets. (2) In another commonly used prior art approach, as practiced by Stankovich et al. [45] and Hirata et al. [17-19], graphite was heavily oxidized to obtain graphite oxide, which was then mixed with water. The resulting suspension was then subjected to ultrasonication for an extended period of time to produce colloidal dispersions of GO platelets. The graphite oxide dispersion was then reduced with hydrazine, in the presence of poly (sodium 4-styrenesulfonate). This process led to the formation of a stable aqueous dispersion of polymer-coated graphene platelets. In some applications, a polymer coating may be undesirable (pure graphene being preferred). Furthermore, the reducing agent, hydrazine, is a toxic substance. (3) Stankovich et al. [46] further developed a method to produce less hydrophilic GO platelets using an isocyanate treatment. However, unless stabilized by selected polymers, the chemically modified graphene sheets obtained through these methods tend to precipitate as irreversible agglomerates due to their hydrophobic nature. The resulting agglomerates became insoluble in water and organic solvents. By contrast, the presently invented process provides a convenient approach to the preparation of soluble or dispersible nano graphene that, in most cases, requires no further chemical reduction. (4) Becerril, et al [67] and Wang, et al. [68] independently developed a very similar process for producing transparent, yet conducting electrode. The electrode was made by following a very tedious process that involves oxidation of natural graphite to form GO, repeated washing, ultrasonication, and 15 cycles of impurity removal steps that include centrifugation, discarding supernatant liquid, and re-suspending the solid in an aqueous mixture of sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide [67]. The suspension was eventually spin-coated on a solid substrate to form a GO thin film, which was then partially reduced by heating the film in a high vacuum at a high temperature for a long period of time. Such a long process does not appear to be amenable to mass production of conducting nano graphene platelets. It may be noted that both Becerril, et al [67] and Wang, et al. [8], did subject the GO films to a high temperature treatment after the tedious solution process for producing GO nano sheets and obtained electrical conductivity as high as 550 S/cm. However, once such a high temperature treatment was done, the GO nano sheets were no longer dispersible in water. (5) In the presently invented process, step (b) and (c) can be conducted sequentially or concurrently using the same reactor. The exfoliated graphite may be allowed to stay in the exfoliation reactor (e.g., a quartz tube), obviating the need to transfer it to another reactor. (6) Another unexpected benefit of the presently invented process is the observation that most of the impurities, including those used originally for intercalation/oxidation of graphite, appear to be burnt out or decomposed during the initial exfoliation procedure and, particularly, the de-oxygenation procedure (at higher temperatures), obviating a need for washing and rinsing the GO platelets (as is required in the cases of prior art solution approach to the exfoliation of GO and/or subsequent chemical reduction). BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0135] FIG. 1 Electrical conductivity data of the thin films made from GO nano platelets after various periods of de-oxygenation time at 1,000° C. and 1,100° C., respectively. [0136] FIG. 2 Electrical conductivity data plotted as a function of the corresponding oxygen content for two de-oxygenation temperatures. [0137] FIG. 3 Electrical conductivity data of GO nano platelet films after various periods of platelet de-oxygenation time at 1,200° C. and 1,350° C. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [0138] Intercalation or Oxidation of Graphite: In most of the prior art methods for making separated nano graphene platelets, the process begins with intercalating lamellar graphite flake particles with an expandable intercalation agent (also known as an intercalant or intercalate) to form a graphite intercalation compound (GIC), typically using a chemical oxidation or an electrochemical (or electrolytic) method. The GIC is characterized as having intercalant species, such as sulfuric acid and nitric acid, residing in interlayer spaces, also referred to as interstitial galleries or interstices. In traditional GICs, the intercalant species may form a complete or partial layer in an interlayer space or gallery. If there always exists one graphene layer between two intercalant layers, the resulting graphite is referred to as a Stage-1 GIC. If n graphene layers exist between two intercalant layers, we have a Stage-n GIC. [0139] It may be noted that intercalation of graphite (e.g., if intercalated by potassium melt) does not necessarily lead to oxidation of graphite. However, if the intercalant contains an acid (e.g., sulfuric acid, nitric acid, carboxylic acid, etc.) and/or an oxidizing agent (e.g., KMnO 4 , sodium or potassium chlorate, and hydrogen peroxide, H 2 O 2 ), the resulting GIC is essentially a graphite oxide (GO) material. This is true of essentially all of the known prior art chemical processes for the preparation of GO nano platelets. [0140] Exfoliation: This intercalation or oxidation step is followed by rapidly exposing the GIC or GO material to a high temperature, typically between 800 and 1,100° C., to exfoliate the graphite material, forming vermicular graphite structures known as graphite worms. It is important to understand that these graphite worms or their constituent graphite flakes are actually graphite oxide, not graphene. They typically contain more than 30% by weight of oxygen, existing as oxygen-containing functional groups like carboxyl or hydroxyl on both the basal plane surfaces and edges of graphene layers. Exfoliation is believed to be caused by the interlayer volatile gases, created by the thermal decomposition, phase transition, or chemical reaction of the intercalant, which induce high gas pressures inside the interstices that push apart neighboring layers. In some methods, the exfoliation product is graphite worms that contain more or less interconnected graphite oxide flakes or functional group-decorated graphene sheets that are still more or less clustered or tied together. In order to further separate these interconnected graphite oxide flakes, the exfoliation product may then be subjected to air milling, air jet milling, ball milling, or ultrasonication before or after the second heat treatment. [0141] In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, a dispersible NGP-producing process begins with the preparation of a GIC or GO material, followed by heating the GIC or GO material to obtain exfoliated graphite. These two steps are similar to the above-described two steps—intercalation/oxidation of graphite and exfoliation of GIC/GO. Although exfoliation temperature is typically between 800 and 1,100° C. for the GIC or GO prepared from natural graphite, we have found that the GIC or GO prepared from meso-phase carbon micro-beads (MCMB) can be effectively exfoliated at a temperature as low as 200° C. However, in all cases, higher exfoliation temperatures are preferred and exfoliation is preferably conducted in a protective atmosphere (e.g., containing an inert gas, hydrogen, and/or nitrogen). It is of significance to note that, in the prior art, for all purposes (e.g., to produce graphite worms, flexible graphite, graphite oxide flakes, or separated graphene oxide sheets), exfoliation of the GIC/GO was prescribed to occur at a relatively high temperature for a very short period of time, typically shorter than 2 minutes, more typically shorter than 1 minute, and often shorter than 30 seconds. In the prior art, expansion or exfoliation of graphite oxide was normally completed within this short period of time and, hence, continued heating of the freshly exfoliated graphite was believed to be unnecessary and undesirable (for fear of thermally degrading the exfoliation product or perhaps for the purpose of saving energy). [0142] Contrary to this conventional wisdom, we have surprisingly observed that a further exposure of the exfoliated graphite product to a high temperature (typically higher than the exfoliation temperature), but in a protective atmosphere, could de-oxygenate or reduce the graphite oxide platelets to a range of very unique and useful oxygen contents. Within this range, exfoliated graphite oxide platelets become highly electrically conducting and yet remain soluble or dispersible in water and many other organic solvents. In the prior art, dispersibility and conductivity are generally believed to be non-coexisting. This good solubility or dispersibility enables the production of NGP-based products, such as graphene paper, film, and nanocomposite structures, that have desirable physical properties. No subsequent chemical reduction of the platelets is required. [0143] Although partial de-oxygenation of the exfoliated graphite oxide flakes was suggested by others [e.g., 67,68] as a means of reducing the product to recover electrical properties of nano graphene after the product is made (e.g., after graphene oxide thin film or paper is produced), the prior art tasks [67,68] were based on chemical solution-based GO exfoliation, not thermal exfoliation. However, once the de-oxygenation treatment in a vacuum was done, the graphene platelets were no longer soluble or dispersible. The prior art has not taught about the approach of continuing heating or re-heating the thermally exfoliated GO products in a protective atmosphere to obtain dispersible yet conductive NGPs. Furthermore, the prior art has not suggested that this continual heating or re-heating could be preferably conducted immediately after, or concurrently with the exfoliation step to save energy and time. In the presently invented process, further preferably, these two operations (thermal exfoliation and de-oxygenation) are conducted using the same reactor. It has been hitherto commonly believed by those skilled in the art that chemical processibility and electrical conductivity of graphite materials are mutually exclusive. Quite opposite to this common wisdom, we have herein proven that, within a reasonable range of oxygen contents in GO nano platelets and their associated window of processing conditions, these two features can be achieved at the same time. [0144] Thus, the present invention provides an NGP-producing process that comprises: (a) preparing a graphite intercalation compound (GIC) or graphite oxide (GO) from a laminar graphite material; (b) exposing the GIC or GO to a first temperature for a first period of time to obtain exfoliated graphite; and (c) exposing the exfoliated graphite to a second temperature in a protective atmosphere for a second period of time to obtain the desired dispersible nano graphene platelet with an oxygen content no greater than 25% by weight, preferably below 20% by weight, further preferably between 5% and 20% by weight. The resulting NGPs are both dispersible and conductive, which were generally believed to be mutually exclusive features of graphene or graphene oxide. [0145] The laminar graphite materials used in the prior art processes for the production of the GIC, GO, and subsequently made exfoliated graphite, flexible graphite sheets, and graphene platelets were, in most cases, natural graphite. However, the present invention is not limited to natural graphite. The starting material may be selected from the group consisting of natural graphite, artificial graphite (e.g., highly oriented pyrolytic graphite, HOPG), graphite oxide, graphite fluoride, graphite fiber, carbon fiber, carbon nano-fiber, carbon nano-tube, mesophase carbon micro-bead (MCMB) or carbonaceous micro-sphere (CMS), soft carbon, hard carbon, and combinations thereof. All of these materials contain graphite crystallites that are composed of layers of graphene planes stacked or bonded together via van der Waals forces. In natural graphite, multiple stacks of graphene planes, with the graphene plane orientation varying from stack to stack, are clustered together. In carbon fibers, the graphene planes are usually oriented along a preferred direction. Generally speaking, soft carbons are carbonaceous materials obtained from carbonization of liquid-state, aromatic molecules. Their aromatic ring or graphene structures are more or less parallel to one another, enabling further graphitization. Hard carbons are carbonaceous materials obtained from aromatic solid materials (e.g., polymers, such as phenolic resin and polyfurfuryl alcohol). Their graphene structures are relatively randomly oriented and, hence, further graphitization is difficult to achieve even at a temperature higher than 2,500° C. But, graphene sheets do exist in these carbons. [0146] The relatively weak van der Waals forces leave all of these laminar graphite materials vulnerable to penetration of intercalants or chemical attack by a range of chemical species, such as concentrated acids and oxidizing agents (e.g., hydrogen peroxide). It is now well-known that one way to produce ultra-thin GO platelets is through strong oxidation of natural graphite, as proposed by several researchers [Refs. 5-8, 14-19, 65-70]. The oxidation of graphite is preferably to the extent that no diffraction peaks corresponding to the well-known interplanar spacing (0.335 nm) of graphite are observed and that strong peaks corresponding to expanded interlaminar spacing (typically slightly >6 nm) of graphite oxide appear. However, none of these researchers have attempted to produce GO nano platelets or NGPs from other types of laminar graphite materials than natural graphite. None of them have suggested a second exposure of the exfoliated graphite materials to a high temperature, protective atmosphere after first heat exposure for graphite exfoliation. [0147] The step of intercalating may comprise chemical intercalating or electrochemical intercalating using an intercalate selected from an acid, an oxidizing agent, or a mixture of an acid and an oxidizing agent. Most commonly used acids are sulfuric acid and nitric acid and most commonly used oxidizers are nitric acid, hydrogen peroxide, sodium nitrate, sodium perchlorate, and potassium permanganate. An environmentally benign intercalate, such as acetic acid, formic acid, or a carboxylic acid, is preferred. The carboxylic acid may be selected from the group consisting of aromatic carboxylic acid, aliphatic or cycloaliphatic carboxylic acid, straight chain or branched chain carboxylic acid, saturated and unsaturated monocarboxylic acids, dicarboxylic acids and polycarboxylic acids that have 1-10 carbon atoms, alkyl esters thereof, and combinations thereof. The electrochemical intercalating may comprise using a carboxylic acid as both an electrolyte and an intercalate source. The electrochemical intercalating may comprise imposing an electric current, at a current density in the range of 50 to 600 A/m 2 , to the MCMBs or carbon fiber segments (as two examples), which are used as an electrode material. [0148] The step of exfoliating intercalated or oxidized graphite materials comprises exposing the GIC or GO to a temperature preferably in the range of 250° C. to 1,100° C., more preferably between 650° C. and 1,100° C., and most preferably greater than 850° C. This exfoliation temperature is herein referred to as the first temperature. The exfoliation time is typically between 15 seconds and 2 minutes. Although the second exposure temperature (for the purpose of de-oxygenation) can be the same as the first exposure temperature, the second or de-oxygenation temperature is preferably higher than the first or exfoliation temperature. The de-oxygenation temperature is preferably higher than 900° C., more preferably higher than 1,000° C., and most preferably between 1,100° C. and 1,500° C. This upper limit of 1,500° C. is suggested on the basis of convenience in operation since most of the furnaces have a rated temperature up to 1,500° C. and it would be more challenging to work with associated sealing components to achieve a protective environment (e.g., argon gas or vacuum) if the operating temperature exceeds 1,500° C. The de-oxygenation time is typically between 1 minute and 2 hours. [0149] After an extensive research effort, we have found that thermal exfoliation and de-oxygenation procedures are preferably conducted in such a manner that the oxygen content of the resulting nano graphene or GO platelets is below 25% by weight, further preferably below 20% by weight, and most preferably between approximately 5% and 20% by weight. With a proper oxygen content, the nano platelets remain soluble or dispersible in a wide array of solvents, yet exhibiting high electrical conductivity. With an oxygen content of below 5% by weight, solubility becomes relatively limited although the NGPs become more conductive. [0150] The protective atmosphere can be a vacuum or a gas atmosphere containing an inert gas (such as argon), nitrogen, hydrogen, or a combination thereof. It is particularly useful to add approximately 3% of hydrogen in nitrogen for the de-oxygenation atmosphere since hydrogen seems to assist in the de-oxygenation or reduction process of graphite oxide. Hydrogen also seems to provide useful functional groups, such as carboxyl and hydroxyl. [0151] The following examples serve to provide the best modes of practice for the present invention and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention: EXAMPLE 1 NGPs from Carbon/Graphite Fibers [0152] Continuous graphite fiber yams (Magnamite from Hercules) were cut into segments of 5 mm long and then ball-milled for 24 hours. Approximately 20 grams of these milled fibers were immersed in a mixture of 2 L of formic acid and 0.1 L of hydrogen peroxide at 45° C. for 48 hours. Following the chemical oxidation intercalation treatment, the resulting intercalated fibers were washed with water and dried. The resulting product is a formic acid-intercalated graphite fiber material containing graphite oxide crystallites. [0153] Subsequently, approximately ½ of the intercalated or oxidized fiber sample was transferred to a furnace pre-set at a temperature of 600° C. for 30 seconds. The compound was found to induce extremely rapid and high expansions of graphite crystallites. The as-exfoliated graphite fiber is designated as Sample-1a. Approximately half of Sample 1-a material was subjected to de-oxygenation at 1,100° C. for 20 minutes in a nitrogen atmosphere to obtain Sample-1b. [0154] A small amount of both materials was mixed with an aqueous ethanol solution to form two separate suspensions, which were subjected to further separation of exfoliated flakes using a Cowles shearing device. Both graphite oxide platelets (Sample 1-a) and reduced GO platelets (essentially NGPs) were found to be soluble and well-dispersed in this aqueous solution. The resulting suspensions were dip-coated to form thin films with a thickness of approximately 100 nm on glass slide surfaces. The thickness of individual platelets was found to range from two graphene sheets to approximately 25 graphene sheets (average of 14 sheets or approximately 4.7 nm) based on SEM and TEM observations. The length of these NGPs was typically in the range of 10-60 μm and width in the range of 0.5-2 μm. [0155] A four-point probe method was used to measure the electrical conductivity of the thin films on the glass substrate. It was found that the conductivity of the film prepared from Sample 1-a (as-exfoliated GO platelets) was approximately 1.3×10 −3 S/cm while that of Sample 1-b was 2.8 S/cm. EXAMPLE 2 NGPs from Sulfuric Acid Intercalation and Exfoliation/De-Oxygenation of MCMBs [0156] MCMB 2528 microbeads were supplied by Alumina Trading, which is the U.S. distributor for the supplier, Osaka Gas Chemical Company of Japan. This material has a density of about 2.24 g/cm 3 ; a particle size maximum for at least 95% by weight of the particles of 37 microns; median size of about 22.5 microns and an inter-planar distance of about 0.336 nm. MCMB 2528 (10 grams) were intercalated with an acid solution (sulfuric acid, nitric acid, and potassium permanganate at a ratio of 4:1:0.05) for 24 hours. Upon completion of the reaction, the mixture was poured into deionized water and filtered. The intercalated MCMBs were repeatedly washed in a 5% solution of HCl to remove most of the sulphate ions. The sample was then washed repeatedly with deionized water until the pH of the filtrate was neutral. The slurry was spray-dried and stored in a vacuum oven at 60° C. for 24 hours. The dried powder sample was placed in a quartz tube and inserted into a horizontal tube furnace pre-set at a desired temperature, 600° C. for 30 seconds to obtain Sample 2-a. Approximately one half of the exfoliated MCMB sample was subjected to de-oxygenation treatment at 1,250° C. for 15 minutes in an argon environment to obtain Sample 2-b. A small quantity of each sample was mixed with water and ultrasonicated at a 60 W power for 10 minutes to obtain a suspension. Again, thin films were prepared from each suspension by dip coating and the electrical conductivity of the films was measured. The conductivity of the film prepared from Sample 2-a (as-exfoliated oxidized MCMB platelets) was found to be approximately 1.8×10 −2 S/cm and that of Sample 2-b after de-oxygenation was 67 S/cm. Both types of platelets were well-dispersed in water. EXAMPLE 3 Oxidation, Exfoliation, and De-Oxygenation of Natural Graphite [0157] Graphite oxide was prepared by oxidation of graphite flakes with sulfuric acid, sodium nitrate, and potassium permanganate at a ratio of 4:1:0.05 at 30° C. for 24 hours, according to the method of Hummers [U.S. Pat. No. 2,798,878, Jul. 9, 1957]. Upon completion of the reaction, the mixture was poured into deionized water and filtered. The sample was then washed with 5% HCl solution to remove most of the sulfate ions and residual salt and then repeatedly rinsed with deionized water until the pH of the filtrate was approximately 7. The intent was to remove all sulfuric and nitric acid residue out of graphite interstices. The slurry was spray-dried and stored in a vacuum oven at 60° C. for 24 hours. The interlayer spacing of the resulting laminar graphite oxide was determined by the Debey-Scherrer X-ray technique to be approximately 0.73 nm (7.3 Å), indicating that graphite has been converted into graphite oxide. [0158] The dried, intercalated (oxidized) compound was divided into two batches, both for exfoliation at 800° C. for 1 minute by placing the sample in a quartz tube that was inserted into a horizontal tube furnace pre-set at 800° C. For Sample 3-a, exfoliation was followed by de-oxygenation at 1,000° C. for various periods of time, from 1 minute to 120 minutes. For Sample 3-b, the de-oxygenation temperature was 1,100° C., from 1 minute to 80 minutes. The de-oxygenation atmosphere was approximately 95% nitrogen and 5% hydrogen. [0159] Two series of thin films were prepared from these two samples for the purpose of measuring the electrical conductivity of the GO nano platelets or NGPs as a function of the de-oxygenation time and the resulting oxygen content. The oxygen content, based on the elemental analysis, was for those oxygen atoms in functional groups attached to the plane surfaces and edges of the platelets. The exfoliated and de-oxygenated products, after various periods of de-oxygenation, were each mixed with water and then subjected to a mechanical shearing treatment using a Cowles rotating-blade shearing machine for 20 minutes. The resulting platelets were found to have an average thickness of 6.3 nm. Spin coating was used to prepare thin films for conductivity measurement. GO or graphene platelets at selected de-oxygenation time intervals were also analyzed for their oxygen contents using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) available at the Center for Multifunctional Nonmaterial at Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio. [0160] Shown in FIG. 1 is a summary of the electrical conductivity data of the films made from GO nano platelets after various periods of de-oxygenation time at 1,000° C. and 1,100° C., respectively. The conductivity of the film varies from 5.0×10 −3 S/cm of as-foliated GO to 180 S/cm after 40 minutes of de-oxygenation, and to 4.1×10 2 S/cm after 80 minutes, the latter representing a five order-of-magnitude improvement in electrical conductivity. The GO or de-oxygenated GO platelets were found to be soluble or dispersible in water up to an oxygen content of 5.6% by weight (after 50 minutes at 1,100° C., giving rise to an electrical conductivity of 360 S/cm). This conductivity value is a very impressive result, comparable to the best achievable conductivity with strong or heavy chemical reduction and/or vacuum de-oxygenation treatments after the films were made (yet those graphene platelets of the thin films prepared in the prior art became non-dispersible) [Refs. 47,67,68]. [0161] The two curves and the observations made on the solution dispersibility of the corresponding suspensions appear to indicate that the conductivity increases rapidly with the degree of de-oxygenation while the GO platelets remain soluble over a range of treatment time durations at a given de-oxygenation temperature; e.g., up to 50 minutes at 1,100° C. Once the conductivity value reaches a plateau, the platelets begin to lose their solubility or dispersibility in water and other polar solvents, such as ethanol and acetone. Fortunately, this plateau value is already very high, typically in the range of 100-1,000 S/cm. [0162] The electrical conductivity data were plotted as a function of the corresponding oxygen content data for two de-oxygenation temperatures, as shown in FIG. 2 . It is clear that, regardless of the de-oxygenation temperature, it is the final oxygen content that governs the conductivity of GO or reduced GO platelets; the lower the oxygen content, the higher the conductivity is. When the oxygen content is below 5% by weight, the reduced GO tends to become insoluble or non-dispersible in water. Surprisingly, and fortunately, within the oxygen content range of 5%-20%, the nano platelet film exhibits a conductivity value greater than 1 S/cm. If the oxygen content is below 15%, the conductivity is greater than 10 S/cm. The conductivity of the NGP film is greater than 100 S/cm if the oxygen content is below 10%. EXAMPLE 4 Oxidation, Exfoliation, De-Oxygenation, and Further Functionalization of Natural Graphite [0163] The samples of Example 4, including Sample 4-a and 4-b, were prepared in a similar manner as described in Example 3, but the exfoliation was conducted at 1,000° C. for 45 seconds, followed by de-oxygenation at 1,200° C. and 1,350° C., respectively, for various periods of time. Shown in FIG. 3 is a summary of the electrical conductivity data of the films made from GO nano platelets after various periods of de-oxygenation time. These data further confirm the trend observed earlier that the electrical conductivity of nano graphene or graphene oxide films increases with increasing de-oxygenation time (or decreasing oxygen content). High conductivity can be attained with shorter periods of time if the de-oxygenation temperature is sufficiently high. [0164] In order to determine if a lower oxygen content would adversely affect the functionalization capability of graphene platelets and how functionalization would impact the electrical conductivity of these platelets, we carried out additional work on selected samples, described below: With the de-oxygenation atmosphere containing some hydrogen, we presumed that the edges of graphene or graphene oxide platelets contained a significant amount of activated C—H bonds. We chose to sulfonate the two samples that had been de-oxygenated for 10 minutes and 45 minutes, respectively, at 1,200° C. The sample with a 10-min de-oxygenation treatment (Sample 4-a-10) was highly soluble in water, but that with a 45-minute treatment (Sample 4-a-45) has poor or limited solubility in water. Sulfonation was conducted by subjecting the two samples to the vapor phase of a fuming sulfuric acid (oleum) containing 20% SO 3 for one hour. The results were very surprising. After the sulfonation treatment, Sample 4-a-10 remained highly soluble in water and Sample 4-a-45, originally having limited solubility, became soluble in water. Most surprisingly, the electrical conductivity of their respective films remained essentially un-changed, 12 S/cm and 695 S/cm, respectively. This important observation suggests that further functionalization of de-oxygenated graphene platelets provides another tool of varying solubility of the graphene platelets, as prepared by the presently invented de-oxygenation process, without adversely affecting their conductivity. [0165] Sulfonation is but one of many approaches to the functionalization of de-oxygenated GO platelets. Presumably, both the functional groups attached to basal plane atoms and those at the edges of basal planes (or graphene planes) tend to decrease the electrical conductivity of a graphene or graphene oxide platelet. The surface functional groups are in the way of electron conduction paths and, hence, are much more influential on the electron transport. These groups represent defects that could significantly reduce the mean free path of electrons moving on a basal plane. The functional groups at the graphene edge, although altering the quantum wave functions of electrons at the edge, would have less significant effect on the overall conductivity. However, the presence of different functional groups could have significantly different effects on solubility or dispersibility of a graphene or graphene oxide platelet in a solvent and the interfacial bonding between a platelet and a matrix material in a nanocomposite. This implies that we now have a tool of adjusting the solubility or dispersibility of NGPs in a solvent without significantly varying the electrical conductivity. EXAMPLE 5 Various Surface Functionalization Treatments of Partially De-Oxygenated NGPs [0166] The partially de-oxygenated NGPs prepared according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention can be further functionalized by carrying out an additional step of contacting the NGP obtained in step (c) with a reactant such that a functional group is added to a surface or edge of the nano graphene platelet. The functional group may be selected from, as examples, alkyl or aryl silane, alkyl or aralkyl group, hydroxyl group, amine group, fluorocarbon, or a combination thereof. [0167] Both Sample 4-a-10 and Sample 4-a-45 were subjected various functionalization treatments, briefly described as follows: [0168] The graphite oxide platelets or NGPs, after a partial de-oxygenation treatment, will have a reactive graphene surface (RGS) or reactive graphene edge (RGE). They were subjected to the following reactions: (a) RGS/RGE+CH 2 ══CHCOX (at 1,000° C.)→Graphene-R′COH (where X═—OH, —Cl, —NH 2 , or —H); e.g., RGS/RGE+CH 2 ══CHCOOH→G-R′CO—OH (where G=graphene); (b) RGS/RGE+Maleic anhydride→G-R′(COOH) 2 ; (c) RGS/RGE+Cyonogen→G-CN; (d) RGS/RGE+CH 2 ══CH—CH 2 X→G-R′CH 2 X (where X=—OH, -halogen, or —NH 2 ); (e) RGS/RGE+H 2 O→G══O (Quinoidal); (f) RGS/RGE+CH 2 ══CHCHO→G-R′CHO (Aldehydic); (g) RGS/RGE+CH 2 ══CH—CN→G-R′CN; In the above-listed reactions, R′ is a hydrocarbon radical (alkyl, cycloalkyl, etc). [0176] The results of electrical conductivity measurements of the NGP films and observations on solubility of NGPs in solvents are summarized in Table 1. These data further confirm that chemical functionalization treatments can be used to vary the solubility or dispersibility of NGPs without significantly compromising electrical conductivity. [0000] TABLE 1 Conductivity and solubility of functionalized NGPs. Functionalization Thin Film Electrical Sample Treatment Conductivity (S/cm) Solubility in a Solvent Sample 4-1-10 None 10 Highly soluble in water, acetone, ethanol, etc. Sample 4-1-45 None 695 Limited solubility in water, acetone, ethanol Sample 4-1-45 Reaction (a), X = —OH 688 Became soluble in water and ethanol Sample 4-1-45 Reaction (b) 683 Became soluble in water and ethanol Sample 4-1-10 Reaction (c) 10 Highly soluble in water, acetone, ethanol, etc. Sample 4-1-45 Reaction (d), X = —NH 2 685 Became soluble in acetone Sample 4-1-10 Reaction (e) 11 Highly soluble in water, acetone, ethanol, etc. Sample 4-1-10 Reaction (e) 10 Highly soluble in water, acetone, ethanol, etc. Sample 4-1-10 Reaction (f) 9.5 Highly soluble in water, acetone, ethanol, etc. EXAMPLE 6 Functionalization or Derivatization of NGPs Prepared by Partially De-Oxygenating GO Platelets [0177] Partial de-oxygenation of heavily oxidized GO can lead to the attachment of some functional groups on a surface or at an edge of a graphene plane, including carboxylic acid and hydroxyl groups. A large number of derivatives can be prepared from carboxylic acid alone. For instance, alcohols or amines can be easily linked to acid to provide stable esters or amides. If the alcohol or amine is part of a di- or poly-functional molecule, then linkage through the O— or NH— leaves the other functional group(s) as pendant group(s). For instance, we can have R—OH or R—NH 2 , where R=alkyl, aralkyl, aryl, fluoroethanol, polymer, and SiR′ 3 . Examples include Cl—SiR′ 3 , HO—R—OH (R=alkyl, aralkyl, or CH 2 O—), H 2 N—R—N 2 H (R=alkyl, aralkyl), X—R—Y (R=alkyl, etc.; X═OH or NH 2 ; Y═SH, CN, C═O, CHO, alkene, alkyne, aromatic, or heterocycles). [0178] As an example, Sample 4-a-10, was treated to follow the following reactions: R—COOH+Im-CO-Im→R—CO-Im+Him+CO 2 (Im=imidazolide) and Him=imidazole), which was followed by R—CO-Im+R′OH (in NaOEt)→R—CO—OR′+HIm, and, separately for another specimen, by R—CO-Im+R′NH 2 →R—CO—NHR′+Him. [0179] In summary, the presently invented process is superior to many prior art processes in several aspects: 1) Prior art high-temperature exfoliation processes were not followed by a high temperature de-oxygenation treatment. These processes did not allow for a good control over the oxygen content of the resulting GO platelets. 2) In another commonly used prior art approach, the graphite oxide dispersed in an aqueous solution was reduced with hydrazine, in the presence of a polymer, such as poly (sodium 4-styrenesulfonate). This process led to the formation of a stable aqueous dispersion of polymer-coated graphene platelets. In some applications, however, a polymer coating may be undesirable. Furthermore, the reducing agent, hydrazine, is a toxic substance. 3) Another prior art method of producing less hydrophilic GO platelets involved using an isocyanate treatment. However, unless stabilized by selected polymers, the chemically modified graphene sheets obtained through this method tended to precipitate as irreversible agglomerates due to their hydrophobic nature. The resulting agglomerates became insoluble in water and organic solvents. By contrast, the presently invented process provides a convenient approach to the preparation of soluble or dispersible nano graphene that, in most cases, requires no further chemical reduction. 4) Conventional processes of preparing GO nano sheets that included chemical exfoliation typically were extremely tedious. Such a long process is not amenable to the mass production of conductive nano graphene platelets. In these prior art processes, by subjecting the GO films to a high temperature treatment in a vacuum, one could obtain nano platelets with thin film electrical conductivity as high as 550 S/cm. However, once such a high temperature treatment was done, the GO nano sheets were no longer dispersible in water. 5) In the presently invented process, exfoliation and de-oxygenation can be conducted sequentially or concurrently using the same reactor, obviating the need to transfer the material to another reactor. 6) The presently invented process is capable of thermally decomposing most of the impurities, including those used for graphite intercalation/oxidation, obviating a need for washing and rinsing the GO platelets (which was required in the prior art solution approach to the exfoliation of GO and/or subsequent chemical reduction). 7) The presently invented process allows for the NGPs to be readily or easily functionalized. This is particularly useful if NGPs are used as a filler in a composite material. 8) The presently invented process enables us to have separate control over dispersibility and conductivity, which were considered mutually exclusive in the prior art.
The present invention provides a process for producing nano graphene platelets (NGPs) that are dispersible and conducting. The process comprises: (a) preparing a graphite intercalation compound (GIC) or graphite oxide (GO) from a laminar graphite material; (b) exposing the GIC or GO to a first temperature for a first period of time to obtain exfoliated graphite; and (c) exposing the exfoliated graphite to a second temperature in a protective atmosphere for a second period of time to obtain the desired dispersible nano graphene platelet with an oxygen content no greater than 25% by weight, preferably below 20% by weight, further preferably between 5% and 20% by weight. Conductive NGPs can find applications in transparent electrodes for solar cells or flat panel displays, additives for battery and supercapacitor electrodes, conductive nanocomposite for electromagnetic wave interference (EMI) shielding and static charge dissipation, etc.
2
This is a continuation-in-part of my copending application, Ser. No. 88,674, filed Oct. 26, 1979, now abandoned, which in turn is a divisional of Ser. No. 15,503, filed Feb. 23, 1979, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,214,330. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to and has among its objects the provision of novel apparatus for treatment of fibers with ozone-steam mixtures. It is a particular object of the invention to provide novel apparatus for treating proteinous animal fibers with ozone-steam mixtures in order to shrinkproof them. Further objects of the invention will be evident from the following description wherein parts and percentages are by weight unless otherwise specified. 2. Description of the Prior Art A process for treating animal fibers with gaseous ozone and steam is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,149,906 (hereinafter referred to as '906). A stream of ozone and steam is blown through the textile under treatment in the '906 process. A disadvantage of the known process is that ozone is not used efficiently and losses of 80-85% of ozone usually occur. Inefficient use of ozone is costly because large amounts of energy are expended to both produce the ozone and to destroy the unused gas. Furthermore, larger ozone generators are required when excess amounts of ozone must be prepared and such large generators are expensive. Closed chambers for treating food material with steam are known. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,482 a food product is passed into a chamber which is sealed to prevent escape of steam. The product enters the chamber first through water and then through a combination of a paddle wheel and flap, all of which maintain the chamber steam-tight. For removal of the product from the chamber, the above sequence is reversed. Sealed steam chambers are cumbersome to use and impractical for uses other than as a blanching apparatus for food material. A hump-back tunnel blancher is described in "Misc. Publication 540," U.S. Department of Agriculture, p. 40 (1944). The center of the tunnel is located at a higher elevation than either the entrance or discharge ends. Steam is maintained in the tunnel center to the exclusion of air by the difference in density between steam and air at ordinary temperatures, by the use of curtains, and by positioning the steam jets so as to neutralize the kinetic energy of the jets. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION I have discovered a method for treating fibers with ozone-steam mixtures wherein the substance is conveyed through an open-ended chamber having a horizontal middle section substantially elevated with respect to the open end of the chamber. The substance is exposed to the ozone-steam mixture in the horizontal elevated middle region of the chamber wherein the ozone is centrally introduced and the steam is introduced at any point in the elevated middle region, preferably centrally. Quite surprisingly, the ozone gas, as well as the steam, is confined to the elevated middle section with little loss of ozone at the open end of the chamber. An apparatus in accordance with the above method comprises an open-ended chamber having a horizontal middle section substantially elevated with respect to the open chamber end. Also included are means for moving the substance through the chamber and means for centrally supplying ozone to the middle region of the chamber and means for supplying steam to the middle region of the chamber. An important advantage of the present invention is that fibers may enter and exit the instant apparatus without special precaution needed in closed systems. Consequently, my invention enjoys greater ease of operation than known methods and apparatus. Furthermore, the equipment employed is of a simple nature. Continuous-type processing has a number of advantages over a batch-wise procedure; for example, conservation of time and energy, less complicated operation, reduced size of equipment, and so forth. My apparatus also has the unexpected advantage with respect to treatment of proteinous animal fibers with ozone-steam mixtures, namely, that ozone is much more efficiently used than in prior processes, wherein more than 80% of the ozone escapes unreacted. Indeed, less than 10% of the ozone employed is unused in my apparatus. This greatly enhanced efficiency is completely unpredictable in view of the known methods. Obviously, this results in savings of time and money on the part of the processor in generation of ozone, in destruction of unused ozone, and in the reduced size of the ozone generator itself. Another advantage of my invention is that the advantages of the known processes of shrinkproofing fibers with ozone in general are retained in my apparatus. These advantages include imparting high shrinkresistance to the fibers, short duration of treatment (1-10 minutes), minimum fiber degradation, retention of fiber strength and tensile properties, whiter fabrics, increased dyeability, and dye fastness, and so forth. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the apparatus of the invention with partial cutaway of exterior casing and ventilation hood. FIG. 2 is an isometric cross-sectional view of a portion of the above apparatus. FIG. 3 is an isometric cross-sectional view of an alternate embodiment of the above apparatus. FIG. 4 is a top and side elevational view of an alternate embodiment of an apparatus in accordance with the invention. FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of another alternate embodiment of an apparatus in accordance with the invention. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The apparatus of the invention will next be described in detail with reference to the annexed drawings. In the description that follows apparatus for treating proteinous animal fibers with ozone will be described by way of illustration and not limitation. In its broad ambit the apparatus and method of the invention can be employed to treat fibers of all kinds with gas-steam mixtures. For example, my invention finds utility in treating cotton fibers or fabrics to bleach them. The particular embodiments of my invention depicted in the attached drawings may be employed for shrinkproofing proteinous animal fibers of all kinds, e.g., wool, mohair, and the like, or blends of these fibers with non-proteinous fibers such as cotton, polyester, acrylic, etc. All types of fiber assemblies may be treated in my apparatus including woven or knitted fabrics, garments, yarns, top, and loose fibers. In FIG. 1, chamber 10 is a hollow tunnel with a horizontal middle section 10a. Ends 10b of chamber 10 are also horizontal and 10a is elevated with respect thereto; sloping sections 10c link 10a with 10b. Chamber 10 is designed not only to confine the hot ozone-steam mixture within 10a and minimize escape of ozone and steam through the ends of sections 10b, which are open to the surroundings, but also to minimize lateral movement of the ozone-steam mixture along 10a. Thus, in my apparatus the hot ozone-steam mixture remains in elevated middle section 10a. The dimensions of 10 are not critical except that middle section 10a should be sufficiently elevated with respect to sections 10b so that the hot gases will not escape from 10a through sections 10b and will not move along 10a. The critical dimension for such purpose is achieved by maintaining the elevation of the bottom wall of 10a a minimum of about 15 to 20 cm above the top wall of 10b. This minimum elevation of the horizontal middle section above the end section is critical to confine the buoyant ozone-steam mixture within the elevated middle section. Since the mixture is at a higher temperature and lower density than the unheated air in sections 10c or 10b it remains within the middle section which is elevated above the end section and is blocked from exit by the cold dense air in sections 10c and 10b. This phenomenon also minimizes lateral movement of the ozone and steam from the point of inlet into the middle section laterally along 10a. Generally, good results are obtained if section 10a is long enough to contain the number of fiber assemblies or fabrics that are to be treated in a given time. For example, if it is desired to treat forty fabrics per minute and the treatment time required is one minute, section 10a would have to be long enough to contain forty fabrics (properly spaced to permit good circulation of gases). The width and height of 10a are dependent on the size and nature of the fabric to be treated. Section 10a should be small enough to maintain the ozone-steam mixture in the vicinity of the fabric to be treated. To this end, the spacing between the walls of the apparatus and the edges of the fibers being treated should be about 5-15 cm. The middle section 10a must be of sufficient length to provide a residence time of the fabrics within 10a sufficient for treatment of the fabrics with the ozone-steam mixture prior to exiting said middle section. Chamber 10 may be fabricated from any airtight material unreactive to ozone, such as stainless steel, aluminum, Teflon, polyvinylchloride, poypropylene, polyethylene, and the like. It is usually desirable to cover chamber 10a with a conventional insulating material to minimize the loss of heat through its walls. Sole ozone inlet tube 11 is fixedly attached to 10a at (or near) its center. Steam inlet 12 is fixedly attached to 10a. If only one steam inlet is used as shown in FIGS. 1-5, it is preferably located at the center of 10a. In some cases more than one steam inlet may be provided as necessary to provide the required reaction temperature. The locations must be at a distance from the ends of 10a to substantially prevent the warming of the air in 10c. The central introduction of ozone allows the reactive ozone (mixed with air or oxygen) to efficiently react with the materials being treated as the ozone passes from the center of 10a to its end. Use of the chamber structural features of a sole inlet for ozone located at a position essentially central along 10a in combination with a horizontal middle section elevated at a level sufficient to confine the hot ozone-steam mixture within 10a and minimize lateral movement along 10a causes the ozone concentration to be greatest at the center of the elevated middle section, diminishing outwardly toward the ends of 10a. This concentration gradient ensures that the ozone generated reacts with the fabrics in the center of 10a with little reaching the open ends. The amount that does dissipate towards the end is at a much lower concentration, and since the lateral movement is slow, it is in intimate contact with the fibers to be treated throughout the passage along 10a, thus, less than 10% of the ozone injected is unused and usually 94-95% of the ozone is absorbed by the materials prior to exiting 10a. Fans 13 are rotatably mounted in the bottom wall of 10a and are driven by variable speed motors 14, to which they are linked by sealed shafts 29 through the bottom wall of 10a to circulate the gas mixture within 10a. Tubes 15 are positioned at the top wall of 10a and are fitted with valves 16, which may be opened to withdraw small samples of ozone-steam mixture for concentration analysis. Cross-sectional baffles 17 (see also FIG. 2) conform to the walls of 10a and have openings which allow the fabric to pass therethrough. Baffles 17 are not required for successful operation of my apparatus. However, more efficient use of ozone is realized when baffles 17 are incorporated into the instant apparatus because the ozone-steam mixture circulation is maintained in the area surrounding the individual fabrics or fibers being treated. For temperature monitoring, thermocouples 18 are mounted atop 10a. It should be obvious, however, that other means for monitoring the temperature of the reaction may be used. Conveyor 19 travels through 10 on pulleys 20. Suspended from 19 are hooks 21 for carrying the fabric to be treated. The conveyor (19) is driven by variable speed motor 22 at a speed to obtain the desired time of treatment. Generally, the fabric should be exposed to the ozone-steam mixture for a period of about 1 to 10 minutes in order to obtain the proper level of shrinkproofing. Outlet tube 23 is fixedly attached to the bottom wall of 10a and communicates with receiver 24. In this way, water that condenses in 10a will exit through 23, be collected in 24, and exit through 25 to a drain. The ozone-steam mixture in 10a, however, will not escape through 23. In this respect, another important feature of 10a should be noted. The top wall of 10a is sloped (see FIGS. 2 and 3) to insure that water droplets condensing on the top wall will be conveyed down the side walls to the bottom walls. This is important in the present invention because water droplets that fall on the fabric cause stained or bleached spots. In the particular embodiment depicted in the attached drawings, the top wall of 10a is sloped in both directions from a center line. Other types of sloping may be used and are within the scope of this invention. The apparatus of the invention should include a means for trapping any unused ozone, however slight, emerging from the open ends of sections 10b to prevent escape into the surroundings. Any convenient means for achieving this result may be employed; for example, exhaust hood 26 can be used. An alternate embodiment of the invention is depicted in FIG. 3. Interior auxiliary side and bottom walls 27 and 28, respectively, conform to the openings in baffles 17 and are continuous throughout 10a. Bottom auxiliary wall 28 has openings above each of fans 13 to allow the ozone-steam mixture to enter the inner core of 10a. The advantages of this particular embodiment are explained hereinbelow. Another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 4. Chamber 10 has only one open end section 10b and one section 10c. The fabric enters 10b, travels up 10c to 10a, reverses direction, travels through 10c and exits through 10b, the same opening through which it entered the apparatus. FIG. 5 depicts still another alternate embodiment of the invention. Basically, sections 10b and 10c are absent in this embodiment wherein the horizontal middle section 10a is essentially opposite the open chamber end and the sides of chamber 10 are perpendicular to ground. Thermocouples 18, tubes 15, and valves 16 are located on one side of the chamber and fans 13 are positioned on the other. Inlets 11 and 12 are atop section 10a. Fabric to be treated enters the open end of the chamber, travels vertically upward to 10a, then across 10a, travels vertically downward and exits the chamber. The operation of my apparatus will next be described, referring to the attached drawings. Fabrics to be shrinkproofed (30) are loaded, either manually or automatically, on conveyor 19 and then passed into chamber 10 at a speed such that the desired residence time of each fabric will be attained. The time of contact between the fibrous material and the aqueous ozone solution is dependent on the reaction temperature, the concentration of ozone, the type of fibrous material being treated, and the degree of modification of the fibrous material that is desired. For example, an increase in reaction temperature or an increase in ozone concentration will increase the speed of modification. In any particular case, pilot trials may be conducted with the material to be treated, employing various conditions and testing the properties of the product. From such tests, the appropriate conditions may be easily derived. In such trials, the shrinkage characteristics of the product may, for example, be used as the criterion and the conditions of reaction selected so that the area shrinkage of the product (tested by a standard method) is markedly improved, i.e., reduced to at least one-half, preferably at least one-tenth, of that displayed by the starting (untreated) material. It is, of course, obvious that the process should not be continued for a period long enough to cause degradation of the fibers. As noted above, the process of the invention is rapid so that effective results are obtained in a matter of minutes, for example, 2 to 6 minutes. Prior to starting conveyor 19 ozone mixed with air or oxygen is pumped into 10a through inlet 11 at a sufficiently high concentration to obtain good shrinkproofing in the fabric during its passage through 10a. Generally, the ozone is produced in a conventional device wherein oxygen or air is passed through an electrical system involving a high-voltage silent discharge. The effluent gas from this device contains, for example, about from 10 to 100 mg of ozone per liter, depending on the circuit adjustments of the device. (The portion of this gas stream which is not ozone is, of course, oxygen or air (and reference to ozone herein means ozone mixed with either air or oxygen).) This gas stream is mixed with a stream of steam produced by a conventional steam generator and injected into 10a through inlet 12. The proportion of steam being mixed with the ozone is adjusted to attain the desired gas temperature. Thus, by increasing the proportion of steam coming from the steam generator, the temperature of the composite stream may be increased. The temperature at which the process of the invention is carried out may be varied from about 60° to 95° C. The rate of introduction of the ozone-steam mixture into the horizontal middle section should be sufficient to supply an amount of ozone required to treat the fibers but insufficient to cause ozone to exit the open chamber ends. This rate is dependent both on the concentration of ozone within the composite stream and the rate of passage of fibers through 10a. The rate to be employed in any given treatment can easily be determined by pilot trials and by monitoring the ozone concentration at open ends 10b. Fans are employed to obtain good circulation of the ozone-steam mixture within 10a and to ensure good contact between this mixture and the fabric. Generally, the gas flow occurs in the direction depicted in FIGS. 2 and 3. The gaseous mixture flows upwardly from the center of the bottom wall of the apparatus, past the fabrics or garments under treatment, aided by fans 13. When the gaseous current reaches the top of 10a the direction changes so that the flow travels along the top wall and downwardly along the side walls. Baffles 17 help to compartmentalize the gas flow. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 3, auxiliary walls 27 and 28 further aid in compartmentalizing the flow of the ozone-steam mixture. In this way, more efficient ozone utilization is realized; usually, about 94-95% of the ozone generated is absorbed by the fabric. It should be apparent at this point that cross-sectional circulation of the ozone-steam mixture is desirable and indeed, is facilitated by baffles 17. On the other hand, longitudinal movement of the mixture should be minimized, thus containing the gas mixtures in 10a. Consequently, the reaction of the fabrics with ozone is somewhat greater at the center of section 10a and diminishes at the ends of 10a. Ozone concentration is measured periodically at each of valves 16. Particular attention is directed to valves 16a at the ends of 10a. The concentration of ozone at these points should be low, indicative of efficient use of ozone concentration. In keeping with the principle of the invention, ozone concentration at these terminals should be very minimal, signifying both the efficient use of ozone and the effective maintenance of ozone within elevated section 10a of the instant apparatus. Water that has condensed on the bottom wall of 10a exits by means of outlet tube 23 and is collected in receiver 24. The design of 23 and 24 must be such as to contain the ozone-steam mixture within 10a and allow water to exit through tube 25 to the drain. This is accomplished by first filling receiver 24 with water up to the level of drain tube 25. Thus, when condensate flows from the tunnel through tube 23, the water level rises in 24 and flow through drain tube 25 occurs. Of course, the water level will not rise above the level of drain tube 25, and at all times the water in receiver 24 blocks ozone (and its carrier gas) from freely flowing out of the central area of section 10a. It should be noted that a small amount of ozone dissolved in the water will escape as the water leaves drain tube 25. EXAMPLES The invention is further demonstrated by the following illustrative examples. An apparatus in accordance with the attached drawings was employed. In all experiments, plain jersey--17 courses/in, 14 wales/in. 2/20's (worsted count) yarn, 7.0 oz/yd 2 knitted fabric was used. The fabric was treated in two layers to simulate double folded areas such as the underarm areas of sweaters, etc. Wash Tests Each sample was washed 15 minutes at 41° C. with regular agitation in a top-loading domestic washer and then tumble-dried for 30 minutes according to AATCC method 124-1975 IB. The above procedure was repeated ten times. An area shrinkage of 5% of less (1st wash shrinkage was subtracted to eliminate shrinkage due to knitting strains) is considered an indication of good shrink-resistance. EXAMPLE 1 Panels of the knitted fabric were manually placed on hooks on a conveyor. The temperature of the chamber (10a) was raised to 79° C. by introduction of steam and the fans were started. The flow of the ozone-air mixture (30 mg ozone/l of mixture) adjusted to 4.0 scfm (standard cubic feet per minute). The conveyor motor was started and the fabric was passed through chamber section 10a at a rate to achieve a residence time of 8.25 minutes. Additional panels of fabric were placed on the conveyor to replace those removed. The ozone concentration measured at the valves at the ends of middle section 10a averaged 1.73 mg/l; ozone utilization was, therefore, 94.3%. The amount of ozone injected per minute was 3.4 g to treat 145 g of fabric per minute and attain a shrinkage of 0±1%=according to the above-described procedure. Thus, the percentage of ozone employed to achieve 0% shrinkage was 2.3% owf (based on weight of fiber). EXAMPLE 2 This example is not in accordance with the invention but is provided for purposes of comparison. A portion of the aforementioned chamber was sealed at both ends after four panels of knitted fabric were hung therein. The valves at the top of the chamber were maintained in the open position to provide for pressure release. Ozone and steam were fed into the chamber under the conditions outlined in Example 1. It was determined that 8% ozone (owf) was required to achieve a shrink-resistance of 1±1%. This experiment demonstrates the increased efficiency of the method of the invention over static processes; the former being 3.5 times as efficient as the latter. EXAMPLE 3 This example is not in accordance with the invention but is provided for purposes of comparison. The process of '906 as outlined in Example 1 therein, was followed; the reaction parameters were: time of treatment=3 minutes, flow rate=0.1 cu.ft./min., ozone concentration=50 mg ozone per liter of ozone-air mixture, 31.4 mg ozone per liter of ozone-steam mixture. It was determined that 10.6% ozone (owf) was required to achieve a shrink-resistance of 1±1%. This experiment demonstrates the increased efficiency of the method of the invention over the prior art process. The former being 4.6 times as efficient as the latter.
Fibers are treated with ozone-steam mixtures by conveying them through an open-ended chamber having a horizontal middle section substantially elevated with respect to the open chamber end. The fibers are exposed to the ozone-steam mixture in the horizontal middle section wherein the ozone is centrally introduced. An apparatus for carrying out this method includes an open-ended chamber having a horizontal middle section substantially elevated with respect to the open chamber end. Also included are means for moving the substances through the chamber, means for centrally supplying ozone to the horizontal middle region of the chamber and means for supplying steam to the horizontal middle region of the chamber.
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TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates generally to a method of facilitating the tracing of errors in the software of a software-controlled system. More particularly, the method is implemented in systems with software originating from compiling processes in version-controlling environments. DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART [0002] Telecommunications systems, as well as other complex electronics systems, are being designed, to an increasing extent, to be software controlled. This renders these systems less expensive and more flexible, since a certain hardware platform may then be adapted to different applications by providing it with different software. Moreover, it becomes easier to provide an existing system, such as for instance a telecommunication switch, with new functionality; this may often be done simply by providing new software versions. [0003] The software that is applied to such a system is often called a load module. A load module is a set of executable files that are created by compiling and linking a large number of source-code files. Creating a new version of a load module then typically involves writing new source code files and modifying or removing others as compared to a previous load module version. The source code files are then compiled and linked to form the new load module version. [0004] This kind of development work is in most cases performed in a so-called version controlling system. A reason for this is the complexity of the software used. A load module may be built from thousands of source code files, together involving millions of lines of code. Dozens of programmers may be involved simultaneously and they may be located at different sites. A version controlling system then keeps up with changes and serves to avoid version conflicts. An example of such a version control system is CLEARCASE. Version controlling systems are described in inter alia U.S. Pat. No. 5,574,898 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,649,200. [0005] When a new version of a load module is applied to a computerised system, unforeseen errors often occur when the system is run. To isolate and trace such an error is both tedious and difficult. [0006] A known method to trace an error in a software-controlled system is to analyse a so-called dump. A dump in this sense consists of the content of the respective computer memories at the time when the system ceased to operate correctly. With this information as a starting point an attempt can be made to decide which part of the executable code caused the error and which source code file corresponds to this piece of executable code. This is a complicated procedure, which requires intelligent guessing from the person tracing the error. [0007] The fact that there may be different hardware platforms causes further problems. There may perhaps be only one software-hardware combination that invokes the problem. It should also be mentioned that there may be dozens of versions, utilised simultaneously at different sites, and that probably no person involved knows exactly which source code versions have been changed between two consecutive load module versions and how. This of course also applies to the person or persons performing error-tracing activities. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0008] An object of the present invention is therefore to provide a method for facilitating error tracing in the software of a computer system. [0009] Another object of the invention is to allow a faster tracing of errors in a software-controlled system. [0010] These objects are achieved by implementing a method in accordance with the invention, which is now described. [0011] When source code files controlled by, for instance, a CLEARCASE system are built, i.e. compiled and linked into a load module a so-called configuration record is created. The configuration record describes which source code files are included in the build process and their version numbers. [0012] In accordance with the inventive method, the configuration record is stored in a version control system. The configuration record may then be unambiguously retrieved by providing its path and version number. The path and the version number of the configuration record are bundled with the relevant load module. This allows a programmer, trying to trace an error in a load module, to easily and unambiguously retrieve the relevant configuration record. By comparing this record with the configuration record of an earlier used load module, the programmer may quickly find out which source code files differs between two load modules. If the earlier used load module version functioned properly it is likely that the error is to be found in one of these source code files. The error tracing or debugging activities may therefore be substantially simplified. [0013] This method is also useful when tracing errors in function library files, which are not executable per se. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0014] [0014]FIG. 1 illustrates, schematically, a software development environment in accordance with known art. [0015] [0015]FIG. 2 is a flow-chart, which defines essential steps according to a first embodiment of the invention. [0016] [0016]FIG. 3 is a flow-chart, which defines essential steps according to another embodiment of the invention. DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [0017] [0017]FIG. 1 illustrates, schematically, a software development environment in accordance with known art. It includes a version controlling system 101 , wherein a large number of source code files 102 , 103 are stored. A programmer wishing to modify, on a computer 104 at his site, a source code file with a specific version number must perform a checkout procedure 105 from the version controlling system in order to do so. When the working session is finished the file is returned in a check-in procedure 106 to the version controlling system and is assigned a unique version number different from the version number of the file once checked out. This serves to avoid version conflicts, for instance, when two programmers work on a source code file simultaneously. If a first and a second programmer check out a file two different version branches are created as the respective files are checked back into the system. [0018] The source code files 102 , 103 may be written in any high level programming language such as C, C++, PASCAL, JAVA etc. In a case where the source code files are written in C, they are usually given the suffix “.c” in order to be recognised as C-files by the system. When a load module 107 is created in a build process, selected source code files are collected from the version controlling systems to be compiled. In a compilation process 108 each selected source code file 103 is translated into a machine-readable code. The file 109 thus created is often called an object file and is normally given the same name as its corresponding source code file but with a different suffix: “.o”. [0019] In the next step the object files are linked in a linking process 110 into a single executable file 107 , often carrying the suffix “.exe”. This file, which forms a load module, is then loaded at a remote site where it provides certain features to a system 111 . The load module may be sent over a network or by means of a computer readable medium 113 . [0020] As an alternative, the linking process 110 may be set to produce a relocatable module (not shown). This file is not directly executable, but may be linked again together with other files to produce an executable load module. [0021] In some computer aided software engineering systems (CASE), such as CLEARCASE, a record 112 is created during the build process which specifies the source code files included in the load module and their respective version numbers. [0022] [0022]FIG. 2, which is a flow-chart defining essential steps according to a first embodiment of the invention, is now described in detail. The commands described below are relevant in a UNIX environment where CLEARCASE is used as a development tool. A number of steps included in the method according to the embodiment of the invention are shown at the left-hand side of the drawing. The corresponding results of the respective steps are denoted in the dotted boxes at the right hand side of the drawing. [0023] When the building process is to start 201 three source code files; alfa.c, beta.c and gamma.c; are at hand in this simple example. These source code files are written in C, hence their suffix. In a first step 202 these files are compiled with the following instruction. [0024] > cc -c alfa.c beta.c gamma.c [0025] This results in corresponding object files. In a second step the object files are linked into a relocatable module omega.lnk. [0026] > ld -r alfa.o beta.o gamma.o -o omega.lnk -L/usr/lib -lc [0027] A relocatable module, which carries the suffix “.lnk”, may be linked again in order to include more functionality. In a third step 204 the configuration record which was created during the first two steps 202 , 203 is saved and checked into a version controlling system. [0028] > cleartool checkin -cr -from omega.lnk cr [0029] In a fourth step 205 , the path to and version number of the file containing the configuration record are retrieved and saved, preferably as global variables, in a file, which is written in C. [0030] > CR_VERSION=‘cleartool ls cr’ [0031] > sed s/CR_VERSION/$CR_VERSION/ markfile.c.skel>markfile.tmp [0032] > CR_PATH=‘pwd’ [0033] > sed s/CR_PATH/$CR_PATH/ markfile.tmp>markfile.c [0034] In this example markfile.c.skel is a template wherein CR_VERSION is a string. In the first “sed s” command above this string is replaced by the variable $CR_VERSION which has been assigned the version number of the configuration record as stored in a version controlling system. This template is then saved as markfile.tmp. Similarly, in the second “sed s” command above a string CR_PATH is replaced by the variable $CR_PATH which is assigned the path of the configuration record as stored. For the path to be correct the operative system should be set to the directory in which the configuration record is stored. The file markfile.tmp is then saved as markfile.c. [0035] In a fifth step 206 , this c-file is compiled: [0036] > cc -c markfile.c [0037] This results in a corresponding object file. This file is then linked 207 together with the relocatable module into an executable module. [0038] > ld omega.lnk markfile.o -o omega.exe L/usr/lib -lc [0039] The file containing the path and version number of the configuration record is thus bundled into the executable file. This results in an executable file that may be run in a device at a remote site. The path and version number of the saved configuration may easily be retrieved at the remote site. [0040] In a preferred embodiment of the method, the C-file containing the path and version number of the configuration record is written using so-called “what-strings”, written as “@(#)”. This means that the C-file may be written as: [0041] const char BUILD_SUPPORT_LM_PATH[ ]=“@(#) /vobs/foo/foo_lm”; [0042] const char BUILD_SUPPORT_LM_VERS[ ]=“@(#) cr@@/main/17”; [0043] In this case the path to the configuration record stored in the version control system is “/vobs/foo/foo_lm” and the version number is “cr@@/main/17”. They are defined as global string variables. If such a C-file is used, the path and version number may be retrieved offline in a UNIX environment at the site where the load module is used by typing, where a.loadmodule is the name of the load module: [0044] >what a.loadmodule [0045] This results in the system giving the following information: [0046] /vobs/foo/foo_lm [0047] cr@@/main/17 [0048] The path and version number may also be retrieved online, i.e. when running the load module, at the site where the load module is used. In that case the load module has to provide functionality to retrieve the values with commands from its management system. [0049] Provided with this information, the person performing the error tracing activities can unambiguously retrieve the correct configuration record. By comparing this record with the record of a functioning earlier version of the same load module it is relatively easy to find out which source code files have been changed. Those files are excellent starting points when trying to find the error/errors. [0050] It should be noted that there are other ways of bundling the path and version numbers with an executable. Some CASE systems allows post-processing of executables. Then the relevant information may be entered into the executable without extra compilation and linking processes. Such a method is described in FIG. 3. [0051] As in the earlier described example, three source code files that are to be used are present when the process starts 301 . These source code files, alfa.c, beta.c and gamma.c are compiled 302 into the object files alfa.o, beta.o and gamma.o. Then the object files are linked into an executable file named omega.exe. The configuration record produced during the compilation 302 and linking 303 steps is saved and checked into a version controlling system 304 . The version of and the path to the configuration record thus stored are retrieved in another step 305 . In a final step the executable file is post-processed together with the path and version information in a manner so that the information may be retrieved at the site where the executable load module is to be used. [0052] The executable load module, when completed, may be stored on a computer readable medium or it may be transmitted to the remote site via a network. It is also possible to load the executable onto a circuit such as a PROM-circuit. A load module created in accordance with the inventive method may thus be utilised in a so-called boot-PROM, which is used to load other load modules into a system during start-up. [0053] The method according to the invention may also be used when building function library software files, preferably then in the manner described in connection with FIG. 2. Then, during the final step 207 , the relocatable module is linked with the object file, which contains path and version of the configuration record into a file of the type .lib. In that case, however, the path and version may of course only be retrieved offline.
The present invention relates generally to a method of facilitating the tracing of errors in the software load modules of a computer-controlled system. More particularly, the method is implemented in systems with software originating from compiling processes in version-controlling environments. A record created during such a compiling process is stored in a version controlling system. The path and version of the record thus stored is bundled with the load module so that it may be easily retrieved in order to facilitate debugging operations.
6
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This is a divisional of copending application(s) Ser. No. 07/442,733 filed on Nov. 29, 1989, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,144,768. 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for plant culture and more particularly to such a method and apparatus which are adapted to training the growth of plants in such a fashion as to facilitate the maintenance and productivity thereof by segregating the areas of growth, all in a manner which minimizes the amount of manual labor required to accomplish the foregoing while concomitantly making possible substantially the full automation of such care. 2. Description of the Prior Art Operations associated with the raising of field crops are dependent upon a multiplicity of factors inherent in the nature of the crop, the growth patterns of the plants, the susceptibility of the plants to parasites and disease, and, more generally, the horticultural practices required in producing the desired results. It has long been known, for example, that the natural growth patterns of the plants may interfere with the performance of some or all of these operations. The training of plants in an effort to minimize or overcome these difficulties is a necessity in modern farming operations. For example, the successful commercial production of grapes and raisins has long been dependent upon the training of the grapevines on trellis structures to support the grapevines not only for harvesting of the crop therefrom, but also for those horticultural practices required in a successful commercial operation. Left without support, grapevines of all varieties would trail on the ground in such a fashion as to make commercial production completely impossible. Therefore, grapevines are typically grown in rows supported on trellis structures which retain the trunks in upright attitudes so that the crop is, in large part, retained out of ground engagement; so that the canes can be pruned after harvest to prepare the vines for the next growing season; so that the grapevines can be sprayed with insecticide and fertilized as necessary; and so that the grapevines can otherwise be cared for in a manner consistent with the current state of technology. Notwithstanding the foregoing, farming is still plagued by chronic difficulties incident to these considerations. The increase in the cost of manual labor has caused commercial farming operations to rely more heavily on mechanization. However, many of the foregoing considerations have prevented full mechanization as a means of maintaining the cost of such commercial operations within manageable proportions. Thus, for example, in the case of the commercial production of grapes and raisins, the natural growth patterns of the grapevines are in many cases directly in conflict with those procedures which must be performed in any such commercial operations. Thus, it is known that the canes of the grapevine which produce the crop do so substantially only in the second season of growth. Thus, the canes grow in a first season and those same canes produce the crop in the second season. Conversely, once the fruiting canes have produced a crop, they are no longer as productive and proper horticultural practice calls for those canes, once the crop has been harvested, to be pruned from the grapevine to make room for the growth of new or renewal canes. Unfortunately, the canes naturally grow in a haphazard, random manner which makes it exceedingly difficult to distinguish a first year's growth from a second year's growth. Accordingly, a chronic problem resides in the fact that unskilled laborers frequently prune canes which should be left for the next season's production and mistakenly avoid pruning canes which should be removed to make way for new cane growth in the subsequent season. This not only reduces production in the following years, but is also exceedingly expensive. Similarly, the random growth pattern of grapevines, even when supported on conventional trellis structures, results in the canes, foliage and crop being so intermixed as to interfere with such operations as harvesting, spraying, pruning, and the like. Similarly, the foliage and canes typically enclose the crop in such a manner that moisture produced by inclement weather is largely entrapped, thereby damaging the crop. Even during clear weather, the desired direct exposure of the crop to sunlight is reduced by the foliage of the grapevines. Still another example can be found in the vine drying of grapes to form raisins. It has been known to dry grapes on the vine to form raisins in order to avoid the more common process of laying the grapes on trays on the ground for drying. The conventional vine drying of grapes to form raisins calls for the grapes to be sprayed with a substance, such as methyl oleate, to remove the protective coating from the grapes and to sever the canes at a particular time to enhance the dehydration process. However, due to the entanglement of the fruiting canes with the renewal canes, it is extremely difficult for field workers to distinguish between the canes. Furthermore, the encapsulating foliage interferes with spraying of the grapes and exposure to sunlight. Accordingly, such conventional vine drying methods have proved less than satisfactory. Therefore, it has .long been known that it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus for plant culture which is capable of training plants in such a fashion as to be fully compatible with the horticultural practices required, which substantially the full automation of such farming operations, farming operations can operate, which makes possible substantially the full automation of such farming operations, which has particular utility in the commercial production of grapes and raisins, and which is otherwise fully dependable in achieving the most economic and productive farming operations. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for plant culture. Another object is to provide such a method and apparatus which are fully compatible with all of the horticultural practices required of a successful commercial farming operation and which, in addition, so control the growth of the plants trained thereby to position the portions thereof for the most efficient and effective performance of each step in the process. Another object is to provide such a method and apparatus which have particular utility in the commercial production of grapes and raisins. Another object is to provide such a method and apparatus which are capable of segregating the various portions of the plants into growth zones for the subsequent performance of the various horticultural practices required. Another object is to provide such a method and apparatus which reduce to an absolute minimum the manual labor required in such a commercial farming operation while so arranging the plants as to make possible a substantially fully automated farming operation. Another object is to provide such a method and apparatus which are fully compatible with present commercial farming operations permitting them to be introduced to an existing farming operation without a radical change in existing procedures. Another object is to provide such a method and apparatus which, when applied to the farming of grapevines, permit the first year, or renewal canes, to be segregated from the second year, or fruiting canes, thereby permitting the fruiting canes to be pruned from the grapevines after harvest without in any way risking damage to the renewal canes. Further objects and advantages are to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in an apparatus for the purposes described which is dependable, economical, durable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes. These and other objects and advantages are achieved, in the preferred embodiment of the method of the present invention, by providing for the steps of growing plants, which produce elongated, flexible portions, in supported relation on a structure; permitting the flexible portions to grow; and moving the flexible portions substantially into predetermined positions relative to the plants on a seasonally discriminate basis for subsequent plant cultural practices. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary, perspective view of the apparatus of the present invention shown in a typical operative environment deployed for the practice of the method of the present invention and showing a single grapevine supported therein for illustrative convenience. FIG. 2 is a somewhat enlarged, transverse vertical section taken from the position indicated by line 2--2 in FIG. 1 and additionally showing a second row of grapevines within which a second apparatus of the present invention has been installed. FIG. 3 is a somewhat further enlarged, fragmentary transverse vertical section taken on line 3--3 in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a still further enlarged, fragmentary perspective view of a control wire support assembly of the apparatus of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring more particularly to the drawings, the apparatus for plant culture of the present invention is generally indicated by the numeral 10 in FIG. 1. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the earth's surface is indicated at 11. As will subsequently become more clearly apparent, the method and apparatus of the present invention have application to a wide variety of plants. For illustrative convenience, however, they are shown and described herein in,regard to grapevines. Thus, referring more particularly to FIG. 2 , a first row of grapevines is indicated at 12 on the left therein and a second row of grapevines is indicated at 13 on the right. The rows of grapevines are separated by a path 14 along which vehicles and field workers would normally pass in caring for the grapevines. It will be understood that the rows of grapevines 12 and 13 are a portion of a vineyard consisting of a multiplicity of similar substantially parallel rows of grapevines. Each row of grapevines 12 and 13 is comprised of a plurality of plants or grapevines 15 planted in the earth in predetermined spaced relation. Each grapevine has a trunk 16 which, as will be described, is supported by the apparatus 10. Each grapevine is trained to have a cordon 17 at the upper end thereof extending laterally of the trunk and from which flexible portions, or canes 18 grow. It is the canes which produce the crop, in this case bunches of grapes 19, and foliage 20. Each grapevine is planted, in the conventional fashion, in a berm 21 which is simply a mounded portion of earth within which and along which the grapevines are planted. It will be understood that the planting of the grapevines 15 in substantially parallel rows, the training of grapevines in supported relation on stakes and the normal horticultural growth pattern heretofore described of grapevines is, of course, entirely conventional. However, the method and apparatus of the present invention hereinafter described, is novel. As previously described, the method and apparatus of the present invention, while having particular utility in the training and care of grapevines, have application to a wide variety of types of plants. For purposes of illustrative convenience, only one grapevine is shown in FIG. 1. It is to be understood, however, that the grapevines are planted and trained in a manner consistent with the method and apparatus of the present invention hereinafter to be described. The apparatus 10 has a frame or trellis structure 30 which extends the entire length of each row of grapevines and, in the preferred embodiment, is comprised of sub-assemblies which are preferably repeated in sections 31 of the apparatus. The portion of the apparatus 10 shown fragmentarily in FIG. 1 is one such section 31 which, in a single row, may possess ten or more such sections extending continuously throughout the length of the row. The number of sections employed is dependent substantially only on the length of the row. As shown in FIG. 1, the end of the trellis structure 30 is indicated at 32. The trellis structure at this point has a high tension support structure 33 including a T-frame 34. The T-frame has an upright member 35, which is preferably a steel pipe, mounted in the berm 21 within a concrete foundation 36. The upright member is preferably canted at an angle, as shown in FIG. 1, to true vertical so that it extends upwardly and toward the left, as viewed in FIG. 1. A cross member 37, also preferably a steel pipe, is mounted, as by welding, on the upright member 35 in a substantially horizontal attitude substantially normal to the upright member and to the row. A piling 38 is mounted in the berm 21, using concrete if desired, endwardly of the end trellis structure 32. High tension retention wires 39 interconnect the piling 38 and the cross member 37 to assist in retaining the T-frame 34 in the attitude described. There is, of course, a high tension support structure 33 at the opposite end of the row mounted in the earth in the manner heretofore described, but with the T-frame 34 thereof mounted so as to be canted in the opposite direction for the same purpose. A control wire mounting assembly 45 is mounted on the cross members 37 of the T-frames 34 at the opposite ends of the row. Each mounting assembly consists of a pair of brackets 46 mounted by welding on the upper surface of the cross member 37 in spaced relation. The brackets are interconnected by a rod 47 extending therebetween. The trellis structure 30 includes a multiplicity of upright members or stakes 48 mounted in the berm 21 in predetermined spaced relation to each other extending throughout the length of the row. The stakes may be constructed of wood or metal and have upper ends 49 which are aligned longitudinally of the row at the same elevation. A central member or pivot wire 50 is mounted on and interconnects the cross members 37 of the T-frames 34 at the opposite ends of the row extending therebetween and across the upper ends 49 of the stakes 48. The upper ends 49 of the stakes are preferably connected to the pivot wire 50 by any suitable means, such as a staple or bracket not shown. It will be understood that the trellis structure, including the high tension support structures 33 and the pivot wire 50 comprise a structure not dependent upon the stakes 48 for support, but operating entirely independently thereof. Thus, if a stake 48 is broken or otherwise damaged, i t can be removed and replaced without in any way compromising the strength of the trellis structure 30. Each section 31 of the trellis structure 30 has several cross member assemblies 55. Each cross member assembly is mounted on a selected one of the stakes 48, as best shown in FIG. 1. Where the stakes are metal, the cross member assembly thereof can be secured by welding or using screws, not shown. Where the stakes are wood, the cross member assembly can be secured thereon by wood screws, not shown. Each cross member assembly has a central V-frame 56 defining an upwardly facing channel 57. Horizontal members 58 are mounted, as by welding, on the V-frame extending in opposite directions therefrom and aligned horizontally with each other. The horizontal members each have a plurality of wire holes 59 extending therethrough. In the preferred embodiment, each horizontal member has four such wire holes. A hook 60 is mounted, as by welding, on each horizontal member with the open portion 61 of the hook facing in the direction of the channel 57. Each section 31 of the trellis structure 30 preferably has a control wire support assembly 70 mounted at a suitable location therein so that the control wire support assemblies of the sections 31 are substantially equally spaced throughout the length of the row. Each support assembly includes an upright sleeve or pipe 71 mounted in the berm 21 in concrete, not shown. The pipe has a cylindrical interior 72 and an upper end portion 73. A pair of notches 74 are formed in the upper end portion of the pipe spaced 180 degrees from each other and aligned transversely of the row. A pivot member 75 is rotationally received in the interior 72 of the pipe 71 for pivotal movement therewithin. The pivot member is preferably a square tube which has corners in or near contact with the pipe so that the pivot member 75 is retained substantially in axial alignment with the pipe no matter in what pivotal position it is disposed within the pipe. The pivot member has an upper end 76. A pivot wire support arm 80, having a mounted end portion 81, is affixed, as by welding, on the upper end 76 of the pivot member 75 at its mounted end portion 81. Each pivot arm has a downwardly sloped portion 82 and a distal upwardly bent portion 83. The sloped portion and bent portion thereby define an upwardly facing groove 84. As can best be seen in FIG. 2, the upper end portion 73 of the pipe 71 and thus the support arm 80 is spaced above the upper ends 49 of the stakes 48. A control wire assembly 85 is mounted on the trellis structure 30. The control wire assembly includes a mounting bracket 86 slidably received on the rod 47 of the control wire mounting assembly 45. One such mounting bracket is slidably received on each of the rods 47 of the control wire mounting assemblies 45 at the opposite ends of the row. A control wire 87 is mounted on and extends between the mounting brackets. The control wire is under high tension extending therebetween, but the mounting brackets 86 are slidable along their respective control rods 47. Accordingly, the control wire is movable between a retracted position 88 received in the grooves 84 of the support arms 80 and a capturing position 89 received in the hooks 60, as will hereinafter be described. The trellis structure 30 includes a multiplicity of trellis wires 95 mounted on the cross members 37 of the T-frames 34 and extending between the support structures 33 at the opposite ends of the row. The trellis wires 95 are under high tension and individually extend through the wire holes 59 of the horizontal member 58 of each cross member assembly 55. As shown in FIG. 3, the apparatus 10 has a pivot member or tool 100 which is employed in moving the control wire 87 from the retracted position 88 to the capturing position 89 and in the reverse direction from the capturing position 89 to the retracted position 88. The tool has a body portion 101 on which is mounted a handle portion 102. A hook 103 is secured, as by welding, on the body portion and is operable for engagement with the pivot wire 50. The body portion 101 has a distal end portion 104. A wire contact member or plate 105 is secured, as by welding, on the distal end portion 104 and defines an arcuate receptacle 106. For purposes which will subsequently become more clearly apparent, when the support portions 62 of adjacent rows of grapevines which extend toward each other over the path 14 begin bearing the crop, in accordance with the method and apparatus of the present invention the non crop bearing support portions of the same rows are individually connected to the non crop bearing support portions of the next adjacent rows by suitable wires, not shown. This acts as a counterbalance so that the crop bearing support portions are supported as the crop grows thereby assisting during harvest and the like. After these work operations are completed, the wires are removed. OPERATION The operation of the described embodiment of the present invention is believed to be readily apparent and is briefly summarized at this point. The apparatus 10 is mounted in the earth as heretofore described, thereby forming the trellis structure 30 on which the grapevines 15 are supported and trained. While the grapevines can be trained on the trellis structure in a variety of different ways, for purposes of illustrative convenience, it will be understood as described herein that a grapevine is planted on each side of each stake 48 within their respective row. The trunk 16 of each grapevine is extended upwardly along its respective face of its respective stake, using suitable ties if necessary. The cordon 17 of each grapevine is then trained along the pivot wire 50 in a direction away from its respective stake. The cordons of the grapevines of adjacent stakes thus reach toward each other. The canes 18 of a grapevine 15 grow from the cordon in random fashion and it is the canes that produce the crop, or bunches of grapes 19, as well as the foliage 20. However, it is known that the canes produced in a single growing season do not produce a crop typically until the next growing season. Therefore, the canes produced in one year must be left in place until the next season for a crop to be produced. Conversely, the canes which have once produced a crop should be removed by pruning to make room for the growth of canes in the next growing season. Thus, when such pruning takes place, the field workers must, in accordance with conventional plant culture, be extremely careful to prune away only the canes which have already produced a crop. In conventional horticultural practices, the canes are randomly positioned on the conventional trellis structure so that the distinction between the canes to be pruned away and the canes to be left in position is obscure. The method and apparatus of the present invention completely obviate this difficulty as well as possessing numerous other benefits. Assuming, for purposes of illustrative convenience, that the description hereinafter to follow is to be with grapevines not having any canes 18 trained on the trellis structure 30, the control wire 87 must be first positioned in accordance with the method and apparatus of the present invention. This may best be visualized upon reference to FIG. 2. In accordance with the method and apparatus of the present invention, it is the objective to have the first and second rows of grapevines 12 and 13, respectively, produce crops, as shown in FIG. 2, on the support portions 62 thereof extending toward each other in the direction of the path 14 therebetween. For purposes of visualizing how the crop is produced in the manner shown in FIG. 2 it should be visualized that at this point there are no canes, foliage or bunches of grapes borne by the support portions. Rather only the trunk 16 and cordon 17 of each grapevine is supported in the trellis structure as previously described. In order to dispose the apparatuses 10 of the respective first and second rows of grapevines 12 and 13 in the arrangement required for the practice of the method hereof, the support arms 80 of each row are lifted from their respective notches 74 of the control wire support assembly 70 and pivoted 180 degrees to the positions opposite to that shown in FIG. 2 and placed in the notches 74 available therefor. Thus, more specifically, the support arms 80, when properly positioned at this time, extend in the opposite directions to those shown in FIG. 2 and away from the path 14 between the first and second rows of grapevines. The control wire 87 of each apparatus is then positioned in the grooves 84 of the support arms of its respective row ,or, in other words, in the retracted positions 88 farthest from the support portions extending into path 14. During the growing season, the cordons 17 of the grapevines 15 are permitted to grow the canes 18 in the natural, random fashion which can be visualized upon reference to FIG. 3. During the growing season, the control wire 87 of each apparatus 10 is then moved to the capturing position 89. Such movement can be accomplished using the tool 100. The hook 103 of the tool is positioned on the pivot wire 50 of the apparatus with the control wire received in the receptacle 106 of the plate 105, as best shown in FIG. 3. Grasping the handle portion 102, the tool is pivoted about the pivot wire from the position shown in full lines in FIG. 3 to the position shown in phantom lines in FIG. 3 wherein the plate 105 is directly in juxtaposition to the open portion 61 of the hook 60. The control wire is then simply slipped from the receptacle 106 through the open portions 61 for retention by the hooks 60. Such movement of the control wire along the entire length of the row, causes the control wire to engage the canes 18 and carry them from the randomly grown positions visualized in FIG. 3 to a position overlaying the support portion 62 of the trellis structure 30, as shown in phantom lines in FIG. 3. It has been found that the best time to move the control wire during the growing season is when the new canes are about 18 to 24 inches in length. At this length the canes are not so fragile as to be damaged by the control wire nor so strong as to make such movement of the control wire difficult. This would normally be in about May of the year. Referring more particularly to FIG. 2, the canes 18 are thus positioned in overlaying relation to the support portions 62 of the first and second rows of grapevines 12 and 13, respectively, which extend toward each other in the direction of the path 14 between the rows. The control wires 87 of the respective apparatuses 10 of the rows are left in the capturing position 89 until sometime prior to the next growing season. The canes are thus held in the positions described. Prior to the next growing season, the control wires 87 of the apparatuses 10 are moved to positions which constitute retracted positions 88 for purposes of positioning the canes to be trained on the support portions 62 of the trellis structures 30 on the opposite sides as shown in FIG. 2. For this purpose, the support arms 80 of the respective apparatuses are lifted and rotated 180 degrees to the positions shown in FIG. 2 and received in their respective notches 74 of their respective support assemblies 70. Manually, or using the tool 100, the control wire of each apparatus 10 is positioned in the grooves 84 of the support arms 80 of their respective apparatuses in the positions shown in FIG. 2. During the growing season, the canes 18 are permitted to grow from the cordons 17 of the grapevines 15 in the random manner previously described and as shown in FIG. 3. At the appropriate time during the growing season, previously described, the control wires 87 of the respective apparatuses are then moved, as previously described, using the tool 100 from the retracted positions 88 to the capturing positions 89 retained therein by the hooks 60. Such movement carries the canes to the positions overlaying the support portions 62 on the opposite sides of the respective rows of grapevines remote from the path 14 between the first and second rows of grapevines 12 and 13. The control wires are left in these positions until the appropriate time prior to the next growing season. More or less simultaneously with the growth of the canes 18 described immediately above, the canes captured on the support portions 62 of the trellis structure 30 extending toward each other and in the direction of the path 14 produce the crop or bunches of grapes 19 as shown in FIG. 2. The crop is thereby disposed at substantially a common level and on adjoining sides of the path 14 for convenient harvest. As previously noted, the non crop bearing support portions of the first and second rows of grapevines 12 and 13 respectively are individually connected at this time to the non crop bearing support portions of their respective next adjacent rows by a plurality of wires to provide support to the trellis structures of rows 12 and 13. This acts to counterbalance the weight of the crop while leaving the path 14 open for the passage of tractors, mechanical harvesters and the like. The method and apparatus of the present invention have particular utility in the vine drying of grapes to form raisins. This process conventionally calls for the canes 18 bearing the bunches of grapes 19 to be severed at a particular time prior to harvest so that dehydration of the grapes thereof takes place while the grapes are still on the vine. As can be visualized in FIGS. 2 and 3, such severing is easily accomplished by pruning the canes at the positions within the channels 57 defined by the V-frames 56 of the cross member assemblies 55. Since only canes bearing fruit are entrained on that side of the trellis structure, such pruning or severing can be accomplished with little or no training of field workers. Alternatively, mechanized pruning of the canes by passage through the channel is possible. At the proper time thereafter, the vine-dried raisins are available for harvest simply by passing along the path 14 between the first and second rows of grapevines 12 and 13 using field workers or mechanized harvesting equipment. At the end of the growing season, whether the grapevines 15 were grown to produce grapes or dehydrated raisins, the canes on the adjacent support portions 62 are removed together with any foliage, and bunches of grapes or portions thereof remaining. Where the severing of the canes has been performed as previously described in the vine drying of grapes, such removal requires only physically pulling these portions of the grapevines from the adjacent support portions 62. Where no such vine drying of grapes has taken place, the canes 18 must be severed to permit such removal to take place. In the subsequent or third growing season, the method heretofore described is repeated in that the canes 18 are permitted to grow in random fashion until the appropriate time during the growing season after which the control wires 87 of the respective apparatuses 10 are moved from the retracted positions 88 remote from the path 14 between the first and second rows of grapevines 12 and 13 to the capturing positions 89 to capture the canes on the support portions 62 of the trellis structures 30. Similarly, the canes which have been captured on the support portions of the trellis structures remote from the path 14 from the first and second rows of grapevines are permitted to produce the crop for harvest as previously described. It will be understood that each row is adjacent to another row which similarly has its crop entrained on the support portion of its trellis structure extending toward the support portion bearing the crop of that row. Thus, harvesting and other work operations are again facilitated by being performed on adjacent sides of adjoining rows in a single pass if desired. The method and apparatus of the present invention are not only beneficial in the many respects heretofore set forth, but also make possible a host of operational advantages and capabilities. Since the crop is trained to grow substantially only in zones of predefined height and width and since the crops of adjoining rows are adjacent to each other, mechanical harvesting of the crop in single passes, using either conventional or mechanical harvesters hereafter to be invented therefor, is possible. Similarly, mechanized pruning of the canes during the growing season is possible in that a circular saw can be passed along each row traveling in the channel 57 defined by the V-frames 56 of the cross member assemblies 55 to sever all of the canes in a single pass. Since, as can thus be visualized in FIG. 2, the foliage 20 produced by the canes is substantially all above the support portion 62 of the trellis structure 30, shredding of this material can mechanically be achieved by passage of conventional shredding equipment above the support portion or by the use of mechanized equipment yet to be invented for this purpose. Similarly, since the foliage 20 is largely above the support portions 62 and the crop largely suspended below the support portions, the crops are exposed to sunshine which assists in producing a higher grade crop. In the case of grapes, such exposure is known to produce a higher sugar content. In the production of raisins, vine-dried as previously described, the exposure of the grapes to sunlight hastens the drying process. Still further, rain occurring during the growing season is not entrapped in the foliage surrounding the grapes as in conventional systems, but is permitted to drain off and evaporate by the increased exposure to subsequent sunlight and air currents. Similarly, since the foliage, crop and canes are substantially contained within discrete zones, the spraying of any or all of these portions of the grapevines with, for example, insecticides, dehydration enhancers in the case of raisins, and the like can much more efficiently be accomplished. Since, as previously described, the crop producing canes are segregated from the renewal canes and pruning can be performed substantially without error, the crop production is maximized. Therefore, the method and apparatus for plant culture of the present invention provide an extremely efficient and dependable means by which crops can be grown for mechanized treatment and handling with minimal manual labor, with little or no training of field workers, to produce a superior crop of maximum volume and in such a fashion as to lend itself to full mechanized farming of such plants, and having particular utility in application to the commercial farming of grapevines. Although the invention has been herein shown and described in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention which is not to be limited to the illustrative details disclosed.
A method for plant culture including the steps of growing plants, which produce elongated flexible portions, in supported relation on a structure; permitting the flexible portions to grow; and moving the flexible portions substantially into predetermined positions relative to the plants for subsequent plant cultural practices. An apparatus comprising a frame adapted to be disposed adjacent to the plants and having a laterally projecting portion; and a mechanism for moving the flexible portions of the plants into positions overlaying the support portion of the frame extending laterally of the plants.
0
This is a continuation, of application Ser. No. 450,108, filed Mar. 11, 1974, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 288,887, filed 9-13, 1972 both now abandoned. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a device for creating ultrasonic vibrations, especially for dental, medical or cosmetic use, where a piezoelectric vibrator is located inside an elongated hand tool and is connected vibrationally with a rod extending outward from the tip of the hand tool and conducting the ultrasonic vibrations, and which includes a generator which creates the electrical vibrations which excite the piezoelectric vibrator unit. Ultrasonically vibrating devices have been used for quite some time, especially in dentistry, and especially for the removal of tartar from teeth. In these devices, nickel bars or ferrites are excited to resonance frequencies, which lie approximately in the neighborhood of 20-30 kHz. These vibrations provide the driving power for tools used to remove tartar from the teeth. A known type of piezoelectric tooth cleaning device has a piezoelectric vibrator in the form of a cylindrical tube which occupies nearly the entire piece of equipment. An oscillator is exterior to the tool. The known type of equipment are relatively large and heavy and take up considerable space, the latter factor being especially distressing in view of the notorious lack of available space around a dentist chair. The generator or vibrator, with its supporting machinery and controls to be operated by the dentist, especially those used for tuning and adjusting the volume, have always been housed in a rather bulky container which, due to the lack of space, could not be kept at the chair normally used by the dentist, so that there was considerable pressure to install the tartar removal apparatus at another location where the dentist could have the switch and adjusting knob at his fingertips while working. This meant that the patient would have to change to a different chair during treatment. Thus the changing of chairs has not only meant a lot of detailed extra adjustments for the dentist but is also inconvenient for the patient himself. One object of the invention is to avoid the drawbacks of the known type of equipment and to create a compact, properly working ultasonic apparatus that can be installed and used in any situation. In accordance with the invention, the generator is spacially separated from the vibrator element in the hand tool and acoustically insulated from it, and the two units are combined into a single structure. A structural unit of this type, when put together from modern electronic power components, can be made very small, resulting in a considerable saving of space of comparison with the known types of equipment. But above all, the shielded supply line to the hand tool has been eliminated, so that it is now possible to include this device with all the other instruments at the dental chair without using a problematic amount of space. As a rule, the amount of dc voltage required for the power unit is already available or can be manufactured by a power unit located at any convenient place, not necessarily inaccessible to the dentist. This eliminates some of the awkwardness that is experienced with a high frequency line running between the power unit and the hand tool. The power can be turned on and off by a switch on the hand tool. Adequate shielding is provided against vibrations. The piezoelectric vibrator unit can serve as the frequency-determining element of the generator which excites it, thereby further simplifying the apparatus as a whole, permitting the elimination of tuning problems and other difficulties relating to temperature and frequency. Since the vibrator unit and the generator are located in close proximity to each other, the power line problem is also eliminated. A cooling agent, such as water, which is needed for the dental chair, may be run through an apparatus of this type. This will at the same time conduct away the heat built up at the generator. The appropriate supply lines bearing the cooling agent may also be vibrationally insulated. As a piezoelectric vibrator, types of quartz are suitable, since these produce mechanical vibrations when subjected to an ac voltage at their electrodes, these vibrations being communicated to a rod and to whatever tools may be attached to it. Further details and advantageous arrangements of the invention are treated below, in connection with the description of a preferred form of embodiment shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of a device related to the invention, especially designed for the removal of tartar from teeth; FIG. 2 is a partially sectioned side view of the device of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 shows the components located in the interior of the device of FIGS. 1 and 2, the outer casing of the device being indicated by a series of dots and dashes; FIG. 4 is a schematic electrical circuit of the device of FIGS. 1-3, connected to the vibrating crystal; FIG. 5 is a plan view of the device of FIGS. 1-4, as seen from the side of the tool; FIG. 6 is a view in perspective of a quartz crystal, showing two ways in which a crystal may be cut in a manner especially suitable for the invention; the usual X-Y-Z system of coordinates is used in the drawing. FIG. 1 is a slightly enlarged view of a device 10 related to the invention, which is used to generate the ultrasonic vibration, which is particularly designed for the removal of tartar from teeth, but could, to give other examples, be used to atomize liquids such as for use as aerosols or gas propellants, or for manicuring. The device has a head 11, flexibly supported by a copper tube 12, which produces ultrasonic vibrations by means of a piezoelectric vibrator element, which could be an oscillating crystal, located in compartment 13 of the device, when a knob 14 is activated. In a compartment 15 of the device 10, a generator used to excite the crystal is housed, preferably encased in epoxy resin. A hose 16 brings in water used for cooling, which flows through the aperture 17 of the tube 12 into a scraper 18, which can be attached to the end of the tube 12, and into a hole 19 in the latter device, the fluid being atomized as it leaves the hole 19, also serving to wash away the dislodged particles of tartar. An electrical power cable 16' flows parallel to the hose 16 (FIG. 2), supplying the device with a low voltage current, which could be 6 or 12 volts, for example. For special purposes, the device could also be used with battery power, in which case this outside power cable would not be necessary. FIG. 2 shows a side view of the device 10. The head 11 is shown cut away, in order to show more clearly the shape of the copper tube 12, which forms part of the working tool. The tube 12 is connected, via a piece of flexible tubing 22, to a tube 23, which is in turn connected to the hose 16. A lock nut 20, which is screwed onto the tube 12 along with the scraper 18, makes it possible to mount the tool 18 in a variety of positions. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the interior of the device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The head 11 is equipped with an exterior thread 24, over which a tube 25, shown only schematically in FIG. 3, may be screwed. This may be made of a metal and used to shield the entire vibrator from the outside, so as to avoid the creation of radio static. An oscillating crystal 26, which has the appearance of a disk, is suspended by its two flat surfaces 27 and 28, which are silvered by some suitable process, between a carrier 29, which could be a sheet of epoxy resin, and a sring 30, which could be made of phosphor bronze, for example. The spring is bent at two points 31 and 32, so that it has the form of an elongated S. This is riveted by its one free leg 33, by means of a rivet 34, to the carrier 29, while its other free leg 35 lies against the side 28 of the crystal 26, under strong tension. The spring 30 is made in the form of a flat strip, whose width is at least as large as the diameter of the crystal 26. If necessary, the round crystal 26 may be replaced with a crystal of some other profile, such as a right triangle. Between the side 27 of the crystal 26 and the insulating carrier 29 lies a flat electrical lead 40, bent around the carrier 29 in the shape of a letter U, so that its lower end 41, as shown may be connected to a lead 42, while a lead 43, may be connected to the rivet 34. The crystal 26 is connected with the electric power by means of these leads 42 and 43, which consist of flexible cord, fashioned in some suitable manner. The copper tube 12, which makes two bends inside the head 11, so that it emerages from the center of the head but, as is shown in FIG. 3, it runs above the center line but parallel to it inside the head of the device 10, is connected by means of this parallel section 45 to the spring 30, in some suitable manner, preferably by a welded or soldered connection 46. Thus it forms a kind of extension of the upper leg 35, of the spring 30 (to the left of it in FIG. 3), i.e., when the left end of the tube 12 (with reference to FIG. 3) is raised or lowered, then the spring 30 turns around the rivet 34 and the section attached to it, which serves as its point of articulation. But if the crystal 26 is excited by the application of an electric current, so that its facets 27 and 28 move back and forth in relation to each other at a given amplitude, then the free end of the tube 12 will transmit vibrations of a magnified amplitude, since the spring 30 and the tube 12 act together in the role of a transmission lever, which magnifies the vibrating amplitude of the crystal 26. This is a matter of special importance, since medical equipment must meet strict specifications with respect to their voltage (6 or 12 volts) and the crystals operate at a very small amplitude of vibration at such low voltages. The vibrating amplitudes of the crystal are thus suitably converted to larger values, making the device shown very suitable for its purpose. There are, of course, a great variety of means for mechanical transmission, many of which are obviously suitable for the same purpose. Such applications would also be within the province of the present invention. The carrier 29 is fastened in some suitable manner to the head 11, which is suitably provided with a slot to receive this carrier 29, and the carrier 29 may, for example, be cemented into this slot. In order to keep the vibrations of the tube 12 from being transmitted to the head 11, and also in order to make the device 10 airtight and provide support for the tube 12, the head 11 has a filling of silicone rubber 50, in which the crystal 26 and the spring 30 are at least partially encased. Since the carrier 29 is connected to the head 11, and via this to the jacket 25, and thus possesses considerable mass in relationship to that of the crystal 26 and the tube 12, the head 11 and jacket 25 are largely free of vibrations, so that only the tube 12 and the tool 18 attached to it actually vibrate. As can be further seen from FIG. 3, the section 45 of the tube 12, which runs above the central axis and parallel to it, is connected via the piece of tubing 22, which could be of rubber, to the tube 23, which leads to the generator 51, whose purpose is to excite the crystal 26. A plate 53 is soldered into the tube 23 as a heat trap for a power transistor 52, and onto this plate is fastened a threaded pin 54, which passes through the transistor 52. Between the transistor 52 and the heat trap 53 is a thin mica plate 55, which serves as insulation and as a small capicator inserted between the collector of this transistor and the heat trap 53. On the underside of the transistor 52 (as pictured in FIG. 3) is a plate 56, made of an insulating material, on whose underside is a printed circuit 57. The threaded pin 54 also passes through the plate 56 and a nut 58, which is screwed onto it, under which lies an insulating washer 59, holds together the heat trap 53, the transistor 52, and the plate 56, so that the transistor 52 is in good heat-conducting contact with the heat trap 53. The circuit elements 60, shown here schematically, are soldered in the usual manner to the plate 56, as are also the lead 62 and the lines 42 and 43. The water flowing into the line 23 from the right end (as pictured in FIG. 3) thus cools the heat trap 53 and, indirectly, the transistor 52; it also cools the spring 30 and, as a consequence, the crystal 26, before emerging from the tube 12 in an atomized form. A water-shortage safety valve of a known type may be inserted into the line 16, to prevent the device 10 from operating without water cooling. FIG. 4 is a partly schematic diagram of the head 11 with its copper tube 12 and the crystal 26, together with the electrical connections 41 and 34 pertaining to these. The connection 34 is galvanically attached to the tube 12, so that during the treatment of a patient it will be electrically conducting, while the connection 41 is insulated from the patient by the crystal 26. The generator 51 serves to operate the crystal, this generator being provided with a vibration-resistant npn power transistor 52, to whose collector the line 42 is connected and to whose emitter the line 43 is connected, so that the crystal is connected in parallel with the emitter-collector path of the transistor 52, and therefore to its output side. A small capacitor 63 is also connected in parallel to the crystal 26. The emitter of the transistor 52 is connected to ground via an RF choke 64, so that the tube 12 makes a direct current connection with ground. The collector of the transistor 52 is connected via an RF choke 65 to one terminal of a switch 66, whose other terminal could be connected to +12 volts (if this is the voltage used), the switch being activated by means of the knob 14 (FIGS. 1 and 2). Connected in parallel to the choke 65 is a capacitor 67, which in actual practice consists of a mica plate 55. The choke 65 combines with the capacitor 67 to form a resonant circuit, which is tuned to the frequency of the crystal 26. Between ground and the switch 66 is a voltage divider with two resistors 68 and 69, whose terminal 70 is connected with the base of the transistor 52 and -- via a capacitor 71 -- with ground. A filter condensor 72 lies between ground and the switch 66. The transistor 52 and its accessory components are made in a suitable manner from epoxy resin, this being indicated by the dot-dash vertical lines 73 in FIG. 3. The device described above operates as follows: When the switch 66 is closed by activating the knob 14, the generator, which consists of the crystal 26 and the transistor 52, together with the other elements that form part of the circuit, begins to oscillate at a frequency dependent on the dimensions of the crystal 26, but preferably between 60 and 100 kHz, and more particularly between 100 and 800 kHz. The crystal 26 modifies its mechanical dimensions in rhythm with the electrical oscillations, and these mechanical vibrations are transferred at a magnified amplitude to the tube 12. The point 18 placed over the tube 12 (FIG. 1) creates vibrations in a variety of directions, as is indicated by the arrows in the foreground of FIG. 5. The vibrations 75 are caused by variations in thickness, while the vibrations 76 are the consequence of longitudinal vibrations that move diagonally across the crystal 26. In the form of embodiment shown, a Y-cut crystal is used. FIG. 6 shows a quartz crystal 74 against a system of coordinates, where 77 and 78 are two possibilities for Y-cuts. In the form of embodiment shown, the point 18 thus produces vibrations that are preferably transversal, but longitudinal vibrations may also be created with other forms of embodiment or by some other placement of the crystal. Transversal vibrations are of course preferable for the removal of tartar from teeth, for instance, for the reasons mentioned in the introduction, (where the main purpose is to polish rather than to form grooves). Devices related to the invention are suitable not only for the removal of tartar but also for other applications, such as for cosmetic treatment or in brain surgery. It has also been demonstrated that fuel can be effectively atomized in a carburator, using this type of vibrator and that considerably improved performance may be achieved in small combustion engines.
A hand held device for generating ultrasonic vibrations comprises an elongated tubular casing having therein a piezoelectric vibrator element and a generator that develops an electrical signal having a predetermined ultrasonic frequency that excites the piezoelectric vibrator element into ultrasonic vibration. A work tool protrudes from the casing and is vibrationally coupled to the piezoelectric vibrator element by a vibratory rod and the rod transmits the vibration from the piezoelectric vibrator element to the work tool. A cooling system is disposed within the casing and flows a cooling agent through the device to cool both the piezoelectric vibrator element and the generator and the cooling agent is discharged from the device in atomized form through an opening in the work tool.
0
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application 61/791,412, which was filed on Mar. 15, 2013. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to pumping assistance devices, and more specifically, to a mounted and pivoting pump leverage device used in connection with variety of commercially available hand pumps for compressing air. [0003] There are a variety of shooting devices that use compressed air as their power source. These shooting devices include pre-charged pneumatic (PCP) devices such as air rifles and pistols; airsoft guns; and paintball guns. These shooting devices require an air tank, which is typically either built into the shooting device itself, or is external but screws onto the shooting device. It is necessary to refill these air tanks regularly when the shooting device is being used, as a given tank of air provides a limited number of shots. By way of example, one PCP air tank typically provides only about 30 shots, depending on the specific shooting device. [0004] Pre-charged pneumatic shooting devices are desirable insofar as they are multi-shot, accurate, and have little recoil, while airsoft guns and paintball guns are desirable because they are entertaining yet safer than standard firearms. However, the compressed air requirements of these shooting devices can be problematic. One can charge their shooting device air tank with compressed air, for example from a SCUBA tank, but this can be expensive, and SCUBA tanks are cumbersome to transport. Alternatively, one can manually pump their shooting device air tank with a hand pump. An example of a commercially available hand pump is the Benjamin High Pressure PCP Pump which fits Crosman and Benjamin PCP shooting devices. [0005] Hand pumps for use with pre-charged pneumatic and other shooting devices are typically structurally similar to bicycle floor pumps. These devices typically function via a hand-operated piston, and require an up and down pumping motion that is carried out via a T-shaped handle, with the user's hands positioned on the horizontal top section of the T. During the up-stroke, this piston draws air through a one-way valve into the pump from the outside. During the down-stroke, the piston then displaces the air from the pump into the desired device, for example bicycle tire or air tank. [0006] While hand pumps are more portable and economical than SCUBA tanks, they pose other challenges. Their biggest drawback is that most people don't have the physical strength and endurance necessary to achieve the desired air tank compression using a hand pump. More specifically, most grown men can pump to about 2,000 psi, but find it very difficult or impossible to reach 3,000 psi, the standard desired compression for a PCP tank. As a result, those using hand pumps can't fill their air tank to capacity, and must refill more frequently. [0007] As can be seen, there is a need for a device that can be used with commercially available hand pumps. It is desirable that this device is particularly well suited for hand pumps which are used to fill air tanks for pre-charged pneumatic shooting devices such as rifles and pistols, and for airsoft and paintball guns. It is desirable that this device reduces the time and labor required to use a hand pump to achieve a desired compression. It is also desirable that this device allows a user to achieve a higher compression in their air tank than they could have achieved without the device when using human power alone. It is desirable that this device is easy to use, store, and transport. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0008] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a leverage device mounted to a vertical stationary surface and attached to a pump, in use in the downward pump position; [0009] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a leverage device mounted to a vertical stationary surface and attached to a pump, in use in the upward pump position; [0010] FIG. 3 is a close-up view of an attachment assembly attached to the body of a leverage device; [0011] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an attachment assembly in use, showing a pump handle attached; [0012] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a body attached to a housing; [0013] FIG. 6 is another view of a body attached to a housing; [0014] FIG. 7 is a close up view of a mounting assembly, showing the housing attached to the mounting plate, and the corresponding cross-sectional view taken along A-A; and [0015] FIG. 8 is a side view of a leverage device mounted on a wall, depicting an exploded view of the retaining assembly. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0016] The leverage device of the present invention is essentially an elongated body connected to a pivoting mounting assembly. The elongated body preferably terminates in a comfortable grip, and the pivoting mounting assembly preferably securely connects to a stationary vertical surface such as a wall, fence or tree. Between the grip and the pivoting base is a means for attaching the elongated body to a pump, preferably a T-shaped handle of a pump used in filling air tanks. In use one securely connects the pivoting mounting assembly to a stationary surface, connects the attachment assembly to a pump, and repeatedly moves the grip in an up-and-down motion. This action moves the attached pump's T-shaped handle, thereby causing the pump's piston to move with decreased effort and increased speed over the conventional motion of pumping. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0017] The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims. [0018] The following structure numbers shall apply to the following structures among the various FIGS.: 10 —Leverage device; 15 —Body; 20 —Grip; 30 —Attachment assembly; 32 —U-bolt; 34 —Bolt sheath; 36 —Bolt threads; 38 —Jig knobs; 39 —Jig aperture; 40 —Body sheath; 42 —Mid-body apertures; 44 —Proximal body apertures; 50 —Mounting assembly; 52 —Mounting plate; 53 —Plate aperture; 55 —Plate indentation; 57 —Housing; 58 —Wall; 59 —Wall aperture; 60 —Base; 61 —Base aperture; 62 —Attachment means; 63 —Pivot axis; 65 —Busching; 67 —Wall gap; 70 —Retaining assembly; 72 —Clip; 73 —Clip aperture; 74 —Retaining plate; 75 —Plate aperture; 80 —Support structure; 100 —Pump handle; and 105 —Pump. [0052] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 , leverage device 10 generally includes elongated body 15 terminating at a proximal end in mounting assembly 50 , and at a distal end with grip 20 . Grip 20 is desirably fairly resilient foam rubber, or the like, which allows a user to comfortably squeeze and exert pressure on the device. [0053] Located on body 15 between mounting assembly 50 and grip 20 is attachment assembly 30 . As shown in FIG. 3 , attachment assembly 30 generally includes U-bolt 32 partially covered with bolt sheath 34 and including unsheathed bolt threads 36 . As envisioned by looking at FIG. 3 , U-bolt 32 engages with body 15 at mid-body apertures 42 , with bolt threads 36 traversing jig apertures 39 (see FIG. 4 ) of jig knobs 38 . [0054] As shown best in FIG. 4 , attachment assembly 30 is configured to releasably engage with pump handle 100 of a commercially available pump. To accommodate various sizes of pump handles 100 , the handle receiving region (unnumbered) formed within the arch of U-bolt 32 can be enlarged and minimized, and subsequently “locked in” by using jig knobs 38 in different positions on bolt threads 36 . It is desirable that body sheath 40 is positioned on body 15 between prongs of U-bolt 32 , to serve as a T handle cushion and friction pad in use. [0055] Leverage device 10 is secured to a surface by mounting assembly 50 . As would be understood by those in the art, mounting on a wall could be beneficial for filling air tank, for example, at home, but it is also possible to use leverage device 10 “in the field” by temporarily attaching to a surface such as a tree or fence. Referring to FIG. 7 , mounting assembly 50 generally includes mounting plate 52 which defines plate aperture 53 , and attached housing 57 ( FIGS. 5 and 6 ). Housing 57 is attached to mounting plate 52 by attachment means 62 which traverse base apertures 61 , as shown in FIGS. 5 and 7 , respectively. FIG. 7 depicts various structures of mounting assembly 50 , but it should be understood that body 15 is removed to show underlying structures. [0056] Housing 57 generally includes base 60 which is substantially parallel to, and adjoining planar surface of mounting plate 52 . Housing 57 also includes wall 58 , which is connected to and substantially perpendicular to base 60 . It is preferred that wall 58 forms a semi-circle, and defines wall gap 67 (see FIG. 6 ). [0057] Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6 , housing 57 engages pivot axis 63 , at wall apertures 59 . In use, proximal body apertures 44 of body 15 engage with pivot axis 63 , thereby securing body 15 to housing 57 . In this manner, body 15 can pivot relative to mounting assembly 50 . As shown in FIG. 7 , mounting plate 52 preferably includes plate indentation 55 to permit free pivoting of body 15 . It is also preferred that pivot axis 63 includes a plurality of bushings 65 to facilitate free movement ( FIGS. 5 and 6 ). It is also preferable that body 15 terminates in ¾″ plug for aesthetic and safety reasons. [0058] As shown in FIG. 8 , leverage device 10 is preferably attached to a surface, here wall 80 , with mounting assembly 50 nearest the ground. Although not visible, pivot axis 63 is preferably longitudinally oriented parallel to ground, thereby permitting body 15 to pivot upwardly and downwardly. Likewise, wall gap 67 should be oriented upwardly, allowing free upward movement of body 15 . [0059] In use, one could attach air tank to standard air pump having pump handle 100 . Next, attachment assembly 30 of surface-mounted leverage device could be engaged and secured with pump handle 100 using U-bolt 32 and jig knobs 38 as discussed herein. A user could then grasp grip 20 and exert upward and downward motion, thereby moving body 15 up and down, attachment assembly 30 up and down, and causing attached pump handle 100 to effectuate pumping of air into tank. This action could continue until desired air tank capacity is reached. [0060] While approximately 3,000 psi is considered the general limit for air tanks, the present invention is capable of compression to approximately 3,600 psi without exerting unreasonable force. In other words an adult could pump to at least 3,600 with relative ease. The actual physical limit of the present invention is believed to considerably higher than 3,600 psi, but was not determined by the inventor due to damage which would likely occur to seals and other structures of the air tank. [0061] When not in use, it is desirable to pivot body 15 upwardly until it is substantially perpendicular with mounting surface, and engage at retaining assembly 70 , as shown in FIG. 8 . As best shown in exploded view in FIG. 8 , retaining assembly preferably includes retaining plate 74 that is engaged with mounting surface such as wall 80 , and clip 72 that releasably grasps body 15 for storage. Clip aperture 73 facilitates connection between clip 72 and retaining plate 74 , and plate aperture 75 facilitates connection between retaining plate 74 and mounting surface. In this manner body 15 can be pivoted up and down relative the mounting assembly, similar to how a wall-mounted ironing board is lowered for use and raised for storage. [0062] Specifications of certain structures and components of the present invention have been established in the process of developing and perfecting prototypes and working models. These specifications are set forth for purposes of describing an embodiment, and setting forth the best mode, but should not be construed as teaching the only possible embodiment. Rather, it should be understood that all specifications, unless otherwise stated or contrary to common sense, are +/−10%. It is preferred that body 15 measures approximately 4′ long, measured from grip 20 to mounting assembly 50 . Body 15 is preferably constructed of 1″ wide iron tubing having walls of approximately ⅛″, therefore having an inner diameter of ¾″. It is desirable that U-bolt 32 is 4″ long, and has a 2″ wide clearance, except this clearance would be less when 5/16″ rubber tubing is employed as bolt sheath 34 . It is desirable that U-bolt 32 prongs are 5/16″. It is preferred that body sheath 40 is constructed of tubing having a 1 ″ inner diameter and 1⅛″ outer diameter. It is desirable that jig knobs 38 are two female jig knobs having 5/16″ jig apertures 39 . It is possible to employ a commercially available shower curtain rod holder, preferably constructed of a very resilient material, for housing 57 , although it would be necessary to create wall apertures 59 in order to accommodate pivot axis 63 . It is desirable that pivot axis 63 is constructed of a male to female barrel bolt with internal bushings that are positioned between wall 58 and body 15 . It is desirable to use wood as mounting plate 52 and retaining plate 74 . [0063] It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims. It should also be understood that ranges of values set forth inherently include those values, as well as all increments between.
A leverage device includes elongated body connected to a pivoting base, and a means for attaching the elongated body to the “T” handle of a pump used in filling air tanks. In use one securely connects the pivoting base to a stationary vertical surface, connects the attachment assembly to a pump, and repeatedly moves the elongated body in an up-and-down motion. This action moves the attached pump's “T” handle, thereby causing the pump's piston to move with decreased effort and increased speed over the conventional motion of pumping. In this manner a compressed air tank can be filled to approximately 3,000 psi using human power only.
8
RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a Divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/033,564 filed Jan. 12, 2005, which is a continuation-in-part application, under 35 U.S.C. §111(a) and 37 C.F.R. §1.53, of International Application no. PCT/DK2002/000492, filed on Jul. 12, 2002, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hearing aid and to a method for enhancing speech intelligibility. The invention further relates to adaptation of hearing aids to specific sound environments. More specifically, the invention relates to a hearing aid with means for real-time enhancement of the intelligibility of speech in a noisy sound environment. Additionally, it relates to a method of improving listening comfort by means of adjusting frequency band gain in the hearing aid according to real-time determinations of speech intelligibility and loudness. A modern hearing aid comprises one or more microphones, a signal processor, some means of controlling the signal processor, a loudspeaker or telephone, and, possibly, a telecoil for use in locations fitted with telecoil systems. The means for controlling the signal processor may comprise means for changing between different hearing programmes, e.g. a first programme for use in a quiet sound environment, a second programme for use in a noisier sound environment, a third programme for telecoil use, etc. Prior to use, the hearing aid must be fitted to the individual user. The fitting procedure basically comprises adapting the level dependent transfer function, or frequency response, to best compensate the user's hearing loss according to the particular circumstances such as the user's hearing impairment and the specific hearing aid selected. The selected settings of the parameters governing the transfer function are stored in the hearing aid. The setting can later be changed through a repetition of the fitting procedure, e.g. to account for a change in impairment. In case of multiprogram hearing aids, the adaptation procedure may be carried out once for each programme, selecting settings dedicated to take specific sound environments into account. According to the state of the art, hearing aids process sound in a number of frequency bands with facilities for specifying gain levels according to some predefined input/gain-curves in the respective bands. The input processing may further comprise some means of compressing the signal in order to control the dynamic range of the output of the hearing aid. This compression can be regarded as an automatic adjustment of the gain levels for the purpose of improving the listening comfort of the user of the hearing aid. Compression may be implemented in the way described in the international application WO-99/34642 A1. Advanced hearing aids may further comprise anti-feedback routines for continuously measuring input levels and output levels in respective frequency bands for the purpose of continuously controlling acoustic feedback howl through lowering of the gain settings in the respective bands when necessary. However, in all these “predefined” gain adjustment methods, the gain levels are modified according to functions that have been predefined during the programming/fitting of the hearing aid to reflect requirements for generalized situations. In the past, various researchers have suggested models for the prediction of the intelligibility of speech after a transmission though a linear system. The most well-known of these models is the “articulation index”, AI, the speech intelligibility index, SII, and the “speech transmission index”, STI, but other indices exist. 2. The Prior Art Determinations of speech intelligibility have been used to assess the quality of speech signals in telephone lines. At the Bell Laboratories (H. Fletcher and R. H. Galt “The perception of speech and its relation to telephony,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 22, 89-151 (1950)). Speech intelligibility is also an important issue when planning and designing concert halls, churches, auditoriums and public address (PA) systems. The ANSI S3.5-1969 standard (revised 1997) provides methods for the calculation of the speech intelligibility index, SII. The SII makes it possible to predict the intelligible amount of the transmitted speech information, and thus, the speech intelligibility in a linear transmission system. The SII is a function of the system's transfer function, i.e. indirectly of the speech spectrum at the output of the system. Furthermore, it is possible to take both the effects of a masking noise and the effects of a hearing aid user's hearing loss into account in the SII. According to this ANSI standard, the SII includes a frequency weighing dependent band, as the different frequencies in a speech spectrum differ in importance with regard to SII. The SII does, however, account for the intelligibility of the complete speech spectrum, calculated as the sum of values for a number of individual frequency bands. The SII is always a number between 0 (speech is not intelligible at all) and 1 (speech is fully intelligible). The SII is, in fact, an objective measure of the system's ability to convey individual phonemes, and thus, hopefully, of making it possible for the listener to understand what is being said. It does not take language, dialect, or lack of oratorical gift with the speaker into account. In an article “Predicting Speech Intelligibility in Rooms from the Modulation Transfer Function” (Acoustica Vol 46, 1980), T. Houtgast, H. J. M. Steeneken and R. Plomp present a scheme for predicting speech intelligibility in rooms. The scheme is based on the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF), which, among other things, takes the effects of the room reverberation, the ambient noise level and the talkers vocal output into account. The MTF can be converted into a single index, the Speech Transmission Index, or STI. An article “NAL-NL1: A new procedure for fitting non-linear hearing aids” in The Hearing Journal, April 199, Vol. 52, No. 4 describes a fitting rule selected for maximizing speech intelligibility while keeping overall loudness at a level no greater than that perceived by a normal-hearing person listening to the same sound. A number of audiograms and a number of speech levels have been considered. Modern fitting of hearing aids also take speech intelligibility into account, but the resulting fitting of a particular hearing aid has always been a compromise based on a theoretically, or empirically derived, fixed estimate. The preferred, contemporary measure of speech intelligibility is the speech intelligibility index, or SII, as this method is well-defined, standardized, and gives fairly consistent results. Thus, this method will be the only one considered in the following, with reference to the ANSI S3.5-1997 standard. Many of the applications of a calculated speech intelligibility index utilize only a static index value, maybe even derived from conditions that are different from those present where the speech intelligibility index will be applied. These conditions may include reverberation, muffling, a change in the level or spectral density of the noise present, a change in the transfer function of the overall speech transmission path (including the speaker, the listening room, the listener, and some kind of electronic transmission means), distortion, and room damping. Further, an increase of gain in the hearing aid will always lead to an increase in the loudness of the amplified sound, which may in some cases lead to an unpleasantly high sound level, thus creating loudness discomfort for the hearing aid user. The loudness of the output of the hearing aid may be calculated according to a loudness model, e.g. by the method described in an article by B. C. J. Moore and B. R. Glasberg “A revision of Zwicker's loudness model” (Acta Acustica Vol. 82 (1996) 335-345), which proposes a model for calculation of loudness in normal-hearing and hearing-impaired subjects. The model is designed for steady state sounds, but an extension of the model allows calculations of loudness of shorter transient-like sounds, too. Reference is made to ISO standard 226 (ISO 1987) concerning equal loudness contours. A measure for the speech intelligibility may be computed for any particular sound environment and setting of the hearing aid by utilizing any of these known methods. The different estimates of speech intelligibility corresponding to the speech and noise amplified by a hearing aid will be dependent on the gain levels in the different frequency bands of the hearing loss. However, a continuous optimization of speech intelligibility and/or loudness requires continuous analysis of the sound environment and thus involves extensive computations beyond what has been considered feasible for a processor in a hearing aid. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The inventor has realized the fact that it is possible to devise a dedicated, automatic adjustment of the gain settings which may enhance the speech intelligibility while the hearing aid is in use, and which is suitable for implementation in a low power processor, such as a processor in a hearing aid. This adjustment requires the capability of increasing or decreasing the gain independently in the different bands depending on the current sound situation. For bands with high noise levels, e.g., it may be advantageous to decrease the gain, while an increase of gain can be advantageous in bands with low noise levels, in order to enhance the SII. However, such a simple strategy will not always be an optimal solution, as the SII also takes inter-band interactions, such as mutual masking, into account. A precise calculation of the SII is therefore necessary. The object of the invention is to provide a method and a means for enhancing the speech intelligibility in a hearing aid in varying sound environments. It is a further object to do this while at the same time preventing the hearing aid from creating loudness discomfort. It is a further object of the invention to provide a method and means for enhancing the speech intelligibility in a hearing aid, which can be implemented at low power consumption. According to the invention, in a first aspect, this is obtained in a method of processing a signal in a hearing aid processor, comprising receiving an input signal from a microphone, splitting the input signal into a number of frequency band input signals, selecting a gain vector representing levels of gain for respective frequency band signals, calculating an estimate of the sound environment representing a set of frequency band speech levels and a set of frequency band noise levels, calculating a speech intelligibility index based on the estimate of the sound environment and the gain vector, iteratively varying gain levels of the gain vector up or down in order to determine a gain vector that maximizes the speech intelligibility index, and processing the frequency band input signals according to the gain vector so as to produce an output signal adapted for driving an output transducer. The enhancement of the speech intelligibility estimate signifies an enhancement of the speech intelligibility in the sound output of the hearing aid. The method according to the invention achieves an adaptation of the processor transfer function suitable for optimizing the speech intelligibility in a particular sound environment. The sound environment estimate may be updated as often as necessary, i.e. intermittently, periodically or continuously, as appropriate in view of considerations such as requirements to data processing and variability of the sound environment. In state of the art digital hearing aids, the processor will process the acoustic signal with a short delay, preferably smaller than 3 ms, to prevent the user from perceiving the delay between the acoustic signal perceived directly and the acoustic signal processed by the hearing aid, as this can be annoying and impair consistent sound perception. Updating of the transfer function can take place at a much lower pace without user discomfort, as changes due to the updating will generally not be noticed. Updating at e.g. 50 ms intervals will often be sufficient even for fast changing environments. In case of steady environments, updating may be slower, e.g. on demand. The means for obtaining the sound environment estimate and for determining the speech intelligibility estimate may be incorporated in the hearing aid processor, or they may be wholly or partially implemented in an external processing means, adapted for communicating data to and from the hearing aid processor by an appropriate link. Assuming that calculating the speech intelligibility index, SII, in real-time would be possible, a lot of these problems could be overcome through using the result of these calculations to compensate for the deteriorated speech intelligibility in some way, e.g. by repeatedly altering the transfer function at some convenient point in the sound transmission chain, preferably in the electronic processing means. If one further assumes that the SII, which has earlier solely been considered in linear systems, can be calculated and used with an acceptable degree of accuracy in a nonlinear system, the scope of application of the SII may be expanded considerably. It might then, for instance, be used in systems having some kind of nonlinear transfer function, such as in hearing aids which utilize some kind of compression of the sound signal. This application of the SII will be especially successful if the hearing aid has long compression time constants which generally makes the system more linear. In order to calculate a real-time SII, an estimate of the speech level and the noise level must be known at computation time, as these values are required for the calculation. These level estimates can be obtained with fair accuracy in various ways, for instance by using a percentile estimator. It is assumed that a maximum SII will always exist for a given signal level and a given noise level. If the amplification gain is changed, the SII will change, too. As it is not feasible to compute a general relationship between the SII and a given change in amplification gain analytically, some kind of numerical optimization routine is needed to determine this relationship in order to determine the particular amplification gain that gives the largest SII value. An implementation of a suitable optimization routine is explained in the detailed part of the specification. According to an embodiment of the invention, the method further comprises determining the transfer function as a gain vector representing gain values in a number of individual frequency bands in the hearing aid processor, the gain vector being selected for enhancing speech intelligibility. This simplifies the data processing. According to an embodiment of the invention, the method further comprises determining the gain vector through determining, for a first part of the frequency bands, respective gain values suitable for enhancing speech intelligibility, and determining, for a second part of the frequency bands, respective gain values through interpolation between gain values in respect of the first part of the frequency bands. This simplifies the data processing through cutting down on the number of frequency bands, wherein the more complex optimization algorithm needs to be executed. The first part of the frequency bands will be selected to generally cover the frequency spectrum, while the second part of the frequency bands will be situated interspersed between the frequency bands of the first part, in order that interpolation will provide good results. According to another embodiment of the invention, the method further comprises transmission of the speech intelligibility estimate to an external fitting system connected to the hearing aid. This may provide a piece of information that may be useful to the user or to an audiologist, e.g. in evaluating the performance and the fitting of the hearing aid, circumstances of a particular sound environment, or circumstances particular to the users auditive perception. External fitting systems suitable for communicating with a hearing aid comprising programming devices are described in WO-90/08448 and in WO-94/22276. Other suitable fitting systems are industry standard systems such as HIPRO or NOAH specified by Hearing Instrument Manufacturers' Software Association (HIMSA). According to yet another embodiment of the invention, the method further comprises calculating the loudness of the output signal from the gain vector and comparing it to a loudness limit, wherein said loudness limit represents a ratio to the loudness of the unamplified sound in normal hearing listeners, and subsequently adjusting the gain vector as appropriate in order to not exceed the loudness limit. This improves user comfort by ensuring that the loudness of the hearing aid output signal stays within a comfortable range. The method according to another embodiment of the invention further comprises adjusting the gain vector by multiplying it by a scalar factor selected in such a way that the loudness is lower than, or equal to, the corresponding loudness limit value. This provides a simple implementation of the loudness control. According to an embodiment of the invention, the method further comprises adjusting each gain value in the gain vector in such a way that each of the gain values is lower than, or equal to, the corresponding loudness limit value in the loudness vector. The method according to another embodiment of the invention further comprises determining a speech level estimate and a noise level estimate of the sound environment. These estimates may be obtained by a statistical analysis of the sound signal over time. One method comprises identifying, through level analysis, time frames where speech is present, averaging the sound level within those time frames to produce the speech level estimate, and averaging the levels within remaining time frames to produce the noise level estimate. The invention, in a second aspect, provides a hearing aid comprising an input transducer, a processor, and an acoustic output transducer, said processor having a filter block, a sound environment estimator, a multiplication means, a speech optimization block, and a block overlap means, said filter block being adapted for splitting an input signal from the input transducer into frequency band signals, said speech optimization block being adapted for selecting a gain vector representing levels of gain for respective frequency band signals, for calculating, based on the frequency band signals and the gain vector, a speech intelligibility index, and for optimizing the gain vector through iteratively varying the gain vector, calculating respective indices of speech intelligibility and selecting a vector that maximizes the speech intelligibility index, said multiplication means being adapted for applying the gain vector against the frequency band signals, and said block overlap means being adapted for forming a signal for the acoustic output transducer. The hearing loss vector comprises a set of values representing hearing deficiency measurements taken in various frequency bands. The hearing aid according to the invention in this aspect provides a piece of information, which may be used in adaptive signal processing in the hearing aid for enhancing speech intelligibility, or it may be presented to the user or to a fitter, e.g. by visual or acoustic means. According to an embodiment of the invention, the hearing aid comprises means for enhancing speech intelligibility by way of applying appropriate adjustments to a number of gain levels in a number of individual frequency bands in the hearing aid. According to another embodiment, the hearing aid comprises means for comparing the loudness corresponding to the adjusted gain values in the individual frequency bands in the hearing aid to a corresponding loudness limit value, said loudness limit value representing a ratio to the loudness of the unamplified sound, and means for adjusting the respective gain values as appropriate in order not to exceed the loudness limit value. The invention, in a third aspect, provides a method of fitting a hearing aid to a sound environment, comprising selecting a setting for an initial hearing aid transfer function according to a general fitting rule, calculating an estimate of the sound environment by calculating the speech level and the noise level in each among a set of frequency bands, calculating a speech intelligibility index based on the estimate of the sound environment and the initial transfer function, and adapting the initial setting to provide a modified transfer function suitable for enhancing the speech intelligibility. By this method, the hearing aid is adapted to a specific environment, which permits an adaptation targeted for superior speech intelligibility in that environment. The invention in a fourth aspect, provides a method of processing a signal in a hearing aid, the hearing aid having a microphone, a processor and an output transducer, comprising obtaining an estimate of a sound environment, determining an estimate of the speech intelligibility according to the sound environment estimate and to the transfer function of the hearing aid processor, and adapting the transfer function in order to enhance the speech intelligibility estimate. The invention in a fifth aspect, provides a hearing aid comprising means for calculating a speech intelligibility estimate as a function of at least one among a number of speech levels, at least one among a number of noise levels and a hearing loss vector in a number of individual frequency bands. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, where: FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a hearing aid with speech optimization means according to the invention, FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing a preferred optimization algorithm utilizing a variant of the ‘steepest gradient’ method, FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing calculation of speech intelligibility using the SIT method, FIG. 4 is a graph showing different gain values during individual steps of the iteration algorithm in FIG. 2 , and FIG. 5 is schematic representation of a programming device communicating with a hearing aid according to the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The hearing aid 22 in FIG. 1 comprises a microphone 1 connected to a block splitting means 2 , which further connects to a filter block 3 . The block splitting means 2 may apply an ordinary, temporal, optionally weighted, windowing function, and the filter block 3 may preferably comprise a predefined set of low pass, band pass and high pass filters defining the different frequency bands in the hearing aid 22 . The total output from the filter block 3 is fed to a multiplication point 10 , and the output from the separate bands 1 , 2 , . . . M in filter block 3 are fed to respective inputs of a speech and noise estimator 4 . The outputs from the separate filter bands are shown in FIG. 1 by a single, bolder, signal line. The speech level and noise level estimator may be implemented as a percentile estimator, e.g. of the kind presented in the international application WO-98/27787 A1. The output of multiplication point 10 is further connected to a loudspeaker 12 via a block overlap means 11 . The speech and noise estimator 4 is connected to a loudness model means 7 by two multi-band signal paths carrying two separate signal parts, S (signal) and N (noise), which two signal parts are also fed to a speech optimization unit 8 . The output of the loudness model means 7 is further connected to the output of the speech optimization unit 8 . The loudness model means 7 uses the S and N signal parts in an existing loudness model in order to ensure that the subsequently calculated gain values from the speech optimization unit 8 do not produce a loudness of the output signal of the hearing aid 22 that exceeds a predetermined loudness L 0 , which is the loudness of the unamplified sound for normal hearing subjects. The hearing loss model means 6 may advantageously be a representation of the hearing loss compensation profile already stored in the working, hearing aid 22 , fitted to a particular user without necessarily taking speech intelligibility into consideration. The speech and noise estimator 4 is further connected to an AGC means 5 , which in turn is connected to one input of a summation point 9 , feeding it with the initial gain values g 0 . The AGC means 5 is preferably implemented as a multiband compressor, for instance of the kind described in WO-99/34642. The speech optimization unit 8 comprises means for calculating a new set of optimized gain value changes iteratively, utilizing the algorithm described in the flow chart in FIG. 2 . The output of the speech optimization unit 8 , ΔG, is fed to one of the inputs of summation point 9 . The output of the summation point 9 , g′, is fed to the input of multiplication point 10 and to the speech optimization unit 8 . The summation point 9 , loudness model means 7 and speech optimization unit 8 forms the optimizing part of the hearing aid according to the invention. The speech optimization unit 8 also contains a loudness model. In the hearing aid 22 in FIG. 1 , speech signals and noise signals are picked up by the microphone 1 and split by the block splitting means 2 into a number of temporal blocks or frames. Each of the temporal blocks or frames, which may preferably be approximately 50 ms in length, is processed individually. Thus each block is divided by the filter block 3 into a number of separate frequency bands. The frequency-divided signal blocks are then split into two separate signal paths where one goes to the speech and noise estimator 4 and the other goes to a multiplication point 10 . The speech and noise estimator 4 generates two separate vectors, i.e. N, ‘assumed noise’, and S, ‘assumed speech’. These vectors are used by the loudness model means 6 and the speech optimization unit 8 to distinguish between the ‘assumed noise level’ and the ‘assumed speech level’. The speech and noise estimator 4 may be implemented as a percentile estimator. A percentile is, by definition, the value for which the cumulative distribution is equal to or below that percentile. The output values from the percentile estimator each correspond to an estimate of a level value below which the signal level lies within a certain percentage of the time during which the signal level is estimated. The vectors preferably correspond to a 10% percentile (the noise, N) and a 90% percentile (the speech, S) respectively, but other percentile figures can be used. In practice, this means that the noise level vector N comprises the signal levels below which the frequency band signal levels lie during 10% of the time, and the speech level vector S is the signal level below which the frequency band signal levels lie during 90% of the time. Additionally, the speech and noise estimator 4 presents a control signal to the AGC 5 for adjustment of the gain in the different frequency bands. The speech and noise estimator 4 implements a very efficient way of estimating for each block the frequency band levels of noise as well as the frequency band levels of speech. The gain values g 0 from the AGC 5 are then summed with the gain changes ΔG in the summation point 9 and presented as a gain vector g′ to the multiplication point 10 and to the speech optimization means 8 . The speech signal vector S and the noise signal vector N from the speech and noise estimator 4 are presented to the speech input and the noise input of the speech optimization unit 8 and the corresponding inputs of the loudness model means 7 . The loudness model means 7 contains a loudness model, which calculates the loudness of the input signal for normal hearing listeners, L 0 . A hearing loss model vector H from the hearing loss model means 6 is presented to the input of the speech optimization unit 8 . After optimizing the speech intelligibility, preferably by means of the iterative algorithm shown in FIG. 2 , the speech optimization unit 8 presents a new gain change ΔG to the inputs of summation points 9 and an altered gain value g′ to the multiplication point 10 . The summation point 9 adds the output vector ΔG to the input vector g 0 , thus forming a new, modified vector g′ for the input of the multiplication point 10 and to the speech optimization unit 8 . Multiplication point 10 multiplies the gain vector g′ by the signal from the filter block 3 and presents the resulting, gain adjusted signal to the input of block overlap means 11 . The block overlap means may be implemented as a band interleaving function and a regeneration function for recreating an optimized signal suitable for reproduction. The block overlap means 11 forms the final, speech-optimized signal block and presents this via suitable output means (not shown) to the loudspeaker or hearing aid telephone 12 . FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a preferred speech optimization algorithm comprising a start point block 100 connected to a subsequent block 101 , where an initial frequency band number M=1 is set. In the following step 102 , an initial gain value g 0 is set. In step 103 , a new gain value g is defined as g 0 plus a gain value increment ΔG, followed by the calculation of the proposed speech intelligibility value SI in step 104 . After step 104 , the speech intelligibility value SI is compared to an initial value SI 0 in step 105 . If the new SI value is larger than the initial value SI 0 , the routine continues in step 109 , where the loudness L is calculated. This new loudness L is compared to the loudness L 0 in step 110 . If the loudness L is larger than the loudness L 0 , and the new gain value g 0 is set to g 0 minus the gain value increment ΔG in step 111 . Otherwise, the routine continues in step 106 , where the new gain value g is set to g 0 plus the incremental gain value ΔG. The routine then continues in step 113 by examining the band number M to see if the highest number of frequency bands M max has been reached. If, however, the new SI value calculated in step 104 is smaller than the initial value SI 0 , the new gain value g 0 is set to g 0 minus a gain value increment ΔG in step 107 . The proposed speech intelligibility value SI is then calculated again for the new gain value g in step 108 . The proposed speech intelligibility SI is again compared to the initial value SI 0 in step 112 . If the new value SI is larger than the initial value SI 0 , the routine continues in step 111 , where the new gain value g 0 is defined as g 0 minus ΔG. If neither an increased or a decreased gain value ΔG results in an increased SI, the initial gain value g 0 is preserved for frequency band M. The routine continues in step 113 by examining the band number M to see if the highest number of frequency bands M max has been reached. If this is not the case, the routine continues via step 115 , incrementing the number of the frequency band subject to optimization by one. Otherwise, the routine continues in step 114 by comparing the new SI vector with the old vector SI 0 to determine if the difference between them is smaller than a tolerance value ε. If any of the M values of SI calculated in each band in either step 102 or step 108 are substantially different from SI 0 , i.e. the vectors differ by more than the tolerance value ε, the routine proceeds to step 117 , where the iteration counter k is compared to a maximum iteration number k max . If k is smaller than k max , the routine continues in step 116 , by defining a new gain increment ΔG by multiplying the current gain increment by a factor 1/d, where d is a positive number greater than 1, and incrementing the iteration counter k. The routine then continues by iteratively calculating all M max frequency bands again in step 101 , starting over with the first frequency band M=1. If k is larger than k max , the new, individual gain values are transferred to the transfer function of the signal processor in step 118 and terminates the optimization routine in step 119 . This is also the case if the SI did not increase by more than ε in any band (step 114 ). Then the need for further optimization no longer exists, and the resulting, speech-optimized gain value vector is transferred to the transfer function of the signal processor in step 118 and the optimization routine is terminated in step 119 . In essence, the algorithm traverses the M max -dimensional vector space Of M max frequency band gain values iteratively, optimizing the gain values for each frequency band with respect to the largest SI value. Practical values for the variables ε and d in this example are ε=0.005 and d=2. The number of frequency bands M max may be set to 12 or 15 frequency bands A convenient starting point for ΔG is 10 dB. Simulated tests have shown that the algorithm usually converges after four to six iterations, i.e. a point is reached where terminating the difference between the old SI 0 vector and the new SI vector becomes negligible and thus execution of subsequent iterative steps may be terminated. Thus, this algorithm is very effective in terms of processing requirements and speed of convergence. The flow chart in FIG. 3 illustrates how the SII values needed by the algorithm in FIG. 2 can be obtained. The SI algorithm according to FIG. 3 implements the steps of each of steps 104 and 108 in FIG. 2 , and it is assumed that the speech intelligibility index, SII, is selected as the measurement for speech intelligibility, SI. The SI algorithm initializes in step 301 , and in steps 302 and 303 the SI algorithm determines the number of frequency bands M max , the frequencies f 0M for the individual bands, the equivalent speech spectrum level S, the internal noise level N and the hearing threshold T for each frequency band. In order to utilize the SII calculation, it is necessary to determine the number of individual frequency bands before any calculation is taking place, as the method of calculating several of the involved parameters depend on the number and bandwidth of these frequency bands. The equivalent speech spectrum level S is calculated in step 304 as: S = E b ⁡ ( f ) - 10 ⁢ ⁢ log ⁡ ( Δ ⁡ ( f ) Δ 0 ⁡ ( f ) ) , ( 1 ) where E b is the SPL of the speech signal at the output of the band pass filter with the center frequency f, Δ(f) is the band pass filter bandwidth and Δ 0 (f) is the reference bandwidth of 1 Hz. The reference internal noise spectrum N i is obtained in step 305 and used for calculation of the equivalent internal noise spectrum N′ i and, subsequently, the equivalent masking spectrum level Z i . The latter can be expressed as: Z i = 10 ⁢ ⁢ log ( 10 0.1 ⁢ ⁢ N i ′ + ∑ k i - 1 ⁢ 10 0.1 ⁡ [ B k + 3.32 ⁢ ⁢ C k ⁢ log ⁡ ( F i h k ) ] ) , ( 2 ) where N′ i is the equivalent internal noise spectrum level, B k is the larger value of N′ i and the self-speech masking spectrum level V i , expressed as: V i =S− 24,  (3) F i is the critical band center frequency, and h k is the higher frequency band limit for the critical band k. The slope per octave of the spread of masking, C i , is expressed as: C i =−80+0.6 [B i +10 log( h i −l i )], where l i is the lower frequency band limit for the critical band i. The equivalent internal noise spectrum level X′ i is calculated in step 306 as: X′ i =X i T′ i ,  (5) where X i equals the noise level N and T i is the hearing threshold in the frequency band in question. In step 307 , the equivalent masking spectrum level Z i is compared to the equivalent internal noise spectrum level N′ i , and, if the equivalent masking spectrum level Z i is the largest, the equivalent disturbance spectrum level D i is made equal to the equivalent masking spectrum level Z i in step 308 , and otherwise made equal to the equivalent internal noise spectrum level N′ i in step 309 . The standard speech spectrum level at normal vocal effort, U i , is obtained in step 310 , and the level distortion factor L i is calculated with the aid of this reference value as: L i = 1 - ( S - U i - 10 ) 160 . ( 6 ) The band audibility A i is calculated in step 312 as: A i = L i · [ ( S - D i + 15 ) 30 ] , ( 7 ) and, finally, the total speech intelligibility index SII is calculated in step 313 as: S ⁢ ⁢ I ⁢ ⁢ I = ∑ i = 1 n ⁢ I i · A i , ( 8 ) where I i is the band importance function used to weigh the audibility with respect to speech frequencies, and the speech intelligibility index is summed for each frequency band. The algorithm terminates in step 314 , where the calculated SII value is returned to the calling algorithm (not shown). The SII represents a measure of an ability of a system to faithfully reproduce phonemes in speech coherently, and thus, conveying the information in the speech transmitted through the system. FIG. 4 shows six iterations in the SII optimizing algorithm according to the invention. Each step shows the final gain values 43 , illustrated in FIG. 4 as a number of open circles, corresponding to the optimal SII in fifteen bands, and the SII optimizing algorithm adapts a given transfer function 42 , illustrated in FIG. 4 as a continuous line, to meet the gain for the optimal gain values 43 . The iteration starts at an extra gain of 0 dB in all bands and then makes a step of ±ΔG in all gain values in iteration step I, and continues by iterating the gain values 42 in step TI, III, IV, V and VI in order to adapt the gain values 42 to the optimal SII values 43 . The optimal gain values 43 are not known to the algorithm prior to computation, but as the individual iteration steps I to VI in FIG. 4 shows, the gain values in the example converges after only six iterations. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a hearing aid 22 , comprising a microphone 1 , a transducer or loudspeaker 12 , and a signal processor 53 , connected to a hearing aid fitting box 56 , comprising a display means 57 and an operating panel 58 , via a suitable communication link cable 55 . The communication between the hearing aid 51 and the fitting box 56 is implemented by utilizing the standard hearing aid industry communicating protocols and signaling levels available to those skilled in the art. The hearing aid fitting box comprises a programming device adapted for receiving operator inputs, such as data about the users hearing impairment, reading data from the hearing aid, displaying various information and programming the hearing aid by writing into a memory in the hearing aid suitable programme parameters. Various types of programming devices may be suggested by those skilled in the art. E.g. some programming devices are adapted for communicating with a suitably equipped hearing aid through a wireless link. Further details about suitable programming devices may be found in WO-90/08448 and in WO-94/22276. The transfer function of the signal processor 53 of the hearing aid 22 is adapted to enhance speech intelligibility by utilizing the method according to the invention, and further comprises means for communicating the resulting SII value via the link cable 55 to the fitting box 56 for displaying by the display means 57 . The fitting box 56 is able to force a readout of the SII value from the hearing aid 22 on the display means 57 by transmitting appropriate control signals to the hearing aid processor 53 via the link cable 55 . These control signals instruct the hearing aid processor 53 to deliver the calculated SII value to the fitting box 56 via the same link cable 55 . Such a readout of the SII value in a particular sound environment may be of great help to the fitting person and the hearing aid user, as the SII value gives an objective indication of the speech intelligibility experienced by the user of the hearing aid, and appropriate adjustments thus can be made to the operation of the hearing aid processor. It may also be of use by the fitting person by providing clues to whether a bad intelligibility of speech is due to a poor fitting of the hearing aid or maybe due to some other cause. Under most circumstances, the SII as a function of the transfer function of a sound transmission system has a relatively nice, smooth shape without sharp dips or peaks. If this is assumed to always be the case, a variant of an optimization routine, known as the steepest gradient method, can be used. If the speech spectrum is split into a number of different frequency bands, for instance by using a set of suitable band pass filters, the frequency bands can be treated independently of each other, and the amplification gain for each frequency band can be adjusted to maximize the SII for that particular frequency band. This makes it possible to take the varying importance of the different speech spectrum frequency bands according to the ANSI standard into account. In another embodiment, the fitting box incorporates data processing means for receiving a sound input signal from the hearing aid, providing an estimate of the sound environment based on the sound input signal, determining an estimate of the speech intelligibility according to the sound environment estimate and to the transfer function of the hearing aid processor, adapting the transfer function in order to enhance the speech intelligibility estimate, and transmitting data about the modified transfer function to the hearing aid in order to modify the hearing aid programme. The general principles for iterative calculation of the optimal SII is described in the following. Given a sound transmission system with a known transfer function, an initial value g i (k), where k is the iterative optimization step, can be set for each frequency band i in the transfer function. An initial gain increment, ΔG i , is selected, and the gain value g i is changed by an amount =ΔG i for each frequency band. The resulting change in SII is then determined, and the gain value g i for the frequency band i is changed accordingly if SII is increased by the process in the frequency band in question. This is done independently in all bands. The gain increment ΔG i is then decreased by multiplying the initial value by a factor 1/d, where d is a positive number larger than 1. If a change in gain in a particular frequency band does not result in any further significant increase in SII for that frequency band, or if k iterations has been performed without any increase in SII, the gain value g i for that particular frequency band is left unaltered by the routine. The iterative optimization routine can be expressed as: g i ⁡ ( k + 1 ) = g i ⁡ ( k ) + sign (  ∂ S ⁢ ⁢ I ⁢ ⁢ I ⁡ ( g → ) ∂ g i  ) · Δ ⁢ ⁢ G i ⁡ ( k ) , ∀ i ( 9 ) Thus, the change in g i is determined by the sign of the gradient only, as opposed to the standard steepest-gradient optimization algorithm. The gain increment ΔG i may be predefined as expressed in: Δ G S,D ( k )=max(1,round( S·e −D(k−1) )), k= 1, 2, 3  (10) rather than being determined by the gradient. This saves computation time. This step size rule and the choice of the best suitable parameters S and D are the result of developing a fast converging iterative search algorithm with a low computational load. A possible criterion for convergence of the iterative algorithm is: SII max ( k )≧ SII max ( k− 1),  (11) | SII max ( k )− SII max ( k− 2)|<ε and,  (12) k≦5;k max .  (13) Thus, the SII determined by alternatingly closing in on the value SII max between two adjacent gain vectors has to be closer to SII max than a fixed minimum ε, and the iteration is stopped after k max steps, even if no optimal SII value has been found. This is only an example. The invention covers many other implementations where speech intelligibility is enhanced in real time.
A hearing aid ( 22 ) having a microphone ( 1 ), a processor ( 53 ) and an output transducer ( 12 ), is adapted for obtaining an estimate of a sound environment, determining an estimate of the speech intelligibility according to the sound environment estimate, and for adapting the transfer function of the hearing aid processor in order to enhance the speech intelligibility estimate. The method according to the invention achieves an adaptation of the processor transfer function suitable for optimizing the speech intelligibility in a particular sound environment. Means for obtaining the sound environment estimate and for determining the speech intelligibility estimate may be incorporated in the hearing aid processor, or they may be wholly or partially implemented in an external processing means ( 56 ), adapted for communicating data to the hearing aid processor via an appropriate link.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording medium used in an information processing apparatus applying the STM technique. 2. Related Background Art In recent years, a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) that allows the observer to directly observe the electron structure of the surface atom of a conductor was developed (G. Binnig et al., Phys. Rev. Let., 49, 57 (1983)) to enable measurement of a real space image with a high resolution regardless of whether the sample is monocrystalline or amorphous. This STM exploits the fact that, if a voltage is applied across a metal tip and a conductive material, and the distance between the two is decreased to about 1 nm, a tunneling current flows between them. This current is very sensitive to changes in distance between the tip and the conductive material, and it changes exponentially. By scanning the tip to keep the tunneling current constant, a surface structure in real space can be observed at a resolution in the atomic order. The above-mentioned apparatus or means detects a weak current,. so that the surface structure can be advantageously observed with a small power without damaging the medium. Since the above apparatus can operate in the atmosphere, observation evaluation using the STM technique is widely performed for biological samples, organic molecules, and the like in the atomic or molecular order. Recently, also in the field of industries, given the fact that the STM has spatial resolution in the atomic or molecular size, its application to a recording/reproducing apparatus and its practical use are prevalent (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Nos. 63-161552 and 63-161553). In information processing by this apparatus, information is recorded on the surface of a sample medium by any electrical method while sweeping the tip parallel to the sample surface, and the recorded information is reproduced by measuring a physical phenomenon (e.g., a tunneling current) caused upon approach of the tip to the sample. In this case, to smoothly record/reproduce information, information must be recorded on the sample with certain regularity. For this purpose, e.g., tracking information (e.g., microstructures) is required on the sample. However, the recording surface of the sample medium usable for recording/reproducing information in the atomic or molecular size must be flat at the atomic or molecular level. The tracking information must be formed with an atomic- or molecular-level precision without degrading the surface flatness. As a method capable of tracking at the atomic or molecular level, a method of recording/reproducing information along the regular orientation direction of crystal lattices of a sample medium is proposed (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 4-241240). In this method, however, each atom in the crystal face must be recognized, which requires a high detection precision. As a result, the scanning speed decreases. Further, this method cannot be used for a sample medium not having any regular crystal lattice. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the conventional problems, and has as its object to provide a recording medium which can be used for recording/reproducing information in the atomic size, and can be scanned at a high speed while keeping the S/N ratio high. To solve the above problems, according to the present invention, the recording medium for the information processing apparatus applying the principle of the scanning tunnel microscope is constituted by a recording medium made up of a crystal having a spiral structure on its surface. According to the present invention, the recording medium for the information processing apparatus applying the principle of the scanning tunnel microscope is constituted by a recording medium in which a recording layer is formed on a crystal having a spiral structure on its surface. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the surface structure of a recording medium according to the present invention; and FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a state wherein information is recorded on the recording medium in FIG. 1. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. A recording medium according to the present invention has a spiral structure on its surface, i.e., its recording surface. FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the spiral structure. The spiral structure 1 is formed by a plurality of step differences, and the height of each step difference is almost constant. This height is equal to or smaller than the diameter of an atom constituting a crystal (to be described later). The pitch between the step differences is also almost constant. The spiral structure 1 is traced back to the structure of a crystal constituting the recording medium, and characteristically appears from a scratch or defect as a start point in the crystal upon crystal growth or crystal etching. The spiral shape changes depending on the type of crystal; it is a circle, a polygon, and the like. The pitch of the spiral can be changed by the growth or etching conditions. One spiral cannot be formed over a plurality of crystals, but a plurality of spirals can be formed on one single crystal. The crystal material used as a crystal medium is a material which can form a spiral structure and a flat recording surface at the atomic or molecular level, e.g., a flat Au single crystal obtained from an aqueous solution (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 5-201793). A crystal having a spiral structure made up of successive step differences with an atomically flat surface and atomically constant height and pitch is optimum as a recording medium for the following information processing apparatus. An information processing apparatus applying the STM principle, e.g., an apparatus disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 5-109130 can be used to scan the spiral structure on the crystal surface while performing tracking. At this time, if a physical means such as application of a voltage is performed for the crystal, information, in this case microstructures, can be recorded on the crystal surface. By the same scanning, this information can be reproduced. FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the recording state. The recording medium of the present invention can be scanned with a high S/N ratio at a high speed because the recording surface is atomically flat, and the step difference and pitch of the spiral structure 1 to be tracked are atomically constant. The crystal can also be used as a substrate by forming a recording layer on the crystal surface. In this case, the recording layer must reflect the step difference at the single atom step of the substrate crystal on the surface of the recording layer. As a method and material for forming this recording layer, a polyimide film or the like formed by the Langmuir-Blodgett method (LB method) that is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 63-161552 is suitably used. On the polyimide film formed by the LB method, information can be recorded by changing conductivity upon application of a voltage. For the same reason described above, this recording layer can be scanned with a high S/N ratio at a high speed. Examples of the recording medium according to the present invention will be explained below. EXAMPLE 1 15 mmol of iodine and 150 mmol of potassium iodide were dissolved in 300 ml of pure water. In the obtained solution, 5 mmol of a gold powder were dissolved. This solution and a substrate were put in a crystal growth vessel, and heated at 90° C. for 48 h. Upon completion of the crystal growth, the substrate was extracted from the vessel, and cleaned and dried. The obtained crystal had a maximum diameter of 2 mm and a thickness of about 20 pm. This crystal was observed with an STM to confirm a terrace and a single atom step on the surface. The tip of the STM was vertically pressed into the flat crystal surface to scratch the surface. The press amount was about 5 nm. A solution for processing this crystal was prepared. A processing solution was obtained by dissolving potassium iodide and iodine at concentrations of 1×10 -3 M and 1×10 -4 M, respectively. After the crystal scratched by the STM was dipped in this solution for 5 min, it was washed with distilled water and dried. When the crystal surface was observed with the STM, a spiral structure 1 was formed centered on the portion into which the tip was pressed. The spiral structure 1 had a triangular shape, and all the step differences of the structure were at a single atom step. The step pitch was 200 nm. By an STM with a gold tip, information was recorded on the terrace along the spiral structure using this spiral structure as a tracking pattern. Recording was performed by supplying a pulse to the crystal surface at 4 V for 1 psec. Upon completion of the recording, the information was reproduced by the same tracking at a scanning rate of 5 mm/sec. A bit projection 2 was satisfactorily formed on the crystal surface along the spiral structure. EXAMPLE 2 A spiral structure was formed on a crystal by the same method as in Example 1. Six polyamide acid films were stacked on this crystal by the LB method. The films were heated in vacuum at 350° C. for 1 h to be changed into an imide. As a result, a recording layer made of a 2.4-nm-thick polyimide film with a constant film thickness could be formed on the crystal. By an STM with a platinum tip, information was recorded on the polyimide recording layer on a terrace along the spiral structure using this spiral structure as a tracking pattern. Recording was performed by supplying a pulse to the crystal surface at 9 V for 100 μsec. Upon completion of the recording, the information was reproduced by the same tracking at a scanning rate of 5 mm/sec. A bit 2 was satisfactorily formed on the recording layer along the spiral structure. As has been described above, according to the present invention, a recording medium for an information processing apparatus applying the principle of a scanning tunnel microscope is formed by a crystal having a spiral structure made up of successive step differences with an atomically flat surface and atomically constant height and pitch. In a recording medium used for recording/reproducing information in the atomic size, a recording medium which can be scanned at a high speed while keeping the S/N ratio high can be realized.
A recording medium for use in an information processing apparatus applying the STM technique, the recording medium is designed to have a surface which is made of a crystal having a spiral structure. The spiral structure is constituted by a step difference of a size not more than a diameter of an atom constituting the crystal.
2
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/430,816, filed May 6, 2003, which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/490,769, filed Jan. 14, 2000, which claims the benefit of provisional patent application No. 60/117,002, filed Jan. 25, 1999. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention relates generally to the fields of laboratory automation, microfabrication and manipulation of small volumes of fluids (microfluidics), in such a manner so as to enable rapid dispensing and manipulation of small isolated volumes of fluids under direct electronic control. More specifically, the invention relates to a method of forming and moving individual droplets of electrically conductive liquid, and devices for carrying out this method. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Miniaturization of assays in analytical biochemistry is a direct result of the need to collect maximum data from a sample of a limited volume. This miniaturization, in turn, requires methods of rapid and automatic dispensing and manipulation of small volumes of liquids (solvents, reagents, samples etc.) The two methods currently employed for such manipulation are, 1) ink jetting and 2) electromigration methods in capillary channels: electroosmosis, elecrophoresis and/or combination thereof. Both methods suffer poor reproducibility. [0004] Ink jetting is based on dispensing droplets of liquid through a nozzle. Droplet expulsion from the nozzle is effected by a pressure pulse in the reservoir connected to the nozzle. The pressure pulse itself is effected by an electric signal. The droplets are subsequently deposited on a solid surface opposing the nozzle. The relative position of the nozzle and the surface is controlled by a mechanical device, resulting in deposition of droplets in a desired pattern. Removal of the droplets is typically effected by either washing or spinning (centrifugal forces). [0005] While ink jetting is a dispensing method generally applicable to a wide variety of liquids, the volume of the deposited droplets is not very stable. It depends on both the nature of the liquid being deposited (viscosity, density, vapor pressure, surface tension) and the environment in the gap between the surface and the nozzle (temperature, humidity). Ink jetting technology does not provide means to manipulate droplets after they have been deposited on the surface, except for removing them. [0006] Electromigration methods are based on mobility of ions in liquids when electric current is passed through the liquids. Because different ions have different mobilities in the electric field, the composition of liquid being manipulated generally changes as it is being transported. While this feature of electromigration methods is, useful for analytical purposes, because it allows physical separation of components of mixtures, it is undesirable in general micromanipulation techniques. [0007] Additionally, the need to pass electrical current through the liquid results in heating of the liquid, which may cause undesirable chemical reactions or even boiling. To avoid this, the electrical conductivities of all liquids in the system are kept low, limiting the applicability of electromigration methods. [0008] The need to pass electrical current through the liquid also requires that the control electrodes be electrically connected through an uninterrupted body of conductive liquid. This requirement additionally complicates precision dispensing and results in ineffective use of reagents, because the metered doses of a liquid are isolated from a continuous flow of that liquid from one electrode to another. [0009] Additionally, ions present in the liquid alter the electric field in that liquid. Therefore, changes in ionic composition in the liquid being manipulated result in variations in resultant distribution of flow and material for the same sequence of control electrical signals. [0010] Finally, the devices for carrying out the electromigration methods have connected channels (capillaries), which are used to define liquid flow paths in the device. Because the sizes of these capillaries and connections among them are optimized for certain types of manipulations, and also for certain types of liquids, these devices are very specialized. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0011] The present invention provides microchip laboratory systems and methods of using these systems so that complex chemical and biochemical procedures can be conducted on a microchip under electronic control. The microchip laboratory system comprises a material handling device that transports liquid in the form of individual droplets positioned between two substantially parallel, flat surfaces. Optional devices for forming the droplets are also provided. [0012] The formation and movement of droplets are precisely controlled by plurality of electric fields across the gap between the two surfaces. These fields are controlled by applying voltages to plurality of electrodes positioned on the opposite sides of the gap. The electrodes are substantially planar and positioned on the surfaces facing the gap. At least some of the electrodes are electrically insulated from the liquid in the gap. [0013] The gap is filled with a filler fluid substantially immiscible with the liquids which are to be manipulated. The filler fluid is substantially non-conductive. The wetting properties of the surfaces facing inside the gap are controlled, by the choice of materials contacting the liquids or chemical modification of these materials, so that at least one of these surfaces is preferentially wettable by the filler fluid rather than any of the liquids which are to be manipulated. [0014] The operating principle of the devices is known as electrowetting. If a droplet of polar conductive liquid is placed on a hydrophobic surface, application of electric potential across the liquid-solid interface reduces the contact angle, effectively converting the surface into more hydrophilic. According to the present invention, the electric fields effecting the hydrophobic-hydrophilic conversion are controlled by applying an electrical potential to electrodes arranged as an array on at least one side of the gap. The electrodes on the other side may or may not be arranged in a similar array; in the preferred embodiment, there is array of electrodes only on one side of the gap, while the other has only one large electrode covering substantially the entire area of the device. [0015] At least on one side of the gap, the electrodes are coated with an insulator. The insulator material is chosen so that it is chemically resistant to the liquids to be manipulated in the device, as well as the filler fluid. [0016] By applying an electrical potential to an electrode or a group of electrodes adjacent to an area contacted by polar liquid, the hydrophobic surface on top of these electrodes is converted to hydrophilic and the polar liquid is pulled by the surface tension gradient (Marangoni effect) so as to maximize the area overlap with the charged group of electrodes. [0017] By removing an electric potential from an electrode positioned between the extremities of an elongated body of polar liquid, the portion of formerly hydrophilic surface corresponding to that electrode is made hydrophobic. The gradient of surface tension in this case acts to separate the elongated body of liquid into two separate bodies, each surrounded by a phase boundary. Thus, individual droplets of polar liquid can be formed by alternatively applying and removing an electric potential to electrodes. The droplets can be subsequently repositioned within the device as discussed above. [0018] Examples of appropriate coating materials include SiN and BN, deposited by any of the conventional thin-film deposition methods (sputtering, evaporation, or preferably chemical vapor deposition) and parylene™, deposited by pyrolytic process, spin-on glasses (SOGs) and polymer coatings (polyimides, polymethylmetacrylates and their copolymers, etc.), dip- and spray-deposited polymer coatings, as well as polymer films (Teflon™, polyimides etc.) applied by lamination. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES [0019] FIG. 1 Cross-section of a planar electrowetting actuator according to the invention [0020] 22 —top wafer [0021] 24 —bottom wafer [0022] 26 —liquid droplet [0023] 28 a —bottom hydrophobic insulating coating [0024] 28 b —top hydrophobic insulating coating [0025] 30 —filler fluid [0026] 32 a —bottom control electrodes [0027] 32 b —top control electrodes [0028] FIG. 2 Pump assembly [0029] FIG. 3 Drop meter [0030] 34 —contact pad [0031] 36 —cutoff electrode [0032] FIG. 4 Active reservoir [0033] 38 —hydrophobic rim [0034] 40 —reservoir electrodes [0035] FIG. 5 Array [0036] 42 a —transport lines [0037] 42 b —test areas [0038] FIG. 6 Vortexer [0039] 44 —sectorial electrode [0040] FIG. 7 Zero-dead-volume valve [0041] 62 —gate electrode [0042] 64 a —first supply line [0043] 64 b —second supply line [0044] 64 c —common line [0045] FIG. 8 Decade dilutor [0046] 46 —diluent line [0047] 48 —reagent supply line [0048] 50 —vortexer [0049] 52 —undiluted reagent outlet [0050] 54 —first stage outlet [0051] 56 —second stage outlet [0052] 58 —third stage outlet [0053] 60 —fourth stage outlet DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0054] According to the invention, there is provided a chamber filled with a fluid, with flat electrodes 32 a,b on opposite surfaces ( FIG. 1 ). The chamber is formed by the top 22 and the bottom 24 wafers. The manipulated liquid is presented in the form of droplets 26 . The fluid 30 filling the chamber should be immiscible with the liquid that is to be manipulated, and be less polar than that liquid. For example, if liquid 26 is an aqueous solution, the filling fluid 30 may be air, benzene, or a silicone oil. The electrodes have electrical connections allowing an outside control circuit to change their potentials individually or in groups. At least some of the electrodes have insulating, hydrophobic coating 28 a,b separating them from the inside of the chamber, and the voltage is applied in such a manner that no DC voltage difference is applied to any two non-insulated electrodes. EXAMPLE 1 A Pump [0055] The linear arrangement of electrodes shown in FIG. 2 is an integral pump. A droplet of polar liquid, or a streak of several electrode lengths, can be moved along by applying a wetting potential to an electrode on one side of it and removing the wetting potential from the last electrode under the other side of the streak. [0056] To aid the effect of electrowetting in moving liquid from one electrode to another, in a preferred embodiment the gap separating two adjacent electrodes is not straight. Preferably, it has either sawtooth or meander shape, preferably with rounded corners. The depths and widths of the interdigitated features of the adjacent electrodes are preferably chosen so as to promote moving liquid from one electrode to another when the voltage is applied to the latter electrode, as shown in FIG. 2 a - c . The initial position of the droplet 26 is shown in FIG. 2 a. The hatching of an electrode 32 adjacent to the position of the droplet indicates that that electrode is connected to a voltage source. The droplet 26 moves ( FIG. 2 b ) so as to align itself with the electric field of that electrode ( FIG. 2 c ). EXAMPLE 2 A Drop Meter [0057] As a convenient interface between a microfluidics device operating in subnanoliter to microliter range of volumes with the outside world, a drop meter is provided. The drop meter comprises an arrangement control pads on one side of the chamber ( FIG. 3 a ). The contact pad 34 is either hydrophilic due to material it is made of, or due to a surface treatment, or made hydrophilic by applying a wetting potential to an underlying electrode. The other two control pads have electrodes under the hydrophobic surface. [0058] To operate the drop meter, a wetting potential is first applied to the cutoff electrode 36 and the control electrode 32 . As a result of this, the liquid which has covered the surface of the contact pad 34 spreads over the other two pads, 32 and 36 ( FIG. 3 b - d ). Consequently, the wetting potential is removed from the cutoff electrode 36 , making it hydrophobic again. Part of the liquid moves back to the contact pad 34 , and is replaced on the cutoff electrode 36 with the filling fluid ( FIG. 3 e - f ). As a result, an isolated droplet of liquid ( 26 , FIG. 3 g ) is formed on the control electrode 32 . The size of the droplet is determined by the area of the control electrode 32 and the distance between the two surfaces forming the working chamber of the device. EXAMPLE 3 An Active Reservoir [0059] A reagent solution may be stored in an active reservoir in a sealed device and delivered under electronic control to a reaction site. An example of such reservoir is shown in FIG. 4 . The delivery is effected by applying the wetting potential to the first electrode 32 of the transport line and removing the potential sequentially from the reservoir electrodes 40 , for example beginning from the corner(s) furthermost from the transport line. To allow for long storage of the devices with power off, the coating within the reservoir area is only moderately hydrophobic, and the rim 38 around that area is extremely hydrophobic. The polar liquid will not spill beyond the rim 38 , allowing long shelf life of the device. EXAMPLE 4 An Array [0060] Droplets can be moved by electrowetting microactuators in more than one direction. The array shown in FIG. 5 comprises test areas 42 b (hatched) and transport lines 42 a (open). Reagents are supplied through external transport lines, shown (broken) in the top part of the drawing. Wash and waste lines are arranged similarly. The sources of the reagents may be reagent reservoirs as shown in FIG. 4 , drop meters as in FIG. 3 , or integral dilution devices such as shown in FIGS. 6,8 . In a preferred embodiment, the test pad electrodes are transparent, for example made of indium tin oxide (ITO) or a thin, transparent metal film, to allow for optical detection of molecules immobilized on the pad or trapped in the droplet. [0061] Such an array has utility as a system for parallel synthesis of many different reagents. Both solid-phase synthesis of immobilized compounds and liquid-phase synthesis using immobilized reagents, resins and catalysts are possible. Another use of such an array is a fraction collector for capillary electrophoresis or similar separation methods, whereby each fraction is isolated by a drop meter (similar to that shown in FIG. 3 ) and placed on its individual pad 32 . This will allow long signal accumulation time for optical and radioactive detection methods and therefore improve sensitivity of analysis. [0062] Important features of the electrodes in an array are the width of the gap between the electrodes and the shape of the electrode outline. To avoid accidental mixing of droplets on the test pads, the gaps separating those are straight and relatively wide. On the other hand, the electrodes in the transport lines preferably have interdigitated sawtooth or meander outlines. The gaps between the test pad electrodes and transport line electrodes are also preferably of the meander or sawtooth types. EXAMPLE 5 A Mixer/Vortexer [0063] For controlled mixing of solutions, an integral mixer/vortexer is provided ( FIG. 6 ). It comprises a circular arrangement of sectorial electrodes 44 , some of which have transport line electrodes adjacent to them. The necessary number of the sectors is filled with each solution to be mixed by consecutively applying the wetting potential to the respective electrodes. The sectors initially filled with different solutions are preferably isolated from each other by the interspersed sectors with filler fluid. Then the potentials on the transport lines are removed, and those on sectorial electrodes are rearranged so as to bring the solutions into contact. The mixing action is achieved by simultaneous removal of filler fluid from some of the sectors and filling other sectors with the filler fluid. In particular, vortexer action is achieved if this is done in a sequential fashion around the circle. [0064] Alternative configurations of electrodes are possible for achieving the same goal of assisting in mixing solutions. For example, some of the sectors in an arrangement similar to that shown in FIG. 6 could be made narrower and longer than the other sectors. EXAMPLE 6 A Zero-Dead-Volume Valve [0065] To rapidly exchange solutions contacting a particular pad in an array, a zero-dead-volume valve is provided. An example of electrode configuration for this application is shown in FIG. 8 . Supply lines 64 a and 64 b are connected to the line 64 c through gate electrode 62 . Either of the supply lines is operated in the manner described in Example 1, while wetting potential is applied to the gate electrode. Removal of the wetting potential from the gate electrode 62 allows to move one of the solutions back up its supply line before the other is transported down its respective line. This arrangement has utility, for example, in systems for determination of reaction kinetic constants. EXAMPLE 7 A Decade Dilutor [0066] A group of mixer/vortexers such as that shown in FIG. 6 can be used, complete with piping, for serial dilutions of reagents. An example of a decade dilutor with five decades is shown in FIG. 8 . Each mixer in the decade dilutor is operated in the manner described in the Example 5. Undiluted solution is passed directly through to the line 52 ; diluted 10 times, down the line 54 , and also to the next mixer 50 ; from there, solution diluted 100 times is passed both down the line 56 and to the next mixer 50 and so forth. [0067] Such dilutors have utility, for example, as elements of a system for determination of binding constants of labeled reagents in solution to those immobilized on test pads of an array (similar to that shown in FIG. 5 ). [0068] While the present invention has been described in terms of particular embodiments, it should be understood that the present invention lies in the application of the electrowetting liquid propulsion principle to forming and manipulating discrete droplets of liquids rather than a particular structure or configuration of the device. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that a variety of electrode configurations and arrangements can be substituted for those described in the Examples without departing from the scope of the present invention. In particular, the dimensions in the figures should be understood only as illustrative examples rather than set dimensions defining the scope of the present invention.
A series of microactuators for manipulating small quantities of liquids, and methods of using these for manipulating liquids, are disclosed. The microactuators are based on the phenomenon of electrowetting and contain no moving parts. The force acting on the liquid is a potential-dependent gradient of adhesion energy between the liquid and a solid insulating surface.
1
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a divisional of and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 to commonly owned and co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/084,447, entitled “SOLDER BUMP FORMATION IN ELECTRONICS PACKAGING,” filed on Mar. 18, 2005, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety and for all intents and purposes. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to the packaging of integrated circuits. More particularly, the invention relates to the formation of solder bumps for use in integrated circuit packaging. There are a number of conventional processes for packaging integrated circuits. In many situations it is desirable to form solder bumps directly on an integrated circuit die. Typically, the solder bumps are formed on the wafer before the individual dice are cut (singulated) from the wafer. When the resulting die are mounted on a substrate or other appropriate carrier, the solder bumps may be reflowed to create electrical connections to the die. This style of electrically connecting integrated circuits is often called “flip chip” mounting. As integrated circuit devices and packaging get smaller and smaller, there are more situations where a flip chip type mounting is desirable. In flip chip applications, there are a number of different solder bump sizes and spacings that are in commercial production. For example, one relatively standard solder bumps pitch is 500 microns. That is, the center-to-center distance between adjacent solder bumps is approximately 500 microns. Such a product may have metallization pads diameters on the order of 220-350 microns, maximum bump diameters on the order of 170-350 microns and bump heights on the order of around 200-280 microns. The next smaller relatively standard bump size contemplates the use of metallization pad diameters on the order of 150 microns, maximum bump diameters of about 170 microns and bump heights in the range of 125-130 microns. Of course, there are efforts to develop even smaller and lower profile devices. In applications where it is desirable to minimize the total thickness of a packaged device, the height (thickness) of the solder bumps may become a limiting factor. By way of example, in some applications the die itself may be thinned to a thickness of 125 microns (or less). In such applications, even the smaller 125-130 micron bump height can take up over 50% of the total package thickness. One problem that can be encountered when the size of the solder bumps is reduced too much is that the relative strength of the resulting joints may be too small for a particular application. For example, the described 125-130 micron high bumps on a 150 micron metallization pad may have a strength of only about 76 grams per joint. Although the existing solder bump formation techniques work well in many applications, there are continuing efforts to make thinner and stronger connections. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To achieve the foregoing and other objects of the invention a wafer level method and arrangement for creating low profile solder bumps on semiconductor dice is described. In a method aspect of the invention, a polymer stencil is applied to the active surface of a wafer. The stencil has openings that at least partially overlay associated metallization pads on the wafer and divider strips positioned between at least some adjacent openings. The divider strips are arranged to overlay portions of associated metallization pads such that at least two adjacent openings overlay portions of the each metallization pad having an associated divider strip. After the stencil has been positioned, a solder paste is applied to the stencil openings. The solder paste is then reflowed with the polymer stencil remaining in place. The reflowed solder forms solder bumps on the metallization pads. With this arrangement, solder creeps under the divider strips during the formation of the solder bumps, causing the divider strips to lift away from the metallization pads. Thus, a single unified solder bump is formed on each metallization pad that had solder paste applied thereto. In some embodiments, a subsequent reflow may be helpful to ensure uniform and consistent solder bump shapes. Novel polymer stencil designs for use in solder bump formation are also described. As discussed above, the stencils include divider strips arranged to be positioned over associated metallization pads. Any suitable number of openings may be formed over the metallization pads. For example, in various implementations, two, four or more openings may overlay any particular metallization pad. In various embodiments, the openings are arranged to extend over a portion of a passivation layer adjacent their associated metallization pad. In this manner the volume of solder used for each bond pad may be controlled by controlling the volumes of the associated openings. The described methods and arrangements can be used to create low profile solder bumps that are particularly strong for a given bump height. They may also be used to obtain solder bump profiles that are not currently attainable using conventional solder bump formation techniques. For example, integrated circuit devices with small solder bumps having an aspect ratio (defined as the ratio of the solder bump height to the solder bump maximum diameter) that is less than approximately 0.6, 0.47 or even 0.35 are readily attainable. By way of example, in various implementations, solder bump heights of less than approximately 150 microns are readily attainable on metallization pads having a footprint diameter that is greater than approximately 250 microns. In a particular implementation, solder bump heights of no more than approximately 130 microns are readily attainable on metallization pads having a footprint diameter of at least approximately 280 microns. In certain applications, the use of oversized metallization pads can be useful in helping to reduce light induced interference to the underlying semiconductor devices. Although the invention is described primarily in the context of forming solder bumps on semiconductor dice, the techniques are equally applicable to forming solder bumps on other substrates. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1( a ) is a diagrammatic top view of a wafer having a prior art polymer solder stencil positioned thereon; FIG. 1( b ) is a diagrammatic top view of the polymer stencil shown in FIG. 1( a ) showing a stencil opening formed over a single metallization pad; FIG. 1( c ) is a diagrammatic side view of the polymer stencil shown in FIG. 1( b ) over a single metallization pad with the solder paste in place; FIG. 1( d ) is a diagrammatic side view of the arrangement shown in FIG. 1( c ) after the solder has been reflowed; FIG. 2( a ) is a diagrammatic top view of a wafer having a solder stencil in accordance with the present invention positioned thereon; FIG. 2( b ) is a diagrammatic top view of the stencil shown in FIG. 2( a ) showing a pair of stencil openings formed over a single metallization pad in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2( c ) is a diagrammatic side view of the stencil shown in FIG. 2( b ) over a single metallization pad with the solder paste in place; FIG. 2( d ) is a diagrammatic side view of the arrangement shown in FIG. 2( c ) after the solder has been reflowed; FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic top view of a stencil having four opening formed over a single metallization pad in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic cross sectional view of a microphone incorporating a device formed in accordance with the present invention; and FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic side view of another arrangement for forming low profile solder bumps. It is to be understood that, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate like structural elements. Also, it is understood that the depictions in the figures are diagrammatic and not to scale. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Flip Chip International of Phoenix, Ariz. (www.flipchip.com) developed a stencil printing based wafer bumping process that utilizes a stencil formed from laminate polymeric films. As seen in FIG. 1( a )- 1 ( d ), the polymeric mask 12 is applied to a wafer 10 . The mask 12 has openings 15 located over the metallization pads 18 on wafer 10 as best seen in FIG. 1( b ). After the mask 12 is positioned, solder paste 19 is stencil printed into the openings 15 as best seen in FIG. 1( c ). The solder is then reflowed to form solder bumps 20 as best seen in FIG. 1( d ). After the solder bumps 20 have been reflown, the mask 12 may be removed since it is formed from a material that does not wet or adhere to solder. Alternatively, if desired, the mask 12 may be left in place. Although the polymeric mask based stencil printing process works well, the resulting bumps still tend to have the standard bump heights described above. Referring next to FIGS. 2( a )- 2 ( d ) an improved stencil arrangement and bump fabrication process in accordance with the present invention will be described. In the illustrated embodiment, a laminate polymeric stencil 112 is applied to a wafer 110 . However, as best seen in FIG. 2( b ) rather than having a single opening formed over each metallization pad, a plurality of openings 115 partially overlay each metallization pad 118 with divider strips 116 extending over the metallization pad between the adjacent openings. The divider strips 116 are an integral part of the stencil 112 . The number and geometry of the openings 115 used may vary depending on the needs of a particular application. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2( b ), a pair of substantially rectangular openings 115 are provided. However, in alternative embodiments, three, four or more openings may be provided over a particular metallization pad. The combined volume of the openings is selected to provide the desired solder bump height as will be described in more detail below. After the mask 112 has been positioned, solder is stencil printed onto the mask in order to fill the openings 115 with solder paste 119 as best seen in FIG. 2( c ). Conventional stencil printing techniques can be used to apply the solder paste. It is noted that when stencil gaps of greater than about 330 microns are used with a 4 mil stencil thickness, it can be difficult to prevent the squeegee used in the stencil printing operation from “scooping” some of desired solder paste out of the opening. An additional benefit of using the elongated openings of FIG. 2( b ) is that the alignment of the openings can be coordinated with the direction that the squeegee (which is illustrated by arrow 127 of FIG. 2( b )) to reduce or eliminate such scooping. After the solder paste 119 has been applied, it may be reflowed with the mask 112 left in place. When the solder is reflowed, the solder adheres very well to the metallization pad 118 and creeps underneath the divider strips 116 . The creep is sufficient so that reflowed solder from adjacent openings that overlie the same metallization pad will join. When the solder joins, the surface tension of the molten solder is sufficient to lift the divider strip 116 out of the way as best seen in FIG. 2( d ). After the solder bumps 120 cool and solidify, the mask may be removed and any additional desired wafer level processing, testing or packaging may be performed. When all wafer level processing is completed, the wafer may be diced using any suitable technique. By way of example, wafer sawing and laser cutting work well. In most cases, the divider strip is compliant enough that it will not significantly deform the resulting solder bumps 120 . If deformation of the solder bumps occurs in a particular application, then the solder may be reflown a second time after the stencil 112 is removed so that uniform looking bumps are formed. As described in the background section of this application, typical bump heights for a solder bump formed on a 280 micron diameter metallization pad may be on the order of 240 microns. Although the height and size of the bumps will vary somewhat based on a number of factors including the amount of solder paste used, as will be appreciated by those familiar with solder bump formation, such a bump will typically have a somewhat spherical appearance and may have a maximum diameter on the order of 320 microns. This results in an aspect ratio (i.e., the ratio of the bump height to maximum bump diameter) on the order of approximately 0.75 and a footprint aspect ratio (i.e., the ratio of the bump height to metallization pad diameter) on the order of approximately 0.86. More generally, aspect ratios in the range of 0.7 to 0.8 are common in conventional wafer level solder bumping applications. The footprint aspect ratios tend to be even higher. An advantage of the present invention is that it may be used to form low profile solder joints. For example, by choosing the proper amount of solder paste, a somewhat hemispherical appearing bump having a solder bump height in the range of about 125-130 microns may be formed on a 280 micron diameter metallization pad. By way of example, a 4 mil thick stencil having a pair of openings 115 (as illustrated in FIG. 2( b )) that are each approximately 200×440 microns with a 40 micron wide divider strip 116 works well to form such a bump. It should be appreciated that the proper amount of solder paste (and thus the size of the desired openings) will depend in some part on the nature of the solder paste used, since many pastes have volatile components that will evaporate or liquefy and flow away during the solder reflow process. Additionally, the size of the openings can be adjusted to form solder bumps of virtually any desired size. The width of the divider strips 116 may vary with the needs of a particular application. However the size of the divider strips will in part be dictated by the material properties of the materials (e.g., laminate polymeric films) used to create the stencil. It should be appreciated that the aspect ratio for the described bump is significantly lower than the conventional solder bump aspect ratios described above. The described approach can readily be used to form bumps having footprint aspect ratios in the range of approximately 0.35 to 0.65 with good repeatability. By way of example, the aspect ratio and the footprint aspect ratio in the illustrated embodiment are both less than approximately 0.47. Solder bumps having footprint aspect ratios of less than approximately 0.5 are particularly noteworthy. Although the illustrated embodiment involves the use of a bump formed on a 280-micron diameter metallization pad, it should be appreciated that the described technique can be used to form low profile bumps on die metallization pads of virtually any size. In the illustrated embodiment, the bumps formed are somewhat hemispherical in shape. This will be the case when the footprint aspect ratio is in the neighborhood of about 0.35 to 0.55. As higher bumps are formed, a slightly larger sphere segment will be approximated. The bump height that is attained in a particular application may be controlled in large part by the thickness of the laminate stencil 112 in combination with the size of the openings 115 . Although the formation of the solder bumps has been described primarily in the context of forming solder bumps directly on a die (wafer), it should be appreciated that the described technique can be used to form low profile solder bumps on pads formed on substrates other than a die. For example, the described bumps may be formed on I/O pads on a substrate used in a BGA (ball grid array), PGA (pin grid array) or chip scale package. As will be appreciated by those familiar with the art, such substrates might include BT (bismaleimide-triazine), FR4, FR5 and others. Referring next to FIG. 3 , another embodiment of the invention will be described. This embodiment is very similar to the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 2( a )- 2 ( d ) except that in this embodiment an arrangement of four substantially square openings 115 ( a ) are provided in the stencil 112 ( a ) over each metallization pad 118 ( a ). In this embodiment, a pair of divider strips 116 ( a ) orthogonally intersect to form a cross that separate the four openings 115 ( a ). Of course, the number of openings provided over each metallization pad may be widely varied in accordance with the needs of a particular application. In various embodiments 6 or more openings may be used or odd numbers of openings may be used. The geometry of the illustrated openings is substantially rectangular. Although rectangular openings usually have advantages in terms of space utilization, other geometries may readily be used as well. The described bumps have a number of advantages and are particularly useful in applications where low profile packages are desired. For example, the described somewhat hemispherical bumps may have a much larger footprint for a given bump height than a conventional solder bump. As such, they will produce stronger joints when the devices are eventually soldered to a substrate (such as a printed circuit board (PCB)) than a conventional bump having the same height. As mentioned above, a typical conventional bump on a 150 micron diameter metallization pad may have a bump height on the order of 125-130 microns, a maximum diameter on the order of 170 microns and a bond strength on the order of only about 76 grams per joint. In accordance with the present invention, a bump having a similar height may be formed on a 280-micron metallization pad. Such a bump may have a bond strength more on the order of 250 grams, which may be desirable in a variety of applications, and particularly in applications where there is a need for low profile joints having stronger bond strengths than are attainable using conventional bumps. One specific application where the described solder joints are particularly useful is on dice used in very small microphones (as for example may be used in cell phones or other portable electronic or computing devices) as illustrated in FIG. 4 . In such applications a die 210 may be mounted on an extremely thin printed circuit board 234 and the arrangement placed in a very small closed end canister 236 . A diaphragm 238 is mounted at the open end of the canister. The entire canister is preferably very low profile, as for example 1 mm thick. Therefore, it is important to form low profile solder bumps. For example, solder bumps having a bump height of over 200 microns are not well suited for use in such applications because the height of the resulting solder joints alone may take a significant percentage of the available canister height. At the same time, the microphones tend to be used in applications where there is potentially a fair amount of physical abuse and it is desirable to provide stronger joints than might be available using standard solder bumps on a 150 micron metallization pad. In such applications, there is sufficient room on the die for the larger sized bond pads. Accordingly, this is a good example of an application where bumps formed in accordance with the present invention work particularly well. The enlarged metallization pads also provide some additional benefits in this type of application as well. Specifically, in the microphone application, the printed circuit board is very thin and is thus somewhat translucent. The die is flip chip mounted on the printed circuit board with the active surface of the die facing the canister opening. Therefore, in practice light tends to penetrate the die. The dice also have analog circuits that are susceptible to light-caused performance shifts. The metallization pads block light penetration into the regions immediately below the metallization pads. Therefore, light sensitive circuits can be formed in regions beneath the metallization pads. The enlarged metallization pads give circuit designers additional room to form the light sensitive circuits without requiring the use of other more expensive light blocking strategies. By way of example, conventional sized bond pads on very small and thin die may occupy on the order of 9 to 20 percent of the surface area of the active surface of the die. In contrast, the enlarged metallization described herein may be used to cover 25%-65% or more of the die's active surface. Thus, coverage of greater than 40 or 50 percent is readily attainable. Referring next to FIG. 5 , another method of forming the low profile solder bumps will be described. In this embodiment, small preformed solder spheres 333 are placed in a stencil 335 over metallization pads 118 . The stencil has openings over each metallization pad 118 . The solder balls are then reflowed in a conventional reflow operation to form solder bumps 120 . The volume of the spheres is selected so that each sphere contains the amount of solder required to form a solder bump 120 of the desired size. By way of example, a 220 micron diameter ball would work well to form a 130 micron high solder bump on a 280 micron diameter metallization pad. In still other embodiments, the solder may be plated onto the metallization pads 118 . Although only a few embodiments of the invention have been described in detail, it should be appreciated that the invention may be implemented in many other forms without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Although specific embodiments and applications for the described low profile bumps have been given, it should be appreciated that the described bumps may be used in a wide variety of different applications. The size of the metallization pads upon which the low profile bumps are formed (and therefore the footprint diameter of the bumps) may also be widely varied. Additionally, the height of the bumps formed on any particularly sized metallization pad may be varied to meet the needs of a particular application. Additionally, a novel method for forming solder bumps on semiconductor wafers has been described. The described method can be used to form the improved solder bumps that have been described, or it may be used to form more traditionally sized solder bumps. Similarly, in some situations, other methods may be used to form the described new solder bumps. Therefore, the present embodiments are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive and the invention is not to be limited to the details given herein, but may be modified within the scope and equivalents of the appended claims.
A polymer stencil is applied to the active surface of a wafer. The stencil has openings that at least partially overlay associated metallization pads on the wafer and divider strips positioned between adjacent openings. The divider strips are arranged to overlay portions of associated metallization pads so that at least two adjacent openings overlay portions of each metallization pad. After the stencil has been positioned, a solder paste is applied to the stencil openings. The solder paste may then be reflowed with the polymer stencil remaining in place. The solder naturally creeps under the stencil so that unitary solder bumps are formed on each metallization pad. The described methods and arrangements can be used to create low profile solder bumps that are not attainable using conventional solder bump formation techniques.
7
DISCUSSION OF THE BACKGROUND The present invention relates to a one pick weft inserting method and a one pick weft inserting control system in a jet loom for maintaining one pick of inserted weft positively in a restartable state prior to start-up of the jet loom. Sometimes, in the event a jet loom stops its operation due to defective weft inserting for example, one pick of weft is inserted into a warp shed in a stopped state of the loom prior to restarting of the operation of the loom, and thereafter the loom is started up. Generally, when a defective weft is removed in a loom, the operation of which has been stopped due to defective weft inserting, for example, the position of a cloth fell changes by a distance corresponding to a woven in portion of the defective weft and this is unavoidable. Further, this positional change eventually causes a weaving bar because beating is performed at the time of reverse operation of the loom after removal of the defective weft. To prevent the formation of such weaving bar, a defective weft is removed and one pick of weft is inserted in advance. Also, according to the above removal and one pick weft-insertion, the length of the inserted weft can be adjusted to a proper state, thus resulting in the fact that the first weft inserting step can be operated with certainty after start-up of the loom. Such one pick weft inserting operation (hereinafter referred to simply as "one pick weft inserting") can be done manually. It is also known to perform this weft inserting operation automatically by controlling a main nozzle, a weft length measuring device disposed behind the main nozzle, and a sub nozzle disposed in front of the main nozzle. In this regard, reference is here made to, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 55660/79, 197350/83 and 185843/85. More particularly, while the operation of the loom is stopped, the main nozzle and the sub nozzle (both hereinafter be referred to as named a "weft inserting nozzle") are operated and one pick of weft is unwound from the weft length measuring device and inserted into a warp shed. Particularly, according to the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 55660/79, one pick of inserted weft is sucked by a suction nozzle provided on the side opposite to the feed side and in this state a loom is started up. In such conventional technique, one pick weft inserting itself is performed under a normal condition and a predetermined tension is applied to the inserted weft, so that when the loom assumes a state permitting the start-up occurs breaking, resulting in short pick. More particularly, after one pick weft inserting and until start-up of the loom it is necessary to continue the operation of the weft inserting nozzle and that of the suction nozzle and thereby continue to maintain the weft at a predetermined tension, so the exposure time to a fluid jet becomes too long and there occurs untwisting of the weft, thus resulting in the strength being deteriorated to an extreme degree. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been accomplished in view of the above-mentioned problem of the prior art, and it is a principal object of the invention to provide a one pick weft inserting method and a one pick weft inserting control system in a jet loom capable of maintaining an inserted one pick weft positively in a state permitting the start-up of the loom without causing a short pick due to breaking when one pick weft inserting has been completed. For achieving the above object, according to the gist of the method, when a jet loom is to be started up, a weft length measuring device and a weft inserting nozzle are operated for one pick weft inserting, and a warp shed is closed while the weft is pulled by a weft pulling device. According to the gist of the control system disclosed, the control system comprises a one pick command section for operating a weft length measuring device, a weft inserting nozzle and a weft pulling device in accordance with a command signal to carry out a one pick weft inserting operation, and a shed closing control section for closing a warp shed in accordance with a completion signal provided from the one pick command section. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an entire system diagram showing a control system according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is an entire explanatory view showing in what state the control system illustrated in FIG. 1 is used; FIG. 3 is a view explanatory of the operation of the control system, etc. illustrated in FIG. 2; FIG. 4 is a system diagram of a principal portion of a control system according to another embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a control method according to the present invention, using a microcomputer; and FIG. 6 is a detailed flowchart of a principal portion of FIG. 5. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinunder with reference to the accompanying drawings. The loom used herein is assumed to be an air jet loom. As shown in FIG. 2, a weft W fed from a feeder W1 is measured for its length and is stored by a drum type weft length measuring device D, then is inserted into a warp shed (not shown) through a main nozzle MN. The weft length measuring device D has a drum D1, a retaining pin D2 and a rotary yarn guide D3. The rotary yarn guide D3 is rotated by a motor D4, whereby the weft W can be wound and stored onto the drum D1. By a retaining pin controller DC in the weft length measuring device D the retaining pin D2 is moved to a unwinding position at a predetermined time to unwind the weft W from the drum D1 and then is moved back to the retaining position whereby the unwinding operation can be stopped. In the vicinity of the drum D1 there is provided an unwinding sensor D5 to count the number of windings of the weft W being unwound from the drum D1, whereby the length of the weft W unwound can be measured and controlled. Along a traveling path of the weft W there are disposed a plurality of groups of sub nozzles SNi (i=1, 2, . . . ). The sub nozzles SNi operate successively group by group, whereby the weft W which is inserted by the main nozzle MN can be conveyed up to the side opposite to the weft inserting side. On the side opposite to the weft W inserting side there are disposed a weft feeler WF1 for detecting a leading end of the weft W inserted, a stretch nozzle SP serving as a weft pulling device, and an auxiliary weft feeler WF2. The stretch nozzle S is provided in opposed relation to a bent pipe SP1 and air is jetted from the stretch nozzle SP, whereby the leading end of the weft W can be blown into the bent pipe SP1 and a predetermined tension can be applied to the weft W. The auxiliary weft feeler WF2 is disposed near the rear end of the bent pipe SP1 to detect the weft W. In the event of breaking of the inserted weft W, the feeler WF2 detects it. The main nozzle MN is connected to an air source AC through an on-off valve Vm and a pressure regulating valve Pm. The sub nozzles SNi are connected to the air source AC through on-off valves Vsi (i=1, 2 . . . ) provided in corresponding relation to the sub nozzle groups and further through a common pressure regulating valve Ps. The stretch nozzle SP is connected to a downstream side of the pressure regulating valve Ps through an on-off valve Vp. The on-off valves Vm, Vsi and Vp are each independently controlled with respect to their opening and closing motions each independently by a nozzle controller NC. A one pick weft inserting control system (simply referred to as a "control system" hereinafter) A in the jet loom comprises a one pick command section 10 and a shed closing control section 20, as shown in FIG. 1. The one pick command section 10 of the control system A comprises a command switch SW, a monomultivibrator 11, flip-flops 12, 14 and an AND gate 13. The command switch SW is connected to set terminals S, S of the flip flops 12 and 14 through the monomultivibrator 11, and the output of the monomultivibrator 11 is drawn out to the exterior as a command signal S1. An output terminal Q of the flip-flop 12 is not only connected to the AND gate 13 but is also branched to the exterior as an operation signal S2. An output signal Sf of the weft feeler WF1 is also inputted to the AND gate 13. The output of the AND gate 13 is not only fed as a completion signal S10 to the shed closing control section 20 but is also branched and connected to a reset terminal R of the flip-flop 12. On the other hand, another operation signal S3 is drawn out to the exterior from an output terminal Q of the flip-flop 14, while to a reset terminal R of the same flip-flop is fed a start preparation completion signal S4 from the shed closing control section 20. When the warp shed is closed, the shed closing control section 20 inputs the completion signal S10 from the one pick command section 10 and outputs the start preparation completion signal S4 to both the one pick command section 10 and a loom control circuit (not shown). The completion signal S10 is fed to a set terminal S of flip-flop 21, while to an output terminal Q of the same flip-flop is connected a relay Ry. Further, the start preparation completion signal S4 is fed to a reset terminal R of the flip-flop 21. In the shed closing control section 20 there is provided a control amplifier 22 having a speed setter SS, and a normally open contact Rya of the relay Ry is interposed between the control amplifier 22 and the speed setter SS. The output of the control amplifier 22 is connected to a main motor M. There is provided an encoder EN connected directly or indirectly to the main motor M to detect a rotational angle, as a loom mechanical angle θ, of a loom shaft which is driven by the main motor. The output of the encoder EN in fed to a comparator 23 which is included in the shed closing control section 20. A setting unit 24 is attached to the comparator 23. The comparator 23 provides an output signal which is the start preparation completion signal S4. The command signal Sl and the operation signals S2, S3 from the control system A are fed to the retaining pin controller DC and the nozzle controller NC, respectively, as shown in FIG. 2. Now an example of how to operate the above control system will be described below in detail. Upon occcurrence of an improper (poor) insertion of weft, the loom is stopped automatically and then the loom is rotated in a reverse direction under the control of a manual or well-known automatic poor weft removing device and further stopped at a position where the warp has an opening, followed by removal of the poor weft. Then, when commands switch SW is turned on under the control of the manual or automatic poor weft removing device, a command signal S1 is produced through the monomultivibrator 11 (see FIG. 3). The command signal S1 is fed to the retaining pin controller DC, which in turn moves the retaining pin D2 from the retaining position to the unwinding position, so that the weft W can be unwound from the drum D1. On the other hand, with the command signal S1, the flip-flops 12 and 14 in the one pick command section 10 are set and operation signals S2, S3 are fed to the nozzle controller NC. In accordance with the operation signal S2 the nozzle controller NC opens the on-off valves Vm and Vsi to operate the main nozzle MN and the sub nozzle SNi, whereby the weft W is inserted into the warp shed (not shown). Further simultaneously with the opening of the on-off valves Vm and Vsi, or with an appropriate slight time lag, the nozzle controller NC opens the on-off valve Vp to operate the stretch nozzle SP in accordance with the operation signal S3. When a predetermined length of the weft W is inserted in this way, an output signal is developed from the unwinding sensor D5 and it is detected by the retaining pin controller DC, which in turn moves the retaining pin D2 back to the retaining position to stop the unwinding operation for the weft W. At this time, the leading end of the weft W is blown into the bent pipe SP1 past the front of the weft feeler WF1, but does not reach the weft feeler WF2 because the weft length is measured exactly by the weft length measuring device D. When the weft W reaches the weft feeler WF1, an output signal Sf is generated from the weft feeler WF1, whereby a completion signal S10 is developed as an output signal of the AND gate 13. With the completion signal S10, the flip-flop 12 is reset and the operation signal S2 is extinguished, so that the nozzle controller NC closes the on-off valves Vm and Vsi to stop the operation of the main nozzle MN and that of the sub nozzle SNi. At this time, the stretch nozzle SP continues to operate, so there is no fear of the weft W becoming loose. On the other hand, with the completion signal S10, the flip-flop 21 in the shed closing control section 20 is set. As a result, the relay Ry operates and the main motor M is rotated at a low speed which is set by the speed setter SS, whereby the warp shed can be closed through the loom shaft (not shown) and further through a shedding motion interlocked with the loom shaft. This closed state of the warp can be detected by comparing in the comparator 23 the loom mechanical angle θ from the encoder EN with the value set in the setting unit 24, provided that in the setting unit 24 there is set a loom mechanical angle θc corresponding to the shed closed state of the warp. Once the warp assumes the shed closed state, the weft W is held by the warp with a predetermined tension applied thereto by the stretch nozzle SP. Upon detection of the warp shed closed state, the comparator 23 outputs the start preparation completion signal S4, whereby the flip-flops 21 and 14 are reset, the main motor M stops, and operation of the stretch nozzle SP can be stopped through the nozzle controller NC. Now, the loom may be started up by the loom control circuit on the condition that the start preparation completion signal S4 is present. OTHER EMBODIMENTS The completion signal S10 from the one pick command section 10 may be outputted after the lapse of a predetermined time from the time when the command signal S1 was generated, in place of being outputted on the basis of the output signal Sf of the weft feeler WF1, as shown in FIG. 4. More specifically, a time delay element 15 which inputs the command signal S1 may be used in place of the AND gate 13. If the time corresponding to the weft traveling time required for the weft W to reach the side opposite to the weft inserting side is set as the delay time for the time delay element 15, there can be obtained just the same results as in the previous embodiment. The above embodiments can also be realized by a software using a microcomputer, provided the illustrations of FIGS. 5 and 6 correspond to the first embodiment. According to a program, with the command signal S1, the weft inserting nozzle comprising the main nozzle MN and the sub nozzle SNi and the stretch nozzle SP starts, operating [step (1) in FIG. 5, the word "step" being omitted hereinafter]. Subsequently, one pick of weft W is unwound by controlling the retaining pin D2 of the weft length measuring device D (2), so that the weft W is inserted into a warp shed, and the program waits for the completion and results of the operation (3). The details of step (3) in FIG. 5 are as illustrated in FIG. 6. In FIG. 6, the program confirms that the weft W has reached the weft feeler WF1 within a predetermined time (31)(33) and not reached the weft feeler WF2 (32), and concludes that the one pick weft inserting has been done successfully. On the other hand, in the case where the weft W has not reached the weft feeler WF1 within the predetermined time (31)(33), or when it has reached the weft feeler WF2 (32), it is determined that the one pick weft inserting has been unsuccessful. In this case, the operation of the weft inserting nozzle, etc. is stopped (34) and this state is displayed (35). Now, the program is over. When one pick weft inserting has been successful (3), the operation of the weft inserting nozzle is stopped (4) and the main motor is driven at low speed (5), waiting for warp shed closing (6). Once the warp shed is closed and the weft W is held by the warp (6), operation of the stretch nozzle SP is stopped (7). Now, the program is over. From a comparison between FIGS. 5 and 1 it is apparent that steps (1) to (4) in the former figure correspond to the one pick command section 10 in the latter figure and that steps (5) and (6) in the former figure correspond to the shed closing control section 20 in the latter figure. The operation stop timing of the stretch nozzle SP is not so strict. Once the weft W is held by the warp, the possibility of damage of the weft is reduced under the pulling force of the stretch nozzle, so the operation of the same nozzle is stopped at an appropriate time, or it may be kept operating until start-up of the loom. In the event of breaking of the weft during the warp shed closing operation and when this state has been detected by the weft feeler WF2, the operation of the stretch nozzle SP is stopped and the warp may be returned to its open shed state. The stretch nozzle SP is not limited to such a combined form with the bent pipe SP1 as illustrated in FIG. 1. It may be of a type wherein a mechanical pulling force is applied to the weft W using a suitable movable brush or holding roller. The present invention is also applicable to a water jet loom, and in this case it is to necessary to use the sub nozzle SNi. According to the control method of the present invention, as set forth hereinabove, one pick weft inserting is performed and the warp shed is closed while the weft is pulled by the weft pulling device, whereby the weft can be maintained stably under a predetermined tension permitting restart-up of the loom by the warp during the long time after the one pick weft inserting and until start-up of the loom. Consequently, it is possible to effectively prevent breaking of the weft during that period. In the control system of the present invention, the above method can be carried out easily by combining the one pick command section and the shed closing control section together. 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.
A one pick weft inserting, a defective weft determination method and method and a one pick weft inserting control system in a jet loom are provided wherein, in restarting the operation of the jet loom, one pick of weft is inserted and the weft is held securely to permit a smooth start-up of the jet loom. A weft length measuring device and a weft inserting nozzle are operated by a one pick command section provided in the control system to ensure one pick weft inserting into a warp shed, and after completion of the weft inserting operation, the warp shed is closed by a shed closing control section provided in the control system to hold the one pick weft securely, thereby preventing breaking, etc. of the weft.
3
FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a process for producing hydroxy fatty acids from natural oils and fats. More particularly, the present invention relates to a process for producing hydroxy fatty acids by hydroxylation or oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids derived from vegetable oils or animal fats. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Certain oxidizing agents or oxidants convert alkenes such as unsaturated fatty acids into compounds known as glycols. Glycols are simply dihydroxy alcohols; their formation amounts to the addition of two hydroxyl groups to the double bond. Of the numerous oxidants that caused hydroxylation, two of the most commonly used are cold alkaline potassium permanganate (KMnO 4 ) and peroxyacid such as performic acid. Permanganate oxidation on unsaturated fatty acids usually give vic-diols (cis) in high yield as shown in the equation below. Oxidation or sometimes known as hydroxylation of unsaturated fatty acids will lead to di- and polyhydroxy acids depending on the number of unsaturated present in the acids. According to the MERCK index, one of the dihydroxy acid, 9,10-dihydroxystearic acid (DHSA) of molecular weight 316.18 and molecular formula of CH 3 (CH 2 ) 7 CHOHCHOH(CH 2 ) 7 COOH is white, odorless, tasteless and lustrous crystal with fatty feel. It is insoluble in water, soluble in hot alcohol or acetone and slightly soluble in ether and has a melting point of 132-136° C. The compound is also reported to find applications in the manufacturing of cosmetic and toilet preparations. According to U.S. Pat. No. 2,443,280, 9,10-dihydroxystearic acid is produced by conversion of oleic acid with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and acetic acid as well as catalytic quantities of a strong acid such as sulphuric acid. The hydroxy acetoxy acid developing thereby is regenerated afterwards by soaping with the following decomposition to 9,10-dihydroxystearic acid. In EP0025940 the production of dihydroxystearic acid is described on the basic of oleic acid, whereby 1 mol of oleic acid is mixed with 4 mole formic acid and to this mixture 1.1 mole of the oxidizing agent hydrogen peroxide is added in the 1 hour process with 50° C. is admitted. The conversion product must be soaped with caustic soda solution and be split afterwards with concentrated hydrochloric acid. DE4332292 disclosed that hydroxylation of unsaturated carboxylic acids with a hydrogen peroxide and formic acid and/or acetic acid at temperature from 25° C. to 90° C. The reaction required less quantity of catalyst but needs longer response time than EP0025940. Methods on the production of di- and polyhydroxy fatty acids from mono- or polyunsaturated fatty acid usually in oxidant-catalyst environment such as selenium oxide-tert-butyl hydroperoxide, hydrogen peroxide-tungtic acid, ruthenium and osmium tetroxides. The resultant epoxides are normally hydrolyzed or catalytically opened by adding acetic acid (U.S. Pat. No. 2,443,280) or formic acids (U.S. Pat. No. 4,101,589 and European patent 0025944031). In another U.S. Pat. No. 4,851,593), poly or di-hydroxy fatty acid can be obtained from polymerization of fatty acids in liquid phase reaction at temperature of 260° C. to 343° C. (500° F. to 650° F.), pressure of up to 1000 psi in the presence of a hydrogenation catalyst. These systems however have some disadvantages such as over-oxidation which led to cleavage products, tedious removal of reduced oxidants or the chemicals used were expensive and toxic. It was also reported that natural hydroxy fatty acids are mostly obtained from the ricinoleic acid present in abundance (˜90%) in castor oil. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore an object of the present invention is to provide a method to produce hydroxy fatty acids preferably di- or polyhydroxy fatty acids from natural fats and oils preferably from palm-based oleic acid. Oleic acid or 9-octadecenoic acid present in other oil and fats such as 50% in tallow, 45% in tall oil and about 40% in palm oil, is an alternative source for polyhydroxy fatty acids. Thus, besides oleic acid the other feedstocks of animal or vegetable based oils and fats and their derivatives can also be used to produce mono-, di- and polyhydroxystearic acids in the present invention. Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved method to produce di- or polyhydroxy fatty acids by reacting unsaturated fatty acids with performic acid produced in-situ with 98% of yield. A further object of the present invention is to provide a method to produce di- or polyhydroxy fatty acid involve less cost, easier to perform and reduced reaction time. Still another object of the present invention is to prepare a di- or polyhydroxy fatty acid that is non irritant and suitable to be used in cosmetic products. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method to purifying crude di- or polyhydroxy fatty acids. Palm oleic acid is mainly made-up of 70-75% oleic acid and about 10-1-5% linoleic acid. Earlier investigation by the inventors of the present invention have indicated that palm-based dihydroxystearic acid or 9,10-dihydroxystearic acid (palm-DHSA) exhibited some differences in its physical properties. Palm oleic acid consists of mainly C18:1 (73.9%) and C18:2 (15.3%). The rest makes up about 10 percent. Under similar reaction conditions, linoleic acid (C18:2) will yield tetra-hydroxystearic acid. The present invention relates to an improved process to produce hydroxy fatty acid preferably dihydroxy or polyhydroxy fatty acids using unsaturated fatty acids preferably palm-based oleic acid from performic acid produced in-situ. The repeated trials by inventors at laboratory scales (<10 L) and pilot plant scales (<800 Kg) have shown that oleic acid hydroxylated or oxidized by performic acid in-situ, in the presence of hydrogen peroxide and a catalytic amount of concentrated sulphuric acid yield more than 98% of dihydroxy or polyhydroxy acids, based on the unsaturation of the starting oleic acid. The overall reaction time was reduced to between four to six hours before at least about 95% of crude dihydroxy or polyhydroxy could be obtained. It is also observed that the melting point of palm DHSA produced according to the present invention is lower and falls in the range of about 85-92° C., even after conditioning it under low humidity environment (dessicator in the presence of blue silica gel) for two weeks. The melting point of DHSA as reported in MERCK is 132-135° C. The crude DHSA could be purified and recrystalized in solvents like short chained alcohols such as ethanol and isopropanol (IPA) with or without water. The purified palm DHSA obtained in the laboratory was subjected to in-vitro and in-vivo dermal irritection test which confirmed that the compound is non irritant, and thus suitable as one of the ingredients used in cosmetic products. The details of the current invention is described below. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION The present invention relates to an improved process of producing hydroxy fatty acid preferably dihydroxy or polyhydroxy fatty acids from natural fats and oils. Dihydroxy fatty acid preferably 9,10-dihydroxystearic acid (DHSA) is produced from palm-based oleic acid according to the present invention. The following is reaction scheme of the invention: Commercially available palm-based oleic acids or oleic acids derived from other oils or fats are seldom in high purity state. Besides oleic acid (C18:1), they also contain saturated fatty acids of various chain lengths (C8, C10, C12, C14, C16, C18 and C20), plus other unsaturated fatty acids especially linoleic (C18:2) and linolenic (C18:3), present in various percentages. The fatty acid composition of oleic acid and the products of the reactions can be determined by gas chromatography. Other chemical characteristics used to identify the products are via hydroxyl value (AOCS Method Cd 13-60) and acid value (AOCS Method Te 1a-64). Table 1 shows the characteristic of palm-based oleic acid produced in Malaysia. TABLE 1 Characteristics of palm-based oleic acid produced in Malaysia Parameter Range Fatty Acids Composition  C8:0 0.1-0.8 C10:0 Trc-1.2 C12:0 0.9-2.4 C14:0 0.3-1.5 C16:0 3.1-5.5 C16:1 0.1-0.3 C18:0 1.2-7.6 C18:1 71.4-78.0 C18:2 11.8-17.3 C18:3 Trc-0.6 C20:0 0.1-0.5 Others To 100 Iodine Value (g l 2 /100 g) 87-95 Acid Value (mgKOH/g) 180-204 *Trc—Traces Hydroxylation of unsaturated palm based fatty acids with formic acid/hydrogen peroxide is applied in the present invention. The use of formic acid/hydrogen peroxide as an oxidant has an advantage because the chemicals are inexpensive compared to other oxidants or catalysts. The oxidation process can be carried out under mild and controlled conditions, thus reducing the possibility of over oxidation. According to the present invention, the ratios between the reactants play an important role in determining the yield of the desired product. The mole of unsaturation in oleic acid is set at 1 mole while the amount of hydrogen peroxide and formic acid is varied. In a prefered embodiment of the present invention, the amount of hydrogen peroxide and formic acid falls in between 1 mole to 1.2 moles and 0.40 moles to 1 mole respectively against 1 mole of unsaturation in oleic acid. Meanwhile, a catalyst preferably sulphuric acid is added to facilate the hydroxylation process. Anyway the reaction could also be carried out in the absence of catalyst. The di- or polyhydroxy fatty acids that produced according to the present invention is non irritant and suitable to be used in cosmetic products. In this invention, it is advisable to follow the sequence of adding the reactants, which can affect the final product. The full amount of oleic acid, formic acid and sulphuric acid are added to a reactor, followed by about 15% of the required amount of hydrogen peroxide. This mixture of reactants is then stirred to produce a homogeneous mixture. As the stirring continued, an increase in the temperature of the mixture is observed. This phenomenon is caused by two exothermic reactions taking place in the reactor, whereby formic acid and hydrogen peroxide react to produce performic acid ‘in-situ’, followed by the reaction between performic acid and the double bond (C═C) of the unsaturated fatty acid. When a slight drop in the reaction temperature is observed, the remaining amounts of hydrogen peroxide are added dropwisely, with constant stirring. The temperature of the reaction maintained in behavior room temperature to maximum 90° C. Initially, no heat is supplied, as the reactions occurring are highly exothermic. It is observed that reaction progressed, the temperature increased from room temperature to about 60° C. and then after a while it decreased slightly. After this point, the remaining hydrogen peroxide are added slowly to the mixture and the temperature is maintained between about 80° C. to 90° C. through out the reaction by applying heat when necessary. The temperature range of about 80° C. to 90° C. is found to be the optimum temperature for the reaction. According to the present invention, the duration of the reaction is within 3 to 6 hours depending on the oxirane oxygen content (OOC) of the reaction mixture. However, it is advisable to carry out the reaction until the OOC value is less than 0.05. In this invention, the reaction product is subjected to a sequence of product work-up. First of all, the reaction product is poured into a separatory funnel and allowed to settle until two layers of product are observed. The lower layer is the spent acid while the top layer is the desired product. Therefore, the spent acid, which comprises hydrogen peroxide, formic acid, performic acid and other impurities, is then drained out while the desired product is left to solidity. Later on, the solidified product is washed with adequate amount of chilled water (about 5° C. to 10° C.) until the pH of washing water and product are in the range of 2.5 to 3.0. Avoid washing the product while it is still in liquid form, other wise an emulsion will form causing some difficulty in carrying out the procedure. After the washing process, the product is dried under vacuum at 0.1 bar and at temperature 70° C. The moisture level in the product was kept below 3% for easy purification of the product, which will be discuss in the following description. The product acquired after the washing and drying steps are referred to as crude DHSA and its properties are shown in Table 2. The crude DHSA yield falls in the range of about 79% to 98%. TABLE 2 The properties of crude DHSA Parameters Range Iodine Value (g l 2 /100 g sample) <15 Melting Point (° C.) 75-79 Purity by GC (%) 60-70 Hydroxy Value (mg KOH/g sample) 180-230 Yield (%) 74-90 The present invention also provides a process for purifying DHSA in admixture with some free fatty acid, plus other impurities, involving the process step of recrystallization. Polar solvents such as ethanol, isopropyl alcohol (IPA), acetone and ethyl acetate are used in the recrystallization. Solvents are used as 100% or in combination with about 10% to 30% water. The ratios between samples to solvent are in the range of about 1:1 to 1:5. In the recrystallization technique, the crude DHSA is dissolved in the solvent with a slight heating of the mixture (about 50° C. to 60° C.). The solution is left to cool down gradually to ambient temperature and further cooled at about 10° C. to 15° C. to ensure maximum yield. The precipitate obtained is filtered and dried. The product referred to, as purified palm DHSA is a white powdery solid with waxy sensation. The product is non-irritant and its properties are shown in Table 3. The non-irritancy properly was conducted through in vitro derived skin irritection study. TABLE 3 The properties of purified DHSA by crystallization. Parameters Range Iodine Value (g l 2 /100 g sample) <3 Melting Point (° C.) 85-92 Purity by GC (%) 75-80 Hydroxyl Value (mg KOH/g sample) 270-310 Yield 35-45 According to the present invention, preferably hexane is used to purify the crude DHSA, besides the recrystallization method with polar solvents. Hexane is chosen because it is a food grade solvent. Washing with hexane resulted in a good yield of purified DHSA. Found to be easier process than the recrystallization method. The ratios of crude DHSA and hexane are in the range of 1:1 to 1:2. Cooled hexane (about 10° C. to 15° C.) is used in order to minimize the solubility of crude DHSA in hexane. In the washing process, the crude DHSA is melted at temperature 75° C. to 80° C. Then, cooled hexane is added slowly to DHSA, the liquid with stirring until the formation of DHSA precipitates. The precipitate is filtered and this process is repeated at least twice. The purified DHSA is a white powdery solid with waxy sensation, and it is non-irritant. The properties of the purified DHSA are shown in Table 4. TABLE 4 The properties of the purified DHSA by washing with hexane. Parameters Range Iodine Value (g l 2 /100 g sample) <3 Melting Point (° C.) 85-92 Purity by GC (%) 70-75 Hydroxy Value (mg KOH/g sample) 250-290 Yield (%) 50-55 EXAMPLE Example 1 Synthesis of Crude DHSA The full amount of oleic acid (250 g, 0.94 mole of unsaturation), formic acid (43.2 g, 0.94 mole) and sulphuric acid (0.5 g, 0.2%) were added to a reactor, followed by 15% of total amount of the required hydrogen peroxide (11 g, 1.08 moles). This mixture of reactants was homogenize by stirring. As the stirring was carried out, an increase in temperature was observed, where the temperature of the mixture has risen from 25° C. to 60° C. When the temperature started to decrease (55° C.), the remaining amount of hydrogen peroxide (62.6 g), (total 1.08 moles) was then-added drop-wise with continuous stirring. The temperature of the reaction was maintained between 80-90° C., by applying heat if necessary. The reaction was allowed to take place for 5 hours and the OOC is analyzed until it is less than 0.05. Example 2 The reaction product from example 1 was poured into a separatory funnel and allowed to settle. The bottom spent acid layer was removed and the top upper organic layer was washed with chilled (5° C. to 10° C.) water until the pH of washing water and product were in the range of 2.5 to 3.0. The washed crude DHSA was dried under vacuum at 0.1 bar and at temperature 70° C. and its properties are shown in table 5. TABLE 5 The properties of crude DHSA Parameters Value Iodine Value (g l 2 /100 g sample) 2.5 Melting Point (° C.) 79 Purity by GC (%) 65 Hydroxyl Value (mg KOH/g sample) 214 Yield (%) 79 Example 3 Example 1 was repeated but the amount of formic acid used was 0.4 moles instead of 0.94 moles. The properties of the crude DHSA obtained were shown in Table 6. TABLE 6 The properties of crude DHSA Parameters Value Iodine Value (g l 2 /100 g sample) 13.3 Melting Point (° C.) 75 Purity by GC (%) 60 Hydroxyl Value (mg KOH/g sample) 228 Yield 74 Example 4 Example 1 was repeated but the amount of hydrogen peroxide was reduced to 0.94 mole instead 1.08 moles. The properties of the crude DHSA were shown in Table 7. TABLE 7 The properties of crude DHSA Parameters Value Iodine Value (g l 2 /100 g sample) 10 Melting Point (° C.) 75 Purity by GC (%) 65 Hydroxyl Value (mg KOH/g sample) 214 Yield (%) 78 Example 5 Purification of Crude DHSA Via Recrystallization Method In this trial, 50 g of crude DHSA (from example 1) was used and it was dissolved in 37.5 ml of ethanol with slight heating (50° C. to 60° C.) of the mixture. The solution was left to cool gradually to ambient temperature and further cooled at 10° C. to 15° C. The purified DHSA precipitate was filtered and dried to give white powdery with waxy sensation. The properties are shown in Table 8. TABLE 8 The properties of purified DHSA via recrystallisation with ethanol Parameters Value Iodine Value (g l 2 /100 g sample) 1.8 Melting Point (° C.) 89.7 Purity by GC (%) 80 Hydroxyl Value (mg KOH/sample) 306.9 Yield 40 Example 6 Example 4 was repeated but the solvent used was a mixture of ethanol and water with ratio of 80:20. The properties of the purified DHSA are shown in Table 9. TABLE 9 The properties of purified DHSA Parameters Value Iodine Value (g l 2 /100 g sample) 2.5 Melting Point (° C.) 85.8 Purity by GC (%) 75 Hydroxyl Value (mg KOH/g sample) 272.5 Yield 35 Example 7 Example 4 was repeated but with another solvent, which is isopropyl alcohol (IPA) instead of ethanol. The properties of the purified DHSA are shown in Table 10. TABLE 10 The properties of purified DHSA via recrystallisation with isopropyl alcohol Parameters Value Iodine Value (g l 2 /100 g sample) 2.5 Melting Point (° C.) 87.9 Purity by GC (%) 80 Hydroxyl Value (mg KOH/g sample) 282.2 Yield (%) 40 Example 8 Example 6 was repeated but the solvent used was a mixture of isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and water with ratio of 80:20. The properties of the purified DHSA are shown in Table 11. TABLE 11 The properties of purified DHSA Parameters Value Iodine Value (g l 2 /100 g sample) 2.7 Melting Point (° C.) 86.6 Purity by GC (%) 75 Hydroxyl Value (mg KOH/g sample) 298.4 Yield (%) 35 Example 9 Purification of Crude DHSA Via Washing with Hexane Method Ratio between crude DHSA and hexane was 1:2. In this trial, 100 ml of chilled hexane (10-15° C.) were added to 50 g melted of crude DHSA. The mixture was then cooled until the formation of DHSA precipitate. The precipitate was filtered and this process was repeated at least twice. The purified DHSA was white powdery with waxy sensation. The properties of the purified DHSA are shown in Table 12. TABLE 12 The properties of the purified DHSA with hexane Parameters Value Iodine Value (g l 2 /100 g sample) 2.7 Melting Point (° C.) 85 Purity by GC (%) 74 Hydroxy Value (mg KOH/g sample) 250 Yield (%) 55 It is to be understood that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms and is not limited to the sole embodiment described above. However modification and equivalents of the disclosed concepts such as those which readily occur to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the claims which are appended thereto.
The present invention relates to an improved process for producing hydroxy fatty acids preferably dihydroxy or polyhydroxy acids from unsaturated fatty acids derived from natural oils and fats. The unsaturated fatty acids extracted from natural vegetable oils or animal fats preferably palm-based oleic acid is hydroxylated or oxidized by peracetic acid which formed in situ from a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and formic acid. The process for producing dihydroxy or polyhydroxy fatty acids according to the present invention involve less cost, easier to perform and reduced reaction time. In addition, the dihydroxy or polyhydroxy acids produced according to the present invention is non irritant and suitable to be used in production of cosmetic products.
2
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a projection-type display apparatus for projecting an image on a screen, and in particular to making an optical system of the apparatus more compact. Conventional projection-type display apparatuses are, for example, disclosed in Japanese Patent Kokai Publications No. 53221/1991 and No. 324401/1994. In the apparatuses shown in these publications, an ellipsoidal mirror and condenser lenses are used for obtaining parallel beam which impinges on light valves. Since the illuminating optical system using the ellipsoidal mirror can vary the degree of collimation of the beam simply by varying an aperture of a diaphragm, it is suitable for a projection-type display apparatus using a scattering mode liquid crystal light valve. However, in the conventional apparatuses using the ellipsoidal mirror and condenser lenses, since the light from the lamp is focused in the vicinity of the secondary focus of the ellipsoidal mirror and the converged light is made into parallel beam by a lens having a long focal length, the optical path from the lamp to the condenser lens has to be made long. This makes the optical system larger so that the whole apparatus became bulkier and heavier. If a parabolic mirror is used instead of the ellipsoidal mirror and condenser lenses, the beam is highly converged and the optical system is simplified, however, aberration increases and the degree of collimation is lower when using a lamp having a large light-emitting area. Further, if a spherical mirror and condenser lenses are used instead of the ellipsoidal mirror and condenser lenses, the optical system is comparatively smaller but the converging performance is then low. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a compact, lightweight projection-type display apparatus giving a bright projected image with low light losses. A projection-type display apparatus according to the present invention comprises a lamp for emitting light, an ellipsoidal mirror for converging the light emitted by the lamp, a diaphragm disposed in the vicinity of a secondary focus of the ellipsoidal mirror, a first color separating dichroic mirror for separating the light transmitted through an aperture of the diaphragm into a first beam having a wavelength within a first wavelength region and a beam having a wavelength outside the first wavelength region, and a second color separating dichroic mirror for separating the beam having the wavelength outside the first wavelength region into a second beam having a wavelength within a second wavelength region and a third beam having a wavelength outside the second wavelength region. The apparatus further comprises first, second and third light valves for displaying images respectively corresponding to the first, second and third beams, first lenses for making the first, second and third beams respectively incident on the first, second and third light valves into parallel or convergent beams, color synthesizing dichroic mirrors for synthesizing the first, second and third beams which have been transmitted through the first, second and third light valves respectively, thereby generating a synthesized beam, and a projection lens for enlarging and projecting the synthesized beam onto a screen. Each first lens is disposed downstream in a light propagation direction from the first color separating dichroic mirror. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein: FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an optical system of a projection-type display apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing another aspect including a conical lens according to the first embodiment; FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing an optical system of a projection-type display apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing an optical system of a projection-type display apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5A is an explanatory diagram showing a function of the Fresnel lens 34B in FIG. 4; FIG. 5B is an explanatory diagram showing a problem when the Fresnel lens in FIG. 4 is disposed so as to face in an opposite direction; FIG. 6A is an explanatory diagram showing a function of the Fresnel lens 35R in FIG. 4; FIG. 6B is an explanatory diagram showing a problem when the Fresnel lens in FIG. 4 is disposed so as to face in an opposite direction; FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing an optical system of a projection-type display apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing an optical system of a projection-type display apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing an optical system of a projection-type display apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 10 is a schematic view showing an optical system of a projection-type display apparatus according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention; FIGS. 11A and 11B are explanatory diagrams showing a function of the Fresnel lens 38R in FIG. 10; FIGS. 12A and 12B are explanatory diagrams showing a function of a pair of Fresnel lenses employed in another aspect of the seventh embodiment; FIG. 13 is a schematic view showing an optical system of a projection-type display apparatus according to a eighth embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 14 is a schematic view showing an optical system of a projection-type display apparatus according to a ninth embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 15 is a schematic view showing an optical system of a projection-type display apparatus according to a tenth embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 16 is a schematic view showing an optical system of a projection-type display apparatus according to an eleventh embodiment of the present invention; FIGS. 17A and 17B are explanatory diagrams showing a function of the Fresnel lens 39RG in FIG. 16; and FIG. 18 is a schematic view showing an optical system of a projection-type display apparatus according to a twelfth embodiment of the present invention. Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an optical system of a projection-type display apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The projection-type display apparatus according to the first embodiment comprises a lamp 1 for emitting white light, an ellipsoidal mirror 2 for converging the light emitted by the lamp 1, a diaphragm 3 disposed in the vicinity of the secondary focus of the ellipsoidal mirror 2, and a reflecting mirror 10 for changing the propagation direction of a divergent beam 21 transmitted through an aperture 3a of the diaphragm 3. The lamp 1 may, for example, be a high brightness white light source such as a metal halide lamp, xenon lamp or halogen lamp, and it is disposed such that the light emitting center of the lamp 1 is situated near the primary focus of the ellipsoidal mirror 2. The reflecting mirror 10 is used to make the apparatus more compact, and it is desirably a cold mirror which transmits infrared and ultraviolet light and reflects only visible light so as to eliminate unwanted light. The projection-type display apparatus according to the first embodiment further comprises, for example, a first color separating dichroic mirror 11 which transmits the blue light component but reflects the red and green light components (i.e., the light components other than the blue light component), a condenser lens 4B which converts a divergent blue beam 21B transmitted through the first color separating dichroic mirror 11 into a parallel blue beam 22B, a condenser lens 4RG which converts a divergent beam 21RG reflected by the first color separating dichroic mirror 11 into a parallel beam 22RG, and a second color separating dichroic mirror 12 which separates the parallel beam 22RG into a parallel red beam 22R and a parallel green beam 22G. According to the first embodiment, the condenser lenses 4RG and 4B are convex lenses made of glass or plastic. The projection-type display apparatus according to the first embodiment further comprises a condenser lens 5R which converges the parallel red beam 22R transmitted through the second color separating dichroic mirror 12, a liquid crystal light valve 6R which displays an image for the color red, a reflecting mirror 14 which changes the propagation direction of a red beam 23R transmitted through the liquid crystal light valve 6R, a condenser lens 5G which converges the green beam 22G reflected by the second dichroic mirror 12, a liquid crystal light valve 6G which displays an image for the color green, a reflecting mirror 13 which changes the propagation direction of the parallel blue beam 22B transmitted through the first color separating dichroic mirror 11, a condenser lens 5B which converges the reflected blue beam 22B, and a liquid crystal light valve 6B which displays an image for the color blue. Herein, the condenser lenses 5R, 5G and 5B are convex lenses made of glass or plastic. The condenser lenses 5R, 5G and 5B are components intended to efficiently transmit light through an entrance pupil 70 of a projection lens 7 to be described hereinafter, and provided the design is such that the entrance pupil 70 of the projection lens 7 is located at the focal points of the condenser lenses 5R, 5G and 5B, they may be also be situated after the light valves 6R, 6G and 6B (i.e., downstream from the liquid crystal light valves in the light propagation direction). The liquid crystal light valves 6R, 6G and 6B comprise an orderly array of picture elements which are the minimum unit of display, and a voltage is applied independently to each picture element to vary the optical properties of the liquid crystals so as to display an image. In order to drive each picture element independently, a simple matrix technique or an active matrix technique with switching devices such as TFTs may be used. The liquid crystals of the light valves may be TN crystals or STN crystals which control the optical rotatory power of linearly polarized light, or scattering-type liquid crystals such as LCPC (Liquid Crystal and Polymer Composite) or DSM (Dynamic Scattering Mode) crystals which control the light scattering power. Since the scattering-type liquid crystals do not require a polarizing plate, a brighter projected image can be obtained. Low cost aluminum mirrors without any wavelength selectivity may be used for the reflecting mirrors 13 and 14, however, mirrors are preferable to be provided with coating for increasing reflectivity. The projection-type display apparatus according to the first embodiment further comprises a first color synthesizing dichroic mirror 15 which, by transmitting a blue beam 23B which has passed through the liquid crystal light valve 6B and reflecting a green beam 23G which has passed through the liquid crystal light valve 6G, synthesizes the blue beam 23B with the green beam 23G so as to form a synthesized beam 23GB, a second color synthesizing dichroic mirror 16 which reflects the synthesized beam 23GB and transmits the red beam 23R which has passed through the liquid crystal light valve 6R, and the projection lens 7 which converts a synthesized beam 23 to a projecting beam 24 and projects it on a screen S. Since the spectral properties of the dichroic mirrors depend on incident angle of the beam and the incident angles vary from place to place on a surface of the dichroic mirrors, it is expedient to provide wedge filters near the color synthesizing dichroic mirrors 15 and 16 disposed in the optical path of convergent beams and the color separating dichroic mirror 11 disposed in the optical path of divergent beams. The filters ensure identical spectral characteristics when incident positions and angles are different, and are effective in obtaining a projected image having highly uniform chromaticity. The image display areas of the liquid crystal light valves 6R, 6G and 6B are generally rectangular, the ratio of the vertical to the horizontal sides being 3:4 or 9:16 (i.e., aspect ratio is 4:3 or 16:9). The liquid crystal light valves 6R, 6G and 6B may be disposed either with the long side of the image display area parallel to the xz plane in FIG. 1 (i.e., the short side of the image display area parallel to the y axis in FIG. 1), or with the short side of the image display area parallel to the xz plane in FIG. 1 (i.e., the long side of the image display area parallel to the y axis in FIG. 1). As described above, according to the first embodiment, the condenser lenses 4RG and 4B which render the beams 22R, 22G and 22B respectively incident on the liquid crystal light valves 6R, 6G and 6B parallel, are disposed downstream in the propagation direction of the beams 21B and 21RG from the first color separating dichroic mirror 11. The distance (optical path) which must be provided between the lamp 1 and the condenser lenses 4RG and 4B, and the optical path of the color separating optical system including the color separating dichroic mirror 11, are therefore shared. This reduces the volume of the optical system by the amount of the shared area, and makes the whole apparatus more compact and lightweight. If UV/IR (ultraviolet and infrared) cut filters that transmit only visible light are placed in the optical path from the lamp 1 to the liquid crystal light valves 6R, 6G and 6B, deterioration of the liquid crystals due to ultraviolet or infrared light may be avoided. If the short sides of the image display areas of the liquid crystal light valves are disposed parallel to the xz plane in FIG. 1, the effective surface area of the dichroic mirrors 11, 12, 15 and 16 and reflecting mirrors 13 and 14 which are inclined to the liquid crystal light valves 6R, 6G and 6B (at 45 degrees as shown in FIG. 1) may be designed smaller which makes the optical system more compact, the back focal length of the projection lens 7 is shorter, and design is easier. If an optical component such as a conical or pyramid-shaped lens 30 is disposed in the vicinity of the secondary focus of the ellipsoidal mirror 2 as shown in FIG. 2, an illuminating beam having uniformity of illumination and a high degree of collimation is obtained which has excellent convergence on the entrance pupil 70. In a projection-type display apparatus using scattering-type liquid crystals, if an arrangement is adopted whereby the aperture of the diaphragm 3 of the illumination optical system can be varied according to the diameter of the entrance pupil 70 of the projection lens 7, a high contrast image which always has high visibility and brightness is obtained. The projection-type display apparatus of the first embodiment is moreover effective when used with liquid crystal light valves provided with microlenses which require highly convergent illumination by the lenses (for example, in the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Kokai Publication No. 53221/1991). Second Embodiment FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing an optical system of a projection-type display apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 3, the construction which are identical or corresponding to those of FIG. 1 are denoted by the same symbols. The projection-type display apparatus of the second embodiment differs from that of the first embodiment (FIG. 1) in the characteristic of the first color separating dichroic mirror 11a and the arrangement of components. The first color separating dichroic mirror 11 of the above-mentioned first embodiment transmits the blue component of the light and reflects the red and green components (i.e., the components other than blue), however, the first color separating dichroic mirror 11a of the second embodiment reflects the blue component and transmits the red and green components (i.e., the components other than blue). Also, as shown in FIG. 1, in the optical system of the above-mentioned first embodiment, two mirrors (for example, 11 and 13) are disposed in the z direction and three mirrors (for example, 11, 12 and 14) are disposed in the x direction, however, as shown in FIG. 3, in the optical system of the second embodiment, three mirrors (for example, 11a, 12 and 14) are disposed in the z direction and two mirrors (for example, 11a and 13) are disposed in the x direction. If the short sides of the liquid crystal light valves 6R, 6G and 6B are arranged parallel to the xz plane, the x direction is the height direction of the apparatus, hence the height of the apparatus can be made lower in the case of the second embodiment than in that of the above-mentioned first embodiment. The remaining points of the second embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment. Third Embodiment FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing an optical system of a projection-type display apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 4, the construction which are identical or corresponding to those of FIG. 1 are denoted by the same symbols. The projection-type display apparatus of the third embodiment differs from that of the first embodiment (FIG. 1) in that the condenser lenses 4B and 4RG of the first embodiment are respectively replaced by Fresnel lenses 34B and 34RG and that the condenser lenses 5R, 5G and 5B of the first embodiment are respectively replaced by Fresnel lenses 35R, 35G and 35B, as shown in FIG. 4. The Fresnel lenses 34B and 34RG shown in FIG. 4 are made of glass or plastic, and have a flat (or curved) surface 41 and a stepped surface (Fresnel surface) 40 having ring-like or circular steps, as shown in FIG. 5A. In the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. 5A, the flat surface 41 (Although FIG. 5A shows the Fresnel lens 34B, the Fresnel lens 34RG has the same construction) faces the first color separating dichroic mirror 11. In other words, the flat surface 41 faces the divergent beam 21 (i.e., 21B and 21RG in FIG. 4), and the Fresnel surface 40 faces the parallel beam 22 (i.e., 22B and 22RG in FIG. 4). This is because if the Fresnel surface 40 is arranged facing the divergent beam 21, only the light incident on the inclined surface 40a will be rendered parallel, whereas the light incident on the boundary surface 40b will not be rendered parallel and be lost. There will also be increased aberration and a lesser degree of collimation due to the fact that the light is refracted from a divergent beam to a parallel beam by only one surface of the Fresnel lens, and this will lead to poorer convergence on the entrance pupil 70. The Fresnel lenses 35R, 35G and 35B in the vicinity of the liquid crystal light valves 6R, 6G and 6B shown in FIG. 4 are also made of glass or plastic, and have a flat (or curved) surface 51 and a stepped surface (Fresnel surface) 50 having ring-like or circular steps, as shown in FIG. 6A. In the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. 6A, the flat surface 51 (Although FIG. 6A shows the Fresnel lens 35R, the Fresnel lenses 35G and 35B have the same construction) faces the liquid crystal light valve 6R. In other words, the Fresnel surface 50 faces the incident parallel beam 22 (i.e., 22R, 22G and 22B in FIG. 4). This is because if the Fresnel surface 50 is arranged facing the liquid crystal light valves 6R, 6G and 6B, striped patterns (shaded area in FIG. 6B) due to the Fresnel lens will be easy to appear and be projected on the screen, as shown in FIG. 6B. In addition, the picture elements of the liquid crystal light valves 6R, 6G and 6B and the Fresnel stripes would interfere, giving rise to a Moire effect which would lead to image deterioration. In particular, when scattering-type liquid crystals are used for the light valves 6R, 6G and 6B, the F number of the projection lens 7 must be set large in order to obtain high contrast, and Fresnel stripes are even more likely to be projected. As described hereinbefore, according to the third embodiment, the apparatus can be made more compact and lightweight for the same reasons as in the case of the above-mentioned first embodiment. Further, according to the third embodiment, the lenses can be made more compact and lightweight. If the lenses are made of plastic, low-cost lenses which are easy to mass produce can be manufactured by a technique such as compression molding or injection molding, and the cost of the apparatus can be reduced. With regard to the Fresnel lenses 34B, 34RG and the Fresnel lenses 35R, 35G, 35B shown in FIG. 4, FIGS. 5A and 5B, and FIGS. 6A and 6B, the surfaces 41 and 51 opposite the Fresnel surfaces are flat, however, they may also be convex curved surfaces in order to increase lens power. The Fresnel surfaces 40 and 50 may also comprise steps formed on a convex surface. Further, the Fresnel lenses 34RG, 34B or the Fresnel lenses 35R, 35G, 35B may each comprise two Fresnel lenses as shown in FIG. 12 hereinafter. When a projection lens 7 of large F number is used, it is desirable that the Fresnel pitch is made smaller than the picture element pitch of the liquid crystal light valves 6R, 6G and 6B in order to further suppress the effect of Fresnel stripes due to the Fresnel lenses 35R, 35G and 35B disposed in the vicinity of the liquid crystal light valves 6R, 6G and 6B. The remaining points of the third embodiment are identical to those of the above-mentioned first embodiment. Fourth Embodiment FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing an optical system of a projection-type display apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 4, the construction which are identical or corresponding to those of FIG. 4 are denoted by the same symbols. The projection-type display apparatus of the fourth embodiment differs from that of the third embodiment (FIG. 4) in the characteristics of the first color separating dichroic mirror 11a and the disposition of the components. The first color separating dichroic mirror 11 of the above-mentioned third embodiment transmits the blue component of the light and reflects the red and green components (i.e., the components other than blue), however, the first color separating dichroic mirror 11a of the fourth embodiment reflects the blue component of the light and transmits the red and green components (i.e., the components other than blue). Also, in the optical system according to the above-mentioned third embodiment, the two mirrors (for example, 11 and 13) are disposed in the z direction and the three mirrors (for example, 11, 12 and 14) are disposed in the x direction as shown in FIG. 4, however, in the optical system of the fourth embodiment, the three mirrors (for example, 11a, 12 and 14) are disposed in the z direction and the two mirrors (for example, 11a and 13) are disposed in the x direction, as shown in FIG. 7. If the short sides of the image display areas of the liquid crystal light valves 6R, 6G and 6B are arranged parallel to the xz plane, the x direction is the height direction of the apparatus, hence the height of the apparatus can be made lower in the case of the fourth embodiment than in that of the above-mentioned third embodiment. The remaining points of the fourth embodiment are the same as those of the third embodiment. Fifth Embodiment FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing an optical system of a projection-type display apparatus according a fifth embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 8, the construction which are identical or corresponding to those of FIG. 1 are denoted by the same symbols. The projection-type display apparatus of the fifth embodiment differs from that of the first embodiment (FIG. 1) in that the condenser lenses 4B, 4RG and condenser lenses 5R, 5G and 5B disposed in the vicinity of the liquid crystal light valves shown in FIG. 1 are replaced by the condenser lenses 8R, 8G and 8B as shown in FIG. 8 and the reflecting mirror 10 is not provided. According to the fifth embodiment, after the light emerging from the lamp 1 is reflected by the ellipsoidal mirror 2 and transmitted through the aperture 3a of the diaphragm 3 disposed in the vicinity of the secondary focus, the blue beam 21B is transmitted, and the red and green beam 21RG is reflected, by the first color separating dichroic mirror 11. Of the red and green beam 21RG which is a divergent beam, the red beam 21R is transmitted and the green beam 21G is reflected by the second color separating dichroic mirror 12. The divergent beams 21R, 21G and 21B are respectively converted to convergent beams 23R, 23G and 23B by the condenser lenses 8R, 8G and 8B. According to the fifth embodiment, as the first and second color separating dichroic mirrors 11 and 12 and the reflecting mirror 13 are disposed in the optical path of the divergent beam 21 from the diaphragm 3, the shared optical path length can be made even longer than in the case of the above-mentioned first embodiment, hence the optical system occupies less space and the apparatus can be made more compact and lightweight. The remaining points of the fifth embodiment are identical to those of the above-mentioned first embodiment. Sixth Embodiment FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing an optical system of a projection-type display apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 9, the construction which are identical or corresponding to those of FIG. 8 are denoted by the same symbols. The projection-type display apparatus according to the sixth embodiment differs from the fifth embodiment in the characteristics of the first color separating dichroic mirror 11a and the arrangement of components. According to the above-mentioned fifth embodiment, the first color separating dichroic mirror 11 transmits the blue component of the light and reflects the red and green components (i.e., the components other than blue), however, the first color separating dichroic mirror 11a of the sixth embodiment reflects the blue component and transmits the red and green components (i.e., the components other than blue). Also, in the optical system of the fifth embodiment, the two mirrors (for example, 11 and 13) are disposed in the z direction and the three mirrors (for example, 11, 12 and 14) are disposed in the x direction, as shown in FIG. 8, however, in the optical system of the sixth embodiment, the three mirrors (for example, 11a, 12 and 14) are disposed in the z direction and the two stage mirror (for example, 11a, 13) is disposed in the x direction, as shown in FIG. 9. If the short sides of the image display areas of the liquid crystal light valves 6R, 6G and 6B are arranged parallel to the xz plane, the x direction is the height direction of the apparatus, hence the height of the apparatus can be made lower in the case of the sixth embodiment than in that of the fifth embodiment. The remaining points of the sixth embodiment are the same as those of the above-mentioned fifth embodiment. Seventh Embodiment FIG. 10 is a schematic view showing an optical system of a projection-type display apparatus according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 10, the construction which are identical or corresponding to those of FIG. 8 are denoted by the same symbols. As shown in FIG. 10, the projection-type display apparatus according to the seventh embodiment differs from that of the above-mentioned fifth embodiment (FIG. 8) only in that the condenser lenses 8R, 8G and 8B of FIG. 8 are respectively replaced by Fresnel lenses 38R, 38G and 38B. The Fresnel lenses 38R, 38G and 38B shown in FIG. 10 are made of glass or plastic, and have a flat (or curved) surface 81 and a Fresnel surface 80 having ring-like or circular steps. In the seventh embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10 and FIGS. 11A and 11B, the flat surface 81 (Although FIG. 11B shows the Fresnel lens 38R, the Fresnel lenses 38G and 38B have the same construction.) faces the liquid crystal light valves 6R, 6G and 6B. In other words, the Fresnel surface 80 faces the divergent beam 21 (i.e., 21R, 21G and 21B in FIG. 10), and the flat surface 81 faces the convergent beam 23 (i.e., 23R, 23G and 23B in FIG. 10). This is because if the Fresnel surface 80 is arranged facing the divergent beam 23, Fresnel stripes are easy to appear and images of the liquid crystal light valves 6R, 6G and 6B may be projected on the screen together with the Fresnel stripes. As described hereinbefore, according to the seventh embodiment, the apparatus can be made more compact and lightweight for the same reasons as in the case of the fifth embodiment. Further, according to the seventh embodiment, the lenses can be made more compact and lightweight. If the lenses are made of plastic, low-cost lenses which are easy to mass produce can be manufactured by a technique such as compression molding or injection molding, and the cost of the apparatus can be reduced. As shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B, in the seventh embodiment, the surface 81 opposite the Fresnel surface 80 of the Fresnel lens 38R, 38G and 38B are shown flat, however, the surfaces 81 may also be convex curved surfaces in order to increase lens power. The Fresnel surfaces 80 may also comprise steps formed on a curved surface. In this case too, light losses may be suppressed by arranging the Fresnel surface 80 of the Fresnel lens 38R facing the divergent beam 21, and the projection of Fresnel stripes may be suppressed. As shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B, the condenser lenses 38R, 38G and 38B each may comprise a pair of Fresnel lenses 83 and 84 with the same Fresnel pitch, each of these component lenses having a flat surface and a Fresnel surface, and the Fresnel surfaces 83a and 84a facing each other. If this lens pair is used, the light beam 21 transmitted through the first Fresnel lens 83 does not suffer any loss at the boundary surface 83b of the inclined surface 83a, although a shadow is produced. After the light is transmitted through the inclined surface 84a of the second Fresnel surface 84, however, as the area of this shadow coincides with the area incident on the boundary surface 84b, the shadow disappears from the convergent beam 23. The condenser lenses 38R, 38G and 38B in this arrangement therefore have a high transmittance and do not give rise to Fresnel stripes. Further, the surfaces 82 and 85 may be convex curved surfaces in order to increase the lens power. The remaining points of the seventh embodiment are the same as those of the above-mentioned fifth embodiment. Eighth Embodiment FIG. 13 is a schematic view showing an optical system of a projection-type display apparatus according to an eighth embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 13, the construction which are identical or corresponding to those of FIG. 10 are denoted by the same symbols. The projection-type display apparatus according to the eighth embodiment differs from that of the above-mentioned seventh embodiment (FIG. 10) in the characteristics of the first color separating dichroic mirror 11a and the arrangement of components. The first color separating dichroic mirror 11 of the above-mentioned seventh embodiment transmits the blue component of the light and reflected the red and green components (i.e., the components other than blue), however, the first color separating dichroic mirror 11a of the eighth embodiment reflects the blue component and transmits the red and green components (i.e., the components other than blue). Also, in the optical system of the above-mentioned seventh embodiment, the two mirrors (for example, 11 and 13) are disposed in the z direction and the three mirrors (for example, 11, 12 and 14) are disposed in the x direction, as shown in FIG. 10. However, in the optical system of the eighth embodiment, the three mirrors (for example, 11a, 12 and 14) are disposed in the z direction and the two mirrors (for example, 11a and 13) are disposed in the x direction, as shown in FIG. 13. If the short sides of the image display areas of the light valves 6R, 6G and 6B are arranged parallel to the xz plane, the x direction is the height direction of the apparatus, hence the height of the apparatus can be made lower in the case of the eighth embodiment than in that of the seventh embodiment. The remaining points of the eighth embodiment are the same as those of the seventh embodiment. Ninth Embodiment FIG. 14 is a schematic view showing an optical system of a projection-type display apparatus according to a ninth embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 14, the construction which is identical or corresponding to those of FIG. 1 are denoted by the same symbols. The projection-type display apparatus according to the ninth embodiment differs from that of the above-mentioned first embodiment (FIG. 1) in that as can be seen in FIG. 14, the condenser lenses 4B and 4RG shown in FIG. 1 are replaced by condenser lenses 9B and 9RG, and no condenser lens is disposed in the vicinity of the liquid crystal light valves 6R, 6G and 6B. According to the ninth embodiment, after the light 20 emitted by the lamp 1 is reflected by the ellipsoidal mirror 2 and it is transmitted through the aperture 3a of the diaphragm disposed in the vicinity of the secondary focus of the ellipsoidal mirror 2, the blue beam 21B is transmitted through the first color separating dichroic mirror 11 whereas the red and green beam 21RG is reflected. The divergent beams 21RG and 21B are respectively converted to convergent beams by the condenser lenses 9RG and 9B. Of the red and green beam 23RG which is a convergent beam, the red beam 23R is transmitted through the second color separating dichroic mirror 12 and the green beam 23G is reflected. According to the ninth embodiment, as in the case of the above-mentioned first embodiment, a long shared optical path length can be obtained, hence the space occupied by the optical system can be reduced and the whole apparatus can be made compact and lightweight. Further, according to the ninth embodiment, the liquid crystal light valves 6R, 6G and 6B can be disposed in more highly converging beams than in the case of the above-mentioned first to eighth embodiments, hence the optical system is suited to smaller liquid crystal light valves. The remaining points of the ninth embodiment are identical to those of the above-mentioned first embodiment. Tenth Embodiment FIG. 15 is a schematic view showing an optical system of a projection-type display apparatus according to a tenth embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 15, the construction which is identical or corresponding to those of FIG. 14 are denoted by the same symbols. The projection-type display apparatus according to the tenth embodiment differs from that of the ninth embodiment (FIG. 14) in the characteristics of the first color separating dichroic mirror 11a and the disposition of the other components. According to the above-mentioned ninth embodiment, the first color separating dichroic mirror 11 transmits the blue component of the light and reflected the red and green components (i.e., the components other than blue). However, the first color separating dichroic mirror 11a according to the tenth embodiment reflects the blue component of the light and transmits the red and green components (i.e., the components other than blue). Also, in the optical system according to the ninth embodiment, the two mirrors (for example, 11 and 13) are disposed in the z direction and the three mirrors (for example, 11, 12 and 14) are disposed in the x direction as shown in FIG. 14, however, in the optical system of the tenth embodiment, the three mirrors (for example, 11a, 12 and 14) are disposed in the z direction and the two mirrors (for example, 11a and 13) are disposed in the x direction as shown in FIG. 15. If the short sides of the image display areas of the light valves 6R, 6G and 6B are arranged parallel to the xz plane, the x direction is the height direction of the apparatus, hence the height of the apparatus can be made lower in the case of the tenth embodiment than in that of the ninth embodiment. The remaining points of the tenth embodiment are the same as those of the ninth embodiment. Eleventh Embodiment FIG. 16 is a schematic view showing an optical system of a projection-type display apparatus according to an eleventh embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 16, the construction which is identical or corresponding to those of FIG. 14 are denoted by the same symbols. The projection-type display apparatus according to the eleventh embodiment differs from that of the ninth embodiment (FIG. 14) only in that the condenser lenses 9RG and 9B of the above-mentioned ninth embodiment are respectively replaced by Fresnel lenses 39RG and 39B, as shown in FIG. 16. The Fresnel lenses 39RG and 39B shown in FIG. 16 are made of glass or plastic, and have a flat (or curved) surface 81 and a Fresnel surface 80 having ring-like or circular steps. In the eleventh embodiment, as shown in FIG. 16 and FIGS. 17A and 17B, the flat surface 81 (Although FIG. 17 shows the Fresnel lens 39RG, the Fresnel lens 39B has the same construction) faces the first color separating dichroic mirror 11. In other words, the Fresnel surface 80 faces the convergent beam 23 (i.e., 23RG and 23B in FIG. 16), and the flat surface 81 faces the divergent beam 21 (i.e., 21RG and 21B in FIG. 16). This is in order to suppress losses of the incident beam to a low level. As described hereinbefore, according to the eleventh embodiment, the apparatus can be made more compact and lightweight for the same reasons as in the case of the ninth embodiment. Further, according to the eleventh embodiment, the lenses can be made more compact and lightweight. If the lenses are made of plastic, low-cost lenses which are easy to mass produce can be manufactured by a technique such as compression molding or injection molding, and the cost of the apparatus can be reduced. In FIGS. 17A and 17B, the surfaces opposite the Fresnel surfaces of the Fresnel lenses 39B and 39RG are shown flat, however, they may also be convex curved surfaces in order to increase lens power. The Fresnel surfaces may also comprise Fresnel stripes formed on a convex curved surface. The condenser lenses 39B and 39RG may each comprise a pair of Fresnel lenses 83 and 84 with the same Fresnel pitch, each of these component lenses having a flat surface and a Fresnel surface, and the Fresnel surfaces 83a and 84a facing each other, as shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B. The remaining points of the eleventh embodiment are the same as those of the above-mentioned ninth embodiment. Twelfth Embodiment FIG. 18 is a schematic view showing an optical system of a projection-type display apparatus according to a twelfth embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 18, the construction which is identical or corresponding to those of the eleventh embodiment (FIG. 16) are denoted by the same symbols. The projection-type display apparatus according to the twelfth embodiment differs from that of the eleventh embodiment in the characteristics of the first color separating dichroic mirror 11a and the arrangement of components. The first color separating dichroic mirror 11 of the the above-mentioned eleventh embodiment transmits the blue component of the light and reflected the red and green components (i.e., the components other than blue), however, the first color separating dichroic mirror 11a of the twelfth embodiment reflects the blue component and transmits the red and green components (i.e., the components other than blue). Also, in the optical system of the twelfth embodiment, the two mirrors (for example, 11 and 13) are disposed in the z direction and the three mirrors (for example, 11, 12 and 14) are disposed in the x direction as shown in FIG. 16, however, in the optical system of the twelfth embodiment, the three mirrors (for example, 11a, 12 and 14) are disposed in the z direction and the two mirrors (for example, 11a and 13) are disposed in the x direction as shown in FIG. 18. If the short sides of the image display areas of the light valves 6R, 6G and 6B are arranged parallel to the xz plane, the x direction is the height direction of the apparatus, hence the height of the apparatus can be made lower in the case of the twelfth embodiment than in that of the eleventh embodiment. The remaining points of the twelfth embodiment are the same as those of the eleventh embodiment. The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.
A projection-type display apparatus comprising a lamp, an ellipsoidal mirror, a diaphragm disposed in the vicinity of a secondary focus of the ellipsoidal mirror, a first color separating dichroic mirror for separating the light into a blue color beam and a beam having a wavelength outside the blue wavelength region, a second color separating dichroic mirror for separating the beam having the wavelength outside the blue wavelength region into a red color beam and a green color beam, light valves for displaying images respectively corresponding to the red, green and blue color beams, first lens for making the red, green and blue color beams respectively advancing toward the respective light valves into parallel or convergent beams, color synthesizing dichroic mirrors for synthesizing the red, green and blue color beams which have been transmitted through the respective light valves, and a projection lens for enlarging and projecting a synthesized beam onto a screen. The first lens is disposed downstream in a light propagation direction from the first color separating dichroic mirror.
7
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a device for the filling of filling yarn bobbins on the shuttles of a traveling wave loom or shaft shed weaving machine which comprises continuously rotating a conveying chain to move shuttles having empty bobbins thereon from the outlet edge to the inlet edge of the fabric during the weaving process, the shuttles being guided between slide rails with each bobbin on the shuttle provided with a small toothed wheel that meshes with a large toothed wheel member to bring about the rotation of the bobbin for winding thereon a filling yarn supplied. In shaft shed weaving machines, wherein as is known a plurality of shuttles are successively and uniformly distributed over the entire fabric width and are conveyed at continuous speed through the shed and are then transported back empty from the outlet edge to the inlet edge of the fabric, the filling of the filling yarn bobbins on the shuttles represents a considerable problem. For example, a shaft shed weaving machine of the above type is known wherein the toothed member for rotating the filling yarn bobbins of the shuttles is a rack which extends approximately over the entire machine width, parallel to which the winding members from which the filling yarns are removed are moved at the running speed of the shuttles in order to fill the shuttle bobbins during this parallel movement (DOS 2,207,248). The object of this construction is to supply as many shuttle bobbins as possible with an adequate length of filling yarn during one rotation. This problem is solved with another known construction of a shaft shed weaving machine in that the shuttles rotate on the circumference of transporting wheels whereby the latter carry the reserve winding members (Australian Pat. No. 240,564). However, both these constructions have the disadvantage of requiring a great deal of space, quite apart from the technical expenditure required in concomitantly moving the large mass of the reserve winding members. A further disadvantage is that the length of the filling yarn which can be wound onto the bobbin of each shuttle can scarcely be varied which excludes any change to the fabric width. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention therefore provides a device of the type indicated hereinbefore on a shaft shed weaving machine that permits the filling of filling yarn bobbins on the shuttles within only a small portion of their movement path from fixed reserve winding members, whereby the length of the filling yarn to be wound can be randomly varied. According to the invention, the problem heretofore described is solved in that a toothed member is formed by a toothed wheel of a gear arranged in front of the inlet edge of the fabric, and around the said gear extend a conveying chain and slide rails for the shuttles which can be driven at variable speed relative to the conveying chain, whereby the apparatus for supplying filling yarns to the shuttle bobbins is arranged on the inlet side in front of the engagement point of the shuttle bobbins in the toothed wheel. These arrangements make it possible to arrange the device for filling the filling yarn bobbins of the shuttles on the filling yarn insertion side of the shaft shed weaving machine which considerably increases the accessibility of the machine over the width thereof. In addition, the zone within which the shuttle bobbins must be in engagement with the toothed member or wheel to bring about the rotation thereof for winding on the yarn is reduced to a minimum because this zone no longer alone determines the number of rotations and therefore the length of the wound-on filling yarn, in that relative to the shuttle rotation direction, the gear can now be counter-rotated at random speed which correspondingly increases the winding speed of the shuttle bobbins. However, in the case of very narrow fabric widths, the gear can also be rotated in the shuttle rotation direction so that the shuttle bobbins undergo retarded rotation and therefore only wind-on a limited filling yarn length. According to an advantageous embodiment of this device, the apparatus for supplying the filling yarns to the shuttle bobbins can be provided with a number of yarn guides corresponding to the number of shuttles simultaneously engaging on the toothed wheel of the gear, whereby the said yarn guides are pivotally mounted independently of one another and superimposed in different planes between a working, a waiting, and a winding position. Thus each of the yarn guides is in working connection with a fixed reserve winding member and the construction can be such that the yarn guides are in the form of tubes which, in the working and waiting position, issue into the area of yarn guidance plates which form yarn guidance grooves being inclined towards the inlet edge of the fabric. These measures prevent any entanglement of the filling yarn which up to the complete insertion in the shed are still connected with the particular reserve winding members because each individual filling of the shuttles moved simultaneously in the area of the device remains strictly in its movement plane defined by the particular yarn guide and particular yarn guidance groove. To ensure that the particular shuttle and the conveying chain are separate from one another when the individual shuttle penetrates the fabric shed, the conveying plane formed by the leading and following strands of the conveying chain can form an angle with the weaving plane in such a way that the conveying chain is lowered beneath the fabric. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which by way of illustration show preferred embodiments of the present invention and the principles thereof and what are now considered to be the best modes contemplated for applying these principles. In the drawings: FIG. 1 is a plan view of the device according to the invention shown schematically; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the device illustrated in FIG. 1 viewed from another direction; FIG. 3 is a vertical view of a section taken along the line III--III of FIG. 1 and presented on a larger scale; FIG. 4 is a side view in section showing the relative positions of the weaving and conveying planes of the device; FIG. 5 is a view in perspective of a detail of the arrangement shown in FIG. 1 presented on a larger scale; FIG. 6 is a plan view of a shuttle and FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VII--VII of the shuttle in FIG. 6 showing the shuttle bobbin; and FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view and FIG. 9 is a plan view of a variant of a shuttle bobbin. DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the device for filling the filling yarn bobbins of shuttles on a shaft shed weaving machine shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the latter is only indicated by a cutaway portion of a fabric 1 with the so-called inlet edge 1a made on this machine. In conventional manner, the machine forms a shed 3 from the warp yarns 2 and then from the inlet side of the fabric 1a the shuttles are moved through this shed by a shuttle conveying means not shown. The present invention relates solely to the filling of the empty shuttles on leaving the shed on their return travel and prior to their reinsertion in the shed, so that the following description is limited to the mechanism on a shaft shed weaving machine that will accomplish this. In per se known manner, the empty conveying of shuttles 4 from the outlet edge 1b to the inlet edge 1a of the fabric 1 takes place by means of a continuously rotating conveyor chain 5 which moves the shuttles 4 between slide or guide rails 6 and 7 which can form a displacement channel in the direction of the fabric inlet edge substantially along a straight path extending over the entire machine width. To this end individual chain links carry upwardly projecting follower pins 8 which can engage in a corresponding recess in each shuttle box, thus moving the shuttles before them, as can be seen in particular in FIG. 2. FIGS. 1 and 2 also clearly show that the channel in the area of the inlet edge 1a of fabric 1, i.e. substantially on one machine side, passes into a substantially circular path and then issues immediately in front of the inlet edge 1a of the fabric. FIG. 4 shows that the conveying plane 10, which is formed by the strands of chain 5 and the weaving plane indicated by fabric 1, forms an angle α in such a way that, with the insertion of the incoming filled shuttle 4 into the shed and its taking over the not shown further conveying means, conveying chain 5 is lowered to such an extent relative to the weaving plane that follower pin 8 also passes underneath the fabric (see FIG. 4). The circular portion of the channel surrounds a gear or gear toothed member 11 which, as shown in FIG. 2, here comprises two axially spaced ratchet wheels 11' and 11" which project into the inner slide rail 6 to such an extent that they can engage in ratchet or toothed wheels 19 and 20 on the bobbin 18 of the particular rotating shuttle 4 as will be explained in detail hereinafter. Gear 11 is movable relative to conveying chain 5 via appropriate drive means with variable speed and drivable in one or another rotational direction. To illustrate clearly the cooperation between a shuttle moved into and through the curved path by the conveying chain 5 and the gear 11, reference should be made to FIGS. 6 and 7 showing an embodiment of such a shuttle. This shuttle 4 is flat in cross-section and has an upper plate 12 and a lower plate 13 of identical outer contours. These outer contours show a fish-shaped configuration, whereby the end of shuttle 4 is formed by the already mentioned recess 8' for the engagement of follower pin 8. To enable the shuttle to follow the relatively narrow circular path without jamming between its guide rails 6 and 7, circular sector-shaped transitions 15, 16 and 17 are provided on the contours from tip 14 to end 8' which simultaneously provide a three-point support of shuttle 4 in its displacement channel provided by slide rails 6, 7. The filling yarn bobbin 18 is mounted in freely rotatable manner between plates 12 and 13 and is connected at top and bottom with ratchet wheels 19 and 20 which serve to mesh with ratchet wheels 11' and 11", respectively. If during its empty conveying from one side of the machine to the other shuttle 4 enters the circular path area, gear 11 can engage on ratchet wheels 19 and 20 of bobbin 18 of shuttle 4, whereby bobbin 18 is rotated as a result of the relative movement between gear 11 and shuttle 4. This rotation of bobbin 18 serves for the winding-on of a filling yarn, which during the subsequent movement of shuttle 4 through the shed of fabric 1 is inserted in the fabric. For this purpose, an apparatus for supplying filling yarns to the shuttle bobbins is provided on the inlet side in front of the engagement point of shuttle bobbin 18 in the toothed wheel of gear 11. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, this apparatus comprises a plurality of yarn guides 30 which are pivotally mounted independently of one another and superimposed in different planes between a working and waiting position and a winding position. The number of yarn guides 30, in the present case six, corresponds to the number of shuttles 4 which are simultaneously located in the zone between the intake point of shuttles 4 into the circular path and the outlet point in the area of the fabric edge. Each of the yarn guides 30 is supported with one end in a disc 31, i.e. one end in one disc in each case, whereby the independently rotatable discs 31 are stacked upon one another in tower-like manner as can be seen particularly in FIG. 3. An adjusting mechanism 33 engages on a flange 32 of each disc 31. As particularly shown in FIG. 1, each disc 31 and therefore each yarn guide 30 can move into its one or other extreme position. A disc 31 with the appropriate yarn guide 30 is shown on an enlarged scale in FIG. 5 which also shows an elongated slot 34 which as will be explained hereinafter permits an inserted filling yarn 35 to assume different angular positions relative to the axial intake of the here tubular yarn guide 30. The discs 31 are jointly supported on a carrier 38 fixed to machine frame 42 (see FIG. 3). FIG. 1 shows that filling yarn is supplied to each yarn guide 30 from a corresponding number of reserve winding members or means 36, whereby the winding members are fixed at an appropriate point on the machine by means of corresponding holding means and a yarn brake 37 is provided between the particular reserve winding member 36 and the yarn guide 30. Thus, in any operating phase, the particular filling yarn 35 extends from its reserve winding member 36 via yarn brake 37 through slot 34 of ring flange 31 and out through the front opening of the yarn guide tube 30. As can be seen, the pivot range of the yarn guide tube opening is such that in the working and waiting position it is located on the inside in the circular path approximately over the transition area of the shuttles and for reaching the winding position is movable outwards over approximately the width of the displacement channel provided by slide rails 6, 7. In the working and waiting position of the yarn guide tubes 30, yarn guidance plates 40 inclined towards the outer edge of fabric 1 are connected to the openings thereof, whereby the said plates define a separate guidance channel for each filling yarn. In each of these guidance channels is provided a clamping member 41 movable between two positions which acts as a yarn brake means with the lower guidance plate 40 in the clamping position. The clamping members 41 are jointly adjustable via a control rod 43 supported on machine frame 42. The control rod is here controlled by the action of a control spring 44 and is operable via a pivotable lever 47 by means of a cam 46 which rotates with the machine control shaft 45, as well be explained hereinafter (see FIG. 3). As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the apparatus for supplying filling yarns to the shuttle bobbins comprises a so-called yarn feeder. The yarn feeder comprises a bow-shaped member 50 extending in the imaginary connecting line between the openings of yarn guide tubes 30 in the two extreme positions thereof. At each end 51 or 52 of the bow-shaped member is provided a holding member for a yarn in such a way that a yarn held taut between holding members 51 and 52 in a lower extreme position of bow-shaped member 50 extends at right angles over the displacement channel for shuttles 4 at a height where, from the tip 14 of the incoming shuttle 4, the yarn can enter the same and encounter bobbin 18. From the said lower extreme position which represents the threading position, bow-shaped member 50 can be set in an upper extreme position for which purpose member 50 is fixed to a control rod 53 which is guided in adjustable manner on machine frame 42. On control rod 53 engages a control lever 54 which is under the action of a restoring spring 55 and which works on guidance plates 40 synchronously with the lever drive represented by numerals 43, 46 and 47 for clamping members 41. To this end, a further cam 56 is provided which is mounted on machine shaft 45'. Before the above-described device starts operating, the yarn ends are drawn from the filling yarn reserve winding members or means 36 over the appropriate yarn brake 37 through the guidance slot 34 of disc 31 and the appropriate yarn guide tube 30 then being placed in the associated yarn guidance channel between the yarn guidance plates 40 under the substantially unstressed clamping member 41. The yarn end terminates appoximately with the edge of the stack of yarn guidance plates 40 adjacent to the fabric edge as can be seen in FIG. 3 relative to the second from top filling yarn 35. Naturally, all the yarn guidance tubes 30 are in the working and waiting position and each filling yarn has approximately the same course as filling yarn 35' shown in FIG. 1. For the slight deflection of the filling yarn 35 from the direction given by the yarn guidance tube 30 in the direction towards the fabric edge 1a, a deflector 49 is appropriately provided in each yarn guidance channel defined by plates 40, as can be gathered from FIG. 1. The deflecting edge of deflector 49 extends close to the opening of the particular yarn guidance tube 30. In this position for initiating operating of the device, the control rod 43 is located in the upper extreme position of FIG. 3 in which the clamping members 41 are substantially unstressed. Furthermore, the control rod 53 together with the yarn feeder bow 50 are in an upper extreme position indicated by the dotted line 54' in FIG. 3. In this position, the yarn holding members 51 and 52 of bow-shaped member 50 are located above the pivot plane of the uppermost yarn guidance tube 30. As already stated, when the shaft shed weaving machine is operated the conveying chain 5 continuously rotates at a conveying speed for the shuttle which is concomitantly moved corresponding to the insertion speed of shuttle 4 into the shed. The setting of one of the yarn guidance tubes 30 in its winding position takes place immediately before a shuttle 4, which has been conveyed empty to the filling device, enters the circular path of displacement channel formed by slide rails 6, 7. Depending on the position of a not shown timing means relative to the operation of the setting means 33 for yarn guides 30 to take place successively, the fourth yarn guide 30" can for example be placed from above in its winding position (see FIG. 3). Since the particular filling yarn 35" is subject to more pronounced braking on the removal side by yarn brake 37 than by the unstressed clamping member 41 in the corresponding yarn guidance channel 40", its end is moved out of the yarn guidance channel 40" but only to the extent that the end remains in the area of a preclamping spring 60 on clamping member 41. This has the advantage of shortening this free yarn end prior to winding on. Naturally, it would also be possible to secure the yarn end prior to the pivotal movement of yarn guide 30". In this case, securing takes place immediately after pivoting the yarn guide 30" into its winding position through lowering control rod 43 so that clamping member 41 clamps the filling yarn against the lower plate 40 of yarn guidance channel 40". This clamping force is greater than the braking force of yarn brake 37 (see FIG. 1). In this clamping phase, the control rod 53 together with the yarn feeder bow 50 is brought into the lower extreme position shown in FIG. 3 whereby the holding members 51 and 52 on bow-shaped member 50 grip the yarn 35" which is at right angles to the displacement channel and press it into the insertion plane of the arriving shuttle 4". A certain amount of filling yarn is thereby removed from the particular reserve winding member 36. Immediately thereafter, the control rod 43 is again moved upwards and the clamping action on the yarn end in yarn guidance channel 40" is only exerted by spring 60. FIG. 2 also shows this readiness position of the yarn to be wound. After making ready filling yarn 35", this can penetrate from the tip 14 of the arriving shuttle 4" between the plates 12 and 13 thereof (see FIGS. 6 and 7). Yarn 35" is then held by securing means on bobbin 18 whereby simultaneously bobbin 18 or its toothed wheels 19 and 20 engage with gear 11 so the bobbin 18 starts to rotate. Substantially simultaneously with the winding on, the yarn feeder bow 50 is returned to its upper extreme position and yarn guide 30" is pivoted back into its working and waiting position. The now rotating bobbin 18 of shuttle 4" on the one hand pulls the end of the filling yarn from yarn guidance channel 40" and on the draws yarns from the particular reserve winding member 36, corresponding to its speed, and winds these latter yarns on during the further conveying of the shuttle to the intake edge 1a of fabric 1. As the conveying speed of shuttle 4" is also constant in this zone, by giving a counter rotation to gear 11 in a counter-clockwise direction with regulatable speed, the speed of bobbin 18 of shuttle 4" can be randomly increased so that the length of the filling yarn wound-on can randoming vary and be adapted to any fabric width. As a result of the above indicated setting of yarn guide tube 30", the particular shuttle 4" has been moved back to such an extent that yarn guide 30" during its pivotal movement can place the yarn strand between bobbin 18 and the opening of yarn guide 30" in a guidance slot 80 on the top of the particular follower pin 8 of the conveying chain 5. FIG. 2 clearly shows that this guidance slot 80 and the opening of the particular yarn guide 30 then form deflection points for the wound yarn which remains stretched between these points. Since as already stated, the yarn guide tubes 30 are now superimposed, the arrangement makes it impossible that the yarn strands can in any way become entangled during their rotary movement between the individual tubes 30 and the associated follower pins 8 on chain 5. After winding, which as taken place in the above described manner, the particular shuttle 4" continues its movement in the direction of the intake edge of the fabric. The shuttles 4 follow at an appropriate given spacing which together with the conveying speed for the shuttles determines the cycle in which the above-described winding process is repeated for the next shuttle, naturally using the next yarn guide tube 30. The final phase of the above-described winding process and the beginning of insertion of the filled shuttle into the shed 3 are illustrated particularly in FIGS. 1 and 2. Prior to the insertion of the shuttle in the shed, as a result of appropriate shaping of displacement channel 6, 7 in this area, the driving connection between the bobbin 18 of the particular shuttle and gear 11 is interrupted which stops the winding process. In this phase the free yarn penetates between follower pin 8 and yarn guide 30 into the corresponding guidance channel between the yarn guidance plates 40 and moves underneath the pre-clamping spring 60 on clamping member 41. With the penetration of shuttle 4 into shed 3, the conveying chain 5 together with the follower pin 8 passes under fabric 1, as described in FIG. 4, and the further conveying of shuttle 4 through the shed is performed by means not shown on the shaft shed waving machine. The yarn is thereby released from the guidance slot 80 of follower pin 8 and is located in its guidance channel as indicated by yarns 35' in FIG. 1. The yarn remains stretched in this position for as long as the filling yarn end must be held for filling purposes. Cutting devices 61 then cuts off yarn 35' in the area of the fabric edge leading once again to the starting position for a new winding process. As already stated, bobbin 18 of shuttle 4 has gripping means for taking up the supplied filling yarn in order to be able to wind the latter on bobbin 18. In the case of the bobbin 18 shown in FIG. 7, these gripping means comprise disc-like clamping jaws 71 supported towards the outside on elastic discs 70. The said jaws open under the pressure of the arriving yarn and delimit a radial slot in the center of bobbin 18. The arrangement is such that the depth of this slot only corresponds to about the thickness of the yarn to be wound on, which prevents several yarn turns being secured. In the embodiment of such a bobbin 18 shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 inwardly directed elastic clamping pins 72 project from the two ratchet wheels 19 and 20 of bobbin 18. The free ends of each of these clamping pins 72 extend up to the face of the yarn package in the center of the bobbin and are uniformly distributed and reciprocally staggered over the entire periphery of the bobbin. If the taut yarn passes between clamping pins 72, they are pressed somewhat outwards thereby securing the yarn. If the tension in the yarn decreases, the clamping pins 72 return to their initial position and the yarn is then only held by the looping friction. If during winding the free yarn end is to be as short as possible, each shuttle 4 can also be equipped with a knife which cuts off the yarn during its taking up and winding in the area of holding member 51. However, this knife can also be arranged adjacent to holding member 51 at point 65 of slide rail 6 (see FIG. 3). In both cases, it is then advantageous to provide at this point a suction channel 66 which can be connected with a vacuum pipe for sucking off the residual yarn. While there have been described and illustrated the preferred embodiments of the invention, it is to be understood that other variations and modifications can be made and therefore the invention herein is not to be limited to the precise details set forth above but to include such modifications and alterations as fall within the scope of the appended claims.
A device for the filling of filling yarn bobbins on the shuttles of a traveling wave loom which has continuously rotating a conveying chain to move the shuttles having empty bobins thereon from the outlet edge to the inlet edge of the fabric during weaving, the shuttles being guided between slide rails with each bobbin provided with a small toothed wheel that meshes with a large toothed wheel to bring about the rotation of the bobbin for winding thereon a filling yarn.
3
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Technical Field The present invention relates to edible food products and methods of manufacture thereof; and, more particularly, to compositions, and methods of manufacture, for enhancing the flavors of foodstuffs to which they are applied while, at the same time, serving to neutralize excess cholesterol in foods consumed as well as serum cholesteol. The notion that cholesterol intake results in serious specific physiological consequences is currently emerging as popular dogma among the population at large. Seldom has nutritional science seen adoption across such a wide consumer segment of an ever increasing, health conscious public. The perceived necessity to control or eliminate cholesterol intake is so strong and urgent that long established cultural eating habits are changing abruptly. Unfortunately, many well established food and agricultural industries are, perhaps unwisely, being radically impacted economically as buying habits of the consumer shift toward implementing food choices which reduce or eliminate cholesterol. Little or no thought has been given to what the consequences of such a radical and sharp change in eating habits might prove to be. The consumers know what they are running away from; but, they apparently do not know what they might be running into. Current medical advice to patients exhibiting numerous medical conditions believed to be influenced by cholesterol to minimize and/or discontinue cholesterol intake and/or medicate with available anticholesteremic agents has authenticated and reinforced this trend. Highly charged, media-inspired awareness levels have spawned numerous marketing ploys by food producers. These are aimed at capitalizing on some pre-existing absence of cholesterol, or some cholesterol influencing property in old products, primarily via restructured advertising or labeling claims such as ". . . contains NO cholesterol . . . " or ". . . high in fiber . . . ". Nutritional science has established that some types of dietary fiber, such as hydrocolloids, mucilages, gums and pectins, for example, can not only complex cholesterol contained in foods and thereby reduce its uptake, but even reduce serum cholesterol if taken over a period of time. In addition, it has been known that triglycerides can be reduced by the consumption of gum arabic on a regular basis. As the following Table I shows, gums do not contain soluble dietary fiber (SDF); but, are essentially soluble dietary fibers themselves. The gums listed in Table I are classed by the FDA as ingredients that may be safely used in foods. For example, pectin is included in the list of permitted additives in standardized foods when a technological need can be proven. In unstandardized foods, the use of pectin is only limited by "good manufacturing practice." See, Pectin Product Bulletin, p. 3, published by A/S KOBENHAVNSPEKTINFABRIK, Copenhagen, Denmark. TABLE I______________________________________GUM SOLUBLE FIBERS______________________________________Pectin 100%Arabic 94%Locust bean 92%Tragacanth 90%Cellulose 88%Agar 85%Xanthan 85%Alginate 80%Carrageenan 78%______________________________________ In an opinion paper in response to the increasing interest in fiber levels in foods, the FDA has stated that 30 grams of fiber should be consumed per day (See, Product Data Bulletin entitled "Formulating With Nutriloid Soluble Dietary Fibers", A.01.07, TIC GUMS, p. 1). Cholesterol is a naturally occurring sterol found in all animal fat. Human metabolism can synthesize cholesterol from almost any food material. The synthesis takes place in most, if not all, cells involved in animal metabolism. The degree of individual synthesis seems to be genetically related since, given the same basic diet, different persons will generate wide variations of serum cholesterol. Clearly, dietary control aimed at reducing intake in itself cannot, in many cases, be expected to be an entirely successful strategy for reduction of hypercholesteremia. Currently, consumers can take fiber supplements by pill or capsule, obtain a prescription for hypocholesteremic adjuvants (HCA), avoid or restrict foods known to contain cholesterol and consume more high fiber containing foods. A common guar gum capsule supplement available from health food stores, for example, costs approximately $0.088 per gram of dietary fiber as contrasted with: guar gum at $0.003 per gram; karaya at $0.007 per gram; tragacanth at $0.026 per gram; locust bean at $0.007 per gram; carrageenan at $0.01 per gram; xanthan at $0.002 per gram; arabic at $0.002 per gram; and, CMC at $0.008 per gram. Many consumers are dissatisfied with new cholesterol reduced diets since many important foods of long standing importance to them--for example dairy products, pork and pork based products, eggs, etc.--are either not available on such diets or available only in limited quantities; and, even then, such products must be prepared in ways not desired by the consumer such as "well done" beef for the devotee of "rare beef". Basic industries, such as the beef industry, cannot change the basic nature of beef or free it of cholesterol. There have been attempts to interest the poultry industry in new poultry diets which can result in cholesterol reduced poultry and poultry products. The magnitude of these reductions--approximately 40% to 50% reductions in eggs, for example--cannot, at the present time, justify the additional expense for such products. Consequently, the poultry industry continues to face serious declines in sales at various levels. Food flavor enhancement has been the object of serious study by food specialists since discovery of flavor enhancement properties and the isolation of monosodium glutamate (MSG, C 5 H 8 NaO 4 ) in 1908. MSG intensifies and enhances flavor while, in quantities normally used, it does not add any flavor of its own. It is this point which differentiates "flavor enhancers" from "seasonings" or "flavor integers" which do serve to add flavors of their own. Salt is a "seasoning", while sugar and common food acids, such as citric acid (C 6 H 8 O) and adipic acid (C 6 H 10 O 4 ), are considered "flavor integers". There are several theories about how flavor enhancers, integers and potentiators work. Thus, flavor potentiators are believed by some to increase the sensitivity of taste buds. Flavor integers, on the other hand, are synergistic reactants contained in more or less all food, to some degree. Flavor enhancers act as solvents or detergents, freeing more flavors from foods, thus making more flavor available for tasting and assisting flavors in penetrating taste buds more readily. MSG is effective in enhancing flavors of foods in parts per thousand, while other potentiators are capable of enhancing flavor only in parts per billion, or even less. Moreover, ingestion of food containing MSG has been found to cause headaches and nausea in persons sensitive to it. This reaction, which may be a mild form of allergic anaphylaxsis, has been referred to as "Chinese restaurant syndrome." Flavor potentiators and enhancers improve or amplify flavor beneficially. As far as is known, they are otherwise not very beneficial, or are entirely nonbeneficial, and may, such as with MSG, prove eventually to result in disturbing side effects after consumption. Prior to the advent of the present invention, flavor enhancer compositions exhibiting additional major nutritional benefits have simply been unknown. However, salt replacers or reducers have been in use for some time. They have not become popular products due to bitter, soapy or chemical tastes perceived by most consumers. Some products have been produced which are combinations of other ingredients, including sodium chloride, in order to minimize this problem. To date, they have met with only moderate success. 2. Background Art The fields related to food technogy--and, particularly those related to cholesterol, flavor enhancement and the effects of consumption of soluble dietary fibers--are highly crowded and well-developed. Those interested in a typical, but far from exhaustive, bibliography relating thereto are referred, merely by way of example, to the following publications: 1. Martin Glicksman, Gum Technology In The Food Industry, Academic Press, Inc., San Diego, pp. 94-505 (1969). 2. A. A. Lawrence, Edible Gums and Related Substances, Noyes Data Corporation, Park Ridge, NJ (1973). 3. R. A. A. Muzzarelli, Natural Chelating Polymers: Alginic Acid, Chitin and Chitosan, Pergamon Press, Oxford, pp. 23-247 (1973). 4. Roy L. Whistler, Industrial Gums: Polysaccharides and their Derivatives, Academic Press, New York, pp. 29-513 (1973). 5. David Kritchevsky, Hypolipidemic Agents, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 29-90, 109-140, 151-182, 216-223, 349-395, 409-414 (1975). 6. Andrew A. Lawrence, Natural Gums for Edible Purposes, Noyes Data Corporation, Park Ridge, NJ (1976). 7. Gene A. Spiller and Ronald J. Amen, Fiber in Human Nutrition, Plenum Press, New York, pp. 2-6, 9-18, 171-182, 185-267 (1976). 8. Gene A. Spiller and Ronald J. Amen, Topics in Dietary Fiber Research, Plenum Press, New York, pp. 105-125 (1978). 9. K. W. Heaton, Dietary Fibre: Current Developments of Importance to Health, Technomic Publishing Company, Inc., Westport, CT, pp. 9, 45-75, 97-151 (1979). 10. Heinz A. Hoppe, et al, Marine Algae in Pharmaceutical Science, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, pp. 24, 139, 165, 203, 237, 243, 293, 303, 525, 693, 711 (1979). 11. Roy L. Whistler and Theodore Hymowitz, Guar: Agronomy, Production, Industrial Use and Nutrition, Purdue University Press, West Lafayette, IN, pp. 114-117 (1979). 12. Gene A. Spiller and Ruth McPherson Kay, Medical Aspects of Dietary Fiber, Plenum Medical Book Company, New York, p. 43-256 (1980). 13. V. J. Chapman and D. J. Chapman, Seaweeds and their Uses, Chapman and Hall, London, pp. 62-97 (1980). 14. Robert L. Davidson,Handbook of Water-Soluble Gums and Resins, McGraw Hill Book Co., New York, pp. 2-1 -24-1 (1980). 15. Royal College of Physicians of London, Medical Aspects of Dietary Fibre, Pitman Medical, Kent, Great Britain, pp. 1-8, 63-159 (1980). 16. U. P. T. James and Olof Theander, Analysis of Dietary Fiber in Food, Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York (1981). 17. Martin Glicksman, Food Hydrocolloids, Volume I, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, pp. 101-124, 127-167 (1982). 18. Glyn O. Phillips, et al, Gums and Stabilisers for the Food Industry, Pergamon Press, Oxford, pp. 351-370 (1982). 19. Ivan Furda, Unconventional Sources of Dietary Fiber, ACS Symposium Series 214, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, pp. 1-32, 49-60, 71-104 (1983). 20. Martin Glicksman, Food Hydrocolloids, Volume II, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, p. 7-190 (1983). 21. Audry Eytons, The F-Plan Diet, Bantam Books, NY (1984). 22. Barbara Huff, Physicians Desk Reference for Non-Prescription Drugs, Barnhart, Oradell, NJ, pp. 506, 418, 622 (1985). 23. Yeshajahu Pomeranz, Functional Properties of Food Components, Academic Press, Orlando, FL, pp. 91-118, 469-471 (1985). 24. Martin Glicksman, Food Hydrocolloids, Volume III, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, pp. 9-232 (1986). 25. George E. Inglett and S. Ingemar Falkenhag, Dietary Fibers: Chemistry and Nutrition, Academic Press, New York, pp. 31, 49, 117, 173, 251. 26. Martin S. Peterson and Lionel H. Johnson, Encyclopedia of Food Science, AVI, Westport, CT, pp. 279-287. Fiber supplements--particularly refined, soluble dietary fibers (SDF) such as pectin (mixture of esterified galacturonan, galactan and araban), sodium alginate (C 6 H 7 NaO 6 ), karaya gum and guar gum--are expensive and relatively difficult to handle. They are not available in any convenient form for the consumer to use as part of day to day dietary habits; and, even if they were, a particular problem still faced by the consumer would be in judging how much and how to add them to the diet in order to compensate for high cholesterol-bearing foods. Moreover, SDF's are soluble only in extreme dilution; and, even then will form thick, mucilaginous gels which could result in food sprinkled with gelatinous coated, gritty bits of fiber rendering the food virtually inedible. Alternatively, if SDF granules were first solubilized for use on food by the addition of water, they would form highly dilute, viscous, slimy coatings similar to thick mucilage, perhaps edible but flavor diluted, and otherwise texturally and hedonically altogether repugnant. TABLE II______________________________________COMPARATIVE VISCOSITYOF SOME DIETARY FIBERS.sup.1GUM cP______________________________________Gum arabic (20% by weight) 50Locust bean gum 100Methylcellulose 150Gum tragacanth 200Carrageenan 300High viscosity sodium carboxymethylcellulose 1,200Gum karaya 1,500Sodium alginate 2,000Guar gum 4,200______________________________________ .sup.1 Industrial Gums, Roy L. Whistler, Ed., Academic Press, New York, 1973, p. 316. An advantage to persons suffering from fluctuations in blood sugar, such as persons prone to hypoglycemia and particularly diabetics who are also concerned with hyperglycemia and hypercholesteremia, is inherent in hypocholesteremic adjuvants of SDF. For example, among other remarkable health giving benefits claimed, guar gum and locust bean gum have been proven to stabilize blood glucose/insulin, referred to as glucose insulin flattening response (GIR). Though some confusion seems to exist about the benefits of soluble or non-soluble dietary fibers, including a concise definition, global health records clearly demonstrate that in cultures where adequate dietary fiber is consumed, there is an absence, for all practical purposes, of what have come to be known as "rich country" ailments and diseases. The fact that dietary fiber and SDF, in particular, are of major importance not only in maintaining good health but in preventing and even reversing many important serious diseases and health conditions has been known for many years by many in the particular art. Notwithstanding the need for a convenient food adjunct which can be used routinely by the consumer, no convenient flavor enhancer and dose-related SDF food additive product is at present known to exist. In technologically advanced societies, it is not easy to obtain adequate dietary fiber without major changes in long held cultural eating habits. Supplements of SDF are both expensive and inconvenient to use. No product is known to exist in which the character of soluble fibers is altered so that they are immediately soluble and not mucilaginous, gummy or gritty when applied like table salt directly to food before consumption. Indeed, much of the value associated with SDF products is in their gummy, mucilaginous characteristics. Scientific research has proven, and continues to prove, the efficacy of hypocholesteremic adjuvant, soluble dietary fibers in altering the progress of many disease states, including diverticulitis, some cancers, cardiovascular disease, arteriosclerotic conditions, and many others, merely by increasing dietary intake above minimum critical limits of many of a wide variety of SDF's. U.S. Pat. No. 3,148,114 entitled: "Method of Reducing Cholesterol Levels", issued to Fahrenbach and Riccardi, discloses, for example, the discovery that thirteen (13) mucilaginous substances exert a powerful hypocholesteremic adjuvant action when consumed in tests by poultry. Soluble dietary fibers are those substantially polysaccharide or carbohydrate portions of food products, derived essentially from cell wall or biochemical property related constituents of plants, microorganisms and a few animals, which are edible, water soluble and gel forming materials substantially resistant to digestion by enzymes of man; and, are collectively referred to when food is analyzed as dietary fibers. Soluble dietary fibers have essentially no caloric value. Pectins, agar, guar gum, gum arabic (acacia), bengal, tragacanth, agar, dextran, curdlan, locust bean, tamarind, arabinogalactan (larch gum), shiraz, karaya, tara, ghatti gum and carrageenan, psyllium husks and seed, alginic acids (C 6 H 8 O 6 ) and many of its salts, xanthan and cellulose (C 6 H 10 O 5 ) derivatives such as carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), methylcellulose, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose are among those SDF's which have proven to be more or less HCA effective. Included in the definition of SDF's are water soluble mucilages, pectic substances and plant gums, some storage polysaccharides, cellulose derivatives, synthetic gums, and polydextrose. Pectins such as high methoxyl and low methoxyl; gums such as oat, guar, bengal, locust bean, karaya, tara, ghatti, tragacanth, arabic (acacia), quince, sapote, furcelleran, watsonia, tamarind, psyllium, sodium alginate, carrageenan, agar, b-glucans; cellulose such as methylcellulose, carboxymethylcellulose and hemicellulose; microbial gums such as xanthan; mucopolysaccharides; chondroitin sulfate; amino polysaccharides, such as chitin (C 8 H 13 NO 5 ) and chitosan; xylan; propol; polygalturonic acid; and, arabinogalactans are specific, but not exhaustive, examples of a soluble dietary fiber of SDF. Many soluble dietary fibers have flavor characteristics few of which are pleasant or strong. Their primary applications in foods depend on characteristic functional properties such as emulsification or thickening. They are used almost exclusively in food processing and not by the consumer or directly onto food prior to consumption. Hydrocolloids are preeminent bearers of SDF's and, in general, are molecularly structured in four configurations: Linear (Characteristics: usually not more than two copolymerized sugar units; high viscosity; unstable solutions; difficult to dissolve; risk of precipitation after dissolution--gelation. Examples are: cellulose, amylose, pectin, carrageenan, agar, alginate). TABLE III______________________________________Linear______________________________________ Single Branch (Characteristics: sugar units condensed with carbon groups other than C-1 or C-4. Example is: dextran). TABLE IV______________________________________Single Branch ##STR1##______________________________________ Substituted Linear (Characteristics: numerous short branches often consisting of only one sugar unit in length. Examples are: locust bean gum, guar gum). TABLE V______________________________________Substituted Linear ##STR2##______________________________________ Branch on Branch (Characteristics: side chains on side chains; more stable and less viscous than linear. Typically, two or more types of sugar make up the polysaccharide. Excellent adhesive properties. Examples are: amylopectin, gum arabic). TABLE V______________________________________Branch on Branch ##STR3##______________________________________ There does not seem to be any relationship between the configuration of the particular soluble dietary fiber and its flavor amplification capabilities. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Common table salt (sodium chloride), common salt replacer (potassium chloride), and monosodium glutamate (MSG) are known as "seasonings". MSG is also known as a "flavor enhancer" and a "flavor potentiator". However, it has been found in the practice of the present invention that when any of the foregoing are combined with one or more SDF's and used like normal table salt on food, the food flavors are immediately enhanced. Yet, there is no known use of SDF's as "flavor enhancer"; and, in and of themselves, they are not. More specifically, it has been discovered that when soluble dietary fibers are combined with edible salts, such as common table salt, salt replacer, MSG and/or flavor potentiators, and then are used like common table salt on foods, the food becomes instantly more flavorful than when treated with edible salts alone, retaining more natural juiciness and moistness. An SDF/salt composition embodying features of the present invention does not, in normal use levels, impart any additional flavor to the food but, rather, amplifies and enhances natural flavors inherent in the food. The composition so formed does not, as expected, impart gummy, gritty, mucilaginous or slimy textures to food salted with it. Preferred SDF's, alone or in combination, are pectin, guar, karaya, locust bean, sodium alginate, tara and oat gums. It is a primary objective of the present invention to produce compositions which, when used like salt on foodstuffs, significantly and strikingly enhance the natural flavor, juiciness and palatability thereof. It is an important objective to achieve flavor, juiciness and palatability enhancement without otherwise adversely affecting any other organoleptic qualities of treated food. An additional object is to provide flavor enhancing compositions which are based on materials known to be safe and beneficial to eat and without known adverse health effects. A further object is to provide flavor, juiciness and palatability enhancers which may provide important health benefits. A particular object is to provide flavor, juiciness and palatability enhancers which include, as an important component of their composition, soluble dietary fiber in a form convenient for consumer use. A specific object is to provide flavor enhancement compositions which amplify salty flavors, resulting in lower use levels of salt by the user. A particular object is to provide a product which is inexpensive to manufacture. Another specific object is to provide a product which may utilize crude extracts of soluble dietary fibers as a major economy. Another object is to provide compositions wherein selected salts and soluble dietary fibers are in appropriate ratio to provide significant routine dietary contribution of important soluble dietary fibers when food is salted therewith to average taste. It is another object of the present invention to produce an HCA/GIR effective SDF/salt and/or salt substitute composition which, when used to salt cholesterol-bearing foods to average salt taste, can result in significant bypass of consumed cholesterol, and even reduction in metabolically generated serum blood cholesterol, dependent, of course, on the conditions under which the foodstuff is prepared and/or other of a myriad of considerations applicable to the broad field of food chemistry. It is an additional objective to use combinations of soluble dietary fibers which, when combined with a selected salt, salt combination and/or other flavor potentiator, may become more readily soluble such that, when used on foodstuffs in a manner similar to common table salt, they do not form unpleasant, characteristic gummy, gritty, mucilaginous masses. A specific object of the present invention is reduction of minimum daily requirements of SDF by specific application to high cholesterol-bearing foodstuffs before consumption thereof rather than non-specific dosing by supplementary SDF bolus or necessity of abstaining from traditional foods in order to eat fiber rich foods. A particular object is to produce a salt replacer product based on the use of potassium chloride [which, itself, does not taste like salt (sodium chloride)], yet wherein the resulting salt replacer product: i) does taste like natural salt (sodium chloride); ii) is not bitter, astringent, chemical or soapy tasting; and iii), has a pleasant, salty aftertaste when eaten alone or as a part of foods. Products produced according to the present invention may combine common table salt, common table salt replacers, flavor enhancer salt, including MSG and flavor potentiators, and soluble dietary fiber and combinations thereof into a dried, granulated table salt flavor enhancer composition. Salt and/or salt substitutes, such as potassium chloride, and/or flavor enhancing or potentiating salts, such as monosodium glutamate, and ibotenic acid (C 5 H 6 N 2 O 4 ), tricholomic acid, guanosine 5'-monophosphate (GMP) (C 10 H 14 N 5 O 8 P), xanthosine 5'-monophosphate, 5'-inosinate, 5'-luanylate, 5'-neuclotides, maltol (C 6 H 6 O 3 ), dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (C 20 H 37 NaO 7 S), N,N'-di-o-tolylethylenediamine, cyclamic acid (C 6 H 13 NO 3 S) and the like, may be combined with soluble dietary fibers which are frequently and preferably decomplexed to improve solubility and reduce usually expected functional characteristics, such as rheological properties otherwise disagreeably encountered when regular unrehydrated soluble dietary fibers are applied directly to food prior to consumption. A major effect of combining soluble dietary fibers and at least one of seasoning salts, flavor amplifying salts and potentiators into a composition results in heretofore unknown flavor enhancement of foods to a degree much greater than expected from the sum of the components and, in the case of soluble dietary fibers, an entirely unexpected and heretofore unknown benefit. The SDF/salt or SDF/salt/flavor potentiator or SDF/flavor potentiator ratio may be adjusted to yield a table salt product which, when added directly to cholesterol rich food such as steak, pork, hamburger, poultry, bacon, ribs or eggs, will reduce the point of average saltiness range from about 0.25%-1% to about 0.15%-0.5% because the perceived flavors will be more acutely noticeable as a result of flavor enhancement (See, Comparative Sensory Evaluation Tests below). The ratio of SDF/salt may be adjusted to provide a sufficient concentration of SDF at reduced average salting levels in order to provide significant contributions to daily SDF intake. This is particularly important since it can be applied at points of specific cholesterol rich ingestion, thereby positively influencing reduction of specific ingested cholesterol and, over a long period of similar use, perhaps even yield serum cholesterol reductions in the consumer. It is anticipated that convenient, routine applications by the consumer of SDF/salt flavor enhancers to cholesterol rich food may result in reduced daily minimum fiber requirements and provide a wider range of food options by the cholesterol conscious consumer to select more desirable traditional foods rather than less desirable fiber supplement foods. ______________________________________COMPARATIVE SENSORY EVALUATION TESTS.sup.2Score: 1 to 10 Points(1-3: Unacceptable; 4-6: Average; 7-10: Excellent)______________________________________TEST NO. 19 PersonsSirloin steak, Appear- Fla- Juici- Mouth-feel6-oz., broiled ance Taste vor ness Bite/Body______________________________________No salt or 75 26 35 51 60flavoringsSalt, .6% 72 55 63 40 52SDF/salt,50%/50%-.6% 75 81 79 85 70______________________________________Total Possible Score, All Factors: 9 × 10 × 5 = 450 TOTAL SCORE: No Salt - 247; Salt .6% - 282; SDF/Salt - 390.______________________________________TEST NO. 212 PersonsTomato, sliced Appear- Fla- Juici- Mouth-feelBeefsteak, 4 slices ance Taste vor ness Bite/Body______________________________________No salt or 88 51 63 60 78flavoringsSalt, .6% 103 82 89 65 74SDF/salt,50%/50%-.6% 91 110 104 105 105MSG/salt 89 96 99 86 9525%/75%Total add.6%______________________________________Total Possible Score, All Factors: 12 × 10 × 5 = 600 TOTAL SCORE: No Salt - 340; Salt .6 - 433; SDF/Salt - 515.______________________________________TEST NO. 311 PersonsFish, Halibut,Broiled steak, Appear- Fla- Juici- Mouth-feel6 ozs. ance Taste vor ness Bite/Body______________________________________No salt or 85 64 51 70 75flavoringsSalt, .6% 87 83 80 61 64SDF/salt,50%/50%-.6% 82 103 100 103 92______________________________________Total Possible Score, All Factors: 11 × 10 × 5 = 550 TOTAL SCORE: No Salt - 345; Salt, .6% - 375; SDF/Salt - 480.______________________________________TEST NO. 412 PersonsVegetable Soup,8-oz. bowl(no thickeners Appear- Fla- Juici- Mouth-feelused) ance Taste vor ness Bite/Body______________________________________No salt or 88 75 72 75flavoringsSalt, .6% 85 83 87 85SDF/salt,50%/50%-.6% 85 94 91 90______________________________________Total Possible Score, All Factors: 12 × 10 × 4 = 480 TOTAL SCORE: No Salt - 310; Salt .6% - 340; SDF/Salt - 360.______________________________________TABLE NO. 511 personsPotato chips, Appear- Fla- Juici- Mouth-feel1 oz. ance Taste vor ness Bite/Body______________________________________No salt or 69 50 41 45 70flavoringsSalted (typical 75 68 70 72 70commercialbrand)SDF/salt,50%/50% 68 71 70 71 75______________________________________Total Possible Score, All Factors: 11 × 10 × 5 = 550 TOTAL SCORE: No Salt - 275; Salt, typical - 355; SDF/Salt - 355.______________________________________ .sup.2 The comparative Sensory Evaluation Tests herein described represen sensory evaluations by random groupings of from seven (7) to twelve (12) of fourteen (14) adults. The tests were conducted over a three (3) day period. Each participant was asked to evaluate the food sample being tested in a total of up to five (5) different sensory categoriesviz.,, i appearance; ii taste; iii flavor; iv juiciness (not used in the case of liquid foodstuffs such as soups); and v, mouthfeel or bite and body and to assign a score to each category ranging from "1" (unacceptable or disliked) to "10" (excellent or most liked). As indicated in Footnote 2, supra, the foregoing tests represented evaluations by fourteen (14) different persons over a 3-day test period. Nine (9) of the participants were adult females, and five (5) were adult males. The SDF/salt used was that produced in accordance with Formula EXAMPLE 4, infra. The total actual salt used, as applied with SDF/salt, was 50%--i.e., the composition comprised 50% by weight salt and 50% by weight soluble dietary fiber. On potato chips, however, both for regular salt and SDF/salt, the amount was whatever adhered to the chip; or, approximately the amount used on typical consumer potato chips. The test results reflect test subject preferences. All samples were blind tested, having been assigned designated numbers corresponding to test records which were imprinted on the bottom of the food container. Results were recorded by an interviewer. Unsalted foods scored a total of 59% of a perfect score; food salted to 0.6% scored 69% of a perfect score; while foods salted with an SDF/salt composition embodying the present invention and applied at a concentration of 0.6% [equal to approximately 0.3% salt or approximately one-half (1/2) the total salt required when salt is used alone] scored 84% of a perfect score. The preference for SDF/salted food was particularly noticeable with respect to the chemical sense factors--i.e., taste and flavor--but, the most surprising results were perception of juiciness over that of normally salted and unsalted foods. This may be attributable to the fact that salt alone tends to shrink protein, causing it to dewater, while SDF's water holding capacity, which is well known, may, at least in this case, result in retention of juiciness preferentially over salt. All soluble dietary fibers tested have shown the surprising ability to amplify or synergize amplification of flavor when used in conjunction with, and as part of, a composition containing at least one of common table salt, salt substitute, MSG or flavor potentiator. Many SDF's are available in granular or powdered form. They form a wide variety of viscous solutions with water. These solutions are frequently and aptly described as mucilaginous--that is, slimy and thick to the touch. They are characterized by being formed at relatively low concentrations of fiber solid to solute--i.e., on the order of 0.25% to 1%, fiber/solute. SDF's may react with other SDF's to destroy or partly destroy all or some of mutual gel forming function. When added together, they act anti-synergistically, both losing thickening power, forming only thin pouring, non-viscous, non-mucilaginous, non-slimy solutions, even in very high concentrations. Gel forming properties are a primary value characteristic of SDF's; and, in normal food processing, due to the expense of SDF's, destruction or degradation of gel forming or thickening properties, whatever the reason, are avoided at all costs. When in the granular form, SDFs may be dispersed in water by aggressive agitation and good dispersion of powder while agitating. When not dispersed well, or when wetted in larger quantities, they clump together and will not then readily disperse. If merely sprinkled dry onto a moist or wet surface, the outer contact surface displays greedy, hygrophillic character and sorbs up all surface moisture so tightly that the underlying areas are capsulated and remain dry unless mechanically disrupted in some fashion. Due to the extremely small concentrations of flavor potentiator normally required to enhance flavor, and because of the advantages generally associated with the presence of salt or salt substitutes in terms of dispersion of SDF/salt, it is preferred that flavor potentiators be incorporated with salt, salt substitutes and/or MSG in SDF/salts. DETAILED DESCRIPTION HCA SDF may be distributed in water by a recirculating pump or other means to form a highly concentrated slurry. It may then be mixed with a high concentration of a table salt--e.g., sodium chloride and/or salt substitute materials such as potassium chloride and/or MSG and/or flavor potentiators--in a vertical dough mixer to form a thick pasty dough. The dough may be rolled out, then dried by desiccation, lyphilization, forced air or any other type of non-SDF destructive heating; and, the resulting crystal granulated or powdered into SDF/salt by grinding such as in an attrition mill. The resultant product may be used as SDF/salt for flavoring soups, stews or gravies and applied directly to food prior to consumption. For some food applications, the composition may be somewhat slow to rehydrate due to surface phenomenon as explained earlier and in general it is preferred that SDF be decomplexed at least to some extent in order to compensate for this problem. This can be done by a variety of means. Alginates and salts of alginic acid, which normally form viscous fluids at low concentrations, lose this property in the presence of high salt concentrations, and display little or no viscosity at all. This permits extremely high concentrations of salt and alginate to be added together with a minimum of water. The end product, though in small granules, will combine with water immediately and perform on food in a fashion very similar to salt by itself. This permits ready addition by salting with SDF/salt to moist food surfaces prior to consumption, such as to the surface of a cooked hamburger or steak. When alginate and gum arabic (acacia) or xanthan and gum arabic are combined, they react with each other losing most or all of their viscosity forming properties. In combination with salt or salt substitutes, combinations of alginate, xanthan and gum arabic may be added together in high concentrations and will act similarly to salt by itself when sprinkled onto food. The addition of many gums to form the SDF/salt composition in itself results in changing rheology for more practical use on food as a salt. Like many gums, viscosity imparted by cellulose gum will be depressed if the gum is added dry to a salt solution. Since salt is very soluble in water, when a composition containing gums such as alginate or cellulose are added to a moist food, a salt solution is first formed, immediately resulting in lowered viscosity. The mixture of salt with crude algae, such as minced Macrocystis integrifolia, permits the easy and inexpensive removal of the alginic acid via similar breakdown chemistry involved with the salt addition. Homogenizing or chopping, pressing or filtering or centrifuging result in a salt/algin composition which, with adequate filtration, drying and grinding, is suitable as a SDF/salt composition or as a base material for additions of other SDF's or salts. Tara gum and algin react in somewhat analogous fashion to gum arabic and algin and may be used in similar fashion for making SDF salt compositions. Almost any SDF or SDF combination may be used since the flavor enhancing quality of SDF when combined with salt, salt substitute and flavor potentiators results from any of those combinations mentioned. Altered functional qualities of the finished SDF combination, such as rapid solubility or reduced viscosity, is obtained by judicious selection of combinations such as Formula EXAMPLE 4, infra, or by combining a substantial portion of SDF's, which are decomplexed by salt, with salt. The following are some examples of effective SDF salt compositions: ______________________________________EXAMPLE 1______________________________________Sodium alginate 3 PartsPectin 3 PartsSodium chloride 4 Parts 10 Parts______________________________________ Procedure: Mix dry ingredients together in a vertical dough mixer such, for example, as a Hobart 10-quart dough mixer; and, blend with an equal part of water. Form dough; mix until salt is all dissolved. Remove. Dry on forced air dryer at 1,350 degrees F. until 7% to 8% moisture. Break up cake formed and feed into an attrition mill such as EUROMILL™ (a registered trademark of R. Frinuodt Pedersen of Daugard, Denmark) to make granules between 100 and 160 mesh size. ______________________________________EXAMPLE 2______________________________________Guar gum 4 PartsSodium alginate 2 PartsKaraya gum 2 PartsPotassium chloride 3 PartsSodium chloride 5 Parts 16 Parts______________________________________ Procedure: In a blender, mix all three gums in 200 parts water. Add all sodium and potassium chloride. Force air pan dry at 125 degrees F. Break into pieces and grind into salt granules of 100 to 160 mesh. ______________________________________EXAMPLE 3______________________________________M. integrifolia 90 PartsSodium chloride 30 Parts 120 Parts______________________________________ Procedure: Wash harvested M. integrifolia; add salt and then chop to thick slurry in food chopper (bone and meat chopper). Add slurry to a mixing tank. Stir for 2 hours at ambient temperature. Press through a filter. Filter again, then dry on rotating drum heated to 180 degrees F. and flake off surface. Grind to salt sized granules, 120 to 180 mesh. Optionally, press liquid may be charcoal filtered or treated with oxidation agent such as oxygen (O 2 ), hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) or sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) to deodorize and de-color. ______________________________________EXAMPLE 4(Small Batch)______________________________________Sodium chloride 600 gms.Karaya gum 125 gms.Pectin (high methoxy) 125 gms.Guar 125 gms.Sodium alginate 225 gms. 1,200 gms.______________________________________ Procedure: In a standard vertical dough mixer add 2,500 mls. of water and all of the salt. Mix 5 to 10 minutes until salt is dissolved. Add sodium alginate and karaya gum. Blend at fast speed with a wire whip until a thick, brown syrup is formed. Add balance of pectin and guar gum, forming thick dough. Mix using dough hook until salt is completely dissolved and dough is smooth and pliable. Set to dry in stackable food dryer making layers about 1 inch thick. Dry at medium heat (120 to 130 degrees F.) at approximately 75 feet per minute of air flow across product until moisture content is less than 10%. When dry, break up sheets into clumps and grind through a stone mill set for 100 to 150 mesh. ______________________________________EXAMPLE 5______________________________________Sodium chloride 30 partsMonosodium glutamate 30 partsKaraya gum 20 partsTara gum 10 partsChitosan 8 partsMaltol 1 part 100 parts______________________________________ Procedure: Utilize the same procedure as described above for EXAMPLE 4; except, that sodium chloride and monosodium glutamate are first added, and then the other ingredients in the order shown. ______________________________________EXAMPLE 6______________________________________Sodium chloride 20 partsPotassium chloride 35 partsCyclamic acid 1 partAdipic acid 1 partsGuar gum 10 partsPsyllium 5 partsCarrageenan 8 partsAgar 20 parts 100 parts______________________________________ Procedure: The same procedure as for EXAMPLE 4, except that sodium chloride, potassium chloride, cyclamic acid and adipic acid are first added and then the other ingredients, in the order shown. ______________________________________EXAMPLE 7______________________________________MORTON's Lite Salt ™.sup./3 1,244 partsSodium alginate 700 partsGuar gum 150 partsGum arabic 150 partsTara gum 50 parts 2,294 parts______________________________________ Procedure: In a vertical dough mixer container, add 1,500 parts water and 1,244 parts MORTON's Lite Salt™. Mix with wire whip on low for 10 minutes. Add sodium alginate and gum arabic (acacia). Mix with wire whip on medium 5 minutes. Add guar gum. Use dough hook and mix 5 to 10 minutes. Remove dough from mixer, break into apricot-sized nuggets and place on drying surface of food dehydrator. Set dehydrator for medium heat (about 125 degrees F.) and dry until moisture content is 3% to 4% (about 12 hours). In stone mill, grind salt to 150 to 200 mesh granules. If desired, approximately 5 parts of calcium oxide or other edible whitening pigment may be optionally added to whiten the end product. The high potassium content of Lite Salt™ results in abnormal organoleptic properties when it is evaluated by a sensory panel. Though it displays a taste best characterized by the term "salty," it also results in additional flavor referred to as a "soapy" or "bitter" aftertaste. The foregoing formula somehow cancels or interferes with the undesirable taste quality accompanying potassium chloride. When tested on tomatoes and meat, seven (7) testers (3 female and 4 male) could not tell the difference between the SDF/salt of EXAMPLE 7 and regular salt (sodium chloride). The formula for MORTON's Lite Salt™ (U.S. Pat. No. Re. 27,981) as set forth on the package is: Salt NaCl Potassium chloride Sodium silicoaluminate (Na 2 0:Al 2 O 3 :SiO 2 ) Magnesium carbonate (MgCO 3 ) Dextrose (C 6 H 12 O 6 ) Potassium iodide The proportions of substances are unknown not set forth on the packaging; but, are shown as they as listed on the MORTON's Lite Salt™ label. ______________________________________EXAMPLE 8______________________________________MORTON'S Salt Substitute 1,244 partsSodium alginate 700 partsGuar gum 150 partsGum arabic 150 partsTara gum 50 parts 2,294 parts______________________________________ Procedure: In a vertical dough mixer container, add 3,483 parts water (2.8 times the amount of salt) and 1,244 parts MORTON's Salt Substitute. Mix with wire whip on low for 10 minutes. Add sodium alginate and gum arabic (acacia). Mix with wire whip on medium 5 minutes. Add guar gum. Use dough hook and mix 5 to 10 minutes. Remove dough from mixer, break into apricot-sized nuggets and place on drying surface of food dehydrator. Set dehydrator for medium heat (about 125 degrees F.) and dry until moisture content is 3% to 4% (about 12 hours). In stone mill, grind salt to 150 to 200 mesh granules. As in the case of EXAMPLE 7, approximately 5 parts of calcium oxide or other edible whitening pigment may be optionally added to whiten the end product. As in the case of EXAMPLE 7, the high potassium content present in MORTON's Salt Substitute resulted in abnormal organoleptic properties when it was evaluated by a sensory panel. Though it also displays a taste best characterized by the term "salty, " it, too, results in additional flavor, referred to as a "soapy" or "bitter" aftertaste. However, the foregoing formula again cancels or interferes with the undesirable taste quality accompanying potassium chloride. When tested on tomatos and meat, 7 testers (3 female and 4 male) could not tell the difference between the SDF/salt of EXAMPLE 8 and regular salt (sodium chloride). The formula for MORTON's Salt Substitute (U.S. Pat. No. 3,505,082) as set forth on the package is: Potassium chloride Sodium silicoaluminate Magnesium carbonate Dextrose Potassium iodide The proportions of substances used are not set forth on the packaging; but, are shown as they as listed on the MORTON'S Salt Substitute label. ______________________________________CHART FOR LITE SALT______________________________________ Flavor BitternessTomato, Beef Steak Average Score Average Score______________________________________Salt, .5% 56 0MORTON'S 56 35Lite Salt ™SDF/MORTON's 49 0Lite Salt ™No salt 28 0MORTON'S Salt 21 63Substitute (potas-sium chloride)SDF/MORTON's Salt 56 7Substitute (Potas-sium chloride)______________________________________Steak, sirloin type, Flavor Bitterness4 ozs. Average Score Average Score______________________________________Salt, .5% 63 0MORTON'SLite Salt ™ 35 28SDF/MORTON's Salt 63 0Substitute (potas-sium chlorideNo salt 35 0MORTON'S Salt 14 56Substitute (potas-sium chloride)SDF/MORTON's Salt 63 21Substitute (potas-sium chloride)______________________________________ Average Score: 7 persons, 4 female, 3 male SDF/MORTON's Salt Substitute composition used in the foregoing tests was formulated according to EXAMPLE 8. The results show that when combined in the SDF/MORTON's Salt Substitute composition, the bitter chemical taste of potassium chloride is moderated to a taste very close to that of regular salt while the flavor is significantly enchanced.
Food flavor enhancer composition which may be comprised of a variety or any one of edible salts including sodium chloride, potassium chloride, monosodium glutamate, flavor potentiators and at least one variety of soluble dietary fibers which is preferably decomplexed is specified. Improved potassium chloride, either alone or in combination with other edible salts together with soluble dietary fibers blended in accordance with the foregoing Examples, produces a composition which is much more similar to sodium chloride than heretofore known and/or possible. In a preferred form, hypocholesteremic soluble dietary fibers and salt compositions are also specified.
0
RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims the benefit of priority afforded by provisional application No. 60/026,933, filed Sep. 20, 1996, and provisional application No. 60/038,019 filed Feb. 14, 1997. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] A variety of protocols for communication, storage and retrieval of video images are known. Invariably, the protocols are developed with a particular emphasis on reducing signal bandwidth. With a reduction of signal bandwidth, storage devices are able to store more images and communications systems can send more images at a given communication rate. Reduction in signal bandwidth increases the overall capacity of the system using the signal. [0003] However, bandwidth reduction may be associated with particular disadvantages. For instance, certain known coding systems are lossy, they introduce errors which may affect the perceptual quality of the decoded image. Others may achieve significant bandwidth reduction for certain types of images but may not achieve any bandwidth reduction for others. Accordingly, the selection of coding schemes must be carefully considered. [0004] Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an image coding scheme that reduces signal bandwidth without introducing perceptually significant errors. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0005] The disadvantages of the prior art are alleviated to a great extent by a predictive coding scheme in which a new block of image data is predicted from three blocks of image data that preceded the new block. For this new block, an encoder examines image data of blocks that are horizontally and vertically adjacent to the new block. The encoder compares the image data of each of the two adjacent blocks to image data of a third block positioned horizontally adjacent to the vertically adjacent block (diagonally above the new block). From these comparisons, a horizontal and a vertical gradient is determined. Based on the values of the gradients, the encoder predicts the image data of the new block to be the image data of the horizontally or vertically adjacent block most similar to it. The encoder then determines a residual difference between the predicted value of the image data and the actual value of the image data for the new block and encodes the residual. A decoder performs an inverse prediction, predicting image data for the new block based upon horizontal and vertical gradients and adding the residual thereto to reconstruct the actual image data of the new block. This process is lossless. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0006] FIG. 1 ( a ) is a schematic drawing of an encoder in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 ( b ) is a schematic drawing of a decoder in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. [0007] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of image data processed by the present invention. [0008] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the prediction circuit of FIG. 1 . [0009] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the reconstruction circuit of FIG. 1 . [0010] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a prediction circuit implemented in software. [0011] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a second embodiment of a prediction circuit implemented in software. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [0012] FIG. 1 shows an encoder 100 constructed in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention. An analog image signal is presented to the encoder 100 . The image signal is sampled and converted to a digital signal by an analog to digital (“A/D”) converter 110 using techniques known in the art. The A/D converter 110 generates a digital image signal for a plurality of pixels of the image. Alternatively, the image signal may be presented to the encoder as a digital image signal; in this case, the A/D converter 110 is omitted. [0013] The digital image signal is input to a processing circuit 120 . The processing circuit 120 may perform a host of functions. Typically, the processing circuit 120 filters the image data and breaks the image data into a luminance signal component and two chrominance signal components. Additionally, the processing circuit 120 groups image data into blocks of data. Where the digital input signal represents information for a plurality of pixels in a scanning direction, the digital output of the processing circuit 120 represents blocks of pixels, for example, data may be blocked into 8 pixel by 8 pixel arrays of image data. The processing circuit 120 outputs image data on a macroblock basis. A macroblock typically consists of four blocks of luminance data and two blocks of chrominance data. The processing circuit 120 may also perform additional functions, such as filtering, to suit individual design criteria. [0014] The output of the processing circuit 120 is input to a transform circuit 130 . The transform circuit 130 performs a transformation of the image data, such as discrete cosine transform (“DCT”) coding or sub-band coding, from the pixel domain to a domain of coefficients. A block of pixels is transformed to a equivalently sized block of coefficients. Coefficients output by DCT coding generally include a single DC coefficient; the remainder are AC coefficients, some of which are non-zero. Similarly, coefficients output by sub-band coding represent image characteristics at a variety of frequencies; typically, many coefficients from sub-band coding are very small. The transform circuit 130 outputs blocks of coefficients. [0015] A quantizer 140 scales the signals generated by the transform circuit 130 according to a constant or variable scalar value (Q P ). The quantizer 140 reduces bandwidth of the image signal by reducing a number of quantization levels available for encoding the signal. The quantization process is lossy. Many small coefficients input to the quantizer 140 are divided down and truncated to zero. The scaled signal is output from the quantizer 140 . [0016] The prediction circuit 150 performs gradient prediction analysis to predict scaled DC coefficients of each block. The prediction circuit 150 may pass scaled AC coefficients or, alternatively, may predict AC coefficients of the block. In a preferred mode of operation, the prediction circuit 150 selects between modes of predicting or passing AC coefficients; in this case, the prediction circuit 150 generates an AC prediction flag to identify a mode of operation. The prediction circuit 150 outputs a DC residual signal, AC signals (representing either AC coefficients or AC residuals) and, an AC prediction flag. [0017] A variable length coder 160 encodes the output of the prediction circuit 150 . The variable length coder 160 typically is a Huffman encoder that performs run length coding on the scaled signals. A bitstream output from the variable length coder 160 may be transmitted, stored, or put to other uses as are known in the art. [0018] In the encoder 100 , the prediction circuit 150 and the quantizer 140 perform functions which are mutually independent. Accordingly, their order of operation is largely immaterial. Although FIG. 1 illustrates output of the quantizer 140 as an input to the prediction circuit 150 , the circuits may be reversed in order. The output of the prediction circuit 150 may be input to the quantizer 140 . [0019] A decoder 200 performs operations that undo the encoding operation described above. A variable length decoder 260 analyzes the bitstream using a complementary process to recover a scaled signal. If a Huffman encoder were used by the encoder 160 , a Huffman decoder 260 is used. [0020] A reconstruction circuit 250 performs the identical gradient analysis performed in the prediction circuit 150 . The DC residual signal is identified and added to a predicted coefficient to obtain a DC coefficient. Optionally, the reconstruction circuit 250 may identify the AC prediction flag and, on the status of that flag, interprets the AC information as either AC coefficient information or AC residual information. In the event that AC residual information is present, the reconstruction circuit 250 adds the residual signals to corresponding predicted signals to obtain AC coefficients. The reconstruction circuit 250 outputs coefficient signals. [0021] A scalar circuit 240 multiplies the recovered signal by the same scalar used as a basis for division in the quantizer 140 . Of course, those coefficients divided down to zero are not recovered. [0022] An inverse transformation circuit 230 performs the inverse transformation applied by the transform circuit 130 of encoder 100 . If a DCT transformation were performed, an inverse DCT transformation is applied. So, too, with sub-band coding. The inverse transformation circuit 230 transforms the coefficient information back to the pixel domain. [0023] A processing circuit 220 combines luminance and chrominance signals and may perform such optional features as are desired in particular application. The processing circuit 220 outputs digital signals of pixels ready to be displayed. At this point the signals are fit for display on a digital monitor. If necessary to fit a particular application, the signals may be converted by a digital to analog converter 210 for display on an analog display. [0024] FIG. 2 illustrates the structure of data as it is processed by the prediction circuit. The data output from the transform circuit represents a plurality of blocks organized into macroblocks. Each macroblock is populated typically by four blocks representing luminance components of the macroblock and two blocks representing chrominance components of the macroblock. [0025] Each block represents coefficients of the spatial area from which the block was derived. When a DCT transform is applied, a DC coefficient of DC x of the block is provided at the origin of the block, at the upper left corner. AC coefficients are provided throughout the block with the most significant coefficients being provided horizontally on the row occupied by the DC coefficient and vertically on a column occupied by the DC coefficient. [0026] FIG. 3 shows a detailed block diagram of the prediction circuit 150 . The quantizer 140 generates scaled DC and AC coefficients. The DC coefficient may be scaled (DC=DC/Q P , typically Q P =8) and is input to a DC coefficient predictor 300 . The DC coefficient predictor performs a gradient analysis. [0027] For any block X, the DC coefficient predictor 300 maintains in memory data of a block A horizontally adjacent to block X, block C vertically adjacent to block X and a block B, that is, a block horizontally adjacent to block C and vertically adjacent to block A, shown in FIG. 2 . The DC coefficient predictor compares a DC coefficient of block A (DC A ) with a DC coefficient of block B (DC B ). The difference between the DC coefficients of block A and block B is a vertical gradient. The DC coefficient predictor 300 also compares a DC coefficient of block C (DC C ) with the DC coefficient of block B (DC B ). The difference between the coefficients of block C and block B is a horizontal gradient. [0028] The block associated with the highest gradient from block B is used as a basis of prediction. If the vertical gradient is greater than the horizontal gradient, it is expected that block A will have high correlation with block X, so the DC coefficient predictor 300 employs horizontal prediction in which it uses block A as a basis for prediction of block X. If the horizontal gradient is greater than the vertical gradient, so the DC coefficient predictor 300 employs vertical prediction in which it uses block C as a basis for prediction of block X. The DC coefficient predictor 300 outputs the DC coefficient of the block used for prediction (DC A or DC C ) to a subtractor 310 . The DC coefficient predictor 300 also generates a hor/vert signal 320 indicating whether horizontal prediction or vertical prediction is performed. [0029] The subtractor 310 subtracts the DC coefficient generated by the DC coefficient predictor 300 from the DC coefficient of block X to obtain a DC residual signal for block X. The DC residual may be output from the prediction circuit 150 to the variable length encoder 160 . [0030] The process described above is employed to predict coefficients of blocks at the interior of the image to be coded. However, when predicting coefficients at the start of a new row of a video object plane, the previous block for prediction is the last block of the line above under the normal process. Typically, there is little correlation between these blocks. [0031] Assume that block Y in FIG. 2 is at the starting edge of a video object plane. No block is horizontally adjacent to block Y in the scanning direction. Although, image data of a final block in the row above is available to be used as the “horizontally adjacent” block, it is not used for prediction. Instead, the DC coefficient predictor 300 artificially sets the DC coefficient values for a horizontally adjacent block and a block above the horizontally adjacent block to a half strength signal. If the DC coefficients are represented by an 8 bit word, the DC coefficient of these ghost blocks is set to 128. The DC coefficient predictor 300 then performs gradient prediction according to the process described above. [0032] As noted above, the prediction circuit 150 may pass AC coefficients without prediction. However, in a preferred embodiment, the prediction circuit 150 uses the gradient analysis to predict AC coefficients. [0033] When the prediction circuit 150 predicts AC coefficients, only some of the AC coefficients may exhibit high correlation between blocks. In the case of DCT transform coding and horizontal prediction, the only AC coefficients that are likely to exhibit sufficiently high correlation to merit prediction analysis are those in the same column as the DC coefficient (shaded in block A). Accordingly, for each AC coefficient of block X in the same column as the DC coefficient (AC X (0,1) through AC X (0,n)), an AC coefficient predictor 330 generates a prediction corresponding to the colocated AC coefficient from block A (AC A (0,1) through AC A (0,n)). The predicted AC coefficient is subtracted from the actual AC coefficient of block X at a subtractor 340 to obtain an AC prediction residual signal. [0034] In the case of DCT transform coding and vertical prediction, the only AC coefficients that are likely to exhibit sufficiently high correlation to merit prediction analysis are those in the same row as the DC coefficient (shaded in block C). For each AC coefficient of block X in the same row as the DC coefficient (AC X (1,0) through AC X (n,0)), the AC coefficient predictor 330 generates a prediction corresponding to the AC coefficient of block C (AC C (1,0) through AC C (n,0)). The predicted AC coefficient is subtracted from the actual AC coefficient of block X at the subtractor 340 to obtain an AC prediction residual signal. The AC coefficient predictor is toggled between a horizontal prediction mode and a vertical prediction mode by the hor/vert signal 320 . Gradient prediction of AC coefficients other than those described above need not be performed. [0035] While correlation of AC coefficients between blocks may occur, it does not occur always. Accordingly, prediction of AC coefficients does not always lead to bandwidth efficiencies. Accordingly, in a preferred embodiment, the prediction circuit 140 permits selection of modes of operation between a mode wherein AC coefficient prediction is performed and a second mode wherein AC coefficient prediction is not performed. In this latter case, AC coefficients from the transform circuit pass through the prediction circuit without change. [0036] Once the residuals are known, an AC prediction analyzer 350 compares the bandwidth that would be consumed by transmitting the AC residual signals of the macroblock with the bandwidth that would be consumed by transmitting the AC coefficients of the macroblock without prediction. The prediction analyzer 350 selects the transmission mode that consumes relatively less bandwidth. The prediction analyzer 350 generates an AC prediction flag signal 360 to indicate its selection. [0037] Prediction is performed based on “like kind” blocks. When identifying blocks for prediction of a block of luminance data, only adjacent blocks of luminance data are considered. Any intervening blocks of chrominance data are ignored for prediction purposes. When predicting coefficients of the chrominance blocks, only like kind chrominance signals are considered for prediction. When predicting data for a block of C r data, one type of chrominance signal, adjacent blocks of C r data are considered but intervening blocks of luminance and second type chrominance signal C b data are ignored. Similarly, when predicting data for a block of C b data, a second type of chrominance signal, adjacent blocks of C b data are considered but intervening blocks of luminance and C r data are ignored. [0038] The prediction circuit 150 may output a DC residual signal, signals representing either AC coefficients or AC residuals and an AC prediction flag signal. [0039] An inverse prediction operation is performed in the reconstruction circuit 250 , shown in FIG. 4 . For every block X, a DC coefficient predictor 400 maintains in memory data of an adjacent block A prior to block X, data of an adjacent block C above block X and data of a block B prior to block C, the block above block X. The DC coefficient predictor 400 compares a DC coefficient of block A with a DC coefficient of block B to determine the vertical gradient. Further, the DC coefficient predictor 400 compares a DC coefficient of block C with the DC coefficient of block B to determine the horizontal gradient. If the horizontal gradient is greater than the vertical gradient, the DC coefficient predictor 400 generates the DC coefficient of block C as a basis for prediction. Otherwise, the DC coefficient predictor 400 generates the DC coefficient of block A. The DC coefficient predictor 400 also generates a hor/vert signal 420 identifying whether horizontal or vertical prediction is used. [0040] The reconstruction circuit 250 identifies the DC residual signal from the input bitstream. An adder 410 adds the DC residual to the DC coefficient generated by the DC coefficient predictor 400 . The adder 410 outputs the DC coefficient of block X. [0041] In a preferred embodiment, the reconstruction circuit 250 identifies the AC prediction flag 360 from the input bitstream. If the AC prediction flag 360 indicates that AC prediction was used, the reconstruction circuit identifies the AC residual signals from the input bitstream and engages an AC coefficient predictor 430 . A hor/vert signal 420 from the DC coefficient predictor identified whether block A or block C is used as a basis for prediction. In response, the AC coefficient predictor 430 generates signals corresponding to the AC coefficients of block A or block C in the same manner as the AC coefficient predictor 330 of the predictor 140 . An adder 440 adds predicted AC coefficients to corresponding residuals and outputs reconstructed AC coefficients. [0042] If the AC prediction flag indicates that AC prediction was not used, the reconstruction circuit 250 identifies the AC coefficient signals from the bitstream. No arithmetic operations are necessary to reconstruct the AC coefficients. [0043] Refinements of the DC prediction may be achieved in a preferred embodiment by inducing contribution of some of the perceptually significant AC coefficients from the block of prediction to the DC coefficient of block X. For example, where block A is used as a basis of prediction, the predicted DC coefficient of block X may be set as: DC X =DC A +(4 Q P /3)*( AC 02A −AC 01A /4) where Q P is the scaling factor of the quantities and AC 02A and AC 01A are AC coefficients of block A generated by a DCT transform. [0044] Similarly, when block C is used as a basis for prediction, the predicted DC coefficient of block X may be set as: DC X =DC C +(4 Q P /3)*( AC 20C −AC 10C /4) where Q P is the scaling factor of the quantities and AC 20C and AC 10C are AC coefficients of block C generated by a DCT transform. [0045] The prediction and reconstruction process described herein is termed an “implicit” method because no overhead signals are required to identify which of the blocks are used for prediction. In operation, coefficient values of blocks A, B and C are known at both the encoder 100 and the decoder 200 . Thus, the decoder 200 can reconstruct the prediction operation of the encoder 100 without additional signaling. In an embodiment where the prediction circuit did not select between modes of AC prediction, the AC prediction and reconstruction is purely implicit. With the addition of an AC prediction flag in a second embodiment, the prediction process is no longer purely implicit. [0046] The encoding/decoding operation of the prediction and reconstruction circuit may also be performed in software by a programmed micro processor or digital signal processor. [0047] FIG. 5 illustrates the operation of the software implemented prediction circuit. The processor compares the DC coefficient of block A to the DC coefficient of block B to determine the vertical gradient (Step 1000 ). The processor also compares the DC coefficient of block C to the DC coefficient of block B to determine the horizontal gradient (Step 1010 ). [0048] The processor determines whether the vertical gradient is larger than the horizontal gradient. (Step 1020 ). If so, the processor defines the DC residual of block X to be the actual DC coefficient of block X less the DC coefficient of block A (Step 1030 ). If not, the processor defines the DC residual of block X to be the actual DC coefficient of block X less the DC coefficient of block C (Step 1040 ). [0049] In the event the processor also performs AC prediction, the processor operates as shown in FIG. 6 . Steps 1000 - 1040 occur as discussed above with respect to FIG. 5 . When the vertical gradient is larger than the horizontal gradient, the AC coefficients from block A that are in the same column as the DC coefficient are used as a basis for predicting the corresponding AC coefficients of block X. Accordingly, for each such AC coefficient AC X (0,1) through AC X (0,n), block X, the processor computes an AC residual set to the actual AC coefficient in block X less the corresponding AC coefficient in block A (AC A (0,1) through AC A (0,n) (Step 1035 ). [0050] When block C is used as a basis of prediction, the AC coefficients in the same row of the DC coefficients may exhibit correlation between blocks. Accordingly, for each AC coefficient AC(i) in the row of block X, the processor computes a residual (i) set to the actual AC coefficient in block X less the corresponding AC coefficient in block C (Step 1045 ). [0051] The processor also determines whether bandwidth savings are achieved by predicting the AC coefficients. Once all prediction is done for a macroblock, the processor determines whether less bandwidth is occupied by the encoded coefficients or the residuals (Step 1050 ). If the residuals occupy less bandwidth, the processor outputs the residuals (Step 1060 ). Otherwise, the processor outputs the coefficients (Step 1070 ). [0052] Additional bandwidth efficiencies are obtained, in a preferred embodiment, by tying a scan direction of the variable length coder 160 to the gradient prediction. The encoder scans blocks of coefficients to generate run-level events that are VLC coded. In natural images, however, a predominant preferred scan direction often exists. The present invention uses the gradient prediction analysis to select one of three scan directions to perform run length coding. TABLE 1 Alternate Horizontal 0 1 2 3 8 9 10 11 4 5 6 7 16 17 18 19 12 13 14 15 24 25 26 27 20 21 22 23 32 33 34 35 28 29 30 31 40 41 42 43 36 37 38 39 48 49 50 51 44 45 46 47 56 57 58 59 52 53 54 55 60 61 62 63 [0053] TABLE 2 Alternate Vertical 0 4 12 20 28 36 44 52 1 5 13 21 29 37 45 53 2 6 14 22 30 38 46 54 3 7 15 23 31 39 47 55 8 16 24 32 40 48 56 60 9 17 25 33 41 49 57 61 10 18 26 34 42 50 58 62 11 19 27 35 43 51 59 63 [0054] The first of the scan directions is a alternate horizontal scan, shown in Table 1 above. The alternate horizontal search is employed when the preferred direction of scan is in the horizontal direction. The scan starts from the origin, the position of the DC residual of the block. From the origin, the scan traverses three positions in a horizontal direction (0-3). From the fourth position, the scan jumps down to the first position of the second row. From the first position of the second row, the scan traverses three positions in the horizontal direction. The scan then jumps back to the first row of the block and traverses the remainder of the row. At the conclusion of the first row, the scan jumps to the third row. [0055] The alternate horizontal scan traverses the next five passes (rows 3-8) in an identical manner. From the first position in the i th row, the scan traverses three positions in a horizontal scan direction. The scan then jumps to the (i−1) row and scans from the fifth position to the end of the row. At the conclusion of the fifth pass, the scan jumps to the fifth position of the eighth row and traverses to the end of that row. [0056] The second of the scan directions is an alternate vertical scan shown in Table 2. The alternate vertical search is employed when the preferred direction of scan is in the vertical direction. The alternate vertical scan is a complimentary process to the alternate horizontal scan. [0057] From the origin, the scan traverses three positions in a vertical direction (0-3). From the fourth position, the scan jumps to the first position of the second column. From the first position of the second column, the scan traverses three positions in the vertical direction. The scan then jumps back to the first column of the block and traverses the remainder of the column. At the conclusion of the first column, the scan jumps to the third row. [0058] The alternate vertical scan traverses the next five passes (columns 3-8) in an identical manner. From the first position in the i th row, the scan traverses three positions in the vertical scan direction. The scan then jumps to the (i−1) column and scans from the fifth position to the end of the column. At the conclusion of the fifth pass, the scan jumps to the fifth position of the eighth column and traverses to the end of the column. [0059] The third scan direction is a traditional zig-zag scan that is well known in the art. [0060] The variable length encoder 160 chooses a scan type according to the type of AC prediction performed. If the AC prediction flag 360 indicates that no AC prediction is performed, the variable length encoder 160 performs the traditional zig zag scan. If the AC prediction flag indicates that AC prediction is performed, the variable length encoder 160 looks to the hor/vert signal 320 to determine whether horizontal prediction or vertical prediction is used. In the case of horizontal prediction the vertical-diagonal scan is employed. If vertical prediction is used, the variable length encoder 160 employs horizontal-diagonal scan. [0061] No additional overhead is required to determine the direction of scan. The variable length decoder 260 determines the direction of scan. The AC prediction flag 360 and the hort/vert signal 420 output from reconstruction circuit 250 . If the AC prediction flag 360 indicates that AC prediction was not performed, the variable length decoder 260 assembles coefficients according to a zig-zag pattern. If the AC prediction flag 360 indicates that AC prediction was performed, the variable length decoder 260 assembles residuals based on the gradient prediction. Residuals are assembled according to the vertical-diagonal scan in the case of horizontal prediction or by the horizontal-diagonal scan in the case of vertical prediction. [0062] In another embodiment, the alternate horizontal and alternate vertical scans may progress as shown respectively in the following Tables 3 and 4: TABLE 3 Alternate Horizontal 0 1 2 3 4 9 10 11 5 6 7 8 16 17 18 19 12 13 14 15 24 25 26 27 20 21 22 23 32 33 34 35 28 29 30 31 40 41 42 43 36 37 38 39 48 49 50 51 44 45 46 47 56 57 58 59 52 53 54 55 60 61 62 63 [0063] TABLE 4 Alternate Vertical 0 5 12 20 28 36 44 52 1 6 13 21 29 37 45 53 2 7 14 22 30 38 46 54 3 8 15 23 31 39 47 55 4 16 24 32 40 48 56 60 9 17 25 33 41 49 57 61 10 18 26 32 42 50 58 62 11 19 27 35 43 51 59 63 [0064] In a further embodiment, the alternate horizontal and alternate vertical scans may progress as shown respectively in tables 5 and 6 below: TABLE 5 Alternate Horizontal 0 1 2 3 10 11 12 13 4 5 8 9 17 16 15 14 6 7 19 18 26 27 28 29 20 21 24 25 30 31 32 33 22 23 34 35 42 43 44 45 36 37 40 41 46 47 48 49 38 39 50 51 56 57 58 59 52 53 54 55 60 61 62 63 [0065] TABLE 6 Alternate Vertical 0 4 6 20 22 36 38 52 1 5 7 21 23 37 39 53 2 8 19 24 34 40 50 54 3 9 18 25 35 41 51 55 10 17 26 30 42 46 56 60 11 16 27 31 43 47 57 61 12 15 28 32 44 48 58 62 13 14 29 33 45 49 59 63 [0066] The alternate horizontal scan of table 5 begins at an origin, the position of the DC residual of the block (position 0). From the origin, the scan steps three places in the horizontal direction (positions 0 to 3). The scan jumps to first position of the second column, below the origin (position 4). From position 4, the alternate horizontal scan steps one step in the horizontal direction (position 5), then jumps to the first position of the third row (position 6). The scan steps one position in the horizontal direction (position 7), returns to the second row at the third position (position 8) and steps across the row one position (position 9). [0067] From position 9, the alternate horizontal scan returns to the first row at the fifth position (position 10). The scan steps across to the end of the first row (positions 11 to 13). The scan returns to the second row at the end of the row (position 14) and scans horizontally across the row toward the interior until the second row is completed (positions 15 to 17). From position 17, the alternate horizontal scan returns to the third row at the fourth position (position 18), scans one step horizontally toward the origin (position 19) and jumps to the first position of the fourth row (position 20). [0068] From the first position of the fourth row, the alternate horizontal scan steps horizontally one position (position 21), then jumps to the first position of the fifth row (position 22) and steps horizontally one position again (position 23). The scan returns to the fourth row at the third position (position 24), scans across one step (position 25) then returns to the third row at the fifth position (position 26). The scan steps horizontally across the third row to complete the row (positions 27 to 29). [0069] From the end of the third row, the alternate horizontal scan returns to the fourth row at the fifth position (position 30). The scan steps horizontally across the fourth row to complete the row (positions 31 to 33). [0070] From the end of the fourth row, the alternate horizontal scan returns to the fifth row at the third position (position 34). The scan steps one position in the horizontal direction (position 35), then jumps to the first position of the sixth row (position 36). The scan steps across one position (position 37), the jumps to the first position of the seventh row (position 38). The alternate horizontal scan steps across one position (position 39), then returns to the sixth row at the third position (position 40). The scan steps one position across (position 41) then returns to the fifth row at the fifth position (position 42). The alternate horizontal scan steps horizontally across the fifth row to complete the row (position 43 to 45). [0071] From the end of the fifth row, the alternate horizontal scan returns to the sixth row at the fifth position (position 46) and steps horizontally across to complete the row (position 47 to 49). [0072] From the end of the sixth row, the alternate horizontal scan returns to the third position of the seventh row (position 50). The scan steps horizontally one position (position 51), then jumps to the first position of the eighth row (position 52). The scan steps horizontally three positions (positions 53 to 55), then returns to the seventh row at the fifth position (position 56). The alternate horizontal scan steps horizontally across to complete the row (position 57 to 59). From the end of the seventh row, the scan jumps to the fifth position of the eighth row (position 60) and steps horizontally across complete the row (positions 61 to 63). [0073] The alternate vertical scan of table 6 begins at an origin, the position of the DC residual of the block (position 0). From the origin, the scan steps three places in the vertical direction (positions 0 to 3). The scan jumps to the first position of the second column, across from the origin (position 4). From position 4, the alternate vertical scan steps one step in the vertical direction (position 5), then jumps to the first position of the third column (position 6). The scan steps one position in the vertical direction (position 7), then returns to the second column at the third position (position 8) and steps one position in the vertical direction (position 9). [0074] From position 9, the alternate vertical scan returns to the first column at the fifth position (position 10). The scan steps through to the end of the first column (positions 11 to 13). The scan returns to the second column at the end of the column (position 14) and scans vertically through the column toward the interior of the column until the second column is completed (positions 15 to 17). From position 17, the alternate vertical scan returns to the third column the fourth position (position 18), scans one step vertically toward the top of the column (position 19) and jumps to the first position of the fourth column (position 20). [0075] From the first position in the fourth column, the alternate vertical scan steps vertically one position (position 21), then jumps to the first position in the fifth column (position 22) and steps vertically one position again (position 23). The scan returns to the fourth column at the third position (position 24), scans one step in the vertical direction (position 25), then returns to the third column at the fifth position (position 26). The scan steps vertically through the third column to complete the column (positions 27 to 29). [0076] From the end of the third column, the alternate vertical scan returns to the fourth column at the fifth position (position 30). The scan steps vertically through the fourth column to complete the column (positions 31 to 33). [0077] From the end of the fourth column, the alternate vertical scan returns to the fifth column at the third position (position 34). The scan steps one position in the vertical direction (position 35), then jumps to the first position of the sixth column (position 36). The scan steps one position vertically (position 37), the jumps to the first position of the seventh column (position 38). The alternate vertical scan steps one position vertically (position 39), then returns to the sixth column at the third position (position 40). The scan steps one position vertically (position 41) then returns to the fifth position of the fifth column (position 42) and steps vertically across the fifth column to complete the column (positions 43 to 45). [0078] From the end of the fifth column, the alternate vertical scan returns to the fifth position of the sixth column (position 46) and steps vertically across the sixth column to complete the column (positions 47 to 49). [0079] From the end of the sixth column, the alternate vertical scan returns to the third position of the seventh column (position 50). The scan steps vertically one position (position 51), then jumps to the first position of the eighth column (position 52). The scan steps vertically three positions (positions 53 to 55), then returns to the fifth position of the seventh column (position 56). The scan steps vertically through the seventh column to complete the column (position 57 to 59). From the end of the seventh column, the alternate vertical scan jumps to the fifth position of the eighth column (position 60) and steps vertically through the eighth column to complete the column (positions 61 to 63). [0080] According to the present invention, video coding of coefficient data may be made more efficient by an implicit gradient prediction method and by a scanning technique that exploits results obtained by the gradient prediction method. At the time of this writing, the coding scheme of the present invention is adopted into the MPEG-4 Video Verification Model and is being considered for the MPEG-4 video standard.
A system and method are disclosed for decoding signals of a block of image data. The method comprises receiving a parameter or an index associated with a direction of a plurality of prediction directions and decoding a block of image data utilizing image data predicted from an adjacent block according to direction associated with the parameter The prediction direction may be at least one of horizontal, vertical or diagonal. A system and method are also disclosed for encoding blocks of image data including a parameter or an index associated with a direction of a plurality of prediction directions.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to digital image processing in general, and more particularly, to an improved apparatus for processing frames of digitized information. In operating on digitized image information, it is conventional to digitize frames of an image, e.g, a TV image into an array of pixels and store that array, the array, for example, being an array of 512×512 pixels. The digitized image may then be processed by combining the pixels in various mathematical or logic operations with other stored frames of information. Most prior art devices for doing this type of processing have done so at relatively low rates, off-line. However, there are applications, such as in medical diagnosis where on-line operation is extremely desirable. Furthermore, frame processors are called upon to do different functions. Information must be processed for interlacing and deinterlacing where conventional interlaced scan TV equipment is used. In other words, in processing, a deinterlaced frame is necessary. However, it may be received in an interlaced format and when again converted back to a video signal must be in an interlaced format for display on a conventional television screen. Frame processors must also do arithmetic and logic functions like addition and subtraction, in addition to being able to read and write information into a frame processor memory. Furthermore, there is a need for being able to carry out image intensity transformations in a frame processor. Although each of these functions could be separately built into different frame processors when needed in a system, there is a need for flexibility so that the same frame processor can be used to do any of these functions, either under hardware or software control. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides such frame processor. Basically, the frame processor includes a frame memory with the necessary address and read/write logic to write information into and read information out of the frame processor. Each frame processor has associated therewith a system input bus, a system output bus and two bidirectional buses. An input multiplexer selecting from the two bidirectional buses and the input bus which signal is to be provided as the input to the memory. Similarly, multiplexers are provided on each output line permitting any one of a number of outputs to be provided to that bus. These outputs include the memory output, the output of an arithmetic-logic unit which follows the memory or the output of an image intensity transformation means which follows the arithmetic and logic unit. Operation is controlled by an individual mircoprocessor within the device with additional control possible through connection to a direct memory access bus from a host computer. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the frame processor according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a more detailed block diagram of the X address generator hardware. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The frame processor has associated with it four buses seen at the upper left of FIG. 1. There is a system input (SI) bus 501 and a system output (SO) bus 503, and bidirectional buses designated 505 and 507, known as the "A" and "B" busses. Each of the buses is a 16 bit bus with 12 bits for data and 4 bits for control (sync signals). The frame processors also have a direct memory access bus 504 with 16 bits of data, 8 bits of control on bus 511 and 24 bits of address on bus 513. Data bus 509 is coupled into a frame control microprocessor 515, through an I/10 module 510 described below, a separate processor being provided for each of the frame processors in the system. Control bus 511 is coupled through a decoder block 512 to processor 515. Outputs from decoder 512 labeled "ITT Access and RAM Access" are also provided. The outputs indicate where incoming data is directed. The buses 501, 505 and 507 are coupled as inputs to a multiplexer 516 along with an input designated ALU which is the output of an arthmetic and logic unit 517 to be discussed in more detail below. One of these outputs is selected in accordance with a control signal, developed in processor 515, on line 519 into the multiplexer. (Each multiplexer in the frame processor has similar control lines. For most of the remaining multiplexers these are not shown for sake of simplicity.) The 12 data bits of the multiplexer are provided to write data registers 521 and the 4 control bits to write control logic 523. The write control logic cooperates with address generation logic 525 to control the operation of the write data registers. Information from the write data registers is transferred into a frame memory 527. The manner in which this data transfer is carried out is described in detail in U.S. application Ser. No. 568,025, entitled Digital Frame Processor Pipe Line circuit, filed on even date, herewith and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention. Similarly, read control logic 529 operates to control the read data registers 531 in conjunction with address generate logic 525. The output from the frame memory data registers 531 is designated with the letter M on bus 533. This may be provided as a final output of the system on the A, B or SO bus through one of associated respective multiplexers 535, 537 or 539. However, it can also be provided as the A input to the ALU 517 in which an arithmetic or logic operation will be carried out on it. In particularly, it is possible for it to be involved in an operation with another piece of data provided to the B input. The B input is obtained from a multiplexer 541 having as inputs the buses SI', A' and B', these, respectively, corresponding to the SI bus, A bus and B bus after being coupled through a driver 542. The ALU 517 is controlled in its function over a line or bus 543 from the control processor 515. The output of the ALU is stored in a register 545 from which the signal designated ALU on line 547 may be taken off and provided as one of the outputs through one of the multiplexers 535, 537 and 539. In addition, either the signal on line 533, ALU signal on line 547 or output from a multiplexer 541 can be selected by a multiplexer 549 and coupled through a image intensity transformation block 551, this comprising a memory in which the data coupled through the multiplexer 544 is used as address information to select a transformation function at the stored location. This output designated ITT data is then coupled into a register 553, the output of which is a further input to each of the multiplexers 535, 537 and 539. The incoming data direct access bus data portion 509 is coupled through an I/0 module 510. Here, the 16 bits of data on the data bus are broken down into two 8 bit words. The output of the I/0 module 510 can be coupled to the microprocessor 515. Twelve lines of the data bus are also coupled through data drivers 582 and 584 respectively to the output on line 533 from the frame memory, and the data input/output of the image transformation memory 551. The address bus associated with the direct access bus is coupled into the procesor 515, the address generate logic and also coupled to the multiplexer 549. The control bus 511 coupled through a decoder 512 selects, in conjunction with inputs from the address bus 513, the microprocessor, ITT access or frame memory access. With this arrangement, information on the direct memory access bus can be loaded into the frame control microprocessor. In addition, there is direct access to the frame memory and to the image transformation memory. This permits the host to look at the frame memory 527 and extract therefrom any pixel or group of pixels under its own address control. The corresponding output on line 533 is fed back over the data bus 509. In addition, the image transformation function stored in the image transformation memory can be adjusted from the host computer. In this case, the host computer addresses the particular memory location and then by means of the data bus loads into that location the desired transformation value. This permits using different transformation constants for different purposes and adjusting them as necessary. Also microprocessor 515 is an output designated data path configure on line 592. This line, or particular parts of it are the inputs to the various multiplexers described previously and provide the control signals into those multiplexers to select the particular input or output desired. Although the present system is adapted to operate on a 512 by 512 matrix, the system is adapted for expansion to higher resolution of a 1,000 or 2,000 lines. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the X address generation hardware which permits this flexibility. This circuit utilizes two four bit counters 601 and 602 along with a carry comparator 603 and a programmable logic sequencer 604 to give the necessary flexibility. The clock signal on line 605 is provided as inputs to the count input of the two counters. The counters each have an input for presetting the counter and an up-down input along with chip enable and enable inputs. The use of these inputs will be explained below. The counter 602 provides four output lines. The first two of these output lines select a memory bank. The frame memory 527 of FIG. 1 is divided into four banks of memory. In order to operate at the necessary speed, as explained in co-pending application Ser. No. 10S-614 these memory banks are addressed in succession and thus the least significant 2 bits of the address select the memory bank. Counter 602 also provides the first 2 bits (0 and 1) of the X address in each individual memory bank. Counter 601 provides the X address bits 2, 3 and 4. The programmable logic sequencer 604 provides the X address bits 5 and 6 along with an indication of an illegal address bit. Bit 6 of the address bit is, in effect, the 9th bit and coresponds to a value of 256. Thus, when all of the bits through the 9th bit have a value of 1, the count is 511. Since the first pixel is at 0 this is the 512th pixel. Thus, the bits through the X address bit 6, are required to address 512 pixels. The X address bit, "XILLEGAL", is an extension bit to the normal memory address. The bit indicates the "PIXEL" being addressed does not actually exist and that a zero value should be returned by the memory. This permits virtual image fields to exist below the address boundary of zero and above the address boundary of 511. In operation, the chip of counter 602 is enabled by a signal designated "HOLDCTR" and counting enabled by an output from the programmable logic sequencer 604 generated in response to the end of line signal "EOL". The counter 602, when enabled, begins counting clock pulses and generating, in succession, memory addresses with the first 2 bits selecting the memory bank and the third and fourth bits selecting locations wtihin each of the memory banks. When the counter generates a carry signal on line 610, this becomes a chip enable signal for counter 601 which also has its count enable input enabled by the signal on line 606. Thus, the counter 601 is now enabled to count and provide the next three bits of the address. The carry output of counter 602 and the three output lines of counter 601 are provided into a carry comparator 603 which contains logic to detect when a count of 128 is reached. At that point it generates a ripple carry on line 612 which is an input to the programmable logic sequencer 604. The programmable logic sequencer 604 has inputs on lines 614 and 616 designated " Size A" and "Size B". It is programmed so that, with a size A input in response to the ripple carry it will increment/decrement the X address bits 5 and 6 as well as the "XILLEGAL" address bit treating the X address as a ten bit value. The programmable logic sequencer will progressively increment/decrement these three bits until the EOL (End of Line) is generated. If size B is selected (indicating a 1024×1024 memory) then bit 6 becomes the lease significant bit of the Y address (giving 1024 legitimate addresses to Y and 256 legitimate addresses to X) and only bit 5 and XILLEGAL is changed with each ripple carry. In this manner 2048 addresses are provided for the Y address and only 128 are provided on the X address. Note that as the Digital Frame Processor is configured for larger memory sizes more units have to be connected in parallel to provide storage for the additional pixels. (Four units are needed for a 1024×1024 array, each unit providing 256 of the 1024 horizontal pixels.) The illustrated logic also permits presetting the counter in a convenient manner to generate an X offset and allows counting up or down. Offset is important since it is used in matching images, i.e., a mask image and a medium image and the ability to do so quickly and efficiently is important if matching is to be attempted in real time. On a bus 618, data concerning the starting address is provided. Eight bits are provided into line drivers in block 620 enabled by an input on line 622. The first 7 bits, designated SXO-6, are provided as pre-set inputs to counters 602 and 601. The 8th bit is an input to the programmable logic sequencers 604. Three lines are provided as inputs to another line driver 624 enabled by a line 626. These are the signals "XUP" "SXILL" and "SX8" (the 9th bit). "SXILL" indicates that the starting address is in the "illegal" zone. The "XUP" signal controls whether counting is up or down and is provided as an input to the counter 601 and 602 into the carry comparator 603. With this arrangement, the counters and programmable logic sequencer can be preloaded for example with the address 511 and counting down to address 0 carried out to operate in reverse order. In terms of offset, an offset of anywhere from 1 to 511 bits can be provided. Through the use of the programmable logic sequencer 604, the number of hardware elements necessary to implement all these functions is considerably reduced. SOFTWARE CONTROL OF THE FRAME PROCESSORS Each frame processor has been assigned a mnemonic and serves a specific purpose as shown below: "NI" (111)--Performs interlace to non-interlace conversion of camera data. "ALU1"(113)--Performs ALU operations on frame data and is used for frame data transfers to and from LSI-11. "ALU2" (117)--Performs ALU operations on frame data and is used for frame data transfers to and from LSI-11. "DF" (I22)--Performs ALU operations in degraded mode and is used for frame data transfers to and from LSI-11. "I1" (123)--Performs interlace staging. "I2" (125)--Performs non-interlace to interlace conversion of frame data. Certain function code definitions for commands from the host apply for all frame processors and frame processor device addresses are outlines as follows: ______________________________________DRV11B Function Codes Device Addresses______________________________________0 -- Write Data NI -- 71 -- Read Data ALU1 -- 112 -- Undefined ALU1 -- 133 -- Write Address DF -- 174 -- Send Control I1 -- 195 -- Read Control I1 -- 216 -- Undefined Global -- 637 -- Board Select______________________________________ Before any data is transferred to or from a frame processor, it must be selected via the board select function with the appropriate device address. The global device address can be used in conjunction with the board select function in which case subsequent data transfers will apply all frame processors. Macros: A frame processor macro is a collection of elements (described in detail below). Combined, these macro elements completely specify the configuration for a frame processor. A required configuration for a frame processor is accomplished by execution of a defined macro over a number of frames. A macro may execute finitely over from 1 to 255 frames or infinitely. Macro Elements: A macro element is a control word that is sent to a frame processor as part of a define-macro sequence. When received by a frame processor, a macro element is stored in the storage RAM 515A as part of the macro being defined. Macro elements do not directly affect the frame buffer configuration but, rather, are used by the micro-controller 515 to configure the frame processor when the macro is executed. Macro-Set: A macro-set is a collection of macros with corresponding frame counts. A frame processor contains exactly one macro-set which is stored in the storage RAM 515A. The macro-set is defined with "execute macro" commands and is executed with "go" command. Execution of a macro-set is the only way in which the microcontroller configures the frame buffer for real-time operation. Macro Element Definitions: __________________________________________________________________________Name: Bus Configuration (BC)Control Word Format: ##STR1##"B Select" Bits "B Enable" BitB Bus Source 1 0 Output to Bus 2__________________________________________________________________________SI Bus (501) 0 0 Disabled 0Memory 0 1 Enabled 1ALU 1 0ITT 1 1__________________________________________________________________________"A Select" Bits "A Enable" BitA Bus Source 4 3 Output to Bus 5__________________________________________________________________________SI Bus 0 0 Disabled 0Memory 0 1 Enabled 1ALU 1 0ITT 1 1__________________________________________________________________________"SO Select BitsSO Bus Source 7 6__________________________________________________________________________SI Bus 0 0Memory 0 1ALU 1 0ITT 1 1__________________________________________________________________________Name: ALU/ITT Control (AICTL) ##STR2## Bits BitsITT Input 1 0 ALU Function 7 6 5 4__________________________________________________________________________Memory 0 0 Clear (ALU=0) X 0 0 0ALU 0 1 B - MEM - 1 0 0 0 1ALU Input 1 0 MEM - B - 1 0 0 1 0Disable ITT 1 1 MEM + B 0 0 1 1 MEM XOR B X 1 0 0 MEM OR B X 1 0 1ALU B/ITT Bits MEM AND B X 1 1 0Input 3 2 Preset (ALU=1) 0 1 1 1 B - MEM 1 0 0 1SI Bus 0 0 MEM - B 1 0 1 0A Bus 0 1 MEM + B + 1 1 0 1 1B Bus 1 0 Disable ALU 1 1 1 1"Constant" 1 1__________________________________________________________________________ "X" denotes don't care. ALU Ainput is always memory. ALU Binput is selectable as SI bus, A bus, B bus, or "constant." "Constant" is 4095 (FF HEX). The frame processor ALU synchronizes its inputs. Since the A-input is always memory, it will normally "hold off" B-input until it has memory data. Depending on the memory read-write mode this could result in a lock-up of the frame processor. If the ALU function is "disabled" this problem is avoided. The ALU operates on unsigned numbers. It saturates to all zeros on underflow and all ones on overflow. __________________________________________________________________________Name: Frame Memory Control (FMC)Control Word Format: ##STR3##Memory Input Bits Memory BitsSource 1 0 Write Disable 2__________________________________________________________________________SI Bus (501) 0 0 Write Enabled 0A Bus (505) 0 1 Write Disabled 1B Bus (507) 1 0ALU (527) 1 1__________________________________________________________________________Memory Bits Read/Write BitRead/Write Mode 5 4 3 Offset 6__________________________________________________________________________Independent 0 0 0 Read 0Read 1st, line 0 0 1 Write 1Write 1st, line 0 1 0Unused 0 1 1Read Disable 1 0 0Read 1st, frame 1 0 1 BitWrite 1st, frame 1 1 0 Offset Enable 7Read Synch. Indep. 1 1 1 No 0 Yes 1__________________________________________________________________________ Independent--There is no inter-dependence between memory reads and memory writes. Read 1st, line--On a line-by-line basis, the write of a line is "held off" until that line has been read. Write 1st, line--On a line-by-line basis, the read of a line is "held off" until that line has been written. Read Disabled--Memory read is disabled. Read 1st, frame--On a frame-by-frame basis, the write of a frame is "held off" until that frame has been read. Write 1st, frame--On a frame-by-frame basis, the read of a frame is "held off" until that frame has been written. Read Synchronized--Memory read and memory write are based on independent asynchronous clocks. There is no interdependence between memory reads and memory writes. The following is a breakdown of which read/write mode are used in various frame processors for specific operations and functionality. ______________________________________Read/Write Mode Frame Processor Cases______________________________________Independent ALU1, ALU2, DF ALU Accumulate Pass ThroughRead 1st, line ALU1, ALU2 ALU Operations Except accumu- lateWrite 1st, line None NoneRead Disable ALU1, ALU1, DF Default, Emer- gency, or de- graded mode; when Bypassing A F. P.Read 1st, frame None NoneWrite lst, frame I1 Always except for when re- cording data on WBTRRead Synchronized NI Always wnen recording data on WBTR______________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________Name: Coordinate Transformation Control (CTC)Control Word Format: ##STR4## Bit BitX Read 0 Y Read 1__________________________________________________________________________Increment 0 Increment 0Decrement 1 Decrement 1__________________________________________________________________________ Bit BitX Write 2 Y Write 3__________________________________________________________________________Increment 0 Increment 0Decrement 1 Decrement 1__________________________________________________________________________Read Bits Write BitsZoom Factor 5 4 Mooz Factor 7 6__________________________________________________________________________No Zoom 0 0 No Mooz 0 0TBD 1 0 1 TBD 1 0 1TBD 2 1 0 TBD 2 1 0TBD 3 1 1 TBD 3 1 1__________________________________________________________________________ Note:- (1) X/Y read/write affects the orientation of a frame as it is read/written from/to a frame processor. (2) Read Zoom factor causes individual pixels to be repeated in an NXN pattern as the frame is read out of a frame (3) Write Mooz factor causes N:1 decimation to occur as a frame is writte into a frame processor. The following is a breakdown of which read/write mode are used in various frame processors for specific operations and functionality. ______________________________________Name: Set X Offset (SXO)Control Word Format: ##STR5##Two's Complement BitsOffset 109876543210______________________________________X Offset Of 00000000000X Offset Of 00000000001X Offset Of 01111111111X Offset Of -1024 10000000000X Offset Of -1023 10000000001X Offset Of 11111111111______________________________________ This funciton does not change frame memory contents but does affect how frame memory is read (i.e., next downstream FP will have the shifted frame in one frame time). ______________________________________Name: Set Y Offset (SXO)Control Word Format: ##STR6##Two's Complement BitsOffset 109876543210______________________________________Y Offset Of 00000000000Y Offset Of 00000000001Y Offset Of 01111111111Y Offset Of -1024 10000000000Y Offset Of -1023 10000000001Y Offset Of 11111111111______________________________________ This functions does not change frame memory contents but does affect how frame memory is read (i.e., next downstream FP will have the shifted frame in one frame time). Frame Processor Command: A Frame processor command is a control word that can be sent locally to a single frame processor globally to all frame processors. They differ from macro definition elements in that the must be sent directly to the frame processor(s) and may not be sent as a part of a macro definition. Frame processor commands and corresponding control word format are described individually below: Command Name: Reset Bus configuration is reset. Frame processor is removed from all buses. Frame memory read/write is disabled. Causes "macro set" pointer to be reset. Executes after next frame. ##STR7## Command Name: Stop Frame memory is write disabled. Memory read and output bus configuration are not affected. Causes "macro set" pointer to be reset. Executes after next frame sync. ##STR8## Command Name: Freeze Causes the input bus to be held off. Frame memory is write disabled. Memory read and output bus configuration are not affected. Cause "macro set" pointer to be reset. Executes after next frame sync. ##STR9## Command Name: Set Interlace Mode Commands the frame processor to perform/not perform interlace conversion for input/output interlace data. This command should be sent to all frame processors as part of system initialization. This command is ignored if it is sent during the real-time frame buffer control (i.e., it is only implemented if the micro-controller is in "idle" mode). __________________________________________________________________________Control Word Format: ##STR10##X - - Don't CareConvert BitEnable 0__________________________________________________________________________Disable 0Enable 1 BitIn/Out 1Convert non-interlaced memory to 0interlaced output (Used with "read sync" mode)Convert interlaced input to non- 1interlaced output (Used with "write 1st, frame" mode)__________________________________________________________________________ Command Name: Select Memory Selects frame/ITT memory for subsequent read/write data DMA transfers. Use this command to ensure that the data will be transferred from/to the intended source/destination. Executes immediately (no wait for frame sync). __________________________________________________________________________Control Word Format: ##STR11##X - - Don't Care BitITT Select 0__________________________________________________________________________Frame Memory 0 ITT 1__________________________________________________________________________ Command Name: Shift Image Causes one pixel shift in the data stream as the frame is read in the +/-X/Y direction. Executes immediately (no wait for frame sync). __________________________________________________________________________Control Word Format: ##STR12##Shift BitsDirection I 0__________________________________________________________________________X 0 0X 0 1X 0 0X 0 1Y 1 0Y 1 1__________________________________________________________________________ Command Name: Home Image Zeros out frame shift caused by "shift image" command in X and/or Y direction. Executes immediately (no wait for frame sync). __________________________________________________________________________Control Word Format: ##STR13## Bit BitX Home 0 Y Home 0__________________________________________________________________________No 0 No 0Yes 1 Yes 1__________________________________________________________________________ Command Name: Go Causes the "macro set" (see execute-macro command) for the addressed frame processor(s) to be executed a specified number of times. Execution begins after next frame sync. Once the execution begins, each macro in the "macro set" is executed for its respective number of frames. __________________________________________________________________________Control Word Format: ##STR14## BitsRepeat Count 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0__________________________________________________________________________Repeat Infinitely.sup. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0Repeat 1 Time .sup. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1Repeat 255 Times 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1__________________________________________________________________________ Command Name: Define-Macro Causes succeeding macro elements to be stored as macro #N. A macro can executed at any time once it is defined. This command would normally be followed by the 6 macro elements. __________________________________________________________________________Control Word Format: ##STR15## BitsMacro Number 12 11 10 9 8__________________________________________________________________________Defined Macro #0 0 0 0 0 0Defined Macro #1 0 0 0 0 1Defined Macro #31 1 1 1 1 1__________________________________________________________________________ Command Name: Execute-Macro Adds a macro with a frame count to a list in the addressed frame process(s). The list is referred to as a "macro set". This "macro set" is executed by the frame processor(s) when the next "go" command is received. A "macro set" can contain up to 16 macro/frame count pairs. A stop, reset, or freeze command resets the pointer into the "macro set" list. __________________________________________________________________________Control Word Format: ##STR16##Frame BitsExecute Count 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7__________________________________________________________________________Execute Infinitely .sup. .sup. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0Execute for 1 frame .sup. 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0Execute for 255 frames 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 BitsMacro Number 12 11 10 9 8__________________________________________________________________________Define Macro #0 0 0 0 0 0Define Macro #1 0 0 0 0 1Define Macro #31 1 1 1 1 1__________________________________________________________________________
A frame processor for processing digitized image information includes a memory for storing a two-dimensional array of pixels, logic circuits for controlling the writing and reading of information into the memory, an arithmetic and logic unit having two inputs, one of which is coupled to the output of the memory, and a microprocessor for controlling operation of the arithmetic and logic unit and the logic circuits for controlling reading and writing.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a free-wheel hub with a coaster brake for use in a bicycle. 2. Description of the Prior Art One type of the free-wheel hub with a coaster brake to which the present invention pertains is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 44-5464 published on Feb. 27, 1969 with the same assignee as the present invention. The free-wheel hub disclosed therein is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, from which it is seen that the free-wheel hub 10 with a coaster brake is employed in the rear wheel D of the bicycle in FIG. 1, in which a selected one stand of a multistand driving change gear 12 is driven by pedalling a pedal A clockwise through an endless driving chain B spanned across a front driving gear C and the driving change gear 12 while a braking gear 14 is rotated by pedalling the pedal A counterclockwise through an endless braking chain B1 spanned across a front braking gear C1 and the braking gear 14. The driving force from the driving change gear 12 is transmitted to a hub cylinder 16 through a ratchet 18 and bearings 20 to drive the rear wheel D incorporating the hub cylinder 16, which results in running the bicycle forward. On the other hand, during the braking mode operation, the braking gear 14 mounted on a braking male screw cylinder 22 permits a braking female screw cylinder 24 thread engaged to the braking male screw cylinder 22 to shift axially leftward as viewed in FIG. 2. The braking female screw cylinder 24 pushes a clutch 26 through a clutch spring 28 toward brake discs 29 sandwiching rotary discs 30 rotatably free from a brake holder 32 fixed to a shaft 34. The rotary discs 30 are accordingly pressed by the clutch 26 while the rotary discs 30 are being rotated with the hub cylinder 16 through the grooves provided on the inside wall of the hub cylinder 16, so that the brake discs 29 are subjected to the braking force from the clutch 26, resulting in braking the rear wheel D of the bicycle. The conventional coaster brake is constructed such that the following disadvantage is inevitable. Namely, when one pushes the bicycle backward without riding thereon, the rear wheel D of the bicycle is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 1 thereby naturally rotating the hub cylinder 16 in the same rotating direction. At this time the adaption of the ratchet 18 to the engagement between the driving change gear 12 and the hub cylinder 16 causes the driving change gear 12 to rotate in the same rotating direction as the hub cylinder 16. Then the driving change gear 12 rotates the front gear C together with the front gear C1 through the driving chain B and therefore the braking chain B1 due to the front gear C1 rotating the braking gear 14, whereby the braking mode operation is carried out in the same way as above described, resulting in braking the bicycle. Thus the conventional bicycle employing such a coaster brake experiences this difficulty in pushing it backward. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a multi-speed free-wheel hub with a coaster brake incorporated therein that is reliable in both the driving and braking modes of operation. Another object of the present invention is to provide a multi-speed free-wheel hub with a coaster brake which allows reverse rotation of the hub drum. With the above objects in view, a free-wheel hub with a coaster brake of the present invention comprises an axle mountable to the frame of a bicycle and a brake cylinder rotatably mounted on the axle. The brake cylinder has a brake chain sprocket on which a brake chain is placed and a thread formed on its outer surface. A drive cylinder having a set of speed change sprockets which are driven by a driving chain and a thread on its outer surface is rotatably mounted on the brake cylinder. A hub drum to which spokes of the rear wheel are attached is rotatably supported on the drive cylinder at one end and on the axle at the other end. The hub drum has a conical inner surface which preferably is a friction surface. The hub drum has on its inner surface a plurality of friction discs that are axially movable but not rotatable with respect to the hub drum. Between these friction discs are inserted friction discs that are movable in the axial direction but immovable in the circumferential direction with respect to the stationary axle. This friction disc brake mechanism between the axle and the hub drum is operated by a first clutch member that is axially moved to move the brake mechanism to its brake position when a second clutch member thread fitted over the thread of the brake cylinder and axially movable to engage and disengage with the first clutch member is moved toward the first clutch member. Between the hub drum and the drive cylinder is disposed a drive cone thread fitted on the thread of the drive cylinder. The drive cone has a conical outer surface that is friction-engageable with the conical inner surface formed on the hub drum. When the drive cylinder rotates in one direction, the drive cone moves to engage the hub drum and the drive cylinder, and when it rotates in the other direction, the drive cone moves in the opposite direction to release the engagement between the hub drum and the drive cylinder. Spring means is disposed between the drive cone and the second clutch member in a friction contact relationship to transmit a predetermined rotating force therebetween. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings in which; FIG. 1 is a side view of a part of a bicycle employing a coaster brake; FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of a free-wheel hub with a coaster brake in accordance with the prior art; FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of a free-wheel hub with a coaster brake in accordance with the present invention; FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross sectional view of a part of the free-wheel hub with a coaster brake in accordance with the present invention in a driving position; and FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross sectional view of a part of the free-wheel hub with a coaster brake in accordance with the present invention in a braking position. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIGS. 3 to 5, there is shown a freewheel hub with a coaster brake of the present invention generally designated by the reference numeral 40. The free-wheel hub 40 includes an axle 42 inserted through bearings 44 into a braking male screw hollow cylinder 46 which is in turn inserted through bearings 48 into a driving male screw hollow cylinder 50. The braking and driving male screw cylinders 46 and 50 rotate in opposite directions independent of each other according to the alternate pedalling direction of the bicycle as partly shown in FIG. 1. the braking male screw cylinder 46 has a braking gear 46a fixed to the enlarged portion of the axially outside end thereof and the driving male screw cylinder 50 has a multistand change gear 500a fixed to the enlarged portion of the axially outside end thereof. The braking male screw cylinder 46 has a male screw threaded on the periphery of the axially inside end portion thereof to form a thread-engagement with a braking female screw cylinder 52. The shaft 42 has a brake disc holder 54 secured thereto on the opposite side from the braking male screw cylinder 46, and the brake disc holder 54 has several brake discs 56 fixed to the periphery of the axially inside thinner portion thereof. Furthermore, the brake disc holder 54, in the inside thinner portion thereof, fits in a clutch 58 which is slidable between the brake discs 56 fixed to the brake disc holder 54 and the braking male screw cylinder in the length direction of the shaft 42 as shown in FIG. 3. The inside end face of the clutch 58 is provided with a saw blade 58a to clutch the braking female screw cylinder 52 similarly having a saw blade 52a provided on the opposite face to the clutch 58. Between respective brake discs 56 are provided rotary discs 60 each of which is freely rotatable in relation to the brake disc holder 54. As shown in detail in FIGS. 4 and 5, claws provided on the respective edges of the rotary discs 60 engages the grooves of the internal wall 60a of a hub cylinder 62 providing rotation through bearings 72 on and between the brake disc holder 54 and the driving male screw cylinder 50, and therefore the rotary discs 60 are rotated with the hub cylinder 62. On the other hand, the driving male screw cylinder 50 also has a male screw threaded on the periphery of the axially inside end portion thereof to form a thread-engagement with a driving female screw cylinder 64 which has a tapered portion gradually decreasing in diameter toward the outside of the shaft 42, the surface of the taper being provided with corrugated teeth 64a, not shown but indicated in FIGS. 4 and 5. Also the hub cylinder 62 has a taper, formed in the internal wall thereof, corresponding in gradient to the taper of the driving female screw cylinder 64 to be clutched. The coaster brake 40 further includes a clutch spring 66 which has an axial gap, not shown, for forming a spring and whose one end is fixed to the outside of the clutch 58 to cover it, a braking spring 68 tightly contacting the groove formed in the outside surface of the braking female screw cylinder 52 and having both terminals inserted into the openings provided on the corresponding end of the clutch spring 66, and a driving spring 70 tightly contacting the groove formed in the inside surface corresponding to the outside surface other than the tapered portion of the driving female screw cylinder 64 and having both terminals inserted into the other openings provided on the corresponding end of the clutch spring 66. Hereinafter will be described the modes of operation of the coaster brake 40. In the same manner as in FIG. 1 and the description of the prior art, it is also a practice applied to the present invention to perform the driving function by pedalling the pedal A clockwise as viewed in FIG. 1 through the driving chain B spanned across the front driving gear C and a selected one stand of the multistand driving change gear 50a in the rear wheel D, and to perform the braking function by pedalling the pedal A counterclockwise through the braking chain B1 spanned across the front braking gear C1 and the braking gear 46a in the rear wheel D. In FIG. 1, when one pedals clockwise as the driving mode of operation, the change gear 50a is rotated clockwise as above described thereby rotating the driving male screw cylinder 50 thread-engaged to the driving female screw cylinder 64. Accordingly, the driving female screw cylinder 64 is axially shifted rightward as viewed in FIG. 1 because the driving male screw cylinder 50 can not be shifted, and then the tapered portion provided with the corrugated teeth 64a of the driving female screw cylinder 64 clutches the tapered portion of the internal wall of the hub cylinder 62 as clearly shown in FIG. 4. Thus the torque of the change gear 50a is transmitted to the hub cylinder 62, resulting in driving the bicycle through the pedal A, the change gear 50a, and the chain B because the hub cylinder 62 forms a part of the rear wheel D of the bicycle. Also the tapered portion of the driving female screw cylinder 64 without the corrugated teeth 64a may clutch the tapered portion of the hub cylinder 62 directly and in turn drive the bicycle. On the other hand, when one pedals counterclockwise in FIG. 1 as the braking mode of operation, the pedal A, the front gear C, the driving chain B, the change gear 50a, and the driving male screw cylinder 50 are all rotated counterclockwise, that is the opposite rotating direction to that in the driving mode of operation, thereby gradually shifting leftward the driving female cylinder 64 from the position shown in FIG. 4 and consequently detaching the tapered portion of the driving female screw cylinder 64 from the hub cylinder 32 as shown in FIG. 5. At this time the driving mode of operation is disengaged. In this case, because the driving male screw cylinder can not be shifted, the driving female screw cylinder 64 is shifted leftward without any impediment and without running idle because of the presence of the driving spring 70. At the same time, when one pedals counterclockwise and the driving mode of operation changes to the braking mode of operation, as the second braking mode of operation, the braking gear 46a a rotated through the pedal A, the front gear C1, and the braking chain B1 as above described together with the braking male screw cylinder 46. The braking female screw cylinder 52 thread-engaged to the braking male screw cylinder 46 is shifted leftward from the position in FIG. 4 to clutch the saw blade 58a of the clutch 58 with the saw blade 52a of the braking female screw cylinder 52 and then to push the clutch 58, which in turn pushes the brake discs 56 whereby a friction force to brake the hub cylinder 62 is produced between the rotary discs 60. Thus, the friction force imposes the braking force on the hub cylinder and in turn on the rear wheel D. Also in this case, because the braking male screw cylinder can not be shifted, the braking female screw cylinder 52 is shifted leftward without any impediment and without running idle because of the presence of the braking spring 68. As seen from the above, it is readily apparent that the function of the freewheel generally employed in a bicycle is fulfilled by the coaster brake in accordance with the present invention. Namely, when the bicycle goes down a slope, the hub cylinder 62 is rotated with the rear wheel D of the bicycle while the position of the pedal A remains unchanged. Therefore the driving female screw cylinder 64 is shifted axially leftward in FIG. 3 due to the driving spring 70 since the driving change gear 50 is not rotated, resulting in no production of a braking force. The present invention has been described hereinbefore as being identical with the prior art in that the endless driving and braking chains B and B1 are exclusively used for driving and braking a bicycle respectively in order to perform the driving and braking modes of operation. On the other hand, the present invention has such a different effect from the prior art that the driving female screw cylinder 64 thread-engaged to the driving male screw cylinder 50 to which the driving change gear 50a is fixed is provided to securely clutch and detach the hub cylinder 62, which forms a part of the rear wheel of the bicycle while the clutch spring 66, braking spring 68, and the driving spring 70 are provided to secure the driving and braking modes of operation. Therefore the trouble encountered when the bicycle is pushed backward or in the freewheel condition can be eliminated due to such a construction, leading to driving and braking functions in a more reliable manner. It is to be noted that while the present invention has been described with regard to the embodiment employing a disc brake, it is applicable to shoe brake also.
A multi-speed free wheel hub with a coaster brake for use in a bicycle comprising a driving mechanism for driving the bicycle and a braking mechanism for braking the bicycle. Both the driving and braking mechanisms are independent of each other when one pedals the bicycle. A driving female screw cylinder is incorporated into the driving mechanism to achieve the complete driving and braking modes of operation.
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