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REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims priority to copending Korean Patent Application No.10-2003-0042054, filed Jun. 26, 2003, which is entirely incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner with a cyclone type dust collecting apparatus, and more specifically, to a locking unit to removably fix a cyclone type dust collecting apparatus to an upright type vacuum cleaner.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Referring to FIG. 3, an upright type vacuum cleaner comprises a main body 20 with a suction brush unit 10 mounted therein, and a cyclone type dust collecting apparatus 30 received in a receiving portion 21 of the main body 20 of the vacuum cleaner. The cyclone type dust collecting apparatus 30 centrifugally separates dust and dirt from air, which is a technology well known in the related art. The cyclone type dust collecting apparatus 30 is fixed in the receiving portion 21 using a locking unit.
[0004] [0004]FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of the cyclone type dust collecting apparatus 30 fixed in the receiving portion 21 by a conventional locking unit 100 . FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a main portion of the conventional locking unit of FIG. 1. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the conventional locking unit 100 includes a supporting bracket 101 disposed on a bottom plate 45 of the receiving portion 21 (see FIG. 3), a movable disk 111 rotatably disposed in the supporting bracket 101 , and a locking disk 121 disposed at an upper portion of the movable disk 111 to move upward and downward.
[0005] A hinge axis 112 is formed at a center portion of the movable disk 111 , and at a center of the hinge axis 112 an axis hole 113 is formed. The axis hole 13 of the movable disk 111 is rotatably connected with an axis 102 which protrudes at a center of the region surrounded by the supporting bracket 101 . The hinge axis 112 of the movable disk 111 is rotatably connected with a hinge hole 123 at a center of the locking disk 121 . On a top side of the movable disk 111 , a cam 115 is formed along a circumference of the movable disk 111 at a predetermined inclination.
[0006] Also, on a bottom side of the locking disk 121 a cam 125 is formed along a circumference of the locking disk 121 at a predetermined inclination. Accordingly, upon rotating the movable disk 111 in a clockwise or counter clockwise direction, the locking disk 121 is moved upward and downward by the cooperation of the cam 115 of the movable disk 111 and the cam 125 of the locking disk 121 . At an outer surface of the movable disk 111 an operating lever 118 is formed extending in a radial direction of the movable disk 111 for a user to rotate the movable disk 111 in the clockwise or counter clockwise direction.
[0007] At a bottom side of the cyclone type dust collecting apparatus 30 , a receiving recess 133 is depressed inwardly for receiving the locking unit 100 . At an inner wall of the receiving recess 133 a fixing recess 135 is formed to engage with the locking disk 121 . For instance, upon rotating the movable disk 111 in the clockwise direction by moving the operating lever 118 , the locking disk 121 is ascended. The locking disk 121 ascends into the fixing recess 135 of the cyclone type dust collecting apparatus 131 , and by engaging the fixing recess 135 and the movable disk 111 , the cyclone type dust collecting apparatus 131 is fixed.
[0008] However, the locking unit 100 of the conventional cyclone type dust collecting apparatus 30 described above has a complicated structure and a bulky size. Also, it is difficult to manufacture and assemble the locking unit 100 , since the receiving recess 133 and the fixing recess 135 are respectively formed at the bottom side of the cyclone type dust collecting apparatus 30 , to thereby increase the manufacturing cost. In addition, separating the cyclone type dust collecting apparatus 30 from the receiving portion 21 is complicated. Especially, the bulky locking unit 100 is exposed outside to thereby depreciate an appearance of the vacuum cleaner.
[0009] From the user's viewpoint, it is difficult to manipulate the locking unit 100 with one hand by moving the operating lever 118 in the horizontal direction with respect to the vacuum cleaner.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] In view of the above shortcomings, an aspect of the present invention is to provide a locking unit of a cyclone dust collector having a simple structure, which enables easy and convenient manufacturing and assembling to thereby reduce the manufacturing cost.
[0011] Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a locking unit of a cyclone dust collector which enhances an appearance of a vacuum cleaner.
[0012] Yet another aspect of the present invention is to provide a locking unit by which a cyclone dust collector is fixed with a simple operation.
[0013] To accomplish the above aspects and features of the present invention, a locking unit of a cyclone dust collector of a vacuum cleaner, which is removably received in a receiving portion of a main body of the vacuum cleaner, includes a locking recess formed at one side of a contact surface of the cyclone dust collector and the receiving portion, a lock element ascending and descending between a locking position and an unlocking position with respect to the locking recess and passes through a hole which is formed at the other side of the contact surface of the cyclone dust collector and the receiving portion, and an operating member to selectively move the lock element to the locking position and the unlocking position.
[0014] The locking recess is formed by depressing upwardly at a bottom side of the cyclone dust collector, and the lock element is received in a manipulating unit disposed at a lower portion of the receiving portion to move upward and downward through the hole at a bottom side of the receiving portion.
[0015] The operating member includes a grip rotatably exposed toward a front side of the manipulating unit, an extended bar extending from the grip toward the lock element passing through the front side of the manipulating unit, and an operating cam formed on a free end of the extended bar eccentrically. The operating cam rotates together with the grip and moves the lock element upward and downward
[0016] At the front side of the manipulating unit an indicator is disposed to indicate locking and unlocking of the lock element with respect to the locking recess.
[0017] According to the structure mentioned above, the locking unit of the cyclone dust collector may have a simple structure enabling easy manufacture and assembly, and a reduced manufacturing cost. In particular, using the locking unit, the cyclone dust collector operates easily. Also, while the cyclone dust collector is separated, there is no distraction from the appearance of the vacuum cleaner.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] The above aspects, and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent after a reading of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:
[0019] [0019]FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of a conventional locking unit for a cyclone type dust collecting apparatus of an upright type vacuum cleaner;
[0020] [0020]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the conventional cyclone type dust collecting apparatus;
[0021] [0021]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an upright type vacuum cleaner having a locking unit for a cyclone dust collector according to the present invention;
[0022] [0022]FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a main body of the vacuum cleaner of FIG. 3;
[0023] [0023]FIG. 5 is an enlarged assembly view of a main portion of FIG. 4, depicting a structure of the locking unit of the cyclone type dust collecting apparatus;
[0024] [0024]FIG. 6 is a rear view of FIG. 5;
[0025] [0025]FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged view of a body casing of FIG. 4, depicting a supporting rib supporting an extended bar of an operating member,
[0026] [0026]FIG. 8 is a perspective view depicting the operating member in detail; and
[0027] [0027]FIGS. 9 and 10 are enlarged sectional views of a main portion of FIG. 5, respectively, depicting ascending and descending of a lock element in a locking recess by the operating member.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0028] Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in greater detail, with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0029] [0029]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an upright type vacuum cleaner having a locking unit of a cyclone dust collector according to the present invention, and FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the upright type vacuum cleaner of FIG. 3. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the upright type vacuum cleaner 1 comprises a main body 20 having an receiving portion 21 formed therein, a cyclone dust collector 30 removably mounted in the receiving portion 21 , and a suction brush unit 10 . The main body 20 has a handle 3 at an upper portion thereof.
[0030] The main body 20 comprises a body casing 23 and a front panel 25 coupled to a front side of the body casing 23 . At a lower portion of the front panel 25 is mounted a vacuum generator 5 , which is shielded by a cover 7 . The front panel 25 has an opening at a center thereof to form the receiving portion 21 . The front panel 25 has a manipulating unit 41 at a lower portion of the receiving portion 21 , in which the locking unit 50 is disposed. The manipulating unit 41 is partitioned by a bottom plate 45 and a front plate 43 of the receiving portion 21 .
[0031] The main body 20 , which has the body casing 23 and the front panel 25 , is usually provided with an inlet pipe 23 a and an outlet duct 23 b . The inlet pipe 23 a interconnects a suction port of the cyclone dust collector 30 with the suction brush unit 10 . The outlet duct 23 b interconnects a discharge port of the cyclone dust collector 30 with the vacuum generator 5 . When the vacuum generator 5 is driven, a suction force is applied to the suction brush unit 10 , drawing in air containing dust and dirt into the inlet pipe. The drawn in air is directed into the cyclone dust collector 30 via the suction port, and the dust and dirt is centrifigally separated from the air and collected in the cyclone dust collector 30 . As a result, clean air is discharged to the discharge port and outside through the outlet duct 23 b.
[0032] To centrifugally separate dust and dirt from air, the cyclone dust collector 30 includes a cyclone body 31 and a dust receptacle 33 removably disposed at a lower portion of the cyclone body 31 . The cyclone dust collector 30 is well-known technology and has been disclosed in many patent applications by various applicants including the present applicant. Accordingly, a detailed description of the cyclone dust collector 30 is omitted. However, according to the present invention, at a lower portion of the cyclone dust collector 30 , i.e., at a bottom side of the dust receptacle 33 , a locking recess 35 (see FIGS. 9 and 10) is formed. The locking recess 35 will be described in detail later together with a lock element 71 .
[0033] [0033]FIG. 5 is an enlarged assembly view of a main portion of FIG. 4 in assembly, depicting the structure of a locking unit of the cyclone dust collector 30 . FIG. 6 is a rear view of FIG. 5. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the locking unit 50 comprises the lock element 71 disposed in the manipulating unit 41 to ascend and descend through the bottom plate 45 of the receiving portion 21 , the locking recess 35 (FIG. 9) formed at a bottom 34 of the cyclone dust collector 30 , and an operating member 81 to ascend the lock element 71 through the front side of the manipulating unit 41 .
[0034] In the bottom plate 45 of the receiving portion 21 , a lock element hole 44 (see FIG. 4) is formed for the ascent/descent of the lock element 71 . The lock element 71 received in the lock element hole 44 is ascended to a locking position (see FIG. 10) and descended to an unlocking position (see FIG. 9). The lock element 71 is locked to and unlocked from the locking recess 35 of the bottom 34 of the cyclone dust collector 30 . Extended portions 73 , 75 are protruded outside the lock element 71 for limiting a range of ascending and descending movement of the lock element 71 . The extended portion 75 (upper) is extended outward from an upper portion of the lock element 71 , and the extended portion 73 (lower) is extended outward from both sides of the lock element 71 . The extended portions 73 , 75 are positioned at a regular distance from each other, and the bottom plate 45 of the receiving portion 21 is disposed between the extended portions 73 and 75 . At the lock element hole 44 of the bottom plate 45 , a rib 46 is projected upwardly to support the ascending and descending of the lock element 71 .
[0035] The operating member 81 , as shown in FIG. 7 in detail, comprises an extended bar 85 having a regular sectional radius, a grip 82 at one end of the extended bar 85 extending in a radial direction thereof, and a operating cam 86 formed at a center portion of the extended bar 85 . The extended bar 85 passes through the front plate 43 of the manipulating unit 41 and is received therein. The front plate 43 has a through hole 48 to allow the passing of the extended bar 85 . The through hole 48 is formed opposed to the extended bar 85 so as to allow the passing of the operating cam 86 which is integrally formed with the extended bar 85 .
[0036] The grip 82 is rotatable and exposed on the front plate 43 of the manipulating unit 41 . At both sides of the grip 82 , knurls 83 are formed for an easy grip by a user. At an inner side of the grip 82 , i.e., at a side opposing to the front plate 43 of the manipulating unit 41 , a movable threshold 84 is projected. At a centerportion of the movable threshold 84 amovable projection 89 is projected. The movable threshold 84 and the movable projection 89 are connected with fixed limiting projections 94 , 94 ′ and fixed protuberances 99 , 99 ′ formed at the front plate 43 of the manipulating unit 41 , which will be described later on.
[0037] The operating cam 86 is extended from the extended bar 85 in an opposite direction to the extension direction of the grip 82 with respect to the extended bar 85 . On turning the grip 82 to a horizontal plane, the operating cam 86 is subsequently disposed in a horizontal plane. The operating cam 86 in the horizontal plane, as shown in FIG. 9, allows the lock element 71 to descend, i.e., to the unlocking position. On tuning the grip 82 to a vertical plane, the operating cam 86 is subsequently rotated to a vertical direction. The operating cam 86 in the vertical plane, as shown in FIG. 10, causes the lock element 71 to ascend, i.e., to the locking position.
[0038] An indicator 91 is disposed at the front plate 43 of the manipulating unit 41 to indicate the position of the lock element 71 . With respect to the indicator 91 includes a “LOCK” mark formed at the vertical position and an “UNLOCK” mark formed at the horizontal position (see FIG. 5). When the grip 82 is positioned at the “LOCK” mark, this means that the lock element 71 is at the locking position with respect to the locking recess 35 of the cyclone dust collector 30 . When the grip 82 is positioned at the “UNLOCK” mark, this means that the lock element 71 is descended to the unlocking position.
[0039] The indicator 91 includes the fixed limiting projections 94 , 94 ′ respectively protruded at the “LOCK” mark and the “UNLOCK” mark. The fixed limiting projections 94 and 94 ′ in cooperation with the movable threshold 84 of the grip 82 prevent an excessive rotation of the grip 82 . At an inner side of each fixed limiting projection 94 , 94 ′, the fixed protuberances 99 , 99 ′ are projected, respectively. Each of the fixed protuberances 99 , 99 ′ is engaged with the movable projection 89 of the grip 82 . Accordingly, the grip 82 of the operating member 81 is securely positioned at the “LOCK” mark or the “UNLOCK” mark on the indicator 91 .
[0040] A terminal end 88 of the operating member 81 , which is passed through the front plate 43 of the manipulating unit 41 and received therein, is rotatably supported by a supporting rib 26 . As shown in FIG. 8, the supporting rib 26 may preferably be disposed in the body casing 23 .
[0041] The locking unit 50 having the above structure enables the user to manipulate the grip 82 of the operating member 81 with convenience, with the grip 82 exposed toward a front of the manipulating unit 41 . In order to separate the cyclone dust collector 30 from the receiving portion 21 , the user rotates the grip 82 to the “UNLOCK” mark. The grip 82 is secured at the “UNLOCK” mark by the engagement of the movable projection 89 with the fixed protuberance 99 ′ of the indicator 91 . The user separates the cyclone dust collector 30 , removes the dust and dirt in the dust receptacle 33 , and re-mounts the cyclone dust collector 30 in the receiving portion 21 .
[0042] In order to fix the cyclone dust collector 30 in the receiving portion 21 , the user rotates the grip 82 to the lock mark. With the grip 82 at the lock mark, the operating cam 86 , eccentric to the extended bar 85 , raises the lock element 71 . At the locking position, the lock element 71 and the locking recess 35 of the dust receptacle 33 are engaged with each other to thereby securely fix the cyclone dust collector 30 in the receiving portion 21 .
[0043] According to the above embodiment, in the main body 20 of the vacuum cleaner 1 , the manipulating unit 41 at the lower portion of the front panel 25 includes the operating member 81 and the lock element 71 , while the dust receptacle 33 of the cyclone dust collector 30 includes the locking recess 35 . However, the aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will also be accomplished by variations such as the dust receptacle 35 having the operating member 81 and the lock element 71 , and the manipulating unit 41 having the locking recess 35 .
[0044] While the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described, additional variations and modifications in that embodiment may occur to those skilled in the art once they learn of the basic inventive concepts. Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims shall be construed to include both the preferred embodiment and all such variations and modifications as fall within the spirit and scope of the invention. | Disclosed is a locking unit to fix a removable cyclone dust collector in a receiving portion of a main body of a vacuum cleaner. The locking unit comprises a locking recess formed at one side of a contact surface of the cyclone dust collector and the receiving portion. A lock element ascends and descends between a locking position and an unlocking position with respect to the locking recess and passes through a hole which is formed at another side of the contact surface of the cyclone dust collector and the receiving portion. An operating member selectively moves the lock element to the locking position and the unlocking position. | 8 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cabinets for appliances, and in particular to removable cabinets for front-serviceable appliances and methods of attaching such cabinets.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,324,035, a method for installing a four-sided cabinet wrapper on an automatic washer is disclosed in FIGS. 10 and 11. The cabinet wrapper is tilted to engage a front flange on the base and rocked rearwardly to engage side tabs and is secured in place by appropriate clips. A problem associated with this method has been the tendency of the U-shaped wrapper to spread apart at the rear, making it difficult to engage the side tabs and leaving the lower rear of the cabinet wider than the top portion which is secured to the top.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,214,797 discloses a case structure having a base member and a C-shaped detachable plastic cover which has a flexible portion near the rear edge portions to flex upon installation for interlocking with the base. U.S. Pat. No. 3,829,186 discloses a method of constructing a container wherein the frame members are flexed for installation of the side panels.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides for a U-shaped cabinet wrapper or shroud which is formed with the opposed sides converging toward the open end of the U rather than being parallel. Thus, the width of the open end is less than the width at the closed front. When the wrapper is placed on the base frame against the back panel, the sides are forced outwardly at the rear to properly fit. In the assembled condition, the sides are thus stressed and an inward force is present keeping them tight against the side flanges of the rear panel.
The front flange of the cabinet is hooked on the base and the cabinet is rocked rearwardly. As the lower rear angled cabinet flanges engage guide pins mounted on the back panel, the sides are forced to their proper spacing so that they fit down properly over the base tabs.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an automatic washer embodying the principles of the present invention with the cabinet shroud in a removed position.
FIG. 2 is a side schematic view illustrating a first step in the installation of the cabinet shroud.
FIG. 3 is a side schematic view illustrating a final step in the assembly of the cabinet.
FIG. 4 is a front view of the rear panel of the cabinet taken along lines IV--IV of FIG. 2 showing the side walls of the shroud fully installed and in broken lines just engaging the back panel guide pins.
FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a side wall of the shroud taken generally along the lines V--V of FIG. 4.
FIG. 6 is an enlarged partial sectional view of the guide pin mounting on the rear wall of the cabinet.
FIG. 7 is a partial side sectional view of the rear panel and guide pin taken generally along the lines VII--VII of FIG. 6.
FIG. 8 is a partial sectional view of the shroud side wall taken generally along the lines VIII--VIII of FIG. 6.
FIG. 9 is a partial side sectional view showing the mounting of the rear panel guide pin.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In FIG. 1 there is shown a vertical axis automatic washer generally at 10 which includes a wash tub 12, an inner concentric perforate wash basket 14 for carrying a load of clothes and a vertical axis agitator 16. The basket and agitator assembly is carried on a plurality of legs 18 attached to a base panel 20 including suspension means 22. The agitator 16 and basket 14 are driven by an electric motor 24 through a transmission 26. The motor 24 also drives a pump 28. Attached to a rear edge of the base panel 20 is a rear panel 30 to which is hingedly mounted a console 32 containing the appropriate controls for selecting and operating the automatic washer 10 through a series of washing, rinsing and drying steps.
A cabinet shroud shown generally at 34 includes a front panel 36 and connected side panels 38, 40 such that the shroud has generally a U-shape. A top panel 42 is secured to the top portion of the shroud 34 and has an openable lid 44 which permits access into the interior of the wash basket 14 after the cabinet shroud 34 has been assembled as part of the washer 10.
FIGS. 2 and 3 schematically show the method of assembling the shroud 34 to the base 20 and rear wall 30. As shown in FIG. 1, the side walls 38, 40 of the shroud 34 each have an inwardly extending bottom flange 46, 48, each having an elongated opening 50, 52 near the junction with the front wall 36 which can engage with projections 54, 56 extending upwardly from the base member 20. An inwardly extending bottom flange 58 of the front wall 36 is positioned along a front edge of the base member 20 and the shroud is then pivoted rearwardly on this flange 58 with the projections 54, 56 engaging with the openings 50, 52 until the shroud has been pivoted to its final position in FIG. 3. A second set of openings 60, 62 are provided in the bottom flanges 46, 48 which engage with a second set of projections 64, 66 to hold the rear portion of the side walls 38, 40 in place. Once the shroud is in place, the control console 32 is pivoted about the rear wall 30 to its assembled position such that projections 66 extend into openings 68 in the top wall 42 of the shroud 34. This general construction and method of assembly is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,324,035, owned by the assignee of the present invention, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
In order to overcome problems associated with prior shrouds, wherein the side walls would only loosely engage the rear wall of the cabinet, the present invention provides for constructing the shroud in an overbent condition such that the side walls 38, 40 extend inwardly a slight degree and are not parallel to each other, resulting in the open end of the side walls being smaller than the width of the front panel 36. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the side walls 38, 40 each have a rear inwardly extending flange 70, 72 respectively, with respective angled bottom edges or ends 74, 76. FIG. 5 also shows the angle θ which is the angle of overbend formed in the shroud during manufacture.
The angled edges 74, 76 engage with a pair of guide pins 78, 80 secured to the rear wall. The guide pins have a camming surface 82, as best seen in FIG. 6, which engages with the angled edge 76 of the flange 72 causing the side walls 38, 40 to move outwardly to a position flush with the edge of the rear wall 30. FIG. 4 illustrates the overbent condition of side walls 38, 40 showing the relative position (broken lines) of the flanges 70, 72 just before they are separated by the guide pins 78, 80 during installation, and in solid lines the position of the flanges 70, 72 after the shroud is fully installed. In this manner, when the cabinet shroud is fully installed, the side walls are constantly urged towards each other thereby providing a constant and tight fit between the side walls and the rear wall 30.
As seen in FIG. 7, the guide pin 80 is secured to the rear cabinet wall 30 by appropriate fastening means 84 such as a screw. Further, it is prevented from rotating by means of a projection 86 extending through an aligned opening 88 in the rear panel wall 30. The guide 80 extends outwardly away from the rear wall 30 such that the camming surface 82 is spaced from the rear wall 30 by a recessed connecting wall 90. The rear wall 30 has a forwardly extending flange 92 and there is also provided a flexible seal member 94 which is captured on the flange 92, both of which fit into the area adjacent the recessed supporting wall 90. An outer surface 96 of the seal member 94 occupies approximately the same plane as the camming surface 82 such that an end 98 of the flange 72 abuts against the outer surface 96 of the seal member. Another portion of the seal member 94 extends parallel to the rear wall 30 to overlie a portion of the flange 72 to provide a complete seal between the rear wall 30 and the side wall 40. A similar arrangement is provided with respect to the side wall 38 and guide pin 78.
FIGS. 8 and 9 show the opening 62 in the bottom flange 48 of side wall 40 which is elongated to receive the projection 66 as the shroud is pivoted into position. The projection 66 is formed as a separate member attached as by welding to the base 20. As shown in FIG. 6 the projection 66 engages with the bottom flange 48 to hold the shroud against outward movement away from the base.
Thus, it is seen that there is provided a cabinet shroud 34 for an automatic washer 10 in which the shroud is formed in an overbent condition such that the side walls 38, 40 are canted inwardly, and guide pins 80 on the back panel 30 combine with angled flanges 70, 72 on the lower portion of the back edge of the shroud to force the cabinet shroud side outwardly to the proper position as the shroud is installed.
As is apparent from the foregoing specification, the invention is susceptible of being embodied with various alterations and modifications which may differ particularly from those that have been described in the preceeding specification and description. It should be understood that we wish to embody within the scope of the patent warranted hereon all such modifications as reasonably and properly come within the scope of our contribution to the art. | A U-shaped cabinet shroud for a front-serviceable appliance is provided with overbent side walls which are forced outwardly by guide pins on a stationary back wall of such appliance as the shroud is positioned onto a base member and the rear wall of the appliance resulting in a tight, secure fit of the shroud to the rear wall. | 3 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/494,471, filed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Jan. 31, 2000.
BACKGROUND
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information management technique and more particularly to an information management technique for handling and prioritizing and filtering information from external and internal sources, such as, Internet and Intranet sources, and forwarding same to a user.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of the Internet and Intranet for the sharing and forwarding of information has increased tremendously over the past few years. Unfortunately, it has not reached its full potential partly due to the fact that there is too much information available. That is, upon requesting information from the Internet or from an Intranet, a user is inundated with information. Much of the information is only peripherally related to the topic requested by the user and therefore superfluous. Accordingly, the user must review this large amount of information to locate the relevant information desired by the user.
European Patent Publication 1,348,884 B1, published PCT Application No. WO97/27534, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,369,570, and 5,544,354 each disclose attempted solutions to the problem.
For example, PCT Published Application No. WO97/27534 discloses a system for navigating an information service which allows a user to navigate an on-line information system using a plurality of different screens. While simplifying the search of a user for relevant information, it nevertheless requires the user to review multiple screens and sub-screens to find the desired information.
Similarly, European Patent Publication No. 0,348,884 B1creates navigators adjacent a main image on a screen to allow a user to navigate through the maze of information via these navigators to reduce the amount of searching needed to locate the desired information.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,369,570 discloses a method for continuous real-time management of heterogeneous interdependent resources. Multiple distributed resource engines are used to maintain timely and precise schedules and action controls, identifying and responding to rapidly changing conditions in accordance with predetermined requirements, relationships and constraints.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,354 discloses a user interface which provides for accessing a large database of information using both browsing and search behaviors. As with the above-noted PCT published application, it is necessary for the viewer to navigate through multiple screens to find the desired information.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to provide an information management technique which includes gathering and storing data from a plurality of sources and filtering and prioritizing the gathered and stored data. The filtered and prioritized data is then packaged and delivered to an end user. The data is filtered and prioritized in a plurality of layers arranged sequentially, a first layer having a broadest categorization of data and each subsequent lower layer having a narrower categorization of data than its adjacent higher layer.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The foregoing and a better understanding of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of example embodiments in claims when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, all forming a part of the disclosure of this invention. While the foregoing and following written and illustrated disclosure focuses on disclosing example embodiments of the invention, it should be clearly understood the same is by way of illustration and example only and the invention is not limited thereto. The spirit and scope of the present invention are limited only by the terms of the appended claims.
The following represents brief descriptions of the drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 illustrates the handling and prioritizing of new information in accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 illustrates the system's ladders going from top to bottom.
FIG. 3 illustrates the flow of information during an information update.
FIG. 4 illustrates the flow of information between internal and external sources and the user via a service node.
FIG. 5 illustrates the gathering and providing of information to a user terminal.
FIG. 6 illustrates the arrangement of the elements and the flow of information during associative tracing.
FIG. 7 illustrates the upload of pushed data from internal and external sources to a service node.
FIG. 8 illustrates the download of pushed data from a service node to a user.
FIG. 9 illustrates data retrieval via links in a service node.
FIG. 10 illustrates the interactions of various elements with data sources.
FIG. 11 illustrates a service node of an information management apparatus.
FIG. 12 illustrates a comparison of content processing between wireless and wireline information systems.
FIG. 13 illustrates content matching in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 14 illustrates scanning and indexing in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 15 illustrates document retrieval in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 16 illustrates document matching in accordance with present invention.
FIG. 17 illustrates the delivery of documents to a user in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 18 illustrates the flow of data between clients and a service node in accordance with present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 illustrates the handling and prioritizing of new information in accordance with an example of the present invention and FIG. 2 illustrates the system ladders from top to bottom and FIG. 3 illustrates the flow of information during an information update. FIG. 4 illustrates the flow of information of FIGS. 1-3 between the internal and external sources and the user via the service node.
Referring to FIGS. 1-4, the present invention gathers and stores information and knowledge from different predefined sources plus additional sources via association. The information and knowledge data is filtered and prioritized based on predefined personal selections and interest areas of a user. The data is logically presented and delivered to the end user with different priorities to different kinds of terminals.
Initially, a user profile is entered into the system. This information is stored in the user data profiles and priority storage area illustrated in FIG. 1 . In addition, a knowledge browser monitors the personal interests of the individual user and stores the personal interests in the personal interest storage area illustrated in FIG. 1 .
As illustrated in FIG. 2, there are various layers of filtering depending on the number of users for each layer. That is, at the lowest level, the knowledge browser or personal knowledge proxy and browser filters and categorizes the information to the greatest extent for a single user.
The group knowledge layer is for a group of end users and the categorization is broader than that of the personal knowledge layer. In a similar fashion, the department knowledge layer for a department which consists of a number of groups categorizes in still a broader fashion than that of the group knowledge layer and the corporate knowledge layer for a corporate entity which consists of a number of departments is even broader still in categorization.
The categorization layer scheme of FIG. 2 serves to simplify and reduce the amount of data to be categorized and filtered and transferred by narrowing the categorization scope at each level so as to minimize the amount of data that an end user must sort through.
The corporate layer server has all of the available and preselected qualifiers in it. The corporate server also has the function to check from the outside information sources whether there are changes in old information source or additional new added information sources.
The group and department layer servers divide the information into small categorized segments of information, based on the priorities and interests of the end users of the group/department.
In the personal layer, the knowledge browser monitors and collects the interests of the end user. The end user data profiles on priorities are filtered so that a specific data analyzer can make decisions based on key words, association, subscription, etc. to offer the end user the available information.
With user data profiles on priorities, the association mechanism knows what a user wants to know and actively searches for data with the help of the server agents through the information stream of personal data sources, department data sources, group data sources, and corporation data sources.
The delivery mechanism depends on the priority of the data. If the priority is set to “high” the material is pushed to the end user terminal with a notice. On the other hand, if the priority is set to “low”, the material is collected and forwarded to the personal server and stored in a buffer but is not actively sent to the user.
The delivery to the user may include one or more of the following:
A. Selecting a newspaper delivery with priority status;
B. a newspaper being ready for delivery;
C. a data retriever indicates new or changed information is waiting;
D. information is loaded into a buffer if someone has selected a priority status;
E. setting a flag for notification and sending a signal/alert to all subscribers;
F. a terminal receives the signal; and
G. if the data is within acceptable limits, the terminal loads the information into an offline memory.
This mechanism enables a user to always have all of the data available and up-to-date so that the user receives recently published material shortly after it has been published. Material such as newspapers, documents, magazines, books, and learning materials can be stored either in the network server storage area or can be downloaded to the offline memory of the user terminal.
As illustrated in FIG. 3, information is updated by checking for changes of predefined information category status from different repositories.
If the status of these predetermined categories have changed, the server sends a request for that particular data stream and loads that new information into a buffer. The server also sets a notification flag and sends a signal to all subscribers. The signal includes information about the size of the data stream and the estimated loading time. It also may provide options to the end users with regard to the delivery of the data stream if the size of the data is beyond a predetermined limit.
If the information category is determined to be of a “high” priority, then the service sends it immediately to the subscriber terminal. Otherwise, when the user terminal receives the signal, the user can choose to load or reject that particular data stream.
If the user terminal is not connected to the network, the information is stored in a buffer and when the user terminal is connected to the network, the server determines if there is anything to be updated and if so updates the information. The need for information updating is determined by the service node.
FIG. 4 illustrates the flow of information between internal and external sources and the user via the service node.
The service node contains elements A, B, and C. Element A is a knowledge mapping element which includes a link catalog and data buffer. Element B is an element which includes profiling, filtering, and context maps in the corporate, department, group, and personal levels while element C includes a media adapter, data formatter, and portals.
As illustrated in FIG. 4, data from external sources via the Internet and data from internal sources such as a corporate Intranet, are all fed to the service node.
In the element A, the various information data is mapped and buffered and then inputted to the element B where it is profiled and filtered on various levels and then forwarded to the various users.
External services may include external news services such as news delivery from an external Web page, either a free service or a subscription service. If a user wants news to be pushed to the end-user's terminal, the user sets the delivery priority to “high”. With the priority set to “normal”, news is retrieved by the user from the original URL address and only the link to the address is stored in the service node. The user can also use dynamic priority based on predefined keywords or associations. The news packaging is performed in element B of the service node.
As to a newspaper delivery, either an entire paper or just parts of that may be delivered based on a user profile. If they user wants news to be pushed to the end-user's terminal, the user sets the delivery priority to “high”. If the priority is set to “normal”, the newspaper is retrieved by the user from the original URL address and only the link to the address is stored in in the service node. The user can also use dynamic priority based on predefined keywords or associations.
Magazine delivery is effected in the same fashion has newspaper delivery. Similarly, a user can download or read on-line preselected books, such as reference books, in the same fashion as with newspaper delivery. The preselection of the books is also performed in element B of the service node.
Pages or a document may be directly printed into a terminal device, for example, into an ebriefcase, with an eprinter. Printing is effected on a PC using a normal printing scenario. If a WLAN connection is available, the printout is fowarded and stored directly in the terminal. If no WLAN connection is available, the printout is pushed to the terminal, that is, the printout is first buffered in the service node and when a connection exists, the printout is downloaded to the user's terminal.
The internal news service consists of news delivered from an internal WEB page. If a user wants news to be pushed to the end-user's terminal, the user sets the delivery priority to “high”. On the other hand, if the delivery priority is set to “normal”, then the news is retrieved from the original URL address and only a link to it is stored in the service node. News packaging is effected in element B of the service node.
The internal bulletins consist of discussion content delivery from an internal WEB bulletin page and are handled in the same fashion as the internal news service. This allows the user to participate in discussions.
The Learning on Demand (LoD) materials are learning materials which are related to technologies and processes and are accessed by a user to download or execute. Access to process learning is via a process adviser while access to technology learning is via personal profiling. Materials are retrieved only from the original source and URL addresses are stored in the service node.
The user may access and download job-related documents, such as process documents, templates, work instruction, and product documentation. Access to process documents is via a process adviser while access to product related documents is via personal profiling. Materials are retrieved only from the original source and URL addresses are stored in the service node.
FIG. 5 illustrates the gathering and providing of information data to a user and basically illustrates the knowledge mapping of the service node of FIG. 4 . That is, selected information sources from either the Internet or the corporate Intranet or other sources may reach the user via various paths.
The data from the selected information sources may be selected via association (e.g., word association) based on the profile of the user and then pushed to the user if the data is determined to be of high priority.
Alternatively, the information may pass through an automated data organizer and then sorted and subjected to knowledge management based on taxonomy (that is, classification). The information, then classified as to organization, technology, or process, for example, is then forwarded to the user based on a context map determined for the user.
FIG. 6 illustrates the arrangement and the flow of information through various elements during associative tracing.
FIG. 7 illustrates the upload of pushed data from external sources via the Internet to the service node. The various external sources are connected via respective firewalls to the Internet. Normally, the data from these external sources, upon request, are forwarded through the Internet and through a corporate firewall and through a corporate intranet to the service node.
Internal sources, such as stored documents, databases, and data from individual PCs, are also inputted to the service node for classification and profiling.
As illustrated in FIG. 8, the classified and profiled data for a particular user is pushed from the service node through the corporate intranet and a PPP router and GSM network to a particular user.
As illustrated in FIG. 9, data may be retrieved via links utilizing the service node. That is, data from an external source, upon request, is forwarded through its respective firewall and the Internet and the corporate firewall and the Intranet to the service node where it is routed back through the corporate Intranet and the PPP router and GSM network to a user requesting the data.
As illustrated in FIG. 10, data contained within the service node may be forwarded through the corporate Intranet to the internal sources such as documents storage, databases, and individual PCs as well as being forwarded through the PPP router and GSM network to an individual user. Lastly, data may be forwarded through the corporate Intranet and corporate firewall and the Internet to a firewall of an external source to an external data source.
FIG. 11 illustrates a service node of an information management apparatus of the present invention. The service node includes a service and contract management portion which manages the services linked to the knowledgemap and link catalog (which is discussed below). The service and contract management portion shows how many subscribers each service has and manages contracts related to the services therein.
The subscriber management portion of the service node has a subscriber database which contains information about the users such as user profiles, user groups, ordered services, terminals, and delivery priorities per service. Service ordering is performed either by selecting services (links) from a predefined list or by just adding a new link for personal purposes.
The access management portion of the service node manages the authentication and authorization of the service node and controls the access thereto.
The knowledgemap and link catalog contains links (that is, a link catalog) to information relevant to an end-user and is organized so that finding needed information or knowledge is logical and easy. The mechanism for the knowledgemap creation could be based on knowledge browser types of applications. The knowledgemap could be described as a personalized mobile portal to knowledge. A personal knowledgemap includes links that a user has personally selected. The knowledgemap also includes default links based on employment, team interest, and corporate interest.
The data buffer and data retriever portion of the service node includes a data buffer for buffering pushed data deliveries. If a data delivery priority is set to “high”, then data is retrieved from a data source and inputted to the data buffer by the data retriever. On the other hand, if the data delivery priority is set to “normal”, then only a link to the data source is stored in the link catalog. The data retriever detects when there is new data in the data source or one data in the data source has changed and retrieves the data and inputs it to the data buffer. A message is sent to an end-user informing the end-user about a forthcoming data delivery, the message containing information concerning the category and size of the delivery.
The media adapter portion of the service node detects which terminal can be used for each data delivery and converts, formats, encrypts and compresses the data for the terminal.
FIG. 12 is a comparison of content processing between wireless and wireline information systems. In present-day wireline systems there are problems both in information retrieval and in information filtering. This results in an information overflow which causes problems for the user. In addition, the adaptation rate is limited.
On the other hand, in wireless systems, content brokering reduces information retrieval problems. Content processing, including content filtering personalization, interpretation, summarizing, matching, and profiling all serve to significantly reduce the filtering problems present in wireline systems. In wireless systems there is also content synchronizing in view of the limited bandwidth and higher transmission costs.
FIG. 13 illustrates content matching in accordance with present invention. As noted in FIG. 13, ads, that is, informative advertising, is fowarded to the service node along with content, that is, information services. Services, that is, targeted service provisions, are also fowarded to the service node. Then, based on the subscribers' personal profile and the added values, the various information is fowarded to the user (subscriber). Upon receiving a profile update from the user, the user's personal profile is modified.
FIG. 14 illustrates scanning and indexing in accordance with a present invention. The Knowledge Management Software (KMS) searches documents and other data and then filters and profiles them. The KMS then saves the document profiles for documents matching team or user profiles. Only a subset of all documents is used after this stage.
FIG. 15 illustrates document retrieval in accordance with a present invention. High-priority user documents will be fetched by the service node at a personal level by selecting a certain profile, for example, a corporation profile priority can be defined. When a high-priority document is changed, a notification message is sent. The fetched documents are converted and stored in the document repository for fast and sure retrieval when the user needs them. Priority is managed by the service node and not by the KMS. Document retrieval is a continuous process handled by the scheduler. When material is created, it can be assigned to a certain profile.
FIG. 16 illustrates document matching in accordance with present invention. A user connects to the service node and then the KMS matches the user profile to all document profiles and finds all relevant documents. A list of new first priority documents is recommended. High-priority documents are loaded into the terminal as well as a list of all relevant documents for user selection. The loaded documents will be saved in the service node regardless of their priority.
FIG. 17 illustrates delivery of documents in accordance with a present invention. A user connects to the service node and high priority documents are immediately delivered to the user upon the users' connection to the service node. Lower priority documents are delivered to the user in accordance with user selection. Thus, the user is able to view automatically loaded documents as well as a list of relevant low priority documents available for selection by the user. The lower priority documents are converted as needed whereas the high priority documents are pre-converted.
FIG. 18 illustrates the flow of data between clients, that is, users, and a service node in accordance with the present invention. Various clients, that is, users or subscribers, etc., using various terminals, are interfaced with the service node having various components disposed on an application server, via a gateway. The service node on the application server includes service management, subscriber management, access control, a media adapter, a knowledgemap, and a data retriever. Subscriber data, terminal data, and a data buffer are external to the service node as it is a document converter and knowledge management.
While there have been illustrated and described what are considered to be preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made, and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the true scope of the present invention. Further, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation to the teachings of the present invention without departing from the central scope of the present invention. Therefore, it is intended that the present invention not be limited to the disclosed embodiment for carrying out the present invention, but that the present invention includes all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims. | An information management technique includes gathering and storing data from a plurality of sources of data. The gathered and stored data is then filtered and prioritized. The filtered and prioritized data is then packaged and delivered to an end user. The data is filtered and prioritized in a plurality of layers arranged sequentially, a first layer having a broadest categorization of data and each subsequent lower layer having a narrower categorization of data than its adjacent higher layer. The plurality of data sources may include external sources of data such as sources of data accessible on the Internet and internal sources of data such as sources of data accessible on a corporate Intranet. When the data is prioritized as a “high” priority, then the data may be immediately delivered to the end user while if the data is prioritized as a “low” priority, a signal may be sent to the end user and the data delivered only upon a request by the end user. | 8 |
BACKGROUND
[0001] At various times during the life of a well it is desirable to treat the well. Such treatments include drilling, cementing, perforating, fracturing, gravel packing etc. These treatments generally involve pumping fluid with a number of agents typically solids, into the wellbore.
[0002] For instance when pumping a drilling mud the drilling mud may be a weighted or non-weighted water-based gel. When weighted, the weighting material may be a particulate such as barite.
[0003] One of the most important functions of a drilling fluid is to seal off the walls of the wellbore so that the fluid is not lost into highly permeable subterranean zones penetrated by the wellbore. This is accomplished by the deposit of a filter cake of solids from the drilling fluid, dehydrated drilling fluid and gelled drilling fluid over the surfaces of the wellbore whereby the solids bridge over the formation pores and do not permanently plug the pores.
[0004] During the drilling of a wellbore, the drilling fluid is continuously circulated down the interior of the drill pipe, through the drill bit and back to the surface in the annular area on the outside of the drill pipe. At various points the wellbore may need to be cased. In this event circulation of the drilling fluid ceases while the drill bit and drill pipe are removed from the well and casing is run into the well. With circulation stopped gelled and dehydrated drilling fluid and filter cake is deposited on the walls of the wellbore.
[0005] Once the casing has been run into the well typically cement is pumped through the interior of the casing, out the bottom of the casing, and back up the exterior sides of the casing. With cement in the area between the exterior of the casing and the wellbore the cement bonds the casing to the wellbore thereby sealing the annular area and preventing fluid communication axially along the exterior of the casing. Unfortunately the gelled and dehydrated drilling fluid and filter cake tend to provide a barrier between the cement and the desired bonding surface, either the casing or the wellbore, thereby preventing the cement from bonding the casing to the wellbore. Additionally, the drilling fluid is comparatively expensive therefore operators prefer to attempt to retrieve the maximum amount of drilling fluid from the wellbore in an effort to reduce costs. Therefore it is desirable to remove the gelled and dehydrated drilling fluid and filter cake prior to pumping cement into the well.
[0006] In an attempt to remove the remnants of the drilling fluid from the wellbore prior to cementing, a fluid flush or spacer may be pumped down through the casing and then back up through the annulus prior to cementing in order to remove drilling fluid and filter cake. Such spacers generally provide only minimal drilling fluid and filter cake removal.
SUMMARY
[0007] In an effort to further enhance the removal of slurry from the wellbore, it is been found that by adding certain additives the solids in the slurry are kept in suspension for a sufficiently long period to aid in removing the solids from the well. The additives are combinations of one or more ethoxylated alcohols having a hydrophilic lipophilic balance between 10 and 13 where the ethoxylated alcohol may be tridecyl alcohol with 6EO ethoxylated alcohol (having 6 ethylene oxide (EO) groups) and/or C6-3EO ethoxylated alcohol, where C6-3EO has a six carbon backbone chained to three ethylene oxide groups. Additional additives that may be used are alkyl benzene sulfonic acid and alkyl naphthalene sulfonic acids either neutralized or non-neutralized and salts thereof in particular neutralized dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid may be used.
[0008] Additionally it was found that the same combinations, of tridecyl alcohol with 6EO ethoxylated alcohol (having 6 ethylene oxide groups), neutralized dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid, and C6-3EO ethoxylated alcohol, C6-3EO has a six carbon backbone chained to three ethylene oxide groups, tend to keep the solids in the cement in suspension aiding in the proper placement of the cement.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 depicts the result of the first test with fly ash, a polymer, water, and no suspension agent.
[0010] FIG. 2 depicts the result of the second test with fly ash, the polymer, water, and three suspending agents.
[0011] FIG. 3 depicts the result of the third test with fly ash, a second polymer, water, and no suspension agent.
[0012] FIG. 4 depicts the result of the fourth test with fly ash, the second polymer, water, and three suspension agents.
[0013] FIG. 5 depicts the result of the fifth test with fly ash, water, the second polymer, tridecyl alcohol with 6EO ethoxylated alcohol (having 6 ethylene oxide groups), and neutralized dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid.
[0014] FIG. 6 depicts the result of the sixth test with fly ash, the second polymer, tridecyl alcohol with 6EO ethoxylated alcohol (having 6 ethylene oxide groups), water, and C6-3EO ethoxylated alcohol.
[0015] FIG. 7 depicts the result of the seventh test with fly ash, the second polymer, neutralized dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid, water, and C6-3EO ethoxylated alcohol.
[0016] FIG. 8 depicts the result of the eighth test with fly ash, the second polymer, water, and tridecyl alcohol with 6EO ethoxylated alcohol (having 6 ethylene oxide groups).
[0017] FIG. 9 depicts the result of the ninth test with fly ash, the second polymer, water, and C6-3EO ethoxylated alcohol.
[0018] FIG. 10 depicts the result of the tenth test with fly ash, the second polymer, water, and neutralized dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid.
[0019] FIG. 11 depicts the result of the eleventh test with barite, the first polymer, the second polymer, and water.
[0020] FIG. 12 depicts the result of the twelfth test with barite, the first polymer, the second polymer, the three suspension agents, and water.
[0021] FIG. 13 depicts the results of the first cement slurry test where the slurry was cement and water.
[0022] FIG. 14 depicts the results of the second cement slurry test where the slurry was cement, the three suspension agents, and water.
[0023] FIG. 15 depicts the results of the second cement slurry test where the slurry was cement, C6-3EO ethoxylated alcohol, and water.
[0024] FIG. 16 depicts the results of the second cement slurry test where the slurry was cement, neutralized dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid, and water.
[0025] FIG. 17 depicts the results of the second cement slurry test where the slurry was cement, tridecyl alcohol with 6EO ethoxylated alcohol (having 6 ethylene oxide groups), and water.
[0026] FIG. 18 is a chart comparing the results of the free fluid test procedure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0027] The description that follows includes exemplary apparatus, methods, techniques, or instruction sequences that embody techniques of the inventive subject matter. However, it is understood that the described embodiments may be practiced without these specific details.
[0028] The test procedure used to gather the data in FIGS. 1-17 was to mix the slurry including the suspending agent. Pour the slurry into a cell having a modified paddle and then placing the cell into the consistometer. The cell is then heated to both bottom hole pressure, about 5600 psi, and bottom hole circulating temperature, which may vary from about 80° F. to as much as 300° F., while rotating the cell about the modified paddle at 150 RPM. The cell was then allowed to equilibrate for 10 minutes while rotating at 150 RPM. After 10 minutes of rotating at 150 RPM at bottom hole pressure and bottom hole circulating temperature the rotation rate of the cell was reduced to 25 RPM. The system was allowed to operate for an additional 30 minutes at 25 RPM, bottom hole pressure, and bottom hole circulating temperature. The cell pressure was then reduced from bottom hole pressure to atmospheric pressure and the temperature was reduced to approximately 190° F. While the cell was cooling the rotation rate of 25 RPM was maintained. Once the cell had reached approximately 190° F. or less the rotation of the cell was stopped. Density variance was then determined by using a 10 mL syringe, that's been zeroed on a balance. Three samples are then collected that will allow for the removal of air bubbles and a final volume of 10 mL from each of the top third, the middle third, and the bottom third. The mass of each sample is recorded and the weight versus the volume provides the density of each sample. The paddle will then be slowly pulled out of the slurry cup allowing for excess material to slide off without shaking the paddle. The cone height is then measured.
[0029] FIG. 1-12 depict a series of dynamic settling tests where a series of suspending agents were mixed into a slurry to determine the properties of the various fluids. The slurry is a polymer and a weighting agent.
[0030] FIG. 1 depicts the result of the first test wherein 308.51 pounds per barrel of fly ash was mixed with 1.5 pounds per barrel of welan gum, as a polymer, and 25 gallons per barrel of tap water. After running the resulting slurry 10 through the test procedure the slurry 10 gave a cone height 12 of 2.625 inches and a density variance of 3.68 pounds per gallon.
[0031] FIG. 2 depicts the result of the second test wherein 308.51 pounds per barrel of fly ash was mixed with 1.5 pounds per barrel of welan gum and 25 gallons per barrel of tap water. Additionally, a cumulative total of 1 gallon per barrel of all three components of the suspension enhancer were added to the slurry in the ratios of 27% tridecyl alcohol with 6EO ethoxylated alcohol (having 6 ethylene oxide groups), 27% neutralized dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid, and 56% C6-3EO ethoxylated alcohol. After running the resulting slurry 20 through the test procedure the slurry 20 gave a cone height 22 of 0.625 inches and a density variance of 0.36 pounds per gallon indicating that a significant portion of the fly ash was held suspended in the slurry.
[0032] FIG. 3 depicts the result of the third test wherein 308.51 pounds per barrel of fly ash was mixed with 2.5 pounds per barrel of acrylamide tertiary butyl sulfonic acid or more specifically with 2-acrylamido-2-methyl propane sulfonic acid/N, N-dimethylacetamide copolymer and 25 gallons per barrel of tap water. After running the resulting slurry 30 through the test procedure the slurry 30 gave a cone height 32 of 0.875 inches and a density variance of 2.79 pounds per gallon.
[0033] FIG. 4 depicts the result of the fourth test wherein 308.51 pounds per barrel of fly ash was mixed with 2.5 pounds per barrel of 2-acrylamido-2-methyl propane sulfonic acid/N, N-dimethylacetamide copolymer and 25 gallons per barrel of tap water. Additionally, a cumulative total of 2 gallons per barrel of all three components of the suspension enhancer were added to the slurry in the ratios of 27% tridecyl alcohol with 6EO ethoxylated alcohol (having 6 ethylene oxide groups), 27% neutralized dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid, and 56% C6-3EO ethoxylated alcohol. The resulting slurry 40 gave a reduced cone height 42 of 0.25 inches and a density variance of 2.08 pounds per gallon indicating that a significant portion of the fly ash was held suspended in the slurry.
[0034] FIG. 5 depicts the result of the fifth test wherein 308.51 pounds per barrel of fly ash was mixed with 2.5 pounds per barrel of 2-acrylamido-2-methyl propane sulfonic acid/N, N-dimethylacetamide copolymer and 25 gallons per barrel of tap water. Additionally, two components of the suspension enhancer were added to the slurry 50 . The two components were added in the amounts of 0.5 gallons per barrel of tridecyl alcohol with 6EO ethoxylated alcohol (having 6 ethylene oxide groups) and 0.5 gallons per barrel of neutralized dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid. The resulting slurry 50 gave a cone height 52 of 0.5 inches and a density variance of 0.63 pounds per gallon.
[0035] FIG. 6 depicts the result of the sixth test wherein 308.51 pounds per barrel of fly ash was mixed with 2.5 pounds per barrel of 2-acrylamido-2-methyl propane sulfonic acid/N, N-dimethylacetamide copolymer and 25 gallons per barrel of tap water. Additionally, two components of the suspension enhancer were added to the slurry 60 . The two components were added in the amounts of 0.5 gallons per barrel of tridecyl alcohol with 6EO ethoxylated alcohol (having 6 ethylene oxide groups) and 0.5 barrels per gallon of C6-3EO ethoxylated alcohol. The resulting slurry 60 gave a cone height 62 of 0.625 inches and a density variance of 2.29 pounds per gallon.
[0036] FIG. 7 depicts the result of the seventh test wherein 308.51 pounds per barrel of fly ash was mixed with 2.5 pounds per barrel of 2-acrylamido-2-methyl propane sulfonic acid/N, N-dimethylacetamide copolymer and 25 gallons per barrel of tap water. Additionally, two components of the suspension enhancer were added to the slurry 70 . The two components were added in the amounts of 0.5 gallons per barrel of neutralized dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid and 0.5 barrels per gallon of C6-3EO ethoxylated alcohol. The resulting slurry 70 gave a cone height 72 of 0.25 inches and a density variance of 0.5 pounds per gallon.
[0037] FIG. 8 depicts the result of the eighth test wherein 308.51 pounds per barrel of fly ash was mixed with 2.5 pounds per barrel of 2-acrylamido-2-methyl propane sulfonic acid/N, N-dimethylacetamide copolymer and 25 gallons per barrel of tap water. Additionally, a single component of the suspension enhancer was added to the slurry 80 . The single component of the slurry enhancer was added in an amount of 1.0 gallon per barrel of tridecyl alcohol with 6EO ethoxylated alcohol (having 6 ethylene oxide groups). The resulting slurry 80 gave a cone height 82 of 0.625 inches and a density variance of 1.27 pounds per gallon.
[0038] FIG. 9 depicts the result of the ninth test wherein 308.51 pounds per barrel of fly ash was mixed with 2.5 pounds per barrel of 2-acrylamido-2-methyl propane sulfonic acid/N, N-dimethylacetamide copolymer and 25 gallons per barrel of tap water. Additionally, a single component of the suspension enhancer was added to the slurry 90 . The single component of the slurry enhancer was added in an amount of 1.0 gallon per barrel of C6-3EO ethoxylated alcohol. The resulting slurry 90 gave a cone height 92 of 0.875 inches and a density variance of 2.14 pounds per gallon.
[0039] FIG. 10 depicts the result of the tenth test wherein 308.51 pounds per barrel of fly ash was mixed with 2.5 pounds per barrel of 2-acrylamido-2-methyl propane sulfonic acid/N, N-dimethylacetamide copolymer and 25 gallons per barrel of tap water. Additionally, a single component of the suspension enhancer was added to the slurry 100 . The single component of the slurry enhancer was added in an amount of 1.0 gallon per barrel of neutralized dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid. The resulting slurry 100 gave a cone height 102 of 0.375 inches and a density variance of 3.28 pounds per gallon.
[0040] FIG. 11 depicts the result of the eleventh test wherein 308.51 pounds per barrel of barite was mixed with 2.5 pounds per barrel of 2-acrylamido-2-methyl propane sulfonic acid/N, N-dimethylacetamide copolymer, 2.5 pounds per barrel of welan gum, and 25 gallons per barrel of tap water. After running the resulting slurry 110 through the test procedure the slurry 110 gave a cone height 112 of 0.875 inches and a density variance of 7.38 pounds per gallon.
[0041] FIG. 12 depicts the result of the twelfth test wherein 308.51 pounds per barrel of barite was mixed with 2.5 pounds per barrel of 2-acrylamido-2-methyl propane sulfonic acid/N, N-dimethylacetamide copolymer, 2.5 pounds per barrel of welan gum, and 25 gallons per barrel of tap water. Additionally, a cumulative total of 2 gallons per barrel of all three components of the suspension enhancer were added to the slurry 120 in the ratios of 27% tridecyl alcohol with 6EO ethoxylated alcohol (having 6 ethylene oxide groups), 27% neutralized dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid, and 56% C6-3EO ethoxylated alcohol. The resulting slurry 120 gave a reduced cone height 122 of 0.875 inches and a density variance of 2.39 pounds per gallon.
[0042] FIG. 13-17 depict a series of dynamic settling tests, as described above, where a series of suspending agents were mixed into slurry to determine the properties of the various fluids. Additionally a free fluid test was conducted with the various cement slurries. Free fluid test conducted by pouring a portion of the mixed cement slurry into a 250 mL graduated cylinder and allowing the slurry to rest for two hours. Any fluid that separates out is removed from the top and its volume is recorded so that a percentage of free fluid may then be calculated.
[0043] FIG. 13 depicts the result of the first cement slurry test wherein 94 pounds per sack of cement was mixed with water and no suspending agent. The water gave a total of 5.27 gallons per sack of liquid. After running the resulting slurry 130 through the dynamic settling test procedure the slurry 130 gave a cone height 132 of 0.625 inches, a density variance of 1.23 pounds per gallon, and free fluid test result of 4.8%.
[0044] FIG. 14 depicts the result of the second cement slurry test wherein 94 pounds per sack of cement was mixed with water and a cumulative total of 0.21 gallons per sack of all three components of the suspension enhancer in the ratios of 27% tridecyl alcohol with 6EO ethoxylated alcohol (having 6 ethylene oxide groups), 27% neutralized dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid, and 56% C6-3EO ethoxylated alcohol. The 5.06 gallons per sack of water and the cumulative total of 0.21 gallons per sack of the three components gave a total of 5.27 gallons per sack of liquid. After running the resulting slurry 140 through the dynamic settling test procedure the slurry 140 gave a cone height 142 of 0.41 inches, a density variance of 1.0 pounds per gallon, and free fluid test result of 1.4%.
[0045] FIG. 15 depicts the result of the third cement slurry test wherein 94 pounds per sack of cement was mixed with water and 0.21 gallons per sack of C6-3EO ethoxylated alcohol. The 5.06 gallons per sack of water and the 0.21 gallons per sack of C6-3EO ethoxylated alcohol gave a total of 5.27 gallons per sack of liquid. After running the resulting slurry 150 through the dynamic settling test procedure the slurry 150 gave a cone height 152 of 0.5 inches, a density variance of 0.78 pounds per gallon, and free fluid test result of 6.4%.
[0046] FIG. 16 depicts the result of the fourth cement slurry test wherein 94 pounds per sack of cement was mixed with water and 0.21 gallons per sack of neutralized dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid. The 5.06 gallons per sack of water and the 0.21 gallons per sack of neutralized dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid gave a total of 5.27 gallons per sack of liquid. After running the resulting slurry 160 through the dynamic settling test procedure the slurry 160 gave a cone height 162 of 0.38 inches, a density variance of 0.84 pounds per gallon, and free fluid test result of 4.9%.
[0047] FIG. 17 depicts the result of the fifth cement slurry test wherein 94 pounds per sack of cement was mixed with water and 0.21 gallons per sack of tridecyl alcohol with 6EO ethoxylated alcohol (having 6 ethylene oxide groups). The 5.06 gallons per sack of water and the 0.21 gallons per sack of tridecyl alcohol with 6EO ethoxylated alcohol (having 6 ethylene oxide groups) gave a total of 5.27 gallons per sack of liquid. After running the resulting slurry 170 through the dynamic settling test procedure the slurry 170 gave a cone height 172 of 0.13 inches, a density variance of 0.11 pounds per gallon, and free fluid test result of 0.0%.
[0048] FIG. 18 is a chart comparing the results of the free fluid test procedure when various amounts of tridecyl alcohol with 6EO ethoxylated alcohol (having 6 ethylene oxide groups) are used with a single sack of cement, about 94 pounds, and 5.06-5.27 gallons of water. In the test comparison 0.0 gallons of tridecyl alcohol with 6EO ethoxylated alcohol (having 6 ethylene oxide groups) is used resulting in a free fluid ratio of about 4.8%. Then, 0.06 gallons of tridecyl alcohol with 6EO ethoxylated alcohol (having 6 ethylene oxide groups) is used resulting in a free fluid ratio of about 0.17%. Finally, 0.21 gallons of tridecyl alcohol with 6E0 ethoxylated alcohol (having 6 ethylene oxide groups) is used resulting in a free fluid ratio of about 0.0%.
[0049] While the embodiments are described with reference to various implementations and exploitations, it will be understood that these embodiments are illustrative and that the scope of the inventive subject matter is not limited to them. Many variations, modifications, additions and improvements are possible.
[0050] Plural instances may be provided for components, operations or structures described herein as a single instance. In general, structures and functionality presented as separate components in the exemplary configurations may be implemented as a combined structure or component. Similarly, structures and functionality presented as a single component may be implemented as separate components. These and other variations, modifications, additions, and improvements may fall within the scope of the inventive subject matter. | A well fluid treatment is disclosed that utilizes ethoxylated alcohols with a hydrophilic lipophilic balance between 10 and 13 and/or alkyl benzene sulfonic acid and alkyl naphthalene sulfonic acids either neutralized or non-neutralized and salts thereof either singly or in combination to assist in suspending solids such as drilling mud and cement in fluids such as water. | 4 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation-in-part application of pending U.S. application “Bolt and Receiver for adaptively attaching to surfaces”, Ser. No. 11/677,061 filed Feb. 21, 2007, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to the field of material attachment devices for surfaces that adjust their thickness and other such dimensions over time. More specifically the invention relates to the problem of securely attaching to a surface and over time adapting to its overall thickness variation. These may be used in devices for attaching devices to road surfaces.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Safety on roads is significantly increased when devices such as lane markers or reflectors are attached to them. Because of its durability, flexibility and ease of application, many road surfaces are composed of asphalt mixes (typically 100 to 200 mm deep), placed over a concrete or crushed aggregate sub-surface bed. While excellent in regards to road traffic, these asphalt surfaces are sub-optimal attachment surfaces. Reflectors or lane marker devices are typically either chemically attached (e.g. glued or epoxy) or bolted to these asphalt road surfaces.
Unfortunately, because asphalt typically retains moisture, devices that are chemically attached to them typically become loosened over a fairly short time period, sometimes as brief as six months.
Gubela, U.S. Pat. No. 3,516,337 teaches of a complete lane marker with a built-in attachment bolt. Such devices sometimes remain attached to the road surface for longer terms, but may be loosened because of the flexible nature of the road surface.
Even if a device like this, attached through the road surface and into the road sub-surface would remain firmly attached, it would suffer from other disadvantages. Over time, the road surface is typically worn away or compressed by the weight of traffic and other factors, reducing its thickness over the road sub-surface. As a result, devices that are tightly bolted to the sub-surface may stick out. By doing this, they become the proverbial nail sticking out of the board. Such a “spike” could become dangerous to the tires of the vehicles transiting the road.
What is required is a way to hold securely the reflector or lane marker to the road surface in a manner that allows for it to remain at road level, while adapting to the overall lowering of the road surface over time. In some situations, it may be required to replace the reflector or bolt, without removing the receiver.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This section is for the purpose of summarizing some aspects of the present invention and to briefly introduce some preferred embodiments. Simplifications or omissions may be made to avoid obscuring the purpose of the section. Such simplifications or omissions are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.
The invention is directed towards a bolt and fastener system consisting of at least two portions; the first is a male bolt or attachment composite that interfaces at the top with the reflector, lane marker or other object that is required to be fastened to the road. In this fashion, the bolt's top may be shaped in any shape that improves this interface to the object being fastened, or it may itself have shapes and/or devices intended to perform some of these functions. At the bolt's lower portion, there are depth detent mechanisms designed to nestle within the receiver's complementary depth detent mechanisms in a fashion that will allow the bolt to travel into the receiver over time (as the road surface becomes thinner), thus reducing the overall length of the bolt/receiver combination.
The receiver portion is intended to be firmly attached to the road sub-surface (typically either concrete or crushed aggregate material) via chemical (such as epoxy bonding), mechanical or other anchor means. Its upper portion is intended to be equipped with mechanical means that will allow the bolt to increase its penetration within the housing of the receiver (in response to any downward pressure), while preventing it from exiting the housing (rising).
Some aspects of the invention relate to the ability to design the depth detent mechanisms so that there is a “key” arrangement of these depth detent mechanisms, and upward pressure on the bolt, in combination with a rotational motion results in the bolt clearing the receiver without breakage.
The bolt and receiver proposed here are specifically tailored to road situations, but may also be applicable to application such as roofs, decks, etc., where a two (or more) layers of substrate are used.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon examining the following detailed description of an embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the attached drawings. The present invention may be implements in many forms including a device, method, or part of a device.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The foregoing discussion will be understood more readily from the following detailed description of the invention with reference to the following drawings. The accompanying drawings are not intended to be drawn to scale. In the drawings, each identical or nearly identical component that is illustrated in various figures is represented by a like numeral. For purposes of clarity, not every component may be labeled in every drawing. In the drawings:
FIG. 1 is an exemplary illustration of the bolt and receiver configuration when the receiver is intended to be attached through chemical means to the road sub-surface, according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 2 is an exemplary illustration of the bolt and receiver configuration when the receiver is intended to be attached through mechanical means to the road sub-surface, according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 3 is an exemplary illustration of the receiver, illustrating the entry point for the bolt, details of an exemplary detent mechanism within the receiver cavity, pressure ridges on the outside of the receiver and optional draining holes at the bottom, according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 4 is an exemplary illustration of the side view of the solid bolt, illustrating the partial circumference depth detent mechanisms keyed to the receiver layout, optional detritus control head, and reflector attachment top, according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 5 is an exemplary illustration of the bottom cross section of the bolt's depth detent key, according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 6 is an exemplary illustration of the bolt tip of a composite bolt assembly, according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 7 is an exemplary illustration of the composite bolt assembly, according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 8 is an exemplary illustration of the bolt rotation control means, according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.
DEFINITIONS
As used herein, the term “plurality” refers to two or more items or components. The terms “comprising,” “including,” “carrying,” “having,” “containing,” and “involving,” whether in the written description or the claims and the like, are open-ended terms, i.e., to mean “including but not limited to.” Thus, the use of such terms is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter, and equivalents thereof, as well as additional items. Only the transitional phrases “consisting of” and “consisting essentially of,” are closed or semi-closed transitional phrases, respectively, with respect to the claims.
Note that while one of the definition of bolt includes a helical thread, the applicant is using a definition similar to Webster's′ #2, that of a metal bar or rod used to fasten a door. In this context, no thread (helical or otherwise) is implied on the bolt's body or exterior, but as a depth transmission and detent mechanism intended to preserve the top of the body (be it solid or composite as described) flush with the road surface, and preventing its body to come out of the receiver
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
To provide an overall understanding of the invention, certain illustrative embodiments will now be described, including apparatus and methods for displaying images. However, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the systems and methods described herein may be adapted and modified as is appropriate for the application being addressed and that the systems and methods described herein may be employed in other suitable applications, and that such other additions and modifications will not depart from the scope hereof.
In one embodiment, FIG. 1 , the bolt 101 penetrates through the road surface 108 (typically an asphalt or concrete mix), into the receiver housing 102 . In one embodiment, a reflector or road marker is fastened or attached to the head of the bolt 110 , so that it remains flush with the top surface 103 of the road surface 108 . The depth of the road surface is typically 100 to 200 mm, and hence the length of the road bolt 101 is determined by the road surface to be applied. This allows for the length of the bolt be tailored to the specific application so that sufficient travel of the bolt occurs inside the receiver 102 as the road thickness varies over time. Notice that the primary method of travel for the bolt within the receiver is direct downward pressure, not rotation.
In an alternated one embodiment, more than one set of depth detent mechanisms 107 may be staggered along the length of the bolt 101 , so that if a bolt it too long for the application, its excessive length may be cut away and the upper set of detent mechanisms along its body are used as the principal ones.
The receiver housing 102 is designed to be placed within an opening 104 in the road sub-surface substrate 109 (or at the bottom of the road surface). This may be accomplished in a number of ways, depending on the sub-surface substrate. Sometimes, as shown in FIG. 1 , the sub-surface substrate 109 is concrete or any other solid body (e.g. steel, which may be the sub-surface in the case of a bridge). In these cases, the opening 104 is drilled with a drill bit of diameter appropriate to allow for the receiver housing to drop in.
One embodiment envisions the opening 104 being filled with an adhesive (e.g. glue or epoxy) to securely attach the receiver housing 102 to the opening walls 112 . The best embodiment also envisions the length of the receiver housing 102 being slightly longer than the expected depth of the drilled opening 104 . In this fashion, the overflow of adhesive could be prevented from falling into the receiver housing internal opening 105 , or with the operation of the depth detent mechanism 106 , 107 for the bolt.
In one embodiment, the body of the receiver 102 is a sealed vessel, allowing for the cavity 111 to remain insulated from the area aside. However, alternate embodiments may include one or more openings ( 114 , 116 ), along the periphery of the bottom of the receiver 102 .
In another embodiment, the receiver would not have a bottom 118 , allowing the body of the bolt to continue travelling downward, with the receiver depth detent mechanism 106 interacting with the detent mechanisms 107 higher in the bolt body, as long as the opening made for the receiver 102 extends downward and has the space to accommodate the bolt.
Besides the sub-surface described above, the other most popular type of road sub-surface FIG. 2 is some form of crushed aggregate 202 . In this case, the receiver 102 may be equipped with mechanical protrusions 201 designed to secure it to the sub-surface 202 and prevent the receiver from exiting the opening 104 when the bolt 101 exerts any kind of upward pressure against the depth detent mechanism 106 , 107 .
Note that while in one embodiment the shape of the bolt 101 and receiver 102 is circular, any other number of complementary shapes may be designed, as long as the bolt is capable of nesting within the receiver over time. In addition, the top 113 of the bolt, may be shaped in any way. In one embodiment, both of these are hexagonally shaped, in order to allow for their rotation with a wrench or implement. Similarly, they may be mechanically keyed in order to accomplish the rotation and attachment function.
As time passes, the road erodes or is pushed downwards by vehicle traffic, effectively reducing its thickness. Vehicle traffic from lane changer (and or traffic early in the morning after the bars have closed!) will at times directly impact the top of the bolt (or its attached reflector). When this happens, a downward pressure will be exerted on the bolt. If the road thickness has been reduced, this will have the effect of driving down the bolt 101 into the receiver opening 105 .
This opening within the receiver 105 is meant to be occupied by the road bolt 101 as the road surface 108 is compressed or worn away. This will allow for the bolt head 110 (and any device attached to it) to remain level with the top of the road surface as the road surface is compressed with time and use by vehicles. When sufficient travel has occurred, the progressive restrain 107 will advance over the next receiver holder 106 . This has the effect of eliminating the bolt's ability to exit the receiver, thus shortening it's overall length, and securely attaching the bolt's top (and thus the reflector or lane marker attached to it) to the present road surface. The procedure is repeated anytime the road surface depth is shortened. In an alternative embodiment, the progressive restraint 203 may be as simple as vanes, fins, pressure fins on the outside of the bolt 101 , designed to progressively advance past the receiver opening as the road surface is reduced.
One embodiment for this progressive restraint 106 is a series of ridges at an angle of 45 degrees on the bolt that are allowed to moved past their counterpart 45 degree ridges on the wall of the receiver housing 105 . However, it can be seen that ridges at other degrees, flexible flaps, spring-powered flaps, and other mechanical solutions may be equally employed.
FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of the receiver housing 300 . In this embodiment, the opening 310 within which the bolt assembly enters is illustrated. The depth detent mechanism at one level 302 are implemented as a staggered and rotated set of partial rings at various depths. One set 302 occupies one level, leaving partial openings around their periphery 304 , followed at the next depth (say 12.5 mm lower within the body of the receiver 102 . At the next depth, the same pattern is repeated, but the depth detent mechanism 312 is rotated from the above by a given number of degrees. In this fashion, it is possible to remove the bolt assembly by pulling up on it, while at the same time rotating the bolt assembly. This results in the bolt coming out of the receiver in a series of “steps”. When subjected to the normal use, the bolt 101 would not be subjected to such a series of rotations. Any bolt 101 coming up one of the above restraint level, would promptly come down upon the pressure of the next vehicle.
Note that when the receiver 102 has a bottom, its body is designed to be a vessel. Webster defines a vessel as: a container (as a cask, bottle, kettle, cup, or bowl) for holding something, not continually opened along the sides. Others, like Fazekas (U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,530), the receiver is a slot opening, and does not completely surround the bolt. Continually surrounding the bolt is critical of the invention, in order to keep road debris and detritus from clogging the opening intended for the bolt. In the alternate embodiment where the receiver 102 lacks a bottom 118 , the receiver would still be appropriately described as a sleeve.
In one embodiment, the receiver is held against the opening 104 by a series of ridges 306 running along the outside of the receiver body 300 . These would allow for the receiver 102 to be firmly attached to the opening 104 .
FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the a bolt assembly 400 . It may be manufactured of any number of materials, including metal, plastic, wood, or any other solids. The bolt body 402 , attaches the depth detent mechanism 404 to the reflector retaining mechanism 406 . In some embodiments, there may be more than one depth detent mechanism 404 along the body of the bolt 402 .
In some embodiments, a sliding mechanism 408 is designed to slide down the body 402 of the bolt, resting at the entrance to the receiver 107 . This would help by reducing the amount of debris and detritus falling into the receiver opening. FIG. 5 illustrates the top view of the bolt's depth detent mechanism 500 , in the case where the bolts mechs 404 are equally spaced, creating spaces 502 , along which the receiver's mechs 404 slide. Notice that while in one embodiment the depth detent mechanisms 404 are three (occupying 180 deg., with the depth detent mechanisms 302 in the receiver occupying the other 180 deg.), any number of these are possible, including non-asymmetrical ones where the bolt's mechs 404 or the receivers mechs 302 are not equally spaced or sized. In one embodiment, these mechs 404 , 302 perform the depth detention function by their shape (45 deg. slots), that slide past each other by the slight expansion or bending of the tips.
As seen in FIGS. 6 and 7 , in an alternate embodiment, the bolt body 700 may be made into a composite combination of a solid tip 600 with tension and compression transfer means to the top 712 fastening the reflector or other above road attachment. The compression (or downward pressure transfer) is accomplished by a flexible, semi-flexible or rigid hollow body 714 whose outer dimension is designed to fit snugly within the opening of the receiver 102 opening. Note that the sidewall 706 illustrated is part of the continued body 714 . This allows for any downward pressure on the top 712 , to be transferred to the depth detent mechanisms 404 at the tip's 600 body along the outer walls 706 as contained by the receiver's opening.
Tension is transferred by means of a flexible or semi flexible tension member 704 . This tension member 704 may be comprised of a string, rope, cable or strap manufactured of a number of materials, including organic material, plastic, kevlar-type material, metal or any other material suitable to transfer the upward tension from the depth detent mechanism 716 when any upward (away from the bottom of the opening 104 ) force is placed on the body 706 or top 712 of the composite assembly.
The tension is transferred by attaching the tension member 714 at both of its ends. In one embodiment, this is done by making the tip 702 hollow, and passing the tensile member through the opening in the tip 602 , then securing it at the bottom 710 . At the top, the tensile member is secured to the top 712 by a securing mean 708 (which as with the bottom, may be a nut, crimp, rivet or any of the well known ways to attach a cable). In an alternate embodiment, either the tip or the bottom may be equipped with a loop over which to loop the cable, with tensioning of it during manufacture being taken at the other end.
A final challenge solved by the invention is what to do with reflector assemblies that rotate their orientation to the driver. As can be seen from the invention, the free rotatable nature of the bolt with respect to the receiver may bring situations where over time, the reflector attached to the top 113 rotates too much with respect to the driver. To minimize this, in one embodiment, the depth detent mechanisms ( 804 , 806 , and 808 ) are paired off columns ( 810 , 812 ) as shown in the isometric 800 and top views 802 of FIG. 8 . This would cause the columns 810 , 812 (as well as the third one not marked) to act as rotational restrictors, limiting in the case shown, the top reflector from rotating more than 120 deg. As can be easily discern, in a case where 10 deg. depth detent mechanism segments are used (as opposed to the 60 deg. shown in the exemplary embodiment), this would limit the rotation to 20 deg., well within the limits of most corner reflectors.
Having now described some illustrative embodiments of the invention, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the foregoing is merely illustrative and not limiting, having been presented by way of example only. Numerous modifications and other embodiments are within the scope of one of ordinary skill in the art and are contemplated as falling within the scope of the invention. In particular, although many of the examples presented herein involve specific combinations of method acts or system elements, it should be understood that those acts and those elements may be combined in other ways to accomplish the same objectives.
Further, acts, elements, and features discussed only in connection with one embodiment are not intended to be excluded from a similar role in other embodiments. It is to be appreciated that various alterations, modifications, and improvements can readily occur to those skilled in the art and that such alterations, modifications, and improvements are intended to be part of the disclosure and within the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, for example, retrofitting existing devices is contemplated by the invention.
Moreover, it should also be appreciated that the invention is directed to each feature, system, subsystem, or technique described herein and any combination of two or more features, systems, subsystems, or techniques described herein and any combination of two or more features, systems, subsystems, and/or methods, if such features, systems, subsystems, and techniques are not mutually inconsistent, is considered to be within the scope of the invention as embodied in the claims.
CONCLUSION
In concluding the detailed description, it should be noted that it would be obvious to those skilled in the art that many variations and modifications can be made to the preferred embodiment without substantially departing from the principles of the present invention. Also, such variations and modifications are intended to be included herein within the scope of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims. Further, in the claims hereafter, the structures, materials, acts and equivalents of all means or step-plus function elements are intended to include any structure, materials or acts for performing their cited functions.
It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of the present invention, particularly any preferred embodiments are merely possible examples of the implementations, merely set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the invention. Any variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments of the invention without departing substantially from the spirit of the principles of the invention. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of the disclosure and present invention and protected by the following claims.
The present invention has been described in sufficient detail with a certain degree of particularity. The utilities thereof are appreciated by those skilled in the art. The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The forgoing embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects illustrative, rather than limiting of the invention. It is understood to those skilled in the art that the present disclosure of embodiments has been made by way of examples only and that numerous changes in the arrangement and combination of parts may be resorted without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the forgoing description of embodiments. | A bolt and receiver are provided to securely attach a device (e.g. light reflector or a lane marker) to a surface (such as a roadway). In addition to initially attaching the device to the surface, the bolt will nest progressively within the receiver as the surface thickness erodes or deteriorates over time, thus reducing the bolt's effective overall length (and thus the bolt's height above the surface), in order not to protrude and puncture or damage tires. | 4 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a driving wheel slip control system for vehicles, and more particularly to a driving wheel slip control system comprising a plurality of electronic control units and having a failsafe function for coping with an abnormality thereof.
Conventionally, there have been proposed control systems, such as a driving wheel slip control system, which are each composed of a plurality of electronic control units (hereinafter referred to as "ECU's") connected with each other by signal lines. For example, the present assignee has already proposed by Japanese Provisional Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2-157439, a driving wheel slip control system which has an ECU (hereinafter referred to as "TSC-ECU") for detecting a slip state (degree of a slip) of driving wheels of a vehicle, and an ECU (hereinafter referred to as "ENG-ECU") for controlling output of a prime mover for driving the driving wheels based on a slip level signal which is supplied from the TCS-ECU and indicates the slip state of driving wheels in terms of an analog value, i.e. a continuously variable slip level.
A method (hereinafter referred to as "the first method") is widely known, which determines that a signal line of the above described driving wheel slip control system for transferring the slip level signal or a part or parts related thereto is abnormal when the slip level represented by the slip level signal is not within a predetermined range defined by upper and lower limit values.
Further, another method (hereinafter referred to as "the second method") is also known, which employs, in addition to the slip level signal, a slip status signal which is a binary signal representing whether or not the driving wheels are in a predetermined slip state (e.g. a slip state in which the slip level represented by the slip level signal is higher than a predetermined value), and which is also transferred from the TCS-ECU to the ENG-ECU. According to the second method, when a state in which the slip level signal and the slip status signal are contradictory to each other is detected, it is determined that one or both of signal lines for transmitting these signals is/are abnormal. More specifically, if the slip status signal indicates that the driving wheels are not in the predetermined slip state, whereas the slip level signal indicates that the driving wheels are in the predetermined slip state, or vice versa, it is determined that abnormality exists.
According to the first method, so far as the slip level represented by the slip level signal is not held outside the range defined by the upper and lower limit values, the signal line for transmitting the slip level signal is not determined to be abnormal. Therefore, the first and second methods can be combined, whereby it is possible to determine that the signal line for the slip status signal is abnormal, if the slip level signal and the slip status signal are contradictory to each other and at the same time the slip level indicated by the slip level signal is not held at a high level higher than the upper limit value nor at a low level lower than the lower limit value.
However, if some kind of oscillating signal, for example, accidentally intrudes into the signal line for the slip level signal, when the driving wheels are actually not in the aforementioned predetermined slip state and the slip status signal correctly represents the actual slip state of the driving wheels, there can be the case where the slip level indicated by the slip level signal assumes an intermediate value between the upper and lower limit values, to falsely represent the predetermined slip state of the driving wheels (hereinafter referred to as "the intermediate value hold abnormality"). In such a case, according to the above combination of the first and second methods, it is determined that the signal line for the slip status signal is abnormal since the slip level indicated by the slip level signal is not held at the high level nor at the low level. Thus, it is impossible to detect the intermediate value hold abnormality resulting from the aforementioned abnormality of the signal line for transmitting the slip level signal.
Further, if driving wheel slip control is stopped immediately when abnormality of the slip level signal or the slip status signal is detected by either or combination of the first and second methods, there can occur a sudden rise in the torque of driving wheels, to thereby degrade the driveability of the vehicle.
On the contrary, if driving wheel slip control is continued even though an abnormality has been detected, there is an undersired possibility of the control being carried out based on information (i.e. the slip level signal or the slip status signal) which does not correctly represent the actual slip state of driving wheels.
Further, in addition to cases where an abnormality is detected as described above, if the engine coolant temperature, for example, is very high such that the engine can overheat if the amount of fuel supplied to the engine is decreased, driving wheel slip control by decreasing the amount of fuel should be inhibited. If such a hot state occurs while driving wheel slip control is being carried out, and driving wheel slip control is immediately stopped, the same incovenience as described above (i.e. degradation of the driveability of the vehicle) results.
It is also generally known that in the above-mentioned control system having two ECU's, one of the two ECU's checks abnormality of the other and the one sends the result of checking to the other. In the aforementioned driving wheel slip control system proposed by the present assignee as well, the ENG-ECU checks abnormality of the TCS-ECU (or the signal line connecting the ECU's with each other) based on the slip level signal, and sends the result of checking to the TCS-ECU.
However, depending on operating conditions of the prime mover, there are cases where driving wheel slip control should preferably be inhibited (e.g. when the warming-up of the engine is not completed, or when the engine coolant temperature is extremely high). According to the above-mentioned manner of communication between the ECU's, even in such cases, no information is sent from the ENG-ECU to the TCS-ECU so long as no abnormality of the TCS-ECU is detected by the ENG-ECU. Therefore, even in cases where driving wheel slip control should not be carried out, which makes calculations by the TCS-ECU unnecessary, the TCS-ECU carries out calculations nevertheless, which leaves room for improvement of the driving wheel slip control system.
Further, in the aforesaid proposed system, the TCS-ECU is adapted to warn the driver of a detected abnormality of the driving wheel slip control system, e.g. by lighting a lamp. In such cases, if no abnormality of the TCS-ECU etc. is detected and at the same time driving wheel slip control should not be carried out, it is impossible to inform the driver of the state of the system in which driving wheel slip control cannot be carried out.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is a first object of the invention to provide a driving wheel slip control system which is capable of properly detecting even such an abnormality that the slip level indicated by a slip level signal indicative of the degree of a slip of driving wheels is held at an intermediate value.
It is a second object of the invention to provide a driving wheel slip control system which is capable of carrying out proper operations when an abnormality of the slip level signal and/or a slip status signal is detected, or when an operating condition of the prime mover in which driving wheel slip control should be inhibited is detected.
It is a third object of the invention to provide a driving wheel slip control system in which a TCS-ECU is capable of carrying out proper operations when an ENG-ECU has determined that driving wheel slip control should be inhibited.
To attain the above objects, according to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a driving wheel slip control system which is installed in a vehicle having driving wheels, for controlling a slip of the driving wheels, the vehicle having a prime mover installed therein for driving the driving wheels, the system including slip status signal-generating means for detecting an excessive slip state of the driving wheels and generating a slip status signal indicative of whether or not the driving wheels is in a predetermined slip state, slip level signal-generating means for generating a slip level signal indicative of a degree of slip of the driving wheels, and abnormality-determining means for determining that the slip status signal is abnormal when a logical relationship between the slip status signal and the slip level signal is abnormal.
The driving wheel slip control system according to the first aspect of the invention is characterized by comprising:
prime mover operating condition-determining means for determining whether or not the prime mover is accelerating when the abnormality-determining means determines that the slip status signal is abnormal; and
redetermining means for determining that the slip level signal is abnormal when the prime mover is not accelerating and at the same time the slip level signal indicates a degree of slip coresponding to the predetermined slip state.
Preferably, the driving wheel slip control system includes control-inhibiting means for inhibiting slip control of the driving wheels irrespective of output of the slip level signal when the redetermining means determines that the slip level signal is abnormal.
A second aspect of the invention is characterized by comprising control inhibiting means for causing slip control of the driving wheels responsive to the slip level signal to be continued until it is determined that the prime mover is in an operating condition other than acceleration, and inhibiting the slip control of the driving wheels thereafter while the prime mover is in the operating condition other than acceleration.
According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a driving wheel slip control system which is installed in a vehicle having driving wheels, for controlling a slip of the driving wheels, the system including slip level signal-generating means for generating a slip level signal indicative of a degree of slip of the driving wheels, and abnormality-determining means supplied with the slip level signal for determining that the slip level signal is abnormal.
The driving wheel slip control system according to the third aspect of the invention is characterized by comprising:
driving wheel output-reducing means for setting an amount of reduction in output of the driving wheels to a predetermined amount when it is determined that the slip level signal is abnormal during execution of slip control of the driving wheels.
Preferably, the predetermined amount is such an amount as to allow the vehicle to run at a speed of 60 km/h to 100 km/h at the maximum output of the driving wheels that is obtained when the amount of reduction in output of the driving wheels is set to the predetermined amount.
More preferably, the driving wheel output-reducing means includes reduction amount-decreasing means for decreasing the amount of reduction in output of the driving wheels as time elapses.
Also preferably, the vehicle has a prime mover installed therein for driving the driving wheels, and the system includes prime mover operating condition-determining means for determining, from a time point the abnormality-determining means determines that the slip level signal is abnormal, whether or not the prime mover is accelerating, and control-inhibiting means for inhibiting slip control of the driving wheels when it is determined that the prime mover is not accelerating.
According to fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided a driving wheel slip control system which is installed in a vehicle having driving wheels, for controlling a slip of the driving wheels, the system including excessive slip signal-generating means for detecting an excessive slip state of the driving wheels and generating an excessive slip signal when the driving wheels are in a predetermined slip state, driving wheel output-reducing means for reducing output of the driving wheels based on the excessive slip signal from the excessive slip signal-generating means, control-permitting state-determining means for determining whether the output of the driving wheels can be reduced by the driving wheel output-reducing means, and operation-stopping means for stopping operation of the excessive slip signal-generating means when the control-permitting state-determining means outputs a signal indicating that the output of the driving wheels cannot be reduced by the driving wheel output-reducing means.
The driving wheel slip control system according to the fourth aspect of the invention is characterized comprising:
retarding means for retarding stopping operation of the operation-stopping means when the excessive slip-signal generating means detected the excessive slip state of the driving wheels a predetermined time period or a time period shorter than the predetermined time period before the control-permitting state-determining means outputs the signal indicating that the output of the driving wheels cannot be reduced by the driving wheel output-reducing means.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided a driving wheel slip control system which is installed in a vehicle having driving wheels, for controlling a slip of the driving wheels, the vehicle having a prime mover installed therein for driving the driving wheels, the system including a first control unit having slip level signal-generating means for generating a slip level signal indicative of a degree of slip of the driving wheels, and a second control unit having prime mover output-reducing means responsive to the slip level signal for reducing output of the prime mover, and abnormality-determining means supplied with the slip level signal for determining that the slip level signal is abnormal.
The driving wheel slip control system according to the fifth aspect of the invention is characterized in that the second control unit includes operation-permitting state-determining means for determining whether or not the prime mover output-reducing means can be operated, and notifying means responsive to output from the abnormality-determining means and output from the operation-permitting state-determining means for detecting a first state in which the slip level signal is abnormal, a second state in which the slip level signal is abnormal but the prime mover output-reducing means cannot be operated, and a third state in which the slip level signal is normal and at the same time the prime mover output-reducing means can be operated, and informing the first control unit of a detected one of the first to third states.
Preferably, the slip level signal-generating means of the first control unit is inhibited from operating when the first control unit is informed of detection of the first state or the second state by the second control unit.
Also preferably, the system includes indicating means for discriminately indicating each of the first to third states, and the first control unit drives the indicating means in response to information from the notifying means.
More preferably, the system includes a power supply for supplying operating voltage to the system, and the abnormality-determining means determines that the slip level signal is abnormal, based upon a value of the slip level signal assumed when the power supply is started.
Further preferably, the operation-permitting state-determining means includes prime mover sensor abnormality-determining means for determining whether or not any of sensors for sensing operating conditions of the prime mover for controlling same is abnormal.
The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the ensuing detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the whole arrangement of a driving wheel slip control system according to an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the construction of an electronic control unit (TCS-ECU) for detecting slips of driving wheels;
FIGS. 3, 3a, and 3b show a flowchart of a program for carrying out driving wheel slip control;
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a program for detecting abnormality of a first signal line (TCFC line) within the driving wheel slip control system;
FIG. 5 is a graph showing the relationship between the slip level (S LVL ), traction control levels, and levels of a slip status signal;
FIG. 6 is a view showing a table for determining a cylinder or cylinders with respect to which leaning of the air-fuel mixture or fuel cut is to be effected in accordance with the determined traction control level (TC level);
FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a program for selecting a TC level when abnormality of the TCFC line is detected;
FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a program for checking the start of the TCS-ECU;
FIGS. 9, 9a, and 9b a flowchart of a program for detecting an abnormality of a second signal line (TCSTB line) within the driving wheel slip control system and the the intermediate value hold abnormality occurring on the TCFC line;
FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a program for determining whether traction control should be inhibited;
FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a program for controlling a signal to be transmitted along a third signal line (TCINH line) within the driving wheel slip control system;
FIGS. 12a to 12c are diagrams showing examples of control responsive to a signal (TC instruction signal) transmitted along the TCINH line; and
FIGS. 13, 13a, and 13b a flowchart of a program for carrying out failsafe operations by the TCS-ECU.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows the whole arrangement of a driving wheel slip control system according to an embodiment of the invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 designates an internal combustion engine. Connected to the cylinder block of the engine 1 is an intake pipe 2 across which is arranged a throttle body 3 accommodating a throttle valve 3' therein. A throttle valve opening (θ TH ) sensor 4 is connected to the throttle valve 3' for generating an electric signal indicative of the sensed throttle valve opening and supplying same to an electronic control unit (hereinafter called "the ENG-ECU") 5 for controlling the amount of fuel to be supplied to the engine.
Fuel injection valves 6, only one of which is shown, are inserted into the intake pipe at locations intermediate between the cylinder block of the engine 1 and the throttle valve 3' and slightly upstream of respective intake valves, not shown. The fuel injection valves 6 are connected to a fuel pump, not shown, and electrically connected to the ENG-ECU 5 to have their valve opening periods controlled by signals therefrom.
On the other hand, an intake pipe absolute pressure (P BA ) sensor 8 is provided in communication with the interior of the intake pipe 2 at a location immediately downstream of the throttle valve 3' by way of a conduit 7 for supplying an electric signal indicative of the sensed absolute pressure within the intake pipe 2 to the ENG-ECU 5. An intake air temperature (T A ) sensor 9 is inserted into the intake pipe 2 at a location downstream of the open end of the conduit 7 for supplying an electric signal indicative of the sensed intake air temperature T A to the ENG-ECU 5.
An engine coolant temperature (T W ) sensor 10, which may be formed of a thermistor or the like, is mounted in the cylinder block of the engine 1, for supplying an electric signal indicative of the sensed engine coolant temperature T W to the ENG-ECU 5. An engine rotational speed (Ne) sensor 11 and a cylinder-discriminating (CYL) sensor 12 are arranged in facing relation to a camshaft, not shown, or a crankshaft, not shown, of the engine 1. The engine rotational speed sensor 11 generates a pulse as a TDC signal pulse at each of predetermined crank angles whenever the crankshaft rotates through a predetermined angle, i.e. the same number of TDC signal pulses as the number of the cylinders per each rotation of the camshaft, while the cylinder-discriminating sensor 12 generates a pulse at a predetermined crank angle of a particular cylinder of the engine, both of the pulses being supplied to the ENG-ECU 5.
Further electrically connected to the ENG-ECU 5 by way of signal lines TCSTB, TCFC, and TCINH, referred to hereinafter, is an electronic control unit for sensing driving wheel slip (hereinafter referred to as "TCS-ECU") 20, to which are connected driving wheel speed sensors 21, 22 for detecting rotational speeds W FR , W FL of respective right and left driving wheels, not shown, and trailing wheel speed sensors 23, 24 for detecting rotational speeds W RR , W RL of respective right and left trailing wheels, not shown. Signals indicative of the detected rotational speeds of the wheels detected by the sensors 21 to 24 are supplied to the TCS-ECU 20. Also connected to the TCS-ECU 20 are an off lamp 14 indicating that driving wheel slip control is not being carried out, and an alarm lamp 15 for indicating that the control system is abnormal. The TCS-ECU 20 controls lighting of these lamps 14, 15.
Further electrically connected to the ENG-ECU is a battery voltage sensor 13, which detects the output voltage of a battery, not shown, which supplies an operating voltage to the ECU's 5, 20, and supplies a signal indicative of the detected battery voltage to the ENG-ECU 5.
In this embodiment, the ENG-ECU 5 comprises abnormality-determining means, prime mover operating condition-determining means, redetermining means, control-inhibiting means, driving wheel output-reducing means, reduction amount-decreasing means, control-permitting state-determining means, prime mover output-reducing means, operation-permitting state-determining means, notifying means, and prime mover sensor abnormality-determining means, while the TCS-ECU 20 comprises slip status signal-generating means, slip level signal-generating means, excessive slip signal-generating means, operation-stopping means, and retarding means.
The ENG-ECU 5 comprises an input circuit 5a having the functions of shaping the waveforms of input signals from various sensors and the TCS-ECU 20, shifting the voltage levels of sensor output signals to a predetermined level, converting analog signals from analog-output sensors to digital signals, and so forth, a central processing unit (hereinafter referred to as "the CPU") 5b, memory means 5c storing various operational programs which are executed in the CPU 5b and for storing results of calculations therefrom, etc., and an output circuit 5d which outputs driving signals to the fuel injection valves 6.
The CPU 5b operates in response to the above-mentioned signals from the sensors to determine operating conditions in which the engine 1 is operating, and calculates, based upon the determined operating conditions, the valve opening period or fuel injection period T OUT over which the fuel injection valves 6 are to be opened, by the use of the following equation (1) in synchronism with inputting of TDC signal pulses to the ENG-ECU 5.
T.sub.OUT =Ti×K.sub.1 +K.sub.2 (1)
where Ti represents a basic fuel amount, more specifically a basic fuel injection period of the fuel injection valves 6, which is determined based upon the engine rotational speed Ne and the intake pipe absolute pressure P BA . As a Ti map for determining a value of the basic fuel amount Ti, a normal Ti map to be used under normal operating conditions of the engine in which traction control (driving wheel slip control), described in detail hereinafter, is not carried out, and a traction control Ti map to be used during traction control, are stored in the memory means 5c. The values of the basic fuel amount Ti of the traction control Ti map are so set that a value of the air-fuel ration (e.g. A/F=18.0) leaner than a stoichiometric ration is obtained.
K 1 and K 2 represent correction coefficients and correction variables, respectively, which are calculated based on various engine operating parameter signals to such values as to optimize operating characteristics of the engine such as fuel consumption and accelerability, depending on operating conditions of the engine.
The CPU 5b supplies through the output circuit 5d driving signals for driving the fuel injection valves 6 based upon the fuel injection period T OUT calculated as above.
FIG. 2 shows the internal construction of the TCS-ECU 20. Signals from the right and left driving wheel speed sensors 21, 22 are supplied to a first average value-calculating circuit 201, which calculates an average value V W (=(W FL +W FR )/2) of the rotational speeds of the right and left driving wheels and supplies the calculated value to an S LVL -calculating circuit 204, referred to hereinafter.
On the other hand, signals from the right and left trailing wheel speed sensors 23, 24 are supplied to a second average value-calculating circuit 202, which calculates an average value V V [=(W RL +W RR )/2] of the rotational speeds of the right and left trailing wheels as a vehicle speed, and supplies the calculated value to a reference driving wheel speed (V ref )-calculating circuit 203. The reference driving wheel speed (V ref )-calculating circuit 203 calculates a desired value V RP of the driving wheel speed, and a first predetermined reference driving wheel speed V R1 , as reference driving wheel speeds (Vref) corresponding to the vehicle speed V V , and supplies the calculated values to the S LVL -calculating circuit 204.
The two reference driving wheel speeds V R1 and V RP are set such that the slip rate λ of driving wheels [λ=(V W +V V )/V W ] should assume e.g. 5% and 8%, respectively, at V R1 and V RP . When the detected driving wheel speed V W exceeds the first predetermined driving wheel speed V R1 (i.e. when the slip rate λ exceeds 5%), the traction control is started.
The S LVL -calculating circuit 204 calculates a slip level S LVL as a parameter corresponding to the degree of a slip of driving wheels, based on the detected driving wheel speed V W , and the reference driving wheel speeds V R1 and V RP , and supplies the results of calculation to a first output circuit 207. The first output circuit 207 generates a pulse signal having a duty ratio variable in accordance with the slip level S LVL , and supplies the pulse signal as a slip level signal to the ENG-ECU 5 by way of a first signal line TCFC (hereinafter referred to as "the TCFC line"). In this embodiment, the slip level S LVL assumes a larger value as the slip rate λ of driving wheels is larger.
On the other hand, the detected driving wheel speed V W is supplied to a noninverting input of a comparator 205, while the first reference driving wheel speed V R1 to an inverting input of same. The comparator outputs a binary signal which is at high level when a condition of V W >V R1 is satisfied and at low level when a condition of V W <V R1 is satisfied, i.e. a binary signal which is at high level when the driving wheels are in a slip state which demands traction control, and supplies the binary signal to a second output circuit 208. The second output circuit 208 supplies the binary signal as a slip status signal to the ENG-ECU 5 by way of a second signal line TCSTB (hereinafter referred to as "the TCSTB line").
Connected to the output circuits 207, 208 is a control circuit 206 which is connected to the off lamp 14 and the alarm lamp 15.
The control circuit 206 detects abnormality of the TCS-ECU 20 caused by a drop in the source voltage and the like, and at the same time controls outputting of the output circuits 207, 208 and lighting of the off lamp 14 and the alarm lamp 15, depending on whether this abnormality is detected or not and on a traction control execution-instructing signal (hereinafter referred to as "the TC instruction signal") supplied from the ENG-ECU 5 by way of a third signal line TCINH (hereinafter referred to as "the TCINH line"). If the control circuit 206 detects the abnormality of the TCS-ECU 20 per se, it holds outputs from the output circuits 207, 208 at high level to thereby inform the ENG-ECU 5 of the abnormality. The control carried out based on the TC instruction signal supplied from the ENG-ECU 5 by way of the TCINH line will be referred to hereinafter.
Input terminals of the ENG-ECU connected to the TCFC line and the TCSTB line are connected to the power supply by way of a resistance (i.e. pulled up). Therefore, if one or both of the signal lines is/are disconnected, the corresponding signal(s) inputted to the ENG-ECU is/are held at (a) high level(s). This is for carrying out a failsafe control (control for decreasing the engine output) immediately when disconnection of a line has occurred.
FIG. 3 shows a program of traction control, i.e. engine output control by carrying out leaning or fuel cut of the mixture to be supplied to the engine 1 in response to the slip level S LVL . This program is executed upon generation of each TDC signal pulse and in synchronism therewith.
First, at a step S1, it is determined whether or not the engine 1 is being started or cranked. If the answer to this question is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if the engine is being started, the traction control level (hereinafter referred to as "the TC level") is set to a level LVLN at a step S12, whereby normal fuel supply control is carried out at a step S13. If the answer to the question of the step S1 is negative (No), i.e. if the engine 1 is not being cranked but operation thereof has become self-sustaining, the value of the slip level S LVL is read from the slip level signal inputted by way of the TCFC line (step S2). Then at a step S3, checking of abnormality of the TCFC line is carried out based on a flowchart of a subroutine shown in FIG. 4.
At a step S21 in FIG. 4, it is determined whether or not a second TCFC flag F TCFC2 set at a step S30 referred to hereinafter is equal to 1. If the answer to this question is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if F TCFC2 =1, the present subroutine is immediately terminated, whereas if the answer is negative (No), i.e. if F TCFC2 =0, it is determined at a step S22 whether or not the slip level S LVL is higher than a predetermined upper limit value TCFCFSH. If the answer to this question is negative (No), i.e. if S LVL ≦TCFCFSH, it is further determined at a step S23 whether the slip level S LVL is lower than a predetermined lower limit value TCFCFSL. If both the answers to the questions of the steps S22 and S23 are negative (No), i.f. if TCFCFSL≦S LVL ≦TCFCFSH, it is determined that the TCFC line is normal, and a first TCFC flag F TCFC1 is set to 0 at a step S24, followed by terminating the present subroutine.
If either of the answers to the questions of the steps S22 and S23 is affirmative, i.e. if S LVL >TCFCFSH or S LVL <TCFCFSL, it is determined at a step S25 whether the first TCFC flag F TCFC1 is equal to 1. If the answer to this question is negative (No), i.e. if F TCFC1 =0, the first TCFC flag F TCFC1 is set to 1 at a step S26, and a t TCFC timer is set to a predetermined time period t TCFC (e.g. 0.3 seconds) and started at a step S27, followed by terminating the present subroutine.
If the answer to the question of the step S25 is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if F TCFC1 =1, it is determined at a step S28 whether a battery voltage V B detected by the battery voltage sensor 13 is higher than a predetermined value V BTC (e.g. 8 V). If the answer to the question of the step S28 is negative (No), i.e. if V B ≦V BTC , the program proceeds to the step S27, whereas if the answer is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if V B >V BTC , it is determined at a step S29 whether the count value of the t TCFC timer is equal to 0. If the answer to this question is negative (No), i.e. if t TCFC >0, the present subroutine is immediately terminated, whereas if the answer is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if t TCFC =0, the second TCFC flag F TCFC2 is set to 1 at a step S30, followed by terminating the present subroutine.
Thus, if the slip level S LVL is outside the range defined by the upper and lower limit values TCFCFSH and TCFCFSL, the first TCFC flag F TCFC1 indicative of a possible abnormality of the TCFC line is set to 1, and if this state continues over the predetermined time period t TCFC , the second TCFC flag F TCFC2 indicative of a determinate abnormality of the TCFC line is set to 1. However, while the battery voltage V B is not higher than the predetermined value V BTC , there is a possibility of the TCS-ECU 20 being not functioning normally due to low battery voltage. In this case, the TCS-ECU can restore its normal state if the battery voltage V B rises above the predetermined value V BTC , and therefore the second TCFC flag F TCFC2 is not set to 1.
By the subroutine shown in FIG. 4, it is possible to detect the abnormality of the slip level signal on the TCFC line in which the slip level S LVL indicated by the slip level signal continues to assume an abnormally high value or an abnormally low value, and hence to detect disconnection or grounding of the TCFC line. Further, the slip level signal on the TCFC line is held at high level also when the TCS-ECU 20 is abnormal due to lowered battery voltage etc., and therefore the first TCFC flag F TCFC1 alone is set to 1 when lowered battery voltage is responsible for the abnormality of the slip level signal on the TCFC line, while both the first and second TCFC flags F TCFC1 , F TCFC2 are set to 1 in other cases of abnormality of same.
Referring again to FIG. 3, at a step S4, it is determined whether the first TCFC flag F TCFC1 is equal to 1. If the answer to this question is negative (No), i.e. if F TCFC1 =0, a TC level (traction control level) is selected at a step S5 in accordance with the slip level S LVL in such a manner as shown in FIG. 5, for example. More specifically, the TC level is determined in the following manner:
(i) If TCFCFSL≦S LVL <TCFCLVL0, the TC level=LVLN.
(ii) If TCFCLVLi≦S LVL <TCFCLVL(i+1), the TC level=LVLi (provided that i=0 to 5).
(iii) If TCFCLVL6≦S LVL ≦TCFCFSH, the TC level=LVL6.
where TCFCFSL and TCFCFSH are the aforementioned predetermined lower and upper limit values, respectively. TCFCLVL0 to TCFCLVL6 are predetermined values provided within the range defined by the lower and upper limit values.
Further, a value of the slip level S LVL which is higher than a first predetermined value TCFCLVL0 (S LVL >TCFCLVL0) corresponds to a value of the driving wheel speed V W detected by the TCS-ECU 20 which is higher than the first predetermined reference driving wheel speed V R1 , and the slip status signal transmitted along the TCSTB line is at high level ("H") if S LVL ≧TCFCLVL0, and low level ("L") if S LVL <TCFCLVL0. This is shown in the right-hand column of FIG. 5.
FIG. 6 shows a table for determining the manner of the traction control in accordance with the TC level. In the table, symbol L represents leaning of the air-fuel mixture supplied to the engine, while symbol F/C represents fuel cut. Further, the numbers M on the abscissa designate cylinders in such a manner that M=1 corresponds to a cylinder into which fuel should be first injected after the start of the traction control, and M=2 to 6 corresponds to respective cylinders into which fuel should be sequentially injected in the order shown by the number. For example, in the case of the TC level=LVL0, the air-fuel ratio of the mixture supplied to all the respective cylinders is leaned, and in the case of the TC level=LVL3, the cylinders corresponding to M=1, 3, and 5 are subjected to fuel cut while the other cylinders (corresponding to M=2, 4, and 6) are subjected to leaning of the air-fuel ratio.
In addition, LVLN appearing in FIG. 5 shows that no traction control should be carried out, i.e. the ordinary fuel supply control should be carried out.
Referring again to FIG. 3, fuel supply control responsive to the TC level selected at the step S5 is carried out at a step S11 referred to hereinafter. At steps S6 to S9, it is determined whether or not traction control can be carried out by determining whether there are abnormalities other than those detected at the step S3.
At a step S6, it is determined whether or not a start-checking completion flag F TCSIF for showing completion of checking of the start of the TCS-ECU 20 is equal to 1. If the answer to this question is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if F TCSIF =1, which means that checking of the start of the TCS-ECU 20 has been completed, it is determined at a step S7 whether or not a start-checking OK flag F TCSIOK for showing that no abnormality has been detected by checking the start of the TCS-ECU 20 is equal to 1. In this connection, the start-checking completion flag F TCSIF and the start-checking OK flag F TCSIOK are set by a TCS-ECU start-checking subroutine referred to hereinafter and shown in FIG. 8.
If the answer to the question of the step S7 is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if F TCSIOK =1, which means that the results of checking the start of the TCS-ECU 20 are OK, it is determined at a step S8 whether or not a stop flag F TCSTP for showing that traction control should be immediately stopped is equal to 1. The stop flag F TCSTP is set by a TCSTB/TCFC intermediate value hold-checking subroutine shown in FIG. 9 and a TC stop-determining subroutine shown in FIG. 10.
If the answer to the question of the step S8 is negative (No), i.e. if F TCSTP =0, which means that traction control need not be stopped immediately, it is determined at a step S9 whether or not a TC condition flag F TCENBL for showing that conditions (hereinafter referred to as "the TC conditions") for carrying out traction control are satisfied is equal to 1. The TC condition flag F TCENBL is set to 1 when the engine is in a predetermined operating condition determined by the throttle valve opening θ TH , the engine rotational speed Ne, the engine coolant temperature T W , the intake air temperature T A , etc.
If one of the answers to the questions of the steps S6, S7, and S9 is negative (No), or if the answer to the question of the step S8 is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if F TCSIF =0, which means that the checking of the start of the TCS-ECU 20 has not been completed, or if F TCSIOK =0, which means that the results of checking the start of the TCS-ECU 20 are no good (i.e. abnormality has been detected), or if F TCSTP =1, which means that traction control should be immediately stopped, or if F TCENBL =0, which means that the TC conditions are not satisfied, the TC level is set to LVLN at the step S12, whereby normal fuel supply control is carried out at the step S13.
On the other hand, if the program proceeds from the step S6 through the steps S7 and S8 to the step S9, and the answer to the question of the step S9 is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if F TCENBL =1, which means that the TC conditions are satisfied, it is determined at a step S10 whether or not the TC level has been set to LVLN. If the answer to this question is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if the TC level has been set to LVLN, the program proceeds to the step S13, whereas if the answer is negative (No), i.e. if the TC level has been set to any one of LVL0 to LVL6, leaning of the air-fuel mixture or fuel cut is carried out in accordance with the TC level at a step S11. Leaning of the air-fuel mixture is effected by applying a value of the basic fuel amount Ti read from the traction control Ti map to the above-mentioned equation (1). Further, the ignition timing may be advanced or retarded in accordance with the engine rotational speed Ne, at the same time of leaning of the air-fuel mixture.
If the answer to the question of the step S4 is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if F TCFC1 =1, which means that the possible abnormality of the TCFC line has been detected, it is determined at a step S14 whether or not the start-checking OK flag F TCSIOK is equal to 1. If the answer to this question is negative (No), i.e. if F TCSIOK =0, which means that the results of checking of the start of the TCS-ECU 20 are no good, the TC level is set to LVLN at a step S15, and the program proceeds to the step S6, whereas if the answer to the question of the step S14 is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if F TCSIOK =1, which means that the results of checking of the start of the TCS-ECU 20 are OK, a TC level-selecting subroutine to be executed during failure of the TCFC line is carried out at a step S16 to determine a TC level, and then the program proceeds to the step S8.
FIG. 7 shows the TC level-selecting subroutine to be carried out at the step S16 during failure of the TCFC line.
At a step S161, it is determined whether or not the TC level predetermined based on the slip level S LVL as shown in FIG. 5 is higher than a predetermined level LVLFS (e.g. LVL2), i.e. whether the TC level is on a side at which engine output should be reduced to a larger degree. If the answer to this question is negative (No), i.e. TC level≦LVLFS, it is determined at a step S162 whether or not the slip status signal on the TCSTB line is at high level. If either of the answers to the questions of the steps S161 and S162 is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if TC level>LVLFS or if the slip status signal is at high level, the TC level is set to LVLFS at a step S166, and a t TCHLD timer is set to a predetermined time period t TCHLD (e.g. 3 seconds) and started at a step S167, followed by terminating the present subroutine.
If both the answers to the questions of the steps S161 and S162 are negative (No), i.e. if TC level≦LVLFS and at the same time the slip status signal is at low level, it is determined at a step S163 whether the TC level is equal to LVLN. If the answer to this question is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if TC level=LVLN, the present subroutine is immediately terminated, whereas if the answer is negative (No), i.e. if TC level is equal to any of LVLO to LVLFS, it is determined at a step S164 whether the count value of the t TCHLD timer is equal to 0. If the answer to this question is negative (No), i.e. if the predetermined time period t TCHLD has not elapsed, the present subroutine is immediately terminated, whereas if the answer is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if the predetermined time period t TCHLD has elapsed, the TC level is lowered by one level at a step S165, and then the program proceeds to the step S167. To lower the TC level by one level means, for example, changing the TC level from LVL2 to LVL1.
The present subroutine is executed on condition that both the answers to the questions of the steps S4 and S14 in FIG. 3 are affirmative, i.e. on condition that a possible abnormality of the TCFC line has been detected (F TCFC1 =1) and that the results of checking of the start of the TCS-ECU are OK. If traction control is not being carried out (i.e. if TC level=LVLN), the TC level is held at LVLN. If traction control is being carried out, the TC level is set in the following manner:
(1) The TC level is immediately set to LVLFS, and held at LVLFS so long as the slip status signal on the TCSTB line is at high level.
(2) If the slip status signal is at low level, the TC level is stepwise lowered by one level upon each lapse of the predetermined time period t TCHLD to LVLN (in the case of LVLFS=LVL2, the TC level is progressively changed from LVL2 through LVL1 and LVLO to LVLN).
In this connection, the predetermined level LVLFS is set at such a level (e.g. LVL2) that even if the TC level is held at the level, the vehicle can run at a speed of 60 to 100 km/h when the engine is operated at the maximum output that is obtained at this level of the TC level. PG,29
Thus, even if the possible abnormality of the TCFC line is detected during traction control, traction control at a predetermined level (LVLFS) is continued based on the slip status signal transmitted through the TCSTB line to thereby secure controllability of the vehicle. Further, if the slip status signal is at low level to show that an excessive slip state of the driving wheels is dissipated, the output torque of the driving wheels is progressively increased so that the driveability of the vehicle is not degraded to thereby relieve burden on the driver.
Further, the manner of checking the start of the TCS-ECU 20 and the manner of setting the stop flag F TCSTP for showing that traction control should be immediately stopped will be described below.
FIG. 8 shows the TCS-ECU start-checking subroutine. The present subroutine is carried out as background processing, and therefore starts to be carried out upon turning-on of the ignition switch.
At a step S41, it is determined whether or not the start-checking OK flag F TCSIOK has been set to 1. If the answer to this question is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if F TCSIOK =1, the present subroutine is immediately terminated, whereas if the answer is negative (No), i.e. if FTCSIOK =0, it is determined at a step S42 whether or not the operation of the engine is self-sustaining. If the answer to this question is affirmative, i.e. if the operation of the engine is self-sustaining, it is determined at a step S43 whether or not a first predetermined time period t I1 (e.g. 5 seconds) has elapsed after the self-sustaining operation of the engine started. If the answer to this question is negative (No), i.e. if the first predetermined time period t I1 has not elapsed, it is determined at a step S44 whether or not the slip level S LVL is lower than the first predetermined value TCFCLVLO for determining the TC level. If the answer to this question is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if S LVL <TCFCLVLO, it is determined at a step S45 whether or not the slip status signal on the TCSTB line is at high level. Since the TCS-ECU 20 supplies, immediately after the start of the self-sustaining operation of the engine, signals for setting the TC level to LVLN to the TCFC line and TCSTB line, respectively, i.e. an off-duty hold signal (a slip level signal having a duty ratio thereof held at such a value as to obtain S LVL <TCFCLVLO) and a low level hold signal (a slip status signal which is held at low level), it is determined that the TCS-ECU 20 is normally functioning if the answer to the question of the step S44 is affirmative (Yes) and at the same time the answer to the question of the step S45 is negative (No), i.e. if S LVL <TCFCLVLO and at the same time TCSTB="L" (low level), and then the program proceeds to a step S46. At the step S46, it is determined whether a second predetermined time period t I2 (e.g. 0.5 seconds) has elapsed after the program started to proceed through the step S46. If the answer to this question is negative (No), i.e. if the second predetermined time period t I2 has not elapsed, the present subroutine is immediately terminated, whereas if the answer is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if the second predetermined time period t I2 has elapsed, the start-checking OK flag F TCSIOK is set to 1 at a step S47, and the start-checking completion flag F TCSIF is set to 1 at a step S48, followed by terminating the present subroutine.
If the answer to the question of the step S42 is negative (No), i.e. if the operation of the engine is not self-sustaining, the start-checking OK flag F TCSIOK is set to 0 at a step S50, followed by terminating the present program. If the answer to the question of the step S43 is affirmative (Yes), or if the answer to the question of the step S44 is negative (No), or if the answer to the question of the step S45 is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if the first predetermined time period t I1 has elapsed after the start of self-sustaining operation of the engine, or if S LVL ≧TCFCLVLO, or if TCSTB="H" (high level), it is judged that the TCS-ECU 20 is abnormal and the start-checking completion flag F TCSIF is set to 1 at a step S49, and the start-checking OK flag F TCSIOK is set to 0 at the step S50, followed by terminating the present subroutine.
According to the above described start-checking subroutine, if the conditions of S LVL <TCFCLVLO and TCSTB="L" are satisfied before the first predetermined time period t I1 has elapsed after the start of self-sustaining operation of the engine, and if this state has continued over the second predetermined time period, it is determined that the TCS-ECU 20 has been normally started (the results of checking of the start of the TCS-ECU 20 are OK, i.e. F TCSIOK =1), whereas in cases other than the above, it is determined that the TCS-ECU has not been normally started (the results of checking of the start of the TCS-ECU 20 are no good (F TCSIOK =0). Further, if the checking of the start of the TCS-ECU 20 is completed, the start-checking completion flag F TCSIF is set to 1 irrespective of whether the results of checking of the start of the TCS-ECU 20 are OK or no good.
FIG. 9 shows the TCSTB/TCFC intermediate value hold-checking subroutine for checking the TCSTB line and the intermediate value hold abnormality of the TCFC line. Similarly to the above described TCS-ECU start-checking subroutine, this program is executed in the background.
At a step S61, it is determined whether or not the operation of the engine 1 is self-sustaining. If the answer to this question is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if the operation of the engine 1 is self-sustaining, it is determined at a step S62 whether or not a second TCSTB flag F TCSTB2 , which is set to 1 at a step S74 referred to hereinafter for showing that abnormality of the TCSTB line has been determinately detected, is equal to 1. If the answer to the question of the step S61 is negative (No) or the answer to the question of the step S62 is negative (No), i.e. if the operation of the engine is not self-sustaining or F TCSTB2 =1, the program immediately proceeds to a step S75, whereas if the answer to the question of the step S61 is affirmative (Yes) and at the same time the answer to the question of the step S62 is negative (No), i.e. if the operation of the engine 1 is self-sustaining and at the same time F TCSTB2 =0, it is determined at a step S63 whether or not the first TCFC flag F TCFC1 for showing the possible abnormality of the TCFC line is equal to 1. If the answer to this question is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if F TCFC1 =1, the program immediately proceeds, without checking whether the slip level signal transmitted through the TCFC line and the slip status signal transmitted through the TCSTB line are contradictory (which checking is carried out at steps S64 to S66), to a step S67, where a first TCSTB flag F TCSTB1 is set to 0. Then, a t TCSTB timer is set to a predetermined time period t TCSTB (e.g. 0.3 seconds) and started at a step S68, followed by the program proceeding to the step S75.
If the answer to the question of the step S63 is negative (No), i.e. if F TCFC1 =0, it is determined at a step S64 whether the slip status signal transmitted through the TCSTB line is at high level ("H"). In both the cases where the answer to this question is affirmative (Yes) or negative (No), it is determined at steps S65 and S66 whether or not the slip level S LVL is lower than the first predetermined value TCFCLVLO. If the answer to the question of the step S64 is negative (No) and the answer to the question of the step S65 is affirmative (Yes), or if the answer to the question of the step S64 is affirmative (Yes) and the answer to the question of the step S66 is negative (No), i.e. if TCSTB="L" and S LVL <TCFCLVLO, or if TCSTB="H" and S LVL ≧TCFCLVLO, it is judged that the TCSTB line is normal, since the slip level signal transmitted through the TCFC line and the slip status signal transmitted through the TCSTB line are not contradictory to each other (see FIG. 5), and the program proceeds to the step S67.
On the other hand, if both the answers to the questions of the steps S64 and S65 are negative (No), or if both the answers to the questions of the steps S64 and S66 are affirmative (Yes), i.e. if TCSTB="L" and S LVL ≧TCFCLVLO, or if TCSTB="H" and S LVL <TCFCLVLO, it is judged that there is a possibility of abnormality of the TCSTB line, since the slip level signal transmitted through the TCFC line and the slip status signal transmitted through the TCSTB line are contradictory to each other (since the first TCFC flag F TCFC1 for showing a possible abnormality of the TCFC line is equal to 0), and the program proceeds to a step S69. At the step S69, it is determined whether or not the count value of the t TCSTB timer started at the step S68 or at a step S72 referred to hereinafter is equal to 0. If the answer to this question is negative (No), i.e. if t TCSTB >0, the program immediately proceeds to a step S75.
If the answer to the question of the step S69 is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if the predetermined time period t TCSTB has elapsed after the aforementioned detection of contradiction between the slip level signal and the slip status signal, it is determined at a step S70 whether or not the first TCSTB flag F TCSTB1 is equal to 1. If the answer to this question is negative (No), i.e. if F TCSTB1 =0, the first TCSTB flag F TCSTB1 is set to 1 at a step S71 for showing detection of a possible abnormality of the TCSTB line, and the t TCSTB timer is set to a predetermined time period (e.g. 0.3 seconds) and started at a step S72, followed by the program proceeding to the step S75. If the answer to the question of the step S70 is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if F TCSTB1 =1, it is determined at a step S73 whether the battery voltage V B is higher than the predetermined voltage V BTC . This determination is carried out for the same purposes as in the TCFC-checking subroutine (FIG. 4), and if the answer to this question is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if V B >V BTC , the second TCSTB flag F TCSTB2 for showing that detection of abnormality of the TCSTB line is determinate is set to 1 at a step S74, followed by the program proceeding to the step S75, whereas if the answer is negative (No), i.e. if V B ≦V BTC , the program proceeds to the step S72.
The above described steps S61 to S74 are for checking the TCSTB line. According to this part of the subroutine, if the TCFC line is normal (F TCFC1 =0), and at the same time it is detected that the slip level signal transmitted through the TCFC line and the slip status signal transmitted through the TCSTB line are contradictory to each other, the first TCSTB flag F TCSTB1 is set to 1 (detection of the possible abnormality of the TCSTB line) after the predetermined time period t TCSTB has elapsed after the detection of the contradiction. Further, after the predetermined time period t TCSTB has elapsed after detection of the possible abnormality of the TCSTB line, the second TCSTB flag F TCSTB2 is set to 1 (which means determinate detection of abnormality of the TCSTB line). In contrast to the first TCFC flag F TCFC1 for showing the possible abnormality of the TCFC line, which is set to 1 immediately when it is detected that the value of the slip level S LVL is not within the predetermined range, the first TCSTB flag F.sub. TCSTB1 for showing the possible abnormality of the TCSTB line is set to 1 after the predetermined time period t TCSTB has elapsed after detection of contradiction between the slip level signal and the slip status signal. This is because in detecting abnormality of the TCFC line, rapidity is made much of, while in detecting abnormality of the TCSTB line, certainty is made much of.
At steps S75 et seq., the intermediate value hold abnormality of the TCFC line is checked. Specifically, if an undesired oscillating signal intrudes into the TCFC line to thereby hold the slip level S LVL indicated by the slip level signal on the TCFC line at an intermediate value (i.e. the slip level S LVL is within the predetermined range defined by the upper and lower limit values), it is impossible to determine the abnormality (the intermediate value hold abnormality) by the TCFC-checking subroutine (FIG. 4). Therefore, after completion of checking of the TCSTB line, the TCFC line is checked again.
At the step S75, it is determined whether or not the stop flag F TCSTP , which is set to 1 at a step S83 referred to hereinafter or by the TC stop-determining subroutine of FIG. 10, is equal to 1. If the answer to this question is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if the stop flag F TCSTP has already been set to 1, the present subroutine is immediately terminated. If the answer to the question of the step S75 is negative (No), i.e. if F TCSTP =0, it is determined at a step S76 whether or not the first TCFC flag F TCFC1 is equal to 1. If the answer to this question is negative (No), i.e. if F TCFC1 =0, it is determined at a step 77 whether or not the second TCSTB flag F TCSTB2 is equal to 1. If the answer to the question of the step S76 is negative (No) and at the same time the answer to the question of the step S77 is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if F TCFC1 =0 and F TCSTB2 = 1, which means that no abnormality has been detected by the TCFC-checking subroutine and at the same time abnormality of the TCSTB line has been determinately detected, determinations at steps S78 et seq. are carried out.
At a step S78, it is determined whether or not the engine 1 is idling. This determination is carried out, e.g. by determining whether or not the throttle valve is substantially fully closed and at the same time the engine rotational speed Ne is within a predetermined low rotational speed range. If the answer to the question of the step S78 is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if the engine is idling, the program immediately proceeds to a step S80, whereas if the answer is negative, i.e. if the engine is not idling, it is determined at a step S79 whether or not the intake pipe absolute pressure P BA is not higher than a predetermined value P BNOTC (e.g. 300 mmHg). If the answer to this question is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if P BA ≦P BNOTC , it is judged that the engine 1 is decelerating, and the program proceeds to the step S80. The predetermine value P BNOTC may be set as a function of the engine rotational speed Ne in such a manner that it corresponds to no load condition of the engine. By so setting, the accelerating condition of the engine can be more rapidly detected. At the step S80, it is determined whether or not the slip level S LVL is lower than the first predetermined value TCFCLVLO.
If the answer to the question of the step S76 is affirmative (Yes), or if the answer to the question of the step S77 or S79 is negative (No), or if the answer to the question of the step S80 is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if F TCFC1 =1, which means that the possible abnormality of the TCFC line has been detected, or if F TCSTB2 =0, which means that abnormality of the TCSTB line has not been determinately detected, or if the engine is in a condition other than the idling and decelerating conditions, or if S LVL <TCFCLVLO, which means that the slip level S LVL indicated by the slip level signal transmitted through the TCFC line does not assume an intermediate value, it is judged that it is impossible to detect the intermediate value hold abnormality of the TCFC line or that there is no intermediate value hold abnormality of same, and then a t TCFCM timer is set to a predetermined time period t TCFCM (e.g. 3 seconds) and started at a step S81, followed by terminating the present subroutine.
On the other hand, if the program proceeds from the step S76 through the steps S77 to S79, or from the step S76 through the steps S77 and S78, to the step S80, and the answer to the question of the step S80 is negative (No), i.e. (1) if F TCFC1 =0, which means that no abnormality has been detected by the TCFC-checking subroutine, (2) if F TCSTB2 =1, which means that abnormality of the TCSTB line has been determinately detected, (3) if the engine is idling or decelerating, and (4) if S LVL ≧TCFCLVLO, it is judged that there is a possibility of occurrence of the intermediate value hold abnormality of the TCFC line, and it is determined at a step S82 whether or not the count value of the t TCFCM timer started at the step S81 is equal to 0. If the answer to this question is negative (No), i.e. if the predetermined time period t TCFCM has not elapsed, the present subroutine is terminated, whereas if the answer is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if the predetermined time prediod t.sub. TCFCM has elapsed, it is judged that the intermediate value hold abnormality has occurred on the TCFC line, and the stop flag F TCSTP is set to 1, followed by terminating the present program.
According to the above described steps S75 to S83, when the above conditions (1) to (4) determined at the steps S76 to S80 have all continued to be satisfied over the predetermined time period, the intermediate value hold abnormality of the TCFC line is detected, and the stop flag F TCSTP is set to 1 in order to immediately stop traction control. This manner of detection of the intermediate value hold abnormality of the TCFC line is based on the fact that when the engine is in the idling or decelerating condition (the above condition (3)), a slip state of the driving wheels cannot take place, i.e. it is impossible for the slip level S LVL to assume a value equal to or higher than the first predetermined value TCFCLVLO (the above condition (4)). And in addition, satisfaction of the above conditions (1) and (2) is determined to thereby more positively detect the intermediate value hold abnormality of the TCFC line.
When the intermediate value hold abnormality is detected, it has already been determined that the engine is idling or decelerating and no traction control is being carried out, so that the stop flag F TCSTP is immediately set to 1.
Further, even if F TCSTB2 =1, which means that abnormality of the TCSTB line has been determinately detected, so long as the intermediate value hold abnormality of the TCFC line is not detected during idling or decelerating of the engine, traction control responsive to the slip level signal and hence the slip level S LVL is continued, which makes it possible to secure controllability of the vehicle and to avoid the inconveniences resulting from the instantaneous stop of traction control, i.e. a sudden increase in the torque of the driving wheels, and the resulting increase in the burden on the driver.
FIG. 10 shows a TC stop-determining subroutine for determining whether or not traction control should be immediately stopped. In this subroutine as well, setting of the stop flag F TCSTP is carried out. This program is also carried out in the background.
At a step S91, it is determined whether or not the stop flag F TCSTP has already been set to 1. If the answer to this question is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if F TCSTP =1, the present subroutine is immediately terminated. If the answer to the question of the step S91 is negative (No), i.e. if F TCSTP =0, it is determined at a step S92 whether or not the start-checking OK flag F TCSIOK for showing that no abnormality has been detected by checking the start of the TCS-ECU 20 is equal to 1. If the answer to this question is negative (No), i.e. if F TCSIOK =0, which means that abnormality of the TCS-ECU 20 has been detected by the start-checking subroutine (FIG. 8), it is determined at a step S95 whether or not abnormality of any of the sensors for detecting operating conditions of the engine (i.e. the throttle valve opening sensor 4, intake pipe absolute pressure sensor 8, intake air temperature sensor 9, engine coolant temperature sensor 10, engine rotational speed sensor 11, cylinder-discriminating sensor 12, etc.) has been detected. If the answer to this question is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if abnormality of any of the above sensors has been detected, the stop flag F TCSTP is immediately set to 1 at a step S102, followed by terminating the present subroutine. On the other hand, if the answer to the question of the step S95 is negative (No), i.e. if no abnormality of any of the sensors has been detected, the program proceeds to a step S96.
If the answer to the question of the step S92 is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if F TCSIOK =1, which means that the results of checking of the start of the TCS-ECU 20 are OK, it is determined at a step S93 whether or not a TC instruction signal transmitted through the TCINH line (third signal line) is held at low level. The TC instruction signal is determined by a subroutine of FIG. 11 referred to hereinafter, and held at low level, when abnormality of the TCFC line or any other abnormality described above is detected, in order to inhibit traction control. If the answer to this question is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if the TC instruction signal is held at low level to inhibit traction control, it is determined at a step S94 whether or not the TC level is equal to LVLN. If both the answers to the questions of the steps S93 and S94 are affirmative, i.e. if the TC instruction signal is held at low level and at the same time TC level=LVLN, it is judged that traction control should be stopped, and the program proceeds to a step S101, whereas if either of the answers to the questions of the steps S93 and S94 is negative (No), i.e. if the TC instruction signal is not held at low level or the TC level is not equal to LVLN, the program proceeds to a step S96.
At the step S96, it is determined whether or not the first TCFC flag F TCFC1 for showing the possible abnormality of the TCFC line is equal to 1. If the answer to this question is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if F TCFC1 =1, it is determined at a step S97 whether or not the slip status signal transmitted through the TCSTB line is at high level. If the answer to the question of the step S96 is negative (No), or if the answer to the question of the step S97 is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if F TCFC1 =0, or TCSTB="H", it is judged that traction control need not be stopped or should not be stopped, and a t TCSTP timer is set to a predetermined time period t TCSTP and started at a step S100, followed by terminating the present subroutine.
If the answer to the question of the step S96 is affirmative (Yes) and at the same time the answer to the question of the step S97 is negative (No), i.e. if F TCFC1 =1 and TCSTB="L", it is determined at a step S98 whether or not the engine is idling. If the answer to this question is negative (No), i.e. if the engine is not idling, it is determined at a step S99 whether or not the intake pipe absolute pressure P BA is not higher than the predetermined value P BNOTC . If both the answers to the questions of the steps S98 and S99 are negative (No), i.e. if the engine 1 is neither idling nor decelerating, the program proceeds to the step S100 and setting of the stop flag F TCSTP to 1 is not carried out. If either of the answers to the questions of the steps S98 and S99 is affirmative, i.e. if the engine 1 is idling or decelerating, it is determined at a step S101 whether or not the count value of the t TCSTP timer is equal to 0. If the answer to this question is negative (No), i.e. if the predetermined time period t TCSTP has not elapsed, the present subroutine is immediately terminated, whereas if the answer is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if the predetermined time period t TCSTP has elapsed, the stop flag F TCSTP is set to 1, followed by terminating the present subroutine.
According to the TC stop-determining subroutine described above, when abnormality of any of the TCSECU 20, the TCFC line, and the TCSTB line is detected, the stop flag F TCSTP is set to 1 after a state in which clearly traction control is not being carried (i.e. a state of TC level=LVLN or idling or decelerating of the engine 1) has continued over the predetermined time period t TCSTP . This is because if traction control is immediately terminated when abnormality of the above devices is detected during traction control, the output of the engine can rapidly increase to degrade the driveability of the vehicle. This inconvenience can be avoided by setting the stop flag F TCSTP in the above described manner.
FIG. 11 shows a TCINH output subroutine for controlling the output of the TC instruction signal to be supplied from the ENG-ECU 5 to the TCS-ECU 20 by way of the TCINH line. This program is executed upon each lapse of a predetermined time period (e.g. 10 msec).
At a step S111, it is determined whether the second TCFC flag F TCFC2 is equal to 1. If the answer to this question is negative (No), i.e. if F TCFC2 =0, it is determined at a step S112 whether or not the second TCSTB flag F TCSTB2 is equal to 1. If the answer to this question is negative (No), i.e. if F TCSTB2 =0, it is determined at a step S113 whether or not abnormality of any of the aforementioned sensors for detecting operating conditions of the engine has been detected. If the answer to this question is negative (No), i.e. if no abnormality of any of the sensors has been detected, it is determined at a step S114 whether or not the stop flag F TCSTP is equal to 1. If the answer to this question is negative (No), i.e. if F TCSTP =0, it is determined at a step S115 whether or not the start-checking OK flag F TCSIOK is equal to 1.
If an answer to any of the questions of the steps S111 to S114 is affirmative or the answer to the question of the step S115 is negative (No), i.e. if F TCFC2 =1, which means that abnormality of the TCFC line has been determinately detected, or if abnormality of any of the sensors for detecting operating conditions of the engine has been detected, or if F TCSTP =1, which means that traction control should be immediately stopped, or if F TCSIOK =0, which means that the results of checking of the start of the TCS-ECU 20 are no good, it is judged that traction control should be inhibited due to occurrence of abnormality in the driving wheel slip control system or the sensors, and the TC instruction signal is held at low level at a step S119.
On the other hand, if all the answers to the questions of the steps S111 to S114 are negative (No), and the answer to the question of the step S115 is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if all the following conditions (1) to (5) are satisfied, it is determined at a step S116 whether or not a TC condition flag set based on detected operating conditions of the engine is equal to 1:
(1) Detection of abnormality of the TCFC line is not determinate (i.e. F TCFC2 =0).
(2) Detection of abnormality of the TCSTB line is not determinate (i.e. F TCSTB2 =0).
(3) No abnormality of any of the sensors for detecting operating conditions of the engine has been detected.
(4) It is not required to immediately stop traction control (i.e. F TCSTP =0).
(5) The results of checking of start of the TCS-ECU 20 are OK (i.e. F TCSIOK =0).
Even if the above conditions (1) to (5) are all satisfied, if the answer to the question of the step S116 is negative (No), this means that the TC conditions are not satisfied (i.e. the engine is in a condition in which traction control should not be carried out) although no abnormality has occurred in the control system. To show this, the TC instruction signal is held at high level at a step S117 to thereby send instructions for inhibition of traction control to the TCS-ECU 20.
Further, if all the above conditions (1) to (5) are satisfied and at the same time the answer to the question of the step S116 is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if the TC consitions are also satisfied, it is judged that traction control can be carried out, and the TC instruction signal is supplied in the form of a pulse signal having a pulse repetition period of 200 msec. and a duty ratio of 50% (step S118).
FIGS. 12a to 12c show examples of control carried out by the control circuit 206 (FIG. 2) of the TCS-ECU 20 based on the TC instruction signal outputted as above. In the figures, t 0 indicates a time point at which the ignition switch is turned on, and t 2 a time point at which the engine starts self-sustaining operation.
FIG. 12a shows a case in which traction control can be started at a time point t 3 after the start of self-sustaining operation of the engine. When the ignition switch is turned on at the time point t 0 , the alarm lamp 15 and the off lamp 14 are immediately lighted. After the lapse of a predetermined time period (e.g. 2 seconds), the off lamp 14 goes out. Upon start of inputting of the pulse signal having a duty ratio of 50% as the TC instruction signal from the time point t 3 after the start of the self-sustaining operation of the engine, the alarm lamp 15 is put out (FIG. 12a, (3) and (4)). Lighting of the off lamp 14 over the predetermined time period is for checking the operation of thereof. The slip level signal is kept off duty and the slip status signal is held at low level (to indicate that the slip level S LVL <TCFCLVLO) after turning-on of the ignition switch and until it is made sure at a time point t 4 that the TC instruction signal is generated as the pulse signal having a duty ratio of 50%. After the time point t 4 , the state of keeping the slip level signal off duty and holding the slip status signal at low level is cancelled [i.e. the slip level signal and the slip status signal corresponding to the detected driving wheel speed and trailing wheel speed are generated (FIG. 12a, (2))].
FIG. 12b shows a case in which after the start of self-sustaining operation of the engine, traction control cannot be carried out due to the fact that the TC conditions are not satisfied (F TCENBL =0), and can be carried out at and after a time point t 5 . In this case, the alarm lamp 15 goes out at the time point t 3 after the start of self-sustaining operation of the engine when the TC instruction signal is changed from low level to high level (FIG. 12b, (3)). On the other hand, the off lamp 14 is kept on over the predetermined time period after turning-on of the ignition switch, thereafter lighted at the time point t 4 when it is made sure that the TC instruction signal is held at high level, and goes out at a time point t 6 when the TC instruction signal is changed to the pulse signal having a duty ratio of 50% (FIG. 12b, (4)). Thus, between the time points t 4 and t 6 , the alarm lamp 15 is kept off whereas the off lamp 14 is kept on, to thereby indicate that traction control cannot be carried out due to the fact that the TC conditions are not satisfied. Further, until the time point t 6 when it is made sure that the TC instruction signal has been changed to the pulse signal having a duty ratio of 50%, the slip level signal is kept off duty and the slip status signal is held at low level, and after the time point t 6 , the state of keeping the slip level signal off duty and holding the slip status signal at low level is cancelled (FIG. 12b, (2)).
FIG. 12c shows a case in which abnormality of the control system is detected after the start of self-sustaining operation of the engine. In this case, the TC instruction signal continues to be held at low level, and therefore the alarm lamp 15 is kept on (FIG. 12c, (3)). The off lamp 14 is kept on only over the predetermined time period after turning-on of the ignition switch (FIG. 12c, (4)). The slip level signal continues to be kept off duty and the slip status signal continues to be held at low level.
In addition, if it is made sure that the TC instruction signal is held at low level or high level, operations of the calculating circuits 201 to 205 may be inhibited.
As describe above, by controlling the lighting of the off lamp 14 and the alarm lamp 15 based on the TC instruction signal, it is possible for the driver to know whether traction control can be carried out, and further whether if traction control cannot be carried out, this is due to detection of abnormality of the control system or the fact that the TC conditions are not satisfied. As a result, the driver can respond to the situation properly. For example, the TC conditions are not satisfied until warming-up of the engine is completed. If this is the cause of inhibition of traction control, there is a high possibility of inhibition of traction control being cancelled by continuing the driving. Therefore, the driver can recognize that countermeasures, such as checking of a faulty part or repair thereof, are hardly required.
The following is a summing-up of abnormalities detected in this embodiment of the invention and manners of failsafe operation upon detection of the abnormalities.
A. Abnormalities to be detected
[1] Abnormalities of the TCS-ECU 20
(1) Abnormality of the TCS-ECU 20 itself is detected by the control circuit 206 within the TCS-ECU 20.
In this case, the slip level signal and the slip status signal are both held at high level. Accordingly; the ENG-ECU detects this abnormality as abnormality of the TCFC line, so that the first TCFC flag F TCFC1 alone is set to 1, or both the first and second TCFC flags F TCFC1 , F TCFC2 are set to 1 (see FIG. 4 showing the TCFC-checking subroutine).
(2) Abnormality of the TCS-ECU 20 while it is started is detected.
In this case, the start-checking OK flag F TCSIOK is set to 0 (see FIG. 8 showing the TCS-ECU start-checking subroutine).
[2] Abnormalities of the TCFC line
(1) Disconnection or grounding of the TCFC line is detected.
In this case, immediately after detection of the abnormality, the first TCFC flag F TCFC1 is set to 1, and when the same state has continued over the predetermined time period (e.g. 0.3 seconds), the second TCFC flag F TCFC2 is set to 1 (see FIG. 4 showing the TCFC-checking subroutine).
(2) The intermediate value hold abnormality is detected.
In this case, the stop flag F TCSTP is set to 1 to thereby immediately stop traction control (see FIG. 9 showing the TCSTB/TCFC intermediate value hold-checking subroutine).
[3] Abnormality of the TCSTB line
Only when abnormality of the TCFC line has not been detected (i.e. F TCFC1 =0), disconnection or grounding of the TCSTB line is detected. In this case, the first TCSTB flag F TCSTB1 is set to 1 after the predetermined time period (e.g. 0.3 seconds) has elapsed after detection of the abnormality, and the second TCSTB flag F TCSTB2 is set to 1 after the predetermined time period (e.g. 0.3 seconds) has further elapsed (see FIG. 9 showing the TCSTB/TCFC intermediate value hold-checking subroutine).
B. Failsafe operations
(1) When the start-checking flag F TCSIOK has become equal to 0:
The TC level is immediately set to LVLN (see FIG. 3), and at the same time the TC instruction signal is held at low level (see FIG. 11), and this state is continued. Accordingly, the alarm lamp 15 is kept on to warn the driver against the abnormality. Further, if the other conditions are satisfied, the stop flag F TCSTP is set to 1 (see FIG. 10) to thereby immediately stop traction control.
(2) When the first TCFC flag F TCFC1 has become equal to 1:
If traction control is not being then carried out, the TC level is immediately set to LVLN. If traction control is being carried out, the TC level is immediately set to LVLFS, and held at LVLFS while the slip status signal transmitted through the TCSTB line is at high level, whereas after the slip status signal is changed to low level, the TC level is lowered from LVLFS stepwise by one level to LVLN whenever a predetermined time period elapses (see FIG. 7).
Thus, even if the possible abnormality of the TCFC line (F TCFC1 =1) is detected during traction control, traction control of reducing the engine output at a predetermined level (LVLFS) is continued so long as the slip status signal transmitted through the TCSTB line is at high level, which ensures controllability of the vehicle. Further, after the slip status signal is changed to low level to indicate dissipation of an excessive slip state of the driving wheels, the output torque of the driving wheels is progressively increased to prevent degradation of the driveability of the vehicle, and hence decrease burden on the driver.
(3) When the second TCFC flag F TCFC2 has become equal to 1:
The TC instruction signal is held at low level (see FIG. 11). Accordingly, the alarm lamp 15 is lighted.
(4) When the first TCSTB flag F TCSTB1 has become equal to 1:
Since detection of abnormality is not determinate, no failsafe operation is carried out.
(5) When the second TCSTB flag F TCSTB2 has become equal to 1:
The TC instruction signal is held at low level (see FIG. 11), and the alarm lamp 15 is lighted. Further, the intermediate value hold abnormality of the TCFC line is checked (see FIG. 9).
When the intermediate value hold abnormality is detected, the stop flag F TCSTP is set to 1. In the meanwhile, even if the second TCSTB flag F TCSTB2 is equal to 1, so long as the intermediate value hold abnormality is not detected, traction control responsive to the slip level signal, i.e. the slip level S LVL is continued. This makes it possible to preserve controllability of the vehicle, and at the same time avoid incoveniences resulting from the instantaneous stop of traction control, i.e. a sudden increase in the torque of the driving wheels and hence an increase in the burden on the driver.
(6) When the stop flag F TCSTP has become equal to 1:
Traction control is immediately stopped and not carried out thereafter.
FIG. 13 shows a program of output control of the output circuits 207 and 208 and lighting control of the off lamp 14 and the alarm lamp 15 carried out by the control circuit 206 of the TCS-ECU 20.
The flowchart of FIG. 13 is for explaining the output control and the lighting control during and after traction control, and therefore in the figure steps are omitted for the output control and lighting control carried out immediately after turning-on of the ignition switch, which are shown in FIG. 12.
At a step S121, it is determined whether or not abnormality of any of the sensors for supplying detected parameter signals to the TCS-ECU 20 has been detected. If the answer to this question is affirmative (Yes), i.e. abnormality of any of the sensors has been detected, the alarm lamp 15 is lighted at a step S122, and it is determined at a step S123 whether or not a time period counted by a t TCS timer started at a step S143 referred to hereinafter for showing a time period having elapsed after execution of traction control exceeds a predetermined time period t TCSO (e.g. 2.5 seconds). If the answer to this question is negative (No), i.e. if the predetermined time period t TCSO has not elapsed after execution of traction control, a TCS abnormality detection flag F TCFS is set to 1 for showing that the TCS-ECU 20 has detected abnormality (step S124), and the program proceeds to a step S136. On the other hand, if the answer to the question of the step S123 is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if the predetermined time period has elapsed after execution of traction control, a TC-inhibiting flag F FIFS is set to 1 for showing that traction control should be inhibited due to detection of abnormality (step S125), and then the program proceeds to a step S136.
If the answer to the question of the step S121 is negative (No), i.e. if no abnormality of any of the sensors connected to the TCS-ECU 20 has been detected, it is determined at a step S126 whether or not the TC instruction signal supplied from the ENG-ECU 5 by way of the TCINH line is held at high level. If the answer to this question is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if the TC instruction signal is held at high level, which means that although no abnormality has been detected, the engine is not in a condition which allows traction control to be carried out, the same determination as at the step S123 is carried out at a step S127. If the answer to the question of the step S127 is negative (No), i.e. if the predetermined time period has not elapsed after execution of traction control, the program immediately proceeds to a step S136, whereas if the answer is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if the predetermined time period has elapsed after execution of traction control, the off lamp 14 is lighted at a step S128, and at the same time a TC condition flag F FIWT (corresponding to F.sub. TCENBL of the ENG-ECU 5) is set to 1 at a step S129 for showing that the engine is not in a condition which allows traction control to be carried out, followed by the program proceeding to the step S136.
If the answer to the question of the step S126 is negative (No), i.e. if the TC instruction signal is not held at high level, it is determined at a step S130 whether or not the TC instruction signal is held at low level. If the answer to this question is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if the TC instruction signal is held at low level, which means that traction control cannot be carried out due to an abnormality detected by the ENG-ECU 5, the alarm lamp 15 is lighted at a step S131, and then the same determination as at the step S123 is carried out at a step S132. If the answer to the question of the step S132 is negative (No), i.e. if the predetermined time period t TCSO has not elapsed after execution of traction control, the program immediately proceeds to the step S136, whereas if the answer is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if the predetermined time period t TCSO has elapsed after execution of traction control, the TC-inhibiting flag F FIFS is set to 1 at a step S133, followed by the program proceeding to the step S136.
If both the answers to the questions of the steps S126 and S130 are negative (No), i.e. if the TC instruction signal is a pulse signal having a fixed duty ratio, which means that the ENG-ECU 5 is supplying instructions allowing traction control to be carried out, the off lamp 14 is kept off at a step S134, and at the same time the TC condition flag F FIWT is set to 0 at a step S135, followed by the program proceeding to the step S136.
At the step S136, it is determined whether or not the TCS abnormality detection flag F TCFS is equal to 1. If the answer to this question is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if abnormality of any of the sensors connected to the TCS-ECU 20 is detected before the predetermined time period t TCSO elapses after execution of traction control, both the slip level signal and the slip status signal are held at high level at a step S141, and then the program proceeds to a step S142. When the ENG-ECU 5 detects that the slip level signal and the slip status signal are held at high level, it is judged that abnormality has occurred on the TCS-ECU 20 side, and the above described failsafe operation is carried out.
If the answer to the question of the step S136 is negative (No), i.e. if F TCFS =0, it is determined at a step S137 whether or not the TC condition flag F FIWT is equal to 1. If the answer to this question is negative (No), i.e. if F FIWT =0, it is determined at a step S138 whether or not the TC-inhibiting flag F FIFS is equal to 1. If either of the answers to the questions of the steps S137 and S138 is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if the engine is not in a condition allowing traction control to be carried out or traction control is inhibited due to the abnormality detected by the ENG-ECU 5, the slip level signal transmitted through the TCFC line is kept off duty (i.e. the signal is in the form of a pulse signal having such a duty ratio as to show that the slip state of the driving wheels does not require traction control) and the slip status signal transmitted through the TCSTB line is held at low level at a step S140, followed by the program proceeding to a step S142.
If all the answers to the questions of the steps S136 to S137 are negative (No), i.e. if no abnormality has been detected and at the same time the engine is in an operating condition which allows traction control to be carried out, the slip level signal transmitted through the TCFC line and the slip status signal transmitted through the TCSTB line are not held at either level but supplied as signals indicative of a detected slip state of the driving wheels to the ENG-ECU 5 at a step S139, followed by the program proceeding to the step S142.
At the step 142, it is determined whether or not normal traction control is being carried out, i.e. whether the slip level indicated by the slip level signal and the slip status signal demands traction control. If the answer to this question is negative (No), i.e. if traction control is not being carried out, the present program is immediately terminated, whereas if the answer is affirmative (Yes), i.e. if traction control is being carried out, the t TCS timer is reset (the count value is set to 0) at a step S143, followed by terminating the present program.
A case where an answer to any of the questions of the steps S123, S127, and S132 is negative (No), i.e. a case where the predetermined time period t TCSO has not elapsed after execution of traction control includes a case where traction control is being carried out. In other words, the case where the predetermined time period t TCSO has not elapsed after execution of traction control is a case where traction control was carried out the predetermined time period (t TCSO ) or a shorter time period before execution of any of the steps S123, S127, and S132 (hereinafter referred to as "the case where the predetermined time period has not elapsed").
According to the technique of FIG. 13 described above, the following controls are carried out:
(1) When abnormality of any of the sensors connected to the TCS-ECU 20 is detected:
The alarm lamp 15 is lighted, and in the case where the predetermined time period has not elapsed, the slip level signal and the slip status signal are both held at high level, to thereby cause the ENG-ECU 5 to carry out failsafe operations, such as gradually increasing the engine output until traction control is stopped. On the other hand, in cases other than the case where the predetermined time period has not elapsed, the slip level signal is kept off duty and the slip status signal is held at low level to thereby inhibit traction control thereafter.
(2) When no abnormality is detected by the ENG-ECU 5, but the engine is not in an operating condition to allow traction control to be carried out (TCINH is hled at "H"):
In the case where the predetermined time period has not elapsed, traction control is continued without holding the slip level signal at high level or keeping same off duty or holding the slip status signal at high or low level.
In cases other than the case where the predetermined time period has not elapsed, the off lamp 14 is lighted, and the slip level signal is kept off duty and the slip status signal is held at low level, to thereby inhibit traction control thereafter. However, if the engine operating condition is changed to one which allows traction control to be carried out, the off lamp is turned off, and the state of keeping the slip level signal off duty and holding the slip status signal at low level is cancelled.
(3) When an abnormality is detected by the ENG-ECU 5 (TCINH is held at "L"):
The alarm lamp 15 is lighted, and in the case where the predetermined time period has not elapsed, normal traction control is continued without keeping the slip level signal off duty or holding same at high level or holding the slip status signal at low or high level. On the other hand, in cases other than the case where the predetermined time period has not elapsed, the slip level signal is kept off duty and the slip status signal is held at low level, to thereby inhibit traction control thereafter.
According to the above described technique, if a state of the driving wheel slip control system in which traction control should be inhibited is detected, only after the predetermined time period has elapsed from the time point the slip state of the driving wheels ceased to demand traction control, the slip level signal is kept off duty and the slip status signal is held at low level. Therefore, traction control is not immediately stopped during or immediately after execution of same, which makes it possible to avoid an increase in the burden on the driver resulting from a sudden increase in the torque of the driving wheels.
In addition, although in the driving wheel slip control system according to the above described embodiment of the invention, the amount of fuel supplied to the engine is decreased in order to decrease the engine output, this is not limitative, but the amount of intake air may be decreased by decreasing the throttle valve opening. Alternatively, when an excessive slip state of the driving wheels is detected, the driving wheel slip may be reduced by applying a mechanical load on the system which transmits a driving force from the engine to the driving wheels.
Further, the prime mover for driving the driving wheels is not limited to an internal combustion engine, but an electric motor or a gas turbine may be used. | A driving wheel slip control system installed in a vehicle and having abnormality-detecting and failsafe functions. The system includes a slip status signal-generating device for generating a slip status signal indicative of whether or not the driving wheels of the vehicle are in a predetermined slip state, and a slip level signal-generating device for generating a slip level signal indicative of a degree of slip of the driving wheels. If a logical relationship between the slip status signal and the slip level signal is abnormal, and if the prime mover for driving the driving wheels is not accelerating and at the same time the slip level signal indicates the predetermined slip state, the slip level signal is determined to be abnormal. If an abnormality is detected during driving wheel slip control, an amount of reduction in output of the driving wheels is set to a predetermined amount to thereby continue driving wheel slip control, until the prime mover enters an operating condition other than acceleration. Further, the system comprises first and second control units. The latter informs the former of three states for determining whether or not driving wheel slip control can be carried out. The first control unit has the slip level signal-generating device and the slip status signal-generating device, and inhibition of operation of these devices is retarded when it is informed of a state inhibiting driving wheel slip control, if an excessive slip state of the driving wheels is occurring. | 1 |
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] This invention pertains to microelectronic lid designs, heat spreader designs, and semiconductor packaging.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Modem semiconductor device packaging typically involves provision of a microelectronic lid over a semiconductor die (also referred to as a chip) to protect the die during transport. The microelectronic lid can be thermally conducted with the die so that heat generated from the die is dispersed into the lid. Accordingly, the lid can function as a heat spreader in addition to functioning as a protective cover for the die.
[0003] A prior art semiconductor package is described with reference to FIGS. 1 - 4 . Referring initially to FIG. 1, the package comprises a base 10 and a lid 30 , which are initially provided as separate pieces. Base 10 can comprise a substrate 12 , which can be a circuit-retaining construction, such as, for example, a circuit board. A semiconductor chip 14 is provided in electrical connection with the circuit of circuit-retaining construction 12 , and can, for example, be connected to such circuit through solder bead electrical interconnects (not visible in the view of FIG. 1). A sealant material 16 is provided around an outer periphery of circuit-retaining construction 12 , and can comprise, for example, an epoxy. The surface of base 10 that is shown in FIG. 1 will ultimately be an inner surface in a package construction formed with lid 30 .
[0004] Referring next to lid 30 , such comprises a recessed surface 32 surrounded by a non-recessed peripheral portion 34 . Lid 30 also comprises a surface 36 that is in opposing relationship to surface 32 , and accordingly that is a hidden underside of lid 30 in the view of FIG. 1. The surface 32 of lid 30 will ultimately be an inner surface of the lid in a package formed with lid 30 and base 10 , and the surface 36 will be an outer surface of such package.
[0005] [0005]FIG. 2 shows a top view of a package 40 comprising lid 30 and base 10 . A process step in formation of package 40 is to invert lid 30 from the configuration shown in FIG. 1, and to press the lid over base 10 . Lid 30 is sealed to base 10 by sealing peripheral portion 34 of lid 30 to the base with sealant material 16 .
[0006] [0006]FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view through the package 40 of FIG. 2, and illustrates lid 30 joined with base 10 . Also visible in FIG. 3 are electrical interconnects 42 extending downwardly from chip 14 to electrically connect the chip with circuitry (not shown) retained in substrate 12 . Additionally, FIG. 3 shows a thermally conductive interface material 44 provided on chip 14 and thermally connecting lid 30 with chip 14 to allow heat dispersion from chip 14 into lid 30 . If material 44 were not present, or were replaced with a non-thermally conductive material, lid 30 would simply be a microelectronic lid. However, if material 44 is a thermally conductive material, lid 30 functions as a heat spreader, with the term heat spreader understood to indicate a construction that primarily spreads heat in two dimensions, rather than in three dimensions.
[0007] [0007]FIG. 4 illustrates the package 40 of FIG. 3 attached to a heat sink 50 through a thermally conductive interface material 52 . Material 52 can comprise, for example, GELVET™, which is commercially available from Honeywell International, Inc. Heat sink 50 can comprise, for example, aluminum having a shape which incorporates numerous projecting fins and/or posts. The heat sink 50 is distinguished from a heat spreader, in that heat sink 50 disperses heat in three dimensions, rather than two.
[0008] It can be problematic and costly to fabricate a lid having the complexity of lid 30 . Accordingly, it would be desired to develop improved microelectronic lid designs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] The invention encompasses microelectronic package lids, heat spreaders, and semiconductor packages comprising microelectronic lids or heat spreaders. In particular aspects of the present invention, a microelectronic lid comprises a material having a rectangular peripheral shape that defines 4 peripheral sides. Further, the lid has projecting peripheral rails along less than all of the peripheral edge. For instance, the lid can have projecting peripheral rails along only 2 of the sides. Alternatively, such microelectronic lid can be described as, comprising a generally rectangular shape defining 4 peripheral edges, with 2 of the edges having a greater thickness than the other 2 edges.
[0010] The invention also encompasses heat spreaders having the above-described shapes of the microelectronic lids, and comprising materials with a thermal conductivity of at least 100 watts/meter-kelvin, preferably at least 150 watts/meter-kelvin, and more preferably greater than 200 watts/meter-kelvin. In particular embodiments, the heat spreaders can comprise, consist or, or consist essentially of copper, and can have a thermal conductivity of about 350 watts/meter-Kelvin. In other embodiments, the heat spreaders can comprise, consist of, or consist essentially of aluminum, and can have a thermal conductivity of about 220 watts/meter-kelvin.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] Preferred embodiments of the invention are described below with reference to the following accompanying drawings.
[0012] [0012]FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a microelectronic package at a preliminary step of a prior art method for forming a package, and is shown comprising a lid which is separate from a base. The lid is shown in a bottom view, and the base is shown in top view.
[0013] [0013]FIG. 2 is a view of a package comprising the lid and base of FIG. 1, and is shown in top view.
[0014] [0014]FIG. 3 is a view of the FIG. 2 package shown along the line 3 - 3 .
[0015] [0015]FIG. 4 is a view of the FIG. 2 package shown along the cross sectional view of FIG. 3, and shown at a processing step subsequent to that of FIG. 3.
[0016] [0016]FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic bottom view of a microelectronic lid, or alternatively a heat spreader, encompassed by the present invention.
[0017] [0017]FIG. 6 is a side view of the FIG. 5 lid.
[0018] [0018]FIG. 7 is a view of the FIG. 5 lid in combination with a base, and shown at a preliminary step of forming a microelectronic package encompassed by the present invention. The base of FIG. 7 is shown in top view, while the lid is shown in bottom view.
[0019] [0019]FIG. 8 is a top view of a package assembled utilizing the lid and base of FIG. 7.
[0020] [0020]FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the package of FIG. 8 shown along the line 9 - 9 .
[0021] [0021]FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the FIG. 8 package shown along the line 9 - 9 , and shown at a processing step subsequent to that of FIG. 9.
[0022] [0022]FIG. 11 is a sideview of the FIG. 8 package.
[0023] [0023]FIG. 12 is a sideview of the FIG. 8 package, and shown in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention different than that of FIG. 11.
[0024] [0024]FIG. 13 is an isometric view of a piece of lid stock at a preliminary step of forming lids in accordance with a method of the present invention.
[0025] [0025]FIG. 14 is an isometric view of the lid stock of FIG. 13 shown at a processing step subsequent to that of FIG. 13.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0026] A microelectronic lid, or alternatively a heat sink, encompassed by the present invention is described with reference to FIG. 5, and is shown generally as a lid 100 . Lid 100 comprises a generally rectangular shape (although other shapes are encompassed by the present invention, with such other shapes including, for example, circular, triangular, pentagonal, or other polygonal shapes). Lid 100 comprises a periphery defined by the four edges 102 , 104 , 106 and 108 . Lid 100 also comprises a recessed surface 110 , which is coextensive with the surface of edges 102 and 106 ; and raised rails 112 and 114 which extend along edges 108 and 104 . Additionally, lid 100 comprises a surface 120 (not visible in the view of FIG. 5) which is in opposing relation to surface 110 .
[0027] A difference between the lid 100 of FIG. 5 and the prior art lid 30 (shown in FIG. 1) is in lid 100 having raised portions ( 112 and 114 ) extending along only a part of the periphery of the lid. In contrast, the prior art lid 30 has a raised portion ( 34 ) extending along its entire periphery.
[0028] In the shown embodiment, lid 100 comprises a rectangular shape, and the raised peripheral portions are along two opposing sides ( 104 and 108 ) of the peripheral shape, while the remaining two sides ( 102 and 106 ) do not have raised portions extending along the predominate extent of such edges. In fact, the only raised portions associated with edges 102 and 106 are the terminal ends of raised portions 112 and 114 , with such ends being the regions of portions 112 and 114 that contact edges 102 and 106 . Such terminal portions of rails 112 and 114 are identified in FIG. 5 by the label 115 . Accordingly, edge 102 has an expanse 126 extending along the edge between terminal ends 115 of rails 112 and 114 , and such expanse 126 is not raised relative to surface 110 . Similarly, edge 106 has an expanse 128 extending between terminal ends 115 which is not raised relative to surface 110 .
[0029] [0029]FIG. 6 shows a side view of lid 100 along the side 106 . Such side view illustrates the relationship of rails 112 and 114 relative to surface 110 , and further shows expanse 128 extending between rails 112 and 114 . Rails 112 and 114 define a groove 119 extending therebetween.
[0030] Exemplary dimensions of the lid 100 of FIGS. 5 and 6 are a width “W” of about 35±0.35 millimeters; a length “L” of about 35±0.35 millimeters, and a thickness “T” of about 4.6±0.05 millimeters. Further, groove 119 can have a depth “D” of about 0.6±0.025 millimeters.
[0031] Referring next to FIG. 7, lid 100 is shown adjacent a base 150 , which is ultimately to be capped by lid 100 to form a package. Base 150 comprises four peripheral edges ( 151 , 153 , 155 and 157 ), and is similar to the base 10 of FIG. 1 in that it comprises a die 14 over a substrate 12 . Further, base 150 comprises a sealant 16 provided along peripheral edges of the substrate. However, a difference between base 150 of FIG. 7 and base 10 is that the sealant 16 is provided along only two of the peripheral edges of substrate 12 of base 150 , rather than along the four peripheral edges as was done with base 10 . Sealant 16 is provided along the two peripheral edges of the substrate 12 of base 150 that will ultimately contact raised edges associated with lid 100 .
[0032] In a processing step subsequent to that of FIG. 7, lid 100 is placed over base 150 , and rails 112 and 114 are sealed against the base with sealant 16 to form a package. Such package is shown in FIG. 8 as a package 200 , and specifically is shown in top view, with surface 120 of lid 100 being visible.
[0033] Referring next to FIG. 9, package 200 is shown in cross-sectional view along the line 9 - 9 of FIG. 8. Such cross-sectional view shows solder beads 42 connecting die 14 with substrate 12 . Also, the cross-sectional view shows a layer 202 formed between die 14 and lid 100 . Layer 202 can comprise, for example, a thermally conductive material. If layer 202 comprises a thermally conductive material, then lid 100 can function as a heat spreader to dissipate heat generated by die 14 . In alternative embodiments, layer 202 can be omitted, or can be replaced with a non-thermally conductive material. In either of such alternative embodiments, lid 100 will function as a microelectronic lid to protect die 14 , but will generally not effectively dissipate beat from die 14 , and accordingly will not be utilized as a heat spreader.
[0034] If lid 100 is utilized as a heat spreader, it preferably comprises a material with a thermal conductivity of at least 100 watts/meter-kelvin, and more perfectly at least 150 watts/meter-kelvin. In particular embodiments, lid 100 can comprise a material having a thermal conductivity in excess of 200 watts/meter-kelvin, such as, for example, copper or aluminum. In embodiments in which lid 100 comprises a metallic material, the lid can be nickel-plated. For instance, if lid 100 comprises copper or aluminum, it can be provided with a nickel-plating having a thickness of at least about 3 microns. The nickel plating can protect the underlying lid material from corrosion, and further can provide a reproducible surface for adherence to one or more thermal interface materials, as well as for adherence to epoxy.
[0035] Referring next to FIG. 10, package 200 is illustrated after formation of a heat sink 50 over the package, and a thermal interface 52 connecting heat sink 50 with package 200 . Heat sink 50 and thermal interface 52 can comprise, for example, the materials described above with reference to the prior art construction of FIG. 4.
[0036] Referring next to FIG. 11, the package 200 of FIG. 8 is shown in a side view. The chip ( 14 ) is not shown in the side view of FIG. 11 to simplify the drawing, although it is to be understood that chip 14 would be in the center of package 200 as illustrated by, for example, FIG. 9. The view of FIG. 11 shows that there is a gap 250 at the end of package 200 corresponding to a space between rails 112 and 114 . Such gap will typically be narrow, and in particular embodiments of the present invention can be left unfilled. However, if it is desired to fill gap 250 to prevent dirt or other contaminants from penetrating between lid 100 and substrate 150 , such can be accomplished by providing a filler material within the gap. Such is illustrated in FIG. 12, wherein gap 250 is filled with a filler material 260 . Filler material 260 can comprise, for example, epoxy. Filler material 260 can be provided after formation of package 200 by applying the filler material into gap 250 . Alternatively, filler material 250 can be provided before formation of package 200 at, for example, the processing step of FIG. 7, by providing the filler material at edges 151 and 153 of substrate 150 .
[0037] The lid 100 of the present invention can be advantageous relative to prior art lids (such as, for example, the lid 30 of FIG. 1) in that lid 100 can be simpler to manufacture than the prior art lids. Lid 100 can be formed by, for example, the processing of FIGS. 13 and 14. Referring initially to FIG. 13, a bar 300 of lid stock is provided. The bar comprises dimensions “A”, “X”, and “Y”. Dimension “X” corresponds to a width along edge 106 of a finished lid 100 (FIGS. 5 and 6), and dimension “Y” corresponds to a thickness of rails 112 and 114 of a finished lid 100 . The dimension “A” is preferably longer than several integral lengths of edge 108 of a finished lid 100 .
[0038] Referring next to FIG. 14, bar 300 is machined to form a groove 302 extending along a surface of the bar. Groove 302 defines rails 112 and 114 extending along edges of the lid stock. The stock can subsequently be cut along dashed lines 304 and 306 to define separated lids 100 , 400 and 500 . The lids separated lids can subsequently be subjected to electroplating if a metal plating is desired over the material of the lids.
[0039] Although FIGS. 13 and 14 illustrate a process wherein a lid stock bar 300 is machined to form groove 302 , it is to be understood that the invention encompasses alternative processing wherein the grooved material of FIG. 14 is formed by extruding a lid material into the shown shape. | The invention encompasses microelectronic package lids, heat spreaders, and semiconductor packages comprising microelectronic lids or heat spreaders. In particular aspects of the present invention, a microelectronic lid comprises a material having a rectangular peripheral shape that defines 4 peripheral sides. Further, the lid has projecting peripheral rails along less than all of the peripheral edge. For instance, the lid can have projecting peripheral rails along only 2 of the sides. Alternatively, such microelectronic lid can be described as comprising a generally rectangular shape defining four peripheral edges, with two of the edges having a greater thickness than the other two edges. | 7 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present invention is a continuation of Ser. No. 12/939,071 filed Nov. 3, 2010, entitled “Apparatus and Method for Insertion of Gaskets”, which claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 61/295,037 filed Jan. 14, 2010, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD
The invention relates generally an apparatus and method for insertion of gaskets and, more particularly, to an apparatus for and a method of inserting fluid sealing gaskets between the flange connectors of adjacent pipe sections of underwater pipe line sections.
BACKGROUND
In laying underwater pipelines, divers are often utilized to bolt together opposing connector flanges of adjacent pipe sections. In order to do so the divers, typically must hold these opposing connector flanges in a relatively stationary position in order to insert a fluid sealing gasket between these opposing flanges prior to completing the bolting operations that will join these opposing flanges together.
When making the bolted connections a diver must guard against having his hands caught between the relatively moving flanges of these adjacent pipe segments to avoid injury. Gasket insertion devices have been utilized to hold the sealing gaskets in a desired position between the opposing flanges in order to guard against injury to the fingers and hands of the diver and to avoid damage to the gaskets. In deep water diving situations, divers may utilize deep water diving suits or a remotely operated vehicle (a “ROV”). These devices have manipulative arms for gripping tools that aid in the joining together of these opposing flange sections. The manipulative arms of an ROV or a deep water diving suit typically limit the dexterity that may be required to properly grasp, hold and insert a sealing gasket between the opposing pipe flanges.
SUMMARY
The present invention provides an improved apparatus and method for the insertion of fluid sealing gaskets between opposing faces of flange connectors fixed to the ends of pipe sections. The improved apparatus includes a handle suitable for use with both deep water diving suits and remotely operated vehicles. The apparatus is provided with alignment tabs to aid the diver in properly aligning the gasket between the bolt holes of adjoining flanges. The handle may have a slit to accommodate the stems of leak test gaskets such as the KaMOS® RTJ Gasket manufactured by Karmsund Maritime Offshore Supply AS.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the gasket insertion apparatus.
FIG. 2 is a side cross-section view of the gasket insertion apparatus of FIG. 1 and gasket combination configured for insertion between connecting flanges of a pipeline.
FIG. 3 is a front view of the gasket insertion apparatus of FIG. 1 and gasket combination in place between flange connectors of a pipeline.
FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the gasket insertion apparatus of FIG. 1 and gasket combination configured for insertion between connecting flanges of a pipeline.
FIG. 5 is a cross-section view of the gasket insertion gasket insertion apparatus of FIG. 1 and gasket combination inserted between connecting flanges of a pipeline.
FIG. 6 is an isometric view of an alternate embodiment of the gasket insertion apparatus.
FIG. 7 is a front view of the gasket insertion apparatus of FIG. 6 and gasket combination in place between flange connectors of a pipeline.
FIG. 8 is a cross-section view of the gasket insertion gasket insertion apparatus of FIG. 6 withdrawn from between the connecting flanges of a pipeline segments after a gasket has been inserted.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring now to the drawings and in particular to FIG. 1 , there is shown the gasket insertion apparatus 10 for inserting fluid sealing gasket between the flange connectors of adjacent pipe sections. The apparatus 10 includes a flat, ring-shaped gasket-holder frame 12 having a handle 14 . The handle 14 has a shaft 16 , the proximal end of which is attached to the frame 12 so that the handle shaft extends radially outward from the outer edge of the gasket-holder frame 12 . The apparatus 10 may be made of any structurally suitable material such as aluminum or aluminum alloys, steel, stainless steel, mild steel, polymeric composites, or industrial laminates such as those Manufactured By Norplex-Micarta, Industrial Laminates/Norplex, Inc., 407 South 7th Street, Noblesville, Ind. 46060.
A handle grip 18 is attached to the end of shaft 16 that is distal from the frame 12 and is configured as an open trapezoidal shaped ring. The handle shaft 16 may have a split or a slit 20 that extends along the length of the handle shaft 16 . The width of the slit 20 in the handle shaft 16 is sufficient to accommodate the stem of a leak test gasket such as the KaMOS® RTJ Gasket manufactured by Karmsund Maritime Offshore Supply AS. Further, the handle may be broken off at the top of the split to allow removal for use when flange faces are completely flush and the device must be removed before final bolting of the two flange halves.
The open trapezoidal ring-shaped handle grip 18 is dimensioned to accommodate a human hand, the glove or manipulator of a diving suit, or the robotic manipulators of a ROV. A variety of handle types may be utilized, the exact size and shape of the handle grip 18 will depend upon the ROV and the type of robotic manipulators provided on the ROV to grab and manipulate the grip 18 . While it is thought that a handle grip configured as an open trapezoidal shaped ring will be utilized for the apparatus 10 in most instances, the handle grip 18 may be comprised of other open geometric configurations such as a triangular, circular, or rectangular ring-shaped configuration.
The interior periphery 24 of the ring-shaped frame 12 is provided with a plurality of serrations or angularly cut teeth 22 . These teeth 22 serve to grab and hold in place a resilient gasket 26 positioned within the interior periphery 24 of the frame 12 . The gasket 26 is positioned on the frame so that the outer diameter of the gasket 26 will fit against the interior periphery 24 of the ring-shaped frame 12 .
The frame 12 may also be provided with an alignment tab 28 that also extends radially outward from the frame 12 generally opposite the handle 14 . The width of the handle 14 and the alignment tab 28 may be varied according to the size of flange connectors with which the apparatus 10 is to be utilized. Ideally, the width of the tab 28 and handle 14 will be configured to span between the edges of adjacent bolt holes 34 on a pipe connection flange 30 . This will allow the tab 28 or the handle 14 to serve as an aid in centering the gasket 26 as the apparatus 10 and gasket 26 are inserted between adjoining pipe flanges 30 .
The gasket insertion apparatus 10 and gasket 26 may be configured for use, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 , by positioning the ring-shaped gasket 26 within the interior periphery 24 of the frame 12 so that the outer diameter of the gasket 26 is fitted against the interior periphery 24 of the ring-shaped frame 12 . Fitting the resilient gasket 26 within the frame 12 in that manner will allow the teeth 22 to hold the gasket 26 in place within the interior periphery 24 of the frame 12 . When the gasket 26 is a leak test gasket having a radially extending test stem 27 , the gasket 26 is oriented within the frame 12 so that the extending stem 27 is positioned within the slit 20 of the handle shaft 16 .
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 , the use of the combination of the insertion apparatus 10 and a gasket 26 fitted within the frame 12 as described herein will allow a diver to effectuate the placement of the gasket 26 between the connection flanges 30 of pipeline segments 32 using only two alignment pins 35 and without having to place his hands or fingers between the flanges 30 . This will allow the diver to place and position the gasket 26 in the desired location without having to connect most of the bolts that make up the connection flanges.
The apparatus 10 is used by placing a gasket 26 onto the interior periphery 24 defined by the frame 12 so that the gasket 26 is retained within the periphery 24 of the frame 12 in a push-frictional fit. The teeth 22 around the interior periphery 24 of the frame 12 serve to increase this frictional fit and hold the gasket 26 in place. A number of apparatus 10 and gasket 26 combinations may be made up as described prior to a dive and kept available for use.
When a flange to flange connection is to be made during a dive, a diver brings the connection flanges 30 of adjacent pipe segments 32 together in a desired proximity and places bolts 35 or alignment pins 36 in selected flange bolt holes 34 on the connection flanges 30 . Preferably at least two alignment pins 36 are utilized and these alignment pins 36 are placed at approximately adjacent bolt holes 34 on the flanges 30 .
The apparatus 10 with the inserted gasket 26 in place is then grasped by the handle grip 18 by a diver or by the gripping arms of an ROV. The apparatus 10 with the inserted gasket 26 is then placed between the adjacent connection flanges 30 at the ends of adjacent pipe sections 32 . Placement of the alignment tab 28 of the apparatus 10 between the pre-positioned alignment pins 36 will guide the alignment and placement of the gasket 26 and serve to assist the diver in centering the gasket 26 in the desired position between connection flanges 30 . The alignment pins 36 serve as a stop for the frame 12 and tab 28 to facilitate vertical and horizontal centering of the frame 12 of the apparatus 10 and thus the gasket 26 between the connection flanges 30 .
The handle shaft 16 may have a scored area 23 to serve as a desired break-off point for the handle 14 . A diver may break the handle 14 along the scored area 23 leaving the frame 12 and the gasket 26 in position between the adjacent flanges 30 .
Use of the insertion apparatus 10 in combination with a gasket 26 will allow the diver more flexibility on fixing the distance needed between the faces of the pipe flanges being connected before the gasket 26 is installed, especially when alignment pins 36 are used to position the opposing flanges adjacent to each other. The use of insertion apparatus 10 in combination with a gasket 26 and alignment pins 36 will also increase the safety of the diver as well as reduce the gasket installation time.
An alternate embodiment of the gasket insertion apparatus 50 is shown in FIG. 6 . This embodiment may be used in the connection of adjoining pipe segments having closed face connection flanges. In this embodiment, the gasket insertion apparatus 50 is comprised of a flat U-shaped gasket-holder frame 52 having a handle 54 that extends radially outward from the outer edge of the gasket-holder frame 52 . A semi-circular configuration may be most suitable for the U-shaped frame 52 .
The handle 54 is further includes a handle shaft 56 and an open trapezoidal shaped handle grip 58 . If a leak test gasket is to be utilized as a sealing gasket, the handle shaft 56 may have a split or slit extending along the length of the handle 56 similar to the slit 20 shown in FIG. 1 on handle 14 of apparatus 10 .
The open trapezoidal shaped handle grip 58 is dimensioned to accommodate both a human hand, the glove of a diving suit, or the robotic manipulators of an ROV. The exact size and shape of the handle grip 58 will depend upon the type of robotic manipulators utilized to grab the grip 58 . Other handle grip configurations, such as a triangular, circular, or rectangular configuration might also be utilized.
A plurality of serrations or angularly cut teeth 62 are provided around the interior semi-circular periphery 64 of the frame 52 . These teeth 52 serve to grab and hold in place a resilient gasket 26 positioned within the interior periphery 64 of the frame 52 .
Typically, when closed faced connection flanges are provided for the connection of adjacent pipe segments, there is no room for a circular flange insertion apparatus 10 to fit between the connecting flanges. In such a case, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 , the insertion apparatus 50 may be utilized.
To use the apparatus 50 , a gasket 26 is frictionally mounted in place on its radial periphery by the serrations 62 that are provided around the interior semi-circular periphery 64 of the frame 52 . The apparatus 50 and mounted gasket 26 is then brought to the location where the flanged connection is to be made. The closed face flanges 30 of adjacent pipe segments 32 are brought together and held in place by at least two bolts 35 . The gasket 26 is then installed by pressing the insertion apparatus 50 , with the gasket 26 in place, between the flanges 30 in a manner sufficient to pinch the gasket 26 and place it in a desired position between the two adjoining connection flanges. Additional connection bolts 35 may then be installed to stabilize the flange and gasket configuration. The apparatus 50 may then be removed by pulling the apparatus 50 away from the flanges 30 leaving the gasket 26 in place, and the remainder of the connection bolts 35 may then be inserted and tightened to complete the connection of the pipe segments 32 .
The apparatus for and method of inserting fluid sealing gaskets between the flange connectors of adjacent pipe sections of underwater pipe lines presented herein as well as its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description. It will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts thereof without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the forms described herein being merely an example embodiments of the invention. | A gasket insertion apparatus and method for inserting a fluid sealing gasket between the bolted connection flanges of adjacent underwater pipe line segments is provided. The gasket insertion apparatus includes of a flat frame having an inner peripheral surface and an outer peripheral surface. The inner peripheral surface of the frame has a plurality of angularly cut teeth. The gasket is mounted within the frame and is held in place by the plurality of angularly cut teeth. The gasket insertion apparatus has a handle with an open geometric ring-shaped grip that is configured so that the gasket insertion apparatus may be gripped by a manipulation arm of an underwater remotely operated vehicle and/or by a diver. The apparatus, with gasket attached, is brought to an underwater location and inserted between adjacent flanges of a bolted flange connection by a diver or an underwater remotely operated vehicle. | 5 |
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This patent application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/179,278 to Johnson, filed May 4, 2015, entitled, “Clothes Dryer Hook Up Extension Kit,” and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Hooking-up a clothes dryer includes providing safe passage of hot airflow away from the exhaust vent of the dryer. The hook-up usually includes holding a galvanized steel duct elbow or a vent hose onto the dryer's exhaust vent, removing the duct elbow or the vent hose to add a forgotten hose clamp around the duct elbow or the vent hose, reattaching the duct elbow or the vent hose to the dryer's exhaust vent, and tightening the hose clamp with a screwdriver while holding the duct elbow or the vent hose, before the duct elbow or the vent hose works its way off the dryer's exhaust vent. The hook-up is often performed in a confined or limited space behind the clothes dryer, with insufficient room to get proper positioning to hold the duct elbow and vent hose while tightening the hose clamp with the screwdriver. Often, the screwdriver itself will not fit in the limited space in the needed orientation to tighten the hose clamp. When a duct elbow is used, then the procedure must be repeated again up higher on the elbow or hose within the limited space behind the dryer. Periodic maintenance consisting of cleaning lint inside the duct elbow, the vent hose, and the dryer's exhaust vent is usually avoided for fear of disturbing the hose clamps and fear of the effort needed to successfully reattach and retighten the hose clamps in the limited space behind the dryer.
SUMMARY
[0003] This disclosure describes a quick connect system for vent hose hook-up. In an implementation, a quick-connect member can be quickly attached to a source of airflow without using tools. The quick-connect member has a built-in clamp that attaches to the airflow source, and can be secured to the source of airflow by finger-tightening. A quick-connect lock on the other end of the quick-connect member enables a vent hose to be quickly connected to the member, also without using tools. The quick-connect lock also allows unhooking of the set-up without tools in order to clean inside ducts, vents, and hoses, and then fast reattachment without tools. The quick connect system alleviates the difficulty of connecting exit hoses to the airflow vent of a clothes dryer, in the limited and confined space behind the clothes dryer.
[0004] This summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in limiting the scope of the claimed subject matter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] Certain embodiments of the disclosure will hereafter be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals denote like elements. It should be understood, however, that the accompanying figures illustrate the various implementations described herein and are not meant to limit the scope of various technologies described herein.
[0006] FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example vent hook-up scenario, for example, for a clothes dryer.
[0007] FIG. 2 is a diagram of the example quick-connect member of FIG. 1 , in greater detail.
[0008] FIG. 3 is a diagram of another implementation of the example quick-connect member, with a different embodiment of the example quick-connect clamp.
[0009] FIG. 4 is a diagram of an example quick-connect lock for securing an end of the quick-connect member, such as an elbow member, to a vent hose.
[0010] FIG. 5 is a diagram of example additional implementations of the example quick-connect lock.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0011] Overview
[0012] This disclosure describes quick connect systems for vent hose hook-ups. An example system enables quick hook-up of ductwork and vent hoses for safely conveying airflow from the output vent of a clothes dryer, for example. The example system can be quickly connected without tools, and without having to work or use tools in the limited and confined space behind a clothes dryer, for example. The example system also allows quick disconnection of ducts and vent hoses for purposes of cleaning inside the ducts and vent hoses and for periodic maintenance. The ducts and vent hoses may then be reconnected quickly, without tools.
[0013] Example Systems
[0014] FIG. 1 shows an example vent hook-up scenario 100 , for example, for a clothes dryer 102 . The dryer 102 has an output vent 104 , for airflow exiting the dryer 102 . A quick-connect member 106 of the example system 100 , such as an elbow member, has two openings, for example, for passing airflow. The quick-connect member 106 may be a linear tube, for example, with two openings at 90 degrees with respect to each other. In an implementation, the two openings are within a cross-sectional profile of the linear tube, in order to fit the quick-connect member 106 in a limited space behind a dryer 102 .
[0015] One of the openings has a quick-connect clamp 108 built into or onto the opening of the quick-connect member 106 . The quick-connect clamp 108 enables the quick-connect member 106 to mate with the dryer's output vent 104 and to be securely attached to the dryer's output vent 104 via finger-tightening of the quick-connect clamp 108 , without the use of tools.
[0016] At the other opening of the quick-connect member 106 , a quick-connect lock 110 enables a vent hose 112 to be quickly connected to the quick-connect member 106 , without the use of tools. Thus, in the cramped, limited, or confined space behind a clothes dryer 102 , for example, the example system 100 enables quick hook-up of the dryer venting, without use of tools.
[0017] FIG. 2 shows the example quick-connect member 106 in greater detail. The example quick-connect member 106 may be an elbow member 106 , or other conduit, for venting airflow from a dryer 102 . A quick-connect clamp 108 allows instant tightening of the quick-connect member 106 around the dryer's output vent 104 with one or more simple finger movements of the user. The quick-connect clamp 108 may have a bail-type clamping mechanism 202 for tightening around the dryer's output vent 104 . The bail-type clamping mechanism 202 has a bail 204 , which is a lever that can be flipped by the user's finger from one position to another to tighten the quick-connect clamp 108 around the dryer's output vent 104 . This embodiment of the example quick-connect clamp 108 may have some built-in “give” or tolerance, to compensate or provide compliance for slightly different diameters or conditions of the dryer's output vent 104 . However, most dryer's output vents 104 are of a standard diameter, so the quick-connect clamp 108 can provide a very reliable seal without having to accommodate much variation in the geometry and scale of the dryer's output vent 104 .
[0018] FIG. 3 shows another implementation of the example quick-connect member 106 , with a different embodiment of the example quick-connect clamp 108 . In this example, the quick-connect clamp 108 is a thumb screw clamp 302 , which has a finger-operated turning handle 304 , thumb screw, wing-nut, or key large enough to be turned sufficiently tight by a user's thumb and forefinger, for example. The various embodiments of a quick-connect clamp 108 allow the user to toollessly secure the quick-connect member 106 to the elbow member to dryer's output vent 104 .
[0019] FIG. 4 shows an example quick-connect lock 110 for securing a second end of the quick-connect member 106 , such as an elbow member 106 , to a vent hose 112 . A first part 402 of the quick-connect lock 110 may be attached to the second end of the elbow member 106 . A second part 404 of the quick-connect lock 110 may be attached to a first end of the vent hose 112 . The first part 402 of the quick-connect lock 110 and the second part 404 of the quick-connect lock 110 are capable of toollessly locking to each other to secure the vent hose 112 to the elbow member 106 . The quick-connect lock 110 is capable of quick disconnection and reconnection for cleaning the inside of the elbow member 106 , the vent hose 112 , and/or the dryer's output vent 104 . The quick-connect lock 110 may be a two-part turn and lock system, as shown in FIG. 4 , with a cam or stud 406 on the second part 404 of the quick-connect lock 110 , for instance, and a slot 408 in the first part 402 of the quick-connect lock 110 for securing the quick-connect lock 110 together via the cam or stud 406 , for example, without tools.
[0020] FIG. 5 shows additional implementations of the example quick-connect lock 110 . For example, the quick-connect lock 110 may be a two-part magnetic lock system 500 , in which an end of the quick-connect member 106 having the first part of the quick-connect lock 110 fits in a groove 502 of the second part of the quick-connect lock 110 attached to the vent hose 112 . Magnets 504 in both parts of the quick-connect lock 110 can be engaged or disengaged to lock or unlock the quick-connect lock 110 by rotating the joint so that the magnets 504 either align or misalign with each other.
[0021] In a clip version 520 of the example quick-connect lock 110 , clips 522 and raised bumps or ridges, or alternatively, indentations, enable the clip system 520 to lock the example quick-connect member 106 to the vent hose 112 .
[0022] In an implementation, an additional quick-connect clamp 108 is disposed on a second end of the vent hose 112 for toollessly securing the vent hose 112 to an outlet fixture of a wall, a ceiling, or a floor.
[0023] The quick-connect member 106 , or elbow member, may be composed of formed sheet metal or a molded plastic, or even firm rubber. In another example, the first part 402 of the quick-connect lock 110 attached to the second end of the elbow member 106 is composed of a metal, while the complementary second part 404 of the quick-connect lock 110 attached to a length of the vent hose 112 is composed of a plastic, such as ABS plastic or a polybutylene or polypropylene plastic.
[0024] An example quick-connect system 100 may be packaged as a dryer hook-up kit, including an elbow member, a vent hose, a quick-connect clamp built into a first end of the elbow member for securing the elbow member to a dryer exhaust vent without tools, a first part of a quick-connect lock built into a second end of the elbow member, a second part of the quick-connect lock attachable to a length of the vent hose without tools, and the first part of the quick-connect lock and the second part of the quick-connect lock capable of locking to each other without tools to secure the vent hose to the elbow member while communicating an airflow from the dryer exhaust vent, for example. The dryer hook-up kit may include an additional quick-connect clamp attachable to the length of the vent hose for securing the vent hose to an outlet fixture of a wall, a ceiling, or a floor without tools. Likewise, the dryer hook-up kit may include an extender piece to vary a distance between the elbow member and the dryer exhaust vent, the extender piece being quick-connectable to the quick-connect clamp of the elbow piece and having a quick-connect clamp built into one end of the extender piece for quick-connecting to the dryer exhaust vent.
[0025] The example system 100 is not limited to clothes dryers, but may include a quick-connect member capable of connecting to a generic airflow vent without tools and capable of redirecting an airflow from the airflow vent, and a quick-connect lock capable of locking the quick-connect member to a vent hose without tools while communicating an airflow through the quick-connect lock. A first part of quick-connect lock can be built into the quick-connect member, and a second part of the quick-connect lock is capable of being attached to the vent hose without tools. The example system 100 is unlockable without tools to allow cleaning of an inside of the quick-connect member, the vent hose, and the source of the airflow.
[0026] In the specification and appended claims: the terms “connect,” “connection,” “connected,” “in connection with,” and “connecting,” are used to mean “in direct connection with” or “in connection with via one or more elements.” The terms “couple,” “coupling,” “coupled,” “coupled together,” and “coupled with,” are used to mean “directly coupled together” or “coupled together via one or more elements.”
[0027] While the present disclosure has been disclosed with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art, having the benefit of this disclosure, will appreciate numerous modifications and variations possible given the description. It is intended that the appended claims cover such modifications and variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of the disclosure. | A quick connect system for vent hose hook-up is provided. In an implementation, a quick-connect member can be quickly attached to a source of airflow without using tools. The quick-connect member has a built-in clamp that attaches to the airflow source, and can be secured to the source of airflow by finger-tightening. A quick-connect lock on the other end of the quick-connect member enables a vent hose to be quickly connected to the member, also without using tools. The quick-connect lock also allows unhooking of the set-up without tools in order to clean inside ducts, vents, and hoses, and then fast reattachment without tools. The quick connect system alleviates the difficulty of connecting exit hoses to the airflow vent of a clothes dryer, in the limited and confined space behind the clothes dryer. | 3 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of copending prior application Ser. No. 07/958,926 filed Oct. 9, 1992, entitled NEEDLE CURVING APPARATUS, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to needle forming devices. More particularly, the invention relates to a cartridge fed multistation needle forming apparatus for transferring a plurality of needle blanks from a needle grinding cartridge to a shuttle member and thereafter flat pressing, curving and side pressing the needle blanks, to form curved rectangular bodied needles. The apparatus is also capable of transporting the needle blanks from the shuttle member to a curving station.
2. Description of the Related Art
The production of needles involves many processes and different types of machinery in order to prepare quality needles from raw stock. These varying processes and machinery become more critical in the preparation of surgical needles where the environment of intended use is in humans or animals. Some of the processes involved in the production of surgical grade needles include, straightening spooled wire stock; cutting needle blanks from raw stock; tapering or grinding points on one end of the blank; providing a bore for receiving suture thread at the other end of the blank; and imparting flat surfaces on opposite sides of the blank by flat pressing a portion of the needle blank to facilitate grasping by surgical instrumentation and curving the needle where curved needles are desired. Additional processing may be done to impart flat surfaces substantially perpendicular to the flat pressed portions of the needle blank by side pressing a portion of the needle blank to further facilitate grasping by surgical instrumentation and insertion into humans or animals.
Conventional needle processing is, in large part, a labor intensive operation requiring highly skilled labor. Generally, extreme care must be taken to ensure that only the intended working of the needle is performed and the other parts of the needle remain undisturbed.
Curved rectangular bodied needles have advantages over other needle configurations in many surgical procedures for a variety of reasons including, uniformity of entry depth for multiple sutures and proper "bite" of tissue surrounding the incision or wound. When providing curved rectangular bodied needles for surgical procedures it is desirable for the needles to have a specified rectangular cross-section and a specified curvature, i.e., a predetermined radius of curvature. The desired cross-section and radius of curvature for the finished needle varies with specific applications.
Conventional methods of forming curved rectangular bodied needles require several separate and distinct operations on various machinery. The needle blank must first be flat pressed to impart initial flat surfaces along barrel portions of the needle blanks located between a tapered point end of the blank and a drilled end. After flat pressing, the needle blank can then be taken from the flat press dies to a curving machine to impart the proper curvature to the needle blank. Care must be taken when removing the blanks from the flat press dies and positioning the needle blank in the curving machinery to avoid disturbing the flat surfaces imparted by the flat pressing operation.
After curving, the flat pressed and curved needle blanks can then be taken from the curving anvil to a side press station to impart flat surfaces substantially perpendicular to the flat pressed sides to give the final rectangular cross sectional profile to the needle barrel. Again care must be taken during removal of the needle blanks from the curving anvil and during side pressing so as to avoid disturbing the previously imparted flat pressed and curved portions of the needle blank.
Known flat pressing techniques create the flat edges on the needle barrel by pressing the barrel portion of the needle blank between a pair of opposing needle dies having the desired length and width characteristics. Typically, the needle blanks are inserted into a lower die and compressed between the dies to impart the flat surfaces on opposed sides of the needle barrels . The flat pressed blanks can then be removed from the dies and taken to the curving machinery. After removal of the needle blanks, the dies can also be inspected to ensure that no needle blanks remain stuck to one of the dies.
Known needle curving techniques create the curve in the needle by bending the needle blank around an anvil structure having the desired curvature. To attain the desired needle configuration, the anvil structure provides a shaping surface for deforming the needle. Typically, the needle is positioned for curving by manually placing the needle for engagement with the anvil structure and holding it in place by a holding device. The needle is subsequently bent by manipulating the holding device so the needle curvature is formed about the shaping surface of the anvil structure. Needles improperly positioned on the anvil may result in a deformation of the previously imparted flat press sides and may have to be reprocessed or discarded.
When needles are made of steel or similar resilient materials, the anvil or mandrel used should have a smaller radius than the radius desired in the final needle. This configuration allows for some springback after the bending operation and ensures that the desired radius of curvature is attained. One disclosure of such features may be found in, for example, McGregor et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,534,771.
After flat pressing and curving the needle blank it may be desirable to side press the barrel portion of the needle blank to obtain a rectangular cross-section in the needle barrel. As with the above flat press process, known side pressing techniques require inserting the blank between a pair of dies to compress and impart flat sides to the needle blank. Needles improperly positioned within the dies may become deformed and also have to be discarded or reprocessed.
One disadvantage to conventional needle forming techniques is that after grinding taper points or drilling suture holes in the needle blanks, the individual needle blanks must be removed from the grinding/drilling clamps and manually placed in a needle pressing apparatus to continue the pressing of the needle blanks. Another disadvantage to conventional needle forming techniques is that typically only one needle processing operation at a time, such as, for example, flat pressing between a pair of dies, curving around an anvil structure or side pressing between another set of dies, can be performed on a single piece of machinery. A further disadvantage is the long processing time and high costs required in forming and moving the needle blanks between the various machinery. Lastly, a still further disadvantage is the need to readjust several pieces of machinery to process needles of varying lengths and diameters thereby further increasing production time and costs.
Therefore a need exists for a single needle forming apparatus that is capable of flat pressing, curving, and side pressing a multiplicity of needle blanks or a single needle blank by moving the needle blanks directly between the various operations. It is also desirable to provide a needle forming apparatus which can sequentially load and position one or more needle blanks at a first processing station so as to increase the production rate of the needle manufacturing process by increasing the flow of needle blanks through the apparatus. The present invention relates to such an apparatus and method of forming such needles.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An apparatus for forming curved, rectangular bodied surgical needles is disclosed which includes: needle blank holding means for holding at least one needle blank; means for supplying the at least one needle blank to the needle blank holding means for receipt thereof; transfer means associated with the needle blank holding means and the supply means for transferring the at least one needle blank from the supply means to the needle blank holding means; and means associated with the needle blank holding means for imparting first flat surfaces to first opposing sides of the at least one needle blank.
The needle blank holding means preferably includes a shuttle member having an upper half and a lower half biased together by a pair of springs and adapted to hold a plurality of needle blanks between inner surfaces of the upper and lower halves. The supply means is a detachable clamp member having an upper jaw, a lower jaw and lever means for moving the upper jaw with respect to the lower jaw. Releasing means are provided for moving the lever means, such that when the lever means is in a first position, the needle blanks are firmly clamped between the upper and lower jaws of the clamp member and when the lever means is moved to a second position by the lever moving means, the needle blanks are releasably supported by the lower jaw.
The transferring means includes: first separating means for separating the upper and lower halves of the shuttle member against the spring bias; means for positioning the needle blanks between the inner surfaces of the separated upper and lower halves; and means for releasing the needle blanks from the supply means. The upper and lower halves of the shuttle member grip the needle blanks positioned therebetween when the separating means is removed. The first separating means includes a pair of movable wedge members, the wedge members movable between a position remote from the shuttle member and a position between the upper and lower halves of the shuttle member to thereby separate the upper and lower halves apart against the bias.
The apparatus further includes means associated with the frame for imparting a curved profile to the needle blanks and means for transporting the needle blanks between the shuttle member and the curving means, wherein the shuttle member is movable from a second position adjacent the compressing means to a third position adjacent the transporting means. The transporting means includes second separating means for separating the upper and lower halves of the shuttle member; needle blank removing means for removing the needle blanks from the shuttle member; and means for positioning the needle blanks adjacent the curving means. The second separating means includes a pair of wedge members similar to those of the first separating means to separate the upper and lower halves apart. The needle blank removing means includes a movable plate member having a plurality of needle pushing fingers along one edge thereof, the plate member movable from a position remote from the shuttle member to a position adjacent a first side of the shuttle member such that the fingers push a plurality of the needle blanks toward a second side of the shuttle member.
The positioning means preferably includes a movable block member, having a plurality of transverse bores therein, which is movable from a first position adjacent the second side of the shuttle member for receipt of the needle blanks therefrom to a second position adjacent the curving means. The needle blanks are pushed by the needle pushing fingers out of the shuttle member and into the bores when the block member is adjacent the second side of the shuttle member. The shuttle member is adapted to hold approximately ninety needle blanks. The movable plate member has approximately three needle pushing fingers to push approximately three needle blanks at a time from the shuttle member.
The curving means is preferably a mandrel for imparting an arcuate profile to at least a portion of the needle blanks; and reciprocating means for biasing and reciprocally moving the at least needle blanks against the mandrel. The reciprocating means cooperates with the mandrel to accept the needle blanks therebetween from the transporting means. The mandrel is a rotatable shaft having at least a portion thereof configured to impart the arcuate profile to the needle blanks and has a predetermined radius of curvature in the range of between about 0.05 inches and about 3.00 inches. The reciprocating means comprises: at least one pair of rotatable members positioned in adjacency; and a belt positioned about the at least one pair of rotatable members for biasing and reciprocally moving the needle blanks against the mandrel. The reciprocating means further comprises belt drive means for selectively moving the belt and tensioning means for applying tension to the belt. The tensioning means includes at least one tensioning roller biased toward the belt. The belt is fabricated from a material selected from the group of materials consisting of Neoprene, Nylon, Polyurethane or Kevlar. The curving means further comprises biasing means for applying a continuous force to at least one of the pair of rotatable members such that a friction fit is maintained between the belt, the at least one pair of rotatable members and the needle blanks when the belt is engaged with the reciprocating means.
The apparatus further includes a side press associated with the frame portion for imparting second flat surfaces to opposing sides of the needle blanks, wherein the second flat surfaces are imparted substantially perpendicular to the first flat surfaces. The side press includes side die means for supporting the needle blanks and clamp means for pressing the side die means about the needle blanks to impart the second flat surfaces. The side die means is preferably in the form of a plurality of adjacent plate members, each of the adjacent plate member having at least one die slot coacting with a corresponding die slot in the next adjacent plate member to support a needle blank therebetween. The corresponding die slots cooperate to form a pair of side press dies having lead in tapers of about 3° to about 15° and preferably about 5°. The side die means is rotatable between a first position adjacent the curving means for direct receipt of the needle blanks therefrom to a second position adjacent the clamp means for side pressing the needle blanks therebetween. The side die means is rotatable between the second position adjacent the clamp means to a third position removed from the clamp means.
Means are provided to remove the needle blanks from the side die means when the side die means is in the third position. The removal means is preferablay air jet means to urge the needle blanks free from the side die means.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Preferred embodiments of the invention are described hereinbelow with reference to the drawings wherein;
FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the needle forming apparatus of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a front elevational view taken along the lines 2--2 FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a left side elevational view taken along the lines 3--3 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a right side elevational view taken along the lines 4--4 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged partial perspective view of the needle holding cartridge and shuttle member of the apparatus of FIG. 1;
FIG. 6 is an enlarged partial perspective view of the shuttle member in the flat pressing station of the apparatus;
FIG. 7 is an enlarged partial perspective view of the needle transporting section of the apparatus;
FIG. 8 is an enlarged partial perspective view of the needle transporting section adjacent the curving station of the apparatus;
FIG. 9 is an enlarged partial side elevational view illustrating the needle blanks being drawn out of the transport block of the apparatus;
FIG. 10 is an enlarged partial side elevational view of the needle curving station illustrating a needle blank drawn between the curving belt and the curving mandrel of the apparatus;
FIG. 11 is an enlarged partial side elevational view illustrating the needle being curved about the mandrel of FIG. 10;
FIG. 12 is an enlarged partial side elevational view showing the needle being rotated for acceptance by the side die plates;
FIG. 13 is an enlarged partial end elevational view of the curving and side press stations of the apparatus;
FIG. 14 is an end view of the side press station illustrating the side press dies positioned between the clamping members;
FIG. 15 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view of the shuttle member holding a plurality of needle blanks.
FIG. 16 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view of the shuttle member at the flat press station illustrating the needle blanks being flat pressed between the upper and the lower surfaces of the shuttle member;
FIG. 17 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view of the curing station illustrating the needle blanks being curved about the mandrel by the curving belt;
FIG. 18 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view of the side press station illustrating the needle blanks positioned between the side press die plates;
FIG. 19 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 17, illustrating the needle blanks being side pressed between the side press dies; and
FIG. 20 is a perspective view of a needle formed by the needle forming apparatus of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Generally the needle forming apparatus of the present invention is utilized to off load or transfer a plurality of needle blanks from a needle holding or grinding cartridge and then flat press, curve or bend and side press the multiplicity of needle blanks. While the present invention is adapted to simultaneously process a plurality of needle blanks, pressing and curving of a single needle blank is also contemplated. As used herein, the term needle blank refers to a surgical needle in various stages of fabrication.
Needle forming apparatus 10 is illustrated in FIGS. 1-4 and generally includes a support stand or frame member 12, a flat press station 14, a curving station 16 and a side press station 18. Apparatus 10 further includes an off load or transfer station 20 and a transport station 22, both of which are also mounted with respect to frame 12. A trackway 24 extends generally from transfer station 20, under flat press station 14 to transport station 22. A computer control station (not shown) may be provided to sequence and control the motions of various stations of, and thus the flow of needle blanks through, apparatus 10.
In FIG. 1, transfer station 20 is provided to remove a plurality of needle blanks from a detachable needle grinding or holding cartridge and transfer the needle blanks to a shuttle cartridge. Referring now to FIG. 3, needle cartridge 26 is of the type generally used in grinding or holding a plurality of needle blanks and has a lower jaw member 30 having an inner needle holding surface 32, an upper jaw member 34 pivotally connected to lower jaw member 30 and having an inner needle holding surface 36 and lever means 38 adapted to open and close jaw members 30 and 34 to alternately release and hold a plurality of needle blanks between surfaces 32 and 36. The needle cartridge is disclosed in copending, commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/959,151, filed Oct. 9, 1992 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,715 and entitled NEEDLE TRANSPORTING APPARATUS, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. Needle cartridge 26 mounts to a movable block 28 on frame 12. Preferably, needle cartridge 26 is adapted to hold approximately (90) ninety needle blanks in side to side relationship.
Refering now to FIG. 5, a needle shuttle member 40 includes a base member 42 adapted to slidingly engage trackway 24, a lower shuttle half 44 affixed to base member 42 and having a needle engaging die surface 46, and an upper shuttle half 48 having a needle engaging die surface 50. Upper shuttle half 48 is slidably connected to lower shuttle half 44 by means of pins 52. Springs 54 are provided around pins 52 to bias shuttle halves 44 and 48 together into a closed, needle holding position. Preferably, needle die surfaces 46 and 50 are adapted to hold approximately (90) ninety needle blanks therebetween by milling or forming die surfaces with a pitch of approximately 20 mil to 100 mil. Die surfaces 46 and 50 are flat and are adapted to impart flat surfaces to barrel portions of the needle blanks when halves 44 and 46 are compressed (FIG. 15) at flat press station 14. Upper shuttle half 48 and lower shuttle half 44 may be coated with various materials to help prevent needle blanks from adhering thereto. Upper half 48 and lower half 44 are preferably fabricated from a material having a hardness which is at least substantially equal to the material. Typically halves 44 and 48 have a rockwell hardness value of between 35 to about 70.
As shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 5, a shuttle separating mechanism 56 is provided to separate shuttle halves 44 and 48 against the bias of springs 54 enabling needle blanks to be positioned therebetween. Separating mechanism 56 includes a pair of movable wedge shaped shuttle engaging jaws 58 and 60. Jaws 58 and 60 are movable from an open position remote from shuttle member 40 to a closed position wherein jaws 58 and 60 abut and wedge apart shuttle halves 44 and 48 as shown in FIG. 5. Jaws 58 and 60 are movable towards and away from each other by means of hydraulic cylinder 62. In the alternative, a pneumatic cylinder (not shown) may be employed instead of hydraulic cylinder 64. Separating mechanism 56 is mounted on a sliding plate member 64 which is moved transversely toward and away from shuttle member 40 by means of hydraulic cylinder 66.
Shuttle member 40 is adapted, dimensioned and configured to reciprocate along trackway 24 between a first position adjacent transfer station 20, to a second position under flat press station 14 and to a third position adjacent transport station 22. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, shuttle base 42 is connected to a continuous belt 68 suspended beneath trackway 24. Belt 68 surrounds a drive pulley 70 at one end of trackway 24 and is rotated by means of a motor 72 and drive belt 74. Shuttle 40 is moved from its first position adjacent transfer station 20 to its second position beneath flat press station 14 by drawing shuttle 40 along trackway 24 as motor 72 and thus belt 68 are rotated.
Referring now to FIG. 2 in conjunction with FIG. 4, flat press station 14 includes a flat press ram 76 which is slidably mounted on support members 78 and is movable in a vertical direction by means of a hydraulic cylinder 80. The direction of movement of flat press ram 76 and the force applied thereto by hydraulic cylinder 80 are controlled, and can be adjusted, by the computer. Preferably, flat press ram 76, has a vertical range of travel of approximately 3.0 inches. Additionally, hydraulic cylinder 80 can supply a pressure of approximately 10,000 psi to ram 76.
Flat press station 14 further includes a movable alignment plate 82 as shown in FIG. 1. Alignment plate 82 is slidably movable between a first position remote from shuttle member 40 to a second position adjacent shuttle member 40 and beneath ram 76 by means of hydraulic cylinder 84. As shown in FIG. 6, flat press ram 76 engages shuttle halves 44 and 48 to flat press the needle blanks positioned between shuttle die surfaces 46 and 48. Alignment plate 82 is provided to abut drilled end portions of the needle blanks in order to align the ends of the blanks prior to flat pressing.
As noted above, shuttle member 40 is movable along trackway 24 from a second position beneath flat press ram 76 to a third position adjacent transport station 22. While transfer station 20, shuttle member 40 and flat press station 14 are adapted to handle approximately (90) ninety needles at a time, it is preferable during curving and side pressing the needle blanks to process only a few needle blanks at a time to prevent marring of the blanks by adjacent needle blanks during the curving process and to reduce the number of side press die plates required to press the needle blanks. Transport station 22 is provided to remove approximately three needle blanks at a time from shuttle member 40 and transport the needle blanks to curving station 16. Transport station 22 is adapted to cycle approximately thirty times to transport all ninety flat pressed needle blanks carried by shuttle 40. While transport station 22 is adapted to remove three needles at a time, it is within the contemplated scope of the invention to move more or less than three needles at a time.
Referring now to FIGS. 1, 4, 7 and 8, transport station 22 includes a trackway extension plate 86 which is movable in a direction perpendicular to trackway 24, a movable pusher block assembly 88 and a separating mechanism 90 which is similar to separating mechanism 56 described hereinabove. Transport station 22 further includes a transport block 92 located adjacent curving station 16. Trackway extension plate 86 is adapted to receive shuttle member 40 from trackway 24 and move shuttle member 40 along with pusher block assembly 88 towards curving station 16 by means of a stepper motor driven slide 94. Pusher block assembly 88 is movably mounted on plate 86 and includes a pusher block 96 having a pusher extension plate 98 terminating in approximately three pusher fingers 100. Block 96 is moved relative to plate 86 by means of a hydraulic cylinder 102 as shown in FIG. 4.
Referring now to FIGS. 1, 7 and 8 separating mechanism 90 includes jaws 104 and 106 and operates similar to separating mechanism 56. Jaws 104 and 106 close to expand shuttle member halves 44 and 46. Pusher fingers 100 are spaced to engage three needle blanks in separated shuttle member 40 and push the blanks towards an opposite side of shuttle member 40 as pusher block 96 is moved forward by hydraulic cylinder 102. On the side of shuttle member 40 opposite pusher fingers 100 is located transport block 92 having three bores 108 corresponding to the spacing or pitch of the needle blanks in shuttle member 40 and of the pusher fingers 100. As needle blanks are pushed through shuttle member 40 by fingers 100 they are received in bores 108 until portions of the needle blanks extend from bores 108 adjacent curving station 16 as shown in FIG. 8.
As noted above, and as shown in FIG. 1, pusher block assembly 88 and trackway extension plate 86 are reciprocal between a position remote from curving station 16 and a position adjacent curving station 16 to transfer needle blanks therebetween. Referring now to FIG. 9, needle curving station 16 of the present invention preferably includes a rotatable curving mandrel 110 and right and left needle curving jaws, 112 and 114 respectively. Jaws 112 and 114 are preferably pivotally mounted to a curving ram 116 by means of pivot pins 118 and 120. As shown in FIG. 2, curving ram 116 is reciprocally movable in a vertical direction by means of a hydraulic curving cylinder 122. A curving belt 124 is provided to draw needle blanks out of bores 108 when transport block 92 is positioned adjacent curving mandrel 110. Belt 124 surrounds jaws 112 and 114 at one end and a motor 126 at the other end. Motor 126 may be actuable in clockwise and counterclockwise directions to reciprocate belt 124 about the ends of jaws 112 and 114.
Referring now to FIGS. 9-12, a pair of ram rollers 128 and 130 are rotatably affixed to curving ram 116 to guide and tension belt 124. A pair of jaw rollers 132 and 134 are affixed to jaws 112 and 114, respectively, to guide belt 142 around jaws 112 and 114 and to aid in reciprocating and biasing belt 124 against the needle blanks. Belt 124 is positioned around jaw rollers 132 and 134 on jaws 112 and 114 and ram rollers 128 and 130 on ram 116. As shown in FIG. 9, jaws 112 and 114 are biased together by a spring 136. As shown in FIGS. 9 and 11, jaws 112 and 114 are movable between an initial position where rollers 132 and 134 are adjacent each other and above mandrel 110 to a curving position where ram 116 is biased downward by hydraulic cylinder 122 forcing jaws 112 and 114 open and apart from each other causing jaws 112 and 114 and belt 124 to surround mandrel 110 thereby holding a needle blank therebetween.
Continuing to refer to FIGS. 9-12, mandrel 110 is preferably an elongated shaft or rod positioned transversely with respect to transport block 92. Mandrel 110 has a solid cross-section and is fabricated from a material having a hardness which is at least substantially equal to the hardness of the needle blank material. Typically, mandrel 110 has a rock well hardness value of between about (55 C) and about (57 C) which discourages unwanted shaping or marring of the needle blank and/or mandrel 110. In addition, mandrel 110 may be coated with an elastomer material to help prevent unwanted marring of the needle blank and/or mandrel 110 during the current process.
Preferably, mandrel 110 has a circular cross-section to impart an arcuate profile to the needle blank resulting in a curved surgical needle having a predetermined radius of curvature of between about (0.5") and about (3.0"). However, surgical needles requiring different arcuate profiles require various shaped mandrels, such as elliptical, triangular, rectangular, or pair-shaped mandrels which impart a predetermined curvature to the needle blanks. The diameter of the preferred circular mandrel is dependent on numerous factors including the length of the needle blank desired radius of curvature, and the spring back characteristics of the needle material, i.e., the tendency of the needle material to return to its original shape after being deformed. To illustrate, larger diameter mandrels produce a larger radius of curvature and smaller diameter mandrels produce a smaller radius of curvature. Further, in instances where the needle blank is fabricated from a material having spring back tendencies, the mandrel diameter should be smaller than the desired radius of curvature so that the needle will spring back to the desired radius of curved after bending. The apparatus of the present invention is configured to accommodate mandrels with various diameters necessary for curving surgical needles of various sizes.
As shown in FIG. 4, a belt tension adjustment knob 136 may be provided to adjust the tension of belt 124 around jaws 112 and 114. Specifically as jaws 112 and 114 are moved up and down by ram 116, belt 124 may stretch or otherwise become elongated. Belt tension adjustment knob 136 allows for vertical adjustment of motor 126 to compensate for elongation of belt 124. Further, a jaw stop adjustment knob (not shown) may also be provided to limit the vertical downward movement of ram 124 and thus of jaws 112 and 124 about curving mandrel 110.
As can be seen in FIGS. 8-10, needle curving station 16 is adapted to receive needle blanks directly from transport block 92. This is done by reciprocating plate 98 to position block 92 adjacent mandrel 110 and belt 124 and rotating belt 124 to draw the needle blanks between mandrel 110 and the belt 124. In this manner a needle blank is transported from shuttle 28 to curving mandrel 110 of curving station 16.
Referring now to FIG. 13, needle side press station 18 includes a plurality of side press die plates adapted to receive needle blanks from curving station 16 and hold them for side pressing within side press station 18. Side press station 18 is provided with a pair of end side press die plates 138 and 140 having die grooves 146 (FIG. 14) on an inner surface only thereof and two center side press die plates 144 and 142, each having die grooves 146 on both exterior faces. Side press die plates 138, 140, 142 and 144 are mounted with respect to an indexing shaft 148 which is adapted to rotate die plates 138, 140, 142 and 144 between a first position adjacent curving station 16 to a second position for side pressing. Indexing shaft 148 is rotated by a stepper type motor 150 via a drive wheel 152 and a drive belt 154. Drive belt 154 surrounds drive wheel 152 at one end and a drive pulley 156 (FIG. 4) at another end. Pulley 156 is connected to stepper motor 150 for rotation therewith. A cam rod 156 extends outward from drive wheel 153 and engages a groove 160 in a side press die carriage 162. Indexing shaft 148 may also include means to bring die plates 138, 140, 142 and 144 together to hold needle blanks therebetween and to separate the die plates to accept and release needle blanks.
Referring now to FIG. 14, it can be seen that side press station 18 further includes a pair of side die rams 164 and 166 which are pivotally supported by pivot pins 168 and 170. A pair of toggle links 172 and 174 are pivotally affixed at one end of side die rams 164 and 166. Toggle links 122 and 124 overlap at one end thereof and are connected to a drive shaft 176. Drive shaft 176 is reciprocally movable by means of a hydraulic cylinder 178 (FIG. 4). By advancing drive shaft 176 toggle links 172 and 174 force side die rams 164 and 166 outward to pivot die rams 164 and 166 around pivot pins 168 and 170 thus forcing the opposite ends of the die rams to compress inwardly. The ends of side die rams 164 and 166 opposite toggle links 172 and 174 are provided with inwardly directed ends 164 and 166. As shown specifically in FIGS. 14 and 18, inward movement of inwardly directed ends 180 and 182 of side die rams 164 and 166 compresses side die plates 138, 140, 142 and 144 about needle blanks positioned within needle die grooves 146.
Die plates 138, 140, 142 and 144 are rotatable with respect to side press die carriage 162 and are rotatably between a first position where die grooves 146 are adjacent needle curving station 16 to a second position where die plates 138 and 140 are positioned between side die rams 164 and 166 for side pressing therebetween. Furthermore, after side pressing, side press die plates 138, 140, 142 and 144 are movable between the second position and a third position adjacent a needle receptacle 184 (FIG. 4). Opening and separating of die plates 138, 140, 142 and 144 allows needle blanks to fall into receptacle 184. Side press die plates 138, 140, 142 and 144 may each be provided with blow holes 186 (FIG. 13) which are communicable between an outside surface of the die plates and needle die grooves 146. When carriage 162 is rotated to position the die plates in the third position, blow holes 186 align with an air manifold 188. Means are provided for forcing a flow of air through manifold 188 and thus through blow holes 186 to urge needle blanks from die grooves 146 into receptacle 184 after die plates 138, 140, 142 and 144 have been separated back apart.
Turning now to the operation of needle forming apparatus 10, needle blanks which have been already drilled and tapered are contained in needle holding or grinding cartridge 26. Needle blanks initially contained in needle cartridge 26 are transferred to the shuttle cartridge 40. As can be seen in FIGS. 3 and 5, needle cartridge 26 is initially placed on needle cartridge block 28 of apparatus 10. Block 28 is advanced to position cartridge 26 adjacent shuttle cartridge 40. A lever pusher 37 is provided to move lever means 38 in order to open jaws 36 and 32 to free up or release the needle blanks. A hydraulic cylinder 39 is provided to advance and retract lever pusher 37. In the alternative, a pneumatic cylinder (not shown) may be employed rather than the hydraulic cylinder.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, plate 64 containing the separating mechanism 56 is advanced toward shuttle member 40 by means of hydraulic cylinder 66. In the alternative, a pneumatic cylinder (not shown) may be employed rather than the hydraulic cylinder. At this point jaws 58 and 60 of separating mechanism 56 surround ends of shuttle member 40 and are driven in between lower half 46 and upper half 48 of shuttle member 40 by means of hydraulic cylinder 62 to separate halves 46 and 48 apart against the bias of springs 54. At this point block 28 containing needle holding clamp 26 is advanced further to position the needle blanks between the now separated halves 46 and 48. Lever pusher 37 is advanced by means of hydraulic cylinder 39 to open lever 38 of the needle holding clamp which releases the needle blanks from the grasp of jaws 32 and 36. Separating jaws 68 and 60 are then pulled out and away from shuttle halves 46 and 48 allowing shuttle halves 46 and 48 to clamp down on the needle blanks by means of spring 54. Block 28 and needle holding clamp 26 are then retracted away from shuttle member 40. Open jaws 58 and 60 are retracted by means of plate 64 and hydraulic cylinder 66 to clear the way for shuttle member 40 to slide down trackway 24. In this manner a plurality of needle blanks are transferred from a needle holding or grinding clamp 26 into a shuttle cartridge 40.
Referring now to FIGS. 1, 2 and 6, shuttle member 40 is moved down trackway 24 towards a position adjacent flat press station 14 by means of belt 68 which is driven by motor 72. As shown in FIG. 1, once shuttle member 40 is positioned within flat press die station 14, an alignment block 82, advanced by hydraulic cylinder 84, moves towards shuttle 40 to align the drilled end portions of the needle blanks. In the alternative, a pneumatic cylinder (not shown) may be employed rather than hydraulic cylinder 84. This is to insure consistent forming of the barrel portions of the needle blanks by maintaining the alignment of the drilled end portions with respect to plate member 82. Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 6, hydraulic cylinder 80 (FIG. 2) can now drive ram 76 down to compressed needle blanks between die surfaces 46 and 50 of shuttle cartridge halves 44 and 48 to flat press the barrel portions of needle blanks contained therein. Preferably, there are approximately 90 needle blanks removed from grinding cartridge 26 and placed in shuttle member 40 for flat pressing in flat press station 14. Hence apparatus 10 is capable of flat pressing as many as approximately 90 needle blanks at a time.
Once the needle blanks within shuttle cartridge 40 have been flat pressed, shuttle cartridge 40 may be advanced further down trackway 24 to a position adjacent transport station 22. Transport station 22 is adapted to remove approximately three needle blanks from the shuttle member 40 to continue processing of approximately three needle blanks through curving station 16 and side press station 18 of the apparatus 10. As shown in FIG. 1, shuttle cartridge member 40 is advanced onto a trackway extension plate 86 which is movable in a direction substantially perpendicular to trackway 24. Extension plate 86 is advanced towards curving station 16 by means of hydraulic cylinder 94. By moving extension plate 86 towards curving station 16, shuttle member 40 is positioned between jaws 104 and 106 of separating mechanism 90. As with separating mechanism 56 above, jaws 104 and 106 of separating mechanism 90 are adapted to separate upper and lower halves 44 and 46 of shuttle member 40 to free the needles contained therein.
As shown in FIGS. 4, 7 and 8, pusher block 96 is moved forward by hydraulic cylinder 102 to move extension plate 98 containing pusher fingers 100 adjacent a first side of shuttle cartridge 40. In the alternative, a pneumatic cylinder (not shown) may be employed instead of hydraulic cylinder 102. Transport block 92 is positioned adjacent an opposite side of shuttle block 40. At this point further advancement of pusher block 96, and thus of fingers 100, in the direction of Arrow A (FIG. 8), advances approximately three needle blanks at a time out of shuttle member 40 and into bores 108 of transport block 92. Shuttle member 40 then advances along trackway extension plate 86 approximately the distance of the pitch of one needle blank to position figures 100 behind the next three needle blanks contained in shuttle member 40. Block 96 is again advanced to push three more needles into bores 108 of transport block 92 and the cycle is repeated until three needle blanks project out the ends of transport block 92. At this stage extension plate 86 is advanced slightly further to position the now projecting needle blanks adjacent curving station 16 for receipt between mandrel 110 and curving belt 124. It will be noted that transport station 22 can sequentially remove groups of three needles at a time for advancement into curving station 16 and onto side press station 18. By advancing shuttle member 40 along trackway extension 86 the amount of the pitch of one needle, each cycling of transporting station 22 will remove three needle blanks from shuttle member 40. As noted above, shuttle member 40 can contain as many as ninety needle blanks, thus approximately 30 cycles of transport station 22 will completely unload all the needle blanks in shuttle member 40 and transport them to curving station 16 for further processing.
Referring now specifically to FIGS. 9 and 10, it can be seen that after flat pressing the needle blanks, transport station 22 removes the needle blanks from shuttle 40 and advances the needle blanks to a position adjacent belt 124 and mandrel 110 as best shown in FIG. 9. At this point belt 124 is rotated slightly in the direction of arrows B (FIG. 10) to draw the needle blanks out of bores 108 and to position the needle blanks between belt 124 and mandrel 110.
The curving sequence of curving station 16 will now be described specifically with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11. Once needle blanks have been drawn between mandrel 110 and belt 124, and transport block 92 has been retracted in the direction of arrow C, ram 116 is forced downward in the direction of arrow D by hydraulic cylinder 122 (FIG. 1) to force open jaws 112 and 114 (arrows E) against the tension of spring 136. The downward motion of ram 116 causes belt 128 to move down and around the needle blanks and mandrel 110 as shown in FIG. 11. At this point belt 124 is reciprocated back and forth through a slight motion by means of motor 126 to curve needle blank about mandrel 110. Rollers 128, 130, 132 and 134 insure belt 124 rotates needle blanks smoothly about curving mandrel 110. Belt 124 and jaws 112 and 114, as tensioned by spring 136, are sufficiently resilient to insure that the needle blanks are merely curved about mandrel 110 and are not compressed or flat pressed to any significant extent. This insures that a drilled end portion and a tapered end portion of the needle blanks are not deformed during the curving process between belt 124 and mandrel 110.
Referring now to FIGS. 12 and 13 it can be seen that as belt 124 is further rotated, the needle blanks are rotated about mandrel 110 thus positioning the needle blanks for deposit in needle die grooves 146 of side press die plates 138, 140, 142 and 144. As noted above, side press die plates 138, 140, 142 and 144 are rotatable to a first position adjacent to curving station 16. At this point the plates are expanded slightly to make room for the needle blanks within needle grooves 146. Belt 124 rotates the needle blanks into die grooves 146. Die plates 138, 140, 142 and 144 are then compressed slightly to hold the needle blanks within die grooves 146. In this manner, the flat pressed and curved needle blanks are carried from a needle grinding or holding clamp through flat press and curving stations 14 and 16, respectively, to side press station 18 without having to remove the needle blanks from needle forming apparatus 10. As noted above, this continuous handling of the needle blanks between flat press station 14, curving station 16 and side press station 18 insures consistent and reliable forming of needle blanks. This is especially true where, as here, the needle blanks are off loaded from a needle grinding clamp directly into apparatus 10.
Referring now to FIG. 14, side press die plates 138, 140, 142 and 144 are now pivoted to a position between side rams 164 and 166. Actuation of hydraulic cylinder 178 drives die shaft 176 upwardly forcing toggle links 172 and 174 to pivot side press die rams 164 and 166 about pivot pins 168 and 170 thereby forcing ends 180 and 182 of side press dies 164 and 166, respectively, against side press die plates 138 and 140 compressing plates 138 and 140 together to side press needles captured in needle die grooves 146. Side press die plates 94, 95, 96 and 97 may also be provided with lead in tapers, i.e., areas of the die faces which provide a clearance for the drilled and tapered end portions of the needle blanks, to insure that the drilled end portions and tapered end portions are not deformed during the side press operation. These lead in tapers may be approximately on the order of between 3 and 15 degrees and preferably on the order of about 5 degrees. Hydraulic cylinder 178 can compress side press rams 120 and 121 with a force of about 100 to 10,000 psi and preferably about 500 psi.
After the needle blanks are side pressed between die plates 138, 140, 142 and 144 by side die rams 164 and 166, side press die carriage 162 can be rotated to the third position thereby positioning blow holes 186 on plates 138, 140, 142 and 144 adjacent air manifold 188. Die plates 138, 140, 142 and 144 are expanded slightly and air is injected through manifold 188, and thus through blow holes 186, to urge or force the needle blanks out of die grooves 146 into needle blank receptacle 184. Needle blank receptacle 184 is preferably formed of a plastic coated, i.e., polymer, material to insure that needle blanks deposited therein are not deformed during ejection of the needles from die grooves 146.
The needle forming apparatus 10 of the present invention is particularly adapted to transport a plurality of tapered and drilled needle blanks from an initial position on needle grinding or holding clamp 26 into shuttle member 40, through flat press station 14, curving station 16 and side press station 18 and then into receptacle 184 without having to remove the needles from apparatus 10.
The continuous flow of needle blanks through apparatus 10 is best illustrated in FIGS. 12 through 16. As noted above, needle blanks are transferred from cartridge 26 to shuttle member 40, down track 24 to a position beneath ram 76, which then flat presses opposite sides of the needle blanks in shuttle member 40 as shown in FIG. 13. As noted above, the needle blanks are then advanced to a position adjacent curving station 16 by transport station 22 wherein belt 124 draws the needles out of bores 108 in transport block 92 and reciprocally curves them about mandrel 110 as shown in FIG. 11. After curving about mandrel 110, the needles are then rotated beneath mandrel 110 and deposited between side press die plates 138, 140, 142 and 144 as shown in FIG. 13. The needle blanks are then compressed between die plates 138, 140, 142 and 144 by means of ends 180 and 182 of rams 164 and 166 as shown in FIG. 14. After side pressing, the resulting needle blanks are curved and have a rectangular cross section thus forming curved rectangular bodied needles. An illustration of a curved rectangular bodied needle 190 formed by the needle forming apparatus 10 is best illustrated in FIG. 20.
It will be understood that various modifications can be made to the embodiments of the present invention herein disclosed without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. For example, various sizes of the instrument are contemplated, as well as various types of construction materials. Also, various modifications may be made in the configuration of the parts. Therefore, the above description should not be construed as limiting the invention but merely as exemplifications of preferred embodiments thereof. Those skilled in the art will envision other modifications within the scope and spirit of the present invention as defined by the claims appended hereto. | An apparatus having a frame; a shuttle member, adapted to receive and hold a needle blank, and movably mounted to the frame; a clamp member detachably mounted on the frame for supplying needle blanks to the shuttle member; a transfer mechanism mounted on the frame for facilitating the transfer of the needle blanks from the clamp member to the shuttle member; a press mechanism for imparting first flat surfaces to first opposing sides of the needle blanks held by the shuttle member; a mandrel mounted on the frame for imparting an arcuate profile to the needle blanks; a transport mechanism for transporting the needle blanks from the shuttle member to the mandrel; and a needle side press for imparting second flat surfaces to second opposing sides of the needle blanks. A method of forming a curved, rectangular bodied needle from substantially round-elongated needle blanks is also disclosed and comprises the steps of: transferring needle blanks from a clamp to a holding shuttle having die surfaces on needle engaging faces thereof; flat pressing first opposing sides of the needle blanks between die surfaces; transporting the needle blanks from the shuttle onto a rotatable mandrel; curving the needle blanks between the rotatable mandrel and a reciprocable belt; rotating the needle blanks about the mandrel and adjacent side press dies and depositing the needle blanks therebetween; and side pressing second opposing sides of the needle blanks between side press dies. | 1 |
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/205,011, filed May 18, 2000, U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/215,693, filed Jun. 30, 2000 and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/216,051, filed Jul. 15, 2000, the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entireties.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to the preparation of cis-aminochromanols by reduction of the corresponding α-hydroxyoximes. cis-Aminochromanols are useful as intermediates in the preparation of HIV protease inhibitors.
[0003] References are made throughout this application to various published documents in order to more fully describe the state of the art to which this invention pertains. The disclosures of these references are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0004] cis-Aminochromanols are useful as intermediates in the preparation of HIV protease inhibitor compounds, which can be used to treat HIV infection, AIDS and ARC. EP 434,365 discloses, inter alia, a series of N-substituted 2(R)-((morpholinyl-ethoxy)phenylmethyl)-5(S)-((dimethylethoxycarbonyl)amino)-4(S)-hydroxy-6-phenyl-hexanamide derivatives which are useful as HIV protease inhibitors, including inhibitors prepared using cis-aminochromanol. In particular, reference is made to Example 21 of EP '365. U.S. Pat. No. 5,413,999 discloses certain N-substituted 2(R)-phenylmethyl-4(S)-hydroxy-pentaneamide derivatives which are useful as HIV protease inhibitors, including inhibitors which can be prepared from cis-aminochromanol. Reference is made, for example, to Table 1 of US '999, the third entry in cols. 33-34.
[0005] Bognar et al., Tetrahedron 1963, 19: 391-394, discloses the preparation of 4-amino-3-hydroxyflavan by the hydrogenation of the corresponding oxime in the presence of PtO 2 at atmospheric pressure in warm aqueous (80%) acetic acid. Bognar et al., Tet. Letters 1959, No. 19: 4-8, has a similar disclosure.
[0006] Julian et al., J. Het. Chem. 1975, 12: 1179-1182, discloses the preparation of cis-4-aminochroman-3-ol by reaction of 2-oxo-1,3a,4,9b-tetrahydro-2H[1]benzo-pyrano[4,3-d]oxazole with methanolic potassium hydroxide. EP 434,365 discloses substantially the same preparation in Example 21, Steps A and B.
[0007] Ghosh et al., Tet. Letters 1991, 32: 711-714, discloses the preparation of 4-aminothiochroman-3-ol by the reduction of the corresponding α-hydroxy benzyloxime with borane in tetrahydrofuran. It is further disclosed that borane reduction of an equilibrium mixture (3:2) of the anti and syn oximes afforded a 90/10 mixture of the cis/trans 4-aminothiochroman-3-ols.
[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 6,057,479 (Mitamura et al.) discloses the preparation of cis-1-amino-2-indanol by the catalytic hydrogenation of 2-hydroxy-1-indanone oxime in methanol. Example 21 of US '479 discloses the hydrogenation in the presence of Pd black and HCl to give an aminoindanol product having a cis/trans selectivity of 95.5:4.5. Examples 22-23 report similar results for analogous hydrogenations using Pd/C and Pd/alumina. Example 24 discloses an analogous hydrogenation using Pd black and aqueous HBr to provide 1-amino-2-indanol product with a cis/trans ratio of 95.6:4.4. Results substantially the same as in Example 24 are also reported in Kajiro et al., SYNLETT 1998, p. 51.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] The present invention is directed to a process for preparing cis-4-aminochroman-3-ols via oxime hydrogenation. The process of the present invention has unexpectedly been found to afford cis-aminochromanol in high yields and with a relatively high selectivity relative to the trans isomer. More particularly, the present invention is a process for preparing a cis-aminochromanol of Formula (I):
[0010] which comprises:
[0011] (A) hydrogenating in the presence of a catalyst a mixture comprising an oxime of Formula (II):
[0012] solvent, and an acid selected from the group consisting of (i) HBr, (ii) HCl, and (iii) organic sulfonic acids; wherein
[0013] each R 1 is independently halo, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, halogenated C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxy, halogenated C 1 -C 6 alkoxy, —CO 2 R a , —COR a , —NR a R b , —NR a —COR b , —NR b —CO 2 R b , —CO—NR a R b , —OCO—NR a R b , —NR a CO—NR a R b , —S(O) p —R a , wherein p is an integer from 0 to 2, —S(O) 2 —NR a R b , —NR a S(O) 2 —R b , or —NR a S(O) 2 —NR a R b ;
[0014] R 2 is
[0015] (1) hydrogen;
[0016] (2) C 1 -C 6 alkyl;
[0017] (3) C 1 -C 6 alkyl substituted with one or more substituents, each of which is independently halo, cyano, C 1 -C 4 alkoxy, C 1 -C 4 haloalkoxy, C 3 -C 8 cycloalkyl, or phenyl;
[0018] (4) C 3 -C 8 cycloalkyl;
[0019] (5) C 3 -C 8 cycloalkyl substituted with one or more substituents, each of which is independently halo, cyano, C 1 -C 4 alkyl, C 1 -C 4 haloalkyl, C 1 -C 4 alkoxy, C 1 -C 4 haloalkoxy, or phenyl;
[0020] (6) phenyl; or
[0021] (7) phenyl substituted with one or more substituents, each of which is independently C 1 -C 4 alkyl, C 1 -C 4 haloalkyl, C 1 -C 4 alkoxy, C 1 -C 4 haloalkoxy, cyano, or halo;
[0022] each R a and R b is independently hydrogen, C 1 -C 4 alkyl, or (CH 2 ) 0-3 CF 3 ; and
[0023] m is an integer from 0 to 4.
[0024] In one embodiment, the present invention further comprises:
[0025] (B) treating the hydrogenated mixture with base to provide free amine.
[0026] The process of the present invention has distinct advantages over known methods for producing aminochromanols. For example, the PtO 2 -catalyzed hydrogenation disclosed in Bognar et al. (cited above) employs acetic acid, which has poor selectivity for the cis product over the trans. The preparation of aminothiochromanol disclosed in Ghosh et al. (cited above) requires reduction of a benzyloxime reactant with borane, which is a relatively expensive reducing agent, and has a relatively poor yield and poor cis/trans selectivity. On the other hand, the hydrogenation process of the present invention can achieve relatively high yields and high cis over trans selectivity using inexpensive reagents (i.e., H 2 and HBr, HCl, or an organic sulfonic acid) and a reusable catalyst (e.g., palladium).
[0027] The process of the invention is distinct from the hydrogenation chemistry disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,057,479, which is limited to the preparation of cis-1-amino-2-indanol. Furthermore, the C6:C5O chromanyl ring system is much more flexible than the relatively rigid C6:C5 indanyl system, and thus has access to a number of low energy conformations that would not be available to the indanyl. Accordingly, the relative high cis/trans selectivity for the aminoindanol product disclosed in US '479 is not predictive of the selectivity that can be achieved for an aminochromanol product prepared using the analogous chemistry. Further evidence of the distinctiveness of the process of the invention with respect to US '479 is that US '479 discloses essentially the same cis/trans selectivity for both HCl and HBr, whereas the process of the invention can achieve much higher cis-trans selectivity for HBr, than for HCl (see Examples 3 and 5 below).
[0028] Other embodiments, aspects and features of the present invention are either further described in or will be apparent from the ensuing description, examples and appended claims.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0029] The present invention includes a process for preparing cis-amino-chromanols by catalytically hydrogenating the corresponding α-hydroxyoxime in the presence of an acid. This process is set forth in the Summary of the Invention as Step A.
[0030] In this process, each group R 1 in the definition of Compounds I and II is independently halo, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, halogenated C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxy, halogenated C 1 -C 6 alkoxy, —CO 2 R a , —COR a , —NR a R b , —NR a —COR b , —NR b —CO 2 R b , —CO—NR a R b , —OCO—NR a R b , —NR a CO—NR a R b , —S(O) p —R a , wherein p is an integer from 0 to 2, —S(O) 2 —NR a R b , —NR a S(O) 2 —R b , or —NR a S(O) 2 —NR a R b . In one embodiment, each R 1 is independently halo, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, halogenated C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxy, or halogenated C 1 -C 6 alkoxy. In another embodiment, each R 1 is independently halo, C 1 -C 4 alkyl, halogenated C 1 -C 4 alkyl, C 1 -C 4 alkoxy, or halogenated C 1 -C 4 alkoxy. In still another embodiment, each R 1 is independently chloro, fluoro, C 1 -C 4 alkyl, fluorinated C 1 -C 4 alkyl, C 1 -C 4 alkoxy, or fluorinated C 1 -C 4 alkoxy. In still another embodiment, each R 1 is fluoro, C 1 -C 4 alkyl, (CH 2 ) 0-3 CF 3 , C 1 -C 4 alkoxy, or O(CH 2 ) 0-3 CF 3 . In yet another embodiment, each R 1 is independently fluoro, methyl, ethyl, trifluoromethyl, 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl, methoxy, ethoxy, trifluoromethoxy, or 2,2,2-trifluoroethoxy.
[0031] In the definition of R 1 , each R a and R b is independently hydrogen, C 1 -C 4 alkyl, or (CH 2 ) 0-3 CF 3 . In one embodiment, each R a and R b is independently hydrogen, methyl, ethyl, or CF 3 .
[0032] The integer m defines the number of R 1 groups which may be present in Compounds I and II and has a value in the range of from 0 to 4. In other embodiments, m is 0 to 3; or is 1 to 3; or is 0 to 2; or is 1 to 2; or is 0 to 1; or is 0. An aspect of the process of the invention is the process as set forth above wherein m is zero.
[0033] In the process of the invention, the group R 2 in the definition of Compound II is (1) hydrogen; (2) C 1 -C 6 alkyl; (3) C 1 -C 6 alkyl substituted with one or more substituents, each of which is independently halo, cyano, C 1 -C 4 alkoxy, C 1 -C 4 haloalkoxy, C 3 -C 8 cycloalkyl or phenyl; (4) C 3 -C 8 cycloalkyl; (5) C 3 -C 8 cycloalkyl substituted with one or more substituents, each of which is independently halo, cyano, C 1 -C 4 alkyl, C 1 -C 4 haloalkyl, C 1 -C 4 alkoxy, C 1 -C 4 haloalkoxy, or phenyl; (6) phenyl; or (7) phenyl substituted with one or more substituents, each of which is independently C 1 -C 4 alkyl, C 1 -C 4 haloalkyl, C 1 -C 4 alkoxy, C 1 -C 4 haloalkoxy, cyano, or halo. In one embodiment, R 2 is (1) hydrogen; (2) C 1 -C 4 alkyl; or (3) C 1 -C 4 alkyl substituted with one or more substituents, each of which is independently halo, cyano, C 1 -C 4 alkoxy, C 1 -C 4 haloalkoxy, C 3 -C 8 cycloalkyl or phenyl. In other embodiments, R 2 is hydrogen, methyl, ethyl, phenyl, or benzyl; or is hydrogen.
[0034] The α-hydroxyoxime of Formula II can be prepared in accordance with methods known in the art, such as by reacting the corresponding α-hydroxyketone with hydroxylamine hydrochloride or with a suitable derivative thereof (e.g., O-alkyloxy-, O-cycloalkyloxy-, and O-phenyloxy-amine hydrochlorides). The α-hydroxyketone can be obtained by hydrolysis of the corresponding α-hydroxy dimethylketal, which in turn can be prepared from the chroman-4-one via the Moriarty reaction, which is described in Moriarty et al., Tet. Letters 1981, 22: 1283-1286 and Moriarty et al., Synth. Commun. 1984, 14: 1373-1378. The α-hydroxyketone can also be prepared in accordance with methods described in Davis et al., J. Org. Chem. 1990, 55: 3715-3717; Rubottom et al., J. Org. Chem. 1978, 43: 1599-1602; and Hassner et al., J. Org. Chem. 1975, 40: 3427-3429.
[0035] The acid employed in Step A can be HBr, HCl, or an organic sulfonic acid. Exemplary sulfonic acids are methanesulfonic acid, trifluoromethylsulfonic acid, ethanesulfonic acid, benzenesulfonic acid, p-toluenesulfonic acid, p-acetamidobenzenesulfonic acid, and dodecylbenzene-sulfonic acid.
[0036] In one embodiment, the acid is selected from the group consisting of HBr, HCl, and sulfonic acids of formula R*—SO 2 H, wherein R* is C 1 -C 6 alkyl, fluorinated C 1 -C 6 alkyl, phenyl, or substituted phenyl wherein each of the substituents on substituted phenyl is independently C 1 -C 12 alkyl, C 1 -C 12 haloalkyl, halo, cyano, nitro, C 1 -C 6 alkoxy, C 2 -C 8 alkoxyalkyl, N(R c R d ) 2 , and NR c COR d ; wherein each R c and R d is independently hydrogen, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, or (CH 2 ) 0-4 CF 3 . In an aspect of the preceding embodiment, the sulfonic acid is of formula R*—SO 2 H, wherein R* is C 1 -C 4 alkyl or fluorinated C 1 -C 4 alkyl. In another aspect of the preceding embodiment, sulfonic acid is of formula R*—SO 2 H, wherein R* is C 1 -C 4 alkyl.
[0037] In another embodiment, the acid is HBr, HCl, or methanesulfonic acid. In further embodiments, the acid is HBr or methanesulfonic acid; or is methanesulfonic acid; or is HBr. In a preferred embodiment of the process of the invention, the acid is HBr. In one aspect, HBr is employed as aqueous HBr, such as 48% HBr.
[0038] Suitable solvents for Step A can be selected from the group consisting of C 3 -C 12 linear and branched alkanes, C 1 -C 6 linear and branched halogenated alkanes, C 5 -C 7 cycloalkanes, C 6 -C 10 aromatic hydrocarbons, dialkyl ethers wherein each alkyl is independently a C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 4 -C 8 dialkoxyalkanes, C 4 -C 6 cyclic ethers and diethers, C 6 -C 8 aromatic ethers, and C 1 -C 6 alkyl alcohols. Exemplary solvents include carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, methylene chloride, 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE), 1,1,2-trichloroethane (TCE), 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane, cyclohexane, toluene, o- and m- and p-xylene, ethylbenzene, ethyl ether, MTBE, THF, dioxane, 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DME), anisole, phenetole, methanol, ethanol, n- and iso-propanol, and tert-butyl alcohol.
[0039] In one embodiment, the solvent is selected from the group consisting of C 2 -C 6 linear and branched halogenated alkanes, dialkyl ethers wherein each alkyl is independently a C 1 -C 4 alkyl, C 4 -C 6 cyclic ethers and diethers, and C 1 -C 4 alkyl alcohols. In an aspect of the preceding embodiment, the solvent is a C 1 -C 4 alkyl alcohol. In another aspect of the preceding embodiment, the solvent is methanol.
[0040] The solvent can also be a mixture comprising water and an organic co-solvent. Suitable co-solvents include the organic solvents set forth in the preceding two paragraphs. In one embodiment, the co-solvent is a C 1 -C 6 monohydric alcohol. In an aspect of this embodiment, the co-solvent is methanol or ethanol. The water can comprise from about 5 to about 95 volume percent based on the total volume of solvent. It has been found, however, that significant amounts of water (i.e., more than about 20 volume percent) can reduce the cis/trans selectivity of the hydrogenation. The use of 1:2 methanol/water solvent systems with HBr, for example, has been found to reduce selectivity dramatically compared to the use of methanol alone (e.g., 11:1 v. 23:1). Accordingly, in a preferred embodiment, the amount of water in the water-organic co-solvent mixture (e.g., water/methanol) is no more than about 20 vol %.
[0041] The hydrogenation of the oxime II can be conducted over a wide range of temperatures, although the temperature is typically in the range of from about −25 to about 200° C. (e.g., from about −20 to about 100°). In one embodiment, the temperature is in the range of from about −10 to about 20° C. In another embodiment, the temperature is from about −5 to about 5° C.
[0042] The pressure is not a critical aspect of the process of the invention, although atmospheric and superatmospheric pressures tend to be expedient. In one embodiment, the pressure is at least about 2 psig (115 kPa). In another embodiment, the pressure is in the range of from about 10 psia (68.9 kPa) to about 10,000 psia (68,950 kPa) (e.g., from about 50 psia (345 kPa) to about 1,000 psia (6,895 kPa)).
[0043] In one embodiment, the hydrogenation is conducted at a temperature in the range of from about −20 to about 100° C. and at a pressure of from about 2 psig (115 kPa) to about 1000 psig (6996 kPa). In another embodiment, the hydrogenation is conducted at a temperature in the range of from about −5 to about 20° C. and at a pressure in the range of from about 10 psig (167 kPa) to about 500 psig (3549 kPa). In still another embodiment, the hydrogenation is conducted at a temperature in the range of from about −10 to about 10° C. and at a pressure in the range of from about 10 psig (170 kPa) to about 100 psig (791 kPa).
[0044] Any catalyst which is capable of expediting the hydrogenation of the oxime functional group in Compound II may be employed in the process of the invention. Typically, the catalyst comprises one or more of the Group VIII metals as set forth in the Periodic Table of the Elements (see, e.g., the 78th edition of the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, CRC Press (1997)). Suitable hydrogenation catalysts include palladium, rhenium, rhodium, platinum, or nickel. The catalyst can be supported or unsupported. Suitable catalyst supports include carbon, silica, alumina, silicon carbide, aluminum fluoride, and calcium fluoride. Palladium is particularly suitable for use in the process of the invention. Exemplary palladium catalysts include Pd black (i.e., fine metallic palladium particles) and Pd/C (i.e., palladium on a carbon support). Pd black is an effective catalyst, but results have been found to depend upon on the choice of vendor. Pd/C is a preferred catalyst.
[0045] The hydrogen source is typically hydrogen gas, optionally in admixture with a carrier gas that is inert to the process of the invention (e.g., nitrogen or a noble gas such as helium or argon).
[0046] The hydrogenation can be carried out in batches or continuously in various types of reactors such as a fixed bed reactor or an agitated slurry reactor in which the slurry of gas, solvent, oxime II, acid, and catalyst is continuously agitated by mechanical or gas means. A suitable reaction vessel for relatively small scale, batch-wise hydrogenations is an autoclave equipped with a stirrer or rocker to agitate the reaction mixture. In a batch process, the order of addition of oxime II, solvent, acid, and hydrogenation catalyst to the reaction vessel (also referred to herein as the reaction “pot”) is not critical. The reactants and reagents can, for example, be added concurrently, either together or separately, or they can be added sequentially in any order. In one embodiment, Compound II pre-mixed with the solvent is charged to the reaction vessel followed by addition of the acid, and then the catalyst. The hydrogenation can then be conducted by charging hydrogen gas, optionally in admixture with one or more inert gases, to the vessel containing the mixture comprising oxime II, solvent, acid and catalyst, and then agitating the mixture under reaction conditions.
[0047] Any amount of acid, catalyst and hydrogen can be employed which results in the formation of at least some of Compound II. Of course, the maximum conversion of Compound II and maximum yield of Compound I is normally desired, and relative proportions of reactants and reagents suitable for this purpose are typically employed.
[0048] The acid is suitably employed in Step A in an amount of at least about 0.5 equivalents per equivalent of Compound II, and is typically employed in an amount of at least about 1 equivalent per equivalent of Compound II. In one embodiment, the acid is employed in an amount in the range of from about 0.5 to about 2 equivalents per equivalent of Compound II. In another embodiment, the amount of acid is in the range of from about 0.75 to about 1.25 equivalents per equivalent of II. In still another embodiment, the amount of acid is in the range of from about 0.95 to about 1.05 equivalents per equivalent of II.
[0049] In one aspect of the process, the acid is HBr, the amount of acid is in the range of from about 0.95 to about 1.05 equivalents per equivalent of II, and the hydrogenation temperature is in the range of from about −5 to about 5° C. In another aspect of the process, the catalyst is Pd/C, the acid is HBr, the amount of acid is in the range of from about 0.95 to about 1.05 equivalents per equivalent of II, and the hydrogenation temperature is in the range of from about −5 to about 5° C. When the level of HBr employed in the process is greater about 1.25 equivalents, hydrogenation should be begun promptly after the addition of the acid to avoid formation of solvolysis by-products such as, when using methanol solvent,
[0050] The uptake of hydrogen is not a critical process parameter, although at least a stoichiometric amount of hydrogen gas is typically employed.
[0051] Any amount of catalyst can be employed which results in the formation of at least some of Compound I. The amount of catalyst employed in step A is suitably at least about 0.01 mole percent transition metal (e.g., Pd), and is typically in the range of from about 0.01 to about 5 (e.g., from about 0.1 to about 5) mole percent transition metal, based on the total moles of transition metal and Compound I. In one embodiment, the amount of catalyst is in the range of from about 1 to about 5 (e.g., from about 2 to about 3) mole percent transition metal. In another embodiment, the catalyst comprises palladium (e.g., Pd/C), and the amount of palladium catalyst is in the range of from about 1 to about 5 mole percent. In an aspect of the preceding embodiment, the Pd catalyst is present in an amount in the range of from about 2 to about 3 mole percent.
[0052] If desired, the progress of the reaction in Step A can be followed by monitoring the disappearance of a reactant (i.e., Compound II or H 2 ) and/or the appearance of the product using such analytical techniques as TLC, HPLC, NMR or GC.
[0053] The present invention also includes a process which comprises the oxime hydrogenation as heretofore described (Step A), followed by treatment of the hydrogenated product mixture with base to provide a free amine (Step B).
[0054] Any organic or inorganic base can be used in step B which is capable of neutralizing the acidic hydrogenated mixture resulting from step A. Suitable bases include bases selected from the group consisting of alkali metal hydroxides, alkali metal carbonates, alkali metal oxides, C 1 -C 6 alkoxides of alkali metals, alkaline earth metal hydroxides, alkaline earth metal oxides, tetra (C 1 -C 4 alkyl)ammonium hydroxides, and tri-(C 1 -C 4 alkyl)amines. Exemplary bases include hydroxides, carbonates, and oxides of lithium, sodium and potassium; methoxides, ethoxides, and n- and iso-propoxides of lithium, sodium, and potassium; tetramethyl- and tetraethyl-ammonium hydroxide; triethylamine; and diisopropylethylamine. In one embodiment, the base is selected from the group consisting of alkali metal hydroxides. In an aspect of the preceding embodiment, the base is NaOH or KOH.
[0055] The base can be employed in step B in any proportion with respect to Compound I which will at least partially neutralize the acidic hydrogenated mixture from step A, so as provide at least some of Compound II as free base. Typically, however, base is employed in an amount sufficient to achieve complete neutralization. The amount of base employed in step B can suitably be at least about 1 equivalent per equivalent of Compound II, and is typically in the range of from about 1 to about 5 equivalents per equivalent of Compound II. In one embodiment, the amount of base is from about 1 to about 2 equivalents per equivalent of Compound II. In another embodiment, the amount of base is in the range of from about 1 to about 1.5 equivalents per equivalent of Compound II. The base can be charged to the reaction vessel containing the step A hydrogenated mixture, or the hydrogenated mixture can be charged to a vessel containing the base.
[0056] Step B is suitably conducted at a temperature in the range of from about −10 to about 110° C., and is typically conducted at a temperature in the range of from about 0 to about 80° C. In one embodiment, the temperature is in the range of from about 10 to about 30° C.
[0057] Alternatively, the base treatment of step B can comprise eluting the hydrogenated mixture through a suitable ion exchange column, such as elution through Dowex® (available from Dow Chemical) or Amberlyst-IRA (available from Rohm & Haas).
[0058] Following the treatment with base, Compound I can be isolated from the reaction mixture by conventional means, such as by filtration to remove solids, solvent wash, concentration (e.g., by vacuum removal of solvent), and crystallization.
[0059] An embodiment of the process of the invention is the process comprising Steps A and B as heretofore described, which further comprises
[0060] (C) resolving the S,S- and R,R-isomers of Compound I by
[0061] (c1) forming a solution comprising Compound I, a chiral acid, and solvent, and
[0062] (c2) crystallizing from the solution a salt which contains predominantly either the S,S- or R,R-isomer.
[0063] Suitable chiral acids include optically active forms of tartaric acid, mandelic acid, camphoric acid, 10-camphorsulfonic acid, pyroglutamic acid, O,O-diacetyltartaric acid, O,O-dibenzoyltartaric acid, O,O-di-4-toluyltartaric acid, and N-acetyl derivatives of amino acids such as N-acetylleucine.
[0064] The solvent can be any organic or inorganic substance, or combinations thereof, which can dissolve Compound I and the chiral acid and is chemically inert thereto. Suitable solvents include water, C 1 -C 6 monohydric alcohols (e.g., methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, n-butanol, n-pentanol, isopropanol, and sec-butyl alcohol), C 2 -C 8 polyhydric alcohols (e.g., ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, and glycerol), C 1 -C 4 nitriles (e.g., acetonitrile and propionitrile), N,N-di-C 1 -C 6 alkyl tertiary amides of C 1 -C 6 alkylcarboxylic acids (e.g., DMF), aliphatic C 2 -C 6 ethers and di-ethers (e.g., ethyl ether, MTBE and dimethoxyethane), and C 4 -C 6 cyclic ethers and di-ethers (e.g., THF and dioxane). In one embodiment, the solvent is selected from the group consisting of C 1 -C 6 monohydric alcohols, aliphatic C 2 -C 6 ethers and di-ethers and C 4 -C 6 cyclic ethers and di-ethers. In an aspect of the preceding embodiment, the solvent is an alcohol such as methanol or ethanol.
[0065] In another embodiment, the solvent is a mixture comprising water and an organic co-solvent. In an aspect of this embodiment, water comprises at least about 5 volume percent of the solvent (e.g., from about 5 to about 95 volume percent) based on the total volume of solvent. In another aspect of this embodiment, the aqueous solvent comprises from about 30 to about 70 volume percent (e.g., from about 40 to about 60 volume percent) water, with the balance of the solvent being organic co-solvent. Suitable co-solvents include the organic solvents set forth in the preceding paragraph. In one embodiment, the co-solvent is a C 1 -C 6 monohydric alcohol. In an aspect of this embodiment, the co-solvent is methanol or ethanol.
[0066] The crystallization of the S,S- or R,R-isomer in (c2) can be accomplished using conventional techniques, such as by cooling the solution or by concentrating the solution via vacuum or evaporative removal of solvent. The resulting crystals can then be separated by filtration and followed optionally by the washing and drying of the filter cake.
[0067] In one aspect of step C, the chiral acid is (S)-mandelic acid or (R)-mandelic acid. In a preferred aspect of step C, the chiral acid is (S)-mandelic acid, and the crystallized (S)-mandelate salt resulting from (c2) is a salt of the S,S-isomer.
[0068] In another aspect, step C further comprises: (c3) recovering a salt which contains predominantly the other of the S,S- and R,R-isomers from the mother liquor, such as by evaporative or vacuum removal of the solvent.
[0069] In still another aspect, step C further comprises: (c4) breaking the crystallized salt of the recovered isomer by treating the salt with base. In a typical procedure, the crystallized salt can be slurried in an organic solvent, the slurry mixed with aqueous base resulting in a biphasic mixture, and the organic layer containing the isomer separated from the aqueous layer. The formation of the slurry and the biphasic mixture are suitably conducted at temperatures in the range of from about 0 to about 100° C., and are typically conducted at a temperature of from about 10 to about 60° C. In one embodiment, the temperature is in the range of from about 15 to about 35° C. The base can be any of the bases set forth above in the description of step B. The base can also be an alkanolamine (e.g., ethanolamine), a hydroxylamine (e.g., hydroxylamine per se, N-methylhydroxylamine, N,N-dimethylhydroxylamine, or N-ethylhydroxylamine), or a diamine (e.g., ethylenediamine, tetramethylenediamine, or hexamethylenediamine). The organic solvent can suitably be selected from C 1 -C 12 linear and branched alkanes, C 1 -C 12 linear and branched halogenated alkanes, C 5 -C 10 cycloalkanes, C 6 -C 14 aromatic hydrocarbons, dialkyl ethers wherein each alkyl is independently a C 1 -C 10 alkyl, C 4 -C 8 dialkoxyalkanes, C 4 -C 8 cyclic ethers and diethers, C 6 -C 8 aromatic ethers, C 2 -C 10 dialkyl ketones wherein each alkyl is independently C 1 -C 8 alkyl, C 1 -C 6 alkyl esters of C 1 -C 6 alkylcarboxylic acids, primary C 1 -C 10 alkyl alcohols, secondary C 3 -C 10 alkyl alcohols, tertiary C 4 -C 10 alkyl alcohols, primary amides of C 1 -C 6 alkylcarboxylic acids, N-C 1 -C 6 alkyl secondary amides or N,N-di-C 1 -C 6 alkyl tertiary amides of C 1 -C 6 alkylcarboxylic acids, C 2 -C 6 aliphatic nitriles, and C 7 -C 10 aromatic nitriles. Exemplary solvents include carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, methylene chloride, 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE), 1,1,2-trichloroethane (TCE), 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane, cyclohexane, toluene, o- and m- and p-xylene, ethylbenzene, ethyl ether, MTBE, THF, dioxane, 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DNE), anisole, phenetole, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), methyl acetate, ethyl acetate, IPAc, ethanol, n- and iso-propanol, tert-butyl alcohol, dimethylformamide (DMF), acetonitrile, propionitrile, benzonitrile, and p-tolunitrile.
[0070] In yet another aspect of step C, the crystallized salt is the (S)-mandelate salt of the S,S-isomer; wherein in the salt breaking step, the base is ethanolamine and the breaking of the salt provides an S,S-aminochromanol of Formula (I′):
[0071] wherein R 1 and m are as heretofore defined.
[0072] Another embodiment of the process of the invention is a process for preparing cis-aminochromanol 5:
[0073] which comprises
[0074] (A) hydrogenating a mixture of oxime 3:
[0075] and solvent in the presence of a catalyst and in the presence of an acid selected from the group consisting of (i) HBr, (ii) HCl, and (iii) organic sulfonic acids; and
[0076] (B) treating the hydrogenated mixture with base.
[0077] Aspects of the preceding embodiment include the process as set forth, wherein:
[0078] (i) the catalyst is a palladium catalyst (e.g., Pd/C);
[0079] (ii) the acid is HBr or methanesulfonic acid;
[0080] (iii) the acid is HBr (e.g., aqueous HBr);
[0081] (iv) the hydrogenation is conducted at a temperature in the range of from about −20 to about 100° C. and at a pressure of at least about 2 psig (115 kPa);
[0082] (v) the hydrogenation is conducted at a temperature in the range of from about −5 to about 5° C. and the amount of acid is in the range of from about 0.95 to about 1.05 equivalents per equivalent of 3;
[0083] (vi) the process incorporates the combination of (i) and (ii);
[0084] (vii) the process incorporates the combination of (i) and (iii);
[0085] (viii) the process includes the combination of (i), (ii) or (iii), and (iv); and
[0086] (ix) the process includes the combination of (i), (ii) or (iii) and (v).
[0087] In yet another aspect of the preceding embodiment, the process further comprises:
[0088] (C) resolving the S,S-isomer of 5 by
[0089] (c1) forming a solution of 5 with (S)-mandelic acid, and
[0090] (c2) crystallizing from the solution a salt of the S,S-isomer, and optionally
[0091] (c4) breaking the (S)-mandelate salt with ethanolamine to provide S,S-aminochromanol 7:
[0092] The present invention also includes a process for improving the optical purity of S,S-aminochromanol 7:
[0093] with which at least some R,R-isomer is present, wherein the process comprises:
[0094] (a) forming a solution comprising cis-aminochroman-3-ol, (S)-mandelic acid, and solvent;
[0095] (b) crystallizing the (S)-mandelate salt from the solution; and
[0096] (c) breaking the (S)-mandelate salt with base (e.g., ethanolamine) to provide 7 having greater optical purity.
[0097] The bases, solvents, and procedures set forth above for step C are also suitable for the practice of this process.
[0098] As used herein, the term “C 1 -C 6 alkyl” (which may alternatively be referred to herein as “C 1-6 alkyl”) means linear or branched chain alkyl groups having from 1 to 6 carbon atoms and includes all of the hexyl alkyl and pentyl alkyl isomers as well as n-, iso-, sec- and t-butyl, n- and isopropyl, ethyl and methyl. “C 1 -C 4 alkyl” means n-, iso-, sec- and t-butyl, n- and isopropyl, ethyl and methyl. Similar terms (e.g., “C 1 -C 3 alkyl”) have analogous definitions.
[0099] The term “C 1 -C 6 alkoxy” means an -O-alkyl group wherein alkyl is C 1 to C 6 alkyl as defined above. “C 1 -C 4 alkoxy” has an analogous meaning; i.e., it is an alkoxy group selected from methoxy, ethoxy, n-propoxy, isopropoxy, n-butoxy, isobutoxy, tert-butoxy, and sec-butoxy. Similar terms (e.g., “C 1 -C 3 alkoxy”) have analogous definitions.
[0100] The term “halogen” (which may alternatively be referred to as “halo”) refers to fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine (alternatively, fluoro, chloro, bromo, and iodo).
[0101] The term “halogenated C 1 -C 6 alkyl” (which may alternatively be referred to as “C 1 -C 6 haloalkyl” or “C 1-6 haloalkyl”) means a C 1 to C 6 linear or branched alkyl group as defined above with one or more halogen substituents. The terms “halogenated C 1 -C 4 alkyl” and “halogenated C 1 -C 3 alkyl” have analogous meanings. The term “fluorinated C 1 -C 6 alkyl” (or “C 1 -C 6 fluoroalkyl” or “C 1-6 fluoroalkyl”) means a C 1 to C 6 linear or branched alkyl group as defined above with one or more fluorine substituents. The terms “fluorinated C 1 -C 4 alkyl” and “fluorinated C 1 -C 3 alkyl” have analogous meanings. Representative examples of suitable fluoroalkyls include the series (CH 2 ) 0-3 CF 3 and (CH 2 ) 0-2 CF 3 (i.e., trifluoromethyl, 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl, and 3,3,3-trifluoro-n-propyl), 1-fluoroethyl, 2-fluoroethyl, 2,2-difluoroethyl, 3,3,3-trifluoroisopropyl, 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoroisopropyl, and perfluorohexyl.
[0102] The term “halogenated C 1 -C 6 alkoxy” (which may alternatively be referred to as “C 1 -C 6 haloalkoxy” or “C 1-6 haloalkoxy”) means a C 1 to C 6 linear or branched alkyl group as defined above with one or more halogen substituents. The terms “halogenated C 1 -C 4 alkoxy” and “halogenated C 1 -C 3 alkoxy” have analogous meanings. The term “fluorinated C 1 -C 6 alkoxy” (which may alternatively be referred to as “C 1 -C 6 fluoroalkoxy”) means a C 1 -C 6 alkoxy group as defined above wherein the alkyl moiety has one or more fluorine substituents. The terms “fluorinated C 1 -C 4 alkoxy” and “fluorinated C 1 -C 3 alkoxy” have analogous meanings. Representative examples include the series O(CH 2 ) 0-3 CF 3 (i.e., trifluoromethoxy, 2,2,2-trifluoroethoxy, 3,3,3-trifluoro-n-propoxy, etc.), 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoroisopropoxy, and so forth.
[0103] The term “C 2 -C 8 alkoxyalkyl” means a linear or branched C 1 -C 6 alkyl group as defined above having as a substituent a C 1 -C 6 alkoxy group as defined above, wherein the alkoxyalkyl group has a total of from 2 to 8 carbon atoms. Similarly, “C 2 -C 6 alkoxyalkyl” means a linear or branched C 1 -C 5 alkyl group as defined above having as a substituent a C 1 -C 5 alkoxy group as defined above, wherein the alkoxyalkyl group has a total of from 2 to 6 carbon atoms. “C 2 -C 4 alkoxyalkyl” means a linear or branched C 1 -C 3 alkyl group as defined above having as a substituent a C 1 -C 3 alkoxy group as defined above, wherein the alkoxyalkyl group has a total of from 2 to 4 carbon atoms. Representative examples of suitable alkoxyalkyl groups include, but are not limited to, the C 1 -C 6 alkoxy-substituted methyl groups (methoxymethyl, ethoxymethyl, n-propoxymethyl, isopropoxymethyl, and the butyloxymethyl, pentyloxymethyl, and hexyloxymethyl isomers), and the C 1 -C 6 alkoxy-substituted ethyl groups. Other suitable alkoxyalkyl groups include the series (CH 2 ) 1-6 OCH 3 , (CH 2 ) 1-4 OCH 3 , (CH 2 ) 1-3 OCH 3 , (CH 2 ) 1-6 OCH 2 CH 3 , and (CH 2 ) 1-4 OCH 2 CH 3 .
[0104] The term “C 3 -C 8 cycloalkyl” refers to a cyclic ring selected from cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, cycloheptyl, and cyclooctyl. “C 3 -C 6 cycloalkyl” has an analogous meaning.
[0105] The term “alkali metal” refers to a metal of Group Ia of the Periodic Table, including but not limited to lithium, sodium, and potassium.
[0106] The term “alkaline earth metal” refers to a metal of Group Ia of the Periodic Table, including but not limited to magnesium and calcium.
[0107] Abbreviations used in the instant specification include the following:
[0108] Ac=acetic or acetate
[0109] AIDS=acquired immune deficiency syndrome
[0110] ARC=AIDS related complex
[0111] Bn=benzyl
[0112] DCE=1,2-dichloroethane
[0113] DME=1,2-dimethoxyethane
[0114] DMF=dimethylformamide
[0115] DSC=differential scanning calorimetry
[0116] IPAc=isopropyl acetate
[0117] KF=Karl Fisher titration for water
[0118] Me=methyl
[0119] MeOH=methanol
[0120] MTBE=methyl tert-butyl ether
[0121] Ph=phenyl
[0122] psia=pounds per square inch (absolute)
[0123] psig=pounds per square inch (gauge)
[0124] TCE=1,1,2-trichloroethane
[0125] THF=tetrahydrofuran
[0126] XRPD=X-ray powder diffraction
[0127] The following examples serve only to illustrate the invention and its practice. The examples are not to be construed as limitations on the scope or spirit of the invention.
EXAMPLE 1
[0128] [0128]
[0129] To a solution of NaOH (1.6 Kg, 39 mol, 3.0 equiv. assuming 97% purity) in MeOH (11.1 L) at −10° C. was added a solution of chromanone (1, 2.0 Kg, 13 mol, 1.0 equiv. assuming 99% purity) in MeOH (8.2 L) precooled to −10° C. The resulting yellow solution was aged 5 minutes at −10° C. and a slurry of iodobenzene diacetate (4.44 Kg, 13 mol, 1.00 equiv assuming 97% purity) in MeOH (12.2 L) was added at −10° C. The dark orange reaction mixture was aged 0.5 hour at −10° C. and was warmed to 20° C. over 1 hour. The reaction mixture was aged at 20° C. for 3 hours and was transferred to a solution of 4N aqueous HCl (11.8 L, 45.5 mol, 3.5 equiv.) at 0-20° C. over >10 minutes. The yellow slurry was aged at 20-30° C. for 20 minutes and sodium acetate (2.74 kg, 33.4 mol, 2.5 equiv.) and hydroxylamine hydrochloride (1.86 kg, 26.7 mol, 2.0 equiv) were subsequently added in one portion. The reaction mixture was warmed up to 50° C., aged 1 hour and cooled back to room temperature. The solution was concentrated to a total volume of 28 L, was diluted with water (16 L) and was extracted with heptane (2×16 L). The methanolic aqueous layer was extracted with IPAc (2×16 L). The combined IPAc layers were washed with water (1×16 L), were concentrated and flushed with additional IPAc to a final volume of 5.6 L (KF<400 μg/ml). Heptane (1.9 L) was added over 30 minutes at 20° C., followed by more heptane (18.9 L) added over 30 minutes. The hydroxychromanone oxime 3 crystallized as a yellow solid. The mixture was cooled to −10° C., aged 2 hours, filtered and washed with 3 L of 3.7:1 heptane/IPAc at −10° C. and 3 L of heptane at 20° C. The oxime was dried under vacuum at 20° C. to give a light yellow solid (1.82 Kg, 75%).
[0130] [0130] 1 H NMR (400 MHz DMSO-d 6 ) Major isomer: δ9.70-9.93 (br, 1H), 8.35 (dd, 1H, J 1 =7.8, J 2 =1.6), 7.86 (dt, 1H, J 1 =7.8, J 2 =1.7), 7.54 (dt, 1H, J 1 =11.7, J 2 =1.1), 7.49 (dd, 1H, J 1 =8.2 J 2 =1.1), 5.68 (t, 1H, J 1 =2.2), 4.91 (dd, 1H, J 1 =12.4, J 2 =2.3), 4.59 (dd, 1H, J 1 =12.4, J 2 =2.1), 4.13-4.38 (br, 1H). Selected minor isomer peaks: δ9.13 (dd, 1H, J 1 =8.1, J 2 =1.7), 7.91 (dt, 1H, J 1 =7.9, J 2 =1.7), 4.94 (dd, 1H, J 1 =9.8, J 2 =2.6), 4.76 (dd, 1H, J 1 =12.8, J 2 =2.8)
[0131] To a solution of oxime (3, 2.51 Kg, 14.02 mol) in methanol (49 L) at 0° C. was charged 48% aqueous HBr (1.94 L) maintaining the temperature below 5° C. 10% Palladium on carbon (2 Kg, 62% water wet) was charged and the mixture was hydrogenated in a five-gallon, stirred autoclave at 5° C., 40 psig for 12 hr (cis/trans 20:1, 89% assay yield of cis isomer). The mixture was filtered through solka floc and washed with methanol to give a solution of the HBr salt 4 in methanol (85 L). The batch was eluted through Dowex 1×2 (19 L) on the base-cycle using methanol (72 L). The solution of free-base amine 5 was solvent switched to ethanol (44 L, KF≦550 ug/mL) under reduced pressure.
[0132] The free base amine in ethanol was heated to 70° C. and S-mandelic acid (2.1 Kg, 14 mol) in ethanol (3 L) was added. The mixture was cooled to 15° C. over 3 hr. The salt 6 was isolated by filtration and washed with ethanol (3.5 L). The batch was dried under vacuum at 20° C. to give 1.688 Kg of dry cake (>96% ee, 38% overall yield).
[0133] To a slurry of the mandelate salt (6, 1.688 Kg, mol) in isopropyl acetate (16 L) at 15-20° C. was added 10% v/v aqueous ethanolamine (6.6 L). The resulting bi-phasic mixture was agitated for 30 minutes and settled for 20 minutes. The phases were cut and the aqueous layer was extracted with IPAc (3×8L). The IPAc extracts were batch concentrated to 8 L at 40-50° C. (KF≦500 ug/mL). The batch was heated to 65-70° C. and n-heptane (8L) was added over 30 minutes. The batch was cooled to 0-5° C. over 3 hr and the aminochromanol was isolated by filtration. The wet cake was washed with 1:1 IPAc/n-heptane at 0-5° C. (1.5 L) and dried under vacuum at 20° C. to give S,S-aminochromanol 7 as a colorless solid (0.75 Kg, 90%).
[0134] A differential scanning calorimetry curve was obtained for Compound 7 under a nitrogen atmosphere in a closed cup at a heating rate of 10° C/min using a DSC Model 2910 (DuPont Instruments). The curve showed an endotherm, due to melting, with an extrapolated onset temperature of about 110° C., a peak temperature of about 111° C. and an associated heat of about 193 Joules/gram. An X-ray powder diffraction pattern was also obtained for Compound 7 using a Philips Diffractometer APD 3720 with copper K alpha radiation. The following d-spacings were observed: 7.77, 7.54, 4.74, 4.62, 4.49, 4.47, 4.39, 3.98, 3.90, 3.78, 3.64, 3.30, 3.04, 2.70, 2.66, 2.61, 2.58, 2.53, and 2.43 angstroms. The specific rotation (1% solution in MeOH, 405 nm) was +177.9.
EXAMPLE 2
Preparation of R,R-Aminochromanol
[0135] R,R-Aminochromanol 8 was prepared using a procedure analogous to that described in Example 1 for the preparation of S,S-aminochromanol 7, except that in Step C R-mandelic acid was used instead of S-mandelic acid. A DSC curve obtained for 8 in the same manner as described for 7 in Example 1, Step D, showed an endotherm, due to melting, with an extrapolated onset temperature of about 110° C., a peak temperature of about 112° C. and an associated heat of about 190 Joules/gram. The following d-spacings were observed for 8 in an XRPD pattern obtained as in Example 1, Step D: 7.84, 7.60, 4.77, 4.64, 4.49, 4.41, 4.00, 3.94, 3.92, 3.79, 3.69, 3.65, 3.32, 2.91, 2.67, 2.58, and 2.53 angstroms. The specific rotation (1% solution in MeOH, 405 nm) was −179.8.
EXAMPLE 3
Hydrogenation of Compound 3
[0136] A series of hydrogenations of compound 3 in methanol was conducted with various acids and catalysts in accordance with the procedure described in Step B of Example 1, and the relative amounts of cis and trans isomers in product 5 were determined. The experimental conditions employed in these hydrogenations and the results thereof are shown in the following Table:
Acid Catalyst cis/trans Selectivity — Pd/C 1.5:1 HBr Pd/C 12.5:1 HBr Pd black 13.9:1 HCl Pd black 1.5:1 HNO 3 Pd/C 2.1:1 H 2 SO 4 Pd/C 1.9:1 acetic acid Pd/C 1.5:1 methanesulfonic acid Pd/C 4.7:1
[0137] [0137]
[0138] The O-benzyloxime 7 was hydrogenated in accordance with the procedure described in Step B of Example 1 in the absence of an acid and in the presence of HBr (1 equivalent per equivalent of oxime). The cis/trans ratios of the resulting products were 1.8:1 (no acid) and 8:1 (HBr).
EXAMPLE 5
Hydrogenation of Compound 3
[0139] A second series of hydrogenations of compound 3 in methanol was conducted with various acids in accordance with the procedure described in Step B of Example 1, wherein the hydrogenations were run with 1 equivalent of acid at 40 psig for 12 hours at 10° C., 0.3M in methanol and with 3 mol % Pd/C catalyst. The relative amounts of cis and trans isomers in product 5 were determined. Assay yields were also determined via HPLC. The results are shown in the following Table:
Acid cis/trans Selectivity Assay Yield (%) — 1.3:1 96 HF 2.2:1 79 HCI 7:1 95 HBr 23:1 94 HI — 0 CF 3 SO 3 H 3.2:1 90 acetic acid 1.5:1 87 CF 3 CO 2 H 1.7:1 92 B(OH) 3 1.4:1 90
[0140] While the foregoing specification teaches the principles of the present invention, with examples provided for the purpose of illustration, the practice of the invention encompasses all of the usual variations, adaptations and/or modifications that come within the scope of the following claims. | cis-aminochromanols are obtained in high yield and with high selectivity over their trans counterparts by hydrogenating the corresponding oximes in the presence of a catalyst and an acid selected from HBr, HCl, and organic sulfonic acid. The cis-aminochromanols can be employed as intermediates in the production of HIV protease inhibitors which are useful for treating HIV infection and AIDS. | 2 |
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 886,881, filed Mar. 15, 1978, now abandoned.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A wide variety of products today are produced from fiberglass mats. For example, many modern roofing materials are made from fiberglass mat. This includes both the roll material which are used in place of the asphalt-impregnated felt materials employed in the plys of flat roofs, as well as in the smaller shingles often found on residential roofs.
In the past, fiberglass mats which could be converted into these roofing materials were normally produced in a dry process. They comprised a combination of chopped glass fibers in a cured binder material which, preferably, was water resistant. In such dry processes, the chopped fibers were usually distributed over a formation surface by some available means, such as air pressure which would blow the fibers around until they landed on the surface. Unfortunately, it has been found that the fibers do not distribute properly in these dry processes, leaving portions of the resultant product dangerously weak. More importantly, mats formed in this manner have little or no ability to resist tearing when a force in any direction is applied to the mat.
In order to overcome these difficulties, it has been proposed at various times to install continuous slivers or strands of fiberglass in the mats prior to application of the binder. Such a process has been shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,731,066 to Hogendobler, et al.
Unfortunately, the mats produced by such processes have been deficient due to inherent mechanical weaknesses. For example, there still exists a distribution problem with respect to the chopped glass fibers. Further, since such processes do not try to locate the continuous strands on a single cross-sectional plane, such mats still have insufficient tear strength. The indiscriminate vertical dispersion of the strands within the mats decrease their mechanical strength and often results in the final product separating into longitudinal strips or laminae.
Further, it has been found that the dry process for production of fiberglass matting is much too slow to meet the production requirements generated by the need for roofing materials in construction and repair, as well as by other products utilizing such mats.
Recently, a wet process for producing fiberglass matting has been developed in some foreign countries. This process is superior to the dry process in that the rate of production is much greater and the chopped glass fibers are relatively uniformly distributed throughout the mass. However, such processes have not been able to employ the reinforcing strands discussed previously with respect to the dry process as shown in the Hogendobler, et al. patent.
Consequently, while such wet process matting can be produced at a more rapid pace with a more uniform distribution of the glass fibers, it has been unable to resist tearing when a force is applied to the matting in almost any direction. This is not totally unsatisfactory in the foreign countries concerned, since construction there is accomplished at a much more leisurely pace and the material can be more carefully handled. In the United States, on the other hand, such materials have failed to withstand the rough handling generated by the speed with which such products must be handled and applied in construction.
Consequently, a very pressing need for a uniform, high-production speed, relatively strong fiberglass matting has developed and that need has, heretofore, not been satisfied by the industry.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for producing such fiberglass matting. More particularly, the present invention involves a wet process mat-production in which continuous reinforcing strands are applied to the mat during production to provide tear resistance against forces applied in any direction.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, chopped glass fibers are mixed with water into a slurry which is contained in a tank or bath. Such fibers may range in length, for example, from 1/4" to 11/4" and in diameter from 9 to 16 microns. A screen may be moved through the tank from a position near the bottom toward the top in such a manner that fibers are captured on the screen in a thickness which increases as the screen moves upwardly from the bottom toward the top of the tank. The thickness of the resulting mat is dependent upon the distance the screen must travel through the slurry, the density or solid concentration of the slurry and the time (speed) that the screen is exposed to the slurry.
In order to provide the mat with tear strength in a lateral direction, i.e., perpendicular to the long dimension of the mat being formed, distinct layers of continuous strands or slivers of fiberglass can be laid into the mat. In order to produce the greatest strength while preventing delamination of the mat, the longitudinally oriented layers of strands may each be located on a single longitudinal or horizontal plane, considering a vertical cross-section of the mat, i.e., perpendicular to the top and bottom mat surfaces. The layers may be separated by fiber-binder material of predetermined thickness.
The continuous strands may each be laid on the screen by a projecting or propelling unit which draws the strand from a spool and uses the pressure of water or other fluid to pull the strand from the spool and project it onto the screen.
In some instances, the fluid projection pressure may be adjusted so that the strands form substantially straight lines in the mat. At other times, it may be preferred that sufficient pressure be employed to cause the strands to form sinusoidal configurations extending in a generally longitudinal direction in the mat. The advantages of these strand configurations have been taught, for example, in my copending Application, Ser. No. 868,725, filed Jan. 11, 1978. It is noted that that application discloses a mat which may be formed by means of the method and apparatus taught in this invention.
Also, in order to provide such a mat with strength to resist tearing in the longitudinal direction. It has been found to be desirable to lay randomly oriented strands of yarns into the mat, again on a distinct horizontal plane in the mat. Preferably, the horizontal planes of the randomly oriented strands and the longitudinally oriented strands may be separated by chopped glass fibers, thereby preventing the formation of a planar surface-to-surface junction along which lamination may occur.
Preferably, the randomly oriented strands and the longitudinally oriented strands are projected toward the moving screens at distinct locations within the slurry bath. Consequently, the travel of the screen between those two locations will result in the capturing of additional chopped fibers between the horizontal planes of the two types of strands. Thus, the resultant product will have increased mechanical strength to resist delamination, as well as having improved tear strength. Also, since the mat is formed by movement of the screen through the slurry tank, the speed of mat production is controlled only by the ability of the screen to pick up the chopped fibers. Consequently, the speed with which the continuous strands can be projected onto the screen can be adjusted accordingly to produce the desired results.
After the screen moves out of the slurry tank, it may be passed over a vacuum which will draw most of the water out of the fiber-strand workpiece, allowing a degree of cohesiveness not possible in a slurry material. Subsequently, any suitable bonding agent, such as urea resins, phenolic resins, bone glue, polyvinyl alcohols, etc., can be applied to the workpiece. The new combination of materials can then be passed through an oven or, in some other manner, cured and gathered on a spool. Preferably, and depending primarily upon the ultimate product application of the mat, the binder should be water resistant.
Those skilled in the art, upon review of the following detailed description, taken in company with the drawings, will realize a number of additional objects of the present invention. They will also realize that apparatus formed in accordance with the present invention allowing use of the method may be embodied in a wide variety of structures, many of which may not even resemble that described and disclosed here.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 comprises a schematic illustration of a machine which may be employed in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 comprises an enlarged view of a portion of the machine shown in FIG. 1, illutrating the structural relationships of a preferred embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 3 comprises a top plane view of the structure shown in FIG. 2, as seen along the line 3--3 therein;
FIGS. 4 and 5 comprise partial sectional views of the structure shown in FIG. 2, as seen along the lines 4--4 and 5--5, respectively;
FIG. 6 comprises a further enlarged side sectional view of a portion of the structure shown in FIG. 2;
FIG. 7 comprises a view, similar to FIG. 6, of an alternate embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 8 comprises a plan view of the mat as seen along the line 8--8 in FIG. 2;
FIG. 9 comprises a plan view of the mat as seen along the line 9--9 of FIG. 2;
FIG. 10 comprises a top plan view of the mat, showing the combined reinforcing strands illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9; and
FIG. 11 comprises a vertical cross-section of a mat formed in accordance with the present invention, as seen along a line 11--11 of FIG. 10.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
As shown in FIG. 1, one or more tanks 21 may be provided for mixing chopped glass fibers, which may be fed into the tanks through funnels 23, with water delivered through pipes 25 to form a slurry 27. Two or more tanks may be employed so that fresh water may be injected into one of the tanks through the pipe 25 for mixture of a new slurry. At the same time, water removed from the slurry later in the process may be returned to the other tank for continuation of the process as the slurry is drawn from that other tank. In any event, a selected one of the tanks may be evacuated by a pump 29 in order to feed the slurry through a pipe 31 to a slurry tank or bath 33. The slurry tank may be constructed in a leak-proof fashion so that a mat building screen 35, mounted on rollers 37, may pass through the tank and be gradually elevated in the tank. One or more of the rollers 37 may, if desired, be provided with a drive system including a motor 117 (FIG. 2) in order to insure continuous movement of the screen 35.
In this preferred embodiment, a vacuum chamber 41 may be located on the opposite side of the screen from the slurry tank 33 so as to draw the slurry toward the screen. Thus, as the screen 35 passes upwardly through the tank 33, it will continuously pick up fibers in uniform distribution across the surface of the screen. The thickness of the fiber build-up will be directly dependent upon the following:
1. The distance the screen must travel through the slurry,
2. The "density" or solid concentration of the slurry,
3. The time (speed) that the screen is exposed to the slurry
In other words, considering the screen in its movement in the direction of the arrows 43 the fiber build-up will continuously thicken as the screen travels from the bottom to the top of the tank. This can be seen, for example, by a careful review of FIGS. 1 and 2.
In any event, a negative atmospheric pressure may be generated in the chamber 41 by any suitable vacuum means (not shown) acting through a conduit 45. Any liquids, fibers, etc., passing through the screen and entering the chamber 41 may be delivered to a catch-basin 49 located, preferably, below the entirety of the screen.
As the screen leaves the slurry tank 33, it may be passed over a vacuum 51 which will draw most of the slurry water remaining mixed in the fibers out of the wet mat workpiece. The workpiece may then be transferred to any suitable conveyor system 55 and moved past a binder application station 57. Although any suitable binding agent may be applied at the binder station 57, it is presently preferred that such a binding agent be water resistant or water-proof since such an agent would be suitable for substantially any application to which the mat 53 might later be adapted. The mat may then be passed through an oven 59 in which the binder may be cured; any water remaining in the mat 53 will thus be eliminated by evaporation. The mat may then be gathered onto a spool 61 for later transportation and use in a final product preparation.
As can be seen in FIG. 1, water may be used to wash the screen 35, after the mat 53 is separated therefrom, by moving the screenpast a plurality of spray pipes 63. The water may be taken from the drain pan 49 located below the screen in a manner to be described. Also, the slurry water sucked through the screen and into the vacuum chamber 41 may also be delivered to the pan 49 by one or more suitable exhaust pipes 65 as illustrated. Since the water passing through the pipes 65 will be heavily laden with chopped glass fibers, this high concentrate slurry may be passed through a pipe 67 by means of a pump 69, for delivery to one of the tanks 21 as illustrated. On the other hand, some of the water at the right end of the drain pan 49, as seen in FIG. 1, may pass through a screen 73 and then pass through a pipe 75. By means of a pump 77 the fluid in pipe 75 may be delivered directly back to the pipe 31 for movement to the slurry tank 33.
As the water in the drain pan 49 continues to move from right to left, as seen in FIG. 1, it may be passed through a rotating fiber screen-water blaster device 79 of any suitable type. As a result, the water at the left end of the drain pan 49 will normally be the most free of the chopped fiber particles. This fluid can be withdrawn from the pan 49 through pipes 81 and 83 by pumps 85 and 87, respectively. Water withdrawn by pump 85 may be passed through a conduit 89 for transmittal to the screen wash spray pipes 63, as illustrated. On the other hand, water pulled out of the pan 49 by pump 87 may be passed through a pipe 91 for a purpose to be described.
Referring now to FIGS. 8-11, there is shown a mat material 53 comprising a plurality of chopped fibers which becomes thicker as the screen 35 moves from right to left in FIGS. 1 and 2. Consequently, at locations 53a (FIGS. 2 and 8) the fibers may be considered to be just beginning to gather, somewhat thicker in depth at 53b (FIGS. 2 and 8), still thicker at 53c (FIGS. 2 and 9), and relatively very thick at 53d (FIGS. 2 and 9).
As shown in FIG. 8, transverse tear strength may be provided in the mat 53 by providing a plurality of strands 101 which may be generally longitudinally oriented in the direction of mat movement, as illustrated. In some instances, the strands 101 may be substantially straight within the mat.
Preferably, however, in most applications it is preferred that the strands 101 have a generally sinusoidal configuration. Such a configuration allows a mat production crew to locate imperfections in the workpiece if any one of the strands 101 should "hang up" while being pulled from the spool. As explained in my copending application, Ser. No. 868,725, such a "hang up", or "fishlining", tends to disrupt the fibers in the mat 53 and may often result in a severely damaging point of weakness in the mat.
In order to provide longitudinal tear resistance, a plurality of randomly oriented continuous strands 103 may be laid into the matting as illustrated in FIG. 9. Preferably, the strands 101 should be on a single horizontal plane, considering the mat in vertical cross-section, as shown in FIG. 11. Similarly, the strands 103 should be on a separate and distinct horizontal plane as illustrated. In other words, it is preferred that a build-up of chopped fibers and binder be located between the planes of the strands 101 and 103 in order to provide mechanical strength in the mat 53 and prevent possible lamination of the mat. Thus, considering FIGS. 10 and 11 together, it can be seen that the strands 101 and 103 provide mechanical anti-delamination strength, by being separated into distinct planes, and also provide significant resistance to tearing regardless of the direction in which force is applied to the mat.
Referring to FIGS. 2-6 together, the structure which may be employed for laying the slivers or strands 101 and 103 into the mat has been illustrated. Strands 101 may be drawn from spools 111, passed between a pair of pinch-rollers 113, and into projection tubes 115. As shown in FIG. 2, the pinch rollers 113 may be driven by the same motor 117 utilized to power the chain-driven roller 37. Thus, the pinch-rollers draw a plurality of strands 101 from the spools 111 and each strand is passed through an individual projection or propulsion tube 115 for delivery to the mat building screen 35. Thus, the pinch-rollers 113 may be employed to accurately control the speed with which the strands 101 are pulled from the spools 111. In order to propel each strand 101 through its respective tube 115, each tube may be provided with an injection branch 119 through which water may be passed via a pipe 121 connected to the drain pan pipe 91 as illustrated in FIG. 1. Thus, by controlling the pressure of the water passed through the injection branch 119, the speed of the strand 101 through each pipe 115 may be controlled, causing the strand to be laid upon the mat building screen 35 in a substantially longitudinal orientation. As stated previously, this orientation may be in the form of a straight line or, preferably, in a sinusoidal configuration, dependent upon the speed of the rollers 113 and the injection pressure.
Preferably, the leading end of each projection or propulsion tube 115 should be located close enough to the screen to prevent any build-up of fiber or other miscellaneous materials in the slurry. This can be accomplished, for example, by moving all of the tubes 115 simultaneously by means of a pulley and winch assembly 121 (FIG. 2) acting upon a block 123 through which all of the tubes may be passed. The upper ends of all of the tubes may also be supported to pivot about a pin 125 by means of a block 127 located near one end of the slurry tank 33.
In order to project the randomly oriented slivers or yarns 103 into the mat, a plurality of projection or propulsion tubes 141 may be provided for passage of the strands 103 from spools 143. Thus, each strand 103 may be passed through its own projection tube 141. The speed of the strand through its projection tube may be governed by an injection branch 147. Branch 147 may receive water through a pipe 149 which may also be attached to the drain pipe line 91, as illustrated in FIG. 1.
Preferably, the speed of the strands 103 through their projection tubes 141 should be greater than the speed of the strands 101 since more strand material is required to provide the random orientation. Preferably, the leading ends of the projection tubes 141 may be located above the surface of the slurry bath. This will allow the strands 103 to assume a more random orientation within the mat as well as to prevent a build-up of fibers and other materials at the leading ends of the tubes. Of course, water passing through the tubes from the injection branches 147 will merely drop into the slurry for recirculation in the manner previously described.
Referring now to FIG. 7, there is shown an alternate embodiment of the invention in which a projection tube 141a may be used either instead of or in addition to the projection tube 141. For example, if it is desired to provide more than a single planar level of randomly oriented strands in the mat, additional projection tubing of either the type shown at 141 or at 141a may be employed. Alternatively, the tubes 141a may be employed in place of the tubes 141 when providing a single planar level of randomly oriented strands. In any event, the tube 141a may be provided with an inner, substantially coaxially oriented tube 161 which terminates immediately above a neck portion or nozzle 163 of the projection tube 141a.
Water may be delivered under pressure to the reinjection branch 147a of each tube. As the water travels downwardly between the inner wall of tube 141a and the outer wall of tube 161, it will completely surround the inner tube 161. As it reaches the neck 163, a back-pressure will be created within the tube 141a which will greatly increase the velocity of the flow of water through the neck. Consequently, the increased back pressure will increase the velocity of movement of the strand 103. Use of this generally concentric tubing arrangement allows the water pressure to completely surround the strand so as to pull it out of the tube 161 in a more uniform fashion. In other words, it will be impossible for the water pressure to act primarily against one side of the strand 103a. Such an uneven application could cause intermittent bunching and release of the strand, with a resultant nonuniformity of distribution in the mat.
Thus, a machine formed in accordance with the above description will allow a build-up of chopped glass fiber in accordance with the distance that the mat forming screen 35 must travel to pass through the slurry 27. Also, the longitudinally oriented strands and the randomly oriented strands may be applied to the matting at different locations within the slurry in such a manner that none of the strands are exposed at the top or bottom surfaces of the mat. Additionally, the mat will be provided with sufficient mechanical strength between the strand planes to prevent laminar separation.
Consequently, the employment of this novel method of forming a mat through the use of structure such as that depicted here will allow those skilled in the art to produce a vastly improved fiberglass mat structure in high production quantities. However, those skilled in the art will realize that the method and apparatus described above may be employed for a wide variety of products and with a wide variety of machines without exceeding the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims. | A machine and method of forming fiberglass mats. Chopped glass fibers are mixed with water in a slurry and a movable screen is passed, generally upwardly, through a slurry. As the screen is moved, its surface is uniformly coated with the glass fibers in a uniformly increasing depth, dependent upon the length of travel of the screen through the slurry. Longitudinally oriented and randomly oriented continuous strands are projected onto the fibers captured on the screen at different locations in order to provide the resultant mat with tear strength in all directions. The screen passes over a vacuum for removal of most of the water from the workpiece; subsequently, a binder is added to the workpiece and the continuous mat is passed through an oven for curing of the binder. The mat is then wound upon a spool for later transport to a location in which the mat can be processed into a final product. | 3 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a machine tool that grips a rod-shaped workpiece at a leading edge of a main spindle and that subjects the workpiece to machining, such as cutting or boring, and more particularly to a machine tool made up of a lathe of main spindle movable type that moves a main spindle along an axis during machining.
[0003] 2. Background Art
[0004] In relation to a machine tool of this type, a configuration as described in; for example, JP-UM-B-3-40488, has hitherto been proposed as a lathe of main spindle movable type that subjects an elongated rod-shaped workpiece to machining.
[0005] In the related-art configuration described in JP-UM-B-3-40488, a guide bush for supporting forward of the main spindle the leading edge of the workpiece in an insertable manner can be removably attached. When the guide bush is in an attached state, the workpiece gripped by the main spindle is also supported by the guide bush and subjected to machining, such as cutting, forward of the guide bush by means of a cutting tool on the tool post. In this case, the guide bush receives a load that acts on a workpiece during machining in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction of the workpiece. Therefore, even when the workpiece is elongated and easily deflectable, the workpiece can be machined with high precision.
[0006] In the meantime, in the related-art configuration of JP-UM-B-3-40488, when the guide bush is removed, a short workpiece can be machined. In relation to a lathe of main spindle movable type arranged so as to be able to machine a short workpiece, a configuration such as those described in connection with JP-A-2006-326732 and JP-UM-B-7-19694 has been proposed.
[0007] In the related-art configurations described in JP-A-2006-326732 and JP-UM-B-7-19694, the guide bush is not provided.
[0008] In a configuration described in JP-A-2006-326732, a through hole for causing the main spindle to pass in a non-contacting state is formed in the tool post support. In association with advancement of the headstock, the leading edge of the main spindle penetrates through the through hole, to thus project forward of the tool post support, and the workpiece is machined by means of the cutting tool on the tool post. Further, in a configuration described in JP-UM-B-7-19694, the headstock is supported in a penetrating manner on an upper frame so as to become movable in the axial direction of the main spindle by way of a horizontal sliding guide surface and a vertical sliding guide surface arranged in the shape of a cross. The workpiece is machined forward of the upper frame by means of the cutting tool on the tool post.
[0009] Incidentally, the related-art configurations present the following drawbacks.
[0010] First, in the related-art configuration described in JP-UM-B-3-40488, in a state where the guide bush is attached forward of the main spindle, space including the length of the guide bush is formed between the main spindle and the guide bush, and a remaining material of a workpiece whose length corresponds to the space arises. Therefore, when the guide bush is in an attached state, the workpiece cannot be utilized effectively. In addition, in the case of a short workpiece, the guide bush interferes with the workpiece, thereby posing difficulty in machining the short workpiece.
[0011] In the related-art configuration of JP-UM-B-3-40488 in which the guide bush is removed and the related-art configurations of JP-A-2006-326732 and JP-UM-B-7-19694, no guide bush is present, and hence a problem such as that mentioned above does not occur.
[0012] However, in the related-art configuration of JP-UM-B-3-40488 in which the guide bush is removed, a guide sleeve is attached onto a guide bush support bed in lieu of the guide bush on the support bet, and a cylindrical sleeve attached a leading edge of a main spindle is slidingly guided along an internal peripheral surface of the guide sleeve constituting a sliding bearing. Therefore, in this state, the main spindle is substantially extended forwardly by an amount corresponding to the length of the cylindrical sleeve. In this state, there is required guide rigidity of the order of magnitude which enables only a base end of the main spindle to support the main spindle. Therefore, in order to firmly guide the leading edge of the main spindle, by means of a sliding bearing, to such an extent that load imposed during machining can be born, the precision of a guide section on the leading-edge side of the main spindle with respect to a guide section on the base-end side of the main spindle must be enhanced extremely high. In reality, acquisition of such precision is impossible. Even if such precision can be achieved, very high cost will be incurred. In order to solve the problem, the rigidity of the guide on the leading-edge side of the main spindle must be weakened considerably. Therefore, if an attempt is made to actually provide the configuration described in JP-UM-B-3-40488, there is no alternative way but to weaken the rigidity of the guide to such an extent that the load imposed during machining cannot be born by the leading-edge side of the main spindle. For this reason, the base-end side of the main spindle chiefly bears load in an overhanging state as described in connection with JP-A-2006-326732, so that the rigidity of the main spindle resultantly decreases and that machining precision is reduced.
[0013] In the related-art configuration described in JP-A-2006-326732, a guide member for guiding and supporting the headstock so as to be movable in the axial direction of the main spindle is disposed at the rear of the tool post support so as to avoid interference with the tool post support. The main spindle and the leading-edge portion of a support sleeve supporting the main spindle are disposed in a cantilever fashion while greatly overhanging forwardly from the guide member. Therefore, difficulty is encountered in imparting high support rigidity to the main spindle during machining, which in turn reduces machining precision.
[0014] Moreover, in the related-art configuration described in JP-UM-B-7-19694, the upper frame and the cutting tool are in close proximity to each other, and hence machining with high rigidity is possible. However, the guide configuration of the headstock with respect to the upper frame is made up of a horizontal sliding guide surface and a vertical sliding guide surface that are, on the whole, arranged in the shape of across. Therefore, the configuration of the guide surfaces is complicate. Further, since the number of guide surfaces is large, there is a potential risk of a warp, and machining guide surfaces involves consumption of much effort, as well.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0015] The present invention has been conceived while attention is paid to those drawbacks in the related art. An objective of the present invention is to provide a machine tool that is smoothly guidable and movable a headstock along an axial direction of a main spindle with high rigidity and accuracy; that is effectively utilizable a workpiece; that is enhancable machining precision and efficiency of a workpiece; and that easily machines guide surfaces.
[0016] In order to achieve the objective, the present invention is characterized by a machine tool, wherein a leading-edge portion of a headstock, on which a main spindle is rotatably supported, is supported by a bed by way of a sliding bearing so as to be movable along an axial direction of the main spindle; and a base-end portion of the headstock is supported on the bed at two points, which are spaced apart from each other in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction of the main spindle, so as to move in the axial direction of the main spindle by way of a rolling bearing.
[0017] Accordingly, the machine tool of the present invention can guide and move a headstock, at a leading-edge portion close to a position for machining a workpiece, with high accuracy along an axial direction of a main spindle by means of a sliding bearing. At a base-end portion spaced apart from the position for machining a workpiece, the headstock is smoothly guided and moved by means of a rolling bearing. Therefore, the main spindle is guided by means of guide surfaces of simple shapes, and an attempt is made to enhance the machining precision and efficiency of a workpiece.
[0018] In the configuration, a tool post support on which a tool post is supported may be fastened onto the bed, and the leading-edge portion of the main spindle may be supported by the tool post support by way of the sliding bearing.
[0019] In the above configuration, the headstock may have a spindle sleeve; the main spindle may be rotatably supported in the spindle sleeve; and the spindle sleeve may also be configured so as to be supported by the sliding bearing.
[0020] Further, in the configuration, the rolling bearing may also be embodied as a ball bearing that moves over a guide rail.
[0021] In addition, it is better to dispose the rolling bearing on both sides of the axial direction of the main spindle. By means of this configuration, the headstock can be supported in a well-balanced manner.
[0022] As mentioned above, according to the present invention, a short workpiece can be machined, which in turn enables effective utilization of the workpiece. The headstock can be smoothly guided and moved with high rigidity and precision along the axial direction of the main spindle, so that there is yielded an advantage of the ability to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of machining of a workpiece, and the like.
[0023] According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a machine tool for machining a workpiece including: a main spindle that holds the workpiece to rotate the workpiece around a axis; a tool that is configured to machine the workpiece by working together with the main spindle; a headstock that rotatably supports the main spindle and includes a leading-edge portion and a base-end portion; and a bed that supports the headstock by a sliding bearing at the leading-edge portion and rolling bearings at two points of the base-end portion so that the headstock is movable along an axial line of the main spindle, wherein the two points of the base-end portion are spaced apart from each other in a direction orthogonal to the axial line of the main spindle.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0024] The present invention may be more readily described with reference to the accompanying drawings:
[0025] FIG. 1 is a front view showing a first embodiment of a lathe of main spindle movable type embodying the present invention;
[0026] FIG. 2 is a plan view of the principal section showing, in an enlarged manner, a headstock of the lathe of main spindle movable type shown in FIG. 1 ;
[0027] FIG. 3 is a fragmentary enlarged cross-sectional view of the lathe of main spindle movable type;
[0028] FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing an area of a sliding bearing;
[0029] FIG. 5 is a partially-cutaway perspective view showing, in an enlarged manner, a rolling bearing for supporting the headstock of the lathe of main spindle movable type;
[0030] FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the rolling bearing;
[0031] FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a second embodiment of the lathe of main spindle movable type; and
[0032] FIG. 8 is a front view showing the second embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The First Preferred Embodiment
[0033] A first embodiment in which the present invention is embodied as a lathe of main spindle movable type will be described hereunder by reference to FIGS. 1 through 6 .
[0034] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , in the lathe of main spindle movable type of the first embodiment, a headstock 12 is supported on a bed 11 . A Z-axis movement motor 13 is disposed on the bed 11 , and the headstock 12 is reciprocally actuated, at a base-end portion and a leading-edge portion thereof, by means of rotation of the motor 13 in a direction of a Z axis by way of an unillustrated ball screw feed mechanism.
[0035] As shown in FIGS. 1 through 3 , a cylindrical spindle sleeve 14 constituting a leading-edge portion of the headstock 12 is fixed to a front portion of the headstock 12 . In the spindle sleeve 14 , a main spindle 15 is supported so as to be rotatable around an axis extending in the direction of the Z axis by way of a plurality of bearings 16 . A collet 17 for removably gripping a rod-shaped workpiece W is attached to the center of the leading end of the main spindle 15 . A main spindle rotation motor 18 is disposed at the base-end portion of the headstock 12 , and the main spindle 15 is rotated around its axis by means of rotation of the motor 18 and by way of an unillustrated transmission mechanism, such as a belt. A drive mechanism of the main spindle 15 disposed at the base-end portion of the headstock 12 is constituted of the main spindle rotation motor 18 and the transmission mechanism.
[0036] As shown in FIGS. 1 through 3 , a tool post support 19 is fastened upright on the bed 11 forward of the headstock 12 . The spindle sleeve 14 penetrates through the tool post support 19 in a movable manner. A Y-axis movable element 20 is supported by the tool post support 19 so as to be movable in the direction of a Y axis orthogonal to the Z axis by way of a dovetail-shaped guide section 21 and is reciprocally actuated by means of rotation of an unillustrated Y-axis movement motor in the direction of the Y axis by way of a ball screw feed mechanism 22 . In the Y-axis movable element 20 , a tool post 23 is supported so as to be movable in a direction of an X axis orthogonal to the Z axis and the Y axis, and the tool post 23 is reciprocally actuated by means of the X-axis movement motor 24 in the direction of the X axis by way of an unillustrated ball screw feed mechanism. A plurality of tools 25 for subjecting the workpiece W to machining, such as cutting, are supported on the tool post 23 .
[0037] A configuration for guiding and supporting the headstock 12 so as to be movable in the direction of the Z axis will now be described.
[0038] As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 , a through hole 26 is formed in the tool post support 19 , and a cylindrical sliding bearing 27 is fitted into the through hole 26 . The spindle sleeve 14 at the leading-edge of the headstock 12 is inserted into and supported by, while remaining in a surface contact with, the sliding bearing 27 so as to be able to move in the direction of the Z axis. A dust seal 28 for preventing intrusion of chips into the sliding bearing 27 is attached to a leading-edge portion of the sliding bearing 27 .
[0039] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , a pair of guide rails 29 are laid on the upper surface of the bed 11 and on both sides of the axis of the main spindle 15 so as to extend in parallel to the direction of the Z axis. A base-end portion of the headstock 12 is supported at two positions, which are spaced apart from each other along the Y axis orthogonal to the axis of the main spindle 15 , so as to be movable along the guide rails 29 by way of rolling bearings 30 . Accordingly, the rolling bearings 30 are disposed in correspondence with the drive mechanism.
[0040] As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 , a block-shaped bearing main body 31 is fastened to a lower surface of the headstock 12 in each of the rolling bearings 30 . A pair of end plates 32 are fastened to both longitudinal ends of the bearing main body 31 . A first ball train 33 and a second ball train 35 , which pair up with each other and which can move through the inside of guide grooves 29 a formed on guide rails 29 in the bearing main body 31 are retained by retainers 34 and 36 . Balls 33 a and 35 a of the first and second ball trains 33 and 35 are movable along annular channels closed by the end plates 32 . By means of engagement of the respective balls 33 a and 35 a with the guide grooves 29 a , the base-end portion of the headstock 12 is supported so as to be movable over the bed 11 .
[0041] Operation of the lathe of main spindle movable type of the first embodiment configured as mentioned above will now be described.
[0042] In the lathe of main spindle movable type, when the rod-shaped workpiece W is subjected to machining, such as cutting, the workpiece W is attached to the leading-edge portion of the main spindle 15 by means of the collet 17 , as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 . In this state, when the lathe of main spindle movable type is operated, the main spindle 15 is rotated by means of the main spindle rotation motor 18 , whereupon the workpiece W is rotated around the axis of the main spindle 15 . At this time, the Z-axis movement motor 13 moves the headstock 12 in the direction of the Z axis, and the tool post 23 is moved in at least any one of the directions of the X and Y axes by means of an unillustrated Y-axis movement motor and the X-axis movement motor 24 . By means of movements, a tool 25 on the tool post 23 is placed at a position corresponding to a predetermined machining position on the workpiece W, and the workpiece W is subjected to machining, such as cutting, by means of the tool 25 .
[0043] During machining of the workpiece W, the leading-edge portion of the headstock 12 is actuated on the tool post support 19 in the direction of the Z axis along the axis of the main spindle 15 while being guided by a sliding bearing 27 . In conjunction with movement of the leading-edge portion, the base-end portion of the headstock 12 is smoothly guided over guide rails on the bed 11 by means of a rolling bearing 30 at two positions in the direction of the Y axis orthogonal to the axis of the main spindle 15 . As shown in FIGS. 1 through 3 , the headstock 12 can be smoothly guided and moved with high rigidity and accuracy along the axial direction of the main spindle 15 , so that the machining precision and efficiency of the workpiece W can be enhanced.
[0044] Accordingly, working-effects provided below can be yielded in the first embodiment.
[0045] (1) The leading-edge portion of the headstock 12 is supported on the tool post support 19 by way of the sliding bearing 27 , and the base-end portion of the headstock 12 is supported on the bed 11 at two positions so as to be movable by way of the rolling bearing 30 . Therefore, the headstock 12 can be guided and moved with high rigidity and high precision along the axial direction of the main spindle 15 at a position close to the working position on the workpiece W, and the headstock 12 is smoothly, stably supported at a position spaced apart from the machining position on the workpiece. Accordingly, the main spindle 15 is supported at a position close to the working position on the workpiece W, as well as being supported stably at three points. Hence, high rigidity of guide surfaces and high guide precision can be assured. Therefore, even when a guide bush is not present, the workpiece W can be machined with high precision and at high efficiency. Consequently, even a short workpiece W can be machined, so that generation of a long remaining material can be avoided and the workpiece can be effectively utilized.
[0046] (2) Since the base-end portion of the headstock 12 is born by the rolling bearing 30 , the headstock 12 ; namely, the main spindle 15 , can be smoothly guided and moved with high accuracy. Specifically, the rigidity of the guide surfaces of the main spindle 15 and guide accuracy are assured by the sliding bearing 27 close to the machining position. A precision difference arising between the sliding bearing 27 and the rolling bearing 30 is absorbed by the rolling bearing, and hence a warp of the guide surfaces can be prevented.
[0047] (3) The headstock 12 ; namely, the main spindle 15 , can be guided with high accuracy at three points. Hence, the sliding bearing 27 guiding the leading-edge portion of the headstock 12 may be of simple cylindrical shape. Therefore, machining of the guide surfaces is easy.
[0048] (4) Moreover, since the rolling bearings 30 are disposed on both sides of the axis of the main spindle 15 , the headstock 12 can be stably supported, so that guide accuracy can be enhanced to a much greater extent.
The Second Preferred Embodiment
[0049] A second embodiment of the present invention will be described primarily in connection with a difference between the present embodiment and the first embodiment.
[0050] As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 , in the second embodiment, a turret tool post 40 having a turret 40 a is supported on the tool post support 19 along a pair of guide rails 41 so as to be movable in the direction of the X axis, and a plurality of tools 25 are supported by the turret tool post 40 . The turret tool post 40 is reciprocally actuated in the direction of the X axis by way of a ball screw feed mechanism by means of an unillustrated X-axis movement motor, and the predetermined tools 25 are disposed at positions corresponding to machining positions on the workpiece W.
[0051] In the second embodiment, through holes are not formed in the tool post support 19 , and a bearing element 42 is attached to an exterior surface of the tool post support 19 . The cylindrical sliding bearing 27 analogous to that described in connection with the first embodiment is housed in the bearing element 42 , and the leading-edge portion of the headstock 12 is inserted into and supported by the sliding bearing 27 so as to be movable in the direction of the X axis. Moreover, as in the case of the first embodiment, the base-end portion of the headstock 12 is supported in a movable manner, at two positions spaced apart from each other along the X axis orthogonal to the axis of the main spindle 15 , by the guide rails 29 on the bed 11 by way of the rolling bearing 30 .
[0052] Even the second embodiment can yield advantages analogous to those described in connection with the first embodiment.
[0053] —Modification—
[0054] The present embodiment can also be embodied while being modified as follows.
[0055] A hydrostatic bearing is used as the sliding bearing 27 .
[0056] A roller bearing is used as the rolling bearing 30 . | According to one embodiment, a machine tool for machining a workpiece includes: a main spindle that holds the workpiece to rotate the workpiece around a axis; a tool that is configured to machine the workpiece by working together with the main spindle; a headstock that rotatably supports the main spindle and includes a leading-edge portion and a base-end portion; and a bed that supports the headstock by a sliding bearing at the leading-edge portion and rolling bearings at two points of the base-end portion so that the headstock is movable along an axial line of the main spindle, wherein the two points of the base-end portion are spaced apart from each other in a direction orthogonal to the axial line of the main spindle. | 8 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a micromixer for mixing at least two reactants having penetrations for the supply of the reactants and discharge of the product, having at least one mixing plate with microstructures that define mixer cells, each of said mixer cells having a feeding chamber which adjoins at least one group of digital channels which intermesh in a comb-like manner with the digital channels of a group from the adjoining feeding chamber; and having a discharge plate arranged on the mixing plate, said discharge plate having an outlet port above each mixing zone, said outlet port extending perpendicularly to the digital channels.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Although microfluid components were developed years ago for analytical applications, microengineering techniques have only recently been applied to the development of equipment for chemical synthesis, so-called microreactors. Principle components of such microreactors are mixers and heat exchangers. Conventional static micromixers work according to the principle of multilamination to ensure rapid mixing by diffusion. This is the only mixing mechanism that can be used with laminar flows in microchannels. The creation of alternating laminations by means of geometric parameters allows good mixing in the microscopic range.
The publication Int. Eng. Chem. Res. 1999, 38, 1075–1082, W. Ehrfeld et al., describes a generic micromixer. This single mixer comprises three components: a galvanically and X-ray lithographically structured plate having a mixing zone and two feeding chambers and a two-piece casing in which the plate is set. A means for the supply of reactant and the discharge of the product are provided in the upper section of the casing.
The single mixer has two mixer cells with a common mixing zone. The two fluid reactants are fed into the mixing chambers and split into partial flows in the digital channels. The partial flows of one reactant are not in contact with the partial flows of the other reactant—they are separated from one another by microwalls in the form of ribs. The two reactants first come in contact with one another in the port zone, which is above and perpendicular to the digital channels. The product is discharged from the casing through the ports. The pressure drop in the mixing zone is set by means of the port width.
A significant disadvantage of this single mixer is that its throughput is very limited. With a pressure drop of approx. 1.2 bar, throughput is only 0.8 l/h. Because of this low throughput, use of the single mixer for large-scale chemical production is limited. In an attempt to alleviate this problem, 10 single mixers were arranged in parallel in one casing, with the reactants supplied to the individual micromixers from a common source. The single mixers were arranged in a star configuration, with the supply line for one reactant in the center of the star and the supply lines for the other reactant running around the outside of the star (at the indicated locations). But this measure only resulted in increasing throughput from 0.8 l/h to approx. 3 l/h with a pressure drop of approx. 1.2 bar.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the current invention is to provide a micromixer utilizing the same mixing principle as conventional micromixers but permitting significantly greater throughput at the same pressure drop.
This object is achieved by means of a micromixer for mixing two reactants having openings for the supply of the reactants and/or discharge of the product; microstructures that define at least one mixing plate with mixer cells, whereby each mixer cell has a feeding chamber which adjoins at least one group of digital channels, which digital channels intermesh comb-like with the digital channels of a group from the adjoining feeding chambers; and a discharge plate arranged on the first plate, said discharge plate having an outlet port above each mixing zone, said outlet port extending perpendicularly to the digital channels, characterized by the fact that each mixer cell has at least two mixing zones.
In the inventive micromixer, the number of microstructures per surface area and thus the throughput is greatly increased. With the inventive micromixer, throughputs of several hundred l/h are achieved with a pressure drop of approx. 1.2 bar. This is many times greater than the throughput of the single mixer and single mixers connected in parallel. The plates of the micromixer can be manufactured of silicon wafers that are structured by means of deep plasma etching and connected to one another by means of anodic bonding, for example. The plates can be also be produced by structuring resist, e.g. lithographically or using a laser, with subsequent galvanic shaping. This is particularly well-suited for producing microstructures with large aspect ratios.
The reactants to be mixed in the micromixer can be any combination of gases, fluids, solutions or mixtures thereof. The micromixer is particularly well-suited for the manufacture of mixtures of two fluids or solutions, of fluid—fluid emulsions or gas-fluid dispersions.
The width of the individual digital channels is preferably between 5 and 150 μm and the height of the walls defining the digital channels is preferably between 50 μm and 2 mm. A group of digital channels comprises preferably 3 or more channels. Because of the required pressure drop, the width of the outlet ports is preferably between 10 μm to 1 mm and lesser than the height of the walls defining the digital channels. For complete mixing of the reactants, the width of the outlet ports in the discharge plate must be less than the overlap of the adjoining digital channels in the mixing zone.
There are two preferred embodiments of the inventive micromixer. Similar to the single mixer, the one embodiment has two feeding chambers, each of which has parallel main channels that intermesh in a comb-like manner, however. Branching off of each main channel are digital channels which likewise intermesh in a comb-like manner and form the mixing zones. This configuration increases both the number of mixing zones per mixer cell and the ratio of the surface area of the mixing zones relative to the total surface area of the mixer cell, and thus the throughput per surface are. The corresponding discharge plate has a multitude of parallel ports whose number is equal to the number of mixing zones.
Each feeding chamber preferably has two or more, and more preferably four or more main channels. The digital channels preferably branch off of both sides over the length of the main channels.
This micromixer makes it possible to integrate two or more such mixers into a micromixer system. This is done by arranging one micromixer over the other and configuring the ports for feeding the reactants and discharging the products such that the product of the one micromixer is fed to the other micromixer as the second reactant. This makes it possible to produce products whose reactions occur in two or more stages.
In the aforementioned variant, the micromixers are fluidically connected in serial, i.e. the product of one micromixer is fed to the next micromixer as one of the reactants.
In another embodiment, the micromixers are fluidically connected in parallel, i.e. all micromixers are supplied with the same reactant and the products are discharged together.
Both variants can be advantageously realized by stacking mixing plates and possibly additional supply and/or distribution plates.
In the second preferred embodiment of the inventive micromixer, mixing zones are arranged on all sides of the feeding chambers in the plane of the plates. Only those feeding chambers at the edge of the plane of the plates have mixing zones on only one or two sides. This increases the ratio of mixing zone area to mixer cell area and thus increases the throughput per surface area. The object of the invention is to arrange as many mixer cells as possible on the mixing plate. It is advantageous for the mixing plate to have 10 or more mixer cells per square centimeter.
It is advantageous if the feeding chambers are arranged according to the reactants in rows and/or columns in an alternating pattern. This further reduces the percentage of unutilized surface area. It is particularly advantageous if the feeding chambers are arranged in 4 or more rows and in 4 or more columns.
An optimal utilization of the surface area is achieved if the feeding chambers have either a rectangular or triangular outline, with squares or equilateral triangles preferred. The ports of the corresponding discharge plates are located along the edges of the squares or equilateral triangles, which are arranged so as to completely cover the discharge plate.
Two approaches have proven to be advantageous for the supply of reactants to the mixing plate. The first approach is to structure that side of the mixing plate facing away from the mixer cells. This creates a storage chamber for each reactant. Parallel channels lead out from each storage chamber and run beneath the feeding chambers. It is important that the channels for the two reactants intermesh in a comb-like manner so that the feeding chambers with one reactant are surrounded by the feeding chambers with the other reactant. Each channel has penetrations beneath the feeding chambers, which penetrations lead into the feeding chambers and through which the reactant can flow into the feeding chambers. It is not mandatory that the mixing plate be a monobody construction, one plate can be manufactured with the microstructures and another plate can have the feed structures, with both plates joined by means of anodic bonding, for example, to form a mixing plate.
The other approach for supplying the reactants to the mixing plate is to arrange two additional plates beneath the mixing plate. The one plate together with the mixing plate form a storage chamber for the one reactant and the other plate together with the first plate forms a storage chamber for the second reactant. The reactant in the storage chamber adjoining the mixing plate passed directly into the corresponding feeding chambers via penetrations in the mixing plate. The first additional plate is provided with penetrations for the supply of the other reactant, through which penetrations hollow bodies that also pass through penetrations in the mixing plate and empty into the corresponding feeding chambers are run. The second reactant flows from the second storage chamber into the feeding chambers through these hollow bodies. The flow resistance in these feeding chambers is particularly low so that the reactants are very evenly distributed between the individual feeding chambers. However, this requires more space than does the supply via structures in the back side of the mixing plate.
Of particular importance for the use of the micromixer as a microreactor is the integration of a heat exchanger in the micromixer, if necessary. The heat exchanger can be integrated into the micromixer in a variety of ways. The following solutions are preferred: for reactions or mixtures with little heat tone, it is sufficient to arrange hollow bodies on the discharge plate between the ports, through which hollow bodies a heating medium or coolant flows.
With greater heat tone, the discharge plate can be a two-piece construction in which two overlapping cover plates are arranged at some distance from one another to form a chamber that is filled with either a heating medium or coolant. To pass the product through the heating medium or coolant, flattened hollow bodies analogous to those in the example described above for the supply of reactant and having an outline corresponding to that of the ports are arranged in the ports of both parts of the discharge plate. This variant provides a particularly homogenous distribution of heat. In another embodiment, the discharge plate can be designed with sufficient thickness to include channels perpendicular to the ports, through which channels the heating medium or coolant can flow.
Under certain circumstances, it may be necessary to bring the reactants to a certain temperature. In these cases, it is advantageous to use a micromixer in which the reactants are supplied through storage chambers formed by two plates. To attemporate the reactants, an additional plate is inserted between the first plate and the mixing plate so that another storage chamber is formed between the mixing plate and this additional plate. The heating medium or coolant is fed into this storage chamber. Both reactants must be passed through the heat exchanger chamber in hollow bodies, e.g. tubes. The hollow bodies must be secured in the plates so as to obtain a tight seal. These can be welded, soldered/brazed, diffusion welded, pressed in or bent on.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 a a first embodiment of a mixing plate
FIG. 1 b a section from the mixing plate in FIG. 1 a
FIG. 1 c the discharge plate corresponding to the mixing plate in FIG. 1 a
FIG. 2 a mixer system
FIG. 3 a a second embodiment of a mixing plate and an associated discharge plate
FIG. 3 b an area from FIG. 3 a
FIG. 3 c a section through the area in FIG. 3 b along the line A—A
FIG. 4 a third embodiment of a mixing plate
FIG. 5 a a first embodiment of the reactant supply
FIG. 5 b a section through FIG. 5 a along the line B—B
FIG. 6 a second embodiment of the reactant supply
FIG. 7 a first embodiment of an integrated heat exchanger
FIG. 8 a second embodiment of an integrated heat exchanger
FIG. 9 a third embodiment of an integrated heat exchanger
FIG. 10 a fourth embodiment of an integrated heat exchanger
FIG. 11 an exploded view of a micromixer
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 a shows a first embodiment of a mixing plate 20 . This mixing plate 20 has two feeding chambers 33 a and 33 b for the reactants A,B. Both feeding chambers 33 a,b branch into four primary channels 35 a,b . Microstructures 31 defining the mixing zones 32 between the main channels 35 for the reactants A and B are located on both sides along the main channels 35 a,b . The main channels 35 a,b intermesh in a comb-like manner. The feeding chambers 33 a,b together with the mixing zones 32 each form a mixer cell 30 a and 30 b.
The mixing plate 20 also has recesses 14 by means of which the individual plates comprising the micromixer are screwed together.
FIG. 1 b is an enlarged view of that section of FIG. 1 a marked with a broken line. One can see that digital channels 34 branch off from the main channels 35 a,b . These digital channels are separated from one another by microstructures in the form of thin walls 36 a . These walls 36 a are corrugated and meandering to increase their mechanical stability. This is necessary as these walls 36 a and also the digital channels 34 are only approximately 40 μm wide. In contrast, the digital channels 34 are approximately 300 μm long. One also can see that wider walls 36 b separate the main channels 35 a,b and also the feeding chambers 33 a,b from one another. The reactants A and B first come into contact with one another as they pass through a port in a discharge plate 21 (cf. FIG. 1 c ) arranged above and extending perpendicularly to the digital channels 34 and over the entire mixing zone 32 . The port is approximately 80 μm wide.
FIG. 1 c shows the discharge plate 21 corresponding to the mixing plate in FIG. 1 a . The ports 37 are arranged in a series of parallel curves. The number of ports corresponds to the number of mixing zones in the mixing plate 20 below and the ports are arranged such that they extend perpendicularly to the digital channels and over the entire length of the respective mixing zones 32 . Furthermore, the discharge plate 21 also has recesses 14 for bolting the micromixer together as well as penetrations 12 through which the reactants or also the product can flow.
FIG. 2 shows a mixer system. This mixer system is created by arranging two micromixers per the example in FIGS. 1 a–c one above the other. At the bottom is a cover plate 26 a with recesses 14 for screws and two penetrations 12 a,b through which the reactants A and B are supplied. (Reactant A through the front right penetration 12 a and reactant B through the rear left penetration 12 b ). The direction of flow is from bottom to top.
Above that is a first mixing plate 20 a . In addition to the two feeding chambers 33 a and 33 b , the main channels 35 and the mixing zones 32 , the mixing plate 20 a has two penetrations 12 c,d arranged in two diagonally-opposed corners of the mixing plate 20 a . The feeding chambers 33 a and 33 b are designed such that they are connected to the penetrations 12 a,b in the bottom cover plate 26 a , through which penetrations the reactants A,B are fed into to the feeding chambers 33 a,b.
Above the first mixing plate 20 a is a first discharge plate 21 a with ports 37 . The intermediate product C, which is a product of A and B, is discharged through these ports 37 , collected in a collecting chamber 39 formed by plates 27 a and 25 arranged above the discharge plate 21 a , and directed to the penetration 12 c.
The intermediate product C is fed via the intermediate plate 25 into the feeding chamber 33 c of the second mixing plate 20 b as reactant for the second reaction. Reactant D is fed into the second feeding chamber 33 d of the mixing plate 20 b via penetrations 12 d that form a channel through the front left edge area of the mixer system. Another discharge plate 21 b and a collecting plate 27 b are arranged above the second mixing plate 20 b.
The collecting plate 27 b together with the top cover plate 26 b forms a collecting chamber 39 for the product of C and D, which is directed to the upper right front penetration 12 a ′ and can exit via the top cover plate 26 b.
Reactant D is passed through the front left penetrations 12 d ; reactant B is passed through the rear left penetrations 12 b ; the intermediate product C is passed through the rear right penetrations 12 c ; reactant A is passed through the lower front right penetrations 12 a and the end product is passed through the upper right front penetrations 12 a ′. The intermediate plate 25 forms the boundary between the bottom micromixer 10 a and the top micromixer 10 b.
FIG. 3 a shows an additional embodiment of a mixing plate 20 and the corresponding discharge plate 21 . The feeding chambers 33 are square and have mixing zones 32 on each of the four sides. A mixer cell 30 comprises a feeding chamber 33 and four mixing zones 32 . Each of the feeding chambers 33 has its own penetration 12 for the supply of a reactant. The feeding chambers 33 are arranged equidistant from one another in rows 60 and columns 61 so that a feeding chamber 33 a for one reactant is always surrounded by four feeding chambers 33 b for the other reactant. This arrangement of feeding chambers 33 in a regular grid is reflected in the arrangement of the ports 37 in a discharge plate 21 above the mixing plate 20 . The ports 37 run along the edges of squares and form a regular box pattern.
FIG. 3 b shows an enlarged view of that area of FIG. 3 a indicated by a broken line. The digital channels 34 that make up the mixing zones 32 can be seen more clearly in this enlarged excerpt.
The section through the area shown in FIG. 3 b along the line IIIc—IIIc is shown in FIG. 3 c . The penetrations 12 through which the reactants are fed into the feeding chambers 33 can be clearly seen here. The digital channels 34 arranged around the feeding chamber and the walls 36 defining these digital channels 34 can also be seen.
The individual digital channels 34 are between 5 and 150 μm wide and the walls 36 defining the digital channels are between 50 μm and 2 mm high. Because of the pressure drop required, the width of the outlet ports 37 is preferably less than the height of the walls 36 defining the digital channels 34 . Furthermore, the width of the outlet ports 37 in the discharge plate 21 must be less than the overlap between adjacent digital channels 34 in the mixing zone 32 to achieve complete mixing of the reactants.
A modification of the embodiment described above is shown in FIG. 4 . Here the feeding chambers 33 are triangular with three sides of equal length. Once again there is a mixing zone 32 on all sides of the feeding chamber 33 , and the feeding chambers 33 themselves are arranged at the corners of even, adjacent hexagons. The feeding chamber 33 a for one reactant is surrounded by three feeding chambers 33 b for the other reactant.
FIG. 5 a shows a first example for the reactant supply. This is a structured plate attached to the back of the mixing plate, e.g. by means of anodic bonding. A storage chamber 57 a for reactant A and a storage chamber 57 b for reactant B are found on two opposing sides of the plate. Channels 56 a,b lead out from these storage chambers 57 a,b . These channels 56 a,b , intermesh in a comb-like manner. They run beneath the feeding chamber of the mixing chamber and are parallel to one another. Penetrations 12 a,b aligned with corresponding penetrations 12 a,b of the mixing plate lead away from each channel 56 a,b . The penetrations 12 a,b connect the feeding chambers of the mixing plates to the channels 56 a,b and thus also to the storage chambers 57 a,b . The reactants A,B are supplied to the feeding chambers via this connection. These structures can be produced using deep plasma etching of silicon, for example.
The section along the line Vb—Vb is shown in FIG. 5 b . The channels 56 a,b are shown again. Only the penetrations 12 a can be seen due to the orientation of the section.
Another embodiment of the reactant supply is shown in FIG. 6 . All that is shown of the mixing plate 20 are the penetrations 12 a,b . Below the mixing plate 20 is the first additional plate 22 , below which a second additional plate 23 is arranged. The three plates 20 , 22 , 23 are arranged parallel to and at some distance from one another so that a storage chamber 57 a for reactant A is formed between the mixing plate 20 and the first additional plate 22 , and the first additional plate 22 and the second additional plate 23 form a storage chamber 57 b for reactant B. Reactant A is supplied to the feeding chambers of the mixing plate 20 through the penetrations 12 a , which directly connect the feeding chambers of the mixing plate 20 and the storage chamber 57 a for reactant A. In contrast, reactant B must be passed through the storage chamber 57 a . The first additional plate 22 is therefore provided with recesses arranged below the penetrations 12 b of the mixing plate 20 . Hollow bodies in the form of tubes 58 are passed through the penetrations 12 b and the recesses in the first additional plate 22 . These tubes 58 form the connection between the storage chamber 47 b and the feeding chambers for reactant B.
FIG. 7 shows a first embodiment for the integration of a heat exchanger in the micromixer. In this example, the product is heated or cooled by means of hollow bodies in the form of tubes 41 that are arranged on the discharge plate 21 between the ports 37 and extend over the entire length of the discharge plate 21 . A coolant or heating medium is passed through these tubes 41 .
FIG. 8 shows a second embodiment for the integration of a heat exchanger. In this embodiment, the product is again heated or cooled. The discharge plate comprises two individual plates 21 a and 21 b . These are arranged parallel to and at some distance from one another to form a chamber 40 for holding a heating medium or coolant. Both individual plates 21 a and 21 b are provided with discharge ports 37 . The product is transported from one side of the cover plate [sic] 21 to the other by means of flattened hollow bodies 41 a arranged in the ports to form a connection from one side of the discharge plate 21 to the other.
FIG. 9 shows a third embodiment for heating or cooling the medium. The discharge plate 21 is again a two-piece construction, with an upper slotted plate 21 a and a very much thicker lower slotted plate 21 b . In addition to the ports 37 , the lower, thicker plate 21 b also has open-ended slots 42 for holding the coolant or heating medium which extend perpendicular to the ports 37 for the product. It is advantageous if a material with good thermoconducting properties is used for the manufacture of the lower plate 21 b.
In some cases, it can also be desirable to preheat or cool the reactants. An embodiment enabling this is shown in FIG. 10 . This is a micromixer with storage chambers 57 a,b for the supply of reactants comprising two additional plates 22 , 23 . A third additional plate 24 is arranged between the first additional plate 22 and the mixing plate 20 . This creates an additional chamber 40 between the mixing plate 20 and the third additional plate 24 , in which chamber 40 a heating medium or coolant is found. Because both reactants A and B must be passed through this heat exchanger chamber 40 en route to the feeding chambers 33 a,b , in the mixing plate 20 , the third additional plate 24 has recesses arranged beneath the penetrations 12 a,b of the mixing plate 20 . Through these recesses pass hollow bodies in the form of tubes 58 a,b which empty into the penetrations 12 a,b of the mixing plate 20 and are connected at the other end to either storage chamber 57 a or storage chamber 57 b . The reactants A,B are evenly attemporated as they pass from the respective storage chamber 57 a,b to the feeding chamber 33 a,b for the respective reactant A,B.
FIG. 11 is an exploded view of a micromixer. This micromixer 10 comprises a casing 11 having two penetrations 12 for each reactant A,B. The casing 11 also has recesses 14 for seating screws 13 . At the bottom of the casing is an intermediate plate 25 with two penetrations 12 for each reactant. A mixing plate 20 structured on both sides is arranged above the intermediate plate 25 . The bottom of the mixing plate is provided with microstructures for the supply of the reactants (cf. FIG. 5 a ). Mixer cells with square feeding chambers are arranged on the top of the mixer plate 20 . A slotted discharge plate 21 is arranged above the mixing plate 20 . Above the discharge plate is a cover plate 26 having an opening 12 for the product. The cover plate 26 also has recesses 14 for seating screws 13 . These screws 13 are used to securely screw the micromixer 10 together.
With a micromixer 10 of this type configured with approximately 1500 feeding chambers per mixing plate, a surface area of 45×45 mm and a volumetric flow of 700 l/h with a pressure drop of approximately 1 bar can be achieved.
REFERENCE NUMBERS
10 micromixer
11 casing
12 penetration
13 screw
14 recess
20 mixing plate
21 discharge plate
22 first additional plate
23 second additional plate
24 third additional plate
25 intermediate plate
26 cover plate
27 collecting plate
30 mixer cell
31 microstructure
32 mixing zone
33 feeding chamber
34 digital channel
35 main channel
36 wall
37 outlet port
39 collecting chamber
40 heat exchanger chamber
41 hollow body
41 a flattened hollow body
42 heat exchanger slot
56 channel
57 storage chamber
58 hollow body
60 row
61 column | Known static micromixers that work according to the principle of multilamination allow for a rapid mixing by diffusion. The invention provides a means for substantially increasing the throughput of known micromixers. To this end, the inventive micromixer for mixing two or more reactants comprises microstructures that define mixer cells. Each of said mixer cells is provided with a feeding chamber which adjoins at least two groups of digital channels. Said channels intermesh with the digital channels of the groups adjoining the feeding channels in a comb-like manner, thereby producing mixing zones]. Outlet ports are located above said mixing zones, said outlet ports extending perpendicularly to the digital channels and discharging the product. The inventive micromixer is especially useful for the large-scale production of mixtures, dispersions and emulsions. | 7 |
BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0001] The present disclosure relates to lightheads, and more particularly, to LED lightheads for mounting to vehicles.
[0002] Lightheads for mounting to a motor vehicle may be mounted in any one of a multitude of positions and orientations to provide specific lighting functions. Some examples of lighting functions include fog lighting, warning lighting, spot lighting, takedown lighting, ground lighting, and alley lighting, each having directional, intensity, color and emission pattern requirements. Emergency vehicles often utilize lightheads to give visual indications of their presence during emergencies. Different types of emergency vehicles must meet distinct requirements for emergency warning lights, frequently requiring many distinct warning light modules to be mounted to body panels. Mounting each distinct warning light may require one or more holes in the body panel and running electrical power to the location of each warning light. The multiplicity of warning lights can complicate the manufacture of emergency vehicles. Warning light modules may also be referred to as lightheads. Relevant standards include California Title 13, NFPA standards for firefighting equipment and the Federal KKK standard for ambulances. These standards may include ground lighting and scene lighting requirements in addition to standards for warning light signals intended to alert motorists and individuals at any position around the vehicle.
[0003] The mounting location for a lighthead may relate to the specific lighting function that the lighthead serves. Lightheads are commonly mounted to any of a number of surfaces on a motor vehicle. Surfaces to which the lightheads are mounted may include the front grille, side panels, front bumper, rear bumper, brush guard, push bumper, roof, roof rack, and/or side-view mirrors.
[0004] Traditional lightheads may provide limited functionality in each individual unit. Most lightheads are designed for a specific function, and have the ability to produce a specific light emission pattern. In order to provide light emission for different functions and required standards, a vehicle must traditionally utilize multiple lightheads, each lighthead configured for the desired function and pattern of illumination.
[0005] Accordingly, there is a need in the market for a compact, multifunction LED lighthead.
SUMMARY
[0006] According to aspects of the disclosure, a compact multifunction LED lighthead comprises a thermally conductive base parallel with a vertically oriented plane, first and second PC boards, a support, at least first and second pluralities of LEDs, and a light-transmissive lens attachable to the base.
[0007] The first PC board is mounted in thermally conductive relationship to the base. The support has first and second surfaces which are oriented transverse to one another in a generally v-shaped configuration. The support is connected in thermally conductive relationship to the base and extends away from the vertical plane defined by the base. A first plurality of LEDs are mounted in groups to the first and second support surfaces and configured to emit a first distinct light emission pattern in a generally horizontal direction.
[0008] In one embodiment, an optic covers each group of the first plurality of LEDs. The optic is a wide-angle collimator having swept ends which creates a wider angle light emission pattern than is possible with LEDs alone.
[0009] A second PC board extends perpendicularly away from the first PC board and is adjacent to the bottom edges of the first and second surfaces of the support and secured beneath the support. A second plurality of LEDs are mounted to the second PC board and configured to emit a second distinct light emission pattern in a generally vertical direction. The first and second groups of LEDs may be arranged on PC boards connected by wires, or constructed with flexible connectors manufactured with the PC boards.
[0010] The configuration of the support and the position of the second PC board play important roles in generating the first and second specific patterns of light. Extending the support away from the base allows light emitted by the first plurality of LEDs to be seen at any point between vantage points close to the vertical plane, representing a side panel of an emergency vehicle. Additionally, arranging LEDs on the second PC board allows the second plurality of LEDs to emit light in a direction perpendicular to said first plurality of LEDs that is not blocked by a lip created by a recessed portion of the base, lens, and bezel in which the electronic components are secured.
[0011] In one embodiment a third plurality of LEDs are mounted to the first PC board and configured to emit a third light emission pattern in a generally horizontal direction.
[0012] A lighthead according to aspects of the current disclosure emits multiple distinct patterns of light in a single compact package, eliminating the need for multiple individual light heads. In addition to reducing clutter on the surface of an emergency vehicle, a lighthead of the current disclosure is relatively inconspicuous. Since the function of three lightheads can be served by a single lighthead mount, a lighthead of the current disclosure may be utilized for unmarked law enforcement vehicles without drawing attention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
[0013] Aspects of the preferred embodiment will be described in reference to the drawings, where like numerals reflect like elements:
[0014] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a fully assembled embodiment of a compact multi-function lighthead of the current disclosure, planes P 1 and P 2 are included for illustrative purposes;
[0015] FIG. 2 is a frontal view of the lighthead of FIG. 1 , the lens and bezel are omitted for clarity;
[0016] FIG. 3 is a top-plan view of the support, all other components of the lighthead are omitted for clarity;
[0017] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the lighthead taken along line 4 - 4 of FIG. 1 ,
[0018] FIG. 5 shows a bottom perspective view, of the lighthead of FIG. 1 , the lens and the bezel are omitted for clarity;
[0019] FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the lighthead taken along line 6 - 6 of FIG. 1 ;
[0020] FIG. 7 shows the rearward-facing side of the lens, all other components of the lighthead are omitted for clarity;
[0021] FIG. 8 is a frontal view of the base, all other components are omitted for clarity; and
[0022] FIG. 9 shows a sectional view of the optics as seen along a vertical line passing through one die of the first plurality of LEDs.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0023] Embodiments of a compact multi-function lighthead will now be described with reference to the Figures, wherein like numerals represent like parts throughout the FIGS. 1-8 .
[0024] FIGS. 1 and 2 depict a lighthead 100 for attachment to a vehicle (not shown). The lighthead 100 generally comprises a thermally conductive base 102 , a thermally conductive support 104 , a light transmissive lens 106 attachable to said base 102 , and first and second PC boards 108 and 110 , respectively. A vertically oriented plane P 1 is parallel with the base 102 , while a horizontally oriented plane P 2 intersects the lighthead 100 along a length denoted by line 4 - 4 . P 1 and P 2 perpendicularly intersect along line 4 - 4 .
[0025] Referring to FIGS. 2 and 8 , the thermally conductive base 102 has a central recessed portion 114 which is sized to receive a PC board 108 . The base 102 may be constructed from die cast aluminum, or any other cost-effective material which effectively dissipates heat generated by the lighthead's electronic components. The base 102 defines a channel 116 adjacent the periphery 118 of the lighthead 100 . PC board 108 is mounted in thermally conductive relationship to the base 102 using any manner known in the art to provide strong retentive forces without impeding heat transfer between PC board 108 and the base 102 . In the disclosed embodiment, PC board 108 is generally coplanar with P 1 .
[0026] Referring to FIG. 3 , the support 104 is a unitary piece of sheet metal cut and bent to provide LED support surfaces 122 , 124 . A structural cross-piece 128 extends between and connects first and second surfaces 122 and 124 , respectively. End tabs 130 extend from surfaces 122 , 124 and provide a thermally conductive path away from LEDs 126 . In the disclosed embodiment, the first and second surfaces 122 and 124 are oriented substantially transverse to one another, and extend away from the plane P 1 . Other angular relationships between surfaces 122 , 124 are compatible with the disclosed lightheads. The position and orientation of the surfaces 122 , 124 and the associated LEDs 126 , is designed to produce a warning light signal meeting the requirements for a 180° warning light and enhance visibility of the lighthead to individuals positioned close to a plane represented by the vehicle body panel upon which the lighthead is mounted. Conventional panel mounted warning lights meeting this standard typically lack visibility from such vantage points. The cross-piece 128 reinforces the first and second surfaces 122 and 124 , and provides a secure attachment point for the second PC board 110 (described in further detail below).
[0027] The support 104 is mounted in thermally conductive relationship to the base 102 . As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 , the support 104 is secured at the end tabs 130 via fasteners 134 to a pair of platforms 132 (see also FIG. 8 ) raised from the recessed portion 114 of the base 102 . The platforms 132 extend the connection point between the support 104 and the base 102 away from the vertically oriented plane P 1 .
[0028] A first plurality of LEDs 126 are mounted to PC boards 127 secured in thermally conductive relationship to the first and second surfaces 122 and 124 and provide a first distinct light emission pattern. Power is delivered to PC boards 127 through flexible connectors fabricated as part of PC boards 110 and 127 , though other electrical connections between PC boards are known and compatible with the disclosed embodiment. The first plurality of LEDs 126 are arranged to emit light in a generally horizontal wide angle beam. In one embodiment, the first plurality of LEDs 126 and the support 104 are configured to provide high visibility over 180° centered on a line vertically bisecting the lighthead 100 . The first plurality of LEDs 126 and optics 136 are configured to generate a light emission pattern meeting the photometric intensity and spread requirements of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Standard J 845 class 1.
[0029] As shown in FIGS. 2, 4, and 5 , optics 136 cover each group of the first plurality of LEDs 126 and cooperate with the first plurality of LEDs 126 to provide the first distinct light emission pattern. The optics 136 collimate the light emitted from the LEDs 126 into a generally horizontal direction, and spread the light emitted in a wider and more consistent pattern within the horizontal plane than is possible with the LEDs alone. Optics 136 are constructed of surfaces designed to cooperate to produce the desired vertically collimated, wide-angle beam according to well-understood optical principles. As best seen in FIG. 9 , the optic 136 has top, bottom and intermediate emission surfaces 138 , 140 , and 142 , respectively. Refracting surfaces 137 cooperate with internal reflecting surfaces 139 , 141 to re-direct light emitted from LEDs 126 into directions generally parallel with plane P 2 . Light redirected by surfaces 137 , 139 and 141 meets emission surfaces 138 , 140 at a right angle and passes through emission surfaces 138 , 140 with little further change in direction relative to plane P 2 . Refracting surface 143 cooperates with curved emission surface 142 to vertically collimate light emitted from LEDs 126 . Emission surface 142 also refracts light passing through it, with the shape of surfaces 142 and 143 selected to result in the desired, vertically collimated wide angle emission pattern. The internal reflecting surfaces 139 and 141 may be aspheric, as shown in the disclosed embodiment, although other known surface shapes are compatible with the disclosed multifunction lighthead 100 .
[0030] Optic 136 is constructed from the sectional shape shown in FIG. 9 projected along line 4 - 4 and swept about an axis of revolution A R ( FIGS. 2 and 4 ) at lateral ends of the optic 136 . A R is centered on the area of light emission of the end LED 126 in each group. The lateral ends are swept in a ninety (90) degree arc about the axis of revolution A R to form curved refracting surfaces 137 , 143 and curved emission surfaces 138 , 140 , and 142 . The swept configuration of the lateral optic ends maximizes the angle of light emission in the horizontal plane P 2 such that light emitted by LEDs mounted to the first surface 122 overlaps with light emitted by LEDs mounted to the second surface 124 providing a continuous horizontal pattern of light emission. Optic 136 is designed to re-direct light emitted from LEDs 126 on trajectories divergent from plane P 2 into trajectories substantially parallel with plane P 2 . Some vertical spread to the light emission pattern from LEDs 126 is permissible and may be necessary to meet the relevant light emission standard. Generally speaking the vertical spread of the desired wide angle horizontal beam is less than 20° up or down relative to plane P 2 and desirably less than 10° up or down relative to plane P 2 .
[0031] The support 104 provides clearance away from a mounting surface of a vehicle (not shown), extending LEDs 126 and optic 136 beyond a bezel 150 (see FIG. 4 ) which would otherwise impede visibility of the light signal from directions close to plane P 1 Accordingly, the optics 136 , V-shaped design of the support 104 , and raised platforms 132 improve visibility from vantage points close to P 1 . As one example, these vantage points correspond to that of pedestrians or motorists in front and behind a vehicle and close to the vehicle's path of travel when the subject multifunction lightheads 100 are mounted to the side body panels of the vehicle. The enhanced visibility of the subject lightheads is intended to supplement light signals generated by warning lights mounted to the front and rear of the vehicle.
[0032] In the embodiment where the first plurality of LEDs 126 comply with SAE standards J845 class 1, the first plurality of LEDs 126 emit a high intensity vertically collimated wide-angle beam of light which may be seen at any point between vantage points coplanar with P 1 . Consequently, when the lighthead is mounted on the side panels of an emergency vehicle, pedestrians and motorists positioned directly behind or directly in front of the emergency vehicle can see light emitted by the first plurality of LEDs 126 .
[0033] Referring to FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 PC board 110 projects perpendicularly from the first PC board 108 . The second PC board 110 may be soldered to the first PC board and a fastener 144 or other means may secure the second PC board 110 to the cross-piece 128 of the support 104 . Alternatively, plug type connectors may be used to form electrical connections between the first and second PC boards 108 , 110 . The second PC 110 board projects as far from plane P 1 as the support 104 .
[0034] As best seen in FIGS. 5 and 6 , a second plurality of LEDs 146 are mounted to the second PC board 110 . The second plurality of LEDs 146 is arranged on the second PC board 110 to provide a second distinct light emission pattern. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 , the second plurality of LEDs are oriented to emit light in a direction transverse to plane P 2 . The second plurality of LEDs 146 may function as ground lights, and are mounted at a position on the second PC board 110 so that the light the second plurality of LEDs 146 emits is not blocked by the lip created by the central recessed portion 114 and the peripheral base channel 116 or bezel 150 . Altering the dimensions of the lighthead 100 so that a greater surface area projects beyond the lip and bezel provides more surface area to which the second plurality of LEDs 146 may be attached, and increases the potential for a greater degree of illumination from the second plurality of LEDs 146 .
[0035] A third plurality of LEDs 112 is mounted to the first PC board 108 . The third plurality of LEDs 112 is oriented to emit beams of light in a generally horizontal direction. The type of LED utilized in the third plurality of LEDs 112 is selected to provide a specific third distinct light emission pattern e.g. illumination in support of search, traffic stop, rescue, and arrest activities.
[0036] In one embodiment, the third plurality of LEDs 112 are high intensity white LEDs. High intensity white LEDs can provide a takedown light emission pattern of the type utilized by law enforcement officials when conducting a traffic stop to illuminate the cabin of the vehicle being stopped. Alternatively, high intensity white LEDs can provide an alley light emission pattern to spotlight areas to either side of the vehicle. The focused beam of light necessary to produce the takedown/alley light emission pattern is provided by an optic 120 . In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 , the optic 120 is a total internal reflection (TIR) optic molded into the lens 106 . Alternatively, optic 120 or lens 106 may include features to re-direct light from LEDs 112 into a downward direction relative to plane P 2 to provide supplemental area illumination adjacent the body panel to which the lighthead 100 is mounted.
[0037] The location on the vehicle where the lighthead 100 is mounted determines whether the first plurality of LEDs provide a takedown or an alley lighting effect. The takedown lighting effect is provided by mounting and orienting the lighthead 100 to emit a high intensity beam of light in a direction aligned with the vehicle's direction of travel. For example, this function can be accomplished using a pedestal mount (not shown) connected to the push bumper or front bumper of the vehicle. The takedown light emission pattern may alternately be provided by mounting the lighthead to the front grille of the vehicle.
[0038] The alley light emission pattern is provided by mounting and orienting the lighthead 100 to emit a high intensity beam of light in a direction generally transverse to the vehicle's direction of travel. For example, the alley light emission pattern may be provided by mounting the lighthead 100 to the front quarter panel, door panel, or side view mirror of the vehicle.
[0039] In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4, 6 and 7 , the lens 106 is secured to the base 102 in weather-tight relationship. A seal 148 projects from the interior-facing side of the lens 106 along a periphery of the lens 152 in a configuration complementary to the peripheral channel 116 . In the disclosed embodiment a bezel 150 secures the lens 106 in weather tight communication against the base 102 , though the bezel may not be required.
[0040] As seen in FIGS. 4 and 6 , a gasket 154 projects from the perimeter of the base 118 in a direction opposite the lens 106 . In embodiments where the lighthead 100 is mounted directly to the surface of a vehicle, the gasket ensures a weather tight seal against the vehicle, preventing salt and moisture from penetrating behind the lighthead 100 .
[0041] While a preferred embodiment has been set forth for purposes of illustration, the foregoing description should not be deemed a limitation of the invention herein. Accordingly, various modifications, adaptations and alternatives may occur to one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention and scope of the claimed coverage. | A multifunction lighthead for mounting to a vehicle includes several groups of LEDs arranged to provide distinct light emission patterns. Each group of LEDs and associated optics are selected and positioned to produce light emission patterns needed to meet lighting standards applicable to the vehicle. Such standards may require wide angle light emission, which is enhanced by supporting groups of LEDs that project away from the vehicle body, enhancing visibility of the lighthead from directions close to a plane defined by the body panel. The projecting support for the LEDs and optics for a wide angle light emission pattern may be employed to support LEDs arranged for ground illumination. Other groups of LEDs in the same lighthead may be arranged with optics to provide area illumination in support of arrest, search, triage or other emergency functions. | 5 |
FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electrochemical metal-air cell and to replaceable, rechargeable anodes for use therein. More particularly the present invention relates to such cells for use in metal-air batteries specifically designed for automotive application.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Due to their high energy-to-weight ratio, safety of use, and other advantages, metal-air, and particularly zinc-air, batteries have been proposed as a preferred energy source for use in electrically powered vehicles.
To date, much of the development concerning use of metal-air batteries as a main power source for vehicle propulsion has focused on modified "mechanically rechargeable" primary battery systems comprising a consumable metal anode and a nonconsumable air cathode. The metal anode is configured to be replaceable once the metal component therein is expended following oxidation in the current producing reaction. These systems obviously constituted an advance over the previously proposed secondary battery systems which have to be electrically charged for an extended period of time once exhausted, and require an external source of direct current.
Some of these mechanically rechargeable systems, such as the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,139,679 to Appelby are quite complex in construction, incorporating an active particulate metal anode component freely suspended in an alkaline electrolyte, and a pump to keep the particulate metal anode in suspension and circulated between air cathodes. After discharge of the metal anode component, the electrolyte is then replaced with an electrolyte containing a fresh particulate metal anode component in suspension.
Other prior art battery systems, such as the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,436,270 to Oswin, comprise electrochemical cells utilizing a fixed planar anode configured for easy replacement and placed in close adjacency to one or more air cathodes, physically separated therefrom by fluid permeable protective screens, but kept in current producing contact with the cathode by an alkaline electrolyte. Referring to FIG 1., in such prior art devices, a metal anode element denoted 10 generally comprises a central corrosion resistant current collector planar metallic mesh or foil frame 12 attached to a base member 14, and a terminal 16. An anode 18 consisting of a laminated sheet metal or porous metal plate or a viscous slurry of active metallic particles, typically zinc, impregnated with electrolyte is spread over frame 12. Once the metal anode element 10 is entirely discharged, it is removed from the cell and replaced by a fresh anode element. These systems have been particularly heralded for use in electric vehicle propulsion since they facilitate quick recharging of the vehicle batteries simply by replacement of the spent anodes, while keeping the air cathodes and other battery structures in place. This mechanical recharging, or refueling may be accomplished for instance in service stations dedicated to the purpose. To further enhance the cost efficiency of such systems, it has been proposed in our above copending application to regenerate the metal anode at an external plant by chemical recycling process so that it may be reformed into a fresh anode element for later reuse in either the same or a different cell.
Despite the obvious advantages of such a primary mechanically rechargeable system, it appears desirable to offer the electric vehicle owner a further option of occasionally electrically recharging a normally mechanically rechargeable primary battery, since electrical recharging may offer: (i) a potentially lower marginal cost per recharging, (ii) where the owner has sufficiently available time, increased convenience since the need to go to a battery refueling/service station is reduced, and (iii) reduced overall impact on battery refueling/service station infrastructure requirements. Such electrical recharging would be as applicable with respect to secondary batteries, that is by reversing the direction of current flow by applying direct current to the cells.
However, converting mechanically rechargeable primary cells into electrically rechargeable secondary cells is considerably more difficult than merely reversing the direction of current flow by applying current to the cell to recharge the spent electrodes.
As known in the art, one of the principal advantages of the metal-air secondary battery lies in the fact that only the metal anode requires recharge. The air cathode, since it relies on electrochemical reduction of ambient oxygen by a static catalyst for the comsumption of electrons in the current producing reaction, need not be regenerated.
Studies have shown that attempts to adapt prior art metal-air cells comprising a structured metal anode for electric regeneration as secondary cells have met with three principal problems: (1) uneven replating of the metal anode following the electric recharge process, particularly slumping of the metal anode element to the bottom portions of the anode as illustrated in FIG. 2; (2) formation of dendrites generally perpendicular to the recharging cathode which eventually short out the cell by bridging between the metal anode and air electrode; and (3) degradation of the air electrode arising from production of oxygen in the recharging process causing oxidation and corrosion of the electrode, and delamination of its components, as well as a build up of internal pressure within the cell tending to force electrolyte into contact with the outside environment resulting in contamination and evaporation.
As a result of a combination of the above problems, proposed fixed anode metal-air batteries suffer from a reduction of efficiency following electrical recharging, requiring additional complex and expensive adaptive means to retard the negative effects of recharging. In the absence of such adaptations, the entire cell or battery must be replaced following only a very limited number of recharge cycles. Moreover, even the longest life rechargeable metal-air batteries are subject to severe degradation of the metal anode following repeated electrical discharge/recharge cycles. Such degradation eventually leads to irreversible damage of the anode thus requiring that the entire cell or battery be replaced. Replacement may be required even though other battery structures including the housing, cathodes and current collectors may still be perfectly usable, which of course is wasteful.
In our copending U.S. application No. 07/636,411 filed on Dec. 31, 1990 it has been proposed to electrochemically regenerate spent metal anode active material external to the battery. However, even when severe but less than irreversible degradation is caused by the above described processes of repeated inplace electrical discharge/recharge, it has been found that the external regeneration is made more lengthy, difficult and costly. In extreme instances, external regeneration may be even rendered impossible.
Prior art, U.S. Pat. No. 3,650,837 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,759,748 both to Palmer, teaches attempts to solve the problem of air electrode degradation by providing improved air electrodes incorporating improved catalysts and composite construction to reduce destruction upon recharging. U.S. Pat. No. 4,957,826 to Cheiky, teaches means to prevent electrolyte leakage and contamination. U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,963 to Ross offers a particular solution to the problem of dendrite formation in a fixed non-replaceable anode of an electrically rechargeable metal-air cell. However, the prior art fails to teach a comprehensive solution to the above problems, particularly preventing the complete and irreversible exhaustion of the metal anode or otherwise providing for adaptation of primary mechanically rechargeable metal-air batteries to be repeatedly electrically recharged.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Thus, it is the principal object of the invention to provide an essentially mechanically rechargeable metal-air primary battery system, however capable of being repeatedly electrically recharged.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a comprehensive solution to the above mentioned problems of adapting fixed anode metal-air mechanically rechargeable primary cells to be electrically recharged.
It is still a further object of the invention to provide means for ensuring that the anode be mechanically replaced to allow for its external regeneration prior to the anode suffering damage following substantial degradation upon multiple discharge/recharge cycles.
Broadly, the electrochemical metal-air cell of the present invention is adapted for repeated discharge and recharge cycles. The cell comprises a frame housing defining an interior space for containing therein a replaceable metal electrode. The electrode comprises a planar electrically conductive skeletal member embracing an active metal component. The cell further incorporates at least one generally planar air permeable but liquid impermeable air electrode installed at at-least one of the sides of the housing, and an electrolyte in contact respectively with the metal and air electrodes. To effect recharging of the cell, the metal electrode has been adapted to be either easily replaced (mechanical recharging) or recharged by application of electric current thereto. A mechanical spacer, in the form of an electrolyte permeable formed woven or non-woven insulating material to prevent shorting is generally interposed between the metal anode and air electrode cathode elements.
The active metal component of the metal electrode may comprise porous or a sintered metal sheet, an electrolyte impregnated slurry of metal particles or solid sheet; however, due to their electrogenerative capacity a porous sheet or slurry is generally preferred. However, as a result of the particulate composition, such anodes are particularly prone to slumping upon electrical recharge (FIG. 2).
More specifically according to the present invention, there is now provided an electrochemical metal-air cell, adapted for multiple discharge and recharge cycles, comprising a housing defining an interior space for containing therein a replaceable metal electrode having a generally planar electrically conductive skeletal member encompassed by an active metal component; at least one generally planar air permeable but liquid impermeable air electrode installed at at-least one of the sides of the housing; an electrolyte in contact with the metal and the air electrodes; and further comprising one or more auxiliary electrodes, each auxiliary electrode constituting a charging anode adapted to be engaged upon application of electric current thereto for effecting the reduction and regeneration of said active metal component in a first mode of operation, during which said air electrode is disengaged, and to be disengaged in a second mode of operation, wherein said metal electrode is configured for removal from said interior space to enable the mechanical replacement thereof as well as being rechargeable in situ by the application of electric current to said auxiliary charging anode to reduce oxidized active metal thereof.
The invention also provides a replaceable, rechargeable anode for use in an electrochemical metal-air cell as defined above. The anode comprises a generally planar electrically conductive skeletal member embracing an active component, in combination with at least one auxiliary charging electrode; said anode and said auxiliary charging electrode being bounded and enveloped by at least one removable separator and being removable together therewith from said cell.
In one embodiment of the invention, the metal electrode is constructed of an electrically conductive skeletal cellular support structure containing a plurality of open ended volumes, each volume packed with a slurry of metal particles chosen from metals having a high oxygen affinity, such as zinc, impregnated with an electrolyte to create a static anode bed. Due to the structure of the cellular frame, slumping of the metal anode slurry is constricted to within each of the respective volumes, while in general remaining distributed over the entire frame. The cellular structure may be in the form of a ladder, honeycomb, woven mesh, expanded metal, perforated plate and the like extending over the full anode thickness, or only a portion thereof.
Moreover, as is known, the severity of dendrite growth generally increases proportionately to the geometric area of the anode. Thus, it is a further advantage of the cellular structure that the active metal anode is subdivided into a plurality of smaller geometric areas thereby reducing dendrite formation and associated degradation of the anode as a whole.
In another embodiment, the skeletal frame comprises a plurality of rigid rods or wires supporting and encompassed by compacted active zinc slurry formed of porous zinc granules.
Other means to inhibit dendrite formation in the anode regeneration process comprise an ion selective membrane, the membrane being permeable to hydroxyl ions, but impermeable to electrolyte-soluble complex ions of the metal comprising the metal anode. For example, where the anode element is comprised of zinc, the electrolyte-soluble complex ion that can form or discharge would be zincate ions (Zn(OH) 4 -- ). Ideally, the membrane will be configured to envelop the metal electrode as part of a removeable metal electrode cassette; it may also be configured to cover the air electrode or function as a stand-alone separator. When configured to envelop the metal anode, the complex ion by-product of the current producing electrochemical reaction is inhibited from migrating beyond the membrane, thus establishing a barrier to dendrite growth.
Advanced degradation of the metal anode is further prevented by periodic mechanical replacement thereof, or of the active anodic material, the battery and component cells being specifically designed to facilitate easy mechanical recharging.
One means of overcoming cathode degeneration is by use of a bi-functional air electrode comprising a durable catalyst having low over-voltage characteristics for oxygen evolution upon recharging, the catalyst being capable of withstanding oxygen formation.
Thus, in another embodiment of the present invention there is provided an electrochemical metal-air cell, adapted for multiple discharge and recharge cycles, comprising a housing defining an interior space for containing therein a replaceable metal electrode having a generally planar electrically conductive skeletal member encompassed by an active metal component; at least one generally planar air permeable but liquid impermeable air electrode installed at at-least one of the sides of the housing; an electrolyte in contact with the metal and the air electrodes, wherein said air electrode is a bi-functional electrode, adapted to constitute a charging electrode adapted upon reversal of current flow to effect the reduction and regeneration of the active metal component of said replaceable metal electrode in a first mode of operation, and wherein the metal electrode is removed from the interior space to enable the mechanical replacement thereof and is recharged in situ by the application of electric current to said bi-functional air electrode to reduce oxidized active metal thereof.
In another alternative embodiment allowing for the use of higher efficiency but charge-sensitive air electrodes, one or more catalyzed auxiliary charging electrodes adapted to engage only upon application of a charging current to the cell, and to be at all other times disengaged, are interposed into the cell.
The auxiliary charging electrodes may be permanently positioned within the cell. Alternatively, the charging electrodes may be included as part of the said metal electrode cassette, adapted to be fully interchangeable with cassettes not having charging electrodes, thus providing a means for selecting between more flexible electrical/mechanical rechargability and less costly but higher performance solely mechanical rechargability.
The invention will now be described in connection with certain preferred embodiments with reference to the following illustrative figures so that it may be more fully understood.
With specific reference now to the figures in detail, it is stressed that the particulars shown are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of the preferred embodiments of the present invention only and are presented in the cause of providing what is believed to be the most useful and readily understood description of the principles and conceptual aspects of the invention. In this regard, no attempt is made to show structural details of the invention in more detail than is necessary for a fundamental understanding of the invention, the description taken with the drawings making apparent to those skilled in the art how the several forms of the invention may be embodied in practice.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of a metal electrode according to the prior art usable in the context of a mechanically rechargeable primary metal-air cell;
FIG. 2 shows the electrode of FIG. 1 illustrating the problems of slumping and dendrite formation after only a few cycles of secondary recharging;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a battery in operational configuration, partially cut away, comprising a plurality of metal-air cells according to the invention;
FIG. 4 is an elevation of the metal-air cell according to a particular embodiment of the present invention, with the anode cassette partially removed and separator screen cut away;
FIG. 5 is a cross section taken along line V--V of FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is an exploded view showing the components of the metal-air cell in FIG. 4;
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the metal anode illustrated in FIG. 1;
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a metal electrode according to a particular embodiment of the invention;
FIGS. 9a-9c illustrate some alternative metal electrodes incorporating different shapes of anode supports;
FIG. 10 is a frontal view of the anode of FIG. 8, illustrating the effects of slumping and dendrite formation following repeated recharging;
FIG. 11 is a cross section of a mechanically and electrically rechargeable metal-air cell according to one embodiment of the present invention comprising a single metal anode and two auxiliary charging electrodes;
FIG. 12 is a cross section of a mechanically and electrically rechargeable metal-air cell according to another embodiment, comprising two metal anodes and a centrally displaced auxiliary recharging electrode;
FIG. 13 is an exploded view of a hybrid metal electrode cassette comprising a metal anode and auxiliary charging electrode configured as a removable cassette; and
FIG. 14 is an exploded view of another embodiment of the anode of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Briefly referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a battery generally denoted 20 comprising a casing 22 and a multitude of serially connected electric cells 24, details of which will be given below.
Each of the cells has positive and negative electric contact terminals 26 and 28 respectively, the cells being interconnected in series by way of electrically conductive bus bars shown in broken lines and denoted 30.
A typical cell 24 of mono-polar construction is depicted in FIGS. 4 and 5. Each cell comprises a nonconductive frame housing 32, suitably formed of polypropylene. A pair of outer air electrodes 34 are installed into the frame housing 32 to form an interior space 36 constructed to receive a mating metal electrode cassette 38, and an electrolyte (not shown). The frame housing 32 and electrode cassette 38 are configured and constructed to facilitate easy removal and insertion of cassette 38 into space 36; while, at the same time, providing a fully sealed electrolyte tight cell when the cassette is inserted and fully seated. Electrical make and break means (not shown) between the contact terminals 28 and bus bars 30 are further provided to establish a battery circuit between a group of cells.
Any suitable alkaline electrolyte may be used, KOH though being found particularly suitable. The air electrodes 34 are substantially gas permeable but liquid impermeable so as to prevent leakage of the electrolyte and facilitate electrolyte contact with the metal electrode. While a cell of mono-polar construction is illustrated, it should be clearly understood that the cell may be of bipolar construction i.e., only one outer air electrode 34 per anode cassette 38.
Construction of the air electrodes 34 and the metal electrode cassette 38 will now be described in greater detail with reference to FIG. 6. As illustrated, air electrodes 34 are of basically conventional design comprising at each side thereof, inner and outer frame members 40 and 42 respectively, a conductive current collector 44 and a metallic mesh 46. The frame members 40 and 42 are of mating construction and fabricated from nonconductive plastics, such as polypropylene. The metallic mesh basically consists of a thin, perforated nickel screen, typically 0.2 mm thick and having 20 holes/cm, laminated on the outer side with a hydrophobic blocking layer, suitably Teflonized carbon, permeable to air but impermeable to water based electrolyte. The inner side of the mesh 46 is laminated with a composite having a high affinity for oxygen and capacity for reducing oxygen to hydroxyl ions. Composites of platinum, silver, mixed metal oxides and macrocyclics, with or without carbon have been found particularly suitable. Various known in the art catalysts and composite constructions may be used depending on the desired effects.
The metal electrode cassette 38 comprises the central anode element 10 enveloped by a pair of removable separators 50. Separators 50, provided at each side of the anode element 10 are constructed of inner and outer frame members 52 and 54, respectively, a protective mesh or non-woven screen 56 and an optional selectively permeable ion selective membrane 58. Frame members 52 and 54 are of mating construction and are fabricated from nonconductive material, typically polypropylene or other suitable plastic. While it is generally preferable that the separators 50 attach to and envelop anode element 10, forming anode cassette 38, clearly they may also be attached to air electrodes 34 or set in free-standing disposition between the anode element 10 and air electrodes 34 in interior space 36 (FIG. 5). Protective screen 56 are typically fabricated from woven or non-woven NYLON®, a long chain synthetic polymeric amide, or polypropylene and adapted to establish a barrier preventing physical contact between the anode element 10 and air electrodes 34 which would result in shorting out the cell. Moreover, screen 56 serves to protect the air electrodes 34 and the ion membrane 58 from damage upon removal or insertion of the cassette 38 from the housing 32.
The ion selective membrane 58 typically comprises a hydrophilic film formed of irradiated inert polyethylene, polypropylene or TEFLON®, polytetrafluoroethylene, base film, permeable to hydroxyl ions but impermeable to complex ions formed in the current producing chemical reaction occurring between the anode element 10 and the air electrodes 34. Suitable membranes for use in a zinc based cell would be from the family of battery separators sold by RAI Research Corporation under the tradename PERMION®.
According to one particular embodiment of the invention depicted in FIG. 7, a known in the art metal anode element 10 comprising a conductive skeletal frame, denoted 12, and a base member 14 is used. Skeletal frame 12 is typically constructed from a perforated screen or mesh of copper, steel or nickel, optionally coated with lead, tin, cadmium or their alloys. Moreover, highly efficient and closely fitted ion membranes 58 as described above are advantageous to constrain dendrite formation.
To function as a metal anode element, skeletal frame 12 must be coated with porous or non porous anode material 18 of high oxygen affinity metal, typically zinc, in order to achieve efficient repeated rechargings.
In general, a porous metal anode sheet is advantageous compared to a non-porous sheet, in order to increase the interface surface with electrolyte and in general to enhance current producing reaction process. A porous sheet may be fabricated by any known in the art process, for example pasting; alternatively viscous slurry, comprising fine metal particles impregnated with electrolyte may be evenly spread over the skeletal frame 12 to form the anode sheet 18.
In an alternative embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 8, metal anode element 10 is comprised of an electrically conductive 3-dimensional skeletal frame 66, and base member 68. Base member 68 is configured to fit into the upper end 32a of frame housing 32 and form a liquid tight seal. Typically the frame is fabricated from copper, steel or nickel, optionally plated with lead, tin or cadmium, and having a cellular like structure formed by adjoining open ended polygonal shaped volumes 70.
Each of the volumes is packed with a viscous slurry of active metal particles impregnated with electrolyte thus creating a structured static anode bed 72 evenly distributed over the entire frame 66. The skeletal frame 66 may be sufficiently thick so that the entire slurry fits within the volumes; alternatively a thinner frame 66 may be used so that some of the slurry fits into the volumes while the remainder is evenly spread over the face of the frame 66. Any metal with a high affinity for oxygen may be used, however from the standpoint of cost, weight-output ratio and rechargeability, zinc is preferred. The viscosity and composition of the slurry may be varied to achieve different output and life span characteristics.
The cellular configuration of the frame 66, whether of full or partial width, provides a structure minimizing both slumping of the anode bed 72 upon recharging as well as formation of dendrites tending to bridge between the metal anode element 10 and the air electrode 34 as discussed above. Instead of the mass of the anode bed 72 slumping to the bottom of the metal anode 10, as shown in FIG. 2, slumping of the anode bed 72 occurs within the confines of each volume 70, such that the anode bed 72 remains generally distributed over the entire face of frame 66, as illustrated in FIG. 9 (see below).
Due to the cellular structure, the geometric plane on which dendrite growth can occur is subdivided, thereby on the one-hand, reducing dendrite growth as a whole. Moreover, the dendrite growth that does occur tends to remain confined within the cells as illustrated in FIG. 10 rather than extend perpendicularly in the direction of the air electrode.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, the cell 24 is provided with a bi-functional air electrode 34 generally of the description given above with reference to FIG. 6, however, incorporating a highly oxidation and corrosion resistant composite catalyst, typically formed of a mixture of transition metal oxides. Such bi-functional air electrodes are known in the art with respect to solely electrically rechargeable battery cells, and therefore need not be further described.
In further embodiments, illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12, a cell of generally the same configuration and construction as that described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 is provided, however, with the addition of an auxiliary charging anode or anodes, denoted 76. The charging electrode is comprised of a metal element such as a nickel screen being 0.2 mm thick and having 20 holes per cm, covered with a catalyst having a low over-voltage for oxygen evolution to encourage in the recharge cycle enhanced oxygen generation at a low voltage. A suitable catalyst may be comprised of mixed oxides of cobalt and nickel, deposited onto the screen by any commonly known processes. The auxiliary electrode is typically wrapped in a protective envelope 78, consisting of woven or non-woven Nylon® or polypropylene, and an optional selective ion membrane as described above. Use of such an auxiliary charging electrode facilitates the use of higher efficiency--higher power, less expensive, but charge-sensitive cathodes as compared with the bi-functional electrodes described above.
Typically, each of the cells is provided with a direction sensitive relay circuit (not shown) so that upon reversal of polarity and application of a charging current, the auxiliary charging electrode 76 becomes engaged, while at the same time disengaging the air electrode 34, resulting in application of current to the charging electrode 70 only.
A cell 24 comprising auxiliary charging electrodes 76 may be constructed either as a single anode cell (FIG. 11) comprising two auxiliary charging electrodes 76 fixedly interposed between anode cassette 38 and air electrodes 34, or as a bi-anode cell (FIG. 12) comprising two adjoining anode cassettes and an auxiliary electrode 76 fixedly interposed therebetween in the cell as illustrated.
Referring now to FIG. 13, there is shown a hybrid metal electrode cassette 138 having substantially the same dimensions and components as the metal electrode cassette 38 illustrated in FIG. 6, with the exception of the addition of a pair of auxiliary charging electrodes 176. Thus, the hybrid cassette comprises a central anode element 110 enveloped by a pair of separators 150, the separators being constructed of inner and outer frame members 152 and 154 protective mesh 156 and an optional selectively permeable ion selective membrane 158, the auxiliary charging electrode 176 being interposed between separators 150 and the central anode element 110 as shown. Such a hybrid cassette 138 is configured to be interchangeable with cassette 38. Thus, by selection of the desired cassette, regular or hybrid, the user may readily convert the cell to be electrically/mechanically rechargeable, or alternatively solely mechanically rechargeable as desired; it being understood that the choice is left to the user on the basis of cost versus performance and relative flexibility concerning available recharging options.
It has been found that chemical recycling of the metal anode bed 72 following replacement of the metal anode cassette is best and most cost effectively accomplished prior to the anode having undergone many repeated cycles of electric recharging. Thus, counter circuitry (not shown) may be provided to ensure that the cell cannot be recharged more than a pre-set number of times prior to mechanical replacement of the anode cassette 38.
Alternatively, as illustrated in FIG. 14, the skeletal frame 82' may be comprised of a series of rigid rods or wires 92 projecting from the base member 84' as illustrated. The rods or wires 92 may be suitably constructed of any of the conductive metals mentioned above. As a weight saving feature, the rods 92 alternatively may be formed of inert plastics, suitably polypropylene, Nylon® or polyvinylchloride, optionally all or some of which are coated with the said conductive metals. A combination of metal and plastic rods may be incorporated as well.
The active anode element 86 (or 86') is formed from a slurry of porous zinc granules impregnated with and suspended in any suitable electrolyte. The slurry is cold-compacted under pressure at room temperature until adherence of the granules into a rigid static bed of active anode material is achieved. Whereafter said rods or wires 92 are encompassed by the compacted active zinc slurry 86' formed of porous zinc granules to form a regular electrode cassette 38'.
Slurry prepared from porous granules comprising zinc, impregnated with and suspended in an electrolyte comprising an aqueous solution of a hydroxide of a group Ia metal, and optionally including inorganic corrosion inhibitors (e.g. PbO CdO ZnO HgO In 2 O 3 , SnO or a combination thereof), organic corrosion inhibitors (e.g. phosphate esters or tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide), gelling agents (e.g. carboxymethyl cellulose), electrolyte extenders (e.g. sodium silicate), fillers (e.g. graphite) and labelling agents (e.g. cresol, red), produced according to the teachings of applicant's copending European Patent application has been found to be particularly suitable.
From the foregoing description, it should be clear that the present invention provides a solution to the particular problem of adapting mechanically rechargeable metal-air cells, normally rechargeable by replacement of the anode or anodic active material, to be repeatedly recharged as secondary cells by application of electric current. This paves the way for the introduction of such mechanically rechargeable batteries as a main power source for vehicle propulsion in the mass market. It should be appreciated by any person skilled in the art that a large variety of variations may be introduced to the invention herein described, for example construction of the cells as bi-polar cells having one air electrode per metal electrode, without departing from its scope as defined in and by the appended claims.
It will, thus, be evident to those skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to the details of the foregoing illustrative embodiments, and that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the essential attributes thereof, and it is, therefore, desired that the present embodiments be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being made to the appended claims, rather than to 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 electrochemical metal-air cell for multiple discharge and recharge cycles, includes a housing for accommodating a replaceable metal electrode having a generally planar electrically conductive skeletal member encompassed by an active metal component. At least one generally planar, air permeable but liquid impermeable air electrode is installed at at-least one of the sides of the housing. An electrolyte is provided in contact with the metal and the air electrodes. One or more auxiliary electrodes each constituting a charging anode is engaged when electric current is applied thereto for effecting the reduction and regeneration of the active metal component in one mode of operation, during which the air electrode is disengaged. The charging anode is disengaged in another mode of operation. The metal electrode is removed from the housing to enable the mechanical replacement thereof and is recharged in situ when electric current is applied to the auxiliary charging anode to reduce oxidized active metal thereof. | 8 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/357,387, filed Jun. 22, 2010, the entire specification, claims and drawings of which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND
[0002] 1. Field
[0003] Aspects of the present invention relate to a force transfer assembly, and, in particular, to an assembly that effectively transmits loads through various angles in order to effectuate motion in a direction different from that of the axis of applied force.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] Conventional motion transfer assemblies, such as a Bowden cable, a bell crank, and walking beam assemblies, are typically used for mechanically transferring an applied force from one axis to a different axis. These types of motion transfer assemblies are commonly used in many applications, such as, for example, aircraft wing panels and/or horizontal stabilizers to mechanically actuate the flight control surfaces, and mechanically actuated steering assemblies.
[0006] As shown in FIG. 1 , for example, a conventional bell crank assembly 10 typically uses a pivoting L-shaped crank 15 to transmit a force applied in a first direction to an end of the primary arm 20 to a force applied in a second direction by the end of a secondary arm 25 . As the end of the primary arm 20 is pulled or pushed, by a cable or tie rod, for example, the crank 15 rotates around the pivot point 22 and forces the secondary arm 25 to likewise push or pull a cable or tie rod attached to the end of the secondary arm 25 . In this manner, the applied motion along an original axis may be transferred through almost any angle to a secondary axis of motion.
[0007] The structure of conventional motion transfer assemblies, comprised of various mechanical linkages, pulleys, and cranks, for example, is often complicated and requires complex tooling to manufacture. Additionally, conventional motion transfer assemblies have various limitations, including being unable to transfer force through relatively small bend radii, as is often the case with Bowden cables, or having an extremely limited range of motion, as is the case with bell crank assemblies. As such, there exists a need for a force transfer assembly that provides the benefits of conventional assemblies while enabling a simpler mounting structure, providing an enhanced ability to transfer force at various angles, including through relatively small bend radii, and providing increased range of motion.
SUMMARY
[0008] A force transfer assembly that can transfer force at various angles and through relatively small bend radii includes a roller chain assembly constrained in a raceway channel. The configuration provides multi-dimensional support so that a roller chain assembly, typically constrained to tensile loading, may also be used for compressive loading.
[0009] The advantages of the force transfer assembly described herein include relatively low friction, low hysteresis, a simple mounting structure relative to what is required for bell cranks, walking beams, or other similar devices, small radii for force transmittal relative to that possible with a Bowden cable, for example, and smaller space requirements for installation and actuation while permitting increased range of motion. In addition, because roller chains are highly automated production items, the cost for manufacture of the present invention is lower compared to other conventional force transfer devices.
[0010] In accordance with certain aspects of the present invention, the force transfer assembly may include a chain assembly having a first end and a second end, and a raceway channel assembly having a raceway channel with an upper raceway surface and a lower raceway surface and at least one lateral securing mechanism, wherein the chain assembly is secured in the raceway channel via the upper raceway surface, the lower raceway surface, and the at least one lateral securing mechanism, and wherein a tensile or compressive force applied to one of the first end or the second end of the chain assembly is transferred to the other of the first end or the second end of the chain assembly via the chain assembly constrained in the raceway channel assembly.
[0011] It is understood that other aspects of a force transfer assembly will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, wherein it is shown and described only exemplary configurations of a force transfer assembly. As will be realized, the invention includes other and different aspects of a force transfer assembly and the various details presented throughout this disclosure are capable of modification in various other respects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and the detailed description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0012] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional motion transfer assembly;
[0013] FIG. 2 is plan view of a force transfer assembly, in accordance with aspects of the present invention;
[0014] FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view along line A-A of the force transfer assembly shown in FIG. 2 , in accordance with aspects of the present invention;
[0015] FIG. 4 is a top view of a raceway channel assembly, in accordance with aspects of the present invention; and
[0016] FIG. 5 is a side plan view of the raceway channel assembly of FIG. 4 , in accordance with aspects of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] The present invention is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which various aspects of a force transfer assembly are shown. This invention, however, may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited by the various aspects of the force transfer assembly presented herein. The detailed description of the force transfer assembly is provided below so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the present invention to those skilled in the art.
[0018] The detailed description may include specific details for illustrating various aspects of a force transfer assembly. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention may be practiced without these specific details.
[0019] Various aspects of a force transfer assembly may be illustrated by describing components that are coupled together. As used herein, the term “coupled” is used to indicate either a direct connection between two components or, where appropriate, an indirect connection to one another through intervening or intermediate components. In contrast, when a component is referred to as being “directly coupled” to another component, there are no intervening elements present.
[0020] Relative terms such as “lower” or “bottom” and “upper” or “top” may be used herein to describe one element's relationship to another element illustrated in the drawings. It will be understood that relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of an apparatus in addition to the orientation depicted in the drawings. By way of example, if an apparatus in the drawings is turned over, elements described as being on the “bottom” side of the other elements would then be oriented on the “top” side of the other elements. The term “bottom” can therefore encompass both an orientation of “bottom” and “top” depending on the particular orientation of the apparatus.
[0021] Various aspects of a force transfer assembly may be illustrated with reference to one or more exemplary embodiments. As used herein, the term “exemplary” means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration,” and should not necessarily be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments of a force transfer assembly disclosed herein.
[0022] As shown in FIG. 2 , a force transfer assembly 100 includes a roller chain assembly 200 provided in a raceway channel assembly 300 . The roller chain assembly 200 may have alternating inner links 210 coupled together by alternating outer links 220 . The inner links 210 may each have an inner and an outer plate connected by two sleeves or bushings, for example, which may be integrally formed with the inner and outer plates. Similarly, the outer links 220 may include inner and outer plates that are connected together by mounting posts 225 which pass through the sleeves or bushings of the inner links 210 and couple the chain links 210 and 220 together. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the mounting posts 225 may directly couple the inner and outer plates of the inner links 210 to the inner and outer plates of the outer links 220 without separate bushings. In accordance with aspects of the present invention, oversized rollers 250 may be rotatably positioned on each of the mounting posts 225 . The size of the roller chain assembly 200 may be the same as that of any conventional roller chain, depending on the working load to be imparted to the chain, including chain sizes from 25 to 240 per the ANSI B29-1 roller chain standard sizes.
[0023] As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 , the raceway channel assembly 300 may include a removable cover 310 coupled to a raceway support structure 330 . An upper raceway wall 332 and a lower raceway wall 334 may extend from a base plate portion 335 of the raceway support structure 330 to form a raceway channel 350 . The upper and lower raceway walls 332 and 334 , respectively, provide an upper raceway surface 352 and a lower raceway surface 354 for rotatably securing the oversized rollers 250 into the raceway channel 350 . As shown in FIG. 3 , when the removable cover 310 is secured to the raceway support structure 330 , the roller chain assembly 200 is laterally secured within the raceway channel 350 between a cover channel wall 311 and a raceway channel wall 340 with the oversized rollers 250 effectively secured between the upper raceway surface 352 and the lower raceway surface 354 .
[0024] Alternatively, in accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the raceway support structure 330 may be mounted directly against a flat surface, for example, with the open portion of the raceway channel 350 against the flat surface. In this manner, the cover 310 is not required as the roller chain assembly 200 may be laterally secured in the raceway channel 350 between the raceway channel wall 340 and the flat mounting surface. The raceway channel assembly 300 may be formed from a variety of materials and processes suitable for the loads to be encountered, including, for example, sand casting, permanent mold casting, investment casting, die casting, injection molding, compression molding, and cold forming or forging.
[0025] With the roller chain assembly 200 secured in the raceway channel 350 , the oversize rollers 250 prevent the chain links 210 and 220 from contacting the upper and lower raceway surfaces 352 and 354 , while the channel walls 311 and 340 prevent the chain links 210 and 220 from lateral buckling. In this manner, the roller chain assembly 200 is effectively supported and is capable of transmitting tensile, as well as compressive, forces without failure or buckling. The oversize rollers 250 constrained in the raceway channel 350 provide a low friction means for transferring an applied tensile or compressive force from one end of the assembly to the other. Moreover, unlike the bell crank assembly of FIG. 1 , which is limited to a range of motion equal to the travel distance of the rotating arm, the constrained chain may be actuated over much greater distances while maintaining the tensile and compressive structural integrity required for motion in either direction.
[0026] As shown in FIG. 2 , the raceway channel assembly 300 may be formed with relatively sharp bends, having a small radius of curvature R, for example, which allows the transfer of force from one axis to another through a smaller radii compared to that of conventional power transfer mechanisms. The radius of curvature R may be limited only by the tolerances involved with the fit of the oversized rollers 250 in the raceway channel 350 , for example. In another aspect of the present invention, the raceway channel 350 may be sealed to permit lubrication fluid to be stored internally to the raceway channel assembly 300 .
[0027] The cover 310 may be formed with flanges 312 for securing to raceway attachment flanges 360 provided on the raceway support structure 330 . Attachment devices 370 , which may be any suitable attachment mechanism for removably securing the cover 310 to the raceway support structure 330 , such as bolts or screws, for example, may secure the cover 310 to the raceway support structure 330 , and may simultaneously couple the raceway support structure 330 to an environmental structure. Spacers 380 may be provided between the flanges 312 and 360 for additional support.
[0028] The connection of the roller chain assembly 200 to an external mechanism 450 may be accomplished by a variety of methods, including threaded connection (as shown) or forks, swaging, cold forming, welding, soldering, injection molding, and magna forming, just to name a few. The external load applied to the force transfer assembly 100 to be transmitted may be, for example, with a hydraulic cylinder, pneumatic cylinder, vacuum cylinder, lever, electric screw jack assembly, electric solenoid, crank and connecting rod, or any other suitable mechanism for applying a force where the force is to be transferred along a non-linear path.
[0029] As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 , in accordance with aspects of the present invention, the raceway channel assembly 300 may include a slot 390 provided in the cover 310 . In this manner, access may be provided to the constrained roller chain assembly 200 for a sprocket assembly 400 , for example, to provide multidirectional control of the roller chain assembly 200 inside the raceway channel assembly 300 . Because the roller chain assembly 200 is not limited to tensile loads only, the assembly may be used as shown, for example, to replace aspects of various steering assemblies in a wide array of vehicles, with the advantage that the static linkages often employed in conventional, rack and pinion steering systems may be replaced. In addition, one is not limited to designing vehicle structural features to avoid the static linkages of the steering system. Rather, one may form the linkages, i.e., the raceway channel assembly 300 , to transfer force around the structural features.
[0030] In accordance with yet other aspects of the present invention, a chain assembly may be provided that does not use oversized rollers. Preferably for use in structures requiring non-frequent, low-friction loads, a hardened raceway channel, such as one formed from heat-treated steel or aluminum, for example, may be provided to withstand the direct load of a chain assembly without rollers. The same advantages of a constrained roller chain assembly are provided in the structure employing a chain assembly without rollers, except that a substantially higher frictional load may require the use of the hardened raceway.
[0031] The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various embodiments described herein. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various embodiments described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference. | A force transfer assembly that can transfer force at various angles and through relatively small bend radii includes a roller chain constrained in a raceway channel. The configuration provides multi-dimensional support so that a roller chain assembly, typically constrained to tensile loading, may also be used for compressive loading. A method for transmitting force along a non-linear path includes configuring a raceway channel having an upper raceway surface and a lower raceway surface, securing a chain assembly into the raceway channel between the upper raceway surface and the lower raceway surface with at least one lateral securing mechanism, and applying a tensile or compressive force to one end of the chain assembly in order to have the chain assembly transfer the tensile or compressive force to the other end of the chain assembly. | 5 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a construction machine for working pieces of ground, having a milling roller on which surface chisel holders are arranged, wherein a chisel, in particular a round shaft chisel, is exchangeably received in a chisel receiver of the chisel holder.
2. Discussion of Related Art
A construction machine designed as a road-milling machine is taught by German Patent Reference DE 39 03 482 A1. Road coverings can be cut off by road-milling machines. The chisels continuously wear out during operation of the machine. After the chisels have reached a certain wear state, they must be replaced. Thus it is necessary for a worker to approach the milling roller and there drive the chisels out of the chisel holders. For driving the chisels out, the worker uses a special ejection mandrel and a hammer. This can lead to injuries. Manipulation in the narrow milling roller area is extremely difficult and requires great care in order to reduce the risk of danger. After a chisel is removed from its chisel holder, it is necessary to insert fresh unworn chisels into the chisel holders. Replacement of the chisels is a very arduous and time-consuming job.
Manually operable exchangeable tools are known from German Patent Reference DE 32 23 761 C2 and from U.S. Pat. No. 3,342,531. They have a shoulder, which positively engages a circumferential groove in the chisel. The chisels can then be levered out of the associated chisel holder. Although the exchange process is easier with this, working on the milling roller is nevertheless dangerous and arduous.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is one object of this invention to provide a road-milling machine of the type mentioned above but wherein the exchange of the chisels is simplified.
This object is achieved with a tool changing device assigned to the road-milling machine, and the tool changing device removes and/or mounts each chisel from or in the chisel holder.
Thus, in accordance with this invention a changing tool is proposed, which automatically removes the worn chisel and/or mounts an unworn chisel in the chisel holder receptacle of the chisel holders. Thus it is possible to reduce manual labor necessary for changing the chisels. Because the changing process is at least partially automated, it can be more rapidly performed, so that fewer machine outages are created. Also, with the device in accordance with this invention, the endangerment of the health and the stress on the body of the machine operator are reduced.
The tool changing device preferably is a mechanical tool device. It is arranged inside or outside of the milling roller. Different concepts can be used, depending on the intended use, during the technical layout of the tool changing device.
The tool changer can be positioned in relation to the chisel. The chisel can be positioned in relation to the tool changer. The tool changer and the chisel can be positioned with respect to each other.
In some embodiments, the tool changing device has at least one tool changer, which can be assigned to the individual chisel holders or groups of chisel holders by an actuating unit. It is also possible for a single tool changer to be mutually assigned to all chisels or chisel holders. It then removes or installs the chisels simultaneously. In an alternative embodiment of this invention, a tool changer of the tool changing device is respectively assigned to each chisel holder, and the tool changers are fixedly connected with the chisel holder. The tool changers can be connected with each other by a common control device. A machine operator can, for example, purposefully change individual chisels, groups of chisels, or all chisels together with this control device.
In another embodiment, the tool changing device imparts at least one dynamic pulse opposite the removal direction of each chisel to the milling roller, a portion of the milling roller, the chisel holder or a group of chisel holders. Thus, a pulse is generated by the tool changing device, which imparts an ejection force to the chisel because of the mass inertia of the chisel. The pulse can be built up, for example, by a vibration generated in the milling roller. It is also possible to provide one or several vibration devices. In a further embodiment, a pulse generator is employed on the milling roller. Thus it is possible, for example, to assign a stop to the milling roller, which has a contact face pointing in the work movement direction. A pulse generator creates a force on the contact face which is directed opposite the work movement direction. The pulse generator can be a mallet, which acts with its weight on the contact face.
As explained above, the tool changing device can be such that the chisel is positioned in relation to the tool changer. Positioning of the chisel can take place, for example, by a displacement device, which positions the milling roller in relation to the tool changer. In accordance with another embodiment of this invention, this can take place so that the milling roller is coupled with a drive motor of the construction machine by a drive train. A displacement device can have an auxiliary drive which can be coupled with the drive train and which turns the milling roller in the raised position by a predetermined or selectable angle of rotation. A torque of the auxiliary drive can be greater than the inertia of the milling roller and of the portion of the drive train moving together with the milling roller when the drive motor is switched off or uncoupled. During this it is possible to use the preset position pattern of the chisels and to store it in a control device. The actuating unit and/or the displacement device can have a position measuring system, and the actuating unit and/or the displacement device can be equipped with a numerical control.
In this case the layout of the tool can be such that the actuating unit positions the at least one tool changer in relation to the milling roller. During this the tool changer and the milling roller are brought into positions with respect to each other.
It is possible for tool changers to be arranged fixed in place on the machine. The chisels are then assigned to them by rotation of the milling roller.
The tool changer can be laid out so that it engages the chisel in a positive or non-positive manner and removes it from the chisel holder or installs it in the chisel holder.
The tool change can be further automated if the tool changing device conveys the removed chisels directly, or via a conveying device, to a container, or if a separating device is assigned to the tool changing device. The separating device conveys chisels from a storage unit to the tool changing device.
It is possible to optimize tool down time if a detection device is assigned to the milling roller, which checks the wear state of the chisels, or of a portion of the chisels, or of a single chisel, continuously, at intervals, or when directed, and if the detection device initiates or signals a tool change upon reaching a predetermined wear state.
For example, the wear detection can be designed so that at least one signal reception unit of the detection device is assigned to at least one structural unit of the machine which directly or indirectly participates in the working process. The signal reception unit detects an operational state of the structural unit of the machine, and the signal reception unit determines the wear state via a signal processing arrangement.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
This invention is described in view of the drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a lateral view and a partial representation of a milling roller of a road-milling machine with a chisel holder mounted thereon and with a tool changing device;
FIG. 2 is a lateral view and a partial representation of the milling roller in accordance with FIG. 1 , with a tool changing device for installing unworn chisels;
FIG. 3 shows a milling roller with a chisel holder formed on it in one piece, in a sectional lateral view;
FIG. 4 shows a milling roller with a tool changing device in the milling roller interior, in a lateral view; and
FIG. 5 shows the representation in accordance with FIG. 4 , in a changed work position.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
A rotary body of a road-milling machine, namely a milling roller 10 , is represented in FIG. 1 . Base elements 20 are arranged in a systematic separation from each other on the roller surface 11 of the milling roller 10 . The base elements 20 are connected, preferably welded, to the roller surface 11 . The base elements 20 each has a plug-in receiver 21 . A plug-in shoulder of a chisel holder 23 can be inserted into the plug-in receiver 21 . The chisel holder 23 is fixed on the base element 20 by a pressure screw 22 . The chisel holder 23 has a chisel receiver 24 , which is embodied as a bore in the present case. A chisel 30 , here a round shaft chisel, can be inserted into the bore. The chisel 30 has a chisel head 31 , to the front of which a chisel tip 32 , comprising a hard alloy or a ceramic material, is fastened. A shaft 33 , on which a clamping sleeve 34 is drawn, adjoins the chisel head 31 . The clamping sleeve 34 is connected with the shaft 33 so that it is not axially displaceable, but rotatable in the circumferential direction.
The chisel head 31 rests on a counter-surface of the chisel holder 23 , with a wear-protection disk 35 placed between them.
As shown in FIG. 1 , a tool changing device with a tool changer 40 is assigned to the chisel holder 23 . The tool changer 40 has an actuating motor 43 driving a transfer member 41 . In this case, the transfer member 41 is designed as a draw bar. On the end facing away from the actuating motor 43 , the transfer member 41 has an ejection mandrel 42 . The ejection mandrel 42 can be introduced into the chisel receiver 24 by the actuating motor 43 . Here, the mandrel penetrates the chisel receiver 24 through the rear bore opening 25 and then encounters the rear impact face formed by the shaft 33 . The actuating motor 43 pulls the ejection mandrel 42 into the chisel receiver 24 . In the process, the chisel 30 , together with its clamping sleeve 34 , is pushed out of the chisel receiver 24 . After the chisel 30 is moved out of the chisel receiver 24 , the actuating motor 43 pushes the ejection mandrel 42 out of the chisel receiver 24 , again.
The tool changer 40 can be displaced, for example linearly, in the direction of the center longitudinal axis of the milling roller 10 by an actuating unit 39 . It then can be assigned to the individual chisel holders 23 of the milling roller 10 , one after the other. Advantageously, the actuating motor 43 does not only move one ejection mandrel 42 , but moves several ejection mandrels 42 simultaneously, so that several chisels 30 can be pushed out of their chisel holders 23 in one actuating process.
It is also possible for the milling roller 10 to be rotated by an auxiliary drive mechanism of a displacement device 37 . The auxiliary drive mechanism can be operated when the milling roller 10 is lifted off the ground. It can then be displaced for a tool change by the auxiliary drive mechanism. A control unit can also be assigned to the auxiliary drive mechanism. It rotates the milling roller 10 in accordance with a preset program run, so that the chisels 30 , or a portion of the chisels 30 , can be oriented with respect to the tool changer 40 .
A tool changer 40 , which is used for installing an unworn chisel 30 into the chisel receiver 24 , is represented in FIG. 2 . Again, the tool changer 40 has an actuating motor 43 , which linearly displaces the transfer member 41 . The transfer member 41 has an assembly bell 44 with a receiver 45 , in which the chisel head 31 of the chisel 30 to be installed is maintained. Accordingly, the tool changer 40 is assigned to the chisel holder 23 by an actuating unit. Thus, the chisel shaft is located opposite the bore entry into the chisel receiver 24 . Thereafter the actuating motor 43 is activated. The shaft 33 is then pushed into the chisel receiver 24 . The threading movement of the shaft 33 into the chisel receiver is made easier by a conical bore widening 26 . After the chisel 30 is installed in the chisel holder 23 , the chisel head 31 is released from the assembly bell 44 . The actuating motor 43 again moves into its initial position and is then available for the next installation process.
The tool changers represented in FIGS. 1 and 2 can be used individually or together in a road-milling device. If they are used together, a fully automatic chisel change can be performed.
A portion of a milling roller 10 is represented in FIG. 3 . The milling roller 10 has a milling roller tube, which forms the roller surface 11 . Chisel receivers 24 are directly cut into the milling roller tube, so that the chisel receivers 24 are connected in one piece with the milling roller tube. The chisel receiver 24 is formed by a bore having a bore end with a bore widening 26 , which makes the insertion of the chisel 30 easier. A tool changer 40 is arranged at the other end of the bore and can be embodied as a hydraulic or a pneumatic cylinder and can have a linearly displaceable ejection mandrel 42 . It is possible to employ the tool changing device represented in FIG. 3 in any arbitrary, different chisel holder system, such as in a changer holder system as represented in FIGS. 1 and 2 . A chisel 30 is inserted into the chisel receiver 24 and in its structural type, it corresponds to the chisels 30 represented in FIGS. 1 and 2 .
The tool changer 40 is activated for removing the chisel 30 from its chisel receiver 24 . The ejection mandrel 42 then moves against the free end of the chisel shaft 33 . The ejection mandrel 42 ejects the chisel 30 in the direction of the center longitudinal axis of the chisel receiver 24 . The tool changer can also be used to again install a fresh unworn chisel 30 into the chisel receiver 24 . Thus, the chisel 30 can be connected with the extended ejection mandrel 42 and can be pulled into the chisel receiver 24 with the aid of the changing tool 40 .
A further embodiment variation of a milling roller 10 with a tool changing device is described in FIGS. 4 and 5 . The tool changing device has a tool changer 40 housed in the interior of the milling roller 10 . The milling roller 10 is constructed similar to the milling roller 10 shown in FIG. 3 . It has chisel holders 23 formed on it in one piece. It is possible to employ any arbitrarily differently designed chisel holder 23 .
The tool changer 40 has two articulated arms 47 , 49 , which are connected with each other by a hinge 48 . The articulated arm 47 is fixed in place via a hinge 46 . A pulse generator 50 in the form of a weight is arranged at the free end of the second articulated arm 49 . On its interior circumference, the milling roller 10 has a stop 51 with a contact face 52 . On the side facing away from the contact face 52 , the stop 51 has an inclined deflection face 53 .
During normal milling operations, the tool changer 40 is maintained in the position represented in FIG. 5 . If a chisel change is due, it is moved into the position shown in FIG. 4 . Then the milling roller 10 is rotated in the circumferential direction until the pulse generator 50 impacts on the inclined deflection face 53 of the stop 51 . A pulse is thus generated, which acts opposite to the removal direction of the chisels 30 . Because of this pulse a force is introduced into the chisels 30 which pushes them out of the chisel receivers 24 .
After the pulse generator 50 has impacted the contact face 52 , it is deflected at the stop 51 and is again brought into its extended initial position via the inclined deflection face 53 . If needed, the process for generating a pulse can then be repeated. At the termination of the ejection process the tool changer 40 is again returned into the position represented in FIG. 5 . A reversal of the action principle is also possible and the pulse generator can be rotated. | A construction machine for machining floor surfaces, wherein the machine includes a milling roll having a plurality of tool holders on a surface thereof. A tool, especially a straight shank tool, is received in a tool receiving element of the tool holder in an exchangeable manner. With this invention it is possible to change the tool in one such construction machine in a simplified manner. Thus, the milling roll is associated with a tool changing device, and the tool changing device dismounts each tool from the tool holder and/or mounts each tool in the tool holder. | 4 |
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to the field of monitoring the condition of tires and wheels on motor vehicles and more particularly to detecting when a spare wheel is in use as a rolling wheel of a vehicle.
BACKGROUND
Wheels for motor vehicles are equipped with transmitters that broadcast information about the status of the wheels, including the tire identity and location, whether the wheel is rolling or stationary, temperature and tire pressure. Vehicles on which such wheels are mounted include tire monitoring systems that receive and process the information transmitted by the wheels. Information is exchanged between wheels and vehicles by means of wireless transmissions in accordance with communication protocols.
It has been proposed to use tire monitoring systems to detect when a spare wheel has been mounted as an active or rolling wheel. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,030,745. Such systems rely on the use of a unique wheel identification number. When a spare wheel is removed from a storage location and installed as a rolling wheel (such as to fix a flat tire), the system detects rolling movement in the spare wheel (which is uniquely identified by its ID number). Thus it is determined that the spare wheel has been placed onto a rolling wheel location.
A drawback to these proposed systems is that they rely on an association of a unique ID number with a specific wheel and wheel position. This association of unique ID numbers with wheel positions takes place during a learning mode, which may require manual intervention or additional electronics.
SUMMARY
It would be desirable to detect the use of a spare wheel on a rolling wheel without requiring that spare wheel have a unique ID number that is known in advance by the tire monitoring system.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a method is provided for determining when a spare wheel equipped with a transmitter is in use on a rolling wheel location of a vehicle. The method includes transmitting from the spare wheel a protocol compatible marker signal; receiving on the vehicle the protocol compatible marker signal; and comparing the protocol compatible marker signal to a predetermined data to determine that the protocol compatible marker signal is indicative of a spare wheel. The predetermined data is not previously associated with the spare wheel.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, an apparatus is provided for determining when a spare wheel equipped with a transmitter is in use on a vehicle having a plurality of rolling wheel locations. The apparatus includes a receiver mounted to vehicle and adapted to receive a signal from the transmitter on the spare wheel; a memory storing at least one predetermined protocol compatible marker value indicative of a spare wheel; and a controller coupled to the receiver and the memory. The controller is programmed to generate a spare-tire-in-use-signal if the signal received from the transmitter corresponds to the predetermined protocol compatible marker value stored in memory. The value stored in memory is not previously associated with the spare wheel.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, an apparatus is provided for determining when a spare wheel equipped with a transmitter is in use on a rolling wheel location of a vehicle. The apparatus includes a spare wheel having a first memory that contains a protocol compatible marker, and a transmitter that transmits the protocol compatible marker stored in the first memory. The apparatus also includes a receiver mounted to vehicle and adapted to receive the protocol compatible marker transmitted from the spare wheel; a second memory storing at least one predetermined value not previously associated with the spare wheel; and a controller coupled to the receiver and the memory and configured to generate a spare-tire-in-use-signal if the protocol compatible marker transmitted from the spare wheel corresponds to the predetermined data stored in the second memory.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The description herein makes reference to the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system for remotely operating a vehicle in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the spare wheel shown in FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of the spare wheel shown in FIG. 1 .
FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of the vehicle shown in FIG. 1 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
Referring to FIG. 1 , a tire monitoring system 10 is illustrated to detect the use of a spare wheel 12 on one of rolling wheel locations 14 a - 14 d of a vehicle 16 . Normally spare wheel 12 is stowed on vehicle 16 in a suitable location, such as the vehicle's trunk (not shown). However, should one of the regular wheels (such as wheels 17 b - 17 d ) on rolling wheel locations 14 a - 14 d become disabled (e.g., a flat tire), then the operator of vehicle 16 can replace the disabled wheel at one of rolling wheel locations 14 a - 14 d with spare wheel 12 . It would be useful to detect the use of spare wheel 12 on one of rolling wheel locations 14 a - 14 d.
As explained below, system 10 allows detection of the use of spare wheel 12 as rolling wheel without requiring that spare wheel have a unique ID number that is known in advance by system 10 .
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 , system 10 includes components on both spare wheel 12 and vehicle 16 . Spare wheel 12 includes a wheel portion 18 and a tire 20 . As shown schematically in FIG. 2 , mounted to wheel portion 18 are a motion sensor 22 , a transmitter 24 , a memory 26 , a controller 28 coupled to memory 26 , motion sensor 22 and transmitter 24 , and a battery 30 to provide power to the electronic components. Transmitter 24 can be a transceiver if two-way communication is desired between spare wheel 12 and vehicle 16 . Controller 28 can be a programmed microcontroller or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and can be integrated with memory 26 one or more of the other components of system 10 . Spare wheel 12 is also equipped with a pressure sensor 32 operatively coupled to the interior of tire 20 , and a transponder activation coil 34 .
Controller 28 receives input from motion sensor 22 and pressure sensor 32 and formats this input for wireless transmission by transmitter 24 to vehicle 16 as a signal in accordance with a predetermined communications protocol. Communication by controller 28 can be at predetermined intervals or can be initiated in response to stimulation of transponder activation coil 34 by a signal emanating from vehicle 16 . As explained below, controller 28 also formats a protocol compatible marker signal for transmission by transmitter 24 .
Referring to FIG. 1 , vehicle 16 includes receivers 36 a - 36 d mounted thereon. Receivers 36 a - 36 d are adapted to receive signals transmitted by transmitter 24 . Receivers 36 a - 36 d can be transceivers if two-way communication is desired between spare wheel 12 and vehicle 16 . Alternatively, a single receiver such as receiver 36 a, for example, can be used to cover all rolling wheel locations 14 a - 14 d. Vehicle 16 also includes a memory 38 and a controller 40 . Using memory 38 , controller 40 processes information contained in the signals received by receiver 36 a, for example, to determine if spare wheel 12 is in use at one of rolling location 14 a, for example. Vehicle can be equipped with one receiver such as receiver 36 a or it can have multiple receivers or antennae located near each rolling wheel position, such receivers 36 b - 36 d. Receiver 36 and controller 40 can be part of an existing tire pressure management system (“TPMS”) programmed in accordance with the disclosed embodiments to recognize use of spare wheel 12 in one of moving wheel locations 14 a - 14 d.
Controller 40 is also coupled to an indicator 41 located on or near the vehicle dashboard (not shown). When controller 40 determines that spare wheel 12 is in use at a one of rolling wheel locations, it generates a spare-wheel-in-use signal that causes indicator 41 to provide visual indication to the operator of vehicle 16 . Alternatively, indicator 41 can provide audio or tactile indications to the operator.
System 10 can also take appropriate safety actions when spare wheel 12 is in use at one of rolling locations 14 a - 14 d . For example, system 10 can provide, as discussed previously, a driver alert such as indicator 41 . System 10 can also limit the speed of vehicle 16 when it exceeds the maximum safe speed for operation with spare wheel 12 . Alternatively, system 10 can alert the driver when the speed of vehicle 16 exceeds the maximum safe speed for operation with spare wheel 12 .
The operation of spare wheel 12 and vehicle 16 is illustrated by the flow charts of FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 , respectively. Referring to FIG. 3 , beginning at block 42 , controller 28 reads motion sensor 22 to acquire data indicating whether spare wheel 12 is in motion. At block 44 , controller 28 reads memory 26 to acquire data used to generate a signal that includes a marker indicative of a spare wheel. At block 46 , processor formats a signal or sequence of signals for transmission using the data acquired from motion sensor 22 and memory 26 to include a protocol compatible or generic marker indicative of a spare tire. At block 48 , controller 28 transmits the formatted signal to vehicle 16 via transmitter 24 .
Signals or messages transmitted by wheel 12 to vehicle 16 are formatted in accordance with a predetermined communications protocol. The protocol can be a recognized standard or a proprietary or application specific protocol. Under such protocols, signals generated by wheel 12 will have a predetermined syntax, format and/or structure and will include predetermined types of content. The applicable protocol can also specify the sequence with which certain types of signals are sent. For example, the protocol could include signals with the following format:
[Function code {3 Bits}] [ID {24 Bits}] [Press Data {8 Bits}] [Check Sum {2 Bits}]
A signal can be created to include a marker that is generically indicative of a spare wheel but that is not uniquely associated with a specific wheel such as wheel 12 . This signal can be formatted in a manner that can deviate from but is still compatible with the applicable protocol or other protocol used to send and receive messages between wheel 12 and vehicle 16 . In stating that the signal is compatible with a protocol, it is meant that the signal can be processed by equipment programmed to communicate in accordance with the protocol. By maintaining compatibility with the applicable protocol, for example, the marker signal can be used without having to reprogram or replace existing TPMS hardware. Within a protocol-compatible signal, a marker indicative of a spare wheel may take many forms. For example, function codes can be drawn from a predetermined list and tire ID numbers can be drawn from a predetermined range. The protocol compatible marker indicative of a spare wheel can be use of a special function code (e.g. “000”) that is not already assigned under the applicable protocol. Alternatively, the marker can be a tire ID number outside of the predetermined range (e.g. “999999”). Alternatively, the marker can be the transmission of signals in a predetermined sequence not otherwise used under the protocol. Alternatively, the marker could use a value for pressure outside of the recognized ranges.
The marker can be transmitted using the data structure normally used or using a data structure that included an additional field to indicate whether the wheel was a spare wheel or a regular wheel, such as:
[Position Code {>=1 Bit}] +“[Function code {3 Bits}] [ID {24 Bits}] [Press Data {8 Bits}][Check Sum {2 Bits}]”
In the foregoing example, the gods for wheels could be selected as shown in Table 1 below:
TABLE 1
One bit coding
Two bit coding
0 = Road tire
00 = Road 1
1 = spare tire
01 = Road 2
10 = Spare Full Service
11 = Spare Temp Service
Note that by using a two bit coding scheme, information pertaining to a spare wheel can indicate whether it is a full service or temporary spare.
Referring to FIG. 4 , the operation of vehicle 16 is illustrated. At block 50 , controller 40 checks receivers 36 a - 36 d for a signal from wheels associated with vehicle, such as spare wheel 12 or wheels 17 b - 17 d. This can be implemented by having controller 40 wait for a signal to be received by receiver 36 a - d. Alternatively, controller can periodically transmit a request to wheels such as spare wheel 12 or wheels 17 b - 17 d as explained above. Such a request causes transponder coil 34 to activate transmission of data by wheel 12 , for example. When a signal is received, controller 40 determines at block 52 whether the signal contains a protocol-compatible marker indicative of a spare wheel such as spare wheel 12 . Controller 40 can accomplish this step by comparing the contents of the signal received with information in memory 38 .
The implementation of this step depends on the type of marker used to indicate a spare wheel. For example, if the marker is a special function code (e.g. “000”) stored in memory 38 , then controller 40 would compare the function code in the signal received by receivers 36 a - 36 d to the special function code stored in memory 38 to determine if the function code in the signal corresponded to the special function code in memory 38 . Alternatively, if the marker is a specific sequence of function codes stored in memory 38 , then controller 40 would record in memory 38 the sequence of functions in the signals received by receiver 36 a - d. Controller 40 would then compare the sequence of function codes in the signals to the specific sequence of function codes stored in memory 38 to determine if the sequence of function codes in the signals received by receivers 36 a - 36 d corresponded to the marker. Alternatively, if the marker is a predetermined tire ID number (e.g. “999999”) stored in memory 38 , then controller 40 would compare the function code in the signal received by receivers 36 a - 36 d to the predetermined tire ID number stored in memory 38 to determine if the tire ID number in the signal corresponds to the predetermined tire ID code in memory.
It should be noted that to detect the presence of spare wheel 12 in accordance with the disclosed embodiment, vehicle 16 need not store in memory 38 data specific to spare wheel 12 (such as a unique tire ID number corresponding to spare wheel 12 ). Rather, vehicle 16 need only store data about a marker that generically indicates a spare wheel such as spare wheel 12 . Thus, any spare wheel installed in one of running wheel locations 14 a - 14 d can be identified as a spare wheel, even if no information about that particular spare wheel is recorded in vehicle 16 .
If at decision block 52 , controller 40 determines that a marker is present in the signal received by receivers 36 a - d, then it is judged that the sender of the signal is a spare wheel such as spare wheel 12 . Control then moves to block 54 , where controller 40 checks the signal to determine if it contains data indicating that the wheel sending the signal is in motion. To avoid false positives (that is false indications of a spare wheel in use), controller 54 can postpone determination that spare wheel 12 is in motion until signals indicating motion have been received for a minimum period of time and/or controller 16 determines that vehicle 16 is also moving.
At decision block 56 , if controller 40 determines that spare wheel 12 is in motion, then it is judged that spare wheel 12 is in use on one of moving wheel locations 14 a - 14 d. In that case, control moves to block 58 where controller 40 generates a spare-wheel-in-use signal. Control then moves to block 60 , where indicator 42 is activated in response to the spare-wheel-in-use signal.
At decision block 56 , if controller 40 determines that spare wheel 12 is not in motion, then it is judged that spare wheel 12 is not in use and control moves block 62 where controller continues with its normal TPMS processing, and then returns to block 50 to continue monitoring for incoming signals from wheels such as spare wheel 12 and wheels 17 b - 17 d.
The above-described embodiments have been described in order to allow easy understanding of the present invention, and do not limit the present invention. On the contrary, the invention is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the scope of the appended claims, which scope is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures as is permitted under the law. | An apparatus and method is provided for detecting when a spare wheel has been placed onto a rolling wheel location and for taking appropriate action such as providing a driver alert, limiting vehicle speed or alerting the driver when vehicle speed exceeds the maximum safe speed for operation with a spare wheel. The spare wheel transmits a signal with a protocol compatible marker. The vehicle receives the protocol compatible marker. The marker is compared to a predetermined value to determine that the protocol compatible marker signal is indicative of a spare wheel. | 1 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] This invention relates to metallized polymeric reflective insulation material, particularly, bubble pack insulation material for use in an environment that requires a Class A standard insulation material, particularly, as packaging, and in vehicles, and, more particularly, in residential, commercial and industrial buildings and establishments comprising a framed structure, walls, crawl spaces and the like, and wrapping for water heaters, pipes and the like.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Insulation materials are known which comprise a clean, non-toxic, heat barrier made of aluminum foil bonded to polymeric materials.
[0003] Examples of such insulation materials, includes aluminum foil backing with foam materials selected from closed cell foams, polyethylene foams, polypropylene foams and expanded polystyrene foams (EPS).
[0004] Alternative insulation materials in commercial use are made from aluminum foil bonded to a single or double layer of polyethylene-formed bubbles spaced one bubble from another bubble in the so-called “bubble-pack” arrangement. Such non-foil bubble-packs are used extensively as packaging material, whereas the metal foil bubble-pack is used as thermal insulation in wood frame structures, walls, attics, crawl spaces, basements and the like and as wrapping for hot water heaters, hot and cold water pipes, air ducts and the like. The reflective surface of the metal, particularly, aluminum foil enhances the thermal insulation of the air-containing bubble pack.
[0005] Organic polymers, such as polyethylene, are generally considered to be high-heat-release materials. They can easily initiate or propagate fires because, on exposure to heat, they undergo thermal degradation to volatile combustible products. If the concentration of the degradation products in the air is within flammability limits, they can ignite either spontaneously, if their temperature is large enough, or by the effect of an ignition source such as a spark or flame. The ignition of polyethylene can be delayed and/or the rate of its combustion decreased by means of fire retardant materials.
[0006] The ultimate aim of fire retardants is to reduce the heat transferred to the polymer below its limit for self-sustained combustion or below the critical level for flame stability. This can be achieved by decreasing the rate of chemical and/or physical processes taking place in one or more of the steps of the burning process. One or a combination of the following can achieve fire extinguishing:
[0007] 1. creation of a heat sink by using a compound that decomposes in a highly endothermic reaction, giving non-combustible volatile products, which perform a blanketing action in the flame, e.g., aluminum or magnesium hydroxide;
[0008] 2. enhancements of loss of heat and material from the surface of the burning polymer by melt dripping, e.g., mixture of halogenated compounds with free radical initiators;
[0009] 3. flame poisoning by evolution of chemical species that scavenge H and OH radicals which are the most active in propagating thermo-oxidation in the flame, e.g., hydrogen halides, metal halides, phosphorus-containing moieties;
[0010] 4. limitation of heat and mass transfer across the phase boundary, between thermal oxidation and thermal degradation by creation of an insulating charred layer on the surface of the burning polymer, e.g., intumescent chart; or
[0011] 5. modification of the rate of thermal volatilization of the polymer to decrease the flammability of the volatile products; which approach strongly depends on the chemical nature of the polymer.
[0012] Fire retardant materials are generally introduced to the polyethylene as merely additives or as chemicals that will permanently modify its molecular structure. The additive approach is more commonly used because it is more flexible and of general application.
[0013] Generally, low density polyethylene films of 1-12 mil, optionally, with various amounts of linear low density polyethylene in admixture when additional strength is required, are used for the above applications. The insulating properties of the bubble pack primarily arise from the air in the voids. Typically, bubble diameters of 1.25 cm, 0.60 cm and 0.45 cm are present.
[0014] Regardless of the application method of fire retardant material(s), a satisfactory insulative assembly must have a fire rating of Class A with a flame spread index lower than 16, and a smoke development number smaller than 23. Further, the bonding of the organic polymer films and their aging characteristics must meet the aforesaid acceptable standards. Yet further, the fabrication method(s) of a new fire retardant system or assembly should be similar to the existing technology with reasonable and cost effective modifications to the existing fabrication system/technology. Still yet further, other physical properties of an improved fire standard system must at least meet, for example, the standard mechanical properties for duct materials as seen by existing competitive products.
[0015] Fire retardant polyethylene films, wires and cables containing a fire retardant material in admixture with the polyethylene per se are known which generally satisfy cost criteria and certain fire retardant technical standards to be commercially acceptable.
[0016] Conventional fire retardant additives are usually compounds of small molecular weights containing phosphorus, antimony, or halogens. The most effective commercially available fire retardant systems are based on halogen-containing compounds. However, due to concerns over the environmental effects of such halogenated compounds, there is an international demand to control the use of such halogenated additives.
[0017] Some of the most common halogenated agents are methyl bromide, methyl iodide, bromochlorodifluoromethane, dibromotetrafluoroethane, dibromodifluoromethane and carbon tetrachloride. These halogenated fire retarding materials are usually available commercially in the form of gases or liquids. Unlike chlorine and bromine, fluorine reduces the toxicity of the material and imparts stability to the compound. However, chlorine and bromine have a higher degree of fire extinguishing effectiveness and, accordingly, a combination of fluorine and either chlorine or bromine is usually chosen to obtain an effective fire-retarding compounds.
[0018] Other commercially available fire retardant materials that do not include halogens include boric acid and borate based compounds, monoammonium phosphonate, and urea-potassium bicarbonate.
[0019] Intumescent compounds which limit the heat and mass transfer by creating an insulating charred layer on the surface of the burning polymer are also considered fire retardant materials. A typical intumescent additive is a mixture of ammonium polyphosphate and pentaerythritol.
[0020] Fire retardant additives are often used with organic polymer/resins. Typically, a brominated or chlorinated organic compound is added to the polymer in admixture with a metal oxide such as antimony oxide. Halogenated compounds are also sometimes introduced into the polymer chain by co-polymerization. Low levels i.e. less than 1% W/W are recommended to make adverse effects of halogen-based systems negligible. Another common fire retardant additive is diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A with MoO.sub.3. Other additives to improve the fire retarding properties of polyethylene include, for example, beta-cyclodextrin, magnesium hydroxide and alumina trihydrate, tin oxide, zinc hydroxystannate, and chlorosulphonated polyethylene.
[0021] U.S. Pat. No. 6,322,873, issued Nov. 27, 2001 to Orologio, Furio, describes a thermally insulating bubble pack for use in framed structures, walls, crawl spaces and the like; or wrapping for cold water heaters, pipes and the like wherein the bubbles contain a fire retardant material. The improved bubble pack comprises a first film having a plurality of portions wherein each of the portions defines a cavity; a second film in sealed engagement with the first film to provide a plurality of closed cavities; the improvement comprising wherein the cavities contain a fluid or solid material. The flame retardant-containing bubble pack provides improved fire ratings, flame spread indices and smoke development numbers. The preferred embodiments include a layer of metal or metallized film adjacent at least one of the films. However, the efficacious manufacture of the fire retardant-filled bubbles still represents a challenge.
[0022] Aforesaid bubble-packs not containing fire retardant materials and having a metallized film layer are known and used for external insulation around large self-standing structures, such as tanks, silos and the like, particularly in the oil and chemical industries, which insulation assembly does not have to meet the rigorous fire retardant standards for insulation in framed structures of residential, commercial and industrial buildings, crawl spaces and the like or wrappings for cold water heaters, pipes and the like, therein.
[0023] Metallized films and their methods of production are well-known in the art. One technique is to evaporate an extremely thin layer of nearly pure aluminum onto a surface of the non-porous plastics material under vacuum by a so-called ‘vacuum metallizer’. Preferred metallized films of use in the practise of the invention are metallized aluminum coated polymer films, preferably, for example, 48 gauge PET (polyethylene terephthalate).
[0024] There is, however, always the need for insulation assembly, having improved fire retardant standards, particularly when safety building codes are being continually improved.
[0025] Standards for many products are generally being raised to enhance safety. This is true for reflective insulation materials for use in buildings, which must meet minimum surface burning characteristics to satisfy codes, such as CAN/ULC S201, UL723, ANSI No. 2.5, NFPA No. 255 and 286, UBC 42-1, ASTM E84-05 and others. These tests cover two main parameters, mainly, Flame Spread and Smoke Developed Values.
[0026] Such reflective insulation materials are classified as meeting the ratings as follows:—
[0000]
Interior Wall and
Flame Speed
Smoke Developed
Ceiling Finish
Value
Value
Class A
0-25
0-450
Class B
26-75
0-450
Class C
76-200
0-450
[0027] The classification determines the environmental allowability of the reflective materials insulation.
[0028] The standard ASTM E84 and its variations tests, to date, have included, typically, the use of a hexagonal 50 mm steel wire mesh with 6 mm diameter steel rods spaced at 610 mm intervals to support the insulation materials.
[0029] Without being bound by theory, the skilled persons in the art have discovered that the aforesaid use of the wire mesh support in the tests has enabled some reflective insulation materials to satisfy the Class A standard, whereas removal of the support in the test has caused these materials not to meet the standard.
[0030] Surprisingly, I have discovered that substitution of metallic foil, particularly, aluminum foil, with a metallized, particularly, aluminum, coating on an organic polymer layer, e.g. polyethylene and more particularly PET (polyethylene teraphthate), favourably enhances the surface burning characteristics of the reflective insulation in the aforesaid ASTM E84 test in the absence of the wire mesh support. The reason for this discovery is not, as yet, understood.
[0031] Further, I have discovered that the presence of a fire retardant compound in or on one or more of the polymer layers of a reflective insulation assembly further favourably enhances the surface burning characteristics of the insulation, and in preferred embodiments significantly enhances the safety of the assemblies as to satisfy the criteria set in the most stringent “Full Room Burn Test for Evaluating Contribution of Wall and Ceiling Finishes to Room Fire Growth—NFPA 286.
[0032] Metallized polymeric films having an outer lacquer coating are known in the foodstuff packaging industry in order to provide physical protection to the ink printed on the outer metallic surface. Manual contact with the unprotected inked material surface would cause inconvenience to the person and possibly contamination of the foodstuffs, such as confectionery and potato chips when handed by the person. The lacquer-coated outer metallic surface overcomes this problem in the foodstuff art.
[0033] Surprisingly, I have found that the most preferred metallized polymeric film reflective insulation materials, particularly the fire-retardant containing assemblies, according to the invention provide improved safety towards fire and acceptable reflectance and anti-corrosive properties.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0034] It is an object of the present invention to provide metallized polymeric film reflective insulation material having Class A thermal insulation properties, particularly, metallized bubble pack insulation material for use in an environment that requires a Class A standard insulation material, particularly, as packaging, and in vehicles, and more particularly in residential, commercial and industrial buildings and establishments having framed structures, walls, crawl spaces and the like, and wrapping for water heaters, pipes and the like having improved fire retardant properties.
[0035] It is a further object to provide a method of thermally insulating an aforesaid vehicle, building or establishment with a Class A standard metallized polymeric reflective insulation material having improved fire-retardant properties.
[0036] In yet a further object, the invention provides an improved thermally-insulated vehicle, building or establishment having a Class A standard metallized polymeric reflective insulation material.
[0037] Accordingly, the invention in one aspect provides a method of thermally insulating an object that requires a Class A standard insulation material, said method comprising suitably locating a metallized polymeric reflective insulation material adjacent said object, wherein said polymeric material is selected from a closed cell foam, polyethylene foam, polypropylene foam, expanded polystyrene foam, multi-film layers assembly and a bubble-pack assembly.
[0038] Without being limiting, the object is preferably selected from the group consisting of vehicles and residential, commercial and industrial building and establishment.
[0039] The term ‘vehicle’ includes, for example, but not limited to, automobiles, buses, trucks, train engines and coaches, ships and boats.
[0040] The invention provides in a further aspect, a method of thermally insulating a residential, commercial or industrial building with a metallized polymeric material, said method comprising locating said metallized polymeric material within a frame structure, crawl space and the like, or wrapping water heaters, pipes, and the like, within said building, wherein said polymeric material is selected from a closed cell foam, polyethylene foam, polypropylene foam, expanded polystyrene foam and a bubble-pack assembly.
[0041] The invention provides in a further aspect a method of thermally insulating a residential, commercial or industrial building with a bubble-pack assembly, said method comprising locating said bubble pack within a framed structure, wall, crawl space and the like, or wrapping water heaters, pipes and the like within said building; and wherein said bubble-pack assembly comprises a first thermoplastic film having a plurality of portions wherein each of said portions defines a cavity; a second film in sealed engagement with said first film to provide a plurality of closed said cavities; and at least one layer of metallized thermoplastic film.
[0042] The terms “cavity” or “cavities” in this specification include voids, bubbles or other like closed spaces. The cavities may be formed of any desired suitable shapes. For example, semi-cylindrical, oblong or rectangular. However, a generally, hemi-spherical shape is preferred.
[0043] Most surprisingly, I have found that the use of at least one layer of metallized thermoplastic film provides enhanced fire retardant properties over those having only a corresponding layer(s) of aluminum foil, in the bubble-pack assembly.
[0044] In a further aspect, the invention provides a method as hereinabove defined wherein said bubble-pack assembly comprises
[0000] (i) a first bubble pack having a first thermoplastic film having a plurality of portions wherein each of said portions defines a cavity and a second thermoplastic film in sealed engagement with said first film to provide a plurality of closed said cavities; and
(ii) a second bubble-pack having a third thermoplastic film having a plurality of portions wherein each of said portions defines a cavity and a fourth thermoplastic film in sealed engagement with said third film to provide a plurality of closed said cavities; provided that when said at least one of said layers of metallized thermoplastic film is interposed between and bonded to said first bubble pack and said second bubble pack, said assembly comprises at least one further metallized thermoplastic film.
[0045] In a further aspect, the invention provides a method as hereinabove defined wherein said bubble-pack assembly comprises
[0000] (i) a first bubble pack having a first thermoplastic film having a plurality of portions wherein each of said portions defines a cavity and a second thermoplastic film in sealed engagement with said first film to provide a plurality of closed said cavities; and
(ii) a second bubble-pack having a third thermoplastic film having a plurality of portions wherein each of said portions defines a cavity and a fourth thermoplastic film in sealed engagement with said third film to provide a plurality of closed said cavities;
(iii) a metallized thermoplastic film interposed between and bonded to said first bubble pack and said second bubble pack; and wherein at least one of said first second, third, fourth or additional thermoplastic films contains an effective amount of a fire-retardant material.
[0046] The assembly, as hereinabove defined, may have at least one outer layer of metallized thermoplastic film, or, surprisingly, one or more inner, only, layers.
[0047] The assembly may, thus, further comprise at least one or a plurality of additional thermoplastic films.
[0048] Further, I have found that the use of a fire-retardant material in any or all of the thermoplastic films of the assembly enhances the fire-retardant properties of the assembly.
[0049] Accordingly, in a further aspect, the invention provides a bubble-pack assembly comprising
[0000] (i) a first thermoplastic film having a plurality of portions wherein each of said portions defines a cavity;
(ii) a second film in sealed engagement with said first film to provide a plurality of closed said cavities; and
(iii) at least one layer of a metallized thermoplastic film; and wherein at least one of said first or second films contains an effective amount of a fire-retardant.
[0050] In a further aspect, the invention provides a bubble-pack assembly comprising
[0000] (i) a first bubble pack having a first thermoplastic film having a plurality of portions wherein each of said portions defines a cavity and a second thermoplastic film in sealed engagement with said first film to provide a plurality of closed said cavities; and
(ii) a second bubble-pack having a third thermoplastic film having a plurality of portions wherein each of said portions defines a cavity and a fourth thermoplastic film in sealed engagement with said third film to provide a plurality of closed said cavities.
[0051] Further, the metallized thermoplastic film may also contain a fire-retardant material to further enhance the assemblies' fire-retardant properties.
[0052] The thermoplastic films may be formed of any suitable polymer or copolymer material. The first and second film may be formed of the same or different material. Most preferably, the bubble pack has each of the films formed of a polyethylene.
[0053] The metallized thermoplastic film is preferably a polyester, and, more preferably, a polyethylene terephthate having a metal coating.
[0054] The fire retardant material may be a compound or composition comprising one or more compounds having acceptable fire retardant properties.
[0055] The amount of fire retardant material is such as to provide an efficacious amount in relation to the amount of plastic and other components present in the bubble pack. Thus, the amount of fire retardant material required will depend on the application of the assembly, the type and effectiveness of the fire retardant material used, the final properties required e.g. flame spread index, slow burning or self-extinguishing, and the bubble size. The fire retardant is generally present in an amount selected from 0.1-70% w/w, more preferably, 10-60% w/w, preferably 15-20% w/w in relation to the thermoplastic film.
[0056] Examples of suitable fire retardants of use in the practice of the invention, include those classes and compounds as hereinbefore described. Preferably, the fire retardant compound is selected from alumina trihydrate (ATH, hydrated aluminum oxide, Al 2 O 3 .3H 2 O), oxides of antimony, decabromodiphenyl oxide and mixtures of these compounds, optionally with a dimethyl siloxine fluid (DC200).
[0057] The bubble-pack further comprises one or more organic polymer films metallized with a suitable metal, for example, aluminum to enhance reflection of infra-red radiation.
[0058] Thus, while the most preferred plastics material for the bubble and laminated layers is polyethylene, particularly a low-density polyethylene, optionally, in admixture with a linear low density polyethylene, of use as aforesaid first and second films, the metallized organic polymer is a polyester, preferably polyethylene teraphthalate.
[0059] The number, size and layout of the bubbles in the pack according to the invention may be readily selected, determined and manufactured by the skilled artisan. Typically, in a single pack, the bubbles are arrayed in a coplanar off-set arrangement. Each of the hemi-spherical bubbles may be of any suitable diameter and height protruding out of the plane of the bonded films. Typically, the bubble has a diameter selected from 0.5 cm-5 cm, preferably 0.8-1.5 cm; and a height selected from 0.2 cm -1 cm, preferably 0.4-0.6 cm. A preferred bubble pack has an array of about 400 bubbles per 900 cm 2 .
[0060] In a further aspect, the invention provides a vehicle or a residential, commercial or industrial building or establishment insulated with a multi-film layer or bubble-pack assembly, according to the invention
[0061] Surprisingly, I have also discovered that a clear polymeric lacquer coating applied to the metallic layer having the higher reflectivity (bright) surface as the outer layer provides a protective layer to manual handling without significant loss of reflectance. Thus, I also have found that a suitable and effective thickness of the lacquer polymeric coating can provide satisfactory anti-corrosion protection to the metal surface and still allow of sufficient reflectance as to meet the emissivity standard as set by the industry. A reflectance of greater than 95% has been maintained for preferred embodiments of the clear lacquer-coated metallized polymeric reflective insulation materials, according to the invention. A preferred lacquer comprises an acrylic polymer or copolymer. More preferably, the acrylic polymer is polymethyl methacrylate, particularly having a molecular weight of 80,000-150,000.
[0062] Accordingly, in a further aspect the invention provides a metallized polymeric reflective film insulation material, as hereinabove defined and having a metallic coating outer layer having a clear lacquer coating.
[0063] The clear lacquer coating may be applied to the highest reflectance surface, i.e. the bright side, of the metallic surface by techniques, such as by brushing, spraying, deposition and the like, as is well-known in the art. Preferred lacquers are clear, cross-linked polymers well-known in the art.
[0064] I have also found that preferred embodiments of the aforesaid lacquer-coated, metallized polymeric insulative materials according to the invention provide satisfactorily meet the industry's corrosivity standards.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0065] In order that the invention may be better understood, preferred embodiments will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein
[0066] FIG. 1 represents diagrammatic, exploded section views of a metallized-double bubble-white polyethylene, with fire retardant, assembly according to the invention (Example 1);
[0067] FIG. 2 represents the assembly of FIG. 1 without fire retardant being present, according to the invention (Examples 2 and 3);
[0068] FIG. 3 represents a diagrammatic, exploded sectional view of a metallized-single bubble-white polyethylene without fire retardant assembly, according to the invention (Example 4);
[0069] FIG. 4 represents a diagrammatic, exploded sectional view of a metallized-double bubble-metallized assembly without fire retardant, according to the invention (Example 5);
[0070] FIG. 5 represents a diagrammatic, exploded sectional view of a metallized-double bubble-metallized assembly with fire retardant, according to the invention (Example 6);
[0071] FIG. 6 represents a diagrammatic, exploded view or an aluminum foil-single bubble-aluminum foil-scrim without fire retardant according to the prior art (Example 7);
[0072] FIG. 7 represents a diagrammatic, exploded view of an aluminum foil-single bubble-aluminum foil with fire retardant reflective insulation assembly, not according to the invention (Example 8);
[0073] FIG. 8 represents a diagrammatic, exploded view of an aluminum foil-single bubble-white poly with fire retardant not according to the invention (Example 9);
[0074] FIG. 9 represents an exploded view of a metallized-double bubble-metallized-double bubble-metallized assembly having fire retardant, according to the invention (Example 10);
[0075] FIG. 10 represents an exploded view of a metallized double bubble-white polythene with fire retardant assembly, according to the invention (Example 11);
[0076] FIG. 11 represents an exploded view of a metallized-single bubble-metallized without fire retardant assembly, according to the invention (Example 12);
[0077] FIG. 12 represents an exploded view of an aluminum foil-single bubble containing fire retardant not according to the invention (Example 13);
[0078] FIG. 13 represents an exploded view of an aluminum foil-double bubble-aluminum foil, according to the prior art (Examples 14 and 15);
[0079] FIGS. 14 , 15 and 16 are diagrammatic, exploded sectional views of a bubble-pack, scrim laminated insulation blanket, according to the invention; and
[0080] FIG. 17 is a clear lacquer-coated metallized embodiment of FIG. 3 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0081] FIG. 14 is a bubble-pack-scrim laminated blanket assembly having polyethylene layers 112 , 114 , 116 and 118 and scrim layer 126 with nylon tapes 124 laminated between layers 112 and 114 . Adhered to outer layer 112 is a metallized PET layer 12 .
[0082] FIGS. 15 and 16 represent the embodiment of FIG. 14 but, additionally, having an aluminum foil layer 122 laminated to layer 112 in FIG. 15 and to layer 118 , via a polyethylene layer 136 in FIG. 16 .
[0083] The following numerals denote the same materials throughout the drawings, as follows:—
12 —48 gauge aluminum metallized polyester (PET) film; 14 —adhesive; 16 —1.2 ml polyethylene film; 18 —2.0 ml polyethylene film (bubbled); 20 —1.2 ml ethylene vinyl acetate—polyethylene film; 22 — 2 . 0 ml polyethylene film; 24 —aluminum foil; 26 —polyester scrim; FR denotes 18% w/w antimony oxide fire retardant; W denotes presence of TiO 2 pigment (white).
[0094] The bubble pack layer is preferably of a thickness selected from 0.5 cm to 1.25 cm. The other polyethylene layers are each of a thickness, preferably, selected from 1 to 6 mls.
[0095] The fire retardant material of use in the preferred embodiments was antimony oxide at a concentration selected from 10-20% w/w.
[0096] Insulation material No. 1 was a prior art commercial single bubble pack assembly of a white polyethylene film (1.2 mil) laminated to a polyethylene bubble (2.0 mil) on one side and aluminum foil (0.275 mil) on the other.
[0097] Insulation material No. 2 was a metallized polymeric material of use in the practise of the invention in the form of a bubble pack as for material No. 1 but with the aluminum foil substituted with metallized aluminum on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film (48 gauge) adhered to the polyethylene bubble.
Test
[0098] A blow torch was located about 10-15 cm away from the insulation material (5 cm×10 cm square) and directed at each of the aluminum surfaces.
Results
[0099] Single Bubble Aluminum Foil. Material No. 1 started to burn immediately and continued burning until all organic material was gone. Flame and smoke were extensive.
Single Bubble Metallized Aluminum Material. For material No. 2, where the flame was directly located, a hole was produced. However, the flame did not spread outwards of the hole or continue to burn the material. Flame and smoke were minimal.
Conclusion. Single Bubble metallized material reacts better to the flame, that is the material burned where the flame was situated but did not continue to burn.
[0100] Clearly, this test shows the advance of the metallized insulation material according to the invention over its prior art aluminum foil counterpart.
Examples 1 and 2
Underwent Full Room Burn Tests
Example 1
[0101] This Example illustrates the testing of the bubble-pack assembly shown in FIG. 1 —being commonly known as a metallized-double bubble-white poly (FR) in accordance with NFPA 286 Standard Methods of Fire Tests for Evaluating Contribution of Wall and Ceiling Interior Finish to Room Fire Growth. The test material was mounted on the LHS, rear, RHS walls to a height of the test room as well as the ceiling of the test room. The sample did not spread flames to the ceiling during the 40 kW exposure. The flames did not spread to the extremities of the walls during the 160 kW exposure. The sample did not exhibit flashover conditions during the test. NFPA 286 does not publish pass/fail criteria. This specimen did meet the criteria set forth in the 2003 IBC Section 803.2.1.
[0102] The test was performed by Intertek Testing Services NA, Inc., Elmendorf, Tex., 78112-984; U.S.A.
[0103] This method is used to evaluate the flammability characteristics of finish wall and ceiling coverings when such materials constitute the exposed interior surfaces of buildings. The test method does not apply to fabric covered less then ceiling height partitions used in open building interiors. Freestanding panel furniture systems include all freestanding panels that provide visual and/or acoustical separation and are intended to be used to divide space and may support components to form complete work stations. Demountable, relocatable, full-height partitions include demountable, relocatable, full-height partitions that fill the space between the finished floor and the finished ceiling.
[0104] This fire test measures certain fire performance characteristics of finish wall and ceiling covering materials in an enclosure under specified fire exposure conditions. It determines the extent to which the finish covering materials may contribute to fire growth in a room and the potential for fire spread beyond the room under the particular conditions simulated. The test indicates the maximum extent of fire growth in a room, the rate of heat release, and if they occur, the time to flashover and the time to flame extension beyond the doorway following flashover.
General Procedure
[0105] A calibration test is run within 30 days of testing any material as specified in the standard. All instrumentation is zeroed, spanned and calibrated prior to testing. The specimen is installed and the diffusion burner is placed. The collection hood exhaust duct blower is turned on and an initial flow is established. The gas sampling pump is turned on and the flow rate is adjusted. When all instruments are reading steady state conditions, the computer data acquisition system and video equipment is started. Ambient data is taken then the burner is ignited at a fuel flow rate that is known to produce 40 kW of heat output. This level is maintained for five minutes at which time the fuel flow is increased to the 160 kW level for a 10-minute period. During the burn period, all temperature, heat release and heat flux data is being recorded every 6 seconds. At the end of the fifteen minute burn period, the burner is shut off and all instrument readings are stopped. Post test observations are made and this concludes the test.
[0106] All damage was documented after the test was over, using descriptions, photographs and drawings, as was appropriate.
[0107] Digital color photographs and DV video taping were both used to record and documents the test. Care was taken to position the photographic equipment so as to not interfere with the smooth flow of air into the test room.
[0108] The test specimen was a metallized/double bubble/white poly (FR) insulation. Each panel measured approximately 4 ft. wide×8 ft. tall×⅛ in. thick. Each panel was white in color. The insulation was positioned using metal C studs every 2 ft. o.c. with the flat side of the stud facing the interior of the room. The insulation was attached to the C studs using screws and washers. See Photos in Appendix B for a visual depiction of the description above.
[0109] All joints and corners in the room were sealed to an airtight condition using gypsum drywall joint compound and/or ceramic fiber insulation. See photos in the appendix fort a detailed view of the finished specimen.
[0110] The data acquisition system was started and allowed to collect ambient data prior to igniting the burner and establishing a gas flow equivalent to 40 kW for the first 5 minutes and 160 kW for the next 10 minutes. Events during the test are described below:
[0000]
TIME
(min:sec)
OBSERVATION
0:00
Ignition of the burner at a level of 40 kW.
0:20
Specimen surface began to melt.
0:45
The specimen began to melt at 4 ft. above the specimen.
0:55
Ignition of the specimen at the melting edge.
1:25
Melting of the specimen at 8 ft. above the test burner.
3:20
Ignition of the specimen at the RHS edge of melt pattern.
3:38
Flaming drops began to fall from the specimen.
4:00
Burning on metal side of specimen only.
5:00
Burner output increased to 160 kW.
5:18
Specimen began to rapidly melt away.
5:25
The specimen began to melt away at 6 ft. from the test corner.
6:20
No burning of the specimen observed.
8:20
Material fell in front of the doorway.
9:00
TC # 5 fell in front of the doorway.
12:00
No new activity.
14:00
No changes observed in the specimen.
15:00
Test terminated.
Post Test Observations:
[0111] The specimen was completely melted on the top portions along all three walls. On the lower LHS wall, the specimen was still intact and appeared to have no visible damage. The lower rear wall appeared to have melting 4 ft. from the test corner, with the specimen intact from 4-8 ft from the test corner. The lower RHS wall was melted 4 ft. from the test corner and appeared intact from 4 ft. to the doorway. The specimen on the ceiling panels was observed to have been 100% melted.
CONCLUSION
[0112] The sample submitted, installed, and tested as described in this report displayed low levels of heat release, and upper level temperatures. The sample did not spread flames to the ceiling during the 40 kW exposure. The flames did not spread to the extremities of the 12-foot walls during the 106 kW exposure. The sample did not exhibit flashover conditions during the test. NFPA 286 does not publish pass/fail criteria. One must consult the codes to determine pass fail. This specimen did meet the criteria set forth in the 2003 IBC Section 803.2.1.
Example 2
[0113] The test described under Example 1 was repeated but with a metallized double bubble/white poly not containing fire retardant as shown in FIG. 2 .
[0114] The sample did not spread flames to ceiling during the 40 kW exposure. The flames did spread to the extremities of the walls during the 106 kW exposure. The sample did not exhibit flashover conditions during the test. NFPA 286 does not publish pass/fail criteria. However, this specimen did not meet the criteria set forth in the 2003 IBC Section 803.2.1.
[0115] Events during the test are described below:
[0000]
TIME
(min:sec)
OBSERVATION
0:00
Ignition of the burner at a level of 40 kW.
0:14
Specimen surface began to melt.
0:20
The edge of the specimen ignited.
0:38
The specimen began to melt 6-7 ft. above the burner/flaming
drops began to fall from the specimen.
1:21
Flame spread at 2 ft. horizontally at 4 ft. above the test burner.
2:31
Flame spread at 4 ft. horizontally at 4 ft. above the test burner.
3:50
The specimen on the ceiling began to fall.
4:24
The specimen began to fall from the corners and ceiling.
5:00
Burner output increased to 160 kW/specimen continuing to fall.
5:57
Flame spread at 6 ft. horizontally at the bottom of the 8 ft. wall.
7:10
Flames reached 8 ft. along the 8 ft. wall.
8:38
Flames on the LHS wall reached 10 ft. from the test corner.
9:40
Flames on the LHS wall reached 12 ft. extremity.
10:38
Test terminated.
Post Test Observations:
[0116] The specimen was 100% melted from the C studs along all the walls. The gypsum board behind the specimen was flame bleached and charred in the test corner. Along the rear wall, the bottom of the wall was charred the length of the wall. On the RHS wall, 5 ft. of specimen was still intact near the doorway. The insulation on the LHS wall was melted completely with the exception of a small 2 ft. section attached to the C stud near the doorway. The insulation on the ceiling was 100% melted exposing the C studs.
CONCLUSION
[0117] The sample submitted, installed, and tested as described in this report displayed low levels of heat release, and upper level temperatures. The sample did not spread flames to the ceiling during the 40 kW exposure. The flames did spread to the extremities of the 12-foot walls during the 160 kW exposure. The sample did not exhibit flashover conditions during the test. NFPA 286 does not publish pass/fail criteria. One must consult the codes to determine pass-fail. This specimen did not meet the very strict criteria set forth in the 2003 IBC Section 803.2.1.
Test Standard Method ASTME 84-05
[0118] Examples 3-6 underwent tests carried out in accordance with Test Standard Method ASTME84-05 for Surface Burning Characteristics of Building Materials, (also published under the following designations ANSI 2.5; NFPA 255; UBC 8-1 (42-1); and UL723).
[0119] The method is for determining the comparative surface burning behaviour of building materials. This test is applicable to exposed surfaces, such as ceilings or walls, provided that the material or assembly of materials, by its own structural quality or the manner in which it is tested and intended for use, is capable of supporting itself in position or being supported during the test period.
[0120] The purpose of the method is to determine the relative burning behaviour of the material by observing the flame spread along the specimen. Flame spread and smoke density developed are reported. However, there is not necessarily a relationship between these two measurements.
[0121] It should be noted that the use of supporting materials on the underside of the test specimen may lower the flame spread index from that which might be obtained if the specimen could be tested without such support. This method may not be appropriate for obtaining comparative surface burning behaviour of some cellular plastic materials. Testing of materials that melt, drip, or delaminate to such a degree that the continuity of the flame front is destroyed, results in low flame spread indices that do not relate directly to indices obtained by testing materials that remain in place.
[0122] Table 1 gives detailed observations for the experiments conducted in Examples 3 to 15.
Example 3
[0123] The test specimen consisted of (3) 8 ft. long×24 in. wide×1.398 in. thick 17.50 lbs metallized/double bubble/white poly (No—FR) reflective insulation, assembly of FIG. 2 secured to 1.75 in. wide×1 in. thick, aluminum frames using ¾ in. long, self-drilling, hex head screws and washers. The nominal thickness of the reflective insulation was 5/16 in. thick. The white poly was facing the flames during the test. The specimen was self-supporting and was placed directly on the inner ledges of the tunnel.
[0124] The test results, computed on the basis of observed flame front advance and electronic smoke density measurements were as follows.
[0000]
Flame Spread
Smoke
Test Specimen
Index
Developed Index
Mineral Fiber Cement Board
0
0
Red Oak Flooring
85
75
Test Specimen
5
5
[0125] This metallized-double bubble-white poly having no fire-retardant assembly of FIG. 2 was most acceptable in this E84-05 test to permit use in Class A buildings.
[0126] During the test, the specimen was observed to behave in the following manner:
[0000] The white poly facer began to melt at 0:05 (min:sec). The specimen ignited at 0:07 (min:sec). The insulation began to fall from the aluminum frames at 0:08 (min.sec.). The test continued for the 10:00 duration. After the test burners were turned off, a 60 second after flame was observed.
[0127] After the test the specimen was observed to be damaged as follows:
[0000] The specimen was consumed from 0 ft.-9 ft. The white poly facer was melted from 19 ft.-24 ft.
Example 4
[0128] This embodiment is a repeat of Example 3, but with a metallized/single bubble/white poly (No—FR) reflective insulation assembly as shown in FIG. 3 substituted for the material described in Example 3.
Specimen Description
[0129] The specimen consisted of (3) 8 ft. long×24 in. wide×1.100 in. thick 16.60 lbs metallized/single bubble/white poly (No—FR) reflective insulation, secured to 1.75 in. wide×1 in. thick, aluminum frames using ¾ in. long, self-drilling, hex head screws and washers. The nominal thickness of the reflective insulation was 3/16 in. thick. The white poly was facing the test burners. The specimen was self-supporting and was placed directly on the inner ledges of the tunnel.
[0000]
Flame Spread
Smoke
Test Material
Index
Developed Index
Mineral Fiber Cement Board
0
0
Red Oak Flooring
85
75
Specimen
5
0
[0130] During the test, the specimen was observed to behave in the following manner:
[0000] The poly facer began to melt at 0:03 (min/sec). The poly facer ignited at 0:06 (min:sec). The insulation began to fall from the aluminum frames at 0:07 (min:sec). The insulation ignited on the floor of the apparatus at 0:07 (min:sec). The test continued for the 10:00 duration.
[0131] After the test the specimen was observed to be damaged as follows:
[0000] The insulation was consumed from 0 ft.-20 ft. The poly facer was melted from 20 ft.-24 ft. The polyethylene bubbles were melted from 20 ft. to 24 ft.
Example 5
[0132] This embodiment is a repeat of Example 3, but with a metallized/double bubble/metallized (No FR) reflective insulation substituted for the material described in Example 3.
Specimen Description
[0133] The specimen consisted of (3) 8 ft. long×24 in. wide×1.230 in. thick 17.40 lbs metallized/double bubble/metallized no FR reflective insulation assembly of FIG. 4 , secured to 1.75 in. wide×1 in. thick, aluminum frames using ¾ in. long, self-drilling, hex head screws and washers. The nominal thickness of the reflective insulation was 5/16 in. thick. The specimen was self-supporting and was placed directly on the inner ledges of the tunnel.
[0000]
Flame Spread
Smoke
Test Material
Index
Developed Index
Mineral Fiber Cement Board
0
0
Red Oak Flooring
85
75
Test Specimen
5
5
[0134] During the test, the specimen was observed to behave in the following manner:
[0000] The metallized insulation began to melt at 0:06 (min:sec). The metallized insulation began to fall from the aluminum frame at 0:10 (min.sec.). The metallized insulation ignited at 0:11 (min.sec). The test continued for the 10:00 duration. After the test burners were turned off, a 19 second after flame was observed.
[0135] After the test, the specimen was observed to be damaged as follows:
[0000] The metallized insulation was consumed from 0 ft.-16 ft. The polyethylene bubbles were melted from 16 ft.-24 ft. Light discoloration was observed to the metallized facer from 16 ft.-24 ft.
[0136] This metallized-double bubble-metallized assembly of FIG. 4 met the E84 standard for building reflective insulation.
Example 6
[0137] This embodiment is a repeat of Example 5, but with a metallized/double bubble/metallized (FR) reflective insulation assembly as seen in FIG. 5 substituted for the material described in Example 5, FIG. 4 .
[0138] The specimen consisted of (3) 8 ft. long×24 in. wide×1.325 in. thick 17.70 lbs metallized/double bubble/metallized (FR) reflective insulation assembly, secured to 1.75 in. wide×1 in. thick, aluminum frames using % in. long, self-drilling, hex head screws and washers. The nominal thickness of the reflective insulation was 5/16 in. thick.
[0000]
Flame Spread
Smoke
Test Materials
Index
Developed Index
Mineral Fiber Cement Board
0
0
Red Oak Flooring
85
75
Test Specimen
5
15
[0139] During the test, the specimen was observed to behave in the following manner:
[0000] The metallized facer began to melt at 0:04 (min:sec.). The specimen ignited at 0:06 (min:sec.). The metallized insulation began to fall from the aluminum frames at 0:11 (min:sec). The floor of the apparatus ignited at 6:41 (min:sec). The test continued for the 10:00 duration. After the test burners were turned off, a 60 second after flame was observed.
[0140] After the test the specimen was observed to be damaged as follows:
[0000] The insulation was consumed from 0 ft.-16 ft. The polyethylene bubbles were melted from 16 ft.-24 ft. Light discoloration was observed to the metallized facer from 16 ft.-24 ft.
[0141] The metallized-double bubble-metallized (FR) reflective insulation assembly of FIG. 5 passed this ASTM E84-05 test for Class A building insulation.
[0142] In the following embodiments Examples 7-9, less stringent ASTM E84 test conditions were employed.
Example 7
[0143] An aluminum foil-single bubble-aluminum foil/poly with polyester scrim reflective insulation assembly, without a fire-retardant was stapled to three 2×8 ft. wood frames with L-bars spaced every 5 feet O.C. was tested. The reflective insulation was secured to the L-bars by using self-drilling screws.
Flame Spread Index 50
Smoke Developed Index 50
[0144] This material failed this ASTM E84 test.
Example 8
[0145] Aluminum foil-single bubble-aluminum foil with fire-retardant reflective insulation assembly was stapled to (3) 2×8 ft. wood frames, L-bar cross members on 5 ft. centers, stapled to wood on sides and screwed to L-bar. The sample was self-supporting. This . assembly as shown in FIG. 7 , failed this E84 test conditions for building insulations, for having a flame spread index of 55 and a smoke developed index of 30.
Example 9
[0146] Aluminum foil-single bubble-white poly (FR) as shown in FIG. 8 was attached to nominal 2×2 wood frames with L-bar cross members spaced every 5 ft. O.C. The sample was self-supporting.
[0147] The specimen had a flame speed index of 65 and a smoke developed index of 75 to not be acceptable as Class A building material.
[0148] The following embodiments describe ASTM 84-05el Surface Burning Characteristics of Building Materials.
Example 10
[0149] The following modified ASTM E84-05el test was designed to determine the relative surface burning characteristics of materials under specific test conditions. Results are again expressed in terms of flame spread index (FSI) and smoke developed (SD).
Summary of Test Procedure
[0150] The tunnel was preheated to 150° F., as measured by the floor-embedded thermocouple located 23.25 feet downstream of the burner ports, and allowed to cool to 105° F., as measured by the floor-embedded thermocouple located 13 ft. from the burners. At this time, the tunnel lid was raised and the test sample placed along the ledges of the tunnel so as to form a continuous ceiling 24 ft. long, 12 inches. above the floor. The lid was then lowered into place.
[0151] Upon ignition of the gas burners, the flame spread distance was observed and recorded every 15 seconds. Flame spread distance versus time is plotted ignoring any flame front recessions. If the area under the curve (A) is less than or equal to 97.5 min.-ft., FSI=0.515 A; if greater, FSI=4900/(195-A). Smoke developed is determined by comparing the area under the obscuration curve for the test sample to that of inorganic reinforced cement board and red oak, arbitrarily established as 0 and 100, respectively.
[0152] The reflective insulation was a metallized-double bubble-metallized assembly with fire-retardant, as shown in FIG. 9 . The material had a very acceptable OFSI and 85 SD.
Observations of Burning Characteristics
[0153] The sample began to ignite and propagate flame immediately upon exposure to the test flame.
[0154] The sample did not propagate past the base line.
[0155] Maximum amounts of smoke developed were recorded during the early states of the test.
Example 11
[0156] The test conditions were as for Example 10 but carried out with a metallized/bubble/single bubble, white (FR) as shown in FIG. 10 , substituted for the material of Example 10.
[0157] The white face was exposed to the flame source . The material had a very acceptable 0 FSI and 65 DS.
Observations of Burning Characteristics
[0158] The sample began to ignite and propagate flame immediately upon exposure to the test flame.
[0159] The sample did not afford a flame front propagation.
[0160] Maximum amounts of smoke developed were recorded during the early states of the test.
Example 12
[0161] The test conditions were as for Example 10 but carried out with a metallized-single bubble as shown in FIG. 11 , substitute for the material of Example 10.
[0162] The test material had a very accept 0 FSI and 30 SD.
Observations of Burning Characteristics
[0163] The sample began to ignite and propagate flame immediately upon exposure to the test flame.
[0164] The sample did not afford a flame front propagation.
[0165] Maximum amounts of smoke developed were recorded during the early states of the test.
Example 13
[0166] The test conditions were as for Examples 7-9, with a self-supporting aluminum foil-single bubble containing fire retardant as shown in FIG. 12 . An unacceptable FSI of 30 and a SDI of 65 was observed.
Example 14
[0167] The test was conducted under ASTM E84-00a Conditions in Jan. 22, 2002, with layers of aluminum foil-double bubble-aluminum foil, according to the prior art as shown in FIG. 13 . The specimen consisted of a 24″ wide×24′ long× 5/16″ thick (nominal) 3.06 lbs sheet of reflective insulation—foil/double PE bubble/foil. The specimen was tested with a ⅛″ wide×24′ long second of the foil facer removed from the center to expose the core material directly to the flames.
Results
[0168]
[0000]
Flame Spread
Smoke
Test Specimen
Index
Developed Index
Mineral Fiber Cement Board
0
0
Red Oak Flooring
n/a
100
Sample
115
20
[0169] During the test, the specimen was observed to behave in the following manner:
[0000] Steady ignition began at 0:35 (min:sec). Flaming drops began to fall from the specimen at 0:45 and a floor flame began burning at 0:46. The test continued for the 10:00 duration. Upon completion of the test, the methane test burners were turned off and an after flame continued to burn for 0:19.
[0170] After the test, the specimen was observed to be damaged in the following manner:
[0000] The specimen was slightly burned through from 1 ft. to 3 ft. The PE bubble was melted from 0 ft. to 24 ft. and the foil facer had a black discoloration on it from 2 ft. to 24 ft.
[0171] The sample was supported on ¼″ steel rods and 2″ galvanized hexagonal wire mesh id not meet the criteria see for this E84-00a test for a building insulation.
Example 15
[0172] This example was a repeat of Example 14.
Results
[0173]
[0000]
Flame Spread
Smoke
Test Specimen
Index
Developed Index
Mineral Fiber Cement Board
0
0
Red Oak Flooring
n/a
100
Sample
65
35
[0174] During the test, the specimen was observed to behave in the following manner:
[0000] Steady ignition began at 0:54 (min:sec). Flaming drops began to fall from the specimen at 0:58 and a floor flame began burning at 1:03. The test continued for the 10:00 duration.
[0175] After the test, the specimen was observed to be damaged as follows:
[0000] The foil was 80% consumed from 1 ft. to 3 ft. and lightly discoloured from 3 ft. to 24 ft. The bubble core was melted/collapsed from 0 ft. to 24 ft.
[0176] Although the results were an improvement over Example 14 material, they were still not satisfactory.
[0000]
TABLE
EXAMPLE
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
13
14
15
Specimen
Data
Time to
7
6
11
6
7
32
8
9
35
54
Ignition (sec.)
Time to Max
23
22
26
23
64
81
38
28
284
191
FS (sec.)
Maximum FS
0.6
0.8
0.6
1.0
10.7
11.8
12.1
5.5
19.5
14.5
(feet)
Time to 980° F.
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
(sec)
Max
447
416
482
476
470
561
582
520
728
711
Temperature
(° F.)
Time to Max
597
600
596
565
599
82
48
594
316
127
Temperature
(sec)
Total Fuel
51.44
51.26
51.57
51.17
50.75
50.65
50.81
50.61
39.47
35.82
Burned (cubic
feet)
FS * Time
6.0
7.4
6.2
9.6
99.8
104.2
117.1
53.5
153.1
121.0
Area (ft * min)
Smoke Area
2.3
1.1
3.2
10.8
41.7
26.5
65.0
53.4
22.2
33.4
(% A * min)
Fuel Area
3971.3
3668.6
4283.0
4324.4
4271.2
5035.3
5032.7
4554
5608.3
5556.9
(° F. * min)
Fuel
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
9
8
Contributed
Value
Unrounded
3.1
3.8
3.2
4.9
51.5
54.0
62.9
27.5
117.0
66.2
FSI
*Never
Reached
Calibration
Data
Time to
44
44
44
44
41
41
41
41
50
55
Ignition of
Last Red Oak
(sec.)
Red Oak
62.50
62.50
62.50
62.50
85.0
85.0
85
85
100.00
101.02
Smoke Area
(% A * min)
Red Oak Fuel
8972
8972
8972
8972
8128
8128
8128
8128
8548
9763
Area (° F. *
min)
Glass Fiber
5065
5065
5065
5065
5443
5443
5443
5443
5311
5178
Board Fuel
Area (° F. *
min)
Example 16
[0177] Standard Surface Emittance (reflectivity) tests (ASTM C 1371-04a—“Standard Test Method for Determination of Emittance of Materials near Room Temperature Using Portable Emissometers”) with the embodiments shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 17 gave a measured emittance of 0.30 (65% reflectance) for the dull surface of the metallized coated PET material and a value of 0.06 (96% reflectance) for the shiny surface.
[0178] The 0.5 ml thick lacquer coated metallized coated PET surface also gave an acceptable reflectance of 96%.
[0179] The lacquer layer 150 provides suitable, anti-corrosion protection.
[0180] Although this disclosure has described and illustrated certain preferred embodiments of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not restricted to those particular embodiments. Rather, the invention includes all embodiments, which are functional or mechanical equivalence of the specific embodiments and features that have been described and illustrated. | A method of thermally insulating an object that requires a Class A standard insulation material, said method comprising suitably locating a metallized polymeric reflective insulation material adjacent said object, wherein said polymeric material is selected from a closed cell foam, polyethylene foam, polypropylene foam, expanded polystyrene foam, multi-film layers assembly and a bubble-pack assembly. The object is preferably packaging, a vehicle or a residential, commercial or industrial building or establishment. The polymeric material may contain a fire-retardant and the bright surface of the metallized layer has a clear lacquer coating to provide anti-corrosion properties, and which maintains satisfactory reflectance commercial criteria. | 8 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority to Provisional Patent Application U.S. Ser. No. 61/887,580 filed Oct. 7, 2013, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The disclosure generally relates to compounds of formula I, including their salts, as well as compositions and methods of using the compounds. The compounds are ligands, agonists and partial agonists for the mGluR5 receptor and may be useful for the treatment of various disorders of the central nervous system.
[0003] Glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the mammalian brain, playing an important physiological role in a wide variety of processes. Glutamatergic neurotransmission is predominantly mediated through activation of cell surface receptors including ligand-gated ion channels (ionotropic receptors) and metabotropic glutamate G protein coupled receptors (mGluRs). The metabotropic glutamate receptor family is comprised of 8 family members that are part of the family 3 GPCR superfamily. These receptors are further subdivided into Group I (mGluR 1, 5), Group II (mGluR 2, 3) and Group III (mGluR 4, 6, 7, 8) based upon sequence homology, receptor signaling, and pharmacology.
[0004] The Group I receptor mGluR5 has emerged as a target of potential therapeutic utility in a number of disease states (see: Rodriguez, A. L., et al. Current Opinion in Drug Discovery & Development (2007), 10(6), 715-722. and Chen, Y., et al. Drugs of the Future (2008), 33(4), 355-360. and Lindsley, C. W., et al. Current Opinion in Drug Discovery & Development (2009), 12(4), 446-457). The receptor is expressed broadly throughout the CNS with predominant post-synaptic localization, although pre-synaptic expression is also present. mGluR5 is a Gαq-coupled receptor activating phospholipase C and elevating intracellular calcium levels, leading to activation of downstream signaling molecules. Many studies have demonstrated a role for the receptor in regulating NMDA receptor activity as well as synaptic plasticity, suggesting this receptor plays a key role in glutamatergic signal transduction.
[0005] Based on the expression pattern and functional role of mGluR5, this receptor has emerged as an important target for drug discovery in a number of therapeutic indications. Evaluation of genetically modified mice lacking mGluR5 as well as compounds that modulate receptor function suggest ligands that modulate mGluR5 receptor function have therapeutic utility in CNS and peripheral disease states including, but not limited to, schizophrenia (see: Conn, P. J., et al. Trends in Pharmacological Sciences (2009), 30(1), 25-31; and Kanuma, K., et al. Recent Patents on CNS Drug Discovery (2010), 5(1), 23-34), cognitive impairment (see: Simonyi, A., et al. European Journal of Pharmacology (2010), 639(1-3), 17-25), Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease (see: Johnson, K. A., et al. CNS & Neurological Disorders: Drug Targets (2009), 8(6), 475-491), Parkinson's disease levodopa-induced dyskinesia (see: Rylander, D., et al. Neurobiology of Disease (2010), 39(3), 352-361), addiction (see: Olive, M. F. Current Drug Abuse Reviews (2009), 2(1), 83-98), anxiety (see: Jacob, W., et al. Neuropharmacology (2009), 57(2), 97-108), depression (see: Witkin, J. M., et al. CNS & Neurological Disorders: Drug Targets (2007), 6(2), 87-100), psychosis, epilepsy, Fragile X (see: Dolen, G., et al. Journal of Physiology (Oxford, United Kingdom) (2008), 586(6), 1503-1508), gastroesophageal reflux disease (see: Boeckxstaens, G. E. Expert Opinion on Emerging Drugs (2009), 14(3), 481-491), migraine (see: Marin, J., et al. Expert Opinion on Investigational Drugs (2010), 19(4), 555-561), pain, and others.
[0006] The invention provides technical advantages, for example, the compounds are novel and are ligands for the mGluR5 receptor and may be useful for the treatment of various disorders of the central nervous system. Additionally, the compounds provide advantages for pharmaceutical uses, for example, with regard to one or more of their mechanism of action, binding, inhibition efficacy, target selectivity, solubility, safety profiles, or bioavailability.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The invention encompasses compounds of Formula I, including pharmaceutically acceptable salts, pharmaceutical compositions, and their use in treating disorders related to glutamatergic dysfunction.
[0008] One aspect of the invention is a compound of formula I
[0000]
[0000] where:
R 1 is hydrogen or alkyl;
R 2 is hydrogen or alkyl;
R 3 is
[0009]
[0000] R 4 is cyano, alkyl, haloalkyl, cycloalkyl, hydroxy, alkoxy, haloalkoxy, or thioalkyl, where alkyl, haloalkyl, and cycloalkyl are substituted with 0-3 substituents selected from halo, alkyl, haloalkyl, hydroxy, and alkoxy;
or R 4 is a bridged [1-4.1-4.0-3]bicycloalkyl;
or R 4 is alkylcarbonylamino, haloalkylcarbonylamino, cycloalkanonyl, valerolactamyl, oxetanyl, tetrahydrofuranyl, tetrahydropyranyl, tetrahydropyranyloxy, phenyl, or phenoxy;
or R 4 is amino, alkylamino, dialkylamino, azetidinyl, pyrrolidinyl, piperidinyl, piperazinyl, morpholinyl, homopiperidinyl, homopiperazinyl, or homomorpholinyl;
or R 4 is pyrazolyl, isoxazolyl, isothiazolyl, imidazolyl, oxazolyl, thiazolyl, triazolyl, oxadiazolyl, thiadiazolyl, or indazolyl, and is substituted with 0-2 substituents selected from halo and alkyl;
L is a bond, alkylene, or hydroxyalkylene;
Ar 1 is phenyl, pyridinyl, pyrazinyl, pyrimidinyl, or pyridazinyl, and is substituted with 1 R 3 substituent and with 0-3 substituents selected from cyano, halo, alkyl, haloalkyl, alkoxy, and haloalkoxy; and
Ar 2 is phenyl, pyridinyl, pyrazinyl, pyrimidinyl, pyridazinyl, pyrrolyl, furanyl, thienyl, pyrazolyl, isoxazolyl, isothiazolyl, imidazolyl, oxazolyl, thiazolyl, triazolyl, oxadiazolyl, thiadiazolyl, tetrazolyl, or benzimidazolyl, and is substituted with 0-3 substituents selected from cyano, halo, alkyl, haloalkyl, hydroxy, alkoxy, haloalkoxy, and phenyl;
or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
Another aspect of the invention is a compound of formula I where
R 1 is hydrogen;
R 2 is hydrogen;
R 3 is
[0010]
[0000] R 4 is cyano, alkyl, haloalkyl, cycloalkyl, hydroxy, alkoxy, haloalkoxy, or thioalkyl, where alkyl, haloalkyl, and cycloalkyl are substituted with 0-3 substituents selected from halo, alkyl, haloalkyl, hydroxy, and alkoxy;
or R 4 is a bridged [1-4.1-4.0-3]bicycloalkyl;
or R 4 is alkylcarbonylamino, haloalkylcarbonylamino, cycloalkanonyl, valerolactamyl, oxetanyl, tetrahydropyranyl, tetrahydropyranyl, tetrahydropyranyloxy, phenyl, or phenoxy;
or R 4 is amino, alkylamino, dialkylamino, azetidinyl, pyrrolidinyl, piperidinyl, piperazinyl, morpholinyl, homopiperidinyl, homopiperazinyl, or homomorpholinyl;
or R 4 is pyrazolyl, isoxazolyl, isothiazolyl, imidazolyl, oxazolyl, thiazolyl, triazolyl, oxadiazolyl, thiadiazolyl, or indazolyl, and is substituted with 0-2 substituents selected from halo and alkyl;
L is a bond, alkylene, or hydroxyalkylene;
A 1 is phenyl, pyridinyl, pyrazinyl, pyrimidinyl, or pyridazinyl, and is substituted with 1 R 3 substituent and with 0-3 substituents selected from cyano, halo, alkyl, haloalkyl, alkoxy, and haloalkoxy; and
Ar 2 is phenyl, pyridinyl, pyrazinyl, pyrimidinyl, pyridazinyl, pyrrolyl, furanyl, thienyl, pyrazolyl, isoxazolyl, isothiazolyl, imidazolyl, oxazolyl, thiazolyl, triazolyl, oxadiazolyl, thiadiazolyl, tetrazolyl, or benzimidazolyl, and is substituted with 0-3 substituents selected from cyano, halo, alkyl, haloalkyl, hydroxy, alkoxy, haloalkoxy, and phenyl;
or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
Another aspect of the invention is a compound of formula I where R 1 is hydrogen; R 2 is hydrogen; R 3 is
[0000]
[0000] R 4 is cyano, alkyl, haloalkyl, cycloalkyl, hydroxy, alkoxy, haloalkoxy, or thioalkyl, where alkyl, haloalkyl, and cycloalkyl are substituted with 0-3 substituents selected from halo, alkyl, haloalkyl, hydroxy, and alkoxy; or R 4 is a bridged [1-4.1-4.0-3]bicycloalkyl; or R 4 is alkylcarbonylamino, haloalkylcarbonylamino, cycloalkanonyl, valerolactamyl, oxetanyl, tetrahydrofuranyl, tetrahydropyranyl, tetrahydropyranyloxy, phenyl, or phenoxy; or R 4 is amino, alkylamino, dialkylamino, azetidinyl, pyrrolidinyl, piperidinyl, piperazinyl, morpholinyl, homopiperidinyl, homopiperazinyl, or homomorpholinyl; or R 4 is pyrazolyl, isoxazolyl, isothiazolyl, imidazolyl, oxazolyl, thiazolyl, triazolyl, oxadiazolyl, thiadiazolyl, or indazolyl, and is substituted with 0-2 substituents selected from halo and alkyl; L is a bond, alkylene, or hydroxyalkylene; Ar 1 is pyridinyl substituted with 1 R 3 substituent and with 0-3 substituents selected from cyano, halo, alkyl, haloalkyl, alkoxy, and haloalkoxy; and Ar 2 is phenyl substituted with 0-3 substituents selected from cyano, halo, alkyl, haloalkyl, hydroxy, alkoxy, haloalkoxy, and phenyl; or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
Another aspect of the invention is a compound of formula I where R 1 and R 2 is hydrogen.
Another aspect of the invention is a compound of formula I where R 4 is cyano, alkyl, haloalkyl, cycloalkyl, hydroxy, alkoxy, haloalkoxy, or thioalkyl, where alkyl, haloalkyl, and cycloalkyl are substituted with 0-3 substituents selected from halo, alkyl, haloalkyl, hydroxy, and alkoxy.
Another aspect of the invention is a compound of formula I where R 4 is amino, alkylamino, dialkylamino, azetidinyl, pyrrolidinyl, piperidinyl, piperazinyl, morpholinyl, homopiperidinyl, homopiperazinyl, or homomorpholinyl.
Another aspect of the invention is a compound of formula I where R 4 is pyrazolyl, isoxazolyl, isothiazolyl, imidazolyl, oxazolyl, thiazolyl, triazolyl, oxadiazolyl, thiadiazolyl, or indazolyl, and is substituted with 0-2 substituents selected from halo and alkyl.
Another aspect of the invention is a compound of formula I where L is a bond.
Another aspect of the invention is a compound of formula I where L is alkylene.
Another aspect of the invention is a compound of formula I where L is hydroxyalkylene.
Another aspect of the invention is a compound of formula I where L is a bond, methylene, or hydroxymethylene.
Another aspect of the invention is a compound of formula I where Ar 1 is pyridinyl substituted with 1 R 3 substituent and with 0-3 substituents selected from cyano, halo, alkyl, haloalkyl, alkoxy, and haloalkoxy.
Another aspect of the invention is a compound of formula I where Ar 2 is phenyl substituted with 0-3 substituents selected from cyano, halo, alkyl, haloalkyl, hydroxy, alkoxy, haloalkoxy, and phenyl.
Another aspect of the invention is a compound of formula I with the indicated stereochemistry
[0000]
[0000] For a compound of formula I, the scope of any instance of a variable substituent, including R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , L, Ar 1 , and Ar 2 can be used independently with the scope of any other instance of a variable substituent. As such, the invention includes combinations of the different aspects.
[0011] Unless specified otherwise, these terms have the following meanings “Halo” includes fluoro, chloro, bromo, and iodo. “Alkyl” means a straight or branched alkyl group composed of 1 to 6 carbons. “Alkenyl” means a straight or branched alkyl group composed of 2 to 6 carbons with at least one double bond. “Alkynyl” means a straight or branched alkyl group composed of 2 to 6 carbons with at least one triple bond. “Cycloalkyl” means a monocyclic ring system composed of 3 to 7 carbons. “Haloalkyl” and “haloalkoxy” include all halogenated isomers from monohalo to perhalo. Terms with a hydrocarbon moiety (e.g. alkoxy) include straight and branched isomers for the hydrocarbon portion. “Aryl” means a monocyclic or bicyclic aromatic hydrocarbon groups having 6 to 12 carbon atoms, or a bicyclic fused ring system wherein one or both of the rings is a phenyl group. Bicyclic fused ring systems consist of a phenyl group fused to a four- to six-membered aromatic or non-aromatic carbocyclic ring. Representative examples of aryl groups include, but are not limited to, indanyl, indenyl, naphthyl, phenyl, and tetrahydronaphthyl. “Heteroaryl” means a 5 to 7 membered monocyclic or 8 to 11 membered bicyclic aromatic ring system with 1-5 heteroatoms independently selected from nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur. Parenthetic and multiparenthetic terms are intended to clarify bonding relationships to those skilled in the art. For example, a term such as ((R)alkyl) means an alkyl substituent further substituted with the substituent R.
[0012] The invention includes all pharmaceutically acceptable salt forms of the compounds. Pharmaceutically acceptable salts are those in which the counter ions do not contribute significantly to the physiological activity or toxicity of the compounds and as such function as pharmacological equivalents. These salts can be made according to common organic techniques employing commercially available reagents. Some anionic salt forms include acetate, acistrate, besylate, bromide, chloride, citrate, fumarate, glucouronate, hydrobromide, hydrochloride, hydroiodide, iodide, lactate, maleate, mesylate, nitrate, pamoate, phosphate, succinate, sulfate, tartrate, tosylate, and xinofoate. Some cationic salt forms include ammonium, aluminum, benzathine, bismuth, calcium, choline, diethylamine, diethanolamine, lithium, magnesium, meglumine, 4-phenylcyclohexylamine, piperazine, potassium, sodium, tromethamine, and zinc.
[0013] Some Formula I compounds contain at least one asymmetric carbon atom, an example of which is shown below. The invention includes all stereoisomeric forms of the compounds, both mixtures and separated isomers. Mixtures of stereoisomers can be separated into individual isomers by methods known in the art. The relative and absolute stereochemistry of formula I compounds depicted in the specific embodiments section (and the intermediates used to prepare them) represent the most likely stereoisomer based on the data collected for each compound.
[0014] The invention is intended to include all isotopes of atoms occurring in the present compounds. Isotopes include those atoms having the same atomic number but different mass numbers. By way of general example and without limitation, isotopes of hydrogen include deuterium and tritium. Isotopes of carbon include 13 C and 14 C. Isotopically-labeled compounds of the invention can generally be prepared by conventional techniques known to those skilled in the art or by processes analogous to those described herein, using an appropriate isotopically-labeled reagent in place of the non-labeled reagent otherwise employed. Such compounds may have a variety of potential uses, for example as standards and reagents in determining biological activity. In the case of stable isotopes, such compounds may have the potential to favorably modify biological, pharmacological, or pharmacokinetic properties.
Synthetic Methods
[0015] Compounds of Formula I may be made by methods known in the art including those described below and including variations within the skill of the art. Some reagents and intermediates are known in the art. Other reagents and intermediates can be made by methods known in the art using readily available materials. The variables (e.g. numbered “R” substituents) used to describe the synthesis of the compounds are intended only to illustrate how to make the compounds and are not to be confused with variables used in the claims or in other sections of the specification. The following methods are for illustrative purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. The schemes encompass reasonable variations known in the art.
[0000]
[0000]
[0000]
[0000]
[0000]
[0000]
[0000]
[0000]
[0000]
[0000]
[0000]
[0000]
[0000]
[0000]
[0000]
[0000]
[0000]
[0000]
[0000]
[0000]
[0000]
[0000]
[0000]
[0000]
Biological Methods
[0016] mGluR5 FLIPR Assay.
[0017] HEK293 (ZF) cells stably transfected with human mGluR5A (pIRES neo) and the rat glutamate-aspartate transporter (GLAST; pIRES puro) are grown in a monolayer culture at 37° C. in 5% CO 2 and fed with Minimum Essential Medium (MEM) supplemented with 10% dialysed fetal bovine serum. 24 hours prior to assay, cells are enzymatically dissociated from the culture flask (Trypsin, 0.25%), spun down (1000 rpm, 3 min), resuspended, and plated on Greiner black clear bottomed PDL-coated 384-well plates at a density of 30 thousand cells/well. On the day of the experiment, media is removed from the cell plates and replaced with Molecular Devices Calcium 4 microfluorometric Ca ++ sensitive dye in assay buffer (HBSS; Gibco #14025+20 mM HEPES and 250 uM probenacid). Plates are incubated in dye at 37° C. in 5% CO 2 for 60 minutes prior to delivery of test compounds in assay buffer. Test compounds are incubated with cells in the presence of dye for 10 minutes prior to being read on the FLIPR platform (Molecular Devices). A Ca ++ signal is induced in the assay plates via the delivery of an ˜EC 10 concentration of the endogenous agonist 1-glutamate; images are acquired at 1 Hz for 100 seconds post-delivery of agonist stimulus. Positive modulator activity (i.e. the ability of test compounds to increase the Ca ++ response to a sub-maximal concentration of agonist) is normalized to a saturating concentration of a known mGluR5 PAM run in each assay plate. An EC 50 concentration of test compounds is derived from 4-parameter logistic curve fits of transformed fluoresence data via proprietary software suite.
[0000]
Example
mGluR5 EC 50 (nM)
1
1.7
2
2.0
3
2.2
4
3.6
5
4.7
6
5.2
7
5.9
8
12.3
9
11.4
10
12.6
11
13.6
12
15.4
13
16.4
14
16.6
15
20.4
16
>3226
17
23.2
18
26.0
19
27.6
20
60.8
21
29.5
22
32.3
23
43.6
24
43.9
25
45.2
26
46.2
27
48.2
28
76.9
29
77.5
30
85.1
31
108
32
116
33
134
34
244
35
255
36
291
37
383
38
498
39
510
40
513
41
730
42
>1613
43
>1613
44
>1613
45
>1613
46
>1613
47
>1613
48
>1613
49
>1613
50
>3226
51
8.1
52
9.3
53
16.2
54
107
55
27.8
56
67.0
57
77.3
58
204
59
226
60
458
61
>3226
62
10.9
63
12.4
64
20.0
65
14.7
66
15.2
67
88.6
68
932
69
>1613
70
29.6
71
>3226
72
16.6
73
27.9
74
27.4
75
129
76
334
77
>1613
78
>1613
79
463
80
>3000
81
351
82
1308
83
48.7
84
3667
85
1055
86
25.3
87
>10750
88
90.2
89
8.3
90
377
91
96.2
92
50.9
93
77.0
94
>3226
95
237
96
>3226
97
30.5
98
>3226
99
13.2
100
282
101
>1613
102
>3226
103
251
104
>1613
105
326
106
295
107
280
108
65.9
109
>3226
110
>3226
111
104
112
>3226
113
>3226
114
>3226
115
35.1
116
>1613
117
>3226
118
80.5
119
21.6
120
69.2
121
18.4
122
58.6
123
60.4
124
130.4
125
179.2
Pharmaceutical Compositions and Methods of Treatment
[0018] Compounds of formula I bind to mGluR5 and can be useful in treating neurological or psychiatric disorders. Therefore, another aspect of the invention is a composition comprising a compound of formula I or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
[0019] Another aspect of the invention is a method for the treatment of schizophrenia, cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Parkinson's disease levodopa-induced dyskinesia, addiction, anxiety, depression, psychosis, epilepsy, Fragile X, gastroesophageal reflux disease, migraine, pain, borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, or other neurological and/or psychiatric disorder associated with glutamate dysfunction, which comprises administering to a patient a therapeutically affective amount of a compound of formula I.
[0020] Another aspect of the invention is a method for the treatment of schizophrenia which comprises administering to a patient a therapeutically affective amount of a compound of formula I.
[0021] Another aspect of the invention is a method for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease which comprises administering to a patient a therapeutically affective amount of a compound of formula I.
[0022] Another aspect of the invention is the use of a compound of formula I in the manufacture of a medicament for the treatment of neurological or psychiatric disorders.
[0023] Another aspect of the invention is the use of a compound of formula I in the manufacture of a medicament for the treatment of schizophrenia, cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Parkinson's disease levodopa-induced dyskinesia, addiction, anxiety, depression, psychosis, epilepsy, Fragile X, gastroesophageal reflux disease, migraine, pain, borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, or other neurological and/or psychiatric disorder associated with glutamate dysfunction.
[0024] Another aspect of the invention is the use of a compound of formula I in the manufacture of a medicament for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
[0025] Another aspect of the invention is the use of a compound of formula I in the manufacture of a medicament for the treatment of schizophrenia.
[0026] “Patient” means a person suitable for therapy as understood by practitioners in the field of affective disorders and neurodegenerative disorders.
[0027] “Treatment,” “therapy,” and related terms are used as understood by practitioners in the field of neurological and psychiatric disorders.
[0028] The compounds of this invention are generally given as pharmaceutical compositions comprised of a therapeutically effective amount of a compound or its pharmaceutically acceptable salt and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier and may contain conventional excipients. Pharmaceutically acceptable carriers are those conventionally known carriers having acceptable safety profiles. Compositions encompass all common solid and liquid forms including for example capsules, tablets, losenges, and powders as well as liquid suspensions, syrups, elixers, and solutions. Compositions are made using common formulation techniques, and conventional excipients (such as binding and wetting agents) and vehicles (such as water and alcohols) are generally used for compositions. See, for example, Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences , Mack Publishing Company, Easton, Pa., 17th edition, 1985.
[0029] Solid compositions are normally formulated in dosage units and compositions providing from about 1 to 1000 mg of the active ingredient per dose are preferred. Some examples of dosages are 1 mg, 10 mg, 100 mg, 250 mg, 500 mg, and 1000 mg. Generally, other agents will be present in a unit range similar to agents of that class used clinically. Typically, this is 0.25-1000 mg/unit.
[0030] Liquid compositions are usually in dosage unit ranges. Generally, the liquid composition will be in a unit dosage range of 1-100 mg/mL. Some examples of dosages are 1 mg/mL, 10 mg/mL, 25 mg/mL, 50 mg/mL, and 100 mg/mL. Generally, other agents will be present in a unit range similar to agents of that class used clinically. Typically, this is 1-100 mg/mL.
[0031] The invention encompasses all conventional modes of administration; oral and parenteral methods are preferred. Generally, the dosing regimen will be similar to other agents used clinically. Typically, the daily dose will be 1-100 mg/kg body weight daily. Generally, more compound is required orally and less parenterally. The specific dosing regime, however, will be determined by a physician using sound medical judgement.
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS
[0032] The following experimental procedures describe the synthesis of some Formula I compounds. Standard chemistry conventions are used in the text unless otherwise noted. The experimental encompass reasonable variations known in the art. The following HPLC conditions may be used where indicated.
[0033] Analytical HPLC Method 1: Column: Waters BEH C18, 2.0×50 mm, 1.7-μm particles; Mobile Phase A: 5:95 acetonitrile:water with 10 mM ammonium acetate; Mobile Phase B: 95:5 acetonitrile:water with 10 mM ammonium acetate; Temperature: 40° C.; Gradient: 0.5 min hold at 0% B, 0-100% B over 4 min, then a 0.5 min hold at 100% B; Flow: 1 mL/min.
[0034] Analytical HPLC Method 2: Column: Waters BEH C18, 2.0×50 mm, 1.7-μm particles; Mobile Phase A: 5:95 methanol:water with 10 mM ammonium acetate; Mobile Phase B: 95:5 methanol:water with 10 mM ammonium acetate; Temperature: 40° C.; Gradient: 0.5 min hold at 0% B, 0-100% B over 4 min, then a 05 min hold at 100% B; Flow: 0.5 mL/min.
[0035] Preparative HPLC Method 1: Column: Waters XBridge C18, 19×200 mm, 5-μm particles; Guard Column: Waters XBridge C18, 19×10 mm, 5-μm particles; Mobile Phase A: water; Mobile Phase B: methanol; Buffer: 20-mM ammonium acetate; Gradient: 20-95% B over 19.5 min, then a 14.0 min hold at 95% B; Flow: 20 mL/min.
[0036] Preparative HPLC Method 2: Column: Waters XBridge C18, 19×200 mm, 5-μm particles; Guard Column: Waters XBridge C18, 19×10 mm, 5-μm particles; Mobile Phase A: water with 20-mM ammonium acetate; Mobile Phase B: 95:5 acetonitrile:water with 20-mM ammonium acetate; Gradient: 10-100% B over 18 min, then a 4 min hold at 100% B; Flow: 20 mL/min.
[0037] Preparative HPLC Method 3: Column: Waters XBridge C18, 19×200 mm, 5-μm particles; Guard Column: Waters XBridge C18, 19×10 mm, 5-m particles; Mobile Phase A: water with 20-mM ammonium acetate; Mobile Phase B: 95:5 methanol:water with 20-mM ammonium acetate; Gradient: 40-80% B over 40 min, then a 5 min hold at 100% B; Flow: 20 mL/min.
[0038] Preparative HPLC Method 4: Column: Sunfire C18, 19×100 mm, 5-μm particles; Mobile Phase A: 90:10 water:methanol+0.1% TFA; Mobile Phase B: 90:10 methanol:water+0.1% TFA; Gradient: 20-60% B over 15 min, then a 10 min hold at 60% B; Flow: 30 mL/min.
[0039] Preparative HPLC Method 5: Column: Sunfire C18, 19×100 mm, 5-μm particles; Mobile Phase A: 90:10 water:methanol+0.1% TFA; Mobile Phase B: 90:10 methanol:water+0.1% TFA; Gradient: 15-100% B over 15 min, then a 5 min hold at 100% B; Flow: 30 mL/min.
[0040] Preparative HPLC Method 6: Column: Waters XBridge C18, 19×200 mm, 5-μm particles; Guard Column: Waters XBridge C18, 19×10 mm, 5-μm particles; Mobile Phase A: water with 20-mM ammonium acetate; Mobile Phase B: 95:5 acetonitrile:water with 20-mM ammonium acetate; Gradient: 10-100% B over 20 min, then a 5 min hold at 100% B; Flow: 20 mL/min.
[0041] Preparative HPLC Method 7: Column: Sunfire C18, 19×100 mm, 5-μm particles; Mobile Phase A: 90:10 water:methanol+0.1% TFA; Mobile Phase B: 90:10 methanol:water+0.1% TFA; Gradient: 20-100% B over 15 min, then a 10 min hold at 100% B; Flow: 30 mL/min.
[0042] Preparative HPLC Method 8: Column: Sunfire C18, 19×100 mm, 5-μm particles; Mobile Phase A: 90:10 water:methanol+0.1% TFA; Mobile Phase B: 90:10 methanol:water+0.1% TFA; Gradient: 0-100% B over 15 min, then a 3 min hold at 100% B; Flow: 30 mL/min.
[0043] Preparative HPLC Method 9: Column: Waters XBridge C18, 19×200 mm, 5-μm particles; Guard Column: Waters XBridge C18, 19×10 mm, 5-μm particles; Mobile Phase A: water with 20-mM ammonium acetate; Mobile Phase B: 95:5 acetonitrile:water with 20-mM ammonium acetate; Gradient: 20-100% B over 20 min, then a 5 min hold at 100% B; Flow: 20 mL/min.
[0044] Abbreviations used in the schemes generally follow conventions used in the art. Chemical abbreviations used in the specification and examples are defined as follows: “DMF” for N,N-dimethylformamide; “MeOH” for methanol; “NBS” for N-bromosuccinimide; “Ar” for aryl; “TFA” for trifluoroacetic acid; “LAH” for lithium aluminum hydride; “DMSO” for dimethylsulfoxide; “h” for hours; “rt” for room temperature or retention time (context will dictate); “min” for minutes; “EtOAc” for ethyl acetate; “THF” for tetrahydrofuran; “Et 2 O” for diethyl ether; “ACN” for acetonitrile; “DIEA” for diisopropylethylamine; “(DHQD) 2 PHAL” for hydroquinidine 1,4-phthalazinediyldiether.
[0045] Abbreviations as used herein, are defined as follows: “1×” for once, “2×” for twice, “3×” for thrice, “° C.” for degrees Celsius, “eq” for equivalent or equivalents, “g” for gram or grams, “mg” for milligram or milligrams, “L” for liter or liters, “mL” for milliliter or milliliters, “μL” for microliter or microliters, “N” for normal, “M” for molar, “mmol” for millimole or millimoles, “min” for minute or minutes, “h” for hour or hours, “rt” for room temperature, “RT” for retention time, “atm” for atmosphere, “psi” for pounds per square inch, “cone.” for concentrate, “sat” or “sat′d” for saturated, “MW” for molecular weight, “mp” for melting point, “ee” for enantiomeric excess, “MS” or “Mass Spec” for mass spectrometry, “ESI” for electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy, “HR” for high resolution, “HRMS” for high resolution mass spectrometry, “LCMS” for liquid chromatography mass spectrometry, “HPLC” for high pressure liquid chromatography, “RP HPLC” for reverse phase HPLC, “TLC” or “tlc” for thin layer chromatography, “NMR” for nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, “ 1 H” for proton, “8” for delta, “s” for singlet, “d” for doublet, “t” for triplet, “q” for quartet, “m” for multiplet, “br” for broad, “Hz” for hertz, and “α”, “β”, “R”, “S”, “E”, and “Z” are stereochemical designations familiar to one skilled in the art.
Intermediate 1
[0046]
(±)-2-(Prop-2-yn-1-yl)tetrahydrofuran
[0047] (±)-2-(Bromomethyl)tetrahydrofuran (138 μL, 1.21 mmol) was added drop wise to a stirred suspension of lithium acetylide ethylenediamine complex (149 mg, 1.45 mmol) in dimethylsulfoxide (1.2 mL) at ambient temperature. The reaction was stirred for 2 h, quenched with saturated ammonium chloride (5 mL), and diluted with diethyl ether (15 mL). The layers were separated, and the organic layer washed with water (10 mL). The layers were separated, and the organic layer dried over sodium sulfate. The solids were removed by filtration. The volatiles were distilled to provide a solution of the title compound in diethyl ether which was used without additional purification.
Intermediate 2
[0048]
3,3-Difluoro-1-(prop-2-yn-1-yl)azetidine
[0049] Potassium carbonate (133 mg, 0.961 mmol) and propargyl bromide (71.4 μL, 0.641 mmol) were added to a stirred solution of 3,3-difluoroazetidine hydrochloride (83.0 mg, 0.641 mmol) in methanol (854 μL) at ambient temperature under nitrogen. The reaction was stirred for 16 h and diluted with water (10 mL) and pentane (20 mL). The layers were separated, and the organic layer dried over sodium sulfate. The solids were removed by filtration and the volatiles carefully removed at 0° C. to afford the title compound which was used without additional purification.
Intermediate 3
[0050]
4-Methyl-1-(prop-2-yn-1-yl)-1H-imidazole
[0051] Sodium hydride (43.8 mg, 1.10 mmol) was added to a stirred solution of 4-methyl-1H-imidazole (75.0 mg, 0.913 mmol) in dimethylformamide (913 μL) at ambient temperature under nitrogen. After 5 min, propargyl bromide (153 μL, 1.37 mmol) was added, and the reaction stirred for 3 h. The solids were removed using a syringe filter. The filtrate was diluted with water (5 mL) and ethyl acetate (5 mL). The layers were separated, and the aqueous layer was extracted with a second portion of ethyl acetate (5 mL). The combined organic layers were washed with brine (5 mL), the layers were separated, and the organics dried over sodium sulfate. The solids were removed by filtration. The volatiles were carefully removed under reduced pressure to afford the title compound which was used without additional purification.
Intermediate 4
[0052]
(±)-1-Cyclopropylbut-3-yn-2-ol
[0053] To a colorless solution of ethynyltriisopropylsilane (7.92 mL, 35.6 mmol) in anhydrous tetrahydrofuran (50 mL) was drop wise added n-BuLi (14.3 mL, 35.8 mmol) at −78° C. under nitrogen over 5 min. The resulting colorless mixture was stirred for 30 min, followed by addition of crude 2-cyclopropylacetaldehyde (1.68 g, 20.0 mmol) in tetrahydrofuran (3 mL) over 2 min at −78° C. The resulting tan mixture was stirred for 2 h at −78° C., and the reaction quenched with saturated ammonium chloride (10 mL) and partitioned between water (20 mL) and diethyl ether (50 mL). After separation, the organic phase was washed with brine (20 mL) and dried over magnesium sulfate. The solids were removed by filtration, and the volatiles concentrated under reduced pressure to afford crude 1-cyclopropyl-4-(triisopropylsilyl)but-3-yn-2-ol. The crude material was subsequently deprotected by adding tetrabutylammonium fluoride (1 M in THF, 36.0 mL, 36.0 mmol) over 5 min at 0° C. The reaction mixture was stirred at that temperature for 1 h. The reaction mixture was then removed from the ice-water bath and was allowed to warm to ambient temperature over 2 h. The reaction mixture was partitioned between saturated ammonium chloride (10 mL) and diethyl ether (10 mL). The layers were separated, and the organics washed with brine (10 mL), dried over magnesium sulfate, and the volatiles carefully removed under reduced pressure to afford the title compound which was used without additional purification.
Intermediate 5
[0054]
Bicyclo[2.2.2]octane-1-carboxylic acid
[0055] A flask was charged with 4-(methoxycarbonyl)bicyclo[2.2.2]octane-1-carboxylic acid (1 g, 4.71 mmol), 2,2′-disulfanediylbis(pyridine 1-oxide) (1.427 g, 5.65 mmol), and dichloromethane (50 mL). The flask was masked with foil to reduce ambient light. The resulting suspension was cooled to 0° C. and treated with tributylphosphine (1.453 mL, 5.89 mmol) drop wise. The ice bath was removed and stirring continued for 2 h. The reaction was cooled to 0° C. and treated with 2-methylpropane-2-thiol (4.7 mL, 41.7 mmol). The reaction was irradiated with a 300W Tungsten lamp for 1.25 h. The reaction was quenched by addition of a suspension of 10 g calcium hypochlorite in water (100 mL). The mixture was diluted with ether and stirred at 0° C. for 5 min, followed by room temperature for 20 min. Celite was added to aid in separation of the layers, and the resulting mixture filtered. The eluent was poured into a separatory funnel and the layers separated. The organics were washed with brine, dried over magnesium sulfate, and concentrated. The resulting residue was treated with a solution of 5 g potassium hydroxide in 100 mL methanol/water (1:1). The resulting mixture was stirred at room temperature over the weekend. The reaction was concentrated to remove most of the methanol and extracted with ether (2×) to remove byproducts (discarded). The aqueous was made acidic by addition of concentrated HCl upon which a white precipitate was formed. The precipitate was collected by filtration to afford 530 mg (66%). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ: 11.13 (br. s., 1H), 1.73-1.84 (m, 6H), 1.64-1.68 (m, 1H), 1.53-1.64 (m, 6H).
Intermediate 6
[0056]
Bicyclo[2.2.2]octan-1-ylmethanol
[0057] A flask was charged with bicyclo[2.2.2]octane-1-carboxylic acid (0.375 g, 2.432 mmol) and tetrahydrofuran (3 mL). To this was added borane-tetrahydrofuran complex (1M in THF, 2.4 mL, 2.4 mmol) while cooling with a cool bath (˜10° C.). The reaction was allowed to warm to room temperature overnight. The reaction was quenched by addition of 1N sodium hydroxide at 0° C. and diluted with ether. The layers were separated and the ethereal washed with brine, dried over magnesium sulfate, and concentrated to give 346 mg (quant.). Material was used without purification. 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ: 3.24 (s, 2H), 1.55-1.61 (m, 7H), 1.34-1.44 (m, 6H), 1.23 (t, J=7.0 Hz, 1H).
Intermediate 7
[0058]
Bicyclo[2.2.2]octane-1-carbaldehyde
[0059] To a solution of bicyclo[2.2.2]octan-1-ylmethanol (0.346 g, 2.47 mmol) in dichloromethane (15 mL) at room temperature was added Dess-Martin Periodinane (1.57 g, 3.70 mmol) in two portions over 5 min. After 10 min, the reaction was diluted with several volumes of ether and treated with sodiumthiosulfate (2 g) in water (10 mL). After stirring at room temperature for 10 min, the layers were separated. The ethereal was washed with saturated sodium bicarbonate, then brine, dried over magnesium sulfate, and concentrated on the rotovap (without heat, and only till most of the ether had been removed, for fear of volatility). The residue was dissolved in a minimum of ether, transferred to a 20 mL scintillation vial, and blown down to dryness under a stream of nitrogen to give 300 mg of a viscous, near-colorless oil. The material was used without purification. 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ: 9.42 (s, 1H), 1.62 (s, 13H).
Intermediate 8
[0060]
1-Ethynylbicyclo[2.2.2]octane
[0061] To a solution of bicyclo[2.2.2]octane-1-carbaldehyde (300 mg, 2.17 mmol) in methanol (5 mL) at 0° C. was added Ohira Bestmann reagent (0.424 mL, 2.82 mmol) followed by potassium carbonate (690 mg, 4.99 mmol). After 1 h, the ice bath was removed and stirring continued at room temperature for 1 h. The reaction was re-cooled to 0° C. and treated with an additional portion of potassium carbonate (500 mg) followed by an additional portion of the Ohira Bestmann reagent (0.3 mL, drop wise). After 15 min, the ice bath was removed and the reaction warmed to room temperature. The reaction was poured into ether (75 mL). The mixture was washed with water (2×), then brine, dried over magnesium sulfate, and concentrated (in a room temperature bath, only until most ether had been removed) to give 215 mg (74%) as a colorless oil. The material was used without purification. 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ: 2.08 (s, 1H), 1.70-1.79 (m, 6H), 1.54-1.65 (m, 7H).
Intermediate 9
[0062]
Ethynylcyclobutane
[0063] To a solution of cyclobutanecarbaldehyde (100 mg, 1.189 mmol) in methanol (2.6 mL) at 0° C. was added Ohira Bestmann reagent (232 μL, 1.545 mmol) followed by potassium carbonate (378 mg, 2.73 mmol). The ice bath was removed and stirring continued at room temperature for 1 h. The reaction was poured into ether (7 mL). The mixture was washed with water (2×), then brine, dried over magnesium sulfate, and concentrated (in a room temperature bath, only until most ether had been removed) to give the crude ethynylcyclobutane (98 mg, 1.223 mmol, 103% yield) as a colorless oil. The material was used without purification.
Intermediate 10
[0064]
(±)-1-(Bicyclo[4.1.0]heptan-1-yl)ethanone
[0065] A dry flask was charged with sodium hydride (1.29 g, 19.3 mmol) and trimethylsulfoxonium iodide (4.25 g, 19.3 mmol). Dimethylsulfoxide (30 ml) was added drop wise over 30 min while in an ice bath. The reaction mixture was allowed to warm to room temperature and stirred for 30 min. 1-(Cyclohex-1-en-1-yl)ethanone (2 g, 16.11 mmol) in 5 mL dimethylsulfoxide was added to the reaction. The reaction was left to stir for 2 h then 1 h at 50° C. The reaction mixture was poured into ice/water and extracted with ether. The organics were dried over magnesium sulfate, filtered, and concentrated. Column chromatography (0→30% EtOAc/Hex) gave 800 mg (36%). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ: 2.45-2.58 (m, 1H), 2.06 (s, 3H), 1.85-1.99 (m, 1H), 1.57-1.79 (m, 4H), 1.17-1.40 (m, 4H), 0.74 (dd, J=6.8, 4.3 Hz, 1H).
Intermediate 11
[0066]
(±)-Bicyclo[4.1.0]heptane-1-carboxylic acid
[0067] A solution of sodium hydroxide (1852 mg, 46.3 mmol) and bromine (1.193 mL, 23.15 mmol) in water (15 mL) was cooled to 0° C. (±)-1-(Bicyclo[4.1.0]heptan-1-yl)ethanone (800 mg, 5.79 mmol) in dioxane (3 mL) was slowly added. Upon complete addition, the reaction was stirred at 0° C. for 1 h and then at room temperature overnight. Sodium bisulfite (151 mg, 1.447 mmol) was added and the mixture extracted with chloroform (3×) which were discarded. The aqueous was acidified with concentrated hydrochloric acid and extracted with ether. The organics were concentrated under a stream of nitrogen to afford 740 mg (91%). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ: 2.42-2.59 (m, 1H), 1.84-2.00 (m, 1H), 1.57-1.79 (m, 3H), 1.45 (dd, J=9.5, 4.0 Hz, 1H), 1.10-1.38 (m, 4H), 0.74 (dd, J=7.0, 4.0 Hz, 1H).
Intermediate 12
[0068]
(±)-Bicyclo[4.1.0]heptan-1-ylmethanol
[0069] A flask was charged with (±)-bicyclo[4.1.0]heptane-1-carboxylic acid (740 mg, 5.28 mmol) and tetrahydrofuran (5.3 mL). To this was added borane-tetrahydrofuran complex (1 M in THF, 5.3 mL, 5.3 mmol) while cooling with a cool bath (˜10° C.). The reaction was allowed to warm to room temperature overnight. The reaction was quenched by addition of 1N sodium hydroxide at 0° C. and diluted with ether. The layers were separated and the ethereal washed with brine, dried over magnesium sulfate, and concentrated to give 220 mg (33%) which was used without purification.
Intermediate 13
[0070]
(±)-Bicyclo[4.1.0]heptane-1-carbaldehyde
[0071] To a solution of (±)-bicyclo[4.1.0]heptan-1-ylmethanol (220 mg, 1.743 mmol) in dichloromethane (10 mL) at room temperature was added Dess-Martin Periodinane (887 mg, 2.09 mmol) in two portions over 5 min. The reaction was diluted with several volumes of ether and treated with sodiumthiosulfate (2 g) in water (10 mL). After stirring at room temperature for 10 min, the layers were separated. The ethereal was washed with saturated sodium bicarbonate, then brine, dried over magnesium sulfate, and concentrated on the rotovap (without heat and only till most of the ether had been removed for fear of volatility) to give 240 mg (quant.) as an oil. The material was used without purification.
Intermediate 14
[0072]
(±)-1-Ethynylbicyclo[4.1.0]heptane
[0073] To a solution of (±)-bicyclo[4.1.0]heptane-1-carbaldehyde (230 mg, 1.85 mmol) in methanol (4.1 mL) at 0° C. was added Ohira Bestmann reagent (361 μl, 2.41 mmol) followed by potassium carbonate (589 mg, 4.26 mmol). The reaction was stirred at 0° C. for 1 h, then at room temperature for 1 h. The reaction was poured into ether (7 mL). The mixture was washed with water (2×), then brine, dried over magnesium sulfate, and concentrated (in a room temperature bath, only until most ether had been removed) to give 9 mg (4%). The material was used without purification.
Intermediate 15
[0074]
4-Ethynyl-1,1-difluorocyclohexane
[0075] Prepared according to the same procedure as (±)-1-ethynylbicyclo[4.1.0]heptane, starting with 4,4-difluorocyclohexanecarbaldehyde. Material was used without purification.
Intermediate 16
[0076]
(±)-3-Ethynyltetrahydrofuran
[0077] Prepared according to the same procedure as (±)-1-ethynylbicyclo[4.1.0]heptane, starting with (±)-tetrahydrofuran-3-carbaldehyde (50% in water). Material was used without purification.
Intermediate 17
[0078]
(±)-2-Ethynyltetrahydrofuran
[0079] Prepared according to the same procedure as (±)-1-ethynylbicyclo[4.1.0]heptane, starting with (±)-tetrahydrofuran-2-carbaldehyde (50% in water). Material was used without purification.
Intermediate 18
[0080]
Oxetane-3-carbaldehyde
[0081] To a solution of oxetan-3-ylmethanol (215 mg, 2.440 mmol) in dichloromethane (8.1 mL) at room temperature was added Dess-Martin Periodinane (1242 mg, 2.93 mmol) in two portions over 5 min. After 10 min, the flask was fitted with a shortpath distillation head. The product distilled at ca. 110° C. to give 114 mg (54%). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ: 9.98 (d, J=2.3 Hz, 1H), 4.83-4.94 (m, 4H), 3.83 (ttd, J=8.3, 6.1, 2.3 Hz, 1H).
Intermediate 19
[0082]
3-Ethynyloxetane
[0083] Prepared according to the same procedure as (±)-1-ethynylbicyclo[4.1.0]heptane, starting with oxetane-3-carbaldehyde. Material was used without purification.
Intermediate 20
[0084]
3,3-Difluorocyclobutanecarbaldehyde
[0085] To a solution of (3,3-difluorocyclobutyl)methanol (4 g, 328 mmol) in dichloromethane (109 ml) at room temperature was added Dess-Martin Periodinane (16.67 g, 39.3 mmol). After 1 h, the reaction was a faint white suspension. A small aliquot was removed, blown down under a stream of nitrogen, and analyzed by HNMR in CDCl 3 . HNMR showed a 2.3:1.0 ratio of product to starting material. The NMR sample was returned to the larger reaction mixture. After stirring a total of 1.75 h, HNMR shows complete consumption of SM. The reaction was diluted with two volumes of ether and treated with sodiumthiosulfate (32 g) in water (160 mL). After stirring at room temperature for 10 min, the layers were separated. The ethereal was washed with saturated sodium bicarbonate (2×), dried over magnesium sulfate, and filtered. The resulting solution was concentrated via distillation of the solvent through a short path distillation apparatus. The distillation was discontinued when 6.56 g remained in the boiling flask. Integration of the 1 H NMR showed product as 28.4 wt % (1.86 g, 47% yield). The material was directly used without further concentration. 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ: 9.81 (t, J=1.7 Hz, 1H), 3.00-3.13 (m, 1H), 2.71-2.99 (m, 4H).
Intermediate 21
[0086]
3-Ethynyl-1,1-difluorocyclobutane
[0087] To a solution of 3,3-Difluorocyclobutanecarbaldehyde (1.86 g, 15.5 mmol, in ˜6 mL ether) and Ohira Bestmann Reagent (3.02 mL, 20.1 mmol) in methanol (21 mL) at 0° C. was added potassium carbonate (8.56 g, 61.9 mmol). After 2 h at 0° C., the ice bath was removed and stirring continued for 1 h. The reaction was poured into water (=60 mL) and diluted with ˜150 mL pentane. The layers were separated. The organics were washed with water 2×, dried over magnesium sulfate, and filtered. The resulting colorless solution was distilled using a short path distillation head, fitted with a 12 cm vigreux column. The bulk of the material distilled at 36° C. Toward the end of the distillation, the temperature began to drop, and heating was discontinued. 2.025 g remained in the boiling flask (title compound+pentane). HNMR shows purity to be 43.5 wt % (881 mg, 49% yield).
Intermediate 22
[0088]
1-Ethynyl-3-fluorocyclobutane
[0089] Prepared according to the same procedure as (±)-1-ethynylbicyclo[4.1.0]heptane, starting with 3-fluorocyclobutanecarboxylic acid. Material was used without purification.
Intermediate 23
[0090]
Methyl 3,3-dimethoxycyclobutanecarboxylate
[0091] To a solution of 3-oxocyclobutanecarboxylic acid (1.3 g, 11.39 mmol) in methanol (15 mL) was added trimethylorthoformate (7.5 mL, 67.8 mmol). To this was added p-toluenesulfonic acid monohydrate (2.17 g, 11.4 mmol). The reaction was warmed to reflux and held there for 2 h. The reaction was cooled to room temperature, concentrated to remove most of the methanol, diluted with ether, washed with saturated sodium bicarbonate, dried over sodium sulfate, filtered, and concentrated on the rotovap (no heat, allowing flask to get quite cold, to minimize loss due to potential volatility) to afford 0.65 g (33%). Material was used without purification.
Intermediate 24
[0092]
(3,3-Dimethoxycyclobutyl)methanol
[0093] To a solution of methyl 3,3-dimethoxycyclobutanecarboxylate (0.65 g, 3.73 mmol) in tetrahydrofuran (4 mL) at 0° C. was added lithium aluminum hydride (1M in THF, 4.66 mL, 4.66 mmol). After 30 min, the ice bath was removed and stirring continued for 2 h. The reaction was recooled to 0° C., quenched by the cautious addition of water (0.17 mL), then 20% potassium hydroxide (0.17 mL). The ice bath was removed, and the solids rinsed down into the resulting suspension with ether 6 mL). To this was added water (0.5 mL) and the resulting suspension stirred for 5 min. The solids were removed by filtration through celite. The resulting organics were washed with brine, dried over magnesium sulfate, filtered, and concentrated to give 580 mg (quant)) 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ: 3.72-3.83 (m, 2H), 3.68 (br. s., 1H), 3.18 (s, 3H), 3.16 (s, 3H), 2.26-2.36 (m, 2H), 1.90-1.96 (m, 1H), 1.84-1.90 (m, 2H).
Intermediate 25
[0094]
3-Ethynyl-1,1-dimethoxycyclobutane
[0095] Prepared according to the same procedure as (±)-1-ethynylbicyclo[4.1.0]heptane, starting with (3,3-dimethoxycyclobutyl)methanol. Material was used without purification. 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ: 3.18 (s, 3H), 3.17 (s, 3H), 2.82 (td, J=8.8, 2.4 Hz, 1H), 2.52-2.60 (m, 2H), 2.22-2.29 (m, 2H), 2.16 (d, J=2.4 Hz, 1H).
Intermediate 26
[0096]
Diethyl 3-cyanobenzylphosphonate
[0097] A flask was charged with 3-(bromomethyl)benzonitrile (2.0 g, 10.2 mmol) and treated with triethyl phosphite (2.68 ml, 15.3 mmol) drop wise with stirring. Upon completion of the addition, the reaction was fitted with a reflux condenser and slowly warmed to 150° C. After 2 h at 150° C., the reaction was cooled to room temperature and concentrated under high vacuum to remove most of the excess triethylphosphite. Material was used without further purification. Mass spec.: 254.04 (MH) + .
Intermediate 27
[0098]
(E)-3-(2-(5-Bromopyridin-3-yl)vinyl)benzonitrile
[0099] A solution of diethyl 3-cyanobenzylphosphonate (2.58 g, 10.2 mmol) and 5-bromonicotinaldehyde (1.897 g, 10.20 mmol) in tetrahydrofuran (40 mL) was cooled to 0° C. To this was added potassium tert-butoxide (1M in THF, 12.75 ml, 12.75 mmol) drop wise. After stirring for 30 min, the reaction was quenched by addition of saturated ammonium chloride, diluted with ether, washed with water, brine, dried over magnesium sulfate, filtered, and concentrated. The resulting solid was triturated with hexane, filtered, and pumped under high vacuum to give the title compound (2.91 g, 100%) as white solid. Mass spec.: 285.0 (MH) + .
Intermediate 28
[0100]
3-((4R,5R)-4-(5-Bromopyridin-3-yl)-2-oxooxazolidin-5-yl)benzonitrile
[0101] To tert-butyl carbamate (1.274 g, 10.87 mmol) in 6.8 ml propanol was added a solution of sodium hydroxide (0.428 g, 10.70 mmol) in water (12.3 ml) followed by tert-butyl hypochlorite (1.21 ml, 10.7 mmol). After 5 min, the solution was cooled to 0° C., and treated with a suspension of (DHQD) 2 PHAL (0.164 g, 0.210 mmol) and (E)-3-(2-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)vinyl)benzonitrile (1.0 g, 3.5 mmol) in propanol (21 mL) followed by potassium osmate dihydrate (0.052 g, 0.140 mmol) as a solid in one portion. The reaction was allowed to gradually warm in the bath overnight. The reaction was quenched by addition of sodiumthiosulfate (1.4 g) in water (12 mL) and stirred for 30 min. The reaction was diluted with ether/ethyl acetate and the layers separated. The organics were washed with water (3×), then brine, dried over magnesium sulfate, and concentrated. The residue was purified by flash chromatography (50% EtOAc/Hex) to give 1.0 g as a mixture of regioisomers as a white foam solid. A portion of this material (0.50 g) was dissolved in tetrahydrofuran (12 mL), cooled to 0° C., and treated with potassium tert-butoxide (1 M in THF, 1.55 mL, 1.55 mmol) drop wise. After 5 min, the ice bath was removed and stirring continued overnight. The reaction was cooled to 0° C., quenched by addition of saturated ammonium chloride, and concentrated. The residue was dissolved in dichloromethane, washed with water, dried over magnesium sulfate, and concentrated. Column chromatography (50% EtOAc/Hex) gave 110 mg of the title compound as white solid. Mass spec.: 343.75 (MH) + .
Intermediate 29
[0102]
Diethyl 2,4,5-trifluorobenzylphosphonate
[0103] A flask was charged with 1-(bromomethyl)-2,4,5-trifluorobenzene (1.0 g, 4.44 mmol) and triethyl phosphite (1.477 g, 8.89 mmol). The flask was fitted with a reflux condenser and heated to 160° C. under a gentle stream of nitrogen for 5 h. The reaction was cooled to room temperature, and concentrated on the rotovap under high vacuum (bath temp 70° C.) to give 1.24 g (99%) as a colorless oil.
Intermediate 30
[0104]
(E)-3-Bromo-5-(2,4,5-triuorostyryl)pyridine
[0105] To a solution 5-bromonicotinaldehyde (0.858 g, 4.61 mmol) and diethyl 2,4,5-trifluorobenzylphosphonate (1.24 g, 4.39 mmol) in tetrahydrofuran (21 mL) at −10° C. was added potassium tert-butoxide (1M in THF, 5.05 mL, 5.05 mmol) drop wise. After 30 min, the reaction was concentrated on the rotovap (bath temp=20° C.). The resulting residue was suspended in water and then dissolved in ethyl acetate. The layers were separated. The organics were washed with water, then brine, dried over magnesium sulfate, filtered and concentrated to give the crude product. The product was transferred to a small beaker and agitated under n-hexane (4 mL) and the organics decanted. The solid was again agitated under n-hexane (4 mL). The solid was collected in a buchner funnel, rinsed with n-hexane (2 mL), and air dried to give 1.025 g (67%) as a tan solid. 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ: 8.63 (d, J=1.8 Hz, 1H), 8.60 (d, J=2.3 Hz, 1H), 8.00 (t, J=1.9 Hz, 1H), 7.42 (ddd, J=10.8, 8.7, 6.9 Hz, 1H), 7.21 (d, J=16.6 Hz, 1H), 6.95-7.06 (m, 2H).
Intermediate 31
[0106]
(4R,5R)-4-(5-Bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(2,4,5-trifluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0107] To a solution of tert-butyl carbamate (1.135 g, 9.68 mmol) in 1-propanol (10.65 ml) was added sodium hydroxide (0.5 M in water, 19.4 ml, 9.68 mmol), followed by tert-butyl hypochlorite (1.1 ml, 9.68 mmol). After stirring for 10 min, a solution of (DHQD) 2 PHAL (0.075 g, 0.097 mmol) in 1-propanol (10.65 ml) was added followed by (E)-3-bromo-5-(2,4,5-trifluorostyryl)pyridine (1.014 g, 3.23 mmol) as a solid, rinsing the flask with an additional portion of 1-propanol (10.65 ml). The white mixture was cooled 0° C. To this was added potassium osmate dihydrate (0.036 g, 0.097 mmol). The reaction was allowed to gradually warm to room temperature over 3 days. The reaction was cooled to 0° C. and treated with a solution of sodium thiosulfate pentahydrate (3 g) in water (15 mL). The ice bath was removed and stirring continued for 30 min. The reaction was diluted with ethyl acetate, and the layers were separated. The organics were washed with water, then brine, dried over magnesium sulfate, filtered and concentrated. Column chromatography (25% EtOAc/Hex, 250 mL silica gel) gave partial separation of the two closely eluting spots (regioisomers). Fractions which contained primarily the first eluting regioisomer were combined to give 524 mg. This material was dissolved in tetrahydrofuran (3.4 mL), cooled to 0° C., and treated with potassium tert-butoxide (1 M in THF, 2.46 mL, 2.46 mmol). After 24 h, the reaction was treated with an additional portion of potassium tert-butoxide (1M in THF, 0.71 mL, 0.71 mmol) and stirred 5 hours longer. The reaction was concentrated on the rotovap, quenched by addition of water, and extracted with ethyl acetate (2×). The organics were washed with water, dried over magnesium sulfate, filtered, and concentrated. The resulting solid was triturated with methanol (3 very small volumes) to afford 46 mg of the title compound. 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ: 8.75 (d, J=2.0 Hz, 1H), 8.49 (d, J=1.8 Hz, 1H), 7.94 (t, J=2.0 Hz, 1H), 7.34-7.44 (m, 1H), 7.05 (td, J=9.7, 6.3 Hz, 1H), 5.76 (s, 1H), 5.51 (d, J=5.5 Hz, 1H), 4.79 (d, J=5.5 Hz, 1H).
Intermediate 32
[0108]
(4R,5R)-4-(5-Bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(2-chloro-4-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0109] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(2,4,5-trifluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with 1-(bromomethyl)-2-chloro-4-fluorobenzene. 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ: 8.74 (d, J=2.0 Hz, 1H), 8.53 (d, J=1.8 Hz, 1H), 7.97 (t, J=2.0 Hz, 1H), 7.55 (dd, J=8.7, 5.9 Hz, 1H), 7.21 (dd, J=8.3, 2.5 Hz, 1H), 7.14 (td, J=8.3, 2.5 Hz, 1H), 5.87 (s, 1H), 5.69 (d, J=4.8 Hz, 1H), 4.72 (d, J=4.8 Hz, 1H).
Example 1
[0110]
[0111] (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-Cyclobutylprop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one. A reaction vessel containing (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603, 40.0 mg, 0.119 mmol), prop-2-yn-1-ylcyclobutane (19.0 mg, 0.202 mmol), triphenylphosphine (12.5 mg, 0.0470 mmol), and triethylamine (1.2 mL) was purged with nitrogen for 10 min before copper(I) iodide (1.81 mg, 9.49 μmol) and bis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(II) chloride (7.49 mg, 10.7 μmol) were added. The reaction vessel was then purged with nitrogen for an additional 5 min before it was placed into a preheated oil bath and stirred at 80° C. for 16 h. The volatiles were removed, and the crude material was purified using Preparative HPLC Method 9. Fractions containing the desired product were combined and dried via centrifugal evaporation to afford the title compound (13.6 mg, 33% yield). 1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.59 (br. s., 1H), 8.46-8.39 (m, 2H), 7.82 (s, 1H), 7.54-7.40 (m, 1H), 7.36-7.11 (m, 3H), 5.50 (d, J=6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.93 (d, J=6.7 Hz, 1H), 2.58-2.53 (m, 3H), 2.15-2.00 (m, 2H), 1.93-1.71 (m, 4H). MS [MH] + =350.9.
[0112] The compounds in Table 1 were synthesized according to the method used to prepare (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-cyclobutylprop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one using the appropriate known terminal alkyne.
[0000]
TABLE 1
LCMS
Example
Ion
Number
R 1
[MH] +
Analytical Data
2
357.2
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.62 (br. s., 1H), 8.51-8.40 (m, 2H), 7.85 (s, 1H), 7.55- 7.42 (m, 1H), 7.31-7.18 (m, 3H), 5.49 (d, J = 6.1 Hz, 1H), 4.94 (d, J = 6.4 Hz, 1H), 3.68 (s, 2H), 2.76-2.65 (m, 2H), 1.31-1.13 (m, 3H)
3
339.4
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.60-8.56 (m, 1H), 8.46-8.39 (m, 2H), 7.83-7.78 (m, 1H), 7.50 (d, J = 6.4 Hz, 1H), 7.35-7.17 (m, 3H), 5.49 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.93 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 2.48 (t, J = 7.0 Hz, 2H), 1.59-1.51 (m, 2H), 1.44 (sxt, J = 7.3 Hz, 2H), 0.92 (t, J = 7.3 Hz, 3H)
4
337.1
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.59 (s, 1H), 8.48-8.37 (m, 2H), 7.83 (s, 1H), 7.53-7.41 (m, 1H), 7.34-7.12 (m, 3H), 5.49 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.93 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 2.55-2.51 (m, 2H), 1.08-0.89 (m, 1H), 0.55-0.46 (m, 2H), 0.32-0.17 (m, 2H)
5
353.4
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.60 (br. s., 1H), 8.45 (m, 2H), 7.80 (s, 1H), 7.50 (d, J = 5.8 Hz, 1H), 7.33-7.19 (m, 3H), 5.49 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.93 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 2.50-2.45 (m, 2H), 1.72 (dt, J = 13.3, 6.8 Hz, 1H), 1.47 (q, J = 7.0 Hz, 2H), 0.91 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 6H)
6
325.3
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.61-8.55 (m, 1H), 8.44 (d, J = 2.1 Hz, 2H), 7.82 (s, 1H), 7.50 (d, J = 6.1 Hz, 1H), 7.36-7.19 (m, 3H), 5.49 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.93 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 2.46 (t, J = 7.0 Hz, 2H), 1.59 (sxt, J = 7.2 Hz, 2H), 1.01 (t, J = 7.3 Hz, 3H)
7
355.2 a
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.58 (d, J = 1.5 Hz, 1H), 8.47-8.40 (m, 2H), 7.82 (s, 1H), 7.55-7.46 (m, 1H), 7.32-7.23 (m, 2H), 7.22 (d, J = 7.6 Hz, 1H), 5.49 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.93 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.56 (d, J = 4.9 Hz, 1H), 3.77-3.68 (m, 1H), 1.65-1.54 (m, 2H), 1.10 (d, J = 6.4 Hz, 3H) b
8
355.2 c
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.58 (br. s., 1H), 8.48-8.34 (m, 2H), 7.81 (br. s., 1H), 7.57- 7.42 (m, 1H), 7.34-7.15 (m, 3H), 5.49 (d, J = 6.4 Hz, 1H), 4.93 (d, J = 6.4 Hz, 1H), 4.56 (br. s., 1H), 3.78-3.67 (m, 1H), 1.75-1.48 (m, 2H), 1.10 (d, J = 5.8 Hz, 3H) b
9
339.3
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.58 (s, 1H), 8.45 (s, 1H), 8.42 (s, 1H), 7.81 (s, 1H), 7.53- 7.43 (m, 1H), 7.30-7.23 (m, 2H), 7.21 (d, J = 7.3 Hz, 1H), 5.48 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.92 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 2.37 (d, J = 6.4 Hz, 2H), 1.87 (dquin, J = 13.2, 6.5 Hz, 1H), 1.00 (d, J = 6.4 Hz, 6H)
10
355.2 a
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.57 (s, 1H), 8.44 (d, J = 7.9 Hz, 2H), 7.81 (br. s., 1H), 7.54- 7.45 (m, 1H), 7.31-7.16 (m, 3H), 5.49 (d, J = 6.4 Hz, 1H), 4.92 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.59 (br. s., 1H), 3.73 (d, J = 5.2 Hz, 1H), 1.65-1.53 (m, 2H), 1.13-1.06 (m, 3H) b
11
381.2
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.59 (s, 1H), 8.48-8.37 (m, 2H), 7.83 (s, 1H), 7.56-7.40 (m, 1H), 7.34-7.15 (m, 3H), 5.49 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.93 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 3.92-3.77 (m, 2H), 3.34-3.22 (m, 2H), 2.48-2.40 (m, 2H), 1.84-1.63 (m, 3H), 1.40-1.26 (m, 2H)
12
355.3 c
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.59 (s, 1H), 8.46 (s, 2H), 7.83 (s, 1H), 7.55-7.42 (m, 1H), 7.32-7.18 (m, 3H), 5.60 (br. s., 1H), 5.48 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.94 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.51- 4.41 (m, 1H), 1.72-1.58 (m, 2H), 1.50-1.39 (m, 2H), 0.91 (t, J = 7.3 Hz, 3H)
13
379.4
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.60-8.54 (m, 1H), 8.48-8.37 (m, 2H), 7.82-7.76 (m, 1H), 7.56-7.42 (m, 1H), 7.32-7.15 (m, 3H), 5.48 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.92 (d, J = 7.3 Hz, 1H), 2.37 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 2H), 1.86-1.74 (m, 2H), 1.73-1.58 (m, 3H), 1.56-1.46 (m, 1H), 1.29-1.17 (m, 2H), 1.15-0.99 (m, 3H)
14
367.2 c
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.61 (br. s., 1H), 8.53-8.42 (m, 2H), 7.83 (s, 1H), 7.54- 7.43 (m, 1H), 7.34-7.16 (m, 3H), 5.63-5.38 (m, 2H), 4.95 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.41 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 2.61-2.53 (m, 1H), 2.02-1.71 (m, 6H)
15
355.2 a,d
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.61 (s, 1H), 8.50-8.43 (m, 2H), 7.84 (br. s., 1H), 7.53- 7.45 (m, 1H), 7.32-7.24 (m, 2H), 7.22 (d, J = 7.6 Hz, 1H), 5.56-5.46 (m, 2H), 4.95 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.53-4.45 (m, 1H), 1.66 (quin, J = 6.9 Hz, 2H), 1.52-1.41 (m, 2H), 0.93 (t, J = 7.3 Hz, 3H)
16
355.3 c
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.58 (br. s., 1H), 8.50-8.41 (m, 2H), 7.83 (br. s., 1H), 7.54- 7.40 (m, 1H), 7.32-7.12 (m, 3H), 5.53-5.45 (m, 2H), 4.94 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 1.72-1.59 (m, 2H), 1.43 (s, 3H), 1.00 (t, J = 7.3 Hz, 3H)
17
341.2
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.60 (s, 1H), 8.54-8.42 (m, 2H), 7.83 (br. s., 1H), 7.56- 7.46 (m, 1H), 7.33-7.18 (m, 3H), 5.50 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.94 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 3.55 (t, J = 6.6 Hz, 2H), 3.31 (s, 3H), 2.77-2.69 (m, 2H)
18
355.2
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.61 (br. s., 1H), 8.49-8.37 (m, 2H), 7.85-7.75 (m, 1H), 7.49 (d, J = 6.1 Hz, 1H), 7.34-7.14 (m, 3H), 5.49 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.93 (d, J = 6.1 Hz, 1H), 4.49 (br. s., 1H), 2.50-2.41 (m, 2H), 1.58 (br. s., 4H) b
19
355.3 a,d
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.60 (s, 1H), 8.54-8.42 (m, 2H), 7.83 (br. s., 1H), 7.56- 7.46 (m, 1H), 7.33-7.18 (m, 3H), 5.50 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.94 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 3.55 (t, J = 6.6 Hz, 2H), 3.31 (s, 3H), 2.77-2.69 (m, 2H) b
20
355.3 a,d
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.59 (s, 1H), 8.49-8.38 (m, 2H), 7.83 (s, 1H), 7.55-7.44 (m, 1H), 7.34-7.16 (m, 3H), 5.49 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.93 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.89-4.84 (m, 1H), 3.66-3.54 (m, 1H), 2.55 (d, J = 5.8 Hz, 2H), 1.66-1.52 (m, 1H), 1.45 (dt, J = 14.0, 7.3 Hz, 1H), 0.91 (t, J = 7.3 Hz, 3H)
21
355.3 c
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.60 (br. s., 1H), 8.45 (br. s., 2H), 7.83 (s, 1H), 7.54-7.44 (m, 1H), 7.33-7.18 (m, 3H), 5.48 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.96-4.84 (m, 2H), 3.60 (br. s., 1H), 2.55 (d, J = 4.6 Hz, 2H), 1.67-1.54 (m, 1H), 1.51-1.38 (m, 1H), 0.91 (t, J = 7.3 Hz, 3H)
22
355.2 a,d
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.61 (s, 1H), 8.51-8.42 (m, 2H), 7.84 (br. s., 1H), 7.55- 7.43 (m, 1H), 7.32-7.19 (m, 3H), 5.56-5.47 (m, 2H), 4.95 (d, J = 6.4 Hz, 1H), 4.49 (d, J = 6.4 Hz, 1H), 1.66 (quin, J = 6.9 Hz, 2H), 1.51-1.41 (m, 2H), 0.93 (t, J = 7.2 Hz, 3H)
23
353.3 c
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.57 (br. s., 1H), 8.48-8.38 (m, 2H), 7.81 (s, 1H), 7.54- 7.45 (m, 1H), 7.31-7.17 (m, 3H), 5.49 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.93 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 2.79- 2.67 (m, 1H), 1.57-1.38 (m, 4H), 1.22 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 3H), 0.92 (t, J = 7.0 Hz, 3H)
24
389.3
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.64 (d, J = 1.5 Hz, 1H), 8.51-8.42 (m, 2H), 7.87 (s, 1H), 7.48 (q, J = 7.3 Hz, 1H), 7.33 (t, J = 7.9 Hz, 2H), 7.28-7.23 (m, 2H), 7.20 (d, J = 7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.05 (d, J = 7.6 Hz, 2H), 7.00 (t, J = 7.3 Hz, 1H), 5.47 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 5.08 (s, 2H), 4.93 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H)
25
369.4 c
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.60 (s, 1H), 8.49-8.43 (m, 2H), 7.83 (s, 1H), 7.54-7.43 (m, 1H), 7.35-7.19 (m, 3H), 5.63-5.53 (m, 1H), 5.49 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.95 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.51 (br. s., 1H), 1.83 (dt, J = 13.5, 6.8 Hz, 1H), 1.67-1.57 (m, 1H), 1.56-1.46 (m, 1H), 0.95-0.87 (m, 6H)
26
377.3
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.67 (d, J = 1.8 Hz, 1H), 8.54-8.44 (m, 2H), 7.93 (s, 1H), 7.79-7.71 (m, 1H), 7.53-7.47 (m, 1H), 7.33-7.10 (m, 3H), 6.09 (d, J = 1.8 Hz, 1H), 5.51 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 5.26 (s, 2H), 4.95 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 2.19 (s, 3H)
27
397.2
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.69 (d, J = 1.8 Hz, 1H), 8.53 (d, J = 1.8 Hz, 1H), 8.46 (br. s., 1H), 8.17 (s, 1H), 7.95 (s, 1H), 7.65 (s, 1H), 7.55-7.42 (m, 1H), 7.34-7.17 (m, 3H), 5.51 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 5.36 (s, 2H), 4.96 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H)
28
355.4 c
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.63 (br. s., 1H), 8.55-8.40 (m, 2H), 7.85 (s, 1H), 7.55- 7.40 (m, 1H), 7.35-7.12 (m, 3H), 5.55 (br. s., 1H), 5.50 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.95 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.31-4.22 (m, 1H), 1.84 (dd, J = 12.8, 6.7 Hz, 1H), 0.99 (dd, J = 11.0, 6.7 Hz, 6H)
29
373.3 c
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.61 (br. s., 1H), 8.52-8.39 (m, 2H), 7.86-7.80 (m, 1H), 7.54-7.41 (m, 1H), 7.35-7.11 (m, 3H), 5.50 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.94 (d, J = 6.4 Hz, 1H), 2.75-2.67 (m, 2H), 2.11-1.95 (m, 1H), 1.74- 1.59 (m, 1H), 1.44-1.29 (m, 1H)
30
395.3 c
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.64-8.57 (m, 1H), 8.50-8.42 (m, 2H), 7.85-7.77 (m, 1H), 7.55-7.44 (m, 1H), 7.34-7.12 (m, 3H), 5.50 (d, J = 6.4 Hz, 2H), 4.95 (d, J = 6.4 Hz, 1H), 4.30-4.14 (m, 1H), 1.86 (d, J = 11.6 Hz, 2H), 1.73 (d, J = 10.1 Hz, 2H), 1.66-1.57 (m, 1H), 1.54-1.45 (m, 1H), 1.28-1.02 (m, 5H)
31
377.3
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.65 (d, J = 1.8 Hz, 1H), 8.52-8.48 (m, 2H), 7.96 (s, 1H), 7.54-7.44 (m, 1H), 7.35 (s, 1H), 7.31- 7.19 (m, 3H), 6.13-6.04 (m, 1H), 5.50 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 5.28 (s, 2H), 4.94 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 2.38 (s, 3H)
32
341.4 c
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.63-8.57 (m, 1H), 8.50-8.43 (m, 2H), 7.85 (s, 1H), 7.50 (d, J = 6.1 Hz, 1H), 7.33-7.19 (m, 3H), 5.56 (br. s., 1H), 5.50 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.95 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.48-4.36 (m, 1H), 1.74-1.62 (m, 2H), 0.98 (t, J = 7.3 Hz, 3H)
33
363.2 d
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.68 (s, 1H), 8.50 (s, 1H), 8.45 (s, 1H), 7.95 (br. s., 1H), 7.79 (s, 1H), 7.55-7.46 (m, 1H), 7.35-7.24 (m, 3H), 7.22-7.16 (m, 1H), 6.96 (s, 1H), 5.49 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 5.24 (s, 2H), 4.94 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H)
34
369.3
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.63 (br. s., 1H), 8.54-8.42 (m, 2H), 7.87 (br. s., 1H), 7.49 (d, J = 5.8 Hz, 1H), 7.34-7.12 (m, 3H), 5.50 (d, J = 6.4 Hz, 1H), 4.94 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.33 (s, 2H), 1.20 (s, 9H)
35
336.3
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.64-8.59 (m, 1H), 8.53-8.43 (m, 2H), 7.88-7.82 (m, 1H), 7.55-7.44 (m, 1H), 7.33-7.24 (m, 2H), 7.22 (d, J = 7.6 Hz, 1H), 5.50 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.95 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 2.84 (s, 4H)
36
382.1
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.64 (s, 1H), 8.51-8.36 (m, 2H), 7.91-7.86 (m, 1H), 7.53- 7.40 (m, 1H), 7.34-7.12 (m, 3H), 5.51 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.94 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 3.62 (br. s., 4H), 3.57 (s, 4H), 2.53 (s, 2H)
37
371.2 c
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.59 (s, 1H), 8.48-8.38 (m, 2H), 7.83 (s, 1H), 7.54-7.46 (m, 1H), 7.32-7.14 (m, 3H), 5.49 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 5.15 (br. s., 1H), 4.93 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 3.87-3.78 (m, 1H), 3.37 (d, J = 5.2 Hz, 2H), 3.29 (s, 3H), 2.63-2.58 (m, 1H), 2.56- 2.53 (m, 1H)
38
397.4 c
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.67 (br. s., 1H), 8.55-8.43 (m, 2H), 7.90 (s, 1H), 7.57- 7.42 (m, 1H), 7.35-7.14 (m, 3H), 5.49 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.94 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.82 (br. s., 1H), 4.57-4.47 (m, 1H), 4.47-4.41 (m, 1H), 3.75 (t, J = 8.5 Hz, 2H), 1.79-1.62 (m, 2H), 1.51 (d, J = 8.5 Hz, 4H)
39
367.3
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.59 (s, 1H), 8.50-8.41 (m, 2H), 7.83 (br. s., 1H), 7.54- 7.43 (m, 1H), 7.33-7.12 (m, 3H), 5.52-5.43 (m, 2H), 4.94 (d, J = 6.4 Hz, 1H), 1.98-1.84 (m, 4H), 1.81-1.60 (m, 4H)
40
355.2
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.61 (br. s., 1H), 8.49-8.40 (m, 2H), 7.84 (s, 1H), 7.53- 7.40 (m, 1H), 7.35-7.18 (m, 3H), 5.49 (d, J = 6.4 Hz, 1H), 4.93 (d, J = 6.4 Hz, 1H), 4.69 (br. s., 1H), 2.55 (s, 2H), 1.25 (s, 6H)
41
380.4
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.63 (br. s., 1H), 8.50-8.41 (m, 2H), 7.90-7.82 (m, 1H), 7.56-7.43 (m, 1H), 7.34-7.12 (m, 3H), 5.50 (d, J = 5.8 Hz, 1H), 4.94 (d, J = 6.4 Hz, 1H), 3.52 (s, 2H), 2.50-2.43 (m, 4H), 1.58-1.47 (m, 4H), 1.43-1.32 (m, 2H)
42
341.3 c
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.59 (s, 1H), 8.48-8.39 (m, 2H), 7.83 (s, 1H), 7.52-7.44 (m, 1H), 7.31-7.16 (m, 3H), 5.48 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.99-4.85 (m, 2H), 3.86 (br. s., 1H), 2.57-2.54 (m, 2H), 1.20 (d, J = 6.1 Hz, 3H)
43
373.3
LCMS RT (min): 3.85 using Analytical HPLC Method 2
44
354.2 d
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.58 (s, 1H), 8.47-8.39 (m, 2H), 7.81 (s, 1H), 7.54-7.45 (m, 1H), 7.35-7.14 (m, 3H), 5.49 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.93 (d, J = 6.4 Hz, 1H), 3.17 (s, 2H), 2.64-2.57 (m, 2H), 2.19 (s, 6H)
45
354.1 d
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.62 (s, 1H), 8.49 (s, 1H), 8.47-8.36 (m, 2H), 7.85 (s, 1H), 7.55-7.45 (m, 1H), 7.34-7.16 (m, 3H), 5.50 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.94 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.15 (d, J = 5.5 Hz, 2H), 1.86 (s, 3H)
46
367.5 d
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.59 (br. s., 1H), 8.48-8.38 (m, 2H), 7.82 (s, 1H), 7.55- 7.43 (m, 1H), 7.34-7.18 (m, 3H), 5.48 (d, J = 5.5 Hz, 1H), 5.30 (br. s., 1H), 4.93 (d, J = 6.4 Hz, 1H), 2.68 (s, 2H), 2.13-1.95 (m, 4H), 1.75-1.61 (m, 1H), 1.59-1.47 (m, 1H)
47
380.2 e
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.65 (br. s., 1H), 8.53-8.38 (m, 2H), 7.92 (s, 1H), 7.53- 7.42 (m, 1H), 7.33-7.12 (m, 3H), 5.50 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.93 (d, J = 6.4 Hz, 1H), 4.32 (br. s., 2H), 3.51-3.43 (m, 2H), 2.34-2.18 (m, 2H), 2.06-1.91 (m, 2H)
48
408.2 d
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 10.13 (br. s., 1H), 8.65 (s, 1H), 8.55-8.50 (m, 1H), 8.46 (s, 1H), 7.89 (s, 1H), 7.56-7.41 (m, 1H), 7.32- 7.16 (m, 3H), 5.50 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.95 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.34 (s, 2H)
49
413.3
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.63 (d, J = 1.5 Hz, 1H), 8.49 (d, J = 1.8 Hz, 1H), 8.43 (br. s., 1H), 8.17 (s, 1H), 7.87 (s, 1H), 7.83 (d, J = 8.5 Hz, 2H), 7.48 (t, J = 7.5 Hz, 2H), 7.31- 7.12 (m, 4H), 5.69 (s, 2H), 5.48 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.93 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H)
50
325.2
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.60 (br. s., 1H), 8.47-8.43 (m, 1H), 7.80 (s, 1H), 7.55-7.44 (m, 1H), 7.30-7.17 (m, 4H), 5.47 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.92 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 2.84 (dt, J = 13.7, 6.8 Hz, 1H), 1.22 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 6H)
51
353.3 f
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.58 (br. s., 1H), 8.47-8.39 (m, 2H), 7.80 (br. s., 1H), 7.53- 7.45 (m, 1H), 7.31-7.19 (m, 3H), 5.49 (d, J = 5.8 Hz, 1H), 4.93 (d, J = 6.4 Hz, 1H), 2.48 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 2H), 1.61-1.51 (m, 2H), 1.44- 1.28 (m, 4H), 0.93-0.83 (m, 3H)
52
395.1 g
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.70 (s, 1H), 8.53 (s, 1H), 8.47 (br. s., 1H), 7.96 (br. s., 1H), 7.53-7.44 (m, 1H), 7.32-7.19 (m, 3H), 5.51 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.95 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.64 (s, 2H), 4.25-4.15 (m, 2H)
53
341.3 f
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.66 (s, 1H), 8.52-8.42 (m, 2H), 7.91 (s, 1H), 7.54-7.42 (m, 1H), 7.33-7.17 (m, 3H), 5.50 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.94 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.40 (s, 2H), 3.57 (q, J = 6.9 Hz, 2H), 1.16 (t, J = 7.0 Hz, 3H)
54
377.3
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.67 (d, J = 1.8 Hz, 1H), 8.52 (d, J = 1.8 Hz, 1H), 8.46 (s, 1H), 7.92 (s, 1H), 7.65 (s, 1H), 7.56-7.46 (m, 1H), 7.36-7.18 (m, 4H), 5.51 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 5.27 (s, 2H), 4.95 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 2.04 (s, 3H)
55
355.3 f
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.58 (s, 1H), 8.48-8.41 (m, 2H), 7.81 (s, 1H), 7.53-7.45 (m, 1H), 7.33-7.14 (m, 3H), 5.48 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.93 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 3.57 (t, J = 6.6 Hz, 2H), 3.52-3.48 (m, 2H), 2.71 (t, J = 6.6 Hz, 2H), 1.12 (t, J = 7.0 Hz, 3H)
56
369.3 a,h
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.62 (br. s., 1H), 8.46 (br. s., 2H), 7.82 (br. s., 1H), 7.55- 7.41 (m, 1H), 7.33-7.17 (m, 3H), 5.60 (d, J = 5.8 Hz, 1H), 5.48 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.94 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.51-4.38 (m, 1H), 1.65 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 2H), 1.46-1.26 (m, 4H), 0.88 (t, J = 7.0 Hz, 3H)
57
353.2 a,f
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.61 (s, 1H), 8.52-8.36 (m, 2H), 7.85 (br. s., 1H), 7.56- 7.43 (m, 1H), 7.32-7.17 (m, 3H), 5.63 (br. s., 1H), 5.50 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.95 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.20 (d, J = 6.4 Hz, 1H), 1.27-1.14 (m, 1H), 0.53-0.44 (m, 2H), 0.44-0.34 (m, 2H)
58
353.2 c,f
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.62 (br. s., 1H), 8.54-8.42 (m, 2H), 7.83 (s, 1H), 7.57-7.43 (m, 1H), 7.30-7.18 (m, 3H), 5.69 (d, J = 5.8 Hz, 1H), 5.48 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.94 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.19 (t, J = 6.3 Hz, 1H), 1.24-1.13 (m, 1H), 0.53-0.45 (m, 2H), 0.43-0.35 (m, 2H)
59
353.2 a,f
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.60 (s, 1H), 8.52-8.39 (m, 2H), 7.84 (br. s., 1H), 7.61- 7.39 (m, 1H), 7.33-7.14 (m, 3H), 5.65 (br. s., 1H), 5.49 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.94 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.22-4.12 (m, 1H), 1.25-1.13 (m, 1H), 0.55-0.44 (m, 2H), 0.44-0.32 (m, 2H)
60
327.2 f
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.65 (s, 1H), 8.53-8.40 (m, 2H), 7.90 (s, 1H), 7.55-7.43 (m, 1H), 7.31-7.15 (m, 3H), 5.49 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.94 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.36 (s, 2H), 3.34 (s, 3H)
61
339.3 f
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.54 (br. s., 1H), 8.46-8.36 (m, 2H), 7.80 (br. s., 1H), 7.52- 7.45 (m, 1H), 7.31-7.17 (m, 3H), 5.48 (d, J = 6.4 Hz, 1H), 4.92 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 1.31 (s, 9H)
62
363.5
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.65 (s, 1H), 8.47 (d, J = 18.3 Hz, 2H), 7.89 (d, J = 15.0 Hz, 2H), 7.56-7.45 (m, 2H), 7.33-7.15 (m, 3H), 6.32 (s, 1H), 5.48 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 5.34 (s, 2H), 4.93 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H)
a Single diastereomer. Diastereomers were separated using chiral preparative HPLC; b Signals hidden behind solvent and residual water peaks; c Diastereomeric mixture; d Reaction heated for 4 h; e Reaction heated for 2 h; f Reaction heated to 85° C. for 20 h; g Reaction heated to 85° C. for 4 days; h Reaction heated to 85° C. for 3 days.
Example 63
[0113]
((4R,5R)-5-(3-Fluorophenyl)-4-(5-(3-(tetrahydrofuran-2-yl)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0114] Following the synthetic procedure for (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-cyclobutylprop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, (±)-2-(prop-2-yn-1-yl)tetrahydrofuran (22.2 mg, 0.202 mmol) and (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603, 40.0 mg, 0.119 mmol) were coupled to afford a diastereomeric mixture of ((4R,5R)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)-4-(5-(3-(tetrahydrofuran-2-yl)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)oxazolidin-2-one (7.70 mg, 18% yield). 1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.59 (s, 1H), 8.48-8.36 (m, 2H), 7.82 (s, 1H), 7.55-7.42 (m, 1H), 7.33-7.14 (m, 3H), 5.50 (d, J=6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.94 (d, J=7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.07-3.96 (m, 1H), 3.87-3.76 (m, 1H), 3.72-3.59 (m, 1H), 2.67 (d, J=5.5 Hz, 2H), 2.10-1.98 (m, 1H), 1.97-1.77 (m, 2H), 1.75-1.59 (m, 1H). MS (LC/MS) [MH] + =367.3.
[0115] The compounds in Table 2 were synthesized by the method used to prepare ((4R,5R)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)-4-(5-(3-(tetrahydrofuran-2-yl)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)oxazolidin-2-one, using the appropriate known terminal alkyne.
[0000]
TABLE 2
LCMS
Example
Ion
Number
R 1
[MH] +
Analytical Data
64
367.2 a
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d6) δ 8.59 (br. s., 1H), 8.47-8.35 (m, 2H), 7.84 (s, 1H), 7.54- 7.42 (m, 1H), 7.34-7.13 (m, 3H), 5.49 (d, J = 5.8 Hz, 1H), 4.92 (d, J = 6.4 Hz, 1H), 3.85- 3.65 (m, 4H), 2.59-2.53 (m, 2H), 2.47-2.40 (m, 1H), 2.11-1.99 (m, 1H), 1.74-1.60 (m, 1H)
65
367.3 b
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d6) δ 8.60 (d, J = 1.5 Hz, 1H), 8.45 (s, 2H), 7.85 (s, 1H), 7.54-7.42 (m, 1H), 7.33-7.17 (m, 3H), 5.50 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.93 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 3.86- 3.73 (m, 2H), 3.68 (q, J = 7.8 Hz, 1H), 3.46 (dd, J = 8.2, 6.1 Hz, 1H), 2.60-2.54 (m, 2H), 2.48- 2.41 (m, 1H), 2.13-1.91 (m, 1H), 1.74-1.56 (m, 1H)
66
367.3 b
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d6) δ 8.60 (d, J = 1.5 Hz, 1H), 8.45 (s, 2H), 7.85 (s, 1H), 7.58-7.41 (m, 1H), 7.33-7.15 (m, 3H), 5.50 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.93 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 3.86- 3.72 (m, 2H), 3.68 (q, J = 7.8 Hz, 1H), 3.46 (dd, J = 8.2, 6.1 Hz, 1H), 2.62-2.54 (m, 2H), 2.48- 2.40 (m, 1H), 2.12-1.98 (m, 1H), 1.68 (dq, J = 13.0, 6.7 Hz, 1H)
67
409.1
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d6) δ 8.60 (s, 1H), 8.55-8.50 (m, 1H), 8.49-8.44 (m, 1H), 7.83 (s, 1H), 7.54-7.47 (m, 1H), 7.33-7.18 (m, 3H), 5.50 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.95 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.16 (q, J = 9.5 Hz, 2H), 3.81 (t, J = 6.6 Hz, 2H), 2.80 (t, J = 6.4 Hz, 2H)
68
353.3 c
LCMS RT (min): 3.14 using Analytical HPLC Method 2
69
353.2 a
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d6) δ 8.62 (br. s., 1H), 8.50-8.36 (m, 2H), 7.84 (br. s., 1H), 7.49 (br. s., 1H), 7.33-7.17 (m, 3H), 5.49 (br. s., 1H), 4.98-4.83 (m, 2H), 4.59-4.42 (m, 2H), 2.91-2.81 (m, 2H), 1.86 (d, J = 4.9 Hz, 2H)
a Diastereomeric mixture; b Single diastereomer. Diastereomers were separated using chiral preparatory HPLC. c Reaction heated for 2 h.
Example 70
[0116]
(4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(3,3-Difluoroazetidin-1-yl)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0117] Following the synthetic procedure for (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-cyclobutylprop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, 3,3-difluoro-1-(prop-2-yn-1-yl)azetidine (26.4 mg, 0.202 mmol) and (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603, 40.0 mg, 0.119 mmol) were coupled to afford (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(3,3-difluoroazetidin-1-yl)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (2.80 mg, 6% yield). 1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d6) δ 8.67 (s, 1H), 8.53-8.44 (m, 2H), 7.94-7.87 (m, 1H), 7.54-7.46 (m, 1H), 7.33-7.11 (m, 3H), 5.50 (d, J=6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.95 (d, J=6.7 Hz, 1H), 3.78-3.68 (m, 6H). MS (LC/MS) [MH] + =388.3.
Example 71
[0118]
(4R,5R)-5-(3-Fluorophenyl)-4-(5-(3-(4-methyl-M-imidazol-1-yl)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0119] Following the synthetic procedure for (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-cyclobutylprop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, 4-methyl-1-(prop-2-yn-1-yl)-1H-imidazole (30.3 mg, 0.252 mmol) and (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603, 50.0 mg, 0.148 mmol) were coupled to afford (4R,5R)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)-4-(5-(3-(4-methyl-1H-imidazol-1-yl)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)oxazolidin-2-one (3.20 mg, 6% yield). 1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d6) δ 8.69 (d, J=1.8 Hz, 1H), 8.52 (d, J=1.8 Hz, 1H), 8.46 (br. s., 1H), 7.96 (s, 1H), 7.64 (s, 1H), 7.53-7.45 (m, 1H), 7.36-7.15 (m, 3H), 7.01 (s, 1H), 5.51 (d, J=7.0 Hz, 1H), 5.17 (s, 2H), 4.95 (d, J=7.0 Hz, 1H), 2.11 (s, 3H). MS (LC/MS) [MH] + =377.2.
Example 72
[0120]
(4R,5R)-4-(5-(4-Cyclopropyl-3-hydroxybut-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0121] Following the synthetic procedure for (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-cyclobutylprop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, 1-cyclopropylbut-3-yn-2-ol (45.6 mg, 0.414 mmol) and (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603, 140 mg, 0.414 mmol) were coupled at 85° C. for 20 h to afford a diastereomeric mixture of (4R,5R)-4-(5-(4-cyclopropyl-3-hydroxybut-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (27.5 mg, 18% yield). 1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d6) δ 8.60 (br. s., 1H), 8.50-8.42 (m, 2H), 7.83 (br. s., 1H), 7.53-7.43 (m, 1H), 7.32-7.16 (m, 3H), 5.66-5.58 (m, 1H), 5.49 (d, J=6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.94 (d, J=6.1 Hz, 1H), 4.55-4.45 (m, 1H), 1.67-1.48 (m, 2H), 0.94-0.80 (m, 1H), 0.49-0.38 (m, 2H), 0.18-0.06 (m, 2H). MS (LC/MS) [MH] + =367.3.
[0122] The compounds in Table 3 were synthesized using the method used to prepare (4R,5R)-4-(5-(4-cyclopropyl-3-hydroxybut-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, using the appropriate known terminal alkyne.
[0000]
TABLE 3
LCMS
Example
Ion
Number
R 1
[MH] +
1 H NMR
73
367.2 a
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d6) δ 8.60 (s, 1H), 8.52-8.43 (m, 2H), 7.83 (br. s., 1H), 7.55-7.42 (m, 1H), 7.35-7.08 (m, 3H), 5.49 (d, J = 6.4 Hz, 1H), 4.94 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.50 (t, J = 6.6 Hz, 1H), 1.67-1.48 (m, 2H), 0.93-0.78 (m, 1H), 0.51-0.36 (m, 2H), 0.22-0.06 (m, 2H) b
74
367.3 a
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) δ 8.61 (s, 1H), 8.51-8.43 (m, 2H), 7.84 (br. s., 1H), 7.54-7.45 (m, 1H), 7.34-7.14 (m, 3H), 5.65 (br. s, 1H), 5.50 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.95 (d, J = 7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.51 (t, J = 6.9 Hz, 1H), 1.68-1.48 (m, 2H), 0.95-0.80 (m, 1H), 0.50-0.35 (m, 2H), 0.22-0.05 (m, 2H)
75
367.4 c
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d6) δ 8.61 (br. s., 1H), 8.52-8.37 (m, 2H), 7.84 (br. s., 1H), 7.56- 7.44 (m, 1H), 7.39-7.14 (m, 3H), 5.58 (br. s., 1H), 5.50 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.95 (d, J = 6.4 Hz, 1H), 4.30-4.12 (m, 1H), 1.03 (d, J = 2.7 Hz, 3H), 0.96-0.88 (m, 1H), 0.87-0.75 (m, 1H), 0.60- 0.50 (m, 1H), 0.32-0.16 (m, 1H)
76
389.3 c
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d6) δ 8.64 (br. s., 1H), 8.55-8.39 (m, 2H), 7.89 (br. s., 1H), 7.58- 7.42 (m, 1H), 7.33-7.16 (m, 3H), 5.51 (d, J = 6.4 Hz, 1H), 4.96 (d, J = 6.4 Hz, 1H), 4.36 (d, J = 8.5 Hz, 1H), 2.18 (br. s., 1H), 1.79-1.63 (m, 1H), 1.53 (br. s., 1H) b
77
381.4 a
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d6) δ 8.60 (br. s., 1H), 8.54-8.43 (m, 2H), 7.82 (br. s., 1H), 7.55- 7.41 (m, 1H), 7.35-7.19 (m, 3H), 5.49 (br. s., 1H), 4.95 (br. s., 1H), 4.06 (d, J = 9.5 Hz, 1H), 1.17-1.09 (m, 3H), 1.08-1.00 (m, 3H) b
78
381.4 a
1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d6) δ 8.59 (br. s., 1H), 8.54-8.43 (m, 2H), 7.82 (br. s., 1H), 7.55- 7.45 (m, 1H), 7.32-7.16 (m, 3H), 5.50 (d, J = 6.1 Hz, 1H), 4.95 (d, J = 5.2 Hz, 1H), 4.06 (d, J = 9.5 Hz, 1H), 1.18-1.10 (m, 3H), 1.08-1.00 (m, 3H) b
a Single diastereomer. Diastereomers were separated using chiral preparatory HPLC; b Signals hidden behind solvent and residual water peaks; c Diastereomeric mixture.
Example 79
[0123]
(4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(Dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0124] A suspension of (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) (50 mg, 0.148 mmol) and N,N-dimethylprop-2-yn-1-amine (12.3 mg, 0.148 mmol) in triethylamine (3 mL) was purged with nitrogen for 20 min. Triphenylphosphine (11.7 mg, 0.044 mmol), copper(I) iodide (0.57 mg, 3.0 μmol), and bis(triphenylphosphine)palladium chloride (2.1 mg, 3.0 μmol) was then added. The tube was capped and the suspension heated at 90° C. for 5 h. The reaction was cooled to room temperature, diluted with ethyl acetate, washed with water then brine, dried over magnesium sulfate, filtered, and concentrated. The residue was purified by Prep HPLC (Xterra C18 column, 10%→100% MeOH/H2O, 0.1% TFA) to give 58 mg (69%) as a TFA salt. 1 H NMR (CD 3 OD) δ: 8.72 (d, J=1.8 Hz, 1H), 8.52 (d, J=2.0 Hz, 1H), 8.04 (t, J=2.0 Hz, 1H), 7.39-7.51 (m, 1H), 7.10-7.22 (m, 3H), 5.42 (d, J=7.3 Hz, 1H), 4.94 (d, J=7.1 Hz, 1H), 4.36 (s, 2H), 3.02 (s, 6H). Mass spec.: 340.18 (MH) + .
Example 80
[0125]
(4R,5R)-4-(3-(Cyclopropylethynyl)phenyl)-5-(3-methoxyphenyl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0126] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(3-bromophenyl)-5-(3-methoxyphenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and ethynylcyclopropane. 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ: 7.38-7.44 (m, 2H), 7.33 (td, J=7.9, 3.2 Hz, 2H), 7.20 (d, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 6.91-6.97 (m, 1H), 6.82-6.88 (m, 2H), 5.62 (s, 1H), 5.28 (d, J=7.3 Hz, 1H), 4.71 (d, J=7.3 Hz, 1H), 3.83 (s, 3H), 1.47 (tt, J=8.2, 5.0 Hz, 1H), 0.80-0.96 (m, 4H). Mass spec.: 334.0 (MH) + .
Example 81
[0127]
(4R,5R)-4-(5-(Cyclohexylethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(2,5-difluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0128] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(2,5-difluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and ethynylcyclohexane. 1 H NMR (DMSO-d 6 ) δ: 8.58 (d, J=1.5 Hz, 1H), 8.51 (bs, 1H), 8.47 (s, 1H), 7.86 (s, 1H), 7.18-7.50 (m, 3H), 5.63 (d, J=6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.99 (d, J=6.4 Hz, 1H), 2.62-2.80 (m, 1H), 1.77-1.94 (m, 2H), 1.61-1.76 (m, 2H), 1.50 (d, J=9.5 Hz, 3H), 1.24-1.42 (m, 3H). Mass spec.: 383.3 (MH) + .
Example 82
[0129]
(4R,5R)-4-(5-(Bicyclo[2.2.2]octan-1-ylethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(2,5-difluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0130] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(2,5-difluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and 1-ethynylbicyclo[2.2.2]octane. The material was purified by Preparative HPLC Method 7 and concentrated to give the title compound as the TFA salt. 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ: 11.80 (br. s., 1H), 8.72 (br. s., 1H), 8.14 (br. s., 1H), 6.88-7.27 (m, 4H), 5.55 (br. s., 1H), 4.95 (br. s., 1H), 1.74-1.96 (m, 6H), 1.66 (d, J=6.3 Hz, 7H). Mass spec.: 409.3 (MH) + .
Example 83
[0131]
(4R,5R)-4-(5-(Cyclohexylethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0132] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and ethynylcyclohexane. 1 H NMR (DMSO-d 6 ) δ: 8.58 (d, J=1.5 Hz, 1H), 8.39-8.48 (m, 2H), 7.83 (t, J=2.0 Hz, 1H), 7.46-7.55 (m, 1H), 7.25-7.33 (m, 2H), 7.23 (d, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 5.51 (d, J=6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.94 (d, J=7.0 Hz, 1H), 2.67-2.74 (m, 1H), 1.85 (br. s., 2H), 1.63-1.75 (m, 2H), 1.51 (d, J=9.5 Hz, 3H), 1.28-1.43 (m, 3H). Mass spec.: 365.0 (MH) + .
Example 84
[0133]
(4R,5R)-4-(5-(Bicyclo[2.2.2]octan-1-ylethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0134] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and 1-ethynylbicyclo[2.2.2]octane. Material was purified by Preparative HPLC Method 8 to give the title compound as a TFA salt. 1 H NMR (CD 3 OD) δ: 7.96 (br. s., 1H), 7.53-7.72 (m, 1H), 7.44-7.53 (m, 1H), 7.14-7.23 (m, 3H), 5.45 (d, J=6.8 Hz, 1H), 4.97 (d, J=6.5 Hz, 1H), 1.80-1.94 (m, 6H), 1.59-1.73 (m, 7H). Mass spec.: 391.3 (MH) + .
Example 85
[0135]
(4R,5R)-5-(3-Fluorophenyl)-4-(5-((1-hydroxycyclohexyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0136] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and 1-ethynylcyclohexanol. 1 H NMR (DMSO-d 6 ) δ: 8.61 (d, J=2.1 Hz, 1H), 8.47 (m, 2H), 7.86 (t, J=2.0 Hz, 1H), 7.47-7.55 (m, 1H), 7.25-7.33 (m, 2H), 7.23 (d, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 5.56 (s, 1H), 5.52 (d, J=7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.96 (d, J=6.7 Hz, 1H), 1.87 (m, 2H), 1.62-1.73 (m, 2H), 1.44-1.62 (m, 5H), 1.26 (m, 1H). Mass spec.: 381.0 (MH) + .
Example 86
[0137]
(4R,5R)-4-(5-(Cyclopentylethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0138] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and ethynylcyclopentane. 1 H NMR (DMSO-d 6 ) δ: 8.58 (br. s., 1H), 8.45 (s, 2H), 7.83 (s, 1H), 7.46-7.56 (m, 1H), 7.25-7.33 (m, 2H), 7.22 (d, J=7.9 Hz, 1H), 5.50 (d, J=6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.93 (d, J=7.0 Hz, 1H), 2.88-2.98 (m, 1H), 1.96-2.07 (m, 2H), 1.56-1.80 (m, 6H). Mass spec.: 351.2 (MH) + .
Example 87
[0139]
(4R,5R)-5-(3-Fluorophenyl)-4-(5-((1-methylcyclohexyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0140] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and 1-ethynyl-1-methylcyclohexane. 1 H NMR (DMSO-d 6 ) δ: 8.59 (d, J=1.8 Hz, 1H), 8.45 (s, 1H), 8.43 (d, J=2.1 Hz, 1H), 7.85 (s, 1H), 7.48-7.54 (m, 1H), 7.25-7.33 (m, 2H), 7.23 (d, J=7.9 Hz, 1H), 5.52 (d, J=7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.95 (d, J=6.7 Hz, 1H), 1.78 (d, J=12.5 Hz, 2H), 1.57-1.70 (m, 5H), 1.30-1.36 (m, 2H), 1.29 (s, 3H), 1.18 (d, J=7.3 Hz, 1H). Mass spec.: 379.2 (MH) + .
Example 88
[0141]
(4R,5R)-4-(5-(Cyclopropylethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0142] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and ethynylcyclopropane. 1 H NMR (DMSO-d 6 ) δ: 8.59 (br. s., 1H), 8.44 (s, 2H), 7.81 (s, 1H), 7.47-7.54 (m, 1H), 7.24-7.32 (m, 2H), 7.22 (d, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 5.49 (d, J=6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.92 (d, J=7.0 Hz, 1H), 1.56-1.67 (m, 1H), 0.90-0.99 (m, 2H), 0.76-0.83 (m, 2H). Mass spec.: 323.2 (MH) + .
Example 89
[0143]
(4R,5R)-4-(5-(Cyclobutylethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0144] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and ethynylcyclobutane. 1 H NMR (DMSO-d 6 ) δ: 8.59 (d, J=1.8 Hz, 1H), 8.45 (d, J=1.8 Hz, 2H), 7.85 (s, 1H), 7.46-7.55 (m, 1H), 7.25-7.33 (m, 2H), 7.22 (d, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 5.51 (d, J=7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.93 (d, J=7.0 Hz, 1H), 3.34 (m, 1H, obscured by DMSO-d 6 peak), 2.34 (dtd, J=11.7, 8.6, 3.5 Hz, 2H), 2.17 (dq, J=11.4, 9.0 Hz, 2H), 1.83-2.04 (m, 2H). Mass spec.: 337.2 (MH) + .
Example 90
[0145]
(4R,5R)-4-(5-(Bicyclo[4.1.0]heptan-1-ylethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0146] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and (±)-1-ethynylbicyclo[4.1.0]heptane. 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ: 8.68 (s, 1H), 8.59 (br. s., 1H), 8.03 (s, 1H), 7.38-7.50 (m, 1H), 7.12-7.21 (m, 1H), 7.07 (t, J=8.4 Hz, 2H), 6.51 (br. s., 1H), 5.29 (d, J=7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.90 (d, J=6.8 Hz, 1H), 1.90-2.18 (m, 3H), 1.62-1.75 (m, 1H), 1.13-1.54 (m, 6H), 0.77 (dd, J=6.5, 4.8 Hz, 1H). Mass spec.: 377.3 (MH) + .
Example 91
[0147]
(4R,5R)-4-(5-((1-Fluorocyclohexyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0148] A 1 dram vial was charged with (4R,5R)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)-4-(5-((1-hydroxycyclohexyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)oxazolidin-2-one (26 mg, 0.068 mmol) and dichloromethane (228 μL). The resulting solution was cooled to −78° C. and treated with DAST (55.1 mg, 0.342 mmol). The mixture was allowed to gradually warm to 0° C. and held at 0° C. for 1 h. The reaction was diluted with ether and poured onto water. The organics were further diluted with ethyl acetate and the layers separated. The organics were washed with brine, dried over magnesium sulfate, filtered, and concentrated. The material was purified using Preparative HPLC Method 1 to afford 5.7 mg (22%). 1 H NMR (DMSO-d 6 ) δ: 8.70 (d, J=1.8 Hz, 1H), 8.53 (d, J=2.1 Hz, 1H), 8.46 (s, 1H), 8.00 (s, 1H), 7.47-7.55 (m, 1H), 7.25-7.34 (m, 2H), 7.23 (d, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 5.53 (d, J=7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.96 (d, J=7.0 Hz, 1H), 1.88-2.15 (m, 4H), 1.70 (br. s., 2H), 1.33-1.65 (m, 4H). Mass spec.: 383.2 (MH) + .
Example 92
[0149]
(4R,5R)-4-(5-((4,4-Difluorocyclohexyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0150] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and 4-ethynyl-1,1-difluorocyclohexane. 1 H NMR (DMSO-d 6 ) δ: 8.62 (br. s., 1H), 8.45 (s, 2H), 7.89 (t, J=1.8 Hz, 1H), 7.46-7.55 (m, 1H), 7.25-7.34 (m, 2H), 7.22 (d, J=7.9 Hz, 1H), 5.51 (d, J=7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.94 (d, J=7.0 Hz, 1H), 1.88-2.17 (m, 7H), 1.68-1.81 (m, 2H). Mass spec.: 401.1 (MH) + .
Example 93
[0151]
(4R,5R)-5-(3-Fluorophenyl)-4-(5-((tetrahydro-2H-pyran-4-yl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0152] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and 4-ethynyltetrahydro-2H-pyran. 1 H NMR (DMSO-d 6 ) δ: 8.61 (d, J=2.1 Hz, 1H), 8.46 (d, J=1.5 Hz, 2H), 7.88 (t, J=2.0 Hz, 1H), 7.47-7.55 (m, 1H), 7.25-7.34 (m, 2H), 7.23 (d, J=7.9 Hz, 1H), 5.51 (d, J=7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.94 (d, J=6.7 Hz, 1H), 3.83 (dt, J=11.7, 4.2 Hz, 2H), 3.43-3.51 (m, 2H), 2.97 (dt, J=8.8, 4.6 Hz, 1H), 1.82-1.92 (m, 2H), 1.58-1.70 (m, 2H). Mass spec.: 367.3 (MH) + .
Example 94
[0153]
(4R,5R)-5-(3-Fluorophenyl)-4-(5-((tetrahydrofuran-3-yl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0154] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and (±)-3-ethynyltetrahydrofuran. (DMSO-d 6 ) δ: 8.61 (d, J=1.8 Hz, 1H), 8.43-8.48 (m, 2H), 7.87 (t, J=2.0 Hz, 1H), 7.46-7.54 (m, 1H), 7.25-7.33 (m, 2H), 7.22 (d, J=7.9 Hz, 1H), 5.50 (d, J=7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.94 (d, J=7.0 Hz, 1H), 3.99 (t, J=7.8 Hz, 1H), 3.86 (td, J=8.1, 5.8 Hz, 1H), 3.74-3.80 (m, 1H), 3.65 (dd, J=7.9, 6.7 Hz, 1H), 3.29-3.34 (m, 1H), 2.25-2.34 (m, 1H), 1.93-2.05 (m, 1H). Mass spec.: 353.2 (MH) + .
Example 95
[0155]
(4R,5R)-5-(3-Fluorophenyl)-4-(5-((tetrahydrofuran-2-yl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0156] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and (±)-2-ethynyltetrahydrofuran. LC/MS (Analytical HPLC Method 1; t=2.30 min): Mass spec.: 353.4 (MH) + .
Example 96
[0157]
(4R,5R)-5-(3-Fluorophenyl)-4-(5-(oxetan-3-ylethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0158] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and 3-ethynyloxetane. 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ: 8.70 (d, J=1.8 Hz, 1H), 8.41 (d, J=2.0 Hz, 1H), 7.80 (t, J=2.0 Hz, 1H), 7.41 (td, J=8.1, 5.6 Hz, 1H), 7.13 (ddt, J=8.9, 7.8, 1.2 Hz, 1H), 7.02-7.09 (m, 2H), 5.97 (s, 1H), 5.28 (d, J=7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.92 (dd, J=8.5, 5.5 Hz, 2H), 4.83 (dd, J=7.2, 5.6 Hz, 2H), 4.77 (d, J=7.3 Hz, 1H), 4.06-4.16 (m, 1H). Mass spec.: 339.3 (MH) + .
Example 97
[0159]
(4R,5R)-4-(5-((3,3-Difluorocyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0160] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and 3-ethynyl-1,1-difluorocyclobutane. 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ: 8.68 (d, J=1.9 Hz, 1H), 8.41 (d, J=2.2 Hz, 1H), 7.79 (t, J=2.0 Hz, 1H), 7.38-7.47 (m, 1H), 7.14 (tdd, J=8.4, 2.5, 0.7 Hz, 1H), 7.03-7.10 (m, 2H), 6.19 (s, 1H), 5.29 (d, J=7.3 Hz, 1H), 4.79 (d, J=7.3 Hz, 1H), 3.12-3.23 (m, 1H), 2.96-3.10 (m, 2H), 2.74-2.89 (m, 2H). Mass spec.: 373.3 (MH) + .
Example 98 and Example 99
[0161]
(4R,5R)-4-(5-(((1s,3S)-3-Fluorocyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one and (4R,5R)-4-(5-(((1r,3R)-3-Fluorocyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0162] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and a mixture of cis- and trans-1-ethynyl-3-fluorocyclobutane. The crude material was purified via Preparative HPLC Method 2 to give the product as a mixture of epimers. The material was further purified via Preparative HPLC Method 3 to give the two individual epimers. Example 98 (first eluting): 1 H NMR (DMSO-d 6 ) δ: 8.60 (s, 1H), 8.45 (s, 2H), 7.87 (s, 1H), 7.45-7.54 (m, 1H), 7.23-7.32 (m, 2H), 7.21 (d, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 5.49 (d, J=6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.84-5.13 (m, 2H), 2.75-2.92 (m, 3H), 2.22-2.39 (m, 2H). Mass spec.: 355.2 (MH) + . Example 99 (second eluting): 1 H NMR (DMSO-d 6 ) δ: 8.60 (s, 1H), 8.45 (s, 2H), 7.86 (s, 1H), 7.45-7.54 (m, 1H), 7.23-7.32 (m, 2H), 7.21 (d, J=7.3 Hz, 1H), 5.49 (d, J=7.0 Hz, 1H), 5.22-5.43 (m, 1H), 4.93 (d, J=6.7 Hz, 1H), 2.46-2.66 (m, 5H, obscured by DMSO-d 6 ). Mass spec.: 355.1 (MH) + .
Example 100
[0163]
(4R,5R)-5-(2,5-Difluorophenyl)-4-(5-((tetrahydro-2H-pyran-4-yl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0164] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(2,5-difluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and 4-ethynyltetrahydro-2H-pyran. 1 H NMR (DMSO-d 6 ) δ: 8.62 (br. s., 1H), 8.42-8.56 (m, 2H), 7.90 (s, 1H), 7.30-7.44 (m, 3H), 5.63 (d, J=6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.99 (d, J=6.7 Hz, 1H), 3.82 (dt, J=11.6, 4.3 Hz, 2H), 3.43-3.49 (m, 2H), 2.96 (dt, J=8.8, 4.6 Hz, 1H), 1.81-1.93 (m, 2H), 1.63 (d, J=9.5 Hz, 2H). Mass spec.: 385.3 (MH) + .
Example 101
[0165]
(4R,5R)-4-(5-((3,3-Dimethoxycyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0166] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and 3-ethynyl-1,1-dimethoxycyclobutane. 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ: 8.67 (d, J=1.8 Hz, 1H), 8.37 (d, J=2.3 Hz, 1H), 7.78 (t, J=2.0 Hz, 1H), 7.41 (td, J=7.9, 5.8 Hz, 1H), 6.99-7.17 (m, 3H), 5.53 (s, 1H), 5.29 (d, J=7.3 Hz, 1H), 4.75 (d, J=7.3 Hz, 1H), 3.20 (s, 6H), 3.06 (quin, J=8.5 Hz, 1H), 2.59-2.71 (m, 2H), 2.26-2.42 (m, 2H). Mass spec.: 397.4 (MH) + .
Example 102
[0167]
(4R,5R)-5-(3-Fluorophenyl)-4-(5-((3-oxocyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0168] A flask was charged with (4R,5R)-4-(5-((3,3-dimethoxycyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (175 mg, 0.441 mmol). To this was added trifluoroacetic acid (1 mL). After 30 min, the reaction was concentrated, suspended in ether, washed with saturated sodium bicarbonate, dried over magnesium sulfate, filtered, and concentrated. Column chromatography (50% EtOAc/Hex) gave 140 mg (86%) as a white solid. 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ: 8.68 (d, J=1.7 Hz, 1H), 8.41 (d, J=2.2 Hz, 1H), 7.79 (s, 1H), 7.37-7.45 (m, 1H), 7.13 (ddd, J=9.1, 7.6, 2.0 Hz, 1H), 7.02-7.09 (m, 2H), 6.60 (s, 1H), 5.27 (d, J=7.3 Hz, 1H), 4.79 (d, J=7.3 Hz, 1H), 3.50-3.60 (m, 2H), 3.42-3.50 (m, 1H), 3.33-3.42 (m, 2H). Mass spec.: 351.3 (MH) + .
Example 103
[0169]
(4R,5R)-5-(3-Fluorophenyl)-4-(5-(((1s, 3S)-3-hydroxycyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0170] To a solution of (4R,5R)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)-4-(5-((3-oxocyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)oxazolidin-2-one (15 mg, 0.043 mmol) in ethanol (1 mL) was added sodium borohydride (2.4 mg, 0.064 mmol). After 10 min, the reaction was quenched by addition of saturated ammonium chloride (˜0.3 mL) and concentrated under a stream of nitrogen. The resulting residue was suspended in dichloromethane/water and diluted with ethyl acetate. After separation of the layers, the organics were washed with brine, dried over magnesium sulfate, filtered, and concentrated. Flash chromatography (50% EtOAc/Hex 100% EtOAc) gave 11.1 mg (70%). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ: 8.65 (d, J=1.9 Hz, 1H), 8.37 (d, J=2.2 Hz, 1H), 7.78 (t, J=2.0 Hz, 1H), 7.41 (td, J=7.9, 5.8 Hz, 1H), 7.10-7.16 (m, 1H), 7.02-7.10 (m, 2H), 6.31 (s, 1H), 5.28 (d, J=7.3 Hz, 1H), 4.77 (d, J=7.3 Hz, 1H), 4.19-4.30 (m, 1H), 2.68-2.85 (m, 3H), 2.41 (d, J=6.3 Hz, 1H), 2.13-2.25 (m, 2H). Mass spec.: 353.3 (MH) + .
Example 104
[0171]
(4R,5R)-5-(3-Fluorophenyl)-4-(5-(((1r, 3R)-3-hydroxycyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0172] A vial was charged with (4R,5R)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)-4-(5-(((1s,3S)-3-hydroxycyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)oxazolidin-2-one (9 mg, 0.026 mmol), 4-nitrobenzoic acid (8.54 mg, 0.051 mmol), triphenylphosphine (14.07 mg, 0.054 mmol), and tetrahydrofuran (0.4 mL) and cooled to 0° C. To this was added diethylazodicarboxylate (40% in toluene) (0.024 mL, 0.054 mmol). After 30 min, the ice bath was removed and stirring continued overnight. The reaction was concentrated, purified by prep HPLC (Preparative HPLC Method 5). The fractions containing product were concentrated. This material was dissolved in tetrahydrofuran (0.4 mL) and methanol (0.4 mL). To this was added lithium hydroxide monohydrate (1.223 mg, 0.051 mmol) in water (0.4 mL). After stirring at room temperature for 1 h, the reaction was quenched by addition of 1 drop of trifluoroacetic acid, and concentrated to remove most solvent. The resulting residue was suspended in ethyl acetate, washed with saturated sodium bicarbonate (2×), then brine, dried over magnesium sulfate, filtered, and concentrated. The resulting residue was purified by Preparative HPLC Method 6. 1 H NMR (DMSO-d 6 ) δ: 8.57 (br. s., 1H), 8.45 (br. s., 1H), 8.42 (br. s., 1H), 7.83 (m, 1H), 7.49 (m, 1H), 7.17-7.33 (m, 3H), 5.48 (d, J=6.1 Hz, 1H), 5.36 (br. s., 1H), 4.91 (d, J=6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.40 (m, 1H), 3.19 (m, 1H), 2.33 (m, 1H), 2.22 (m, 1H), 1.90 (s, 2H). Mass spec.: 353.3 (MH) + .
Example 105 and Example 106
[0173]
(4R,5R)-5-(3-Fluorophenyl)-4-(5-(((1r,3R)-3-hydroxy-3-methylcyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)oxazolidin-2-one and (4R,5R)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)-4-(5-(((1s,3S)-3-hydroxy-3-methylcyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0174] (4R,5R)-5-(3-Fluorophenyl)-4-(5-((3-oxocyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)oxazolidin-2-one (20 mg, 0.057 mmol) was dissolved in tetrahydrofuran (0.5 mL). The reaction was placed in a 0° C. bath and treated with methylmagnesium bromide (3M in ether, 0.076 mL, 0.228 mmol) drop wise. After addition was complete, the reaction was stirred at 0° C. for 10 min, and quenched by the cautious addition of saturated ammonium chloride. The mixture was extracted with ethyl acetate. The organics were washed with brine, dried over magnesium sulfate, filtered, and concentrated. Column chromatography (50%-75% EtOAc/Hex) gave the product as a mixture of epimers. The material was re-purified by Preparative HPLC Method 4 to give the two individual stereoisomers. The first to elute was (4R,5R)-5-(3-Fluorophenyl)-4-(5-(((1r,3R)-3-hydroxy-3-methylcyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)oxazolidin-2-one (Example 105, minor epimer): 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ: 8.71 (s, 1H), 8.44 (br. s., 1H), 7.91 (s, 1H), 7.44 (td, J=7.9, 5.8 Hz, 1H), 7.12-7.19 (m, 1H), 7.04-7.12 (m, 2H), 5.76 (s, 1H), 5.31 (d, J=7.3 Hz, 1H), 4.82 (d, J=7.3 Hz, 1H), 3.35 (tt, J=9.5, 5.9 Hz, 1H), 2.53-2.61 (m, 2H), 2.48 (bs, 2H), 2.28-2.35 (m, 2H), 1.58 (s, 3H). 19F NMR (CDCl 3 ) d: −75.91 (s, 3F), −110.58-−110.39 (m, 1F). Mass spec.: 367.2 (MH) + . The second to elute was (4R,5R)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)-4-(5-(((1s,3S)-3-hydroxy-3-methylcyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)oxazolidin-2-one (Example 106, major epimer): 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ: 8.70 (br. s., 1H), 8.53 (br. s., 1H), 7.98 (s, 1H), 7.44 (td, J=7.9, 5.8 Hz, 1H), 7.16 (td, J=8.4, 1.9 Hz, 1H), 7.03-7.12 (m, 2H), 6.51 (br. s., 1H), 5.30 (d, J=7.1 Hz, 1H), 4.87 (d, J=7.1 Hz, 1H), 4.18 (br. s., 2H), 2.84 (quin, J=8.7 Hz, 1H), 2.49-2.61 (m, 2H), 2.30-2.44 (m, 2H), 1.43 (s, 3H). 19F NMR (CDCl 3 ) d: −76.27-−75.51 (m, 3F), −110.43 (d, J=4.4 Hz, 1F). Mass spec.: 367.2 (MH) + .
Example 107
[0175]
3-((4R,5R)-4-(5-((3, 3-Difluorocyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)-2-oxooxazolidin-5-yl)benzonitrile
[0176] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with 3-((4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-2-oxooxazolidin-5-yl)benzonitrile and 3-ethynyl-1,1-difluorocyclobutane. 1 H NMR (DMSO-d 6 ) δ: 8.62 (br. s., 1H), 8.48 (d, J=16.8 Hz, 2H), 7.90 (d, J=13.7 Hz, 3H), 7.62-7.76 (m, 2H), 5.54 (d, J=5.8 Hz, 1H), 4.96 (d, J=6.1 Hz, 1H), 3.07 (d, J=10.4 Hz, 3H), 2.74 (d, J=8.2 Hz, 2H). Mass spec.: 380.2 (MH) + .
Example 108
[0177]
(4R,5R)-5-(3-Chlorophenyl)-4-(5-((3,3-difluorocyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0178] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-chlorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and 3-ethynyl-1,1-difluorocyclobutane. 1 H NMR (DMSO-d 6 ) δ: 8.62 (br. s., 1H), 8.47 (br. s., 2H), 7.87 (br. s., 1H), 7.49 (br. s., 3H), 7.34 (br. s., 1H), 5.48 (d, J=6.7 Hz, 1H), 4.94 (d, J=6.4 Hz, 1H), 2.99-3.13 (m, 3H), 2.76 (dd, J=13.6, 6.9 Hz, 2H). Mass spec.: 389.2 (MH) + .
Example 109
[0179]
(4R,5R)-4-(5-((3,3-Difluorocyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(2,5-difluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0180] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(2,5-difluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and 3-ethynyl-1,1-difluorocyclobutane. 1 H NMR (DMSO-d 6 ) δ: 8.63 (br. s., 1H), 8.52 (br. s., 2H), 7.92 (br. s., 1H), 7.36 (m, 3H), 5.62 (d, J=6.4 Hz, 1H), 4.99 (d, J=6.4 Hz, 1H), 3.06 (m, 3H), 2.76 (m, 2H). Mass spec.: 391.3 (MH) + .
Example 110
[0181]
(4R,5R)-4-(5-((3,3-Difluorocyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-methoxyphenyl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0182] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-methoxyphenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and 3-ethynyl-1,1-difluorocyclobutane. 1 H NMR (DMSO-d 6 ) δ: 8.62 (br. s., 1H), 8.46 (br. s., 1H), 8.39 (br. s., 1H), 7.87 (br. s., 1H), 7.35 (m, 1H), 6.87-7.03 (m, 3H), 5.41 (d, J=7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.92 (d, J=6.4 Hz, 1H), 3.77 (br. s., 3H), 3.06 (m, 3H), 2.77 (m, 2H). Mass spec.: 385.3 (MH) + .
Example 111
[0183]
(4R,5R)-4-(5-((3,3-Difluorocyclobutyl)ethynyl)-2-fluoropyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0184] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromo-2-fluoropyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and 3-ethynyl-1,1-difluorocyclobutane. 1 H NMR (DMSO-d 6 ) δ: 8.44 (br. s., 1H), 8.33 (br. s., 1H), 8.09 (d, J=8.2 Hz, 1H), 7.51 (d, J=6.4 Hz, 1H), 7.19-7.34 (m, 3H), 5.57 (d, J=5.2 Hz, 1H), 4.99 (d, J=5.2 Hz, 1H), 3.08 (d, J=9.5 Hz, 3H), 2.78 (br. s., 2H). Mass spec.: 391.3 (MH) + .
Example 112
[0185]
(4R,5R)-4-(4-((3,3-Difluorocyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-2-yl)-5-phenyloxazolidin-2-one
[0186] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(4-bromopyridin-2-yl)-5-phenyloxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and 3-ethynyl-1,1-difluorocyclobutane. 1 H NMR (DMSO-d 6 ) δ: 8.61 (br. s., 1H), 8.42 (br. s., 1H), 7.31-7.56 (m, 7H), 5.54 (br. s., 1H), 4.85 (br. s., 1H), 3.07 (br. s., 3H), 2.76 (br. s., 2H). Mass spec.: 355.3 (MH) + .
Example 113
[0187]
(4R,5R)-4-(6-((3,3-Difluorocyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-2-yl)-5-phenyloxazolidin-2-one
[0188] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(6-bromopyridin-2-yl)-5-phenyloxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and 3-ethynyl-1,1-difluorocyclobutane. 1 H NMR (DMSO-d 6 ) δ: 8.46 (br. s., 1H), 7.84-7.92 (m, 1H), 7.51 (d, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.37-7.48 (m, 6H), 5.51 (d, J=4.9 Hz, 1H), 4.84 (d, J=5.5 Hz, 1H), 2.97-3.14 (m, 3H), 2.78 (dd, J=14.3, 7.0 Hz, 2H). Mass spec.: 355.3 (MH) + .
Example 114
[0189]
(4R,5R)-4-(2-((3,3-Difluorocyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-4-yl)-5-phenyloxazolidin-2-one
[0190] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(2-bromopyridin-4-yl)-5-phenyloxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and 3-ethynyl-1,1-difluorocyclobutane. 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ: 8.60 (d, J=5.0 Hz, 1H), 7.42-7.49 (m, 3H), 7.39 (d, J=0.8 Hz, 1H), 7.30-7.35 (m, 2H), 7.14 (dd, J=5.1, 1.6 Hz, 1H), 6.01 (s, 1H), 5.23 (d, J=7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.77 (d, J=7.3 Hz, 1H), 3.10-3.22 (m, 1H), 2.93-3.07 (m, 2H), 2.76-2.92 (m, 2H). Mass spec.: 355.3 (MH) + .
Example 115
[0191]
(4R,5R)-4-(5-((3,3-Difluorocyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(4-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0192] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(4-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and 3-ethynyl-1,1-difluorocyclobutane. 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ: 8.65 (d, J=1.5 Hz, 1H), 8.36 (d, J=1.8 Hz, 1H), 7.76 (t, J=2.0 Hz, 1H), 7.24-7.35 (m, 2H), 7.08-7.19 (m, 2H), 6.37-6.48 (m, 1H), 5.24 (d, J=7.5 Hz, 1H), 4.78 (d, J=7.5 Hz, 1H), 3.10-3.24 (m, 1H), 2.94-3.09 (m, 2H), 2.71-2.88 (m, 2H). Mass spec.: 373.3 (MH) + .
Example 116
[0193]
(4R,5R)-4-(3-((3,3-Difluorocyclobutyl)ethynyl)phenyl)-5-(3-methoxyphenyl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0194] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(3-bromophenyl)-5-(3-methoxyphenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and 3-ethynyl-1,1-difluorocyclobutane. 1 H NMR (DMSO-d 6 ) δ: 8.37 (br. s., 1H), 7.25-7.46 (m, 5H), 6.86-7.03 (m, 3H), 5.27 (d, J=7.3 Hz, 1H), 4.83 (d, J=6.4 Hz, 1H), 3.77 (s, 3H), 2.96-3.19 (m, 3H), 2.64-2.81 (m, 2H). Mass spec.: 384.3 (MH) + .
Example 117
[0195]
(4R,5R)-4-(5-((3,3-Difluorocyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3,5-difluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0196] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(3,5-difluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and 3-ethynyl-1,1-difluorocyclobutane. 1 H NMR (DMSO-d 6 ) δ: 8.63 (br. s., 1H), 8.49 (br. s., 2H), 7.90 (br. s., 1H), 7.32 (br. s., 1H), 7.17 (d, J=5.8 Hz, 2H), 5.50 (d, J=6.1 Hz, 1H), 4.94 (d, J=6.1 Hz, 1H), 3.00-3.21 (m, 3H), 2.76 (dd, J=13.7, 6.1 Hz, 2H). Mass spec.: 391.3 (MH) + .
Example 118
[0197]
(4R,5R)-4-(5-((3,3-Difluorocyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(2,3,4-trifluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0198] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(2,3,4-trifluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and 3-ethynyl-1,1-difluorocyclobutane. 1 H NMR (DMSO-d 6 ) δ: 8.63 (br. s., 1H), 8.54 (d, J=17.4 Hz, 2H), 7.91 (br. s., 1H), 7.32-7.48 (m, 2H), 5.64 (d, J=6.4 Hz, 1H), 5.04 (d, J=6.4 Hz, 1H), 3.14-3.25 (m, 1H, obscured by DMSO-d 6 ), 3.07 (t, J=9.2 Hz, 2H), 2.70-2.84 (m, 2H). Mass spec.: 409.2 (MH) + .
Example 119
[0199]
(4R,5R)-4-(5-((3,3-Difluorocyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3,4-difluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0200] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(3,4-difluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and 3-ethynyl-1,1-difluorocyclobutane. 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ: 8.67 (br. s., 1H), 8.39 (br. s., 1H), 7.76 (s, 1H), 7.15-7.27 (m, 2H), 6.95-7.07 (m, 1H), 6.31 (s, 1H), 5.23 (d, J=7.3 Hz, 1H), 4.75 (d, J=7.3 Hz, 1H), 3.11-3.25 (m, 1H), 2.93-3.09 (m, 2H), 2.70-2.89 (m, 2H). Mass spec.: 391.2 (MH) + .
Example 120
[0201]
(4R,5R)-4-(5-((3,3-Difluorocyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(2,4-difluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0202] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(2,4-difluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and 3-ethynyl-1,1-difluorocyclobutane. 1 H NMR (DMSO-d 6 ) δ: 8.62 (s, 1H), 8.49 (s, 2H), 7.90 (br. s., 1H), 7.58 (q, J=7.9 Hz, 1H), 7.33-7.41 (m, 1H), 7.19 (t, J=8.1 Hz, 1H), 5.59 (d, J=6.4 Hz, 1H), 4.98 (d, J=6.7 Hz, 1H), 3.28-3.32 (m, 1H, obscured by DMSO-d 6 ), 3.00-3.13 (m, 2H), 2.71-2.84 (m, 2H). Mass spec.: 391.5 (MH) + .
Example 121
[0203]
(4R,5R)-5-(4-Chlorophenyl)-4-(5-((3,3-difluorocyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0204] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(4-chlorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and 3-ethynyl-1,1-difluorocyclobutane. 1 H NMR (DMSO-d 6 ) δ: 8.62 (br. s., 1H), 8.45 (d, J=14.6 Hz, 2H), 7.88 (br. s., 1H), 7.48-7.55 (m, 2H), 7.43 (d, J=8.2 Hz, 2H), 5.48 (d, J=7.0 Hz, 1H), 4.90 (d, J=6.7 Hz, 1H), 3.00-3.13 (m, 3H), 2.76 (dd, J=13.0, 5.0 Hz, 2H). Mass spec.: 389.5 (MH) + .
Example 122
[0205]
(4R,5R)-4-(5-((3,3-Difluorocyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(2,4,5-trifluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0206] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(2,4,5-trifluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one and 3-ethynyl-1,1-difluorocyclobutane. 1 H NMR (DMSO-d 6 ) δ: 8.62 (s, 1H), 8.50 (br. s., 2H), 7.92 (br. s., 1H), 7.70 (dd, J=16.2, 6.1 Hz, 2H), 5.58 (d, J=7.0 Hz, 1H), 5.00 (d, J=6.7 Hz, 1H), 3.27-3.30 (m, 1H, obscured by DMSO-d 6 ), 3.00-3.14 (m, 2H), 2.72-2.84 (m, 2H). Mass spec.: 409.5 (MH) + .
Example 123
[0207]
(4R,5R)-5-(2-Chloro-4-fluorophenyl)-4-(5-((3,3-difluorocyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0208] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(2-chloro-4-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one and 3-ethynyl-1,1-difluorocyclobutane. 1 H NMR (DMSO-d 6 ) δ: 8.62 (s, 1H), 8.54 (br. s., 2H), 7.92 (br. s., 1H), 7.59-7.64 (m, 1H), 7.56 (d, J=8.5 Hz, 1H), 7.38 (t, J=7.8 Hz, 1H), 5.71 (d, J=5.8 Hz, 1H), 4.90 (d, J=5.8 Hz, 1H), 3.29-3.31 (m, 1H, obscured by DMSO-d 6 ), 3.00-3.13 (m, 2H), 2.70-2.86 (m, 2H). Mass spec.: 407.5 (MH) + .
Example 124
[0209]
(4R,5R)-5-(2,3-Dichlorophenyl)-4-(5-((3,3-difluorocyclobutyl)ethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0210] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(2,3-dichlorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and 3-ethynyl-1,1-difluorocyclobutane. 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ: 8.70 (br. s., 1H), 8.56 (br. s., 1H), 7.86 (t, J=2.0 Hz, 1H), 7.56 (dd, J=8.0, 1.5 Hz, 1H), 7.50 (dq, J=7.9, 0.7 Hz, 1H), 7.35-7.41 (m, 1H), 5.75 (d, J=4.0 Hz, 1H), 5.56 (s, 1H), 4.69 (d, J=3.8 Hz, 1H), 3.13-3.25 (m, 1H), 2.96-3.11 (m, 2H), 2.76-2.92 (m, 2H). Mass spec.: 423.2 (MH) + .
Example 125
[0211]
(4R,5R)-4-(5-(Cyclopropylethynyl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(2,3-dichlorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one
[0212] Prepared according to the same procedure as (4R,5R)-4-(5-(3-(dimethylamino)prop-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-3-yl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, starting with (4R,5R)-4-(5-bromopyridin-3-yl)-5-(2,3-dichlorophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one (WO2012064603) and ethynylcyclopropane. 1 H NMR (DMSO-d 6 ) δ: 8.50-8.60 (m, 3H), 7.84 (s, 1H), 7.70-7.77 (m, 1H), 7.47-7.56 (m, 2H), 5.79 (d, J=4.9 Hz, 1H), 4.87 (d, J=4.9 Hz, 1H), 1.53-1.70 (m, 1H), 0.94 (dd, J=8.1, 2.6 Hz, 2H), 0.80 (dd, J=4.7, 2.3 Hz, 2H). Mass spec.: 373.2 (MH) + .
[0213] It will be evident to one skilled in the art that the present disclosure is not limited to the foregoing illustrative examples, and that it can be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the essential attributes thereof. It is therefore desired that the examples be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being made to the appended claims, rather than to the foregoing examples, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein. | The disclosure generally relates to compounds of formula I, including their salts, as well as compositions and methods of using the compounds. The compounds are ligands, agonists and partial agonists for the mGluR5 receptor and may be useful for the treatment of various disorders of the central nervous system. | 2 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is generally in the field of biological control of insect pests, specifically in the area of use of entomopathogenic fungi for the control of cockroaches.
Blattella germanica (the German cockroach) and Periplaneta americana (the American cockroach) are ubiquitous throughout the world. They are the major insect pests in residences, restaurants, hospitals, dormitories and warehouses. Cockroaches are unsightly and have been implicated as vectors of several human disease agents.
The most common means of roach control is the regular spraying of chemical insecticides. Not only are these insecticides expensive, but their long term effects on the inhabitants of the places in which they are used, as well as the environment, are unknown in most cases and potentially hazardous. Further, there is a tendency among the treated insects for resistant strains to develop, which requires the use of large quantities and different chemicals to treat.
Insect pathogens are a possible alternative to the common use of highly toxic chemical insecticides for the control of insect pests. Fungi are one of the promising groups of insect pathogens suitable for use as biological agents for the control of insects.
Fungi are found either as single cell organisms or as multicellular colonies. While fungi are eukaryotic and therefore more highly differentiated than bacteria, they are less differentiated than higher plants. Fungi are incapable of utilizing light as an energy source and therefore restricted to a saprophytic or parasitic existence.
The most common mode of growth and reproduction for fungi is vegetative or asexual reproduction which involves sporulation followed by germination of the spores. Asexual spores, or conidia, form at the tips and along the sides of hyphae, the branching filamentous structures of multicellular colonies. In the proper environment, the conidia germinate, become enlarged and produce germ tubes. The germ tubes develop, in time, into hyphae which in turn form colonies.
The fungus Metarhizium anisopliae is an example of a fungus that infects certain species of insects. This fungus has been administered to insect pests by a number of methods, including direct spraying, injection, and by the application of the fungus to the plant material on which the insect lives or feeds. In some insect species, infection with the fungus has been shown to result in death. In one species, infected individuals were able to transmit the fungus to non-infected members of their colony.
To date, the majority of work evaluating entomopathogenic fungi for biological control of insect pests has focused on applications involving agriculturally important insect pests and mosquitoes. Metarhizium anisopliae is one of the most widely studied fungus for biological control of insects. However, there are few reports which address the ability of M.anisopliae to infect cockroaches. Gunnarsson, S.G.S., J. Invertebr. Pathol. (46)3, 312-319, (1985), for example, has shown that Periplaneta americana exhibits a defense reaction (nodule formation) to the injection of M. anisopliae conidia. However, no mention of the potential of the fungus for roach control was made. In fact, it can be implied from the data that the American cockroach has a strong defense to injected M. anisopliae spores. Further, there are a number of insect species which are not infected by contact with entomopathogenic fungi.
No one has yet developed a consistent and commercially viable way of infecting insects and assuring that the fungi are dispersed throughout the breeding populations. For example, with reference to cockroaches, it is clearly impractical to use a method such as the one referenced above requiring inoculation of individual insects with the fungi.
As of this time, there has been no successful demonstration by others of the practical, reliable and economical employment of an entomopathogenic fungus for the management and biological control of insects infesting houses or buildings.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to biologically control cockroaches using entomopathogenic fungi.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a device for the convenient, reliable and economically feasible application of fungi in the biological control of cockroaches.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method and means for infecting all cockroaches in a breeding colony by dissemination of fungi pathogenic for cockroaches.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and means for infection and killing of cockroaches by a variety of fungi so that development of resistant strains is avoided.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A method for control and extermination of roaches using the dissemination of entomopathogenic fungi including, for example, Metarhizium anisopliae and Beauveria bassiana. The fungi which are effective are those which have infective structures that have the appropriate biochemical mechanisms, which may include recognition of cockroach cuticle, to initiate the infection process in cockroaches. The fungi are applied to the environment to be treated using means which insure contact and infection of the roaches with the fungi.
In the preferred embodiment for the biological control of cockroaches, a contamination chamber is used for the administration of entomopathogenic fungi to the cockroaches. The device consists of a closed chamber having entrances for the cockroaches and contains a living culture of a fungus pathogenic to cockroaches. The geometry of the device is such that upon entering the chamber the cockroach comes in contact with the culture of the pathogenic fungus.
The contamination chambers are placed in habitats frequented by cockroaches. In the most preferred embodiment, the culture medium for the fungus is also attractive to the cockroaches, so that while the cockroaches are out foraging, they enter the chamber in search of food, then rub against the fungus as they explore, and, optionally, consume, the fungal culture. In so doing, the roaches contact the fungal conidia which attach to the surface of the cockroach (integument). After attachment, the conidia germinate on the integument and the germ tubes of the germinating conidia penetrate the cuticle of the cockroach. The germ tubes continue to penetrate through the cuticle of the cockroach until they reach the internal body cavity (hemocoel) of the insect, thereby killing the roach.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a contamination chamber for infection of roaches by entomopathogenic fungi, consisting of a culture of fungus deposited as a mat on a nutrient-containing agar ceiling and a floor with a sterile polystyrene pad to maintain the humidity within the chamber. The two opposing surfaces are separated by a space of 2 to 3 mm through which the cockroach travels and experiences a tigmotactic response.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the chamber of FIG. 1 containing 50 ml of fungal culture media and inoculated with an entomopathogenic fungus which has formed a mat of hyphae and conidia (spores).
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the top of the chamber of FIG. 1 showing the openings spaced equidistantly around the perimeter.
FIG. 4 is a graph of the mortality of cockroaches (% survival) as a function of time after exposure (days). Studies of cockroach mortality were conducted without pathogenic fungus (--O--O--), with the entomopathogenic fungus M. anisopliae but without attractant (--Δ--Δ--), with M. anisopliae and the attractants (1) banana extract (--[]--[]--), and with M. anisopliae and (2) Purina® lab chow (--<>--<>--).
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The devices described below provide a convenient, non-toxic and reliable method for the administration of entomopathogenic fungi in an economical and cost-effective fashion. The small, lightweight contamination chambers are unobtrusive and are easily placed in locations of heavy insect infestation, increasing the efficacy of the device. Because the devices provide an environment within which the fungus can flourish over extended periods of time, a single device is effective for a longer period of time than with other methods, such as spraying, where effectiveness of the agent dissipates over a short time. The longevity of the devices also decreases the number of applications and maintenance time required for effective treatment. Another advantage of the devices is that they are constructed of readily available and relatively inexpensive materials, which insures an abundant supply of cost-effective devices.
The method for killing cockroaches, especially American and German varieties, as well as others, is based on the observed pathogenesis of at least two different genera of fungi (three strains) on roaches infected by contact with a living culture, either consisting of a nutrient culture inoculated with the fungi, or the corpse of another roach that has died from infection with the fungi.
In a preferred embodiment, the roaches are infected by exposure to the fungus in small chambers having apertures through which the cockroaches enter and exit. A cockroach enters the chamber either as the result of general exploration or as the result of being lured inside the device by the action of cockroach attractant (such as food sources or pheromones). Once inside the chamber the cockroach comes in contact with the entomopathogenic fungus. The conidia of the pathogen attach to the body of the cockroach. The infected cockroach leaves the chamber and returns to its harboring sites. While dispersing from the contamination chamber to other sites, conidia attached to the roaches integument can be dislodged and may contaminate the habitat, thereby exposing additional cockroaches to infection.
After the cockroach dies and the fungal mycelium sporulates on the body of the insect, other cockroaches can be infected by exposure to the conidia produced on the dead insect. Exposure of the infected roach after the fungus sporulates on the dead body of the infected roach effectively transmits the pathogen to other non-infected cockroaches. This leads to the death or dispersal of the remainder of the colony.
As diagrammed in FIG. 1, a contamination chamber 10 can be constructed by pouring 50 ml of culture medium 12 for the fungus 14 into a dish 16, for example, a 100×15 mm plastic petri dish. An example of a useful culture medium consists of 1% dextrose, 1% yeast extract, 5% rice flour, 1.5% agar and 0.5% 5x Dubois sporulation salts. The 5x Dubois sporulation salts consists of 15 g (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 /1000 ml; 0.30 g MgSO 4 ·7H 2 O/1000 ml; 0.15 g MnSO 4 ·H 2 O/1000 ml; 0.0375 g CuSO 4 ·5H 2 O/1000 ml; 0.0375 g ZnSO 4 ·7H 2 /1000 ml; and 0.0038 g FeSO 4 ·7H 2 O/1000 ml. Each salt is completely dissolved before the next salt is added and the solution is autoclaved. Other useful culture mediums are known, or can be optimized from those that are known, by those skilled in the art.
After solidification, the culture medium is inoculated with spores of the appropriate fungal pathogen (inoculation is accomplished by streaking the surface of the medium with an inoculating loop carrying fungal spores). As shown in FIG. 2, after seven days of growth at 28° C. with 75% relative humidity, the fungus 14 will have produced a thick layer of mycelia 18 and conidia 20 that cover the surface of the culture medium 12. The dish 16 is then inverted so that the culture medium 12 with the fungal growth 14 is now the ceiling of the chamber 10.
In this example, a sterile polystyrene pad 22 is placed in the bottom 24 of the chamber 10. The inverted chamber 10 has a 2-3 mm space between the surface of the sporulated fungus 26 on the ceiling of the chamber and the polystyrene floor 22 of the chamber. As depicted in FIG. 1, this forces the roaches to come in contact with the fungus as they pass through the chamber 10.
The chamber 10 is shown in cross-section in FIG. 3. Openings 28a-28f are made on the perimeter 30 of the chamber 10, each opening being 9 mm square and equidistantly spaced around the perimeter of the contamination chamber. The size of the openings is proportional to the size of the insect. For example, larger openings are used for control of large species of cockroaches, such as the Oriental cockroach. When the chambers are placed in habitats infested with cockroaches, the latter enter the chamber through the openings, where they are forced into contact with the fungal spores.
The following non-limiting examples demonstrate the efficacy of the contamination chambers in controlling cockroaches, using both German (Blattella germanica) and American cockroaches (Periplaneta americana) in the tests. In all cases the cockroach populations were significantly reduced by the fungus present in the contamination chambers.
EXAMPLE 1
Infection and Death of Blattella germanica with Metarhizium anisopliae Strain PA-2
The study utilized a plastic container in the shape of a box (6×12×4 in) to hold the cockroaches. The lid had ten circular ventilation holes (3/8 inch diameter). The holes were screened with insect netting to prevent the escape of insects and the accumulation of moisture. Three different stages of Blattella germanica (German cockroach) development were studied: immature cockroaches at the third instar stage, immature cockroaches at the sixth instar stage, and adult insects. Twenty insects, 10 males and 10 females of each developmental stage, were studied per box. Each developmental stage was studied in duplicate. Controls, exposed to contamination chambers without fungus, were utilized to determine normal cockroach mortality for each stage.
One contamination chamber was placed in one end of each box. The chamber was placed in such a manner that the fungus was on the ceiling of the chamber. The side apertures of the chamber were open so that the cockroaches could enter the device. Food, Purina® lab chow, and water for the roaches were placed on the other end of the box.
When the cockroaches entered the contamination chamber, the conidia of the fungus attached to the roaches, the conidia germinated and invaded the body of the cockroach, and the roaches died.
The mortality of the roaches was tallied every week for six weeks. The results of this study are presented in Table 1 and clearly demonstrate the efficacy of the devices for all of the developmental stages of the German cockroach.
TABLE 1______________________________________% Death of Roaches infected withM. anisopliae. Strain PA-2Weeks AfterExposing theRoaches to the Percent Cockroach SurvivalContamination Developmental StageChamber Third Sixth Adult______________________________________2 85 95 803 80 60 604 60 45 456 15 10 5______________________________________
Survival of the control population of cockroaches was greater than 90 percent. This strain of fungus, Metarhizium anisopliae Strain PA-2, was originally selected by exposing cockroaches to Metarhizium anisopliae, isolating the fungus from dead cockroaches and culturing the fungus in artificial culture medium.
EXAMPLE 2
Long Term Killing of Roaches by Fungal Contamination and Infection
This study demonstrates that the devices of the present invention are effective in maintaining an active entomopathogenic fungal culture over a long period of time and that the fungal spores in the contamination chamber remain infective to cockroaches for many weeks. From a practical perspective, the importance of this study is that it demonstrates that the chambers are useful over a commercially acceptable period.
As in the preceding study, contamination chambers were placed in plastic boxes containing cockroaches at different developmental stages. At the third week and sixth week, the contamination chambers were transferred to fresh boxes containing 20 different (uninfected) German cockroaches of the corresponding developmental stage. Cockroach mortality in each box in which a chamber was placed was tallied at weekly intervals for six weeks. The results of this study appear in Table 2.
TABLE 2______________________________________Effective Lifetime of ContaminationChambers.Age of Weeks After % Cockroach SurvivalChamber Exposure to Instar ExposedWeeks Chamber III VI Adults______________________________________0 2 95 90 98 3 80 23 73 4 60 10 50 6 58 10 33 2 95 80 83 3 90 30 58 4 85 18 40 6 58 3 186 2 88 65 55 3 88 45 45 4 60 10 10 6 13 5 0______________________________________
The survival of control cockroaches in all cases was greater than 90 percent.
As it can be concluded from this study, the effectiveness of the contamination chamber in reducing roach populations was the same when the chambers were freshly made (age 0 weeks) as when the chambers were three to six weeks old. For example, sixth instar roaches, after being exposed to six week old chambers, exhibited essentially the same percent survival as roaches exposed to new chambers (0 weeks old). These results establish that the chambers maintain their killing power for greater than six weeks, indicating that the chambers can be used to significantly reduce roach populations for at least six weeks.
EXAMPLE 3
Effectiveness of the Addition of a Roach Attractant to the Contamination Chamber
This study was to ascertain whether the effectiveness of the contamination chamber killing cockroaches could be improved by introducing a cockroach attractant into the chamber. Two attractants were tested, banana extract and Purina® laboratory chow. The attractants were placed on the floor of the contamination chamber.
The methodology followed for this study is as outlined in Examples 1 and 2, with results shown for adult German cockroaches in FIG. 4. The results establish that the addition of a cockroach attractant to contamination chambers further increases cockroach mortality relative to chambers to which no attractant had been added.
EXAMPLE 4
Infection and Death of Periplaneta americana with Metarhizium anisopliae Strain PA-2
The methodology for this study is similar to that utilized for the studies of examples 1, 2, and 3, except that Periplaneta americana (American cockroach) were used as the test insects and moist sponges were placed in the boxes to provide a higher relative humidity, enhancing the activity of the fungus on the cockroaches.
The results are shown in Table 3.
TABLE 3______________________________________Effect of M. anisopliae strain PA-2infection on survival of periplaneta americana.Weeks After Exposingthe Cockroaches to Percent Cockroach Survivalthe Chamber (%)______________________________________1 702 253 15______________________________________
The survival of control roaches was greater than 90 percent.
The preceding studies demonstrated that, using the appropriate device, cockroaches can be infected with a strain of M. anisopliae that had been selected after passage through cockroaches. The following studies demonstrate that other entomopathogenic fungi can be used in the contamination chamber to kill cockroaches.
EXAMPLE 5
Infection and Death of Blattella germanica (German cockroach) with another M. anisopliae strain and Beauveria bassiana
This study utilized different potential pathogenic fungi, Beauveria bassiana and Paecilomyces farinosus strain 38 F-6, as well as a second strain of M. anisopliae, in the contamination chambers. Other details of this study are as described above for Example 1, using German cockroaches.
As established by the results shown in Table 4 and Table 5, Beauveria bassiana, as well as at least one other strain of M. anisopliae, are effective at infecting and killing both German and American cockroaches at the sixth instar and adult stages. However, at least one other strain of fungus, Paecilomyces farinosus strain 38 F-6, was not pathogenic for roaches under these conditions.
TABLE 4______________________________________Infection and Death of Blattella germanica(German cockroach) with M. anisopliaestrain PA-2, M. anisopliae strain 1958,Beauveria bassiana strain 252 F-9, andPaecilomyces farinosus strain 38 F-6.Percent Cockroach Survival (VI-Instar)Days AfterExposingCockroaches Fungal Strainto the Ma Ma Ma Bb PfChamber Control PA-2 RS-703 1958 252 F-9 38 F-6______________________________________ 1 100 100 100 100 100 100 4 100 100 100 100 100 10013 95 90 75 75 80 9020 95 40 65 40 75 9026 95 25 50 25 45 9029 95 50 15 15 40 85______________________________________ Ma PA2: M. anisopliae strain PA2 Ma RS703: M. anisopliae strain RS703 Ma 1958 M. anisopliae strain 1958 Bb 252 F9: Beauveria bassiana strain 252 F9 Pf 38 F6: Paceilomyces farinosus strain 38 F6
From this study, it is clear that Ma Pa-2, Ma RS-703, Ma 1958 and Bb 252 F-9 significantly reduced cockroach survival when cockroaches are infected at the sixth instar stage. It is equally clear that another entomopathogenic fungus, P. farinosus, was not effective in killing significant numbers of immature roaches.
Some of the isolates that were found to be infective to sixth instar cockroaches were also infective against adult cockroaches, as shown in Table 5.
TABLE 5______________________________________Infection and Death of Blattella germanica(German cockroach) with M. anisopliaestrain PA-2, M. anisopliae strain 1958,Beauveria bassiana strain 252 F-9Percent Cockroach Survival (Adults)Days AfterExposingCock-roaches Fungal Strainto the Con- Ma Ma Ma Bb Bb PfChamber trol PA-2 RS-703 1958 252 F-9 533-10 38 F-6______________________________________ 1 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 4 100 100 100 100 100 100 10013 100 100 100 100 95 95 10020 100 90 100 85 95 100 9526 100 45 100 35 65 100 9029 100 30 90 30 60 100 90______________________________________
It can be concluded that Ma PA-2, Ma 1958 and Bb 252 F-9 reduce survival of adult cockroaches.
In general, it is believed that the high efficacy of the method of the present invention for controlling cockroaches results from the use of a chamber that exposes the cockroaches to massive dosages of an entomopathogenic fungus in combination with the selection of the fungus from a group of normally soil-dwelling entomopathogenic fungi, to which cockroaches are not normally exposed.
There appear to be several reasons for the differences in pathogenicity to cockroaches of the various fungal strains that can be employed:
a. Specificity of attachment and germination of fungal conidia to cockroach cuticle
Entomopathogenic fungi exhibit differential ability to germinate on insect cuticles. It is likely that the above-described highly virulent fungi, M. anisopliae strains Pa-2 and 1958 and B. bassiana strain 252 F-9, find the proper stimuli on the cockroach cuticle to attach and germinate. Nonvirulent strains such as P. farinosus 38 F-6 may not find the proper attachment and germination stimuli on the cockroach's cuticle.
b. Defense reactions of the cockroaches to invading fungal hyphae
Alternatively, or in addition, it may be that the host's humoral and cellular defenses are overcome by those fungi demonstrating virulence, but not by the non-virulent fungi.
c. Differences between sporulating structures of the fungi
Another mechanism may be the production of spores by the most virulent fungi in such a manner that the spores are easily dislodged by the cockroaches when they enter into the chamber, the result being massive exposure of the cockroaches to fungal inoculum, leading to lethal infection. In contrast, strains of non-virulent fungi may sporulate in such a way that their conidia are not easily dislodged when roaches enter the chamber and rub against the conidia, leading to in a non-lethal infection.
Other strains of virulent fungi can be isolated by screening fungi for their response to various elements on the cockroach cuticle, such as soluble substances that enhance attachment and conidia germination. This selective screening provides a method for developing useful pathogen/host systems, thereby increasing the number of fungi that can be used for roach control in the contamination chamber.
The above detailed examples of the present invention demonstrate the feasibility of the administration of entomopathogens to cockroaches through contact association in the disclosed contamination chambers. The present invention provides an economical, practical, environmentally compatible, and efficient means for the biological control of cockroaches. Modifications and variations of the present invention will be obvious to those skilled in the art from the foregoing detailed description. Such modifications and variations are intended to come within the scope of the appended claims. | A convenient, economical, non-toxic and effective method and means for the control of roaches by administration of entomopathogenic fungi to the cockroaches. In the preferred embodiment, the roaches are exposed to the fungi by means of a contamination chamber having openings through which the cockroaches enter and come in contact with a living culture of a fungus which is pathogenic to cockroaches. The fungal spores attach to the roach, germinate and penetrate into the body of the cockroach, resulting in the death of the infected roach. Death takes approximately two to three weeks after contact with the culture. During this time, the infected roach disseminates spores of the pathogenic fungus throughout the infested areas which may subsequently infect other roaches. Given the proper environmental conditions, the fungus sporulates on the cadaver of the roach and the conidia can be transmitted to other cockroaches, resulting in a further spread of the disease. | 8 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-009417, filed Jan. 20, 2009, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to liquid crystal display (LCD) apparatus that is provided with color filters.
2. Description of the Related Art
In liquid crystal display (LCD) apparatus, in order to perform color display, color filters corresponding to the prescribed color components are formed in respective pixels. As the color components, red, green and blue—the three primary colors—have been used. The color filter of the red component, the color filter of the green component and the color filter of the blue component are respectively formed in that order with respect to three pixels that are arranged successively. The LCD apparatus performs color display using these three pixels as a unit. The respective color filters are formed by patterning appropriate photosensitive color resists in turn.
In the meanwhile, recently, a sub-pixel rendering technology that achieves a pseudo high resolution display using a relatively small number of pixels has been developed. In the sub-pixel rendering technology, a white color component is added to the three primary colors of red, green and blue. For example, as shown in FIG. 12 , the color filters corresponding to the respective color components are formed sequentially in four pixels that are located successively in a row, and the color filters are formed such that the same color components are shifted in position by two pixels between the adjacent two rows of pixels.
When the respective color components are arranged as shown in FIG. 12 , the four pixels that are adjacently located vertically and horizontally have four different color components. Accordingly, when the color filters for the respective color components are patterned in turn and when a misalignment and the like occur, as shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B , three or more of color filters may be overlapped at certain corners of the respective pixels (the maximum of four color filters may overlap). When such overlap occurs, because of the large difference between the thickness of the overlapped portions and that of the single color filter that is not overlapped, the injected liquid crystal layer may not achieve its target thickness, thereby causing a thickness error in the liquid crystal layer.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention aims to provide LCD apparatus that can prevent the thickness error of the liquid crystal layer, even when the color filters corresponding to mutually different color components are formed in the adjacent four pixels.
Additional or separate features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the descriptions that follow and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims thereof as well as the appended drawings.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, in one aspect, the present invention provide a liquid crystal display apparatus including a plurality of color filters for four color components arranged in a matrix correspondingly to a plurality of pixels, respectively, every group of four color filters that are arranged adjacently to each other in a first direction and in a second direction that is perpendicular to the first direction being corresponding to different four color components, wherein each of the plurality of color filters has an outer shape that has a cutout portion in each of four corners thereof, wherein the liquid crystal display apparatus further comprises a light shielding film formed in a grid shape with a plurality of first lines extending in the first direction and a plurality of second lines extending in the second direction, the light shielding film shielding edge portions of each color filter, wherein Ps≧Gs, Las=Bs−((Ps−Gs)/2), and Ps−Gs≦2·Bs are satisfied, where a pitch of the pixels in the first direction is defined as Ps, a maximum width of the color filters in the first direction is defined as Gs, a line width of the second lines is defined as Bs, and a maximum width of the cutout portions of each color filter in the first direction is defined as Las, and wherein Pd≧Gd, Lad=Bd−((Pd−Gd)/2), and Pd−Gd≦2·Bd are satisfied, where a pitch of the pixels in the second direction is defined as Pd, a maximum width of the color filters in the second direction is defined as Gd, a line width of the first lines is defined as Bd, and a maximum width of the cutout portions of each color filter in the second direction is defined as Lad.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a liquid crystal display apparatus including a first color filter for a first color component disposed in a first pixel; a second color filter for a second color component disposed in a second pixel that is located adjacent to the first pixel in a row direction; a third color filter for a third color component disposed in a third pixel that is located adjacent to the first pixel in a column direction; and a fourth color filter for a fourth color component disposed in a fourth pixel that is located adjacent to the second pixel in the column direction and adjacent to the third pixel in the row direction, wherein the first color filter has a shape in which a corner adjacent both to the second pixel and to the third pixel is cut off from a pixel shape of the first pixel, wherein the second color filter has a shape in which a corner adjacent both to the first pixel and to the fourth pixel is cut off from a pixel shape of the second pixel, wherein the third color filter has a shape in which a corner adjacent both to the first pixel and to the fourth pixel is cut off from a pixel shape of the third pixel, wherein the fourth color filter has a shape in which a corner adjacent both to the second pixel and to the third pixel is cut off from a pixel shape of the fourth pixel, wherein the liquid crystal display apparatus further includes a light shielding film formed in a grid shape with a plurality of first lines extending in the column direction and a plurality of second lines extending in the row direction, the light shielding film shielding edge portions of each color filter, wherein Ps≧Gs, Las=Bs−((Ps−Gs)/2), and Ps−Gs≦2·Bs are satisfied, where a pitch of the pixels in the column direction is defined as Ps, a maximum width of the color filters in the column direction is defined as Gs, a line width of the second lines is defined as Bs, and a maximum width of the cutout portions of each color filter in the column direction is defined as Las, and wherein Pd≧Gd, Lad=Bd−((Pd−Gd)/2), and Pd−Gd≦2·Bd are satisfied, where a pitch of the pixels in the row direction is defined as Pd, a maximum width of the color filters in the row direction is defined as Gd, a line width of the first lines is defined as Bd, and a maximum width of the cutout portions of each color filter in the row direction is defined as Lad.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a liquid crystal display apparatus including a first color filter for a first color component disposed in a first pixel; a second color filter for a second color component disposed on a second pixel that is located adjacent to the first pixel in a row direction; a third color filter for a third color component disposed in a third pixel that is located adjacent to the first pixel in a column direction; and a fourth color filter for a fourth color component located in a fourth pixel that is located adjacent to the second pixel in the column direction and adjacent to the third pixel in the row direction, wherein the first through fourth color filters are shaped so as to leave an area surrounded by the first, second, third and fourth color filters that is unoccupied by any of the first through fourth color filters, wherein the liquid crystal display apparatus further includes a light shielding film formed in a grid shape with a plurality of first lines extending in the column direction and a plurality of second lines extending in the row direction, the light shielding film shielding edge portions of each color filter, wherein Ps≧Gs, Las=Bs−((Ps−Gs)/2), and Ps−Gs≦2·Bs are satisfied, where a pitch of the pixels in the column direction is defined as Ps, a maximum width of the color filters in the column direction is defined as Gs, a line width of the second lines is defined as Bs, and a maximum width of the cutout portions of each color filter in the column direction is defined as Las, and wherein Pd≧Gd, Lad=Bd−((Pd−Gd)/2), and Pd−Gd≦2·Bd are satisfied, where a pitch of the pixels in the row direction is defined as Pd, a maximum width of the color filters in the row direction is defined as Gd, a line width of the first lines is defined as Bd, and a maximum width of the cutout portions of each color filter in the row direction is defined as Lad.
According to these aspects of the present invention, even when the color filters corresponding to the mutually different color components are formed in the adjacent four pixels, an occurrence of the thickness error of the liquid crystal layer can be prevented.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory, and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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 is a cross-section view showing a principal part of an LCD apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory figure for a shape of a seal material in plan view.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory figure for a shape of a light shielding film in plan view.
FIG. 4 is a layout drawing of color filters of the respective color components diagram according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory plan view of a shape of the respective color filters according to the exemplary embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 6A is an explanatory figure for a method of forming various layers on a second substrate, and shows a state in which a metal film is formed on the second substrate.
FIG. 6B is an explanatory figure for the method of forming various layers on the second substrate, and shows a state in which the metal film is patterned as the light shielding film.
FIG. 6C is an explanatory figure for the forming method of the various layers on the second substrate, and shows a state in which an exposure of a blue color resist is being conducted.
FIG. 6D shows the forming method of the respective layers on the second substrate and shows a state that the blue resist is patterned as a color filter of blue component.
FIG. 6E shows the forming method of the respective layers on the second substrate and shows a state in which an exposure of a green color resist is being conducted.
FIG. 6F shows the forming method of the respective layers on the second substrate and shows a state that the green resist is patterned as a color filter of green component.
FIG. 6G shows the forming method of the respective layers on the second substrate and shows a state in which an exposure of a red color resist is being conducted.
FIG. 6H shows the forming method of the respective layers on the second substrate and shows a state that the red color resist is patterned as a color filter of red component.
FIG. 6I shows the forming method of the respective layers on the second substrate and shows a state in which an exposure of a white color resist is being conducted.
FIG. 6J shows the forming method of the respective layers on the second substrate and shows a state that the white color resist is patterned as a color filter of white component.
FIG. 6K shows the forming method of the respective layers on the second substrate and shows a state of having formed an ITO layer on the color filters for the respective color components as a common electrode.
FIG. 6L shows the forming method of the respective layers on the second substrate and shows a state that an orientation film is applied on the common electrode.
FIG. 7 is a plan view of supplemental light shielding parts according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 8A is a plan view of an exemplary variation for a shape of cutout sections according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 8B is a plan view of another exemplary variation for the shape of the cutout sections according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 9 is a cross-section view of an LCD apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 10 is a cross-section view of an LCD apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 11 is a cross-section view showing an LCD apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 12 is a layout drawing of the color filters of the respective color components in the conventional art.
FIG. 13A is a plan view depicting the respective color filters when a misalignment occurs in the conventional art.
FIG. 13B is a cross-section view taken along the line A-A′ of FIG. 13A .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Exemplary embodiments for implementing the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.
In an LCD apparatus 10 made according to an embodiment of the invention, as shown in FIG. 1 , a first substrate 11 and a second substrate 12 that are composed of a transparent material such as a glass and the like are arranged so as to face each other through a liquid crystal layer LC. As shown in FIG. 2 , the first substrate 11 and the second substrate 12 are bonded to each other with a seal material 13 that is in an approximately rectangular frame shape. The liquid crystal layer LC is formed by encapsulating a liquid crystal in a region surrounded by the seal material 13 . The liquid crystal layer LC is set up at a layer thickness of, for example, 4.0 μm.
In FIG. 1 , on a surface of the first substrate 11 facing the second substrate 12 , pixel electrodes 14 that are composed of a transparent conductive film (ITO film, etc.) are formed in respective pixels Pix. The respective pixel electrodes 14 are electrically connected to thin film transistors (TFTs) 16 , which are located on a lower layer side than the pixel electrodes 14 as switching elements, via insulation films 15 . In addition, on an upper layer side (the liquid crystal layer side) of the pixels electrodes 14 , an orientation film 20 that prescribes the initial orientation state of liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer LC is formed so as to cover the pixel electrodes 14 .
Meanwhile, on a surface of the second substrate 12 facing the first substrate 11 , as shown in FIG. 3 , a light shielding film 18 is formed as a grid-like black matrix so that openings 18 m thereof correspond to respective positions of the pixel electrodes 14 . On an upper layer side of the light shielding film 18 , color filters 17 for the prescribed color components are formed for the respective pixels Pix.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4 , a color filter of red component 17 r , a color filter of green component 17 g , a color filter of blue component 17 b and a color filter of white component 17 w are arranged in that order in successive four pixels Pix disposed in a row, and theses four color filters are repeated every four pixels. Between the adjacent two rows, the same color components are shifted by two pixels. That is, a pixel Pixr in which the color filter of red component 17 r is formed displays a brightness based upon the pixel data corresponding to the red component, a pixel Pixg in which the color filter of green component 17 g is formed displays a brightness based upon the pixel data corresponding to the green component, a pixel Pixb in which the color filter of blue component 17 b is formed displays a brightness based upon the pixel data corresponding to the blue component, and a pixel Pixw in which the color filter of white component 17 w is formed displays a brightness based upon the pixel data corresponding to the white component.
As shown in FIG. 3 , in the light shielding film 18 , among grid lines that form the respective grids, grid lines L 1 that extend in the direction of pixel columns (i.e., in the vertical direction) have a prescribed width Bd. Grid lines L 2 that extend in the direction of pixel rows (i.e., in the horizontal direction) have a prescribed width Bs.
In addition, the color filters 17 in the respective pixels Pix are formed so that the outline thereof has a generally rectangular shape with each of the four corners being cut off (e.g., octagon shape). Specifically, the respective color filters 17 are formed so that the width Gs in the vertical direction (the largest width in the vertical direction) is equal to the vertical pitch Ps of the pixels that are arranged in the vertical direction. Similarly, the respective color filters 17 are formed so that the width Gd in the horizontal direction (the largest width in the horizontal direction) is equal to the horizontal pitch Pd of the pixels that are arranged in the horizontal direction. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5 , in this example, the side Lad of the cutout section La, which forms a right triangular, in the horizontal direction (the largest width in the horizontal direction of the cut-out portion La of the color filter), is set to be equal to the width Bd of the grid lines L 1 , and the side Las of the cutout section La in the vertical direction (the largest width in the vertical direction of the cut-out portion La of the color filter) is set to be equal to the width Bs of the grid lines L 2 .
Turning to FIG. 1 , on the upper layer side (on the liquid crystal layer side) of the respective color filters 17 , a common electrode 19 , which receives a voltage common to all of the pixels Pix, is formed. In addition, on the upper layer side of the common electrode 19 , similarly to the surface of the first substrate 11 , an orientation film 21 that prescribes an initial orientation state of liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer LC is formed.
A method for forming the respective layers on the second substrate 12 will now be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 6A-6L .
At first, a metal film 23 , such as an aluminum alloy, chromium or the like, is formed on the second substrate 12 using a sputtering method in a thickness of 0.1 μm, for example ( FIG. 6A ). Then, by patterning the metal film 23 by photolithography using a photo resist, the above-described light shielding film 18 is formed ( FIG. 6B ).
Next, a blue color resist 24 b with a blue pigment is applied by spin coating so as to cover the light shielding film 18 in a thickness of 1.5 μm, for example, and parts of the blue color resist 24 b that are at positions corresponding to the pixels Pixb for the blue component are exposed by using a photo mask 25 b having a prescribed pattern ( FIG. 6C ). Then, the color filters of blue component 17 b are formed by developing the exposed blue color resist 24 b with a prescribed developer ( FIG. 6D ).
Next, a green color resist 24 g with a green pigment is applied by spin coating so as to cover the light shielding film 18 in a thickness of 1.5 μm, for example, and parts of the green color resist 24 g that are at positions corresponding to the pixels Pixg for the green component are exposed by using a photo mask 25 g having a prescribed pattern ( FIG. 6E ). Then, the color filters of green component 17 g are formed by developing the green color resist 24 g with a prescribed developer ( FIG. 6F ).
Next, a red color resist 24 r with a red pigment is applied by spin coating so as to cover the light shielding film 18 in a thickness of 1.5 μm, for example, and parts of the red color resist 24 r that are at positions corresponding to the pixels Pixr for the red component are exposed by using a photo mask 25 r having a prescribed pattern ( FIG. 6G ). Then, the color filters of red component 17 r are formed by developing the red color resist 24 r with a prescribed developer ( FIG. 6H ).
Next, a resist 24 w , which is clear and colorless in the visual light range with no pigments (hereinafter referred to as a white color resist 24 w for convenience), is applied by spin coating so as to cover the light shielding film 18 in a thickness of 1.5 μm, for example, and parts of the white color resist 24 that are at positions corresponding to the pixels Pixw for the white component are exposed by using a photo mask 25 w having a prescribed pattern ( FIG. 6I ). Then, the color filters of white component 17 w are formed by developing the white color resist 24 w with a prescribed developer ( FIG. 6J ).
As a matter of design, the color filters 17 for the respective color components are formed on the light shielding film 18 such that the boundaries of the adjacent color filters 17 —that is, the edge portions of the respective color filters 17 —are located at the center of the grid lines L 1 , L 2 . In this case, by prescribing the above-described relationship among various dimensions Bd, Bs, Gd, Gs of the grid lines L 1 , L 2 and color filters 17 , respectively, even if one or more of the color filters 17 are misaligned relative to the light shielding film 18 up to a half of the widths of the grid lines L 1 , L 2 , respectively, due to an alignment error or the like, adverse impact on display quality, such as a color deviation and the like, can be substantially prevented.
Furthermore, by forming the outline of the respective color filters 17 to be a generally rectangular shape with the four corners being cut off as described above (e.g., octagon shape), even if different amounts of misalignment occur for the respective color filters 17 relative to the light shielding film 18 , if the misalignment is within the range of the above-described tolerance, an overlap of three or four of the color filters 17 r , 17 g , 17 b , 17 w at the corners can be prevented. Thus, the thickness error of the liquid crystal layer due to the excessive overlap of the color filters can also be effectively prevented.
Here, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 7 , at the respective intersections of the grid lines L 1 and the grid lines L 2 of the light shielding film 18 , it is preferable to form supplemental shielding sections Lb whose shape corresponds to that of the cutoff sections La of the respective color filters 17 . In this case, if the misalignment is within the range of the above-described tolerance, it is possible to avoid creating areas of no color filter inside the openings 18 m of light shielding film 18 . Therefore, adverse impact on display quality, such as the color deviation and the like, due to the cut-out portions can be further prevented.
On the color filters 17 of the respective color components, an ITO film that is used as the common electrode 19 is formed by sputtering so as to cover the respective color filters 17 in a thickness of 0.1 μm, for example ( FIG. 6K ). In this case, it is preferable to form the ITO by sputtering through a deposition mask, which has an opening corresponding to the entire display area and has a shielding portion corresponding to the non-display area, without using photolithography.
Then, an orientation film 21 is coated on the common electrode 19 by a press printing method so as to cover the common electrode 19 in a thickness of 50 nm, for example ( FIG. 6L ).
In the above-described exemplary embodiment, a structure in which the color filters 17 have cutout sections La of a right triangle is described. Alternatively, the respective cutout sections La may substantially take the shape of a square or the like, as shown in FIG. 8A . Also, the respective cutout sections La may be in the shape of a quarter sector, as shown in FIG. 8B . In addition, the respective cutout sections La can take different shapes, respectively.
In the above-described exemplary embodiments, the structure in which the width Gs in the vertical direction of the respective color filters 17 is equal to the vertical pitch Ps of the pixels arranged in the vertical direction is described. However, the width Gs in the vertical direction of the respective color filters 17 can be set to be narrower than the pitch Ps of the pixels arranged in the vertical direction. In such a case, because spaces are provided between the adjacent color filters in the vertical direction in order to maintain the pitch for the alignment in the vertical direction of the color filters, it is preferable that the outline width Las in the vertical direction of the cutout section La be narrower than the width Bs of the grid lines L 2 by an amount that reflects a difference between the width Gs in the vertical direction of the respective color filters 17 and the vertical pitch Ps of the pixels arranged in the vertical direction. For example, it is preferable for the outline width Las to satisfy the following formula.
Las=Bs −(( Ps−Gs )/2), where Ps−Gs≦ 2· Bs
In addition, in the above-described exemplary embodiments, the structure in which the width Gd in the horizontal direction of the respective color filters 17 is equal to the horizontal pitch Pd of the pixels arranged in the horizontal direction is described. However, the width Gd in the horizontal direction of the respective color filters 17 can be set to be narrower than the horizontal pitch Pd of the pixels arranged in the horizontal direction. In such a case, it is preferable that the outline width Lad in the horizontal direction of the cutout section La be made narrower than the width Bd of the grid lines L 1 by an amount that reflects a difference between the width Gd in the horizontal direction of the color filters 17 and the horizontal pitch Pd of the pixels arranged in the horizontal direction. For example, it is preferable for the outside width Lad to satisfy the following formula.
Lad=Bd −(( Pd−Gd )/2), where Pd−Gd≦ 2· Bd
Other empirically or theoretically determined relationships among these dimensions may also be appropriate depending on particular needs and other factors, such as the shape of pixel electrodes, the shape of pixels, and the areas occupied by TFTs.
The above-described exemplary embodiments had a structure in which the thickness of each color filter is the same among the color filters 17 for various color components and in which the thickness of the liquid crystal layer is substantially the same under the respective color components. Alternatively, the thickness of the liquid crystal layer may be made to differ among the color components. That is, because the birefringence of liquid crystal differs with light wavelengths, by adjusting the thickness of the liquid crystal layer by appropriately setting the thickness of color filters and/or the thickness of transparent films, the pixels can be formed so that the retardation (a product of the birefringence of liquid crystal and the thickness of liquid crystal) of the liquid crystal becomes equal among the pixels of the different color components.
For example, as a first exemplary variation of the above-described structure, when the birefringence of the liquid crystal becomes larger for shorter wavelengths in the visual light range and becomes smaller for longer wavelength, as shown in FIG. 9 , the respective thicknesses of the color filters of red component 17 r , the color filters of green component 17 g and the color filters of blue component 17 b can be formed such that that the corresponding thickness of the liquid crystal layer LC becomes thinner in the order of the pixel Pixr corresponding to the red component, the pixel Pixg corresponding to the green component and the pixel Pixb corresponding to the blue component. That is, the thickness of the corresponding color filter becomes thicker in the ascending order of the color filter of red component 17 r , the color filter of green component 17 g and the color filter of blue component 17 b . In this case, it is preferable that the pixel Pixw for the white component is formed so that the thickness of the liquid crystal layer therein becomes equal to that of the liquid crystal layer in the pixel Pixg corresponding to the green component, which is the color component to which human eyes are most sensitive. Thus, it is preferable that the thickness of the color filters of white component 17 w be equal to that of the color filter of green component 17 g.
As a second exemplary variation of the above-described structures, as shown in FIG. 10 , after forming the respective color filters 17 to the same thickness, transparent films 26 having various thicknesses are formed on the color filters. The transparent films 26 are not formed on the color filters of red components 17 r , and the transparent films 26 are formed such that the thickness thereof becomes thicker in the ascending order of the transparent film 26 g on the color filters of green component 17 g and the transparent film 26 b on the color filters of blue component 17 b . It is preferable that the thickness of the transparent films 26 w on the color filters of white component 17 w be equal to that of the transparent films 26 g on the color filters of green component 17 g for the same reason as the first exemplary variation. In this case, because the transparent films 26 g on the color filters of green component 17 g and the transparent films 26 w on the color filters of white component 17 w can be formed in stripes at once, the increase in the number of major process steps required for the formation of the color filter substrate is limited to two. In addition, because the transparent films 26 g , 26 b and 26 w on the color filters cannot be triply overlapped, the transparent films 26 on the color filters are not required to have cutout sections.
As a third exemplary variation of the above-described structures, as shown in FIG. 11 , transparent films 27 having various thicknesses are formed on the first substrate 11 (i.e., the TFT substrate). In this case, the thickness of the respective color filters 17 on the second substrate 12 is equal among the various color components. The transparent films 27 are not formed on surfaces opposite to the red color filters 17 r , and the thickness of the transparent films 27 becomes thicker in the ascending order of the transparent films 27 g opposite to the green color filters 17 g and the transparent films 27 b opposite to the blue color filters 17 b . It is preferable that the thickness of the transparent films 27 w opposite to the while color filters 17 w be equal to that of the transparent films 27 g for the same reason as the first exemplary variation. In this case, it is preferable that the transparent films 27 be formed on a layer lower than the pixel electrodes 14 (on a side opposite to the liquid crystal layer). In addition, because the transparent films 27 g opposite to the green color filters 17 g and the transparent film 27 w opposite to the white color filters 17 w can be formed in stripes at once, the increase in the number of major process steps required for the formation of the TFT substrate can be limited to two.
In the above-described embodiments, structures in which the light shielding film 18 and the color filters 17 are formed on the second substrate 12 , which is different from the first substrate 11 on which the TFTs 16 are formed are described. Alternatively, the light shielding film 18 and the color filters 17 may be formed on the substrate on which TFTs 16 are formed. In such a case, it is preferable that the light shielding film 18 and the color filters 17 be formed on a side lower than the pixel electrodes 14 (on a side opposite to the liquid crystal layer).
Furthermore, in the above-described embodiments, the color filters for the color components are formed in the order of the blue component, the green component, the red component and the white component. However, the present invention is not limited to this order, but may be implemented with other arrangements/orders. Furthermore, when the color filters having the different thicknesses are formed, it is preferable that the color filters be formed in the order of the thinner to thicker color filters. This is because the thicker color filter(s) can be easily coated on the thinner color filter.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modification and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations that come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents. | A liquid crystal display apparatus includes a plurality of color filters for four color components arranged in a matrix correspondingly to a plurality of pixels, respectively, every group of four color filters that are arranged adjacently in horizontal and vertical directions being corresponding to different four color components, wherein each of the plurality of color filters has a generally rectangular shape that has a cutout portion in each of four corners thereof. | 6 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to solenoid operated fluid valves and more particularly to electronic circuitry for controlling the operation of such valves.
Commercially available single-acting, solenoid operated valves normally have two external circuit connections for each coil including a source or positive connection and a ground connection. In a double-acting valve there are normally two solenoid coils with appropriate connections provided.
Production machines frequently utilize several such valves. For example, in double flier armature winding machines there may be on the order of 15-20 solenoid operated fluid valves. Conventionally the valves are remote from the circuitry which controls the energization of the valves.
Increased reliability, ease of maintenance and economies of manufacture are among benefits that can be obtained by converting the more conventional control circuits for machines such as automatic armature winding machines to circuits utilizing solid state components including integrated circuit control logic. To minimize the power required to operate such machines it is desirable that the valve controls or the like be operated at minimal power levels. However, noise resulting from the operation of the various components of the machine and especially the voltage spikes created upon collapse of the solenoid coils, if transmitted from the valves to the control circuit elements, may cause ill-timed or unwanted operation of one or more of the valves.
Another problem experienced primarily with AC operated double-acting valves is that both coils within the valve housing may be inadvertently simultaneously energized. As a result the coils of such valves are often burned out.
The primary object of this invention is to provide an improved solenoid operated fluid valve especially adapted for use with solid state control systems in production machinery or the like wherein a number of such valves are used. The following patents are considered to be reasonably representative of the prior art relating to such valves:
3,790,127 3,709,2533,659,631 3,580,5042,599,862 2,759,429
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with this invention a transient suppression network and driver switching circuitry are fixed relative to the housing of each valve. Preferably the circuitry is mounted on the valve housing so that the valve may be made available as a commercial product which can be connected with minimal connection to an external voltage source and external control logic. In perhaps its simplest form a DC operated solenoid having only a single coil located in the valve housing will be connected in series to a switching transistor also located in the housing and a transient suppression diode would be placed in parallel with either the solenoid coil or the transistor. If the transistor is grounded to the housing the only external connections needed would be the voltage source connection and a connection for coupling the base of the transistor to the control logic.
A preferred embodiment of a double-acting DC operated solenoid valve further includes a selector network, also fixed to the valve housing, to insure that only one solenoid coil could be switched on at any given point in time. A simple selector network for DC operation could include two transistors connected in mutually parallel relation, one each being in series relation between the aforementioned switching transistor and one solenoid coil and the other being connected in series relation between the same switching transistor and the other solenoid coil, and an inverter circuit connecting the bases of the last mentioned transistors.
The same concept can be utilized in AC operated solenoid valves which in its simplest form could incorporate a triac or other thyristor in series relation to the solenoid coil and an RC transient suppression network. However, in a valve having two solenoid coils, to insure that both solenoids will not be operated at the same time, a selector network is preferably provided within the valve housing. The selector network circuitry may include AND gates operative to control the thyristor gating current and an inverter between the AND gates. The AC circuit preferably also includes other circuit components fixed relative to the valve housing for switching or enabling operation of the selected solenoid, the circuitry within the valve housing being designed to produce minimal noise as well as suppress external noise that may enter the circuit.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a diagram of solenoid operated fluid valves and control circuitry for use therewith in a production machine or the like.
FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view of a single-acting DC operated solenoid valve in accordance with this invention.
FIG. 3 is a preferred embodiment of a double-acting DC operated solenoid valve in accordance with this invention.
FIG. 4 is a preferred form of an AC operated double-acting solenoid fluid valve made in accordance with this invention.
FIG. 5 illustrates the manner in which a solenoid operated valve with the circuitry of FIG. 3 may be fixed relative to the valve housing and external circuit connections conveniently made.
FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 but embodying modifications as to the mechanical and electrical construction of the valve.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
With reference to FIG. 1, three double acting solenoid operated valves designated V 1 , V 2 and V 3 are shown connected by circuits 10, 12 and 14 to the machine control logic which preferably would be low power integrated circuit logic. The logic is controlled in part by sensors which sense the operation of various devices including those devices that are controlled by valves such as the valves V 1 , V 2 and V 3 . In a typical production machine there may be ten to thirty or more such valves. Because of the well known voltage spikes resulting from collapse of the fields around the solenoid coils within the valve housings, there normally is considerable electrical noise or spurious signals within the circuitry such as 10, 12 and 14. Such voltage spikes are normally at levels vastly greater than the signals which would be generated by the control logic to operate the valves. It is not at all uncommon, especially when using devices which are operated by relatively low power level signals, for the noise level to be so high that the spurious signals generated as a result of mutual inductance of, say, the circuits 10 and 12 would cause accidental energization or de-energization of one or more valves.
FIG. 2 illustrates a valve generally designated 16 made in accordance with this invention constructed to create minimal noise in the circuitry between the valve and the control logic. The valve 16 includes a housing 18 for the valve operating solenoid 20. A source of positive DC voltage, designated B+, is connected to the housing through any suitable connector 22 at or on the housing which in turn is connected by a line 24 to one side of the solenoid 20. The other side of the solenoid 20 is connected in series relation to the collector of a transistor 26. The emitter of the transistor 26 is connected to ground. The ground connection can be made through another line (not shown) to a connector at the housing 18 or preferably, and as illustrated, is ground connected to the housing 18 which, in use, would be mounted on and grounded to the machine bed. A suppression network is also provided consisting in this case simply of a diode 28 connected across the solenoid 20.
The operation of the valve 16 is apparent upon inspection. As indicated by the waveform 30 in the external conductor or line 32 from the control logic, a simple low level pulse just sufficient to render the collector and emitter electrodes of the transistor 26 conductive by biasing its control electrode or base positive is all that is needed to energize the solenoid 20. The line 32 would typically be connected to ground at the control logic except when the low level pulse is generated. Therefore the line 32 is a low impedance line which will be relatively unaffected by noise. That is, little ringing will be experienced in line 32. Experiments establish that solenoids 20 which can be operated from a 12 volt battery source will in the absence of the diode 28 produce voltage spikes on the order of 400 volts. Using a diode to suppress the spikes or transients, the momentary voltage increase resulting from de-energization of the solenoid 20 will be on the order of one volt. It is thus seen that with the circuitry including the diode 28 and the transistor 26 fixed to the valve housing 18 makes it possible to connect the control for the solenoid 20 to the control logic with low impedance, substantially noise free lines. The voltage spikes or transients that otherwise could deleteriously effect the control logic as well as adjacent circuit connections to other valves are for all practical purposes isolated within the valve housing 18.
Here it may be noted that the valve 16 may be of the type illustrated wherein the pulse illustrated by the waveform 30 is all that is required to energize the solenoid. Alternatively the valve 16 may be of the type wherein a conduction through the solenoid 20 need be maintained over a relatively long period of time in which event a constant positive DC potential may be applied to the base of the transistor 26 by the control logic.
In FIG. 3 is illustrated a double-acting valve 38 having a housing 40 encasing a first valve controlling solenoid 42 and a second valve controlling solenoid 44, having, across each, a suppressor network consisting respectively of diodes 46 and 48. The circuitry within the valve housing 40 of FIG. 3 further includes a selector network comprising a first transistor 50 in series with the solenoid 42 and a second transistor 52 in series with the solenoid 44. The emitter terminals of the transistors 50 and 52 are at a common point connected to an enabling or switching transistor 54, the emitter of which is grounded to the housing 40. The selector network further includes an inverter 56, one end of which is connected by a conductor 58 to the base of the transistor 50 and the other end of which is connected by a conductor 60 to the base of the transistor 52. The selector network is controlled from the control logic through an external conductor 62. As indicated by the waveform 64, the control logic maintains the conductor 62 at one of two logic levels at all times, these being represented by a "0" logic level and a "1" logic level. Those familiar with the art will readily appreciate that one of the transistors 50,52 will be biased to a conductive state at one of the logic levels and the other of the transistors 50,52 biased to a conductive state at the other of the logic levels. When one of the transistors 50,52 is biased to a conductive state, the other is biased to a non-conductive state. Thus the selector network comprising the transistors 50 and 52, the inverter 56 and the conductors connecting the bases of the transistors 50 and 52 in series with the inverter 56 functions to preclude accidental simultaneous operation of both solenoids 42 and 44. Further it permits the control logic to operate in such fashion as to preselect the desired solenoid 42 or 44 which is to be energized when the switching transistor 54 receives a pulse, the character of which is indicated by the waveform 66, from the control logic along the external enabling or switching conductor 68. Optionally a Zener diode 70 may be placed within the housing 40 in series with the base of the transistor 54 to prevent accidental operation of the transistor 54 by noise at levels lower than represented by the pulse waveform 66.
It will be observed that the external circuit connections 62 and 68 between the valve housing 40 and the control logic are low impedance conductors which, because of the low voltage drop across them would not create any significant noise to adversely effect the operation of the machine components. Also due to their low impedance, the conductors 62 and 68 would be relatively noise resistant.
FIG. 4 illustrates a valve 78 which is a double-acting AC solenoid operated valve provided with circuitry fixed relative to the valve housing 80 that is roughly equivalent to the DC circuitry of FIG. 3. The valve 78 includes a first AC solenoid 82 connected to a source line 84. The solenoid 82 is energized when a triac 86 is gated to become conductive, one main terminal electrode of the triad 86 being connected to the solenoid 82 and the other main terminal electrode being connected to a source return line 88. To prevent accidental triggering of the triac 86, a thyrector (not shown) or similar device may be included in or near the housing 80 across the source line 84 and the source return 88. Transients created by collapse of the field around the coil 82 when the triac 86 is rendered non-conductive are suppressed by a conventional suppressor network including a capacitor 90 and a resistor 92 in parallel with the triac 86.
The second solenoid, designated 94, within the housing 80 is similarly energized when a triac 96 is rendered conductive. Transients created upon de-energization of the solenoid 94 are suppressed by a suppressor network having a capacitor 98 and a resistor 100.
As those familiar with triacs are aware, a triac gated to a positive or conducting state will tend to become non-conductive during the interval of each cycle that the current passing through it approaches zero. The circuit of FIG. 4 is designed to avoid the noise which might be produced from such condition. Thus triac 86 is a slave to a pilot triac 102, one main terminal electrode of which is connected to the control electrode or gate of the triac 86 to supply sufficient gate current to maintain the triac 86 conductive. These connected terminals are isolated from the return by a resistor 104. The other main terminal electrode of the triac 102 is connected by a resistor 106 to the AC source conductor 84. The gate current of the pilot triac 102 is controlled by the output of an AND gate 108 having an input fed by a zero-crossing detector 110 connected by a resistor 112 to the AC line. The output of the zero-crossing detector could be directly connected to the gate of the pilot triac 102. The AND gate 108 is interposed in the circuit of FIG. 4 as part of the selector circuit for selecting which of the solenoids 82 and 94 will be energized at any given time, as will be more fully described below.
The zero-crossing detector 110 and the pilot triac 102 are part of the switching circuit fixed relative to the valve housing 80. The detector 110 is connected to external control logic by an external conductor 114. The output of the zero-crossing detector is also connected to the input of a second AND gate 116, the output of which controls the gate of a second pilot triac 118 having a main terminal connected to the gate of the triac 96 which is used to control the solenoid 94. The interconnected main terminal of the triac 118 and the gate of the triac 96 are isolated from the return 88 by a resistor 120. The other main terminal of the triac 118 is connected by a resistor 122 to the AC source line 84.
It will be noted that the corresponding inputs to both AND gates 108 and 116 are at equipotential points. Accordingly when the zero-crossing detector 110 is energized by a signal received through external conductor 114 from the external machine control logic, the appropriate signal will be received at the corresponding inputs of gates 108 and 116 tending to render the pilot triacs 102 and 118 and accordingly the slave triacs 86 and 96 conductive. Thus energization of the zero-crossing detector 110 tends to switch on both solenoids 82 and 94.
Selection of the desired solenoid, whether it be solenoid 82 or solenoid 94, to be energized at a given instant in time is determined by a selector network comprising an inverter 124, one end of which is connected by a conductor 126 to the second input of the AND gate 108 and the other end of which is connected by a conductor 128 to the second input of the AND gate 116. The conductor 126 is connected to the machine control logic by an external conductor 130. As apparent, a signal received through external conductor 130 tending to render the AND gate 108 conductive will, because of the inverter 124, prevent conduction through the AND gate 116. The opposite is also true; i.e., when AND gate 116 becomes conductive, AND gate 108 cannot conduct.
FIG. 4 illustrates part of the machine control logic which is external from the valve housing 80. This includes an Exclusive OR gate 132. First and second triggering conductors 134 and 136, respectively, are connected to the input of the OR gate 132. At its input to the OR gate 132, the second triggering conductor 136 is common with the external conductor 130 connected to the inverter 124. When a signal of the nature required to cause conduction of the triac 86 and thus energization of the solenoid 82 appears along the triggering conductor 136, and there is no corresponding signal in the triggering conductor 134, the zero-crossing detector 110 will be energized. At the same time, the signal in the triggering conductor 136 will be carried along the external selector conductor 130 to its input to the AND gate 108. Accordingly, the AND gate 108 becomes conductive, the triac 86 becomes conductive, and the solenoid 82 is energized. At the same time the potential at the input to the AND gate 116 of the conductor 128 is at a zero or base level whereupon the AND gate 116 cannot conduct. Therefore, the solenoid 94 is not energized. If the signal along the triggering conductor 136 is at the base level, the AND gate 108 cannot conduct but the input of the conductor 128 to the AND gate 116, due to the operation of the inverter 124, will cause conduction of the AND gate 116 when a suitable signal appears in the first triggering conductor 134.
Thus it is seen in FIG. 4 that, in addition to the source conductor 84 and the source return conductor 88, the valve 78 constructed in accordance with this invention need have only the two low impedance conductors 114 and 130 connected to the machine control logic. The conductor 130 may be considered as a selector conductor since the signals carried by it will determine which one of the AND gates 108 or 116 can become conductive. External conductor 114 may be considered to be a switching or enabling conductor since any sufficient signal occuring thereon will cause one of the AND gates to become conductive.
If miniaturized state-of-the-art components are used the circuitry described above with relation to any of the Figures 2, 3 and 4 can readily be mounted in fixed relation to its valve housing in any of a variety of ways. To provide the circuitry of FIG. 2, the diode 28 and the transistor 26 could be separately mounted upon a printed circuit board affixed to or within the valve housing. Alternatively two transistors, one of them having its base and collector shorted to form the diode 28, could be encased within the housing. A convenient construction to affix the circuit components of FIG. 3 relative to the housing 40 would be to use a dual in-line plug (not shown) having an array of six transistors. Three of the transistors would correspond to transistors 50, 52 and 54. Two of them would have their base and collector shorted to form the diodes 46 and 48. The sixth transistor could be used with a resistor (not shown) to form the inverter 56. The dual in-line package could be associated optionally with another transistor having its collector and emitter shorted to form the Zener 70.
The circuitry of FIG. 4 would unquestionably be bulkier to incorporate in fixed relation to the valve housing 80 than is the case of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Again, however, using miniaturized components the entire circuitry as shown within housing 80 in FIG. 4 could be cased within or directly upon the housing and require little or no additional space.
As an example of a packaging configuration, FIG. 5 illustrates the valve housing 40 which consists of a main valve housing portion 140 and end housing portions 142 and 144 for the solenoids 42 and 44, respectively. Mounted within or within the main valve housing 140 is a printed circuit board 146. The operation of the valve 40 is controlled from the control logic through a three conductor cable attached by a connector 150 to the main housing portion 140. The three conductors extending from the control logic to the connector 150 are the B+ conductor, the selector conductor 62, and the switching or enabling conductor 68. The components mounted on the printed circuit board 146 are not shown, these being the elements 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56 and 70 shown in FIG. 3.
FIG. 6 shows a valve construction similar to FIG. 5, but in FIG. 6 the two solenoids, designated 20a and 20b, within the housing parts designated 152 and 154, respectively, are separately controlled by the control logic. In such event a printed circuit board, designated 156, may be located in the housing part 152 to provide a mounting for the transistor 26 and the diode 28 shown in FIG. 2, this board being connected by the B+ line and conductor 32 to the control logic through a connector 158. The solenoid 20b within housing part 154 is controlled by components (not shown) on a printed circuit board 160 in exactly the same manner as the solenoid 20a within the housing 152. Again there are two lines including the B+ line extended to a connector, designated 162, for the board 160. The other line, which corresponds to conductor 32, is designated as conductor 164.
The mechanical construction and operation of the valves described above may take any of several forms and be entirely conventional but for the circuit components described above. In general the solenoids can be used to control pilot valves or valve stems or to trigger the operation of the valve by air or other fluid. Because of the packaging of the electrical components as discussed above, extremely low power operation can be used to control numerous valves in a machine. The valves are ideally suited for integrated circuit logic control since the current required to control the operation of the selector and the enabling or switching circuits need be no more than a few milliamps and since the effects of noise and production of noise are minimal.
Although the preferred embodiments of this invention have been described, it will be understood that within the purview of this invention various changes may be made within the scope of the appended claims. | By incorporating driver switching circuitry and a suppression network as parts fixed with respect to a valve housing rather than remotely from the valve housing, advantages including transient suppression at the housing are obtained rendering the valve better suited for low power machine control operation. Both AC and DC operated valves with driver switching circuits and suppression networks are disclosed. | 7 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to the field of seating and in particular to a chair in which the seat and seat back move in concert to provide a reclining position for the user.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
There is an ever-present need for economical and temporary seating space that is typically satisfied by the provision of low cost stackable chairs. The use of low to moderate cost stacking chairs is well known in the art. However, such chairs are designed not with comfort or ergonomics in mind, but rather to provide a large quantity of temporary seats for occasional use, which can ordinarily be stored and take up minimal storage space.
Recent years have brought a growing interest in the development of such chairs based on ergonomic designs intended to promote a sitting posture with a maximum of comfort. One aspect of comfort is the ability to adjust the back of the chair to suit the user. Unfortunately, most stacking chairs do not provide any adjustment capabilities and the ones that do merely provide limited flexibility in the seat back portion with little ergonomic benefit. On the other hand, home and office chairs have been produced in a variety of ergonomic designs that have mechanisms for moving the backs of the chairs into a reclining position.
Chairs featuring the ability to adjust for certain preferences of the user relating to seat height, reclining range, and the like are also well known in the art. These features are accompanied by complexity of manufacture and require the use of expensive and complicated mechanisms that are cumbersome or awkward to adjust and may be subject to malfunction. Such chairs are not suitable for stacking nor use for temporary seating.
In the prior art, U.S. Pat. No. 5,944,382 to Ambasz features a chair providing movement of both the seat and seat back. The Ambasz chair features a slideable seat and also a moveable seat back. There is a separate lumbar section between the seat bottom and the seat back making a three-part seat assembly. The seat bottom has a pair of sockets that fit over seat supporting portions of the seat frame to allow the seat bottom to slide forward and aft. The seat back slides up and down and also tilts to the rear to recline. The seat back is mounted on an articulated linkage that includes springs between the seat back and the upper portion of the linkage to bias the seat back in the upward position. Bellows members connect the seat bottom and the lumbar section and the seat back together. The Ambasz design typifies the complexity and expense of most ergonomic chair designs. Moreover, the Ambasz chair does not lend itself to stacking for storage.
One attempt to marry ergonomics with economics is shown in U.S. Pat. No. RE36,335 to Perry, which discloses a chair having a flexible frame to achieve partial reclining of the seat back. The seat back interconnects the ends of a continuous chair frame with one end projecting upward from the rear legs to the seat back and the other projecting upward from the rear of the seat to the seat back. This two-point connection to the seat back along with curved frame members through the seat back allows limited pivoting of the seat back and also limits pivoting of the seat back. The chair is stackable but of limited comfort, lacking the natural feel provided in a chair having coordinated movement between the seat and seat back.
A need has remained for a chair combining the benefits ergonomic design in a low cost and stackable chair.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly describing one aspect of the invention, a chair featuring a movable seat bottom and seat back is provided. The seat bottom and seat back move in concert between an upright position and a reclined position. The chair includes a frame having a seat bottom support portion and a seat back support portion. In one embodiment, the seat bottom support portion includes a pair of side support members on which the seat bottom is slidably supported. The seat back support portion includes a transverse member to which the seat back is pivotably connected. In one aspect of the invention, this pivotable connection can be accomplished by a plurality of hooks that are preferably molded into the seat back.
The seat bottom and seat back are connected to each other in a manner that allows the seat bottom to slide forward and the seat back to recline in response to the natural forward movement of the seated user's pelvis along with pressure on the seat back from the user. With this feature, the pivotable connection of the seat back to the support frame allows the frame to act as a fulcrum. Specifically, as force is applied to an upper portion of the seat back, the back pivots about the frame, thereby exerting a force on the seat bottom, causing the bottom to slide along the seat bottom support.
In a preferred embodiment, the seat bottom and seat back are most preferably a one-piece molded plastic shell having a resilient intermediate portion interconnecting the seat bottom and seat back. The intermediate portion operates primarily as a deformable and resilient hinge. Secondarily, the resilient intermediate portion can act as a force transmitting element that translates the pivoting movement of the seat back into a fore and aft force on the seat bottom. The natural characteristics of the plastic shell causes it to rebound to the original position without the use of any mechanical devices as the user brings herself back to the non-reclined position or rises out of the chair.
In certain features, the resilient intermediate portion forms a slack region that exhibits a first curvature when the seat is in an original, non-reclined orientation. When the user reclines, the seat back pivots, the seat bottom slides, and the intermediate slack region deforms to a different second curvature. The resilient intermediate region is configured to allow the user to easily recline the seat by leaning back against the pivotable seat back, while the seat back maintains support for the user's back at any angle of recline.
The invention further contemplates the use of rail members and slide blocks to effect sliding of the seat bottom. In one preferred aspect, the upper portions of multiple slide blocks are integral with the underside of the seat bottom. Lower portions of the slide blocks can be combined to form a channel slidably surrounding a corresponding one of the rail members. Stops can be provided at opposite ends of the rail members to limit the fore and aft movement of the seat bottom relative to the seat frame.
In one embodiment of the invention, the chair is provided with legs configured to facilitate stacking, while still retaining the pivoting seat back and sliding seat bottom features. In an alternative embodiment, the chair can be provided with a castered pedestal base for ease of movement. Similarly, the chair can be provided with or without arms. In certain armchair versions, the arms project from the back frame at a slight outward angle and with a slight curvature to provide a comfortable seating experience for the user.
Accordingly, it is one object of the invention to provide an ergonomic chair of relatively simple construction, without mechanical springs or lever devices, and at a reasonable cost. Another object is achieved by features of the invention that allow a user to easily recline the chair while the seat back maintains support for the user's back.
Another object of the invention is to provide a chair with a one-piece molded shell that can be not only reclined, but also easily stacked when not in use. These and other objects, advantages and features are accomplished according to the devices and assemblies, and methods of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a chair according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side perspective view of a chair frame for use with the embodiment of the inventive chair depicted in FIG. 1 .
FIG. 3 is a top elevational view of the chair frame shown in FIG. 2 .
FIG. 4 is a back elevational view of two chairs according to the present invention depicted in a stacked arrangement for storage.
FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the chair shown in FIG. 1 .
FIG. 6 is a rear elevational view of the chair shown in FIG. 1 .
FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of a chair according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a rear elevational view of the chair shown in FIG. 6 .
FIG. 9 is a bottom perspective view of a chair, such as the chair depicted in FIG. 1, showing the attachment of the seat bottom to the bottom frame according to one aspect of the invention.
FIG. 10 is an exploded view of a slide block assembly according to one embodiment of the invention for use in the attachment depicted in FIG. 8 .
FIG. 11 is a front perspective view of an armchair according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 12 is a top perspective view of the chair shown in FIG. 11 .
FIG. 13 is a front perspective view of a chair including armrests and a castered pedestal base according to another embodiment of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended. The invention includes any alterations and further modifications in the illustrated devices and described methods and further applications of the principles of the invention that would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.
The present invention provides a chair with a synchronously moving seat and seat back. The seat slides forward as the seat back tilts rearward to provide a reclined seating position in response to the natural forward movement of the seated user's pelvis along with the user leaning against the seat back. The resilience of the seat allows it to return to an upright seating position when the pressure on the seat back is removed.
Referring to the drawings, a chair 10 in accordance with one embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 1 . The chair 10 includes a seat assembly 11 and a frame 12 . Frame 12 , which is preferably of a metal construction such as steel, is shown in detail in FIGS. 2-3. Frame 12 includes a seat bottom support member or portion 20 , and a seat back support member or portion 16 . Seat bottom support 20 includes front and rear transverse members 22 A and 22 B respectively, and a pair of frame rails or side support members 24 . Preferably, side support members 24 are the primary elements supporting the seat bottom 32 when the seat assembly 11 is mounted on the frame 12 . Preferably, the elements of the frame 12 are of tubular construction, most particularly the frame rails or side support members 24 .
Seat back support portion 16 includes a pair of upright support members 17 , and a transverse support element 18 that interconnects the upper ends 19 A, 19 B of the upright support members 17 . Transverse support element 18 is preferably positioned at approximately the center of the seat back when the seat assembly 11 is in place on the frame 12 . As shown more clearly in FIG. 3, transverse support element 18 has a center portion 18 A that is displaced rearwardly from the upright support elements 17 in this embodiment. Right and left end sections, 18 B and 18 C extend at an angle α forward and also slightly upward from center section 18 A to connect to the upright support elements 17 and to maintain contact with shell hook members described herein. End sections 18 B and 18 C also angle forward to accommodate a curvature or concavity of the seat back 34 .
In one embodiment of the invention, as depicted in FIGS. 2 and 3, the chair is supported by front legs 13 and rear legs 15 . Preferably, front legs 13 project slightly forward and outwardly from seat bottom support portion 20 , while rear legs 15 project slightly outward and rearwardly from seat back support portion 16 . In this particular embodiment, each rear leg 15 is connected to the corresponding front leg 13 with a ground-engaging component or floor member 14 in a sled configuration. In this embodiment, each floor member 14 is integral with the corresponding rear member 15 and is welded at a weld point 14 A to the corresponding front leg 13 .
These features provide stability to the chair while in use and also allow the chair to be stacked when not in use. In one embodiment, the configuration of the legs 13 and 15 allows the chair 10 to be stacked with other similar chairs to facilitate storage, as depicted in FIG. 4 . In this embodiment, the seat assembly 11 , and particularly the seat bottom 32 has a width, and the legs 13 and 15 are flared outwardly to a width greater than the width of the seat bottom to allow the chairs to be stacked.
For certain features of the invention, the configurations of the legs 12 , 13 and floor member 14 are not critical and any suitable design is contemplated. Other suitable configurations include, but are not limited to, four-leg, cantilever and caster-based styles.
Returning now to FIG. 1, seat assembly 11 includes a seat bottom 32 and a seat back 34 . In accordance with beneficial features of the invention, seat bottom 32 is slidably engaged to frame rails 24 , while seat back 34 is pivotably supported by the transverse support element 18 . Most preferably, the seat back 34 is supported at the center section 18 A of transverse support element 18 with a plurality of connectors. The seat back 34 is positioned relative to the transverse support element 18 so that an upper portion 34 A of the seat back is situated above the support element. In this way, the user can apply pressure or force against the upper portion 34 A to recline the chair 10 , with the support element 18 acting as a fulcrum.
FIG. 3 shows a preferred angular configuration of transverse support member 18 . This geometry accommodates a concave curvature in the seat back 34 , which provides comfort for the user throughout the entire range of movement of the chair. In particular, the center section 18 A is supported by left and right sections 18 B and 18 C. FIGS. 3, 5 and 6 show the upward projection of the right and left sections 18 B and 18 C of transverse support element 18 .
In a preferred embodiment, the seat back 34 is pivotably supported on the support element 18 by way of a number of connectors 42 that engage the support element. In a preferred embodiment, these connectors are hooks 42 A and 42 B attached to the seat back 34 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. Most preferably, hooks 42 A and 42 B also are formed with stiffening ribs 42 C to add stiffness to seat back 34 . Stiffening ribs 42 C also blend hooks 42 A and 42 B into seat back 34 for a more aesthetic effect to the rear side of seat back 34 .
Center section 18 A of transverse support element 18 is a pivot axis or fulcrum about which seat back 34 can pivot or rotate to and from a reclined seating position. The hooks or connectors 42 attaching seat back 34 to the transverse support element 18 are preferably of two types. Referring to FIG. 6, hooks 42 A engage the center section 18 A with a snap-fit to limit the motion of seat back 34 to that of rotation relative to this section of transverse support element 18 . The snap-fit hooks 42 A thus help retain the seat back 32 , and ultimately the entire seat assembly 11 , engaged to the chair frame 12 . The second type of hooks, hooks 42 B supported on the angled portions 18 B and 18 C of the transverse support element 18 preferably do not clamp or snap-fit to the transverse support element 18 . Most preferably, hooks 42 B are provided with clearance to move relative to transverse support element 18 as seat back 34 rotates.
In accordance with certain features of the present invention, any suitable connector 42 is contemplated so long as the transverse element 18 is freely rotatable to ensure smooth movement of the chair. For instance, in an alternative embodiment, hooks 42 A could be replaced by mounting pad 40 mounted on seat back 34 ′, as depicted in FIGS. 7 and 8. The mounting pad 40 defines a recess 37 configured for snap-fits onto center section 18 A. Mounting pad 40 is preferably integral with seat back 34 ′ and can be used either alone or in combination with hooks 42 B on sections 18 B and 18 C of transverse support element 18 .
Referring again to FIGS. 5 and 6, seat back 34 can include a lip 35 that wraps around the upper ends 19 A, 19 B of upright support members 17 to prevent any lateral movement of the seat back relative to the frame. In addition, the peripheral lip 35 adds stiffness to the seat back 34 , particularly when the seat assembly 11 is in the form of a molded shell.
Seat assembly 14 preferably includes a resilient intermediate portion 46 which provides hinge movement, as shown most clearly in FIGS. 1, 5 and 7 . Intermediate portion 46 interconnects seat bottom 32 and seat back 34 and links relative movement between seat bottom 32 and seat back 34 . In a preferred embodiment, intermediate portion 46 includes an upper region 47 connected to the bottom portion 34 B of seat back 34 , and a slack region 48 connected to seat bottom 32 . Upper region 47 preferably exhibits a curvature that provides lumbar support to the user in both reclined and upright seating positions. Slack region 48 , also referred to as a rebound section, exhibits a slight rearwardly curved projection that provides slack in the seat material. This slack is taken up as the seat bottom 32 slides forward on the rails 24 , without being lifted from the seat frame 20 . Referring specifically to FIG. 5, the intermediate portion 46 is resiliently deformable and exhibits a first curvature in an original position of the slack region 48 . As the seat is reclined, the intermediate portion deforms to a different second curvature, as the slack portion is slightly flattened out.
As shown most clearly in FIG. 6, intermediate portion 46 preferably has a nominal width W 2 that is less than the width W 1 of seat back 34 . This reduced width is most advantageous when the seat back 34 has a concave curvature to provide adequate clearance for a person sitting in the chair. Of course, the relationship between the two widths is not critical, and W 2 may equal or exceed W 1 .
Preferably, seat assembly 14 will be composed of a resilient material at intermediate portion 46 . Most preferably, seat assembly 14 is a one-piece shell made from a resilient material, such as polypropylene or other similar materials. However, it is important that the intermediate portion be able to withstand repeated flexing or deformation as the seat is reclined and then returned to its upright position. Most preferably, the intermediate portion 46 is not only resilient, but also sufficiently stiff to transmit force, generated by the pivoting movement of the seat back 34 to the seat bottom 32 . This transmitted force can assist the sliding movement of the seat bottom along the frame 12 and assist the return of the seat bottom to its original non-reclined position.
Seat assembly 11 preferably includes at least one slide block 38 connecting seat bottom 32 to frame rails 24 , as shown in FIGS. 5, 9 and 10 . One version of slide block 38 is shown in detail in FIG. 10 . Slide block 38 has an upper portion 52 connected to a lower surface 32 A of seat bottom 32 (FIG. 9) and a lower portion 54 . Suitable fasteners such as screws 57 connect these two portions 52 , 54 via threaded holes. In this particular embodiment, lower portion 54 can define a pair of through-holes 54 A for inserting screws 57 to engage corresponding holes (not shown) in upper portion 52 . The corresponding holes can be, for example, threaded or self-threading.
Each portion 52 , 54 of the slide block 38 defines a channel 58 or upper and lower portions of a bore configured to receive a frame rail member 24 . In a preferred embodiment, each half of the slide block 52 , 54 also includes a self-lubricating bushing 56 inserted into channels 58 . The shape of bushings 56 correspond to that of channels 58 . Bushings 56 provide bearing surfaces 60 to reduce friction as the seat bottom 32 slides along the side support members 24 . In one particular embodiment, tabs 55 projecting from bushings 56 are receivable in corresponding slots 59 in the slide block upper and lower portions 52 , 54 to lock the bushings 56 in position. Tabs 55 are preferably positioned to form an angle of less than about 90°, with a most preferred angle of about 45°. Bushings 56 are preferably made of a material such as polyamide resin, which is preferably harder than the material of the chair seat assembly 11 or the slide block 38 bodies.
In a preferred embodiment, the upper portion 52 of the slide block 38 can be made integral with the lower surface 32 A of seat bottom 32 . In this embodiment, the side support members or rail members 24 are parallel to each other and extend forward and aft in the direction of motion of seat bottom 32 . Also, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, two such slide blocks are used on each side support member. It is contemplated that a suitable number of slide blocks will be used as required for the smooth operation and stability of the chair.
Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 9, each side support member or rail 24 preferably includes a pair of stops 26 A, 26 B for limiting the travel of the seat assembly 11 . Front stops 26 A limit forward travel, while rear stops 26 B limit rearward movement and help define the original non-reclined position of the seat bottom 32 . In this particular embodiment, front stops 26 A are provided on a bottom surface of the frame rails 24 , away from the underside of the seat bottom. On the other hand, back stops 26 B project from the top surface of the rails 24 , adjacent or facing the underside of the seat bottom. It has been determined through testing that the chairs of this invention, with the stops configured in this manner, can have a greater resistance to damage from impact when the chair is dropped. However, stops can be provided on any suitable surface of the frame rails 24 . Alternatively, front and rear transverse members 22 A and 22 B can perform this limiting function.
Referring again to FIG. 9, seat bottom 32 also preferably includes reinforcement or stiffening ribs 39 . Ribs 39 can be molded into seat bottom 32 to add strength to the front portion of seat bottom 32 , particularly when the seat is reclined. In the preferred embodiment, the seat bottom is configured so that a portion is cantilevered over the support frame 12 . The ribs 32 project into this cantilevered portion, adding stiffness and allowing the amount of front overhang of seat bottom 32 relative to front transverse member 22 A to be increased. Moreover, the ribs 32 extend inboard of the seat bottom for sliding support on the frame 12 , and most particularly the front transverse member 22 A.
Numerous variations of the invention are contemplated. For instance, the frame rail or side support members 24 can be non-parallel, in which case a channel would be provided in the seat bottom to allow for lateral movement of the slide blocks in response to the divergence of the side support members. Alternatively, the slide block could be modified to include a slot wide enough to accommodate the divergence of the side support members.
In another version of the invention, the side support members could comprise a slotted structure configured to receive a pin attached to the underside of the seat bottom. The slots in the side support members can then act as a channel within which the pin travels as the seat slides back and forth. The length of the channels could determine the extent of motion provided to the seat bottom. Here again, if the side members are not parallel to each other, the seat bottom could include a transverse slot for each pin to allow lateral movement of the pin relative to the seat bottom to accommodate the lateral motion introduced by the non-parallel side support members.
Referring again to FIG. 5, in use, the seat back 34 reclines as the seat bottom 32 extends in response to a user leaning back against seat back 34 and the natural forward movement of the user's pelvis. The extension of seat bottom 32 and the rotation of seat back 34 causes deformation of the intermediate portion 46 from its original configuration, thereby placing this portion in tension. This tension in intermediate portion 46 causes the seat to return to its upright position when unoccupied or when the user of the chair removes pressure from the seat back 34 . The resilience of the seat 11 causes it to rebound to the original position without the use of any mechanical devices.
While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character. It should be understood that only the preferred embodiments have been shown and described and that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the invention are desired to be protected. For example, arms 64 can be provided to produce an armchair as in FIGS. 11 and 12. As shown in FIG. 12, arms 64 preferably flare slightly outward and exhibit a slight inward curvature to provide a more natural and more comfortable seating position. In addition, these features more comfortably accommodate the larger user and allow for the free movement from side to side. In yet another version of the invention, the seat bottom frame can be mounted on a pedestal base 66 as in FIG. 13, which includes castors 68 for ease in moving the chair.
This invention presents an aesthetically pleasing ergonomic chair of simplified design. The simplified design allows the chair to be produced at a reasonable cost. The stackable feature allows the chair to be stored within a minimum of space when not in use. It should be noted however, that the user does not have to change his position relative to the seat bottom of the chair in order to move the chair from an upright to a recline position. The user need only relax and lean back against the seat back. Thus the seating position can be changed without undue ruffling and disturbance of clothing. This provides a further benefit in embodiments in which the chair is upholstered because the movement of the user in the chair does not cause wear on the upholstery. One of the most important features of this invention is that the chair remains comfortable to the user even after long periods of time due to its ability to respond when the user changes seating position. The user merely sits back, and the chair knows what to do. | A chair having a synchronously moving seat bottom and seat back includes a frame having a seat bottom support portion and a seatback support portion and a seat assembly having a seat bottom and a seat back interconnected by a flexible intermediate portion. The seat bottom is slidably mounted to side support members in the bottom frame providing forward and aft movement of the seat bottom. The seat back is pivotably engaged to the seat back support portion of the frame. The flexible intermediate portion provides for cooperative movement of the seat bottom and seat back between an upright seating position and a reclined position. Preferably, the seat assembly is a one piece molded plastic shell having a flexible intermediate portion interconnecting the seat bottom and seat back. In one embodiment of the invention, the chair can be provided with legs to enable stacking of the chairs. | 0 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a firearm accessory holder, in general and, in particular, to an accessory holder mountable on a firearm.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0002] There is provided according to the present invention an accessory holder including a housing, for holding an accessory, and a mounting rail, complementary to a bayonet mounting rail, integrally formed with or coupled to the housing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0003] The present invention will be further understood and appreciated from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:
[0004] FIG. 1 is a side view of an accessory holder constructed and operative in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0005] FIG. 2 is a front view of the accessory holder of FIG. 1 ;
[0006] FIG. 3 is a top view of the accessory holder of FIG. 1 ;
[0007] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the accessory holder of FIG. 1 ; and
[0008] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the accessory holder of FIG. 1 mounted on a firearm.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0009] The present invention relates to a firearm accessory holder with a mounting rail that is not a conventional mounting rail. Rather the mounting rail is complementary to the mounting rail on a firearm designed for mounting a bayonet on the firearm. The accessory holder enables mounting other accessories on the firearm, such as a flashlight, laser pointer, etc., in the location designed to hold a bayonet, without requiring the use of a Picatinny rail.
[0010] FIGS. 1 to 4 are side, front, top and perspective views, respectively, of an accessory holder 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. Accessory holder 1 includes a mounting rail 10 substantially the same as the mounting rail on a conventional bayonet and complementary to a bayonet mounting rail on a firearm. Mounting rail 10 includes locking means 12 , such as a track for a locking pin (not shown), for locking accessory holder 1 relative to the complementary rail on the firearm.
[0011] Accessory holder 1 further includes a firearm accessory housing 20 adapted and configured to hold one or more of a variety of accessories. Accessory housing 20 may be coupled to, or integrally formed with the mounting rail 10 . According to the illustrated embodiment of the invention, accessory housing 20 is a substantially hollow cylindrical member, such as is suitable for holding a flashlight. Accessory holder 1 further includes securing means 30 for securing the accessory inside housing 20 . Securing means 30 , according to this embodiment of the invention, includes a pair of arm members 32 extending upward from the bottom of housing 20 . Each arm member 32 includes a lug 34 , having an aperture 36 . The two apertures 36 are arranged to be aligned with each other, allowing for coupling of lugs 34 to one another, as by a screw (not shown). When an accessory (not shown) is placed inside housing 20 , lugs 34 are urged towards one another, as by rotation of the screw, until arm members 32 apply pressure on the accessory, thereby securing the accessory inside the housing.
[0012] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the accessory holder of FIGS. 1-4 mounted on an exemplary firearm. As can be seen, accessory holder 1 is mounted on the bayonet rail 7 which is part of or mounted on firearm 5 . In this example, a flashlight 8 is mounted inside accessory holder 1 . Alternatively, any other suitable accessory, such as a laser pointer, etc. may be mounted inside accessory holder 1 .
[0013] The accessory holder allows the firearm holder to take advantage of the bayonet rail by mounting other useful accessories on the firearm when the bayonet is not needed, without requiring the addition of an intermediary Picatinny rail.
[0014] 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. It will further 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 which follow. | A firearm accessory holder and method for making it, the accessory holder including a housing, for holding a firearm accessory, and a mounting rail coupled to the housing, the mounting rail being complementary to a bayonet mounting rail on a firearm. | 5 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an advertising terminal and to a method of displaying advertisements. In particular, the invention relates to a self service terminal (SST), such as an automated teller machine (ATM), for displaying advertisements, and to a method of operation of such an SST. More specifically, the invention relates to an ATM for detecting portable devices having a wireless communication facility.
ATMs are public access terminals that provide users with a convenient source of cash and other financial transactions and services. An ATM is typically located in an area of high pedestrian traffic so that there is a large number of potential users of the ATM. This ensures that many ATM sites are ideal for advertising to passers by and to users of the ATM.
At present, advertising that is presented to a user may be customized to that individual, but advertising that is presented during the period between successive users of an ATM is typically a generic advertisement (that is, not targeted at a specific group of people) because the ATM cannot identify who is passing by the ATM. In general, an ATM owner or advertising coordinator is able to charge less for a generic advertisement than for an advertisement targeted at the people who view the advertisement. This means that an ATM owner would like to provide a high ratio of targeted advertisements to generic advertisements to maximize the income from advertising.
To enable targeting of advertising, demographic studies are sometimes performed by consultants to evaluate the demographic profile of those who live and work in the vicinity of an ATM; however, this is an expensive and time consuming exercise that has to be performed for each ATM site that is to be used for targeted advertising.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is among the objects of an embodiment of the present invention to obviate or mitigate one or more of the above disadvantages or other disadvantages associated with advertising terminals.
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided an advertising terminal comprising a transceiver for wireless communication with portable devices in the vicinity of the terminal, where the terminal is operable to create a profile of persons in the vicinity of the terminal by detecting portable devices, and to display an advertisement appropriate for the created profile of persons.
In one embodiment, when creating a profile of persons in the vicinity of the terminal, the terminal may identify the owners of the portable devices.
In another embodiment, when creating a profile of persons in the vicinity of the terminal, for each detected portable device, the terminal may access an anonymized database using an identifier associated with the detected portable device.
In yet another embodiment, when creating a profile of persons in the vicinity of the terminal, the terminal may identify each type of portable device detected, and predict what type of persons are present based on the types of portable devices detected. For example, the terminal may target an advertisement at the type of person who might own a particular brand and model of cellular radiotelephone.
The profile of persons relates to demographic groupings to which the persons belong. For example, one demographic grouping may be young male, another demographic grouping may be middle age female, and such like. The demographic groupings may be very simple, such as the two examples given above (young male and middle age female). Alternatively, the demographic groupings may be very complex and may include details such as income band, lifestyle, type of occupation, and such like. A profile may include the numbers of people within each demographic grouping.
By virtue of this aspect of the invention an advertising terminal is able to display an advertisement targeted at the type of people who are, or who are typically, in the vicinity of the terminal.
The terminal may be an SST such as an ATM or a non-cash kiosk.
The terminal may include an additional display for presenting advertisements to passers by.
The terminal may create a profile of persons in the vicinity of the ATM over an extended period, such as an hour, a week, or a month, so that an advertisement is selected on the basis of the most common type of person in the vicinity of the ATM. In areas where the profile of persons changes dramatically throughout a day, a profile may be created for each hour of the day, or for particular hours such as 7 am to 9 am, 12 noon to 2 pm, and 5 pm to 7 pm.
The profile of persons may be created with the assistance of customer relationship management software. Owners of portable devices may register with an owner of the terminal so that the owners can be identified by the terminal. The owners of the terminal may store other information about the owners, for example financial information such as details of transactions, purchases, and such like.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided an advertising terminal network comprising at least one advertising terminal having a transceiver for wireless communication with portable devices in the vicinity of the terminal, and a data store in communication with the at least one advertising terminal, whereby the advertising terminal is operable to detect portable devices in the vicinity of the terminal, to communicate with the data store to identify the owners of the portable devices, to create a profile of the identified owners, and to display an advertisement targeted at the identified owners.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of operation of a self service terminal (SST), the method comprising the steps of: detecting one or more characteristics of a portable device in the vicinity of the terminal; selecting an advertisement to be presented based on the detected one or more characteristics; and displaying the selected advertisement.
This aspect of the present invention allows an SST to select and display an advertisement in response to some characteristic of a detected mobile device.
The detection step may make use of any appropriate technology. It is intended that broadcast wireless communications technology will be used in the present invention (for example, that known by the trade mark ‘Bluetooth’); such technologies allow for communication between devices to be established without requiring any mutual alignment of the devices. Thus, a mobile device may broadcast some signal generally to all devices in the vicinity; this signal can be detected by all suitable devices in the vicinity. No specific point-to-point communication is necessary. Such broadcast wireless technology is particularly suited to use in the present invention. Of course, other forms of communication may be used, provided that some characteristic of a mobile device may be detected by an SST. The ‘vicinity’ of an SST, as used herein, will depend on the type of communications technology used; it is however intended that devices within a radius of approximately three meters of an SST may be detected. The precise figure used will also be dependent on the application to which the method is to be put.
The characteristic detected may reflect the identity of the user. For example, a PDA may be programmed to broadcast a user's ‘digital signature’, that is, a unique code identifying the individual to suitably-equipped devices. Where the identity of a user is detected, the method may comprise the further step of retrieving a user profile for that identity from a remote location. For example, the SST operator may maintain a database of user profiles reflecting the known preferences of each user. On detection of a user's identity, the SST may retrieve this profile from the remote database. A digital signature broadcast by a particular device may include information relating not only to the identity of the user, but also to the particular type or capabilities of the device.
The characteristic detected may reflect the identity of the portable device.
Selection of an advertisement may involve selecting an advertisement from a master list. The master list may be arranged so that one advertisement is recommended for each demographic group.
Advertisements may be displayed based on the interests of a user as recorded in their user profile. The advertisements may be displayed to individuals either when using the SST, or to individuals waiting in a queue, or walking by the SST.
Users may also register their mobile devices with the SST operator. This may allow the SST operator to send advertisements or information to a user's device even when the user is not making use of an SST.
It will now be appreciated that these embodiments have the advantage that advertisements may be automatically selected to suit a demographic group in the vicinity of an advertising terminal. In addition, the terminal is able to determine the demographic profile of persons in the vicinity of the terminal, thereby avoiding the need for a demographic study to be performed by a consultant. The terminal is also able to monitor continually the profile of persons in the vicinity of the terminal so that the terminal is able dynamically to change the advertisement to suit any change in the profile of persons. The terminal owner is also able to charge an advertiser on a per advert displayed basis.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided an advertising terminal comprising a transceiver for wireless communication with portable devices in the vicinity of the terminal, where the terminal is operable to transmit information to portable devices carried by passers by, where the information relates to goods and/or services available locally to the terminal.
The terminal may be an SST, such as an ATM. An owner of a portable device may have to subscribe to an information service before the owner receives information from the terminal.
The information may be an advertisement, a discount coupon, or such like.
The portable device may transmit a receipt to the terminal. The terminal may use the receipt to charge an information provider for providing the owner of the portable device with the information.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and other aspects of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an advertising network according to one embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an advertising terminal forming part of the network of FIG. 1 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring to FIG. 1 , an advertising network 10 (in the form of an ATM network) is owned and operated by a financial institution and comprises a plurality of advertising terminals 12 (in the form of ATMs) connected to a host 14 via a network 16 .
The host 12 includes an authorization facility 20 and a back-office facility 22 .
The authorization facility 20 authorizes transaction requests received from ATMs 12 via the network 16 . The authorization facility 20 also authorizes transaction requests received from Point of Sale terminals (not shown) and other ATM networks (not shown).
The back-office facility 22 maintains records for every account maintained by the financial institution. Each record includes a list of all the transactions (for example direct credits, direct debits, checks, withdrawals, and such like) executed relating to that account. The back-office facility 22 provides (typically on a daily basis) the transaction authorization facility 20 with account information for each account maintained by the financial institution.
The ATMs 12 are also connected to a remote data store 24 via the network 16 . The ATMs 12 are identical and physically remote from each other, but are shown in proximity in FIG. 1 for clarity.
FIG. 1 also shows two portable devices 26 , 28 in the vicinity of one of the ATMs 12 b . The first portable device 26 is a personal digital assistant (PDA) and is carried by a first pedestrian (not shown), the second device 28 is a cellular radiotelephone (hereinafter referred to as a cellphone) and is carried by a second pedestrian (not shown). Each portable device 26 , 28 has a wireless communication facility 26 a , 28 a , in this embodiment a Bluetooth (trademark) module.
The owners of the devices 26 , 28 have registered with the owner of the ATM network 10 , and the ATM network owner stores demographic information relating to registered owners in the data store 24 .
For each registered owner, the data store 24 stores the owner's Bluetooth module identification and demographic information about the owner. This demographic information may include details of the device owner's gender, age, lifestyle, and such like. In this embodiment, the demographic information is simplified by having a predefined set of groups (one group for a young affluent male, another group for a young affluent female, a third group for a middle age affluent male, and such like), where each group has an identification code and each device owner is allocated a group identification code corresponding to the group that most closely defines the device owner's demographic profile. The data stored in the data store may be anonymized so that, for example, the registered owner's name and address is not stored.
Reference is now made to FIG. 2 , which is a simplified block diagram of the architecture of the ATM 12 b of FIG. 1 . A system bus (or a plurality of system buses) 36 interconnects various modules in an ATM controller 40 to allow mutual intercommunication, as will be described in more detail below.
User associated modules 42 comprise the following elements (peripheral devices): a token reader 50 in the form of a card reader, a display 52 , an encrypting keypad module 54 , a printer 56 , and a cash dispenser 58 .
The controller 40 comprises modules for driving the user associated modules 42 , namely: card reader controller 60 , display controller 62 , keypad controller 64 , printer controller 66 , and dispenser controller 68 . These user associated modules ( 50 to 58 ) and drivers ( 60 to 68 ) are standard modules that are used in conventional ATMs and will not be described in detail herein.
The controller 40 also comprises a BIOS 70 stored in non-volatile memory, a microprocessor 72 , associated main memory 74 , storage space 76 in the form of a magnetic disk drive, a dedicated network connection 78 for connecting the ATM 12 b to the transaction host 14 ( FIG. 1 ) via the network 16 , and a wireless transceiver 80 in the form of a Bluetooth (trade mark) module.
In use, the main memory 74 is loaded with an ATM operating system kernel 82 , and an ATM application 84 . As is well known in the art, the operating system kernel 82 is responsible for memory, process, task, and disk management. The ATM application 84 is responsible for controlling the operation of the ATM 12 b.
The magnetic disk drive 76 also stores a selection of advertisements, each advertisement being associated with a demographic group identification code so that each group identification code has a corresponding advertisement.
While the ATM 12 b is operating, the wireless transceiver 80 constantly monitors the area in the immediate vicinity of the ATM 12 b (approximately 10 m radius as illustrated by arc 90 in FIG. 1 ) for portable devices having a complementary wireless transceiver (that is, another Bluetooth module).
As illustrated in FIG. 1 , the ATM's transceiver 80 will detect the PDA's Bluetooth module 26 a and the cellphone's Bluetooth module 28 a . Each module 26 a , 28 a has a unique identification. The transceiver 80 receives these two identifications and conveys them to the ATM application 84 .
For each unique identification received, the ATM application 84 uses the network connection 78 and the network 16 to access the data store 24 to determine the demographic group to which the device owner belongs. In this embodiment the demographic group is a group identification code. The ATM application 84 then stores each retrieved demographic group code. At the end of a preset time period (or when a predetermined number of demographic group codes have been retrieved), the ATM application 84 creates a profile of persons in the vicinity of the ATM 12 b . This is achieved by the ATM application 84 determining the most commonly retrieved demographic group identification code.
The ATM application 84 then accesses the magnetic disk drive 76 to select the advertisement associated with the most commonly retrieved demographic group identification code. The ATM application 84 displays this selected advertisement when the ATM 12 b is not being used. Thus, passers by will see an advertisement that reflects the most commonly detected demographic group in the vicinity of that ATM 12 b . The ATM application 84 stores a record of which advertisements were displayed so that the ATM network owner can charge for displaying the advertisements.
As the ATM 12 b continually monitors the Bluetooth modules in the vicinity of the ATM 12 b , the advert that is displayed may be changed if the demographic group of passers by changes.
In another mode of operation, the transceiver 80 transmits advertisements relating to local merchants or local facilities or services to the portable devices 26 , 28 to inform the owners of the portable devices 26 , 28 about events or offers in the vicinity of the ATM 12 b . This may only occur if the data store entry for that portable device indicates that the device owner wishes to receive such advertisements from an ATM.
Various modifications may be made to the above described embodiment within the scope of the present invention, for example, a wireless transceiver other than a Bluetooth module may be used. In other embodiments the advertising terminal may be a non-cash kiosk. | An advertising terminal ( 12 ) and a network of advertising terminals are described. The advertising terminal may be an ATM ( 12 b ). The ATM ( 12 b ) comprises a transceiver ( 80 ) for wireless communication with portable devices ( 26,28 ) in the vicinity of the ATM ( 12 b ). The ATM ( 12 b ) is operable to create a profile of persons in the vicinity of the ATM ( 12 b ) by detecting portable devices such as PDAs ( 26 ) and cellphones ( 28 ) that have a wireless communications facility ( 26 a, 28 a ) and identifying the owners of the portable devices. The ATM is also operable to display an advertisement appropriate for the created profile of persons. | 6 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The double-hung type of windows that have been used for many years present a special security problem if the windows are to be left partially open for ventilation purposes. Most of the lock systems initially or previously provided for windows of the foregoing type are now inoperative by reason of long continued use or misuse, or such lock systems were never adequate to prevent unwanted intrusions if the windows were not completely closed and locked. While it is acknowledged that some previous lock attachments have been provided to hold one or both sashes of a double-hung window in closed or open positions, such previous locking devices have usually been operatively positioned between a window sash and the window frame. With such devices installation is relatively complicated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a window lock system that can be easily installed at positions operatively intermediate the separate window sashes of a double-hung window. The positions for such sashes may be changed one with respect to the other as necessary to provide top and/or bottom ventilation openings as desired. The size of the ventilation openings can be adjusted. If the total size of the ventilation openings is closely regulated, the window sashes can still be conjointly moved with respect to the window frame without providing an opening through which an intruder could pass. If larger openings are desired, an additional lock mechanism that is operatively intermediate one window sash and its frame will be used so that neither window sash can be moved.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a broken side elevation in partial section showing an embodiment of the invention,
FIG. 2 is a perspective drawing showing the invention applied to a double-hung window,
FIG. 3 is a front elevation showing the device in telescoped position, and
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional elevation taken along the line 4--4 of FIG. 1.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Embodiments of the present invention provide an extension device that may be joined to window components that are movable one with respect to the other so that the windows can be held in closed position or in adjusted open positions as desired.
The window lock 11 of the present embodiment is made up of two telescoping elements of such size, contour and design that a lower, first or inner telescoping element 12 may be engaged within and moved reciprocally with respect to the upper, second or outer telescoping element 13. While the elements 12 and 13 are formed of hollow rectangular tubing, other structural shapes may be used for such components so long as at least one element is hollow to telescopically receive the other. The upper element 13 is joined to an anchor plate 14 by a shoulder screw 16, while the lower element 12 is joined to a pivot plate 17 by a pivot bolt 18. The anchor plate 14 and, accordingly, the associated upper element 13 is secured to a top rail or the side stile 19 of an upper sash or window 20, while the lower pivot plate 17 is secured to the top of the meeting rail 21 of the lower window 22.
Anchor plate 14 has a plurality of holes for the reception of the fastener screws 23, while the lower pivot plate 17 provides similar holes adapted to receive the screw fasteners 24. The lower pivot plate itself has forked upwardly opening extensions 26 that are spaced apart a distance corresponding to the size of the lower element 12, and the end 27 of such lower element is terminated a sufficient distance above the body of the plate 17 so that the lower element 12 can actually be pivotted a full 180° with respect to the plate 17. The shoulder screw 16 and the pivot bolt 18 are preferably provided with cross slots as shown, so that a screw driver is the only tool necessary for placement and installation of the window lock 11.
The upper telescoping element 13 provides support for a latch assembly 31 that is joined, as by the welds 29, to the body of upper element 13. Latch assembly 31 includes a support barrel 28 extending outwardly from the element 13, and it has an open central bore. The shaft of a latch plunger 32 extends through said bore, and a stop collar 33 is disposed adjacent the lock point 34 of plunger 32. A spring 36 is disposed within the barrel 28 for operative extension between the collar 33 and a closure plug 37. The spring urges the stop collar 33 and the lock point 34 inwardly against the exterior surface 39 of the lower element 12.
A plurality of latch receiving holes or catches 43 are disposed along the length of element 12 in spaced positions as indicated. In FIG. 1 the lock point 34 of the plunger 32 is shown to be extended through one catch opening 43 punched in the surface of the element 12. A corresponding opening 46 in the exterior surface of the upper element 13 passes the lock point 34 but restrains the collar 33. The plunger 32 has a knurled knob 47 that may be engaged by any user to retract the latch plunger and its locking point. When the plunger is retracted, the lower element 12 may be moved to adjusted telescoped positions with respect to the upper element 13. At properly adjusted positions the lock point 34 can again be disposed through one of the catch holes 43. Since the spring 36 is biased to move the locking point 34 toward engagement with the lower element 12, the lock point 34 or latch will be engaged through any of the catch holes 43. Further, since the catches 43 are disposed apart on a regulated schedule, one window 20 may be moved to various adjusted positions with respect to its companion window 22, and it will be held in such position.
FIG. 3 is illustrative of a retracted telescoped position wherein substantially all of the lower element 12 is disposed within the upper element 13. The depicted arrangement of the windows provides air ventilation through a bottom opening 48 and also through a top opening 49. Side locks 51 initially provided in some double-hung window installations can still be used so that the windows cannot be shifted by any intruder to provide a bottom opening 48 of size that would admit such intruder. The disposition of the latch assembly 31 and of an uppermost catch hole 43 and the position of placement for the top anchor plate 14 is preferably regulated so that the latch plunger 32 will be engaged through the said uppermost catch hole 43 when the windows 20 and 22 are in the full closed position shown in FIG. 2. If this arrangement is preserved and if a sash lock 52 is installed, a doubled security is maintained.
Since it will often be desirable to move the respective windows to an adjusted position before the latch lock 31 is engaged, a key shoulder 53 is provided on the plunger 32 that extends radially from such plunger. A correspondingly enlarged key slot is provided in the closure plug 37 that will admit the key shoulder 53. With this arrangement the knob 47 and the latch may be pulled outwardly until the inner end 54 of the key shoulder 53 clears the outer face 56 of the closure plug 37. If the knob 47 is then rotated, key shoulder 53 will be engaged with the outer face 56 of closure plug 37 to keep latch point 34 in a retracted position. Once the windows are moved to their desired adjusted position, knob 47 can again be rotated so that the key shoulder is admitted through its corresponding key slot in the closure plug 37. Slight further adjusting movement of the windows will then assure engagement of the latch point through a mating opening 43.
If a larger lower or upper through opening 48 or 49 is required, the window lock 11 may be moved to an out-of-way position. As an example, if the windows are to be washed, the top shoulder screw 16 may be disengaged from the top plate 14, and the window lock 11 can then be pivotted about the lower pivot bolt 18 to a position along the intermediate meeting rail 21. The windows 20 and 22 will then be separately movable to any desired adjusted position. Since the top anchor plate 14 is of relatively thin construction, the lower window 22 can actually be moved upwardly and past the top rail of the top window if the interlocking weatherstrip usually provided on the meeting rails is cut away in position of alignment with the anchor plate 14. This type of freedom of movement is, of course, required if the outside surfaces of the upper window panes installed in the lower or inside window sash are to be washed by a person supporting himself outside a building by sitting on the window sill. After window washing activities have been completed, the window lock 11 can be pivotally moved back to its operative position, and the shoulder screw 16 can be reinstalled. | A window lock for double-hung windows utilizing extension elements joined to each separate window and telescopically mated one with the other with a latch assembly on one element and longitudinally spaced catches on the other element whereby the windows are held in closed or in alternate relative positions providing varied window openings. Mountings facilitate installation and provide for out-of-way pivotted storage. The latch may be retained in a retracted position to facilitate adjusting movements of the windows and telescoping elements. | 8 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an oxidation catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas, oxidizing particulates and hydrocarbons contained in exhaust gas from internal-combustion engines to clean the gas.
2. Description of the Related Art
For oxidizing particulates and hydrocarbons contained in exhaust gas from internal-combustion engines to clean the gas, oxidation catalysts comprising perovskite-type composite metal oxides have been previously known.
As the perovskite-type composite metal oxide used as the above-described oxidation catalyst, there is known, for example, a composite metal oxide represented by the general formula: AB 1-x C x O 3 , wherein A is at least one metal selected from the group consisting of La, Sr, Ce, Ba, and Ca; B is at least one metal selected from the group consisting of Co, Fe, Ni, Cr, Mn, and Mg; and C is one of Pt and Pd (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 07-116519).
As the perovskite-type composite metal oxide used as the above-described oxidation catalyst, there is also known, for example, a composite metal oxide represented by the general formula: Ce x M 1-x ZrO 3 , wherein M is at least one metal selected from the group consisting of La, Sm, Nd, Gd, Sc, and Y; and 0.1≦x≦20 (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-334443).
However, the above-described conventional perovskite-type composite metal oxides have drawbacks that they have high oxidation temperatures for particulates and high boiling point hydrocarbons and cannot achieve sufficient catalytic activities.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to eliminate such drawbacks and to provide an oxidation catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas, capable of achieving an excellent catalytic activity at a lower temperature for particulates and high boiling point hydrocarbons in exhaust gas from internal-combustion engines.
For accomplishing this object, the oxidation catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas according to the present invention is an oxidation catalyst oxidizing contents in exhaust gas from internal-combustion engines to clean the gas, comprising a composite metal oxide represented by the general formula: Ln y Mn 1-x A x O 3 , wherein Ln is a metal selected from the group consisting of Sc, Y, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu; A is a metal selected from the group consisting of Ti, Nb, Ta, and Ru; 0.005≦x≦0.2; and 0.9≦y≦1.
The oxidation catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas according to the present invention is one in which metal A as a third metal component is added to a composite metal oxide represented by the general formula: LnMnO 3 to produce a distortion in the crystal lattice thereof, or the metal component A is added thereto to produce a defect in a portion of the crystal lattice as well as the distortion in the crystal lattice, thereby increasing the catalytic activity and reducing the bond energy of oxygen in the crystal lattice. As a result, the oxidation catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas according to the present invention can oxidize contents such as particulates and high boiling point hydrocarbons contained in exhaust gas from internal-combustion engines at a lower temperature and also cause a faster oxidation than an oxidation catalyst comprising a compound represented by the general formula: LnMnO 3 .
The oxidation catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas according to the present invention produces a lower bond energy of oxygen in the crystal lattice of the composite metal oxide represented by the general formula: LnMnO 3 , first when y=1, by metal A as a third metal component being added to the oxide to cause a distortion in the crystal lattice. As a result, the oxidation catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas according to the present invention can oxidize the particulates, high boiling point hydrocarbons, and the like at a lower temperature than the oxidation catalyst comprising the composite metal oxide represented by the general formula: LnMnO 3 . Here, x less than 0.005 renders insufficient the effect of producing a distortion in the crystal lattice; x more than 0.2 makes it difficult to maintain the crystal lattice.
Then, the oxidation catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas according to the present invention produces a lower bond energy of oxygen in the crystal lattice of the composite metal oxide represented by the general formula: LnMnO 3 , when 0.9≦y<1, by metal A as a third metal component being added to the oxide to cause a defect in a portion of the Ln site constituting the crystal lattice as well as a distortion in the crystal lattice. As a result, the oxidation catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas according to the present invention can oxidize the particulates, high boiling point hydrocarbons, and the like at a lower temperature and also cause a faster oxidation than the oxidation catalyst comprising the composite metal oxide represented by the general formula: LnMnO 3 .
Here, y less than 0.9 produces an excessive defect to make it difficult to maintain the crystal lattice; y at 1 cannot produce a defect in the crystal lattice. In addition, x can be in the above-described range to balance the positive and negative electric charges of the constituent atoms in the composite metal oxide.
In the composite metal oxide, Ln may be a metal selected from the group consisting of Sc, Y, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu, but is preferably Y. In addition, the composite metal oxide preferably has a hexagonal structure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a graph showing the effects of catalysts for cleaning exhaust gas in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a graph showing the effect of a catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a graph showing the effects of catalysts for cleaning exhaust gas in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a graph showing the effects of catalysts for cleaning exhaust gas in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a graph showing the effect of a catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas in accordance with the present invention; and
FIG. 6 is a graph showing the effect of a catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas in accordance with the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
An embodiment of the present invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
A catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas according to a first aspect of the present embodiment comprises a composite metal oxide represented by the general formula: YMn 1-x A x O 3 , wherein A is a metal selected from the group consisting of Ti, Nb, Ta, and Ru; and 0.005≦x≦0.2. The composite metal oxide produces a lower bond energy of oxygen in the crystal lattice of YMnO 3 by a portion of Mn being the metal A to cause a distortion in the crystal lattice. As a result, the metal oxide can have an increased catalytic activity compared to YMnO 3 and can oxidize contents such as particulates and high boiling point hydrocarbons contained in the exhaust gas at a lower temperature.
A catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas according to a second aspect of the present embodiment is a composite metal oxide similar to the catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas according to the first aspect, but different from it only in that the former is represented by the general formula: Y y Mn 1-x A x O 3 except with 0.9≦y<1. The composite metal oxide produces a lower bond energy of oxygen in the crystal lattice of YMnO 3 by a defect arising in a portion of the Y site constituting the crystal lattice as well as by a portion of Mn being the metal A to cause a distortion in the crystal lattice. As a result, the metal oxide can have an increased catalytic activity compared to YMnO 3 , can oxidize contents such as particulates and high boiling point hydrocarbons contained in the exhaust gas at a lower temperature, and even can promote the oxidation.
Here, the above-described x and y are set so as to balance the positive and negative electric charges of the constituent atoms in the composite metal oxide.
By way of example, Y and Mn are positive trivalent, and O is negative bivalent. Accordingly, when the metal A is one of Ti and Ru and positive tetravalent, setting y=1−x/3 and x=0.15 leads to the general formula: Y y Mn 1-x A x O 3 being equal to Y 0.95 Mn 0.85 A 0.15 O 3 .
Here, the sum of positive charges is:
(3×0.95)+(3×0.85)+(4×0.15)=2.85+2.55+0.60=+6.00; and
the sum of negative charges is:
(−2)×3=−6.
Therefore, it follows that (+6.00)+(−6)=0, the positive and negative charges being balanced.
When the metal A is one of Nb and Ta and positive pentavalent, setting y=1−2x/3 and x=0.05 leads to the general formula: Y y Mn 1-x A x O 3 being equal to Y 0.95 Mn 0.925 A 0.075 O 3 .
Here, the sum of positive charges is:
(3×0.95)+(3×0.925)+(5×0.075)=2.85+2.775+0.375=+6.00; and
the sum of negative charges is:
(−2)×3=−6.
Therefore, it follows that (+6.00)+(−6)=0, the positive and negative charges being balanced.
When the metal A is one of Nb and Ta and positive pentavalent, y=1−2x/3 and x=0.15 may be also set.
This setting leads to the general formula: Y y Mn 1−x A x O 3 being equal to Y 0.9 Mn 0.85 A 0.15 O 3 .
Here, the sum of positive charges is:
(3×0.9)+(3×0.85)+(5×0.075)=2.7+2.55+0.75=+6.00; and
the sum of negative charges is:
(−2)×3=−6.
Therefore, it follows that (+6.00)+(−6)=0, the positive and negative charges being balanced.
Examples and Comparative Example of the present invention will now be given.
EXAMPLE 1
In this Example, first, yttrium acetate, manganese nitrate, and anatase type titanium oxide were used in such amounts that a molar ratio thereof of 1:0.95:0.05 is obtained, and mixed in a ball mill for 5 hours, followed by primary firing at 250° C. for 30 minutes, at 300° C. for 30 minutes, and at 350° C. for one hour. Ethanol was then added to the resultant material from the primary firing process, which was then subjected to wet grinding using a ball mill before drying, followed by secondary firing at 1,000° C. for one hour to provide a powder of the composite metal oxide represented by YMn 0.95 Ti 0.05 O 3 .
The composite metal oxide powder obtained in this Example was then subjected to differential thermal analysis (DTA) for the activity evaluation thereof. The differential thermal analysis was performed by using the composite metal oxide powder obtained in this Example as a catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas to mix 2.5 mg of carbon black with 50 mg of the catalyst, followed by heating the mixture at a rate of temperature rise of 10° C./minute under an atmosphere of an air stream of 15 ml/minute to determine a relationship between heat flow and temperature.
The above-described carbon black corresponds to particulates or a high boiling point hydrocarbon contained in the exhaust gas. In the heat flow, the peak thereof indicates the burning temperature of the carbon black; a higher peak shows that the burning is more promoted. The result is shown in FIG. 1 .
EXAMPLE 2
In this Example, the composite metal oxide represented by YMn 0.95 Nb 0.05 O 3 was obtained just as described in Example 1 except for the use of niobium oxide in place of anatase type titanium oxide.
A relationship between heat flow and temperature was then determined just as described in Example 1 except for the use of the composite metal oxide obtained in this Example as a catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas. The result is shown in FIG. 1 .
EXAMPLE 3
In this Example, the composite metal oxide represented by YMn 0.95 Ta 0.05 O 3 was obtained just as described in Example 1 except for the use of tantalum oxide in place of anatase type titanium oxide.
A relationship between heat flow and temperature was then determined just as described in Example 1 except for the use of the composite metal oxide obtained in this Example as a catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas. The result is shown in FIG. 1 .
EXAMPLE 4
In this Example, the composite metal oxide represented by YMn 0.95 Ru 0.05 O 3 was obtained just as described in Example 1 except for the use of ruthenium oxide in place of anatase type titanium oxide.
A relationship between heat flow and temperature was then determined just as described in Example 1 except for the use of the composite metal oxide obtained in this Example as a catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas. The result is shown in FIG. 1 .
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 1
In this Comparative Example, the composite metal oxide represented by YMnO 3 was obtained just as described in Example 1 except for no use of anatase type titanium oxide.
A relationship between heat flow and temperature was then determined just as described in Example 1 except for the use of the composite metal oxide obtained in this Comparative Example as a catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas. The result is shown in FIG. 1 .
It is apparent from FIG. 1 that the catalysts for cleaning exhaust gas of Examples 1 to 4 can oxidize (burn) the above-described carbon black at low temperature compared to the catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas of Comparative Example 1, which comprises the composite metal oxide represented by YMnO 3 .
EXAMPLE 5
In this Example, the composite metal oxide represented by Y 0.95 Mn 0.85 Ti 0.15 O 3 was obtained just as described in Example 1 except for the use of yttrium acetate, manganese nitrate, and anatase type titanium oxide in such amounts that a molar ratio thereof of 0.95:0.85:0.15 is obtained.
A relationship between heat flow and temperature was then determined just as described in Example 1 except for the use of the composite metal oxide obtained in this Example as a catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas. The result is shown together with the result of Comparative Example 1 in FIG. 2 .
It is apparent from FIG. 2 that the catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas of Example 5 can oxidize (burn) the above-described carbon black at low temperature and can achieve the effect of further promoting the oxidation, compared to the catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas of Comparative Example 1, which comprises the composite metal oxide represented by YMnO 3 .
EXAMPLE 6
In this Example, the composite metal oxide represented by Y 0.95 Mn 0.925 Nb 0.075 O 3 was obtained just as described in Example 1 except for the use of yttrium acetate, manganese nitrate, and niobium oxide in such amounts that a molar ratio thereof of 0.95:0.925:0.075 is obtained.
A relationship between heat flow and temperature was then determined just as described in Example 1 except for the use of the composite metal oxide obtained in this Example as a catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas. The result is shown together with the result of Comparative Example 1 in FIG. 3 .
EXAMPLE 7
In this Example, the composite metal oxide represented by Y 0.9 Mn 0.85 Nb 0.15 O 3 was obtained just as described in Example 1 except for the use of yttrium acetate, manganese nitrate, and niobium oxide in such amounts that a molar ratio thereof of 0.9:0.85:0.15 is obtained.
A relationship between heat flow and temperature was then determined just as described in Example 1 except for the use of the composite metal oxide obtained in this Example as a catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas. The result is shown together with the result of Comparative Example 1 in FIG. 3 .
It is apparent from FIG. 3 that the catalysts for cleaning exhaust gas of Examples 6 and 7 can oxidize (burn) the above-described carbon black at low temperature and can achieve the effect of further promoting the oxidation, compared to the catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas of Comparative Example 1, which comprises the composite metal oxide represented by YMnO 3 .
EXAMPLE 8
In this Example, the composite metal oxide represented by Y 0.95 Mn 0.925 Ta 0.075 O 3 was obtained just as described in Example 1 except for the use of yttrium acetate, manganese nitrate, and tantalum oxide in such amounts that a molar ratio thereof of 0.95:0.925:0.075 is obtained.
A relationship between heat flow and temperature was then determined just as described in Example 1 except for the use of the composite metal oxide obtained in this Example as a catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas. The result is shown together with the result of Comparative Example 1 in FIG. 4 .
EXAMPLE 9
In this Example, the composite metal oxide represented by Y 0.9 Mn 0.85 Ta 0.15 O 3 was obtained just as described in Example 1 except for the use of yttrium acetate, manganese nitrate, and tantalum oxide in such amounts that a molar ratio thereof of 0.9:0.85:0.15 is obtained.
A relationship between heat flow and temperature was then determined just as described in Example 1 except for the use of the composite metal oxide obtained in this Example as a catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas. The result is shown together with the result of Comparative Example 1 in FIG. 4 .
It is apparent from FIG. 4 that the catalysts for cleaning exhaust gas of Examples 8 and 9 can oxidize (burn) the above-described carbon black at low temperature and can achieve the effect of further promoting the oxidation, compared to the catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas of Comparative Example 1, which comprises the composite metal oxide represented by YMnO 3 .
EXAMPLE 10
In this Example, the composite metal oxide represented by Y 0.95 Mn 0.85 Ru 0.15 O 3 was obtained just as described in Example 1 except for the use of yttrium acetate, manganese nitrate, and ruthenium oxide in such amounts that a molar ratio thereof of 0.95:0.85:0.15 is obtained.
A relationship between heat flow and temperature was then determined just as described in Example 1 except for the use of the composite metal oxide obtained in this Example as a catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas. The result is shown together with the result of Comparative Example 1 in FIG. 5 .
It is apparent from FIG. 5 that the catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas of Example 10 can oxidize (burn) the above-described carbon black at low temperature and can achieve the effect of further promoting the oxidation, compared to the catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas of Comparative Example 1, which comprises the composite metal oxide represented by YMnO 3 .
EXAMPLE 11
In this Example, the composite metal oxide represented by YMn 0.995 Ru 0.005 O 3 was obtained just as described in Example 1 except for the use of yttrium acetate, manganese nitrate, and ruthenium oxide in such amounts that a molar ratio thereof of 1:0.995:0.005 is obtained.
A relationship between heat flow and temperature was then determined just as described in Example 1 except for the use of the composite metal oxide obtained in this Example as a catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas. The result is shown together with the result of Comparative Example 1 in FIG. 6 .
It is apparent from FIG. 6 that the catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas of Example 11 can oxidize (burn) the above-described carbon black at low temperature and can achieve the effect of further promoting the oxidation, compared to the catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas of Comparative Example 1, which comprises the composite metal oxide represented by YMnO 3 . | The present invention provides an oxidation catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas, capable of achieving an excellent catalytic activity at a lower temperature for particulates and high boiling point hydrocarbons in exhaust gas from internal-combustion engines. The oxidation catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas according to the present invention is a composite metal oxide represented by the general formula: Ln y Mn 1-x A x O 3 , wherein Ln is a metal selected from the group consisting of Sc, Y, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu; A is a metal selected from the group consisting of Ti, Nb, Ta, and Ru; 0.005≦x≦0.2; and 0.9≦y≦1. Ln is Y. The composite metal oxide has a hexagonal structure. | 8 |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an improved input apparatus to write embroidery information on magnetic tape for use in an automatic embroidering apparatus.
In particular, the input apparatus has a coordinate analysis device which is composed of a stylus pen connected to a high frequency generator and a co-ordinate analysis panel. The coordinate analysis panel receives X-Y co-ordinate of each point of a pattern indicated by the stylus pen and converts the X-Y co-ordinate into a digital coordinate signal which is to be applied to the input of a temporary memory contained in the input apparatus. Further, the stylus pen is provided with a co-ordinate switch and a control switch. The co-ordinate switch plots the X-Y coordinate of each point of a pattern and transmits the same as a coordinate signal to the temporary memory, and the control switch is operated together with the co-ordinate switch at the final co-ordinate of a preceding continuous pattern (which will be an initial co-ordinate of a disconnected part of the pattern) and transmits a control signal to the temporary memory. The control signal displaces the embroidering frame (during automatic embroidering) to a position where the machine needle drops to the initial coordinate of the preceding continuous pattern while the sewing machine is stopped. Thus, the invention provides an opportunity for a machine operator to change thread while the sewing machine is stopped. The apparatus is also designed to avoid unexpected problems, such as movement of the sewing machine or the embroidering frame during change of thread.
The data stored in the temporary memory of the embroidring signal input apparatus are transferred onto magnetic tape. If enough embroidering data have been transferred onto the magnetic tape to fill the temporary memory, the microcomputer gives a control signal to the magnetic tape, and then acts on a magnetic tape processing device to temporarily stop the transfer of data, so as to form a blank on the magnetic tape. With that control signal of the microcomputer, the temporary memory of the apparatus stores a signal to temporarily stop the operation of a cassette recorder, thereof after the micro-computer has given the control signal reader a signal to stop the sewing machine and the embroidery frame during the automatic embroidering operation, to the magnetic tape, and issues a signal for temporarily stopping. During the transfer of data, if a signal is reached corresponding to the disconnected point of a pattern, the temporary memory stores a signal for temporarily stopping the sewing machine and the embroidering frame a the command of the microcomputer. Thus, when the sewing machine and the embroidering frame are temporarily stopped, the automatic embroidering apparatus will not operate again unless an operator controlled switch apparatus is once released and pushed again. The object is as follows: In processing the magnetic tape for producing an embroidery pattern covering almost all the space of the embroidering frame, the transfer of data is repeated several times into the tape, each time the quantity of the embroidering data stored on magnetic tape becomes equal to the capacity of the temporary memory. A smaller temporary memory can thus be used, decreasing cost of the apparatus. There is also provided a blank signal between the two continuous, but separated data to eliminate the mistakes on reading-out of the data which may be otherwise caused by instability of rising time at re-driving of the cassette reader when subsequently reading into the temporary memory of the embroidering data by the input part of the automatic embroidering apparatus.
A basic object of the invention is to stop the sewing machine and the embroidering frame at the disconnected part in the automatic embroidery for easy exchange of thread and to avoid occurence of problems caused by sudden movement of the embroidering frame.
Another object of the invention is to use a smaller capacity temporary memory for preventing the increased costs.
The other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention in reference to preferred embodiment as shown in the attached drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the co-ordinate analysis panel of the invention,
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the pen stylus,
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the embroidering signal input apparatus of the invention,
FIGS. 4 and 5 show patterns appearing on the co-ordinate analysis panel,
FIG. 6 shows an example of an embroidering pattern based on FIG. 5,
FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing part of the operation of the embroidering signal input apparatus,
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the automatic embroidering apparatus, shown in a normal lock stitching condition,
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the automatic embroidering apparatus, shown in the automatic embroidering condition,
FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a mechanism for moving the embroidering frame,
FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a connector for an upper shaft pulse generator of the sewing machine, and
FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing control circuitry in of the automatic embroidering apparatus.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
A brief reference will be made to the automatic embroidering apparatus (denoted "embroidering apparatus" hereinafter) to be driven and controlled in accordance with embroidering data from an external memory such as a magnetic tape or a magnetic card processed by the embroidering signal input apparatus of the invention (denoted "input apparatus" hereinafter).
The input apparatus is so construced as to store embroidering data, by means of the coordinate analysis panel, in the temporary memory of the micro-computer. The embroidering data composed of a co-ordinate signal for each point in a pattern on the coordinate analysis panel and an embroidering control signal. The input apparatus is further constructed to convert the embroidering data into high frequency to be stored on magnetic tape or magnetic card. The magnetic card may be also used in addition to the magnetic tape for the external memory. As both can be dealt with similarly, the following explanation will refer to magnetic tape only. The embroidering apparatus is capable of normal stitching and embroidering the latter being controlled by the embroidering control circuit. In the embroidering operation, embroidering data on magnetic tape processed by the input apparatus is transferred into the temporary memory of the embroidering control circuit, so as to drive the sewing machine at a predetermined speed and to operate the embroidering frame per each stored in the stitches for forming the pattern under the control of the microcomputer in accordance with the data of the temporary memory.
The input apparatus 1 will be explained in reference to FIGS. 1-3, in which a reference numeral 2 is the co-ordinate analyzing device of the input apparatus. The co-ordinates of the pattern on the co-ordinate analysis panel 5 are selected by the point of a stylus pen 4 which is connected to the high frequency generator 3. The selected coordinates are received by X-receipt 6 and Y-receipt 7 by pushing the co-ordinate switch SW1 and are transferred into the temporary apparatus RAM1 of the input apparatus 1 as digital coordinate signals in an addressed manner and in the plotted sequence, and later mentioned control signals 9 are given to the temporary memory RAM1 by pushing a control switch SW2 as required in the pattern formation. FIG. 1 illustrates the transfer of the co-ordinates (a, b) of A point.
After the embroidering data composed of the co-ordinate signal 8 and the control signal 9 are stored in the temporary apparatus RAM1, the micro-computer COM1 (called as "microm" hereafter) converts the stored data into the frequency via a modulation circuit 10 of the tape recorder 63. In FIG. 3, I/O is an input-output port, CPU1 is a central processing unit and ROM1 is a static memory.
Input of the embroidering data to the micom COM1 will be explained with reference to FIG. 4. In the patterns in FIG. 4, distances between B-C, D-E, and E-F are continuous patterns independent of each other, and spaces between C-D, and E-F are disconnected parts.
In inputting the co-ordinate of each point of the patterns to the temporary memory RAM1, a continuous signal including each point is nonsense. Since it should inconvenient that the embroidering frame 29 (FIG. 9) is move independently of rotation of an upper shaft of the sewing machine during automatic operation by the embroidering apparatus 20 (FIG. 9), said signal is required to be a discontinuous signal which is divided by pulses that are synchronous with rotation of the upper shaft during automatic embroidering operation.
The co-ordinate switch SW1 successively addresses in the plotting order the co-ordinates at the desired positions in the pattern on the co-ordinate analyzing panel 5, in order to divide the co-ordinate signal 8 (a discontinuous signal) upper shaft synchronous pulses for giving an input to the temporary memory RAM1 of the microm COM1, and the co-ordinate signal 8 successively plotted by the co-ordinate switch is synchronized with the sewing machine by the upper shaft synchronous pulse during embroidering after said coordinate is given to and stored in the embroidering apparatus 20, and controls driving of the embroidering frame 29 for each one of the stitches of the sewing machine.
The control signal SW2 is for giving the control signal together with the co-ordinate signal 8 to the temporary memory RAM1 of the micom COM1 by joint use of the co-ordinate switch SW1 at a final co-ordinate of the continuous pattern, which final co-ordinate will be an initial co-ordinate of a disconnected part of the pattern. The control signal stops the sewing machine at the initial co-ordinate of the disconnected part of the pattern, and moves only the embroidering frame 29 to the initial co-ordinate of a next continous part of the pattern, stops the embroidering frame, and finally releases an operating part 41 of a controller CONT (FIG. 9). Unless this operating part is pushed once again, the sewing machine and the embroidering frame are not moved.
Thus, the sewing machine is not driven at the disconnected part of the pattern and the embroidering frame is only moved while the needle bar is held at its upper dead point. It is dangerous if the sewing machine is re-rotated after moving the embroidering frame 29 and starts to stitch the pattern, causing time for exchanging the thread to be lost.
Accordingly, in the present embodiment, the sewing machine is stopped only after the embroidering frame 29 is moved to the initial co-ordinates of a following continuous part of the pattern in accordance with the order from the micom COM2 (FIG. 11) of the embroidering apparatus 20, based on the control signal 9 by the control switch SW2. At said initial co-ordinates, a flip-flop 47 of the embroidering apparatus 20 is controlled by the micom COM2 based on said control signal. Unless controller operating part 41 (serving as a switch of an embroidering speed control circuit 48 of an embroidering control circuit 24) is released and pushed again, the embroidering speed control circuit 48 is not activated and the embroidering frame 29 is accordingly not driven.
It is of course possible to give the co-ordinate signal thereto for each stitch in a pattern, but This will require much labor for patterns that require many stitches. A pattern viewed in FIG. 6 is made by plotting in detail the pattern in FIG. 5 per each of the stitches and giving manually swinging amplitude to the sewing machine. For fabricating such a pattern, it is necessary that rough and close stitches are plotted as uniformly as possible, since inconvenience will occur if the distance between the adjacent disconnected co-ordinates distinguishable by the co-ordinate analysis panel 5 is rough with respect to the distance between the co-ordinates between the plots.
Therefore, in the present embodiment such a process is also provided which plots, as a co-ordinate signal, a co-ordinate per each 16 stitches for giving it to the input apparatus. For example, with respect to the pattern shown in FIG. 5, the distance between G-H is properly divided into No. 1-No. 15 plots as viewed, and the input is given thereto in each plot while pushing the co-ordinate switch SW1.
Thus in the automatic embroidering operation controlled by means of the magnetic tape containing the co-ordinate signal by the plot point, the micom COM2 of the embroidering apparatus 20 (having received this signal) interpolates between No. 1-No. 2 and No. 2-No. 3, and between the plot co-ordinates, and carries out a calculation for n-divisions respectively in order to control driving of the embroidering frame 29 as forming the stitches which advances by 1/n between the respective co-ordinates. In this regard, this embodiment employs n=16.
It is not always necessary that an original pattern be reduced or enlarged. In this embodiment, an origin of the pattern co-ordinate is selected at a center of the co-ordinate analysis panel 5 for reducing or enlarging the pattern, and this co-ordinate is set at the central co-ordinate of the embroidering frame 29. The enlarged or reduced embroidering pattern is formed by determining a multiplication constant α through the manual operation of an enlarging or reducing volume 55 of the embroidering control circuit 24 for the co-ordenate signal of the thus prepared magnetic tape, converting said constant into a digital signal by A/D converter 56, and causing the micom COM2 to carry out a calculation to obtain (αx, αy) using a program in a static memory ROM2.
As to the preparation of the magnetic tape for the external memory of the automatic embroidering apparatus 20, the number of the plotted points varies greatly in dependence on the kind of embroidering pattern covering the whole interior of embroidering frame 29, and it is not preferable to store all of these plotted points in the temporary memory RAM2 of the automatic embroidering apparatus, since many applications do not require such a large capacity and cost of the automatic embroidering apparatus 20 are unnecessarily increased. Therefore in this embodiment the embroidering data on the magnetic tape 11 are read into the temporary memory RAM2 of the automatic embroidering apparatus 20, and when the capacity of the temporary memory RAM2 is filled, reading from the magnetic tape is temporarily stopped. After the contents in temporary memory RAM2 are successively issued to advance the embroidering operation part way, such reading again takes place.
In this embodiment, the magnetic tape is made, in reference to the flow chart in FIG. 7, by successively transferring the embroidering data on each point of the pattern from the temporary memory RAM1 of the input apparatus to the magnetic tape 11 while incrementing the address counter of the input apparatus 1, giving a later mentioned control signal to the magnetic tape 11 by the program in the static memory ROM1 of the input apparatus 1 when the capacity of the temporary memory RAM2 of the embroidering apparatus 20 is filled with the embroidering data, and then acting on the tape recorder 63 of the input apparatus, temporarily stopping the reading-in to the magnetic tape 11 from the temporary memory RAM1, and giving a signal from the micom COM1 in order to form the blank signal on the magnetic tape. In issuing the embroidering signal from the magnetic tape 11 to the temporary memory RAM2 by the input part 21 (FIG. 12) of the embroidering apparatus 20, the control signal acts on the micom COM2 when the amount of the embroidering data fills the capacity of the temporary memory RAM2 to stop driving of cassette reader 22 and stop the reading-out from the magnetic tape. This control signal is for temporarily stopping the sewing machine and the embroidering frame 29 after performing the automatic embroidering operation with the embroidering data provided up to that line and the embroidering data are given to said temporary memory RAM2 similarly as previously.
Next, an explanation will be had of the automatic embroidering apparatus 20. This apparatus reads out the embroidering data from the magnetic tape, after the tape has been prepared by the input apparatus 1, by means of the cassette reader 22 of the input part 21. Data on the tape is demodulated by a demodulator circuit 23 to successively issue an input to the temporary memory RAM2 and control driving of an embroidering drive circuit 24 by microm COM2 in accordance with the data in temporary memory RAM2 for carrying out automatic embroidery.
Further the embroidering apparatus 20 will be explained with reference to the attached drawings. In FIGS. 8 and 9, reference numeral 25 is a machine table, and numeral 26 is a casing into which a main part of the automatic embroidering apparatus 20 is installed and which can open up above a cloth support 27 of the machine table 25. This casing contains a later mentioned embroidering frame driving mechanism 28 (FIG. 10) and a main part of a control circuit 24 (FIG. 12) for controlling driving of the mechanism 28. Numeral 21 is an input part of the embroidering apparatus 20 which reads the magnetic tape storing the automatic embroidering data. As mentioned later, when the casing 26 is open (as shown in FIG. 9) an embroidering frame 29 can be connected to the driving mechanism 28 and can perform automatic embroidery together with the sewing machine, and when casing 26 is closed straight stitching can be carried out.
The embroidering frame driving mechanism 28 incorporated in said casing 26 will be explained with reference to FIG. 10. In the same, a numeral 31 is an X-driving member and 32 is a Y-driving member, and they are respectively formed with racks 33 and 34 which are geared with pinions 37 and 38 connected to an X-control motor 35 and a Y-control motor 36. The X-control motor 35 and the Y-control motor 36 are controlled by commands from the micom COM2, and output terminals 39 and 40 are positioned and driven for the automatic embroidery. Although not shown especially, the output terminals 39 and 40 are attached with the embroidering frame 29 by an ordinary one-touch.
The control circuit for the automatic embroidery and the normal stitch will be explained with the block diagram. In FIG. 12, a reference mark V is an AC power source, M is a machine motor for driving the sewing machine, and CONT is a controller which during normal sewing controls speed of the machine motor M together with a machine speed control circuit 42 by stepping a controller operating part 41, and which, during automatic embroidering, serves as a switch of the embroidering speed control circuit 48 of the embroidering control circuit 24 to be operated by an order from the micom COM2. The input part 48 is for converting the embroidering data stored in the magnetic tape into the digital signal in the temporary apparatus RAM2 of the micom COM2 and storing in advance the digital signal before automatic embroidery. CPU2 is a central processing unit of said micom. The closed condition of the casing 26 is for the straight stitching, and since the connector 45 is not connected as mentioned later the wiper of switch 43 is connected to the terminal for the straight stitching of the sewing machine by the controller CONT. The opened condition of the casing 26 is for embroidering, and when the upper shaft pulse generator 44 secured on the upper shaft of the sewing machine is connected to the micom COM2 by the connecter 45, the wiper of switch 43 is connected to the b-terminal for the automatic embroidery by the control of the embroidering control circuit 24.
In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, the switch 43 is attached to the casing 59 of the sewing machine, and an operating piece 60 thereof is operated by projection 61 (located on the connector 45) when the connector 45 is connected to a connector 62 and the switch 43 is connected to the b-terminal in FIG. 12. When the switch 43 is connected to the b-terminal, the controller operating part 41 serves as a switch for operating the embroidering circuit 24 of the embroidering apparatus 20, and the speed of the machine motor M is controlled by the embroidering speed control circuit 48 (which in turn is controlled by the driving control signal 46 issued from the micom COM2 by a program stored in the static memory ROM2 in advance) and the driving control signal 46 acts on the flip-flop 47 to determine whether or not the machine motor M is rotated together with the order from the controller operating part 41 via the embroidering speed control circuit 48. Simultaneously, the micom COM2 outputs the automatic embroidering data previously stored in the temporary memory RAM2 by the magnetic tape 11 as the X-driving order 49 and the Y-driving order 50 in response to upper shaft pulses, which are generated in synchronism with the rotation of the upper shaft of the sewing machine driven by the machine motor M, and the micom COM2 controls the X-driving circuit 53 and the Y-driving circuit 54 via the D/A converters 51 and 52, and positions and controls the X-control motor 35 and Y-control motor 36 in a closed loop.
Next, reference will be made to working of the embroidering apparatus 20 by the magnetic tape 11 made by the input apparatus 1 of this embodiment. For carrying out the automatic embroidering operation, the embroidering frame 29 and the fabric are set on output terminals 39 and 40 of the embroidering frame driving mechanism 28 under when the casing 26 of the embroidering apparatus 20 is open, as shown in FIG. 9, and the magnetic tape 11 is charged on the cassette reader 22 of the embroidering apparatus 20 after a preliminary arrangement of the operation. The embroidering data stored on the magnetic tape are read out by the cassette reader 22 and demodulated by the modulation circuit 23 and successively transmit the co-ordinate signal and the control signal to the temporary memory RAM2 of the embroidering apparatus. During this period, a lamp 57 for indicating completion of the embroidering arrangement is kept off.
The input is continuously given, and when the embroidering frame comes to the disconnected part of the pattern of the magnetic tape 11 (after the sewing machine is stopped by the micom COM2 in accordance with the control signal from the magnetic tape) the embroidering frame 29 only is moved to the initial co-ordinate position of the subsequent pattern and is stopped there to control the flip-flop 47 of the embroidering apparatus 20. For embroidering a following continuous part of the pattern a signal is given such that the embroidering speed control circuit 48 is not operated unless the controller operating part 41 (serving as the switch of the embroidering control circuit 41) is released and pushed again.
The input is continuous, and when the capacity of the temporary memory RAM2 is filled, the magnetic tape issues a signal for stopping the input, and micom COM2 generates a signal for stopping driving of the cassette reader 22 and lighting lamp 57, indicating completion of the embroidering. When the upper shaft pulse generator 44 is connected to the micom COM2 by the connector 45, the wiper of the switch 43 is switched to the b-terminal to make the embroidering control circuit 24 operative, so that the machine operator may start the embroidering operation by stepping on the controller operating part 41. When the controller operating part 41 is depressed to start the embroidering operation, the embroidering frame 29 is at first positioned for driving in such a manner that the needle is dropped onto the pattern co-ordinate designated by the initial address, and thus the initial stitching takes place. Subsequently, the distance between said initial stitching and a co-ordinate to be designated by the next address is interpolated by a program in the static memory ROM2 of the micom COM2, a calculation to divide this distance is carried out by the micom COM2, and the embroidering frame 29 is controlled in driving such that said distance is stitched in order by 1/n. In this embodiment, the program of n=16 is stored in the static memory ROM2.
When the speed of rotation of the sewing machine during embroidering is controlled by the controller CONT as in straight stitching, a problem occurs in which the embroidering frame cannot follow the rotation speed of the sewing machine, and therefore during automatic embroidering according to this embodiment the rotation speed of the sewing machine is made so constant that the embroidering frame may follow the embroidering speed control circuit 48. The controller operating part 41 of the controller CONT functions as a switch to determine whether or not the embroidering speed control circuit 48 is operating as mentioned before. As to the rotation speed of the sewing machine embroidering, the maximum rotation number is determined so that the embroidering frame 29 may follow it, besides setting the tolerance within which the speed may be varied.
The embroidering frame 29 is controlled to form successively stitches by 1/n between the pattern co-ordinate to be designated by the second address and the pattern co-ordinate to be designated by the third address, and when the embroidering frame comes to the disconnected part of the pattern the sewing machine is stopped after forming the final stitch of the continuous pattern, and the needle bar is stopped nearly at the upper dead point, and only the embroidering frame 29 is moved to the initial co-ordinate position of the following continuous pattern and is stopped.
For embroidering a following continuous pattern by the order from the micom COM2 in accordance with the memory of the temporary memory RAM2 in the disconnected part of this pattern, the flip-flop 47 is so controlled that the embroidering speed control circuit 48 is not operated unless controller operating part 41 is released and pressed again, and the machine operator may exchange the thread at the disconnected part of the pattern. If the temporary memory RAM2 is programmed with only half of the embroidering patterns due to the above mentioned problem of the capacity of the temporary memory RAM2 during further embroidering, the stitching operation is carried out by successively issuing such given patterns. When issuing all of the patterns the temporary memory RAM2 must be given with rest half of them. An operation at such a case will be explained.
When the temporary memory RAM2 exhausts up the stored contents, the cartridge cassette reader 22 of the magnetic tape 11 is re-rotated and subsequent embroidering data are given to the temporary memory RAM2 in succession. Since the blank signal is formed on the magnetic tape 11 at this re-rotation any mistake in reading-out owing to unstability of the speed of response of the cassette reader 22 may be avoided. At this inputting time, the drive controlling signal 46 is issued in the same fashion as it is issued in the disconnected part of the pattern from the micom COM2 by the program of the static memory ROM2 in accordance with the signal from the magnetic tape 11 and the embroidering speed control circuit 48 is released, and the flip-flop 47 is so controlled that the sewing machine and the embroidering frame 29 are not operated unless the controller operating part 41 is released and again depressed. The cassette reader 22 is rerotated in this condition and the pattern data stored on the magnetic tape 11 are again given to the temporary memory RAM2. During this period, the lamp 57 indicating the completion of the preparation of the embroidery is kept off, and after re-input it is lighted to indicate the completion of the preparation. Thereafter, the controller operating part 41 is depressed to enable embroidering work to continue and in this case the initial co-ordinate after interpretation is drawn, and the distance between this co-ordinate and the final co-ordinate before the interpretation is combined with the straight line, and the micom COM2 carries out the calculation to divide said distance into n equal distances. The embroidering frame 29 is successively controlled in driving each of the stitches by l/n times the distance to continue the embroidery.
As mentioned above, the input apparatus of the embroidering signal converts the co-ordinates each point into the digital co-ordinate signal for the desired pattern on the co-ordinate analysis panel in order to easily store the converted signal in the temporary memory of the input apparatus. During automatic embroidering and when the sewing machine is stopped, the embroidering frame 29 is moved to the initial co-ordinate of the subsequent continuous part of the pattern on which the needle drops and the controlling signal is stored in the temporary memory of the embroidering apparatus for stopping the embroidering frame, to thereby make it convenient to change thread at the disconnected part of the pattern and to change the data for the automatic embroidery, and the sewing machine and the embroidering frame are temporarily stopped. For re-driving the sewing machine and the embroidering frame, the controller operating part is released and pushed again to heighten operating safety.
The automatic embroidering apparatus according to the present invention is to prepare the magnetic tape by repeating outputs to the magnetic tape (covering all the parts within the embroidering frame) each time that the quantity of the embroidering data stored on the magnetic tape becomes equal to the capacity of the temporary memory of the automatic embroidering apparatus. The temporary memory can thus be made of a smaller capacity, and increased cost of the apparatus avoided. Provision of a blank signal between the continuous embroidering data avoids mistakes during reading-out caused by instability of response at re-driving of the casette reader when reading out after twice to the temporary memory of the embroidering data by an input part of the automatic embroidering apparatus. | An automatic embroidery machine is driven by information recorded on magnetic tape and utilizes a fixed sewing machine and a movable embroidery frame. An input apparatus registers user-selected points on a coordinate analysis panel, which points form embroidery patterns to be sewn, and causes embroidery information to be recorded upon magnetic tape for subsequent use in the automatic embroidery machine. The automatic embroidery machine and the input apparatus are so designed that after a continuous part of an embroidery pattern has been sewn, the embroidery frame will be moved to a next continuous part of a pattern and the automatic embroidering machine will stop, providing an opportunity for a user to change thread. The automatic embroidering machine cannot be restarted unless the user operates a controller, ensuring safe operation.
The automatic embroidery machine is provided with a temporary memory, into which embroidery information is written while the magnetic tape is being read, and from which embroidery information is read out while the automatic embroidering machine is embroidering patterns. The input apparatus is so designed that when an amount of embroidery information corresponding to the predetermined capacity of the temporary memory has been recorded on the magnetic tape, a blank signal is next recorded thereon. The magnetic tape is repeatedly started and stopped, so that embroidery information is transferred in packets into and out of the temporary memory. This operation allows temporary memory capacity to be minimized, reducing cost. | 3 |
RELATED APPLICATION DATA
[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/831,458 filed Jun. 5, 2013, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND
[0002] The present invention relates to a compressed gas dryer that uses the heat of compression to dry the compressed gas, and more particularly to a compressed air dryer that includes redundant dryer towers that use the heat of compression to dry the air.
[0003] Heat of compression dryer systems employ a drying compound that interacts with the gas being dried to remove moisture from the flow. Periodically, the system must be taken off line and recharged.
SUMMARY
[0004] In one embodiment, the invention provides a heat of compression dryer system that includes two desiccant towers and no more than ten valves arranged to allow for the regeneration of one tower while the second tower dries a flow of compressed gas. The arrangement assures that the flow of compressed gas passes through no more than three valves during any mode of operation.
[0005] In one construction, the invention provides a gas compressing system that includes a compressor operable to provide a flow of compressed gas and water vapor at a first high temperature, a first desiccant tower including a first quantity of desiccant, and a second desiccant tower separate from the first desiccant tower and including a second quantity of desiccant. The system also includes a first moisture separator, a second moisture separator separate from the first moisture separator, a dry gas outlet, a first set of no more than three valves each movable between an open position and a closed position, and a second set of no more than three valves each movable between an open position and a closed position. The flow of compressed gas and water vapor flows along a flow path, in order from the compressor to the first desiccant tower, to the first moisture separator, to the second desiccant tower and out the dry gas outlet when each of the valves of the first set of valves is open and each valve of the second set of valves is closed. The flow of compressed gas and water vapor flows, in order from the compressor to the second desiccant tower, to the second moisture separator, to the first desiccant tower and out the dry gas outlet when each of the valves of the first set of valves is closed and each valve of the second set of valves is opened.
[0006] In another construction, the invention provides a gas compressing system that includes a compressor operable to provide a flow of compressed gas and water vapor, a first desiccant tower including a first inlet, a first outlet, and a first quantity of desiccant positioned in a first flow path between the first inlet and the first outlet, and a second desiccant tower including a second inlet, a second outlet, and a second quantity of desiccant positioned in a second flow path between the second inlet and the second outlet. The system also includes a first moisture separator, a second moisture separator, a dry gas outlet, a first set of three and only three valves each movable between an open position and a closed position, and a second set of three and only three valves each movable between an open position and a closed position. In a first arrangement, each of the valves of the first set of valves is open and each of the valves of the second set of valves is closed and the flow of compressed gas and vapor flows along a system flow path from the compressor, through the first desiccant tower to heat and regenerate the desiccant, then through the first moisture separator to remove a portion of the water vapor, then through the second desiccant tower to remove additional water vapor, then through the dry gas outlet. In a second arrangement, each of the valves of the first set of valves is closed and each of the valves of the second set of valves is open and the flow of compressed gas and vapor flows from the compressor, through the second desiccant tower to heat and regenerate the desiccant, then through the second moisture separator to remove a portion of the water vapor, then through the first desiccant tower to remove additional water vapor, then through the dry gas outlet.
[0007] In yet another construction, the invention provides a method of providing dry compressed gas at a dry gas outlet. The method includes providing a first desiccant tower and a second desiccant tower, each tower including an inlet and an outlet, compressing a quantity of gas to produce a flow of compressed gas and water vapor at a high temperature, and passing the flow of compressed gas and water vapor along a flow path through the first desiccant tower from the outlet to the inlet to cool the flow of compressed gas and water vapor. The invention also includes regenerating the desiccant in the first desiccant tower as the flow of compressed gas and water vapor passes therethrough, passing the flow of compressed gas and water vapor through the second desiccant tower from the inlet to the outlet, the desiccant adsorbing a portion of the water vapor from the flow of compressed gas and water vapor, and directing the flow of compressed gas and water vapor from the outlet of the second desiccant tower to the dry gas outlet. The method further includes periodically transitioning a first group of no more than three valves from an open position to a closed position and a second group of no more than three valves from a closed position to an open position to redirect the flow of compressed gas and water vapor from the compressor to the outlet of the second desiccant tower to regenerate the second desiccant tower, from the inlet of the second desiccant tower to the inlet of the first desiccant tower to remove a portion of the water vapor from the flow of compressed gas and water vapor, and from the outlet of the first desiccant tower to the dry gas outlet.
[0008] Other aspects of the invention will become apparent by consideration of the detailed description and accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of compressor system and a heat of compression dryer system in a first mode of operation;
[0010] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the compressor system and the heat of compression dryer system of FIG. 1 in a second mode of operation;
[0011] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of compressor system and a second heat of compression dryer system in a first mode of operation;
[0012] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the compressor system and the heat of compression dryer system of FIG. 3 in a second mode of operation;
[0013] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the compressor system and the heat of compression dryer system of FIG. 3 in a third mode of operation;
[0014] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the compressor system and the heat of compression dryer system of FIG. 3 in a fourth mode of operation;
[0015] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a compressor system and a third heat of compression dryer system in a first mode of operation; and
[0016] FIG. 8 is a schematic illustration of a multi-stage compression system including a heat of compression dryer system.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] Before any embodiments of the invention are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the following drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways.
[0018] It should be noted that the invention will be described as it applies to an air compression system 10 . However, one of ordinary skill in the art will realize that the invention should not be limited to air compression systems 10 alone. Rather, the system is applicable to many other systems that compress gases other than air. In addition, the system operates to deliver a flow of dry compressed gas. As one of ordinary skill in the art will realize, “dry” compressed gas does not refer to a flow of compressed gas that includes no moisture. Rather, a flow of dry compressed gas is a flow that includes a quantity of moisture at a dew point well below a desired operating temperature such that the moisture does not condense out of the flow during use.
[0019] FIG. 1 illustrates a heat of compression dryer system 15 that utilizes the heat of compression inherent in an adiabatic compression machine 20 to regenerate adsorptive drying media. While illustrated as an oil free compressor 20 , other compression machines could include, a reciprocating compressor, a scroll compressor, a centrifugal compressor, or any other suitable compressor. The compression machine 20 , or compressor, provides a flow of compressed gas 25 (air in the illustrated construction) that includes moisture. The dryer system 15 receives the flow of moist air from the compressor 20 and operates to discharge a flow of dry compressed air 30 .
[0020] The dryer system 15 , as illustrated in FIG. 1 includes two dryer towers 35 , two separators 40 , two coolers 45 , ten valves 50 , and piping that interconnects the various components. Each of the towers 35 includes an inlet 55 , and outlet 60 , and a quantity of desiccant 65 (e.g., silica gel, activated alumina, and the like) that absorbs or adsorbs moisture as the flow of compressed air passes through the desiccant 65 at the proper temperature. The selected desiccant 65 is such that when hot moist gas (at partial relative humidity) passes through the desiccant 65 , the desiccant 65 releases moisture and is thereby recharged. When the moist compressed gas is cool, the desiccant adsorbs the moisture to dry the flow of compressed gas. The inlet 55 is the opening through which the compressed gas enters when the tower 35 is used in a drying mode and the outlet 60 is the opening through which the compressed gas exits when the tower 35 is used in a drying mode. In the illustrated construction, the inlet 55 is at the top of the tower 35 and the outlet 60 is near the bottom with other arrangements being possible.
[0021] Each of the coolers 45 is positioned to receive and cool a flow of compressed gas. In a preferred arrangement, the coolers 45 each include a heat exchanger that receives the flow of compressed gas as well as a flow of cooling fluid such as water, refrigerant, glycol, and the like. The cooling fluid used is selected based on the level of cooling required for the particular application. In one construction, a shell and tube heat exchanger uses a flow of cool water as the cooling fluid to cool the flow of compressed air entering the heat exchanger.
[0022] Each of the moisture separators 40 is positioned to receive the flow of compressed gas from one of the coolers 45 and is operable to separate a liquid portion of the moisture contained within the compressed gas stream. Several types of separators 40 could be employed including but not limited to coalescing filters, cyclonic separator, or other flow induced separators. In one form, the liquid portion is removed via a drain (not shown). In other embodiments, other means may be employed to remove the liquid portion.
[0023] Each of the valves 50 is selected for its particular purpose with many types of valves being suitable. For example, ball valves, butterfly valves, globe valves, gate valves, and the like could be employed. In addition, some or all of the valves 50 could be automatically controlled by an electronic or mechanical control system or could be manually actuated. Thus, one of ordinary skill in the art will realize that many different valves could be employed as desired. It should also be clear that as the number of valves 50 increases, the complexity and cost of the system increases. Therefore, it is a goal of the present system to use the minimum number of valves 50 to accomplish any desired operation. In addition, flow through a valve 50 causes a pressure drop that reduced the efficiency of the system 15 . Thus, it is also a goal to minimize the number of valves 50 that the flow must pass through during operation.
[0024] In operation and as illustrated in FIG. 1 , air is compressed by a compressor 20 . During compression, moisture is compressed with the air and the compressed air is heated by the compression process. The hot, moist compressed air 25 (at partial relative humidity) enters the dryer system 15 and is directed to a first of the two towers 35 A. The compressed air enters the tower 35 A via the outlet 60 and flows through the tower 35 A to the inlet 55 . As the moist air flows through the desiccant 65 , the desiccant 65 is heated to a temperature that allows the desiccant 65 to release the moisture that had been adsorbed. The flow then passes to one of the coolers 45 a and is cooled. As the flow cools, moisture begins to condense from the flow. The flow then passes to the moisture separator 40 a where the condensed moisture is separated from the flow.
[0025] The flow exits the separator 40 a and enters the second tower 35 B via the tower inlet 55 . The flow passes through the second tower 35 B where the desiccant 65 adsorbs additional moisture to further dry the flow of compressed air. The compressed air then exits the tower 35 B and flows to a dryer outlet 70 and ultimately to a point of use.
[0026] Eventually, the desiccant 65 of the second tower 35 B becomes saturated and must be regenerated. Prior to that point, the first tower 35 A is prepared to be used to adsorb moisture. During the regeneration phase, the desiccant 65 in the tower 35 A being regenerated is heated by the compressed gas. To avoid a spike in the dew point of the compressed gas 30 discharged from the dryer system 15 , the desiccant 65 in the regenerating tower 35 A should be pre-cooled. FIG. 2 illustrates the dryer system 15 arranged to pre-cool the tower 35 A at the end of the regeneration cycle. As illustrated in FIG. 2 , the incoming moist compressed air 25 is first directed to a cooler 45 B where the compressed air is cooled. The compressed air then flows through the moisture separator 40 B where any condensed liquid is removed before being directed to the inlet 55 of the first tower 35 A. The cool compressed gas entering the tower 35 A is heated by the hot desiccant 65 and operates to cool the desiccant 65 . Eventually, the flow of compressed gas cools the desiccant 65 to a desired temperature. The compressed gas exits the first tower 35 A via the tower outlet 60 and flows to the other cooler 45 A, separator 40 A and tower 35 B as described with regard to FIG. 1 . Once the desiccant 65 in the first tower 35 A reaches a predetermined temperature, the valves 50 are manipulated such that the flow of compressed air is the mirror image of the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 1 . Thus, the second tower 35 B enters a regeneration mode and the first tower 35 A operates to dry the flow of compressed gas. The transitions described herein occur automatically and seamlessly such that there is no disruption in the flow of compressed gas and there is little or no change in the dew point of the compressed gas exiting the dryer system 15 .
[0027] FIGS. 3-6 illustrate a dryer system 75 similar to that of FIGS. 1-2 with the addition of a heater 80 that can be used to more precisely control the temperature of the flow of compressed gas during various phases of operation. The heater 80 can be electrically powered or can include a heat exchanger that uses a hot fluid to heat the flow of compressed gas.
[0028] FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate operation of the system 75 in much the same way as is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 with the exception that the flow of hot moist compressed gas 25 passes through the heater 80 before entering the outlet 60 of the first tower 35 A for regeneration. In the operating mode illustrated in FIG. 3 , the heater 80 is not activated but rather is simply passed through.
[0029] FIG. 5 illustrates operation of the system in a mode identical to that of FIG. 3 with the exception that the heater 80 is activated to further heat the compressed gas 25 . The hotter compressed gas allows for faster more efficient regeneration of the desiccant 65 in the first tower 35 A.
[0030] During the normal operating mode, regeneration is performed without depressurizing the desiccant tower. FIG. 6 illustrates a heated purge regeneration mode of operation that may be employed in some embodiments. The heated purge mode is employed as a backup mode to facilitate regeneration during low compressed air flow conditions which are not sufficient to adequately regenerate the desiccant. This mode entails de-pressurization of the regeneration tower 35 A and utilizes a supplemental heater 80 to elevate the air temperature exiting from the drying tower 35 B to purge the moisture from tower 35 A. Similarly, when tower 35 B is being regenerated, tower 35 B is depressurized, and supplemental heater 80 is used to elevate the air temperature exiting from the drying tower 35 A to purge the moisture from tower 35 B. In the heated purge regeneration mode, moist compressed gas 25 enters the dryer system 75 and is directed to a cooler 45 A where the gas is cooled. Moisture that condenses from the flow of compressed gas is separated in the moisture separator 40 A downstream of the cooler 45 A. The compressed gas is then directed to the second tower 35 B and is further dried by the desiccant 65 within the tower 35 B. The now dry compressed gas exits the tower 35 B via the outlet 60 and flows out of the dryer system 75 to a point of use. A small portion of the dry compressed gas 85 is bled from a point downstream of the tower 35 B and is directed to the heater 80 . The heater 80 heats the bleed flow before the flow enters the first tower 35 A via the tower outlet 60 . The gas flows upward through the tower 35 A to a discharge outlet 90 . After exiting the discharge outlet 90 , the flow passes through a valve 95 and a sound suppressing device 100 before being discharged to the atmosphere. In this arrangement, a small portion of the compressed gas flows through the tower 35 A to perform the desired regeneration.
[0031] As one of ordinary skill in the art will realize, each mode of operation has been described with one tower 35 operating as the drying tower. However, each system can be operated in the mirror image of that illustrated such that the other of the towers 35 operates to dry the compressed gas. The switch between the mirror images and the various modes can occur automatically and seamlessly such that there is no spike in the dew point of the compressed air and without a disruption or interruption in the flow of dry compressed air 30 to the point of use through the use of a controller.
[0032] A typical cycle could incorporate about 2.5 hours of heating and about 1.5 hours of cooling for a total duration of about 4 hours per tower 35 , and about 8 hours total. The required duration for the cycle functions and the total cycle length can be varied by changing the amount of desiccant 65 or the size of the towers 35 . A controller 110 can be used to switch the valves 50 on a time basis. A more sophisticated controller 110 could use system temperatures and compare them to ambient temperature to evaluate the adequacy of regeneration and cooling and when function switching should take place.
[0033] The configuration illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 of two towers 35 , ten valves 50 , two coolers 45 and inter-connecting pipes permits the correct paths to be established with only three valve transits, thereby producing only a small pressure drop. Other configurations may require 4 to 6 or more valve transits to achieve the same functions. Low pressure drop is a desirable attribute for adsorption dryers as it is a significant contributor to the cost of operation. Some alternative configurations for accomplishing these functions utilize four-way valves and require 6 valve transits. Other configurations that accomplish the same flow functions require twelve two-way valves and have six or more valve transits.
[0034] The simplest configuration for a heat of compression dryer 105 has two towers 35 A, 35 B, eight valves 50 and a single cooler 45 . A construction similar to the eight valve configuration but including two coolers 45 is illustrated in FIG. 7 . In this configuration, there is no possibility to pre-cool the regenerating tower 35 A prior to switching the tower 35 A into drying mode which is one reason why the 10 valve configuration of FIG. 1 is preferred. This causes the air that is to be dried to first absorb the very high heat in the desiccant media 65 that is left from the regeneration process and to carry the heat out of the dryer 105 . The temperature spike is accompanied by a dew point spike, as extremely hot desiccant 65 cannot adsorb moisture from the air. Both the high outlet temperature and the high dew point can adversely affect downstream equipment and processes and are therefore undesirable attributes. Specifically, in FIG. 7 , the flow enters the dryer 105 and first passes through an optional boost heater 80 . The flow then passes through the right-hand tower 35 A to regenerate the right-hand tower 35 A. Upon exiting the right-hand tower 35 A the flow passes through the left-hand cooler 45 A, the left-hand moisture separator 40 A and the left hand desiccant tower 35 B to dry the flow of compressed gas. The dry compressed gas 30 then exits the dryer system 105 . Of course, as with the other constructions, the mirror image arrangement of flow in FIG. 7 provides for the regeneration of the left-hand tower 35 B and the use of the right-hand tower 35 A to dry the flow of compressed gas.
[0035] For part load operation in multistage compressors 20 , accomplished by loading and unloading the air compressor 20 in a cyclic fashion, current dryer configurations exhibit deteriorating (increasing) outlet dew point temperatures. This is partly because, without hot airflow to bring heat into the intercooler, continued cooling airflow or continued cooling water flow carries off the heat from the mass of the cooler. When flow is restored, the exit temperature from the intercooler is first very low, rising over time, causing the average temperature from the compressor 20 to be much lower than that experienced at continuous (full) flow, thereby resulting in lower regeneration heating temperature, and a consequential reduction in dew point performance. By controlling the flow of cooling media in the intercooler, or by controlled bypass of a portion of hot air from the cooler inlet to the cooler outlet, it is possible to increase the average temperature at the inlet of the final compressor stage, and thus to increase the heat and average temperature available at the compression stage outlet for regeneration of the desiccant, thereby improving the dew point performance of the dryer system. The hot air bypass system is preferable for it's faster speed of response and higher achievable average temperature.
[0036] A simple controller 110 could control the cooling media flow to an intercooler 115 when the compressor flow is interrupted (unloaded), then restore the cooling media flow when the compressed air flow is restored (loaded). This retains the heat contained in the mass of the cooler and cooling media, and thus does not cool the intercooler. A more sophisticated controller 110 could control the flow rate of the cooling media, in order to create a desired outlet temperature, or at least maintain the temperature above a predetermined temperature from the cooler, and thus (indirectly) a desired outlet temperature from the compressor 20 permitting outlet dew point performance to be improved at both full and part loads. The proposed control method works for continuous flow variable speed compressors 20 also, as at reduced airflow the intercooler outlet temperature more closely approaches the cooling medium temperature, and heat transfer losses in piping increase (relatively) causing the outlet dew point to be reduced. A more direct means of controlling the inlet temperature to the following compression stage is illustrated in FIG. 8 and includes a bypass valve 113 that bypasses a fraction of the hot discharge air from a first stage compressor 120 and mixes it with air which has gone through the intercooler 115 to achieve the desired elevated inlet temperature to a following compression stage 125 , thereby elevating the discharge temperature of the compressor 20 . In an optimal configuration, both the water temperature and the air temperature could be controlled to achieve the best system response.
[0037] As one of ordinary skill in the art will realize, a superior system can be achieved if the compressor control 110 A and the dryer control 110 B are integrated to closely control the outlet temperature of the air exiting the compressor 20 while also controlling the operating parameters of the dryer system.
[0038] The device obtains superior outlet dew point performance by a simple flow path with a minimum number of components; and by incorporating control of the compressor intercooler stage to further enhance performance when the compressor 20 is operating in the load/unload, or variable speed reduced flow mode. When towers 35 are switched there is little or no temperature or dew point spike.
[0039] Thus, the invention provides, among other things, an absorption dryer system that is continuously operable without a temperature or dew point spike. | A gas compressing system includes a compressor that provides a flow of compressed gas, a first desiccant tower, and a second desiccant tower separate from the first tower. The system also includes a first separator, a second separator separate from the first separator, an outlet, a first set and second set of no more than three valves each movable between an open position and a closed position. The flow flows along a flow path from the compressor to the first tower, to the first separator, to the second tower and out the outlet when the first set of valves is open and the second set of valves is closed. The flow of compressed gas flows from the compressor to the second tower, to the second separator, to the first tower and out the outlet when the first set of valves is closed and the second set of valves is opened. | 1 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to gas turbine engines, and more particularly to a means for mounting a sound absorbing structure to the engine case of such an engine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A gas turbine engine has a compression section, a combustion section and a turbine section. The compression section has a rotor assembly and a stator assembly. An annular flowpath for working medium gases extends axially through the compression section. The interaction of rotor and stator components with the medium gases generates acoustic vibrations or noise.
In modern engines, sound absorbing structures typically face the working medium flowpath to absorb these acoustic vibrations and decrease the level of noise. One such construction is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,735,593 to Howell entitled, "Ducted Fans As Used In Gas Turbine Engines Of The Type Known As Fan Jets." In this construction, silencing material, such as perforated panels or porous sheets backed by honeycomb structures, are installed in the engine at various locations.
It is very important that these panels be durable and have an adequate fatigue life. Delamination of the panels and subsequent passage of the delaminated material downstream may cause severe damage to the engine. One cause of delamination is fatigue failure as repeated periodic stresses from acoustically induced mechanical vibrations are absorbed in the panels. Another source of periodic stress in the liner is engine case vibration. The vibrations in the case are particularly severe when the rotor blades successively strike the engine case. Such a strike may unavoidably occur during rapid accelerations or when the rotor assembly is subjected to gyroscopic maneuver loads.
Other sources of structural failure in the liner are not connected with vibrations. One such failure mode may occur during operation of the engine in environments where hail, mist, rain, sleet or snow are present. Water in its varied forms enters the engine along with the working medium gases and may be trapped in the honeycomb panels. As the engine ascends to higher altitudes the water turns to ice and may cause structural damage to the liner. Early fatigue failure of the panels may result and even delamination of the panels can occur with subsequent severe damage to engine components.
In response to the concerns expressed above, scientists and engineers seek to develop effective mounting structures that preserve the structural integrity of liners, in manners consonant with good acoustic performance.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A primary object of the present invention is to effectively mount a sound absorbing liner in an engine case. Another object is to dampen induced vibrations in the liner resulting both from acoustic vibrations in the flowpath and from mechanical vibrations in the case. Another object is to isolate the liner from mechanical vibrations in the case.
According to the present invention, a viscoelastic material of a sound absorbing liner elastically suspends the liner from an engine case for isolation of the liner from rotor induced vibrations in the engine case.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the viscoelastic material is adhered to a panel of the sound absorbing liner and urges the liner inwardly against a stop on the inner wall of the case forming an acoustic cavity between the liner and the case.
A primary feature of the present invention is the viscoelastic material of the liner for mounting and for spacing apart the liner from the engine case. In one embodiment, the liner is pressed against the case by the viscoelastic material. Sound absorbing chambers in the liner are communicatively joined to the acoustic cavity between the liner and the case to provide effective chambers with increased apparent depth.
A principal advantage of the present invention is the decreased susceptibility of the structure to high cycle fatigue. The liner is isolated from mechanically induced vibrations in the engine case. Acoustically induced vibrations in the liner are damped by viscous and Coulomb effects. Viscous damping is provided by the viscoelastic material. In one embodiment, Coulomb damping is provided by rubbing contact between the liner and the case. In one embodiment, the capacity of the structure to absorb acoustic vibrations is increased by increasing the apparent depth of the sound absorbing cavities.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent in the light of the following detailed description of preferred embodiment thereof as discussed and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is a simplified, side elevation view of a turbofan engine with a portion of the outer case broken away to reveal a sound absorbing liner and a rotor blade.
FIG. 2 is a cross-section view of a portion of the outer case and associated structure.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the liner and the case taken along the line 3--3 as shown in FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is a cross-section view corresponding to the FIG. 2 view showing an alternate embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
A gas turbine engine embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 1. The principal sections of the engine include a compression section 10, a combustion section 12 and a turbine section 14. An annular flowpath 16 for working medium gases extends axially through the engine. A stator structure including an engine outer case 18 bounds the working medium flowpath. A rotor structure 20 is disposed inwardly of the outer case and has an axis of rotation A. In the compression section, the rotor structure includes a rotor disk (not shown) and a plurality of rotor blades 24. The rotor blades extend outwardly from the disk across the working medium flowpath into proximity with the outer case. The outer case has a rub strip 26 facing the blades and contains a sound absorbing liner 28. The sound absorbing liner extends circumferentially about the interior of the outer case and faces the working medium flowpath. The liner in combination with the case forms a sound absorbing structure 30.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the outer case 18 and associated structure such as the rotor blade 24 and the sound absorbing liner 28. The case is adapted by a circumferentially extending groove 32 to receive the liner. The liner engages the case and includes one or more sound absorbing panels 34. Each panel has a first wall, such as outer wall 36 and a second wall such as inner wall 38, an upstream wall 40 and a downstream wall 42. The upstream wall and the downstream wall are substantially perpendicular to the inner wall. The inner wall has an upstream end 44 and a downstream end 46. Both the upstream end and the downstream end are angled with respect to the flowpath. An upstream stop 48 and a downstream stop 50 on the inner case are angled to receive the outer wall. The upstream stop mechanically engages the upstream end of the inner wall. The downstream stop mechanically engages the downstream end of the inner wall. A means 52 of viscoelastic material is blended between the stops and the inner wall for aerodynamic fairing between the case and the inner wall.
An internal structure, such as the honeycomb structure 54, is bonded to the inner wall 38. The honeycomb structure extends outwardly and is bonded to the outer wall 36 to form one or more first cavities 56 between the inner wall and the outer wall. The outer wall is spaced from the engine case to form one or more second cavities 58.
The outer wall 36 of each panel has a plurality of passages 60 therethrough placing each of the first cavities 56 in fluid (gas and liquid) communication with one or more of the second cavities 58. The inner wall has a plurality of passages 62 therethrough placing each of said first cavities in gas communication with the flowpath 16. A means for removing liquid such as holes 64 in the bottom of the outer case 18 are in fluid communication with each of the second cavities.
A first means, such as the rubber pads 66, formed of viscoelastic material for mounting the liner 28 to the engine case 18 and for spacing the panel 34 apart from the engine case, engages the outer case. The pads 66 engage the engine case, for example, at the downstream wall 42 and the outer wall 66 and act to elastically suspend each panel. In the installed condition the pads are elastically compressed and urge the panels 34 inwardly. Each pad is free to expand in at least one direction. One satisfactory viscoelastic material for the pads is cured silicone rubber, such as L-13275 material distributed by Acushnet Process Company, New Bedford, Mass. or JL-78-71-L material distributed by Jonal Laboratories, Meriden, Connecticut.
In addition to the first means 66 of viscoelastic material, a second means 68 formed of viscoelastic material is installed between the sound absorbing panel and the outer case. The second means formed of viscoelastic material is installed in the uncured state to act as an adhesive and as a filler material. After installation, this viscoelastic material cures rapidly (within twenty-four hours) and augments the elastic suspension of the sound absorbing panel. One satisfactory viscoelastic material is silicone rubber, such as RTV-106 material distributed by the General Electric Company, Waterford, N.Y. or DC-140 material distributed by the Dow Corning Corporation, Midland, Mich.
As shown in FIG. 3, the sound absorbing panels of the liner are spaced circumferentially about the engine. Each panel of the liner extends approximately one hundred and twenty degrees (120°). As will be realized, the liner may have a single panel extending fully about the circumference of the engine case or may be segmented as shown. A second means 68 formed of viscoelastic material is disposed circumferentially between each pair of adjacent panels, and between the pads 66. A circumferential gap 70 between the bottom-most pads on the engine places in fluid communication all of the one or more second cavities.
FIG. 4 is an alternate embodiment of FIG. 2 which has an inner wall 38 spaced at the upstream end 44 from the upstream stop 48 and at the downstream end 46 from the downstream stop 50. A first means formed of viscoelastic material such as pads, as represented by the single pad 66 at the upstream end and the single pad 66 at the downstream end, extends between the inner wall and the stops.
During operation of a gas turbine engine, working medium gases are directed along the annular flowpath 16 through the compression section 10. These high velocity gases and the rotating and stationary components through which these gases pass cause acoustic vibrations or noise. Part of the noise is absorbed by the sound absorbing liner 28 in the compression section. The fluid communication enabled by the passages 60 through the outer wall 36 of each sound absorbing panel 34 enables the first cavities 56 of the panel to cooperate acoustically with the second cavities 58 outwardly of the panels between the panel and the case. This acoustic cooperation increases the ability of the liner to absorb vibrations as compared with a liner having only an identical sound absorbing panel but having no backing cavity.
The acoustic vibrations in the sound absorbing panel induce mechanical vibrations in the panel. These mechanical vibrations cause periodic deflections in the viscoelastic material such as the first means (pads 66) and the second means 68 (filler) which extend between the engine case and the sound absorbing panel. Because these viscoelastic materials have considerable internal friction, the materials absorb energy from the mechanically vibrating parts and convert the energy from mechanical motion into heat. This absorption of energy is a form of viscous damping and decreases the amplitude of the vibrations in the vibrating parts. An increase in the fatigue life of the panels results as compared with undamped panels. As shown in the FIG. 2 embodiment, additional damping results as Coulomb damping or dry-friction damping at the upstream end 44 and downstream end 46 of the inner wall as the wall vibrates against the upstream stop 48 and the downstream stop 50 on the engine case. The viscoelastic pads, which are compressed like elastic springs during installation, urge the liner inwardly increasing the normal force between these surfaces and concomitantly the amount of Coulomb damping. The spring-like action of the viscoelastic material is important for another reason.
As the rotor assembly 22 experiences rapid accelerations in speed or is subjected to gyroscopic maneuver loads, the rotor blades 24 strike the abradable rub strip 26 on the engine case. The grinding contact between the blade and the strip causes mechanical vibrations in the engine case. These vibrations are transmitted through the engine case. The first viscoelastic means and the second viscoelastic means act to elastically suspend each of the panels 34 of the liner 28 from the engine case. This elastic suspension blocks the transmission of vibrations from the engine case to the liner and to the sound absorbing panel of the liner. As a result, the disturbance produced in the panel by vibrations in the case is much reduced as compared with a panel which is rigidly attached to the engine case. As shown in the FIG. 2 embodiment, the contact area capable of transmitting mechanical vibrations is limited to the area between the upstream stop 48 of the case and the upstream end 44 of the inner wall and the downstream stop 50 of the case and the downstream end 46 of the inner wall. Even this limited area is eliminated in the FIG. 4 embodiment where viscoelastic pads 66 are substituted for the mechanical engagement of the FIG. 2 embodiment.
Water brought on board during operation of the engine by the incoming working medium gases, is drained from the liner 28. The fluid communication between the first cavities 56 of the sound absorbing panel 34 and the second cavities 58 extending between the panel and the case enables the drainage of water from the first cavity. This drainage of water prevents the formation of ice which would occur if the water were trapped by an outer wall not having passages 60. The ice would cause rupture of the internal structure of the sound absorbing panel with the possible loss of panel components into the gas path of the engine. As described earlier, liquid water is removed through the passages in the outer wall 36, the second cavity and holes through the case of the engine, such as hole 64.
Although this invention has been shown and described with respect to a preferred embodiment thereof, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and omissions in the form and detail thereof may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. | A sound absorbing structure for use in gas turbine engines is disclosed. Various construction details are developed for mounting the liner of the structure to enable the damping of acoustically caused vibrations and to isolate panels of the liner from mechanically caused vibrations. A viscoelastic material suspends the sound absorbing panels of the liner from the case. | 5 |
FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates in general to lubricating devices particularly for sewing machines and embroidering machines, and in particular to a new and useful lubricating device for a loop taker which oil is fed from a reservoir by the action of a pump through a recess or oil chamber defined in a hub portion of the loop taker.
A lubricating device disclosed in German Patent No. 32 15 408 provides as oil feed to the oil chamber a disk revolving with the loop taker, which disk, by contact with a wick connected with an external oil reservoir, takes up oil from the reservoir and flings it into the oil chamber by centrifugal action, whence it passes via a bore to a sealed cavity and thence via another bore to the track of the loop taker.
For lead through, of the loop taker drive shaft and of a ring which surrounds it and annularly receives the wick and which partially extends into the oil chamber, the opening through which the ring extends into the oil chamber is somewhat larger than the diameter of the ring. Thus the oil chamber has an open connection to the space in which during sewing especially much fuzz or dust accumulates, whereby the lubricating oil may be fouled and thus the lubricating action reduced.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention ensures against the penetration of fuzz or dust into the oil chamber and provides an especially simple arrangement which is suitable for several types of oil feed. By the lubricating device according to the invention, the penetration of dust into the oil chamber in the loop taker body is effectively prevented. The oil feed occurs through a simple nozzle tube which permits pressureless dropwise feed or an oil feed under pressure as oil spray, oil jet, etc., and which can be firmly attached to the ring itself which causes the shielding of the oil chamber.
Construction is especially suitable for drop feeding of lubricating oil by gravity. Another construction is advantageous for oil feed under pressure in dependence on the rotational speed of the machine. A counter counts the number of revolutions of the drive shaft of the machine. After a predeterminable value has been reached in the counter, a signal is given out with which a lubricating process is triggered, so that the oil supply always occurs at the optimum, settable time as a function of the rotational speed of the machine. This means that at higher speed the time intervals between the lubricating processes are shorter than at lower speed. With the single stroke of the pump, e.g. a piston pump, which is infinitely variable, the pump delivers at every stroke a given quantity of oil. In another arrangement, this oil is divided by the interposed oil distributor over a plurality of lines. Thus the track of each loop taker receives at predeterminable intervals the needed dosed quantity of oil. The oil lines of the lubricating device are completely filled with oil. Therefore the entire quantity of oil displaced during a pump emerges without delay from the nozzle tubes at the end of the conduit and reaches the lubrication points of the loop taker.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved lubricating system particularly for a loop taker of a sewing or embroidering machine with a track of a rotating lock stitch loop taker.
A further object of the invention is to provide a lubricating system which is simple in design, rugged in construction and economical to manufacture.
The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific object attained by its uses, reference is made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the drawings
FIG. 1 is a perspective partially sectional view of a multi-head embroidering machine provided with the lubricating device; and
FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the lubricating oil supply at a loop taker.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to the drawings in particular, the invention embodied therein comprises a lubricating device for the track of a rotating lock stitch loop taker of a sewing or embroidering machine which includes a loop taker body 18 having a hub portion 68 as shown in FIG. 2 which is closed on the end facing a fixed bearing block 16 for a loop taker arbor 17. In accordance with the invention the lubricating oil is directed from an oil line 54 through a discharge 71 into an oil chamber 72 defined between the hub portion 68 and the bearing block 16. The oil chamber is covered free from dust by a fixed ring 67 which is affixed on a bracket 69 secured to the bearing block 16 by a screw 70.
The multi-head embroidering machine illustrated in FIG. 1 is arranged on a support structure 1 which comprises legs 2, horizontal cross bars 3 and longitudinal struts 4 to 7, as well as a horizontal longitudinal beam 8. The support structure 1 is covered by panels 9 and 10. Embroidering heads 11 on beam 8 are provided on their underside with the presser feet 13 necessary for the embroidering process as well as with the needle bars 14 to hold the thread carrying needles 15 and are coupled for joint drive by the main shaft 12.
On the longitudinal strut 6, bearing blocks 16 for the suspension of loop taker arbors 17 are attached. At one end the loop taker arbors 17 serve to receive rotating lockstitch loop takers 18, while the other end is connected with a helical gear 19 for each.
A bearing point 20 for receiving a loop taker drive shaft 21 is part of each of the bearing blocks 16. Ring gears 22 arranged non-rotational on the loop taker drive shaft 21 are in continuous engagement with the helical gears 19 for the drive of the loop taker arbors 17 and hence of the loop takers 18.
The following parts are needed for lubrication of the individual lubricating points: On the main shaft 12 of the multi-head embroidering machine a counting disk 23 with a slit-like opening 24 is fastened. Pulse generator means including a scanning device 25 with a transmitter 26 and a receiver 27 records e.g. optoelectrically or electromagnetically the number of revolutions of the main shaft 12 and sends the signal let through the opening 24 per revolution and received by the receiver 27, via the connecting line 28, onto an electronic counter 29 which, after a programmed number has been reached, gives to the electromagnet 31 via line 30 a signal for closing switch 32. Thereby an electromagnet 33 of a shut-off valve 34 is actuated, which briefly sets valve 34 on air flow. If necessary, oil can additionally be brought to the lubricating points through a manual switch 35 if switch 35 of a shut-off valve 36 is pressed by an operator to set valve 36 on air flow. The valves 34 and 36, which both are to be traversed by only a brief compressed air surge, are supplied with compressed air by the air ducts 39 and 40 and are pushed back to their blocking initial position by springs (not shown).
An air duct or line 42 connected to valve 34 and an air duct or line 43 applied at valve 36 are both connected with a valve 37 which acts as OR element, so that either the compressed air surge from valve 34 or the one from valve 36 gets via air duct 44 to an air impulse valve 38 and pushes it into flow position, so that the compressed air current passing through line 41 flows via line 45 to a cylinder type piston pump and pump drive 46, owing to which the piston of pump 46 moves out for its delivering stroke under pressure.
The air ducts or lines 39, 40, 41 are connected by a common air duct 47 and receive via an air duct 48 compressed air source 49.
A part of the compressed air flowing through line 45 is deflected and conducted through a duct or line 45a, a time function element 45b and a duct or line 45c connected at the air impulse valve 38. The time function element 45b, e.g. a variable throttle check valve, will, after a given period of time, have let through enough compressed air to actuate valve 38 and to push it back into blocking position.
Thus the compressed air stream acting on the piston of pump 46 is interrupted, and the piston (not shown) of the pump 46 operating as single action cylinder is pushed back into its starting position by a helical spring (not shown) disposed in the cylinder space. The time function element 45b is adjusted so that the piston of cylinder 46 executes one delivering stroke per lubrication process. The proportioning of the oil quantity displaced in this stroke is to be effected by a scale (not shown) on pump 46.
Oil from an oil reservoir 50 disposed above the pump 46 is fed to it via the oil line 51. During the delivery stroke this oil is forced via a line 52 into an oil distributor 53. At each exit of this oil distributor 53 the flow of oil to the lubricating point can be adjusted, so that each lubricating point receives the needed dose of oil. This oil reaches the lubricating points through the oil lines 54 to 62.
Check valves 53 and 54 in the oil lines 51 and 52 prevent that during the delivery stroke of the piston of pump 46 oil is forced back into the oil reservoir 50, or respectively that during the return stroke of the piston of pump 46 oil is drawn back from the oil distributor 53 by suction.
In FIG. 2 a loop taker is illustrated, the track of which is to be lubricated.
By the stud 65 the loop taker 18 is non-rotationally secured on the loop taker arbor 17 mounted in the bearing block 16. The oil line 54 is connected with a nozzle tube 66 provided at the fixed ring 67. The oil drain 71 of the nozzle tube 66 extends into an oil chamber or recess 72 in hub 68 formed by an annular groove with undercut peripheral face, when the oil flows through a channel 73 leading obliquely outward when loop taker 18 rotates. Channel 73 ends in a bore 75 formed as a blind hole and provided with an oil carrying wick 74, the bore ending at the running groove 76 of the loop taker.
Operation:
The counting disk 23 with slit-like opening 24 rotates with the main shaft 12. The scanning device 25 with transmitter 26 and receiver 27 records e.g. optoelectronically or electromagnetically each revolution of disk 23, the receiver 27 of the scanning device 25 relaying the signal of transmitter 26, received with every complete shaft revolution through the opening 24, to the electronic counter 29 via the connecting lines 28.
After a number set in counter 29 has been reached, a signal emmission to be forwarded via line 30 takes place, whereupon the electromagnet 31 briefly acts on the spring-loaded switch 32 and thereby closes the circuit of the electromagnet 33 for a moment, to push the pneumatic shut-off valve 34 into flow position. As soon as the circuit of electromagnet 33 is again interrupted by opening of switch 32, the spring of the shut-off valve 34 pushes this valve back into closing position, so that only a brief compressed air surge flows through valve 34. If manual lubricating is to be done, the manual pushbutton 35 of shut-off valve 36 must be pushed briefly, so that a compressed air surge flows through valve 36. As soon as the button 35 is let go, valve 36 is pushed back into closing position.
Depending on whether valve 34 or 36 was actuated, the compressed air surge arriving either from line 42 or from line 43 traverses the valve 37 acting as OR element, so that the surge transmitted through air duct 44 reaches the air impulse valve 38, shifting it in flow direction. in order that the compressed air stream from line 41 traverses valve 38 and acts on the piston of pump 46.
As long as this compressed air stream lasts, the piston pump 46 delivers oil to the distributor 53. But as the pump 46 is to execute one stroke only, the compressed air stream must act briefly. Through the time function element 45b sufficient pressure has built up before the air impulse valve 38 after a settable time, to push this valve back into its closing position and to interrupt the compressed air stream. The piston of pump 46 then moves back into its starting position under spring action without the compressed air load.
As replacement for the amount of oil given off through oil line 52, pump 46 receives in the form of an oil flowback arrangement under hydrostatic pressure corresponding oil amounts through oil line 51 fed from the oil reservoir 50. Flowback oil arrangement means includes the arrangement of the oil reservoir 50 above pump 46. The amount of oil to be given off by pump 46 is adjusted by a proportioning device or pump drive means on pump 46 which permits a continuously variable adjustment of the volume delivered.
Pump 46 forces the proportional oil quantity through line 52 into the central oil distributor 53, which distributes it over the lines 54 to 62. At each of the exits of the oil distributor 53 a setting device is provided, which makes it possible to feed to each lubricating point the needed, proportioned flow of oil.
All oil lines 54 to 62 connected with the oil distributor 53 are filled with oil, so that each drop supplied into one of these oil lines at the oil distributor 53 immediately displaces a drop of corresponding oil quantity at the conduit ends. The displaced oil drops, having emerged, e.g. from the oil line 54, get into the nozzle tube 66, pass from the nozzle opening 71 into the annular recess or oil chamber 72 of the loop taker hub 68, and traverse the channel 73 extending obliquely outward to bore 75, because the oil drops having entered the channel 73 are forced due to the rotation of the loop taker by the centrifugal acceleration outward into the blind hole bore 75. There a wick 74 disposed in bore 75 absorbs the oil drops and guides them to the running groove 76 of the loop taker body, where they are given off for the lubrication of the loop taker track 77.
While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the principles of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles. | A lubricating device for a revolving lock stitch shuttle of machines such as sewing and embroidering machines comprises a shuttle body which has a hub portion which surrounds its associated shuttle arbor and which lies adjacent a bearing mounting for the arbor. The hub portion is hollow and defines a lubricating oil chamber between it and the associated bearing and a gap between the shuttle hub portion and the associated bearing is bridged by a fixed ring member which is carried on a bracket which is secured to the bearing. The ring member has an opening therethrough providing an access for a nozzle tube for feeding oil from an external reservoir to the hub recess from when the oil is advanced by the centrifugal force of the rotation of the shuttle to the periphery of the shuttle. | 3 |
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of the filing date of provisional application Ser. No. 60/472,720, filed May 23, 2003, and titled “A Method of Optimizing the Development of Open Land Area.”
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to land development. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system for utilization assessment, development and management of open space land areas.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Land developments include resorts, country clubs, theme housing developments (such as golf communities), sports facilities operated by home owner associations, ski lodges, manor homes converted to museums, bed and breakfast inns, theme resorts and the like. These land developments may provide a combination of housing, accommodations, recreational facilities, entertainment facilities and/or educational facilities. A goal of such a combination may be to enhance the overall experience of the resident or guest. Recently, land developers have sought ways to enhance new housing developments by retaining some agricultural practices and natural resources. These housing developments are often referred to as conservation communities or conservation developments. Examples of conservation communities include Tryon Farm in Indiana and The Fields of St. Croix in Minnesota. Another goal of the developers is cost containment or minimizing the total cost of development of open space. This can be achieved to some extent by dedicating certain land areas as agricultural districts to obtain certain tax benefits provided by a state, such as, for example, the Commonwealth of Virginia.
[0004] A limitation of the conventional conservation community models is that they may not provide associated, independent and privately owned commercial operations that utilize large areas of open space; also, these models may not provide a core entity providing common facilities that offer goods and services from associated independent commercial operations.
[0005] A further limitation and disadvantage of existing conservation community models from the standpoint of efficient land use, management and development is that they are not based on independent ownership of businesses voluntarily associated with a core business primarily employing facilities rather than open land to provide services both to the associated businesses and the broader market, with at least a partially overlapping clientele and in which businesses make extensive use of the open space land areas from which the community model is formed. Such a core business may provide common facilities, such as conference rooms, marketing programs and support, and some general and administrative support on an as needed basis for the associated independent businesses and community.
[0006] A still further limitation of existing conservation community models is that they do not seek to restore the economic value of existing facilities surrounded by relatively large tracts of open space land by supporting commercial use of the land as open space, rather than as residential building sites.
[0007] Computers are a common tool used in business evaluation. However, their application to land use planning including property search and evaluation of commercial support functions dedicated to the association of mutually beneficial commercial activities in order to maximize economic value to existing open space land has been limited.
[0008] The process of land use planning and land development around metropolitan areas typically raises land values. In some cases, land value becomes so great that prior agricultural uses or maintaining land in its pristine state cannot be economically sustained. The owners of the land sometimes plan for the appreciation of land that was once, and perhaps presently is, employed in various kinds of agriculture as the ultimate recouping of the investment made in the land. Frequently large tracts of open space land are gradually reduced in size by sale and development of parts of the property from time to time. Many such tracts often have one or more legacy buildings remaining, which are deemed incompatible with proposed development and destroyed. These legacy buildings may include houses and ancillary buildings that were originally designed to serve various kinds of commercial agricultural functions.
[0009] It is not uncommon for the legacy buildings to have historic or traditional value, and for the part of the property holding such buildings to be among the last of what was once a much larger property to be considered for sale. Many such tracts, with or without the areas containing buildings, are finally marketed and bought with the intention of building new housing. This is often seen to be the best and highest use of such land, as measured by the highest bidders when the tract is being considered for sale. Certainly the financial opportunities in housing or other typical land developments can be great.
[0010] The present value of the legacy buildings on the land may seem insignificant in comparison with the potential gain from developing new housing. Even if some of the legacy buildings are retained, or perhaps restored, as part of a plan to develop houses in the direct area, the buildings are left with little more than their value in materials. They remain as memorials of a lifestyle now uncommon. It may be thought progressive, sentimental or at least ecologically and/or politically harmless, to plan to use existing legacy facilities or the less easily built upon open space areas within the tract as some type of amenity or attraction for the housing to be built around them. However, in the conventional conservation community model it is the new housing construction that is relied upon for the profit to be drawn from the investment in such property.
[0011] Nevertheless, there is a loss of value to be considered in bypassing the original intention and designs of the land and legacy buildings in some cases. Beyond sentimentality, the open space land and legacy building assets may have a high inherent value in essentially their current state. A process of re-employment of such land and legacy buildings by applying their original design and function to modern market demands rather than the traditional agriculture use may restore their economic value with little or no physical modification.
[0012] Legacy buildings frequently may not look like business assets to the modern eye, but they often were originally designed and built primarily to serve the profitable employment of relatively large areas of the immediately surrounding land. For example, a typical farmhouse served much the same or similar functions as those served by any business headquarters today. These include office facilities, customer relations, investor relations, employee relations, cafeteria, staff support and meeting area for proprietors, their colleagues and staff. Surrounding or nearby land and various legacy outbuildings may have served as production facilities, processing facilities, warehousing facilities, equipment maintenance facilities, equipment storage facilities, employee housing and/or employee training facilities.
[0013] The value of the legacy buildings as business assets depends on the physical and functional associations among each other and with closely surrounding profit-centered activities requiring relatively large tracts of open space land. As open space areas are reduced in size, these inherent business functions cannot be devoted to agricultural endeavors as profitably as they once may have been. It is therefore sometimes erroneously assumed they no longer have any business asset value.
[0014] Since the function of such legacy facilities was essentially to support commercial activity of a kind that requires relatively large areas of open space nearby, the simple act of building houses nearby can be sufficient to destroy their economic value. This is akin to destroying business capital. Through efficient land use planning, many such complexes of legacy facilities and land may be profitably and advantageously re-employed by adapting their original use as centers supporting nearby open space land commercial activities by changing the markets they serve and the business structure under which they operate. Rather than physically or functionally destroying them, the economic potential of such business assets may be retained or even enhanced by applying a new business operation model that seeks to meet the market demands of the modern suburban lifestyle in a rural setting.
[0015] What is needed is a process of creating a commercial association of activities that enables the associated commercial actors to offer an economic return predictably higher than strictly agricultural pursuits, and often at least comparable to that of building housing. Potentially quite profitable in itself, however, such a process of association may also offer additional benefits to the wider community by preserving in part or whole larger areas of open space and traditional, if not historic, buildings, profitably employing what may be ecologically delicate areas or land otherwise deemed of no economic value, while enhancing the experience of consumers and the greater community by leaving larger tracts relatively open, yet commercially employed.
[0016] Such a process of association also offers desired services to members of nearby and further communities, employment to local job seekers, trade to local vendors, and ongoing business tax revenues to local governments, which are generally more desired than residential property tax revenues. Such a process of association also offers diversification of overall economic risk and business cycle risk by utilizing more than one actor in more than one commercial activity.
[0017] In order to efficiently accomplish the re-employment of an open space land tract, which may contain legacy buildings, two processes are needed. First, a process of evaluating particular properties and surrounding areas with the intention of applying the existing or modified legacy buildings, newly built facilities and open space land to modern market demands; and, second, a process of profitably associating, operating and managing commercial activity in the existing legacy facilities and/or newly built facilities by utilizing the immediately surrounding commercial activities of the kind which require relatively large areas of land and also serve modern market demands.
[0018] The present invention integrates both of these processes into a single process for land development of open spaces by which facilities and land suitable for forming and implementing an association of commercial activities are identified, particular sites for their potential mix of commercial activities are evaluated, and an association of such commercial activities is formed which will re-employ any existing legacy facilities and/or newly built facilities and land under consideration as bases for associated, mutually beneficial commercial activities suiting current markets demands and demographics. This process also supports task scheduling, facility use allocation, reservations and travel management, transactions of goods and services, intra-association communication, credit and background checks, public communication, financial record keeping and projections, inventory and asset tracking, financial and event reporting, marketing, and other related administrative tasks and records.
[0019] Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to overcome the drawbacks and limitations of conventional land development. An example of such a drawback includes physically or functionally destroying actual or potential tangible and intangible business assets immediately surrounded by larger areas or tracts of available land.
[0020] It is also an object of the invention to provide a system that will re-employ or enhance existing legacy facilities to serve at least one immediately surrounding mutually beneficial commercial activity of a sort that may require relatively large open space land areas or tracts.
[0021] These and other objects of the present invention are achieved by a process of re-employing legacy buildings and open space land to suit modern markets demands in locations with demographics that are appropriate for the utilization of the facilities and land in mutually beneficial associated commercial activities, at least one of which requires relatively large open space land areas or tracts.
[0022] These objects are further achieved by a process, which in its initial phase identifies suitable candidate properties. Once the candidates are identified, their economic potential is assessed. Existing legacy buildings are evaluated for their potential commercial value by modules for planning and development. The cost of building any new facilities that may be needed to support commercial activities is also evaluated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0023] The process of the present invention is initiated with forming an enterprise to oversee, implement, and operate the processes. This enterprise may be a traditional business, a nonprofit organization, or a government organization. The process comprises the steps of identifying facilities and land suitable for forming an association of at least two mutually beneficial commercial activities, at least one of which requires relatively large open space land areas; evaluating the identified sites for the economic potential of associating at those sites at least two commercial activities, a core business that would employ any legacy facilities and/or newly built facilities and at least one associated independent business that may require relatively large amounts of open space land; planning the initiation and operation of the associated commercial activities; implementing the planned commercial activities; and, managing and sustaining the associated commercial activities.
[0024] Further, the system provided herein supports these objectives by forming several modules, which are integrated into the land use plan. Events and data involved in the search for suitable properties and commercial opportunities are recorded and tracked in individual modules such as an identification module, a site module, an economic potential module, a site acquisition module and an association formation and management module. Elements of the financial analysis and business projections for particular properties and mixes of potentially profitable commercial opportunities are automated. The system also supports computer implementation and operation of the associated commercial activities by providing task scheduling, facility use allocation, transactions of goods and services, intra-association communication, public communication, financial record keeping and projections, inventory and asset tracking, financial and event reporting, and marketing.
[0025] In another aspect, the invention comprises a process for identifying potential actors to engage in commercial activities which require relatively large amounts of open land, and actors to engage in commercial activities employing existing or created facilities which benefit the open land-based commercial activities as well as suit the local market demands; forming an association between at least two such diverse actors; and, implementing the mutually beneficial associated commercial activities.
[0026] In another aspect, the invention promotes the resulting associated commercial activities to local and broader markets using a variety of marketing tools; and supports the associated commercial activities by assisting each business to provide services, facilities, and products to each other and to the wider market, such as security, staffing, facility maintenance, purchasing, transportation, communications, scheduling, reporting, billing, and other administrative and support services as selected by each associated actor.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0027] Additional advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings, in which:
[0028] [0028]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary system for identifying, developing and managing open space land in accordance with the present invention;
[0029] [0029]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of an economic potential evaluation module in accordance with the present invention;
[0030] [0030]FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary association management module in accordance with the present invention;
[0031] [0031]FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an exemplary method for identifying, developing and managing open space land in accordance with the present invention:
[0032] [0032]FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the step of identifying, evaluating and acquiring open space land in greater detail;
[0033] [0033]FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the step of forming an association of businesses in greater detail;
[0034] [0034]FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the step of managing and marketing the development in greater detail;
[0035] [0035]FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the step of identifying suitable sites in greater detail;
[0036] [0036]FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the step of evaluating the economic potential of a particular site in greater detail;
[0037] [0037]FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the relationship of the association of businesses with the open space land and legacy facilities;
[0038] [0038]FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the relationship of the association of businesses with each other; and
[0039] [0039]FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing the relationship of each business in the association of businesses with particular members of a family.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0040] For purposes of illustration, exemplary embodiments are described with reference to specific configurations. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
[0041] The exemplary embodiments of the processes and systems of the present invention described herein provide for an association of at least two commercial activities, at least one of which requires relatively large areas of open space, which enable at least two mutually beneficial commercial activities to employ existing, modified, or created facilities and relatively large areas of open land in commercial activities providing economic return at least comparable to the use of essentially the same facilities and land for housing. The identification of suitable properties and actors as well as overseeing and operating the commercial activities is assisted by software and hardware adapted specifically to the needs of such a process and organization.
[0042] While the systems and methods of the present invention are discussed in terms of computer based operation, it should be appreciated that any method of calculating, evaluating, and tracking information, such as human thought, mechanical systems, and/or any present or future developed element(s) capable of implementing the systems and methods of the present invention may be used.
[0043] [0043]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a system 10 for developing open space land in accordance with the present invention. In particular, the system 10 is comprised of an area identification module 200 , a site identification module 300 , an economic potential evaluation module 400 , a site acquisition module 440 , an association formation module 500 , and an association management module 600 . The inputs to the system comprise development criteria 100 and demographic and market data 700 , which may be derived from existing databases. The output of the system is a report 710 that may be in the form of a printout, data stored on a tape or disk, and/or presented on a display device.
[0044] In operation, the area identification module 200 receives the development criteria 100 and demographic and market data 700 . The area identification module 200 then compares the demographic and market data 700 against the development criteria 100 and generates a list of areas that are suitable for development.
[0045] The site identification module 300 receives the list of areas suitable for development, the development criteria 100 and the demographic and market data 700 . The site identification module 300 compares each site within a suitable area against the development criteria 100 and the demographic and market data 700 and generates a list of suitable development sites within each suitable area.
[0046] The economic potential evaluation module 400 receives the list of suitable development sites and the demographic and market data 700 . The economic potential evaluation module then evaluates each site according to a list of weighted factors and generates an economic potential index for each site and a list of potential commercial activities that are well suited to the area based on the demographic and market data 700 . The sites may then be ranked according to the economic potential index. The site with the most desirable economic potential index is selected for development.
[0047] Alternatively, a preselected site may be placed into the system for evaluation by the economic potential evaluation module 400 . This may be done in cases where, for example, a developer already has an existing site, or in cases where a certain existing site has other advantageous characteristics. In such cases, the economic potential evaluation module 400 evaluates the site and generates the economic potential index and the list of potential commercial activities that are well suited to the surrounding area based on the demographic and market data 700 .
[0048] The site acquisition module 440 receives the selected site from the economic potential evaluation module 400 . The site acquisition module 440 analyzes the financing options and generates a financing plan that is best suited for the selected site. The site acquisition module may also generate any agreements or contracts required for the acquisition of the selected site.
[0049] The association formation module 500 receives the selected site and the list of potential commercial activities that was generated by the economic potential evaluation module 400 . The association formation module 500 evaluates commercial actors in each of the commercial activities and identifies the most well suited actors to forma an association with in the development. The association formation module 500 then generates any agreements necessary to implement the association between the commercial actors.
[0050] The association management module 600 receives the list of associated commercial activities and the terms of the association agreements. The association management module 600 monitors and manages the finances of the association to ensure that all associated businesses are performing according to their respective agreements and that the association is operating in a sustainable manner. If any member of the association of commercial activities is not performing according to the agreement, or if the association has become unsustainable, the association management module 600 will identify the problem and bring it to the attention of management.
[0051] [0051]FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an exemplary economic potential evaluation module 400 in greater detail. In particular, the economic potential evaluation module 400 is comprised of criteria factors based on the site being evaluated and the demographic and market data 700 , weight factors, a computation unit 422 , and an output economic potential index 424 . In the exemplary embodiment shown, the criteria factors comprise existing facilities 402 , open space 404 , conservation value 405 , local market demand 406 , land cost 408 and modification cost 410 factors. There is a weight factor ( 412 - 420 ) that corresponds to each criteria factor respectively.
[0052] In operation, the computation unit 422 receives the criteria factors ( 402 - 410 ) and weight factors ( 412 - 420 ). The computation unit then multiplies each criteria factor by its corresponding weight factor and cumulatively sums the results of the multiplications. The resulting total is the economic potential index 424 . By ranking sites according to their respective economic potential indices, the economic evaluation module 400 may produce an ordered list of sites from most suitable to least in terms of economic potential. The ordered list can be used by the system to select the site to develop.
[0053] [0053]FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a portion of an exemplary association management module in greater detail. In particular, the association management module 600 is connected to terminals ( 302 - 312 ) in each of the facilities ( 320 - 324 ) by links 332 . The independent businesses ( 316 and 318 ) are connected to the association management module 600 by links 334 . The independent businesses ( 316 and 318 ) are connected to each other via link 328 . The association management module 600 is connected to the billing module 314 by link 336 . The links may be wired, such as, for example, Ethernet; wireless, such as, for example, radio frequency; and/or any known or later developed element(s) that is capable of communicating data.
[0054] In operation, a terminal, for example terminal 1 302 in facility 1 320 , may request certain goods or services. The terminals may be point-of-sale terminals and/or the like. The request is transmitted via link 332 to the association management module 600 , which determines that the request should be routed to independent business 1 316 and the request is routed there via link 334 . Upon receiving the request, independent business 1 316 provides the requested goods or services 326 .
[0055] Further, the independent business ( 316 and 318 ) may request goods or services from the association management module 600 via links 334 . The association management module 600 may then route the request to the appropriate independent business for fulfillment. The independent businesses ( 316 and 318 ) may provide goods or services 328 to each other.
[0056] [0056]FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an exemplary method 20 for identifying, developing and managing open space land in accordance with the present invention. In particular, the method 20 comprises forming an enterprise 800 to develop and manage open space land development and/or to operate the core business; identifying, evaluating and acquiring the open space land 900 ; forming an association of independent businesses 1000 with each business owning a portion of the open space land and/or facilities depending on the nature of the business; and managing and marketing the development 1100 and association of businesses.
[0057] In operation, the method begins at step 800 , forming an enterprise. The enterprise may be a traditional business, a nonprofit organization, a civic organization or a government organization. The enterprise may be a newly formed one, or an existing enterprise that has resolved to undertake the method of developing open space land according to he present invention. For the sake of clarity, the description will focus on a traditional business. However, it should be appreciated that the same method could be applied to other types of enterprises. Once an enterprise is formed, or an existing enterprise is utilized, control continues to step 900 .
[0058] In step 900 , potential areas and sites are identified, evaluated, and the most suitable site is acquired. This step will be discussed in greater detail below. Once step 900 has been completed, control continues to step 1000 .
[0059] In step 1000 , an association of businesses is formed. These businesses are in commercial areas identified in step 900 . The businesses enter into ownership and usage rights agreements, and form an association, where at least one business primarily utilizes facilities and at least one business primarily utilizes open space land. Each business may be independently owned and operated. There is a core business, which is typically owned by the enterprise that is developing the land and there are one or more associated businesses. Once step 1000 has been completed, control continues to step 1100 .
[0060] In step 1100 , the enterprise manages and markets the development. Control remains in this step, as it is an ongoing step. In step 1100 , the enterprise manages the association of businesses, markets the goods and services of the businesses, and seeks to maintain an economically sustainable development with a return at least as good as the return provided by building housing on the open space land.
[0061] [0061]FIG. 5 shows step 900 , identifying, evaluating and acquiring the open space land in greater detail. In particular, step 900 , begins with sub-step 900 - 2 , identifying suitable sites. Step 900 - 2 receives as input demographic and market data 700 . Sub-step 900 - 2 is shown in greater detail in FIG. 8, described below. Based on this data, sites that are suitable for development are identified and control continues to sub-step 900 - 4 .
[0062] In sub-step 900 - 4 , the economic potential of the sites identified in sub-step 900 - 2 is evaluated. Sub-step 900 - 4 also receives demographic and market data 700 . Based on the demographic and market data 700 , the most suitable site, in terms of economic potential, is selected. Sub-step 900 - 4 is shown in greater detail in FIG. 9, described below. Once sub-step 900 - 4 is complete, control transfers to sub-step 900 - 6 .
[0063] In sub-step 900 - 6 , the commercial activities are planned. The commercial activities are based on the economic potential evaluation sub-step 900 - 4 . The planning of the commercial activities includes specific and general analysis of the potential to profitably operate the contemplated businesses on the open space land. This includes a more detailed financial and market demand analysis of each of the commercial activities. The planning phase further comprises identifying specific commercial actors, vendors, contractors, furniture and fixtures, electronic equipment, software and hardware, and staff and any other products and services needed for the commercial activities. Once the commercial activities have been planned, sub-step 900 - 6 is complete and control continues to sub-step 900 - 8 .
[0064] In sub-step 900 - 8 , the open space land site is acquired. The acquisition of the site is aided by the economic potential evaluation performed in sub-step 900 - 4 and the commercial activity planning performed in sub-step 900 - 6 . Once sub-step 900 - 8 is complete, the sub-steps of step 900 are complete and control continues to step 1000 of FIG. 4.
[0065] [0065]FIG. 6 shows step 1000 , forming an association of businesses, in greater detail. In particular, step 1000 begins with sub-step 1000 - 2 . In sub-step 1000 - 2 , potential commercial actors are identified. The commercial actors are those that may engage in the commercial activities planned in sub-step 900 - 6 , described above. Sub-step 1000 - 2 further comprises identifying potential actors to engage in commercial activities which require relatively large amounts of open space land, and actors to engage in commercial activities employing existing or created facilities which, in addition to other operations, benefit the open space land-based commercial activities to suit the local market demands. Once the potential commercial actors have been identified, sub-step 1000 - 2 is complete and control continues to sub-step 1000 - 4 .
[0066] In sub-step 1000 - 4 , agreements are formed between the developing enterprise and the commercial actors regarding facilities and land. The commercial actors may acquire portions of the open space land or facilities, depending on the nature of the business that they will operate. The agreements set forth the terms of ownership and the rights of use for the other non-owned portions of the development, as well as the rights of use of any common land or facilities. Once the facility and land agreements have been finalized, sub-step 1000 - 4 is complete and control continues to step 1000 - 6 .
[0067] In sub-step 1000 - 6 , an association agreement is formed between the developing enterprise, the core business and the independent businesses. The association agreement sets forth the terms of the association relationship amongst the businesses. Further, the agreements may stipulate that each commercial activity will provide their goods and services to each other associated commercial actor at rates, times, and terms at least as favorable as those offered to the public or their typical customers. Once the association agreements have been finalized, sub-step 1000 - 6 is complete and control continues to sub-step 1000 - 8 .
[0068] In sub-step 1000 - 8 , the facility and land agreements and the association agreements are implemented. Sub-step 1000 - 8 further comprises executing any contracts and agreements necessary for the specific facilities and commercial activities; creating the legal entities and executing the legal agreements necessary to initiate and operate the specific commercial activities; developing operating procedures and policies needed for initiating and operating the specific commercial activities; preparing the common facilities and the provision of services among the associated commercial activities; and planning and preparing the electronic and operational systems and activities necessary for the commercial activities to operate as providers of products and services to each other. Once sub-step 1000 - 8 is complete, control continues to sub-step 1000 - 10 .
[0069] In sub-step 1000 - 10 , the commercial activities, comprising the core business and the independent businesses are implemented and begin to operate. Sub-step 1000 - 10 further comprises: implementing and modifying as needed a plurality of marketing and promotional possibilities for the specific commercial activities planned; implementing and modifying as needed the agreements, contents, performance, and activities of specific commercial actors, vendors, contractors, furniture and fixtures, electronic equipment, software and hardware, and staff and any other products and services needed for the commercial activities; implementing and modifying as needed any contracts and agreements necessary for the specific facilities and commercial activities planned; implementing and modifying as needed the legal agreements necessary to initiate and operate the specific commercial activities planned; implementing and modifying as needed operating procedures and policies needed for initiating and operating the specific commercial activities planned; implementing the use of common facilities and provision of goods services among the associated commercial activities; and implementing and modifying as needed the electronic and operational systems and activities necessary for the commercial activities to operate as providers of goods and services to each other. Once sub-step 1000 - 10 is complete, control continues to sub-step 1000 - 12 .
[0070] In sub-step 1000 - 12 , the commercial activities, comprising the core business and the independent businesses are sustained. Sub-step 1000 - 12 further comprises: continuing, expanding, or otherwise modifying as needed a plurality of marketing and promotional possibilities for the specific commercial activities planned; continuing, expanding, or otherwise modifying as needed agreements, contents, performance, and activities of specific commercial actors, vendors, contractors, furniture and fixtures, electronic equipment, software and hardware, and staff and any other products and services needed for the commercial activities; continuing, expanding, or otherwise modifying as needed any contracts and agreements necessary for the specific facilities and commercial activities planned; continuing, expanding, or otherwise modifying as needed the legal agreements necessary to initiate and operate the specific commercial activities planned; continuing, expanding, or otherwise modifying as needed operating procedures and policies needed for initiating and operating the specific commercial activities planned; continuing, expanding, or otherwise modifying as needed the use of common facilities and provision of services among the associated commercial activities; and continuing, expanding, or otherwise modifying the electronic and operational systems and activities necessary for the commercial activities to operate as providers of goods and services to each other. The core business may provide activities and systems including, but not limited to, staffing, facility maintenance, purchasing, transportation, communications, scheduling, billing, and other administrative and support services as voluntarily selected and used as desired by each independent business in the association. Once sub-step 1000 - 12 is complete control continues to step 1100 , shown in FIG. 4.
[0071] [0071]FIG. 7 shows step 1100 , managing and marketing the development, in greater detail. In particular, step 1100 begins with sub-step 1100 - 2 . In sub-step 1100 - 2 , the products and services of the association of commercial activities are marketed to the local area and beyond. Sub-step 1000 - 2 further comprises researching a plurality of marketing and promotional possibilities for the specific commercial activities. Marketing materials 702 are produced as a result of sub-step 1100 - 2 . Control then continues to sub-step 1100 - 4 .
[0072] In sub-step 1100 - 4 , the products and services of the association of businesses are marketed to one another. For example, the association may hold regular meetings, at which a particular member may describe their products or services in detail so as to inform the other association member of the availability of the products or services from within the association. Control then continues to sub-step 1100 - 6 .
[0073] In sub-step 1100 - 6 , the core business optionally assesses a fee on a regular basis to the independent business for the goods or services procured from the core business. Once sub-step 1100 - 6 is complete control continues back to step 1100 - 2 . Step 1100 is a continuous step in the process and is not one which is terminal in nature. The actions performed in step 1100 will likely be repeatedly performed throughout the operation of the development.
[0074] [0074]FIG. 8 shows sub-step 900 - 2 in greater detail. In particular, sub-step 900 - 2 begins with sub-step 900 - 20 , identifying suitable areas based on geographic or demographic criteria and which contain facilities and land suitable for forming an association of at least two mutually beneficial commercial activities, at least one of which requires relatively large areas of open space land. Sub-step 900 - 20 receives as input demographic and market data 700 . As a result, sub-step 900 - 20 generates a list of suitable areas 802 . Once sub-step 900 - 20 is complete, control continues to sub-step 900 - 22 .
[0075] In sub-step 900 - 22 , suitable sites are identified. The suitable sites are identified from within the areas in the list of suitable areas 802 . The result of sub-step 900 - 22 is a list of suitable sites 804 . The list of suitable sites 804 is used during the economic potential evaluation sub-step 900 - 4 . Once the list of suitable sites 804 has been generated, sub-step 900 - 2 is complete and control continues with sub-step 900 - 4 .
[0076] [0076]FIG. 9 shows sub-step 900 - 4 in greater detail. In particular, sub-step 900 - 4 beings with sub-step 900 - 40 . In sub-step 900 - 40 , the list of suitable sites 804 is received as input and the condition, site and capacity are evaluated for commercial potential. Further, sub-step 900 - 40 comprises evaluating the condition, site, and capacity of the existing facilities for commercial activity that may benefit nearby commercial activity of a kind requiring relatively large areas of open land. The site, potential is quantified as a numeric factor and stored for later use. Once sub-step 900 - 40 is complete, control then continues to sub-step 900 - 42 .
[0077] In sub-step 900 - 42 , the open space land is evaluated for capacity and commercial potential by evaluating the capacity and feasibility of using nearby open space land for commercial activity of a kind requiring relatively large areas of open space land. The open space potential is quantified as a numeric factor and stored for later use. Once sub-step 900 - 42 is complete, control then continues to sub-step 900 - 44 .
[0078] In sub-step 900 - 44 , the current and potential local and regional market demands for goods and services are evaluated. Further, sub-step 900 - 44 comprises evaluating the current and potential local and area market demand for commercial activities, at least one of which of a kind requiring relatively large areas of open land. The market demand is quantified as a numeric factor and stored for later use. Once sub-step 900 - 44 is complete, control then continues to sub-step 900 - 46 .
[0079] In sub-step 900 - 46 , the cost of the open space land and facilities is evaluated. The cost of the land is quantified as a numeric factor, which may be normalized, and stored for later use. Once sub-step 900 - 46 is complete, control then continues to sub-step 900 - 48 .
[0080] In sub-step 900 - 48 , the type and cost of modifying existing facilities or creating new facilities to meet market demand is estimated. The cost of modifying the existing facilities and/or building new facilities is quantified as a numeric factor, which may be normalized, and stored for later use. Once sub-step 900 - 48 is complete, control then continues to sub-step 900 - 50 .
[0081] In sub-step 900 - 50 , the potential for profitably operating at least two commercial activities on the open space land site is evaluated. Further, sub-step 900 - 50 comprises evaluating the general and specific potential for operating profitability of at least two associated commercial activities under the estimated terms of acquisition of the property, and/or any rights necessary to set up commercial activities on the site, plus the estimated financing of planned modifications or additions to facilities. The profitability potential of the commercial activities is quantified as a numeric factor and stored for later use. Once sub-step 900 - 50 is complete, control then continues to sub-step 900 - 52 .
[0082] In sub-step 900 - 52 , each of the economic factors stored in sub-steps 900 - 40 through 900 - 50 are used. There is a weight factor that corresponds to each of the economic factors calculated in sub-steps 900 - 40 through 900 - 50 . The weight factors are used to assign a relative importance to each of the economic factors. The economic factors 900 - 40 through 900 - 50 are each multiplied by their respective weight factors. The results of the multiplications are summed and stored as an economic potential index value. In sub-step 900 - 52 , the economic potential index factor is compared against a threshold value and/or the economic potential index factors of the other sites. If the site has a suitable economic potential index factor then control will proceed to sub-step 900 - 56 , acquiring the site. Otherwise, control will transfer to sub-step 900 - 54 , where the site is not acquired.
[0083] If there are any other sites to evaluate, control may return to sub-step 900 - 40 to begin again the economic potential evaluation with a different site, or control may continue to sub-step 900 - 6 is a property is to be acquired. Alternatively, if no sites met the threshold economic potential index requirement, then the process may end and the development criteria and other considerations may be re-evaluated.
[0084] [0084]FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the relationship between the core business, the independent businesses in the association, and the open space land and facilities. The facilities may be legacy facilities that were already present on the development and have been modified to suit modern commercial uses, and/or newly built facilities for the purpose of commercial activities. In particular, in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 10, the core business 1002 owns and utilizes facility 1 1010 . Independent business 1 1004 owns and utilizes facility 2 1014 and, through agreement with the core business 1002 , occasionally utilizes facility 1 1010 . Independent business 2 1006 owns and utilizes a portion of the open space land 1012 . Independent business 3 1008 owns and utilizes a portion of the open space land 1012 and owns and utilizes facility 3 1016 . FIG. 10 shows one possible arrangement of facilities, land and business utilization and ownership in accordance with the present invention. However, it should be appreciated that many different configurations of ownership and utilization of facilities and land are possible according to the contemplated development goals and objectives.
[0085] [0085]FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the relationship between the businesses in the association. In particular, the core business 1002 has established an association with the independent businesses ( 1004 , 1006 and 1008 ). Further, each of the independent businesses ( 1004 , 1006 and 1008 ) has established a relationship with the other businesses ( 1004 , 1006 and 1008 ).
[0086] [0086]FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing the relationship between the associated businesses and individual members of a family. In particular, an association of businesses comprises a core business 1002 , an independent business 1 1004 and an independent business 2 1006 . A family 1202 comprises family member A 1204 , family member B 1206 and family member C 1208 .
[0087] In operation, the core business 1002 provides goods or services 1212 to family member A 1204 . The core business 1002 also provides goods or services 1214 to family member C 1208 . Independent business 1 1004 provides goods or services 1216 to family member B 1206 . Independent business 2 1006 provides goods or services to family member C 1208 . Additionally, the core business may provide goods or services 1210 to the independent businesses ( 1004 and 1006 ). Independent business 1 1004 and independent business 2 1006 may provide goods or services 1210 to each other. FIG. 12 illustrates the ability of an association of business to meet the demands of different members of a family in one development. The system and methods of the present invention ensure that the association of businesses will meet the market demand. Providing mutually a mutually beneficial association of businesses that meets the demands of the various members of a family may create a more productive, enjoyable and rewarding development for customers to frequent.
[0088] As is evident from the above description of the embodiments of the systems and methods of the present invention, the invention enables at least two mutually beneficial commercial activities to provide economic return at least comparable to that derived from using essentially equivalent facilities and land for housing, by employing existing, modified or created facilities and relatively large areas of open land in mutually beneficial commercial activities, by identifying and evaluating potential sites, by associating the commercial activities to reduce each commercial activity's capital and operating expense outlays while simultaneously enabling them to offer a wider range of services to their particular clientele, by commonly accessing local and broader markets, and by providing some common facilities and support and administrative services to the associated commercial activities at a fee less than the typical cost of use of all facilities, goods, and services, had they been procured from another source. The automated system provided herein also ease each commercial operator's operating tasks by simplifying many record keeping, scheduling, communication, and management tasks, to the extent they choose to take advantage of the modules of automating services offered by the overseeing entity (i.e. the core business).
[0089] As is also evident from the above description, such a process of association of commercial activities, at least one of which requires relatively large areas of open land, enables the commercial actors to provide an economic return at least comparable to that potentially derived from developing essentially equivalent facilities and land for housing. The process enables such an association to offer additional benefits to the wider community by preserving in part or whole relatively larger areas of open space and traditional if not historic legacy buildings, profitably employing what may be ecologically delicate areas or land otherwise deemed of no economic value, and enhancing the urban or suburban experience by leaving larger tracts relatively open.
[0090] Such a process of association also offers desired services to members of nearby and further communities, employment to local job seekers, trade to local vendors, and ongoing business tax revenues to local governments, which may be generally more desired than residential property tax revenues. Such a process of association also offers diversification of overall economic risk and business cycle risk by utilizing more than one actor in more than one commercial activity.
[0091] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the processes of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. Accordingly, it is intended by the foregoing description to provide non-limiting examples of the process and system of the invention and resort should be made to the appended claims to ascertain the full importance measures of the inventive features. | A process and system for land development in which existing legacy buildings and open space land areas are retained and re-employed to suit modem markets demands in locations with demographics that are appropriate for the utilization of the buildings and land in mutually beneficial associated commercial activities, at least one of which requires relatively large open space land areas or tracts. The process identifies candidate properties, assesses the utilization and economic potential of candidate properties, and selects a property best suited to the contemplated goals of the development project and the market demographics. The process also identifies commercial activities that may use the open space land and legacy buildings according to modern market demands. The process also supports the formation of an association of these commercial activities, one of which employs the legacy buildings and facilities and at least one other of which requires relatively large areas of open space nearby. In the system, several operational modules are integrated into a comprehensive land use plan, which utilizes any legacy buildings and the association of commercial activities to optimize the land use process. | 6 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to weighted correlation methods for performing character recognition whereby the best match (i.e. highest correlation score) is used to select and classify an unknown character as a member of a trained set of characters. The correlations are computed from the two dimensional array of pixels for the unknown character and the training set of characters. In this specification, the term font training denotes the process of creating and storing all of the trained characters in a font. The term inspect denotes the process of recognizing each unknown character as one of the trained characters of a font. In this invention, the light value of each pixel is weighted to place more or less emphasis on its contribution to the overall correlation score. The weights are adjusted so as to provide optimal discrimination (decorrelation) among the characters in the training set. The method for automatically adjusting these weights is described herein.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Correlation is a technique well known to those skilled in the art of developing character recognition methods. The process of recognizing an unknown character using correlation is comprised of the following steps: (1) acquiring a two dimensional array of pixels, (2) locating an unknown character in the two dimensional array, (3) computing the correlations between the unknown character and every member of a trained set of characters (otherwise known as a font), (4) recognizing the unknown character as the trained character with the highest associated correlation coefficient above a threshold.
The correlation between an unknown character and a trained character can be conveniently described mathematically using vector notation. That is, let the vector y denote the light values (relative scene reflectance, intensities, etc.) of the pixels of the unknown character to be recognized. That is, let
y=[y.sub.1, y.sub.2, . . . , y.sub.N ].sup.T ( 1)
where y i denotes the light value of the i-th pixel of the unknown character and T denotes the transpose operator. In this representation there are N pixels in the unknown character y. That is, the two dimensional array of pixels for the unknown character is represented as a one dimensional array by concatenating rows (or columns) into one vector.
In a similar manner, let x denote the vector of light values of a trained character from a font, i.e.
x=[x.sub.1, x.sub.2, . . . , x.sub.N ].sup.T ( 2)
where x i denotes the light value of the i-th pixel of the trained character x. For simplicity, it is assumed that both the unknown character and the trained characters have the same number of pixels, N. If this were not true, the two vectors can be made the same size by appropriately increasing/decreasing the size of the unknown character y to that of the trained character x by utilizing the surrounding pixels in the image.
With these definitions, the correlation R xy between the unknown character y and the trained character x can be written as ##EQU1## where the sum is over all N pixels.
According to the above description, R xy is computed for all M trained characters of the font {x 0 , x 1 , . . . , x M } and unknown character y is recognized as being equivalent to that trained character x i that results in the highest correlation score among all the scores calculated.
An additional condition for a match is that the highest correlation score (R xy ) max exceed some predetermined threshold (R xy ) thresh . Otherwise, the unknown character does not match any trained characters from the font.
The above describes the standard method of performing character recognition using correlation of the light value of pixels of an unknown character and trained characters from a font. The above method may not work well when trained characters from a font are highly correlated among themselves and measurement noise is significant. For example, consider the letters O and Q of a particular font. These two characters can be quite similar (highly correlated) to each other. Depending on the font type and magnification selected in capturing the image, the O may only be distinguished from the Q by the light value of one or two pixels. This implies that the correlation score, R OQ , will be high and that discriminating an O from a Q can be difficult. In the presence of high levels of noise associated with capturing the image (i.e. video noise, sampling artifacts, lighting and printing variations), it is possible that an incorrect decision will be made and an O will be mistaken for a Q. For example, this can occur when the unknown character is a Q and R OQ exceeds R QQ . In this case, the Q is incorrectly classified (recognized) as an O.
There are several obvious approaches to reducing these types of errors. These approaches include: (1) choosing a font such that the trained characters are as dissimilar as possible; (2) increasing the magnification to generate more pixels that aid in better discriminating among the trained characters of the font; (3) reducing the system level of noise. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to alter these conditions. That is: (1) the font type may be dictated by the application; (2) magnification may be fixed by other constraints; (3) the system noise level may not be easily lowered.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention describes another approach to minimizing classification errors in character recognition. In this invention, a method is developed that places more emphasis (higher weight) on those pixels that distinguish a trained character in a font from other highly correlated trained characters of the font. For the example cited above, more emphasis (increased weight) is placed on the pixels in the tail region of the Q for both the O and the Q.
In this invention, there are two separate processes in performing character recognition: font training and inspect. During font training, the trained characters are created and stored to memory for later use during inspect. Also, the weights for each trained character are optimally adjusted during font training using the method described herein. These weights are used during the inspect step to recognize all unknown characters.
The procedure for altering the weights of the pixels of a trained character is accomplished by introducing a weight (squared) matrix Z x for each trained character x in the font. Thus, Z x is an N×N matrix defined by
Z=W.sup.2 ( 5)
where ##EQU2## Note that although Z x is an N×N matrix, there are only N non-zero terms along the diagonal. These terms correspond to the individual weights (squared) for each pixel in the trained character x. Hence, the actual values that need to be stored for each trained character are the contents of the weight vector w=[w 1 , w 2 , . . . , w N ] T .
Thus, each trained character x of a font has two associated vectors: an observation vector x and an associated weight vector w x .
The correlation R xy given above in equation (3) is modified to include the pixel weighting terms as follows: ##EQU3## where
x.sub.w =W·x=[x.sub.1 w.sub.1, x.sub.2 w.sub.2, . . . , x.sub.N w.sub.N ].sup.T ( 12)
and
y.sub.w =W·y=[y.sub.1 w.sub.1, y.sub.2 w.sub.2, . . . , y.sub.N w.sub.N ].sup.T ( 13).
In the above expressions, the weights w and weight (squared) z terms are associated with the trained character x. Equations (7) thru (13) show explicitly several different ways for computing the weighted correlation coefficient. That is, it can be computed in terms of the unknown character y and the trained character x and its associated weight (squared) matrix Z x or it can be computed in terms of a weighted trained character x w and a weighted unknown character y w . The two expressions are equivalent and provide insight into different approaches in implementing a weighted correlation algorithm.
Equations (7) thru (13) above show how a weighted correlation coefficient can be computed. The goal is to develop a method to adjust the weights w x for each trained character x i of a font such that the correlations of x i with every other trained character of the font {x j , j=1,2, . . . , M, j i i} are minimized. This is a constrained optimization problem and methods for solving these problems are well known to those skilled in the art. The approach to solving an optimization problem can be generally classified as either as a First Order Method or a Second Order Method. First Order Methods require the calculation of the first derivative of the function to be optimized. Typical First Order methods are the Gradient Method and the Steepest Ascent Methods. Second Order Methods require the calculation of the first and second derivatives of the function to be optimized. The Steepest Ascent Method is the simplest to implement and is described in this invention. The Gradient Method and the Second Order Methods can also be used and results in a reduction in the number of iterations to reach the optimum.
In order to compute the maximum/minimum of a function with respect to a set of variables, the gradient of the function with respect to those variables is computed using an initial guess (starting estimates) of those values. Next, the gradient is multiplied by a scaling constant and is added/subtracted to the initial estimates of the variables. The function is recomputed using the new estimates of the variables and tested to see if its value has increased/decreased sufficiently enough to stop the process. If not, the gradient is recomputed using the new estimates of the variables, scaled, and added to the previous estimates of the variables. The process is repeated until either: the maximum/minimum of the function is reached, no additional improvement is observed, or a maximum count of the number of iterations is exceeded.
The gradient of the correlation coefficient R xy , as defined in equation (7), with respect to the weights (squared) Z x is defined as
∇.sub.Z R.sub.xy =∂R.sub.xy /∂Z.sub.x( 14)
where ∇ Z is the gradient operator and is defined as ∂``/∂Z x .
The i-th component of the gradient is easily shown (from equation (8)) to be
(∇.sub.Z R.sub.xy).sub.i =∂R.sub.xy /∂z.sub.x,i =x.sub.i y.sub.i ( 15)
As stated above, in order to minimize R xy , the weights (squared) for the trained character x are adjusted recursively by subtracting a scaled version of the gradient, i.e.
Z.sub.x (k+1)=Z.sub.x (k)-α∇.sub.Z R.sub.xy ( 16)
where k is the time index, α is a scaling constant and the correction is understood to apply to the diagonal elements of the weight (squared) matrix (since the off-diagonal terms are always zero). This procedure is repeated until: the optimum is reached, no additional improvement is observed, or a maximum iteration count is exceeded.
For a single pair of trained characters, equation (15) shows that the gradient is a constant, independent of the weights. Thus, the optimum can be computed directly.
As a simple example, consider a font consisting of two trained characters x and y. Let x=[1 0] T , y=[1 1] T and ##EQU4## Then from equation (7), ##EQU5## From equation (15), the gradient is ∇ Z R xy =[1 0] T . Since the initial weights are unity, then Z x (0)=W x (0) and application of equation (16) with α=1 results in ##EQU6## The new correlation is computed using equation (7) with the updated weight (squared) matrix as ##EQU7##
Thus, the trained character x has been decorrelated with the trained character y by adjusting x's weights.
In a similar manner the weights for trained character y are adjusted resulting in ##EQU8## and thus R xy =0, i.e. trained character y is no longer correlated with trained character x.
The above example, though contrived, illustrates the basic ideas in adjusting the trained characters weights. However, the weighted correlation as defined in equation (7) has some undesirable properties. Namely, the correlation R xy in equation (7) is sensitive to variations in illumination level and character contrast. (This is also true for the unweighted correlation as given in equation (3) above.) For the example cited above, doubling the intensity of character y to [2 2] T results in an increase in the initial correlation from 1 to 2. Hence the correlation computation must be modified to render it insensitive to contrast and illumination level variations. This is accomplished by computing a weighted normalized mean-corrected correlation.
The weighted normalized mean-corrected correlation (squared) R 2 xy is defined as ##EQU9## where
x.sub.c =x-m.sub.x ( 17a)
y.sub.c =y-m.sub.y ( 17b)
are the mean-corrected characters where
x.sub.c.sup.T =[x.sub.c,1 x.sub.c,2 . . . x.sub.c,N ].sup.T( 17c)
y.sub.c.sup.T =[y.sub.c,1 y.sub.c,2 . . . y.sub.c,N ].sup.T( 17d)
and the i-th components of the mean vectors are given by
(m.sub.x).sub.i =Σx.sub.i /N, i=1,2, . . . ,N (17e)
(m.sub.y).sub.i =Σy.sub.i /N, i=1,2, . . . ,N (17f)
and Z x is the weight (squared) matrix as defined previously in equations (5) and (6).
Equation (17a) shows that the correlation (squared) R 2 xy is computed rather than the correlation R xy as a mathematical convenience to avoid having to compute the square root. Note that R 2 xy as given by equation (17a) is bounded in the range of zero to one and is insensitive to lighting or contrast variations. This can be easily proved (by those skilled in the art).
The gradient of the weighted normalized mean-corrected correlation (squared) with respect to the weights (squared) is defined as
∇.sub.Z R.sup.2.sub.xy =∂R.sup.2.sub.xy /∂Z.sub.x =(2R.sub.xy)(∇.sub.Z R.sub.xy)(18)
The i-th component of the gradient is defined as:
(∇.sub.Z R.sup.2.sub.xy).sub.i =∂R.sup.2.sub.xy /∂z.sub.x,i
By partial differentiation of (18), it can be shown that the i-th component of the gradient of the weighted normalized mean-corrected correlation (squared) is given by ##EQU10##
In a manner similar to that of equation (16), the weights are adjusted recursively to minimize R 2 xy by subtracting a scaled version of the gradient, i.e.
Z.sub.x (k+1)=Z.sub.x (k)-α∇.sub.Z R.sup.2.sub.xy( 20)
where k is the time index, and α is a scaling constant.
The object of this invention is to significantly reduce the possibility of incorrectly classifying an unknown character with respect to a trained character set (font). This is accomplished by placing more emphasis, i.e. increasing the weight, on those pixels that distinguish a trained character from every other trained character in the font and repeating this for every trained character in the font until the correlations among the trained characters in the font are reduced to an acceptable level or until it is determined that the correlations can not be reduced any further. More particularly, in accordance with this invention, a method of character recognition, comprises the steps of:
1) font training or creating a font of trained characters by:
(a) acquiring an image composed of a two dimensional array of pixels;
(b) locating all of the characters in the image by selectively scanning columns or rows of a predetermined area of the image and comparing each pixels intensity with a reference level to determine the first pixel of each character and recording the location (column and row coordinates) of such pixel and identifying the other pixels adjacent to the first whose intensity also exceeds the reference level and recording the upper left and lower right coordinates of a box bounding each character;
(c) identifying (labeling) all located characters and entering such identified characters as trained characters in memory;
(d) creating a set of weights, initialized to a constant value, for all trained characters of the training set;
(e) computing a correlation matrix composed of weighted correlation coefficients for all possible pairs of trained characters comprising the trained character set;
(f) searching through the correlation matrix and identifying the character corresponding to the row of the correlation matrix containing the most highly correlated pair of trained characters;
(g) adjusting the weights of the trained character identified in (f);
(h) recomputing the row of the correlation matrix corresponding to the trained character identified in (f) using the adjusted weights computed in (g); and
(i) repeating steps (f) thru (h) until the highest correlation in the correlation matrix is reduced to an acceptable level or until a maximum count is exceeded and eliminating those trained characters from this iterative process that have been selected an excessive number of times; and
2) recognizing unknown characters by:
(j) acquiring a two dimensional array of pixels;
(k) locating all unknown characters in a manner described in (b);
(l) computing weighted correlation coefficients using the weights determined in steps (a) thru (i) between all unknown characters and the trained character set; and
(m) identifying all unknown characters as those trained characters with the highest weighted correlation coefficients above a threshold.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an illustration of an embodiment of the character recognition method in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic of the logic and control unit 40 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3A thru 3D are flow charts illustrating an embodiment of the control logic followed by the logic and control unit 40 of FIG. 2. FIG. 3A shows the flow chart illustrating the decision logic to choose inspect or training. FIG. 3B shows the flow diagram for the inspect control logic. FIG. 3C shows the flow diagram for the Font Training logic. FIG. 3D shows the flow diagram illustrating the weight optimization portion of the Font Training logic;
FIGS. 4' and 4" shows an example of applying the weight adjustment procedure to a three character font; and FIGS. 5A', 5A", 5B', 5B", 5C, 5D, 5E' and 5E" shows an example of applying the weight adjustment procedure to a sixteen character font.
Attached is APPENDIX A which is a C Program for performing the weight adjustment. The various modules (C callable functions) of this program will be referred to with reference to the various items of FIG. 3C and FIG. 3D.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown the components of the preferred embodiment. There is a part 10 with printed characters 15 that are to be recognized. The part is moving on a conveyance unit 20 and is detected by an electro-optic sensor 30. Upon detection of the part, the electro-optic position sensor sends a signal to the sensor transducer unit 35. The transducer signals the logic and control unit 40 that the part is present in the field of view of the video camera 50 via the part detect cable 37.
Upon receipt of the part detect signal, the logic and control unit commands a stroboscopic light source 60 via the light source trigger cable 62 to generate a pulse of light given that the video camera is ready to capture the next video frame. The logic and control unit knows when the camera is ready to capture the next video frame since it controls the timing of the camera via the video synch cable 53.
The pulsed light from the stroboscopic light source illuminates the moving part via the fiber-optic bundle 65. The pulsed light essentially "freezes" the moving part and renders a sharp image of it when captured by the video camera 50.
Upon the capture of an image, the analog video signal is transferred from the camera to the logic and control unit 40 via the video cable 52. The logic and control unit displays the processed video image along with superimposed text on a video monitor 70 via the monitor cable 72. The type of information displayed on the monitor depends on whether the logic and control unit is in the training mode or the inspect mode, the details of which are described below with reference to FIGS. 3B and FIG. 3C. The example monitor display of FIG. 1 shows the results of an sample inspection. The captured image is displayed and boxes 73, 74 and 75 are drawn around the three characters that the logic and control unit has located in this example. Also shown on the monitor is textual information 76 indicating what classification the logic and control unit has assigned to the three located characters (in this example they are shown correctly classified as the letters `1`, `2`, and `3`) as the result of an inspection.
A keyboard 80 and a pointing device (mouse) 90 are also shown to provide a means for user input to the logic and control unit. The keyboard is interfaced to the logic and control unit via the keyboard cable 82. The pointing device is interfaced to the logic and control unit via the pointing device cable 92.
An interface to a host computer 100 provides a means for communicating the results of the inspection to another processing unit for defect sorting and/or statistical analyses.
FIG. 2 shows in block diagram form the components of the logic and control unit 40, the details of which are described below. A microprocessor 105 acts as the main controller of the logic and control unit and receives input and provides output to the other components of FIG. 2 via the address, data, and control bus 110. The microprocessor receives its' instructions from program code stored in nonvolatile memory (ROM) 120.
A part detect interface 130 receives the part detect signal from the sensor transducer unit 35 via the part detect cable 37. The part detect interface signals the microprocessor when a part is in the field of view of the video camera. The microprocessor triggers the light source 60 via the light source interface 140 at the precise instant in time when the camera 50 is capable of capturing a video frame. The camera control module 150 provides the timing signals to the camera via the video sync cable 53 and alerts the microprocessor when the camera is ready to capture the next video frame.
The analog video output from the camera is digitized and stored upon command from the microprocessor by the digitizer and frame store module 160. The digitized video is accessible by the microprocessor for locating characters and computing correlation coefficients in a manner described below with reference to FIGS. 3B thru 3D.
The data associated with the trained characters of a font are stored in a block of memory, preferably nonvolatile, labeled font memory 170. Font memory contains all the pixel data associated with each trained character including the mean vectors and the weight vectors that are used to compute weighted correlation coefficients. The trained character data are addressed by the microprocessor via a list of pointer references stored in the general purpose memory 180. The general purpose memory provides a means for storing additional data as described below with reference to FIGS. 3A thru 3D.
The video data from the digitizer and frame store 160 are displayed on a monitor by means of the video display module 190 and the monitor cable 72. The microprocessor has the capability of overlaying graphics and textual information on top of the video to provide the user a means of viewing the results of an inspection and to prompt the user during font training.
The keyboard interface module 200 and the pointing device interface module 210 provide the interface from the keyboard and pointing device units and alerts the microprocessor when a key is pressed.
The host communications module 220 provides the interface from the microprocessor to a host computer and provides the gateway for sending the results of an inspection for subsequent sorting or statistical analysis.
FIG. 3A shows a flow diagram illustrating a portion of the logic followed by the logic and control unit 40. Control begins with the main label 300. This is the beginning of the control loop. The user is then queried as to whether the unit is to inspect or a font is to be trained 310. This question appears on the video monitor 70. The user responds via the keyboard 80 or pointing device 90 and control is directed either to font training 320 or inspect 330.
FIG. 3B shows a flow diagram illustrating the inspect portion of the logic followed by the logic and control unit 40. Inspect begins with the inspect label 340 and is followed by the capture and digitization of an image 350 step upon the receipt of a part detect signal as discussed previously with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2.
Next, all of the unknown characters are located in a predefined region of interest in the image 360. This is accomplished by selectively scanning columns or rows of the predefined area of the image and comparing the light value of each pixel with a reference value to determine the first pixel of each unknown character and recording the location (column and row coordinates) of such pixel and identifying the other pixels adjacent to the first whose intensity also exceeds the same reference level and thus determining and recording the upper left and lower right coordinates of a box bounding each character. Once all of the unknown characters have been located, each unknown character y i is then recognized by computing the weighted normalized mean-corrected correlation (squared) R 2 xy according to equation (17) with every trained character of the font x j j=1,2, . . . , M where M is the number of trained characters in the font 370.
Next, the trained character (x j ) max corresponding to the highest correlation (R 2 xy ) max is determined by sorting the correlation scores 380. A comparison is made of the highest correlation score (R 2 xy ) max with a predetermined threshold R thresh 390. If the threshold is exceeded, then the unknown character y i is identified as (x j ) max 400 and is reported to the user via the video monitor 70 and to the host computer via the host computer interface 100. Otherwise, the unknown character is judged as not recognizable 410 and is reported to the user and the host computer as such. A test is made to check for additional unknown characters 420 and if true then steps 370 thru 410 are repeated. The logic and control unit will loop back to capture another image if in a continuous inspect mode 430, otherwise it will branch back to main 440.
FIG. 3C shows a flow diagram illustrating the font training portion of the logic followed by the logic and control unit 40. Training begins with the font training label 450 and is followed by the capture and digitization of an image 460 step upon the receipt of a part detect signal as discussed previously with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2.
Next, all of the characters are located in a predefined region of interest in the image 470. This is accomplished in exactly the same manner as the procedure described for locating characters in the inspect process of FIG. 3B. The located characters are displayed on the video monitor with a box bounding each character and the user is prompted for a label for each character. The pixel data for each character are then extracted from the image and saved as a trained character in the Font Memory 170 portion of the logic and control unit 480. In this manner, the font is built of trained characters for every image of the training set 490. Once the font has been defined, the weights can be adjusted for each trained character. For every trained character in the font, the weights are initialized to a constant value500. The module init -- pattern of the program in Appendix A performs this task.
Next, a correlation matrix R MxM of size MxM is computed 510. The correlation matrix contains the correlation score of every trained character with every other trained character in the font. The individual correlation scores are computed according to equation (17). The C program module get -- R -- matrix of Appendix A performs these computations.
Prior to adjusting the weights, several parameters must be initialized 520. These parameters include: max -- count sets the total number of iterations; max -- count -- per -- char sets the number of iterations allowed for each of the M trained characters in the font; alpha defines the scaling factor that is applied to the gradient when added to the old weights according to equation (20); R -- min is the desired correlation score for each trained character after weight adjustment; R -- max is the maximum value of the correlation matrix R M ×M ; char -- count[M] and elim -- char[M] are arrays that are initialized to zero and are used to determine if a trained character has exceeded the parameter max -- count -- per -- char. The modules main and optimize -- R of the computer program in Appendix A show the initialization of these parameters. The next step is to optimize the weights as indicated by the label 530.
FIG. 3D shows a flow diagram that illustrates how the weights are adjusted for each trained character by the logic and control unit 40. The label optimize weights 540 indicates the start of this process. The process begins by testing whether the iteration count has exceed the parameter max -- count or whether the maximum value of the correlation matrix R -- max is less than the minimum desired correlation R -- min 550. If either of these tests are true then the weight adjustment process is done and control returns to main 560. Otherwise, the most highly correlated pair of trained characters (x 1 ,X j ) max is determined by finding the largest entry of the font correlation matrix R M ×M 570. The main diagonal terms (correlation score=100) are eliminated during this search. Also eliminated are any trained characters whose count has previously exceeded the parameter max -- count -- per -- char. The trained character (x i ) max corresponding to row i of the correlation matrix containing the maximum entry is thus selected as the trained character for weight adjustment. A test is performed first to check that the trained character (x i ) max has been called too many times 580. If it has, then it is eliminated from any further weight adjustment 590. Otherwise processing continues. For the program in Appendix A, the above three steps are handled by the module optimize -- R.
The next step is the adjustment of the weights of the trained character (x i ) max using the trained character pair (x i ,x j ) max and the parameter alpha 600 by evaluating equations (19) and (20). The module adjust -- weight of the program in Appendix A adjusts the weights by computing the gradient (equation (19)) and adjusting the weight vector (equation (20)). The module adjust -- weight maintains the weights in the range of zero to 255, i.e. negative weights are not permitted, nor are weights above a maximum value (255). This is done to permit storing the weights in finite word length (8 bit) Font Memory 170.
The i-th row of the correlation (squared) matrix, corresponding to trained character (x i ) max , is recomputed next 610. The program module redo -- R -- matrix of Appendix A performs this task. Finally the iteration counters count and char -- count[i -- max] are incremented 620 and the logic and control unit branches back to the test 550 for another possible iteration.
FIG. 4 shows an example of applying the weight adjustment procedure to a three character font. The font is composed of the trained characters `O`, `Q`, and `D`. The mean patterns for three characters 630, 640, and 650 are seven pixels high by five pixels wide. The light value (intensity) of each pixel is digitized to 8 bits, i.e. 256 levels of gray. Note that the Q is distinguished from the O by only two pixels, the D is distinguished from the O by only two pixels and the D is distinguished from the Q by four pixels.
The initial weights of the O 660, Q 670, and D 680, are shown initialized to a constant value of 128 (i.e. half of full scale). The initial correlation (squared) matrix R 3 ×3 690 shows high correlations among all three trained characters, especially the O and the Q.
The weights are adjusted as described above with regards to FIG. 3C and FIG. 3D and the computer program of Appendix A. The parameters are initialized as follows: max -- count=200, R -- min=1, and alpha=0.001. The final correlation matrix 700 shows that the three trained characters are essentially completely decorrelated since all off-diagonal terms are essentially zero. The final weight pattern for the O 710 shows that more emphasis is placed on the four pixels that distinguish the O from the Q and the D. In a similar manner, more emphasis is placed on the two pixels that sufficiently distinguish the Q 720 from the O and the D. Also there are only two pixels that distinguish the D 730 from the O and the Q.
FIG.'s 5A thru 5E show an example of applying the weight adjustment procedure for a sixteen character font. The mean patterns for the sixteen trained characters are shown in FIG. 5A. The characters are: 0 740, 1 741, 8 742, 9 743, B 744, C 745, D 746, E 747, F 748, G 749, I 750, O 751, P 752, Q 753, R 754, and T 755. Each character is seven pixels high by five pixels wide. The light value (intensity) of each pixel is digitized to 8 bits (256 gray levels).
The initial weight patterns for the sixteen trained characters are shown in FIG. 5B (760 thru 775). All sixteen weight patterns are initialized to a constant value of 128. The weights are stored as unsigned bytes (8 bit words) and thus the permissible range of the weights is from 0 to 255. The initial value of 128 is half of the full scale value and provides for maximum adjustment in either the positive or negative direction.
The initial correlation (squared) matrix R 16 ×16 780, shown in FIG. 5C, was computed using equation (17) using the computer program of Appendix A. The high off-diagonal terms of this matrix indicates significant correlations. The goal is to reduce the value of these off-diagonal terms by placing more emphasis (increasing the weights) on those pixels that distinguish one trained character from another. The weight adjustment procedure illustrated in FIG. 3C and FIG. 3D was applied with the following parameters: R -- min=1, max -- count=6400, max -- count -- per -- char=400, alpha=0.001. With these parameters, after 3900 iterations, the weight adjustment process stopped.
The final correlation (squared) matrix R 16 ×16 790, is shown in FIG. 5D. The off-diagonal terms for all of the trained characters in the font are reduced compared to the initial correlation (squared) matrix 780. However, some of the terms are not reduced to the desired level of R -- min=1. In particular, the correlation scores along a row corresponding to the characters: 0 791, 8 792, B 793, D 794, E 795, I 796, P 797, Q 798, and R 799 are higher than desired. These scores are not reduced any further since the the number of iterations for each trained character exceeded the parameter max -- count -- per -- char, and hence each of these trained characters were eliminated from further weight adjustment. Close examination of the weight adjustment process shows that contradictory weight adjustments occur for various combinations of trained character pairs which leads to oscillations. Hence, no further improvement in reducing the correlation scores can be obtained without eliminating the trained character pairs causing the oscillations from the optimization set.
The final weight patterns are shown in FIG. 5E for the sixteen trained characters 800 thru 815. Inspection of these weights shows which pixels provide the most discrimination of each trained character from every other trained character in the font. For example, the weight pattern for the O 811 has seven pixels with significant weight. It is clear from inspection of the patterns and the initial correlation matrix these pixels were selected to reduce the high correlations with the O, C, D, and Q. The weight patterns for the other trained characters can be analyzed in a similar manner.
In the above examples, some of the weights were reduced to zero value. In actual practice, this would be prevented since each pixel provides some information in recognizing a trained character and the redundancy helps reduce the influence of noise. The amount of weight adjustment can be controlled by properly setting the R -- min parameter.
The invention has been described in detail with particular reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention. Such variations could include, but are not limited to, document scanners which scan the document with a linear, one dimensional, scanner one line at a time and build the image sequentially in a digital frame store. For example, the documents could contain text composed of multiple fonts with various styles such as bold, or italic. ##SPC1## | A character recognition method comprising the following steps: (1) acquiring a two dimensional array of pixels, (2) locating an unknown character in the two dimensional array, (3) computing weighted correlation coefficients between the unknown character and a trained set of characters (i.e. a font), (4) recognizing the unknown character as the trained character with the highest weighted correlation coefficient above a threshold. The weights in the correlation calculations are adjusted to place more emphasis on those areas of a trained character that distinguishes it from all other trained characters in the training set. A method for optimally adjusting these weights is described herein. | 6 |
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This patent relates to a Provisional Patent Application filed Nov. 10, 2004. (Application # 60/626,431)
[0002] This application varies from the preference application in the following ways:
[0003] The grooves located along the T-shots in the pallet are spaced a greater distance apart. Hardened keys are permanently fixed to these grooves and project above the surface to engage one of many grooves located in a clamping and/or locating device.
[0004] The grooves located in the locators are larger and spaced a greater distance apart than described in the first referenced application.
[0005] Since the slots in the bases and locators are further apart, the incremental positioning of the locators along the T-slot is much greater.
[0006] Since this incremental distance exceeds the practical maximum travel of the wedge clamp, means are provided to pre-adjust the clamping wedge to provide the optimum wedge clamping travel. The optimum clamping travel must provide enough displacement to account for the width tolerance of the work piece to be clamped plus any deflection encountered by the clamping force plus a small clearance to allow placement and removal of the work piece in the unclamp position.
[0007] Since the wedge clamp depends on vertical force and displacement to provide horizontal force and displacement to clamp the work piece, the vertical height of the wedge in the clamped condition can be controlled by the pre-adjustment of the wedge. This is particularly important when the work piece to be clamped is very thin.
[0008] The base grooves are marked with their location from a zero reference point. Location grooves are marked with their distance from the work piece location surface. Adding or subtracting the locations of the base locator as marked at the key engagement, provides the work piece location from zero reference.
[0000] A second provisional application was filed May 15, 2006 (application #60/800,321). The present non provisional patent application includes additional features not found in either provisional application.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0009] 1. Field of the Invention
[0010] This patent relates to work piece holding devices used to hold work pieces for machining or other purposes. Work pieces that are machined must be held or clamped to prevent their movement caused by forces acting against them.
[0011] It is generally desirable to have a high degree of rigidity and accurate work piece location so that the surfaces which are treated (usually by cutting) on the work piece is well within acceptable tolerance.
[0012] 2. Description of Prior Art
[0013] Existing work piece holding devices range from a simple vice designed to hold one work piece, wedge lock side clamping of single or multiple work pieces located on a single base and dedicated fixtures constructed for a specific work piece.
[0014] Vertical hold down clamps (called swing down clamps) are available for clamping work pieces against their top surface. They swing out of the way when unclamped to permit removal of the work piece.
[0015] Exiting wedge clamps are generally fixed to a base with serrations or keys that are difficult to clean and difficult to determine the exact work piece location.
[0016] They generally require manual clamping.
[0017] Swing down clamps are generally located on dedicated fixtures. They are usually powered by hydraulic systems. Their hydraulic lines tend to collect chips and are difficult to clean.
[0018] Power clamping is usually accomplished using hydraulic systems. This complicates the systems need for decoupling the hydraulic lines when the clamping system is removed from a machine tool for off machine work piece handling.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
[0019] This patent relates to a work piece holding system that provides rigid, powerful and accurate clamping of various sizes and shapes of work pieces. Work piece location in all three axes is easily read from the system. Power lines are located in channels below the clamping surface. Cleanliness is maintained by protective covers. Various clamps, (wedge and slide down) are used in a single system.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0020] FIG. 1 is a view showing a single station base showing a device for locating a work piece in 3 axes and a device for clamping the work piece against the locator.
[0021] FIG. 2 is a view showing the basic parts of a single station base.
[0022] FIG. 3 is a top view of the work part locator.
[0023] FIG. 4 is a side view of the locator.
[0024] FIG. 5 is a side view of a work piece locator reduced in length.
[0025] FIG. 6 is the same as FIG. 1 with the addition of a combined locator and clamp. It is used when two or more work pieces are clamped on the same station.
[0026] FIG. 7 is a side view of the locator/clamp.
[0027] FIG. 8 is the same as FIG. 7 but showing a pre-clamp hand knob.
[0028] FIG. 9 is an end view of the locator/clamp showing a nut used for manual clamping.
[0029] FIG. 10 is a section taken through FIG. 9 showing detail of the locator/clamp.
[0030] FIG. 11 is a top view of a wedge clamp.
[0031] FIG. 12 is a side view of the wedge clamp.
[0032] FIG. 13 is a section taken through FIG. 11 .
[0033] FIG. 14 is a view and partial section taken through view 15 . It shows a log with locator/clamps and locator and a power actuator supplied with compressed air conveyed through a tale stock piston and stored in the log.
[0034] FIG. 15 is an end view of the log mounted to rotary table on one end and supported by a tale stock on the other end.
[0035] FIG. 16 is a side view of FIG. 15 .
[0036] FIG. 17 is an end view of a power actuator used to clamp work pieces.
[0037] FIG. 18 is a section taken through FIG. 17 showing means for increasing the clamping force imposed by a pneumatic piston.
[0038] FIG. 19 is a view of a multiple station clamping system.
[0039] FIG. 20 is a view of another multiple station clamping system showing a single work piece.
[0040] FIG. 21 is a view of a four sided clamping systems mounted on a tombstone.
[0041] FIG. 22 is a section through the center of an alternate power actuator using hydraulic pressure.
[0042] FIG. 23 is a top view of a combination of a locator and wedge clamps used to clamp a sheet metal work piece when the work piece size varies.
[0043] FIG. 24 is a side view of FIG. 23 FIG. 25 is a side view of a system for clamping round work pieces.
[0044] FIG. 26 is a view of a single station base showing a wedge clamp and a locator/slide down clamp used to clamp a work piece with both horizontal and vertical force.
[0045] FIG. 27 shows varying work pieces clamped with vertical force.
[0046] FIG. 28 shows varying work pieces clamped with vertical force.
[0047] FIG. 29 shows varying work pieces clamped with vertical force.
[0048] FIG. 30 shows a section taken through FIG. 26 showing details of a power clamp that retracts to allow a work piece to be placed and then extends over the work piece and moves down to clamp the work piece with vertical force.
[0049] FIG. 31 is a section of locator/slide down clamp taken from FIG. 26
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0050] For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated device, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.
[0051] The clamping system consists of three basic parts. These parts are identified by FIG. 1 . A base 1 , a locator 2 , and a clamp 3 . The base is used to support and locate the locator, and support the clamp, and contain a power actuator 55 FIG. 14 or manual clamping nut 25 see FIG. 9 .
[0052] The base FIG. 2 consists of a supporting structure 4 , rails 5 , used to partially enclose a large channel 6 in the structure and support wear resistant rails, 7 , provided with precisely located keys 8 used to locate the locators.
[0053] FIG. 2 slot covers 9 may be sprung into recesses located in wear resistant rails 7 , cover the T-SLOTS 11 , FIG. 2 to prevent foreign matter from entering the channel 6 . Two overlapping covers 9 may be used to cover the distance needed between the clamps and locators. Multiple sets of various length covers 9 are needed to cover the full range of possible lengths.
[0054] FIG. 2 shows a single T-slot 11 , identified as a station. Any number of stations on a single plane or multiple planes can be provided. See FIG. 19, 20 , and 21 . The bases, locators, and clamps are configured in various ways to provide clamping for a wide variety of parts. Furthermore, the clamps and locators are configured to enable one part or multiple parts to be clamped on a single station. The bases are configured with a single side, FIG. 1 or multiple sides FIGS. 15, 16 , and 21 .
[0055] The locators are configured with a single locating surface FIG. 5 , and double ended FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 enabling round, hex, or flat parts to be located. The locators are also combined with clamps 18 FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 to enable more parts to be located on a single station by reducing the clamp and locator length.
[0056] The locators FIG. 4 , FIG. 5 are provided with slots 19 that are accurately located from the work piece locating surface 12 . The slot locations are clearly marked on both sides of the locator.
[0057] The keys 8 located in the wear resistant rails 7 FIG. 2 are clearly marked with their location from a zero reference location near the end of the base.
[0058] When the locator is mounted to the base, one set of aligned keys 8 in the base will engage one set of aligned slots 19 in the locator. To determine the part location from zero reference, add the indicated location of the engaged key on the base to the indicated location of this key as marked on the locator.
[0059] The arrows marked on the base and locator must be pointed in the same direction when addition is used. Otherwise subtraction must be used.
[0060] Either or both ends of the base may be assigned as zero reference and marked with two rows of dimensions, each value ascending from its zero reference point. This allows the locator to be rotated to locate work pieces from their opposite side. Since the arrow directions of the base and locator will coincide on one side of the locator, addition may be used to calculate the distance from reference zero regardless of the locator orientation.
[0061] The locator FIG. 4 can be used to locate round or hex work pieces. The top set of numbers on both sides of the locator FIG. 4 identifies the intersection point of the angled locating surfaces 21 from the locator slots. To find the distance from the center of a round or hex work pieces from zero reference; add the location of the key as marked on the base to the location of the slot engaged by the key as marked by the top numbers on the locator. Add this addition to the product of the round work piece diameter or the hex cross flats dimension times 0.57735. As before, the arrow directions must coincide and zero reference may be assigned to either or both ends of the base. The locator is clamped against the wear rails by a bolt and T-nut 10 .
[0062] A wedge clamp 3 is shown mounted to a base FIG. 6 and is further described by FIG. 12 . This clamp consists of a taper wedge 26 that is forced against a tapered surface contained by a clamp housing 23 . This causes the wedge to move parallel to the base to clamp a work piece 15 against a locator and move down to force the work piece against a clamp spacer 16 , FIG. 6 used to locate the work piece above the base. The wedge is manually forced against the tapered surface by rotating a threaded rod 24 FIG. 10 into a threaded nut 25 . Alternatively, the wedge may be vertically displaced by a powered actuator FIG. 14 located in the channel 6 contained in the base FIG. 2 .
[0063] The clamp housing 23 FIG. 13 is accurately guided along the wear resistant rails by T-slots 11 located between the rails. One or more bolts 29 are used to prevent the clamp housing movement caused by the clamping forces. The clamp housing 23 is relieved on the bottom to allow its location to be adjusted along the rails with out interference from the keys located on the wear resistant rails.
[0064] A combination clamp/locator 18 is shown by FIG. 6 , and further described by FIG. 10 . In this case, a locating surface is provided on one end and a wedge clamp is provided on the other end. The locator housing 20 is fixed and its location dimension is measured as described for a locator.
[0065] The wedge location is adjusted with respect to the locator housing to compensate for relative large incremental positioning of the locator and relatively small travel of the wedge clamp. The wedge 26 is forced against a tapered surface of wedge housing 27 contained by the locator housing 20 . The wedge housing is located and retained by an adjusting screw 28 . The wedge housing and locator housing are bolted to each other and the base by one or more bolts 29 . The wedge is forced against the wedge housing taper by a threaded rod 24 either by manual rotation or vertical displacement by a power actuator. Thrust bearing 31 and 32 may be used with the wedge clamp or locator/clamp to reduce the manual torque required to achieve the desired wedge clamping force.
[0066] Spring plungers 33 are located in the wedge to retain work pieces before and after clamping
[0067] A hand tightening nut 34 FIG. 8 may be used to increase the part retention force to prevent heavier work pieces from falling from the clamping device before and after clamping. This is most needed when multiple work pieces are simultaneously clamped and unclamped.
[0068] FIG. 6 spacers are used to locate work pieces above the wear rails. The clamp spacers 16 are bolted 35 to a clamp housing 12 or a wedge housing 23 FIG. 12 as applicable. The clamp spacers are configured with extensions that project into slots provided in the wedge 26 . This is necessary to assure that work pieces are fully supported at the line of contact with the wedge so the down ward wedge force does not tip the work piece. The clamp spacers 16 are relieved at the center to prevent interference with the keys 8 . The locater spacers 17 are bolted to the locator as shown. All spacers are marked to indicate their height above the wear rails.
[0069] Gauges 13 and 14 are used to locate work pieces from the T-slot 11 center FIG. 2 . FIG. 6 gauges are numbered on both sides with their distance from their work piece locating surface to the center of the T-slot. The gauges are incrementally fixed to the locator or locator housing by pins and bolts as shown. Other means such as keys, serrations, etc. may be used for this purpose.
[0070] The gauge may be placed to locate work pieces from either side of the T-slot. This is the purpose of numbering both sides of the gauge to determine the work piece location from zero reference on either side of the T-slot. Add or subtract the gauge stop location to the T-slot location depending on which side of the T-slot that the gauge is extended.
[0071] The T-slot zero reference may be located from the center of rotation of a rotary base where applicable to facilitate machine programming with respect to the center of rotation of the work piece.
[0072] The stop gauge 14 distance from the T-slot centerline is indicated by the number aligned with the arrow located on the locator housing.
[0073] An alignment gauge 13 may be used as above with the exception that a work piece surface is visually aligned with a gauge surface for providing location. This enables machining a work piece surface that would otherwise be obstructed by the stop gauge.
[0074] Multi face bases are called tombstones FIG. 21 when fixed at one end and logs 36 , FIG. 14 when fixed at both ends. The work pieces require independent clamping for each log or tombstone face to prevent the work pieces from falling from one face when rotated to load/unload work pieces on another face.
[0075] FIG. 19 and FIG. 20 shows multiple station clamping systems. These Figs. show manual clamping capability. Power clamping and palletized clamping systems may also be provided with means for removing from the machine for parts loading/unloading or storage, they are called tombstone pallets FIG. 21 or log pallets. FIG. 16 shows a log pallet 36 supported and rotated by a rotary table 37 , and supported at the opposite end by a tale stock 38 . In this case a single passage for compressed air is completed FIG. 14 when a piston 39 advances and engages a receiver 40 to support the other end of the log pallet. The compressed air flows through the piston 39 and a check valve 41 to fill and trap the air in a storage chamber 42 .
[0076] Small, flexible air lines 44 are used to convey the compressed air to the actuators from the three way valve 43 . These lines are long enough to enable the actuators to be positioned at any location along the station without the need to modify the air line length. Excess air line length can be stored in the chamber or located at the end of the chamber.
[0077] The power actuator 55 can be connected to a clamp 3 or locator/clamp 18 FIG. 14 . FIG. 18 seals 46 , and covers 45 and 47 are bolted 48 to the housing 56 to prevent air from escaping from the piston and prevent foreign matter from entering the actuator 55 . FIG. 18 shows the piston 50 acting against the long end of a lever 49 that pivots around a pin 51 and contacts threaded nut 53 on the lever short end. This multiplies the piston 50 force by the ratio between the long and short end lengths of the lever 49 . The threaded nut 53 forces the threaded rod 24 down to cause the wedge 26 to slide along a taper surface causing it to clamp a work piece against a locator.
[0078] The lever 49 is provided with an oval hole to permit a bolt 29 to pass through and engage threads located in the actuator housing 56 . This bolt 29 is used to clamp the actuator to the wedge clamp and clamp/locator.
[0079] Power clamping reduces operator fatigue and the time for clamping and unclamping work pieces. Power clamping is often used when pallets are transferred to and from the machine for work piece clamping/unclamping. In this case compressed air is the preferred power source for the following reasons:
[0080] 1: It is easily transferred from its source to the base. See FIG. 14 .
[0081] 2: When a piston 39 is coupled to a receiver 40 , compressed air cleans the mating surfaces
[0082] 3: If the coupling is not completed, air leakage occurs. This is easily detected by measuring the resulting pressure drop after the normal air transfer duration. This can provide a signal to halt continuance until the condition is corrected.
[0083] 4: Also, compressed air can be stored in the base and used for off machine clamping/unclamping of work pieces when the air supply is decoupled.
[0084] When a three way valve 43 is opened, air flows to all the power actuators located on a single face. This causes the actuator pistons 50 to act against the levers 49 causing the threaded rods 24 to displace the wedges 26 to clamp the work pieces. When the three way valve is rotated to the exhaust position, air flows from the pistons to the atmosphere, relieving the force on the piston and allowing the springs 52 to retract the levers, pistons, threaded rods and wedges to unclamp the work pieces.
[0085] FIG. 22 shows an alternate hydraulic power actuator. The lever used for the air actuator is not required because of the sufficient clamping force is generated by increased hydraulic pressure. Since the hydraulic fluid can not be vented to the atmosphere, two fluid paths are needed, one for flow to the clamp and one to return the flow from the clamp. The higher pressure fluid lines 57 are necessarily larger and less flexible than the air lines. Coupling the fluid lines 57 to and from pallets, and storing the fluid in the bases using spring or pneumatic force is considerably more complicated than required for air clamping.
[0086] The hydraulic fluid acts on a piston 58 that retracts a threaded rod 59 to force the wedge against a taper surface to cause clamping. Hydraulic clamping may be a good alternative where pallets are not used and fluid coupling is not needed.
[0087] FIG. 24 shows a locator and two clamps used to clamp the sides of a sheet metal work piece 60 . The wedge clamp 3 on the right hand side of FIG. 24 is bolted to the base 1 and used to clamp the work piece against the locator 2 . The wedge clamp 3 on the left hand side is allowed to slide along the base 1 so the wedge 26 will position it against the work piece 60 and clamp it against a clamp extension 62 . The force on the threaded rod 24 , FIG. 13 is used to clamp the work piece and secures the clamp 3 to the base 1 . This enables a work piece 60 , with great size variation, to be clamped on both ends and secured to the base 1 . When the work piece 60 is configured as shown near the locator 2 , a spacer 61 may be employed to enable clamping against the locator 2 . The spacer 61 may contain a spring plunger 63 that prevents the spacer 61 miss locating before clamping. FIG. 23 an alignment gauge 13 may be used to locate the work piece 60 in the other axis.
[0088] FIG. 25 shows a means of clamping a round work piece 67 without causing it to rotate as a result of the downward force of the wedge. A flexible band 64 is fastened to the clamp housing 23 or wedge housing 27 FIG. 6 using a spacer 65 . The flexible band 64 prevents the downward force of the wedge 26 from acting against the round work piece 67 . A spacer 66 is fastened to the base I to support the round work piece 67 .
[0089] FIG. 26 shows a locator/side down clamp 68 . This clamp is used to clamp work pieces by forcing them down against spacers. FIG. 27 , FIG. 28 , and FIG. 29 show examples of how this clamp is used. FIG. 30 and FIG. 31 show how this clamp works. A piston 77 is contained by a slide down housing 79 . The slide down housing 79 is fastened to a slide down cover 80 . The slide down cover 80 contains slots that engage keys 8 that are located in the base 1 . These keys and the slide down cover 80 slots position the slide down location surface 95 and location markings indicate location as earlier described for locators, FIG. 4 .
[0090] The piston 77 is fastened to a rectangular bar 81 by fasteners 75 . The bar 81 extends into the channel 6 and is guided by a bearing 82 . The bolts 87 and 94 clamp the slide down housing 79 , slide down cover 80 , and bearing 82 to the base 1 when located by a key 8 . Seals 76 , 88 and 73 prevent air from escaping from the top side 90 of the piston. A guide rail 96 is fastened to the piston 77 . A slide bar 84 is keyed to the guide rail 96 and is able to slide left and right as viewed by FIG. 31 . Two cam rollers 71 are attached to the slide bar 84 and ride in a slot provided in each side block 72 . The slot in each side block 72 is shaped such that when the piston 77 is forced down, the slide bar 84 is forced to the left, as viewed by FIG. 31 , and then down. This enables a work piece to be positioned against the slide down locating surface 95 and a spacer 93 when the slide bar 84 is in the unclamped position. A clamp jaw 83 can be fastened to the slide bar 84 and adjusted to clamp the work piece. Various clamp jaw 83 sizes can be selected to adjust to the work piece height.
[0091] A bearing 74 is used to guide the top half of the piston 77 . Springs 78 are used to retract the piston 77 . Air lines 44 are used to transport compressed air to the slide down clamp as described for the actuator 55 . See FIG. 14 . The air flows through a hose fitting 92 , through the rectangular bar 81 , into the piston 77 and out a radial hole 89 to the top of the piston 90 , FIG. 31 . Air may enter the slide down clamp from either side. The un-used port is plugged 91 to prevent escaping air.
[0092] While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood that only the preferred embodiment has been shown and described and that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the invention are desired to be protected. | This patent pertains to a work piece clamping system with manual or powered clamping. Work piece locations of all three axis can be determined from the device. Various clamping devices can be included in the system. Single or multiple work pieces of various sizes and shapes can be clamped. | 1 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a shoe assembly for a power tool and relates particularly, but not exclusively, to a shoe assembly for a jigsaw. The invention also relates to power tools incorporating such assemblies.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Jigsaws are power tools housing a motor for reciprocatingly driving a blade. The housing generally rests on a shoe assembly for supporting the saw on a workpiece, and the blade projects through the shoe in order to cut the workpiece. Jigsaws can also be equipped to perform bevel cutting, in which the blade is tilted about the longitudinal axis of the shoe in order to produce angular cuts in the workpiece.
[0003] Bevel cutting jigsaws are known which have preset angular inclinations, and mechanisms for locking the blade at an angle to the workpiece. U.S. Pat. No. 6,357,124 describes a clamping mechanism for a bevel-cutting jigsaw in which deflectable ball bearings are held on the underside of a housing of the jigsaw in order to resiliently engage indentations formed on the upper surface of a shoe of the jigsaw. There are several indentations formed at predetermined angles, so that as the housing is pivoted about the shoe, the ball bearings move resiliently in and out of the indentations. A locking mechanism is also provided to clamp the housing and shoe at a selected angle relative to each other.
[0004] This prior art bevel-cutting jigsaw suffers from the drawback that the ball bearings push the shoe away from the housing, making the pivoting movement of the shoe jerky and awkward.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] Preferred embodiments of the present invention seek to overcome the above disadvantage of the prior art.
[0006] According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a shoe assembly for a power tool having a housing, at least one working member for engaging a workpiece, and a motor for causing movement of the or each said working member relative to the housing, the shoe assembly comprising:—
a shoe portion adapted to engage a workpiece and having at least one recess provided on a surface thereof facing away from the housing of the tool in use; and a mounting portion for mounting the shoe portion to the housing of the tool, the mounting portion having at least one resiliently displaceable projection adapted to engage at least one said recess to selectively releasably hold the shoe portion in one of a plurality of predetermined orientations relative to the mounting portion.
[0009] By providing a shoe portion with at least one recess provided on a surface facing away from the housing of the tool in use, engaging at least one resiliently displaceable projection, this provides the advantage of making the pivoting movement of the shoe smoother, and less awkward for the user, than in prior art devices. In a preferred embodiment, at least one said resiliently displaceable projection comprises a respective spring-loaded ball bearing. This provides the advantage that the ball bearing slides easily in and out of engagement with the respective recesses as pressure is applied to the shoe.
[0010] In a preferred embodiment, at least one said spring-loaded ball bearing, at least one said clamp plate having a respective arcuate upper surface adapted to slidably engage the shoe portion such that at least one corresponding said ball bearing can selectively resiliently engage each of a plurality of said recesses of the shoe portion in response to a user pivoting said housing relative to said shoe member. This provides the advantage of increasing the strength of the link between the shoe and the housing.
[0011] The assembly may further comprise first locking means adapted to lock said shoe portion in a predetermined orientation relative to the mounting portion. This provides the advantage of preventing unwanted pivoting of the shoe, and increasing the safety of the assembly. In a preferred embodiment, said first locking means comprises at least one first bolt adapted to lock at least one said clamp plate to the shoe portion. In a preferred embodiment, rotation of at least one said first bolt in a first sense causes at least one corresponding said clamp plate to disengage from the surface of said shoe potion, and rotation in the opposite sense causes at least one corresponding said clamp plate to engage the surface of said shoe portion in order to lock the clamp plate to the shoe portion.
[0012] The first locking means may further comprise at least one nut rotatably mounted to said housing and adapted to receive at least one said first bolt. In a preferred embodiment, at least one said nut comprises a respective lever for rotation of said nut relative to said housing. This provides the advantage of providing easy rotation of the nut for the user.
[0013] In a preferred embodiment the assembly further comprises second locking means adapted to prevent rotation of at least one said first bolt relative to a said clamp plate engaged by said bolt. This provides the advantage of locking the nut lever in place, such that the user accidentally moving the lever cannot loosen the shoe assembly. Said second locking means may comprise at least one second bolt and at least one washer, at least one said second bolt received in at least one said clamp plate such that in a first position, at least one said washer abuts a said first bolt and prevents rotation of said first bolt, and such that in a second position rotation of the first bolt is permitted.
[0014] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a reciprocating tool having a body, a rotary output shaft, a reciprocating member for causing a working member to execute reciprocating motion in response to rotation of said rotary output shaft, and a shoe assembly as defined above.
[0015] In a preferred embodiment, the tool further comprises dust extraction means adapted to remove dust produced by the action of said working member on a workpiece. This provides the advantage removing dust from the vicinity of the tool and the user. Said dust extraction means may comprise a tube projecting from said shoe portion adapted to be connected to a source of suction.
[0016] In a preferred embodiment, said reciprocating tool is a jigsaw.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only and not in any limitative sense, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:—
[0018] FIG. 1 is a side view of a jigsaw embodying the present invention;
[0019] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view from the front and one side of a shoe assembly of the jigsaw of FIG. 1 ;
[0020] FIG. 3 is an exploded side perspective view of the shoe assembly of FIG. 2 ;
[0021] FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view from the side of part of the jigsaw of FIG. 1 ;
[0022] FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the ball bearing and ball bearing housing of the show assembly of FIG. 2 ;
[0023] FIG. 6 is a perspective view from below of the shoe cast of the assembly of FIG. 2 ; and
[0024] FIG. 7 is a perspective view from below of the shoe cast of FIG. 6 incorporating a guard rail.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0025] Referring to FIG. 1 , a jigsaw 2 comprises a housing 4 formed from moulded plastics material in two clamshell halves (not shown) as will be familiar to persons skilled in the art. A handle 6 is integrally formed with the housing 4 to allow a user to grip the jigsaw 2 and depress switch 8 to activate a motor (not shown) of the jigsaw 2 . A removable and rechargeable battery pack 10 is shown mounted to the housing 4 . The battery pack 10 is removed from the housing 4 by depressing resilient clips 12 , and the action of pushing the battery pack 10 back into rear portion 14 of the housing 4 displaces resilient clips 12 such that the battery pack 10 locks in place on the rear of housing 4 .
[0026] A blade clamp 16 releasably holds a jigsaw blade (not shown), and executes reciprocating vertical movement when the jigsaw motor is activated. The blades may be of the standard type, or of the flush-cut type as shown in FIG. 4 and which extend further forwards than standard blades, for example to enable a cut to be made close to a surface such as a wall.
[0027] A shoe assembly 19 includes a metal cast 20 pivotable about an axis 22 generally parallel to a cutting plane of the jigsaw 2 . A raised portion 24 of cast 20 abuts the underside of the housing 4 such that the housing 4 is supported on the shoe assembly 19 . An aperture 25 ( FIG. 2 ) is formed in the cast 20 below blade clamp 16 in order to allow the jigsaw blade to pass through the cast 20 . A guard rail 26 is attached to the front end of cast 20 . The guard rail prevents objects from coming into contact with the blade (not shown). A lever 28 also projects from the housing 4 , the purpose of which will be described in more detail below.
[0028] Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4 , a sole plate 30 is adapted to be attached to the cast 20 by screws 32 . Located between the sole plate 30 and the cast 20 is an adaptor 34 for receiving a suction pipe 36 . The suction pipe 36 passes through the rear of raised portion 24 , into adaptor 34 and is able to suck dust through the front end of adaptor 38 . A clamp plate 40 is also located between sole plate 30 and cast 20 , the clamp plate 40 having a first aperture 42 for holding ball bearing housing 44 . The clamp plate 40 also has a cylindrical bore 46 to allow bolt 48 to pass through.
[0029] Referring to FIG. 5 , a ball bearing 50 is held in ball bearing housing 44 , and mounted on top of a coil spring 52 . A circular aperture 54 is formed in the upper surface 56 of ball bearing housing 44 . The radius of circular aperture 54 is less than that of the radius of the ball bearing 50 , so that the ball bearing cannot pass through aperture 54 but can project through the aperture to a limited extent as shown by the solid line in FIG. 5 . The ball bearing 50 can also be depressed against coil spring 52 to be positioned shown by broken line 58 such that the ball bearing does not project beyond the upper surface 56 of ball bearing housing 44 .
[0030] Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4 , the ball bearing housing 44 fits inside aperture 42 formed in the top of clamp plate 40 . Bolt 48 comprises a threaded portion 60 , a smooth portion 62 and a flange section 64 . Adaptor 34 has an opening 66 having a width less than the diameter of flange 64 , such that flange 64 abuts against the edges of the underside of opening 66 . The smooth section 62 of the bolt 48 rests in cylindrical bore 46 of the clamp plate 40 such that the adaptor 34 is supported by the bolt 48 and clamp plate 46 is mounted on top of adaptor 34 . The threaded portion 60 of the bolt passes through opening 68 formed in the raised portion 24 of the cast 20 .
[0031] Referring to FIG. 6 , a plurality of indentations 70 are formed in the underside of raised portion 24 of the cast 20 . The upper surface of clamp plate 40 has an arcuate shape to allow it to slidably engage the underside of raised portion 24 , and ball bearing 50 projects from ball bearing housing 44 and clamp plate 40 , under the force of compression spring 52 , such that the ball bearing 50 is pushed into one of the indentations 70 .
[0032] The method of pivoting the shoe assembly 19 relative to housing 4 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 6 .
[0033] A nut 72 held in housing 4 has an inner screw thread (not shown) adapted to receive screw thread 60 of bolt 48 . The nut 72 has a lever 74 extending from it, and rotation of the lever raises or lowers bolt 48 depending on the direction in which lever 74 is turned. Flange section 64 of bolt 48 abuts the underside of the edges of opening 66 of the adaptor 34 , and pushes clamp plate 40 into sliding engagement with the underside of raised portion 24 of the cast 20 . This causes ball bearing 50 to be held in one of the indentations 70 , thus holding the shoe at a predetermined angle relative to the housing 4 .
[0034] In order to change the angle of the shoe assembly 19 relative to the housing 4 , and thus the angle of blade 18 relative to a workpiece, lever 74 is rotated in order to lower the adaptor 34 and clamp plate 40 away from the underside of raised portion 24 of cast 20 . This allows compression spring 52 to extend, and ball bearing 50 to project through aperture 54 . The cast 20 can then be pivoted relative to the housing 4 . It will be understood that as adaptor 34 is connected to housing 4 via bolt 48 , the adaptor 34 moves inside of raised portion 24 with the housing 4 . During the pivoting motion, the ball bearing 50 rolls in and out of indentations 70 under the influence of coil spring 52 until the user selects the desired angular orientation of the shoe assembly 19 . Lever 74 can then be moved in the opposite direction, causing bolt 48 to move upwardly due to the engagement of the screw thread of the nut with the screw thread 60 of the bolt, raising clamp plate 40 into a tight engagement with the underside of raised portion 24 , locking the shoe assembly 19 in place.
[0035] When the shoe assembly 19 is set at the desired angle, a further locking mechanism comprising a second bolt 76 and a washer 78 is provided to prevent lever 74 being accidentally rotated to loosen the assembly. Second bolt 76 is held in the circular aperture 80 of washer 78 . Clamp plate 40 has a second bore 82 having an internal screw thread adapted to engage the threaded portion 84 of second bolt 76 . Referring to FIG. 4 , the washer 78 abuts the underside of flange 64 of the first bolt 48 . When second bolt 84 is screwed tightly into clamp plate 82 , the flange 64 of the first bolt is trapped between washer 78 and the underside of clamp plate 40 . As a result of this, the first bolt 48 cannot be raised or lowered, therefore holding lever 74 in place and fixing the shoe assembly 19 at a set angle relative to the housing 4 .
[0036] In order to unlock first bolt 48 , the second bolt can be accessed by the user from the underside of the cast 20 and loosened, thus moving washer 78 away from the underside of clamp plate 40 and creating a limited space in which flange 64 can move up and down.
[0037] Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7 , a groove 86 is formed along each side of the underside of cast 20 . A guardrail 26 is formed from a single piece of steel, bent to form two legs 88 such that the legs 88 are received in groove 86 . By mounting the guard rail in this way, the legs 88 provide reinforcement to the cast 20 .
[0038] It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the above embodiment has been described by way of example only and not in any limitative sense, and that various alterations and modifications are possible without departure from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. For example, more than one resiliently biased ball bearing 50 may be provided, and the shoe assembly 19 may be held in the desired orientation relative to housing 4 solely by means of resilient engagement of a ball bearing 50 with an indentation 70 , i.e. without the use of the second bolt 76 and washer 78 . | A shoe assembly for a power tool comprises a shoe portion including a cast and a sole plate adapted to engage a workpiece. The cast has a raised portion having a series of recesses on an interior surface thereof. The shoe assembly also includes a mounting portion for mounting the shoe portion to the housing of the tool. The mounting portion includes a resiliently displaceable ball bearing in a housing mounted to a clamp plate for engaging the recess on the raised portion of the cast in order to selectively releasably hold the shoe portion in one of a plurality of predetermined orientations relative to the mounting portion. | 1 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation application of International Application PCT/JP2014/073367 filed on Sep. 4, 2014 and designated the U.S., the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD
The embodiment discussed herein is directed to a transmission circuit and a semiconductor integrated circuit.
BACKGROUND
There is known a differential driver having a plurality of switches coupled to a current source for steering of current depending on a differential data input end (refer to Patent Document 1). A first differential output end and a second differential output end are formed by a resistor coupled between at least two of the plurality of switches. A first source follower and a second source follower are coupled to the first differential output end and the second differential output end in order to control output impedance.
Further, there is known a semiconductor integrated circuit having a current output buffer circuit which is driven by a constant current, and in which output impedance is controlled corresponding to a bit rate of differential transmission signal input (refer to Patent Document 2). A signal waveform to be outputted from the current output buffer circuit to a signal transmission path is controlled corresponding to the bit rate of the transmission signal.
Further, there is known an amplifier circuit having an amplifying part whose mutual conductance changes depending on a bias current (refer to Patent Document 3). A constant voltage source outputs a constant voltage. A constant current source outputs a constant current. A differential pair is composed of a pair of transistors having differential inputs to which the constant voltage is inputted, and the constant current is supplied through an output end of one of the pair of transistors. A pair of input current terminals is connected to the output ends of the pair of transistors. A difference current detection means outputs a voltage signal proportional to a difference output current of the differential pair. Each of first and second voltage-current conversion means receives the voltage signal as an input signal, and outputs current proportional to the voltage signal. The output currents by the first and second voltage-current conversion means compose bias currents of the differential pair and the amplifying part respectively.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese National Publication of International Patent Application No. 2009-531925
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2008-147940
[Patent Document 3] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2001-251149
In a transmission circuit, trying to make amplitude of an output signal large results in small output impedance, and thus it becomes difficult to take impedance matching. It is difficult to maintain the output impedance at a predetermined value (for example, 50Ω) and at the same time make the amplitude of the output signal of the transmission circuit large in order to take the impedance matching.
SUMMARY
A transmission circuit includes a driver circuit that includes a first transistor to regulate output impedance, and a switching circuit that is connected to the first transistor and switches an output polarity for differential output; and a bias circuit that includes: a first replica circuit including a second transistor corresponding to the first transistor, the bias circuit generating a gate voltage so as to make a current-voltage characteristic of the first transistor correspond to a first output impedance value, and supply the gate voltage to a gate of the first transistor.
The object and advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the claims.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are not restrictive of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a communication system according to this embodiment;
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a basic configuration example of a transmission circuit and a reception circuit;
FIG. 3 is an equivalent circuit diagram of the transmission circuit in FIG. 2 ;
FIG. 4 is an equivalent circuit diagram illustrating a configuration example of a driver circuit in FIG. 8 ;
FIG. 5 is a graph representing current-voltage characteristics of a cascode connection of n-channel field-effect transistors;
FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram illustrating a basic configuration example of a bias circuit in FIG. 8 ;
FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram illustrating a configuration example of the bias circuit in FIG. 8 ;
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the transmission circuit according to this embodiment; and
FIG. 9 is a chart representing characteristics of the transmission circuit according to this embodiment.
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a communication system according to this embodiment. The communication system has semiconductor integrated circuits 101 , 102 and transmission paths 105 , 106 . Each of the semiconductor integrated circuits 101 and 102 is, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), and has a transmission device 103 and a reception device 104 in addition to an unillustrated internal circuit. The transmission device 103 has a parallel-serial conversion circuit 107 and a transmission circuit 108 . The reception device 104 has a reception circuit 109 and a serial-parallel conversion circuit 110 . The semiconductor integrated circuits 101 and 102 are connected by the transmission paths 105 and 106 .
The parallel-serial conversion circuit 107 , for example, converts 32-bit parallel data outputted from the internal circuit into one-bit serial data, and outputs the serial data to the transmission circuit 108 . The transmission circuit 108 in the semiconductor integrated circuit 101 transmits the serial data via the transmission path 105 to the reception circuit 109 in the semiconductor integrated circuit 102 . The transmission circuit 108 in the semiconductor integrated circuit 102 transmits the serial data via the transmission path 106 to the reception circuit 109 in the semiconductor integrated circuit 101 . The reception circuit 109 receives the serial data and outputs the received serial data to the serial-parallel conversion circuit 110 . The serial-parallel conversion circuit 110 converts one-bit serial data into, for example, 32-bit parallel data and outputs the parallel data to the internal circuit.
Characteristic impedance of each of the transmission paths 105 and 106 is 50Ω. When the transmission paths 105 and 106 are long and frequency of each signal to be transmitted therethrough is high, losses of the transmission paths 105 and 106 become large, and therefore, it is demanded that the transmission circuits 108 each output the signal with large amplitude. Further, in order to take matching with input terminating resistors of the reception circuits 109 , output impedance of 50Ω (100Ω in differential output) of the transmission circuits 108 is set as a standard.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a basic configuration example of the transmission circuit 108 and the reception circuit 109 . First, a configuration of the transmission circuit 108 will be described. In a p-channel field-effect transistor 201 , a source is connected to a power supply potential node, a gate is connected to a differential input terminal IN 1 , and a drain is connected via a resistor 205 to a differential output terminal OUTp. In an n-channel field-effect transistor 202 , a source is connected to a ground potential node, a gate is connected to the differential input terminal IN 1 , and a drain is connected via a resistor 206 to the differential output terminal OUTp.
In a p-channel field-effect transistor 203 , a source is connected to a power supply potential node, a gate is connected to a differential input terminal IN 2 , and a drain is connected via a resistor 207 to a differential output terminal OUTn. In an re-channel field-effect transistor 204 , a source is connected to a ground potential node, a gate is connected to the differential input terminal IN 2 , and a drain is connected via a resistor 208 to the differential output terminal OUTn.
To the differential input terminals IN 1 and IN 2 , a differential signal based on the serial data inputted from the parallel-serial conversion circuit 107 ( FIG. 1 ) is inputted. To the differential input terminals IN 1 and IN 2 , binary digital data whose logic levels are inverted to each other are inputted.
When the differential input terminal IN 1 is high-level and the differential input terminal IN 2 is low-level, the n-channel field-effect transistor 202 and the p-channel field-effect transistor 203 are turned on and the p-channel field-effect transistor 201 and the n-channel field-effect transistor 204 are turned off. Thus, the differential output terminal OUTp becomes low-level and the differential output terminal OUTn becomes high-level.
On the other hand, when the differential input terminal IN 1 is low-level and the differential input terminal IN 2 is high-level, the p-channel field-effect transistor 201 and the n-channel field-effect transistor 204 are turned on and the n-channel field-effect transistor 202 and the p-channel field-effect transistor 203 are turned off. Thus, the differential output terminal OUTp becomes high-level and the differential output terminal OUTn becomes low-level.
The differential output terminals OUTp and OUTn output a differential signal of the binary digital data whose logic levels are inverted to each other. The differential output terminal OUTp is connected via a transmission path 105 a to the reception circuit 109 . The differential output terminal OUTn is connected via a transmission path 105 b to the reception circuit 109 . The transmission paths 105 a and 105 b correspond to the transmission path 105 in FIG. 1 .
The reception circuit 109 has a serial connection of input terminating resistors 209 and 210 . Each resistance of the input terminating resistors 209 and 210 is 50Ω. The serial connection of the input terminating resistors 209 and 210 has resistance of 100Ω, and is connected between the differential output terminals OUTp and OUTn.
FIG. 3 is an equivalent circuit diagram of the transmission circuit 108 in FIG. 2 . The transmission circuit 108 has the p-channel field-effect transistors 201 , 203 , the n-channel field-effect transistors 202 , 204 , and the resistors 205 to 208 . The input terminating resistors 209 and 210 are provided in the reception circuit 109 , and are a load on the transmission circuit 108 .
In the p-channel field-effect transistor 201 , the source is connected to the power supply potential node VDD and the drain is connected via the resistor 205 to the differential output terminal OUTp. In the n-channel field-effect transistor 202 , the source is connected to the ground potential node and the drain is connected via the resistor 206 to the differential output terminal OUTp. In the p-channel field-effect transistor 203 , the source is connected to the power supply potential node VDD and the drain is connected via the resistor 207 to the differential output terminal OUTn. In the n-channel field-effect transistor 204 , the source is connected to the ground potential node and the drain is connected via the resistor 208 to the differential output terminal OUTn. The serial connection of the input terminating resistors 209 and 210 are connected between the differential output terminals OUTp and OUTn.
Each resistance of the resistors 205 to 208 is 50Ω. Each resistance of the input terminating resistors 209 and 210 is 50Ω as well. Thus, it is difficult to make amplitude of the differential output signal outputted from the differential output terminals OUTp and OUTn large. For example, voltage of the power supply potential node VDD is 1.2 V, voltage of the differential output terminal OUTp is 0.9 V, and voltage of the differential output terminal OUTn is 0.3 V. Making the resistance of the resistors 205 to 208 small enables large amplitude of the differential output signal outputted from the differential output terminals OUTp and OUTn, but makes it impossible to keep the output impedance of the transmission circuit 108 at 50Ω (100Ω in differential output). As a result, it becomes impossible to take impedance matching. Thus, the transmission circuit 108 capable of maintaining the output impedance at a predetermined value and at the same time making amplitude of an output signal large will be described in reference to FIG. 8 .
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the transmission circuit 108 according to this embodiment. The transmission circuit 108 has a bias circuit 801 , a driver circuit 802 , resistors 803 to 805 , and capacitors 806 to 808 . The bias circuit 801 has nodes Vgp 1 b , Vgn 1 b , and Vgn 2 b . The driver circuit 802 has nodes Vgp 1 , Vgn 1 , and Vgn 2 .
The resistor 803 is connected between the node Vgp 1 b of the bias circuit 801 and the node Vgp 1 of the driver circuit 802 . The capacitor 806 is connected between the power supply potential node VDD and the node Vgp 1 of the driver circuit 802 . The resistor 804 is connected between the node Vgn 2 b of the bias circuit 801 and the node Vgn 2 of the driver circuit 802 . The capacitor 807 is connected between the ground potential node and the node Vgn 2 of the driver circuit 802 . The resistor 805 is connected between the node Vgn 1 b of the bias circuit 801 and the node Vgn 1 of the driver circuit 802 . The capacitor 808 is connected between the ground potential node and the node Vgn 1 of the driver circuit 802 .
The node Vgp 1 b of the bias circuit 801 outputs voltage to the node Vgp 1 of the driver circuit 802 . The node Vgn 2 b of the bias circuit 801 outputs voltage to the node Vgn 2 of the driver circuit 802 . The node Vgn 1 b of the bias circuit 801 outputs voltage to the node Vgn 1 of the driver circuit 802 .
FIG. 4 is an equivalent circuit diagram illustrating a configuration example of the driver circuit 802 in FIG. 8 . The driver circuit 802 in FIG. 4 is the one in which the resistors 205 to 208 are eliminated and a p-channel field-effect transistor 211 , n-channel field-effect transistors 212 , 213 , and a second resistor 214 are added with respect to the transmission circuit in FIG. 3 .
The driver circuit 802 has the p-channel field-effect transistors 201 , 203 , 211 , the n-channel field-effect transistors 202 , 204 , 212 , 213 , and the second resistor 214 . The input terminating resistors 209 and 210 , as illustrated in FIG. 2 , are provided in the reception circuit 109 , and are the load on the driver circuit 802 .
The p-channel field-effect transistors 201 , 203 and the n-channel field-effect transistors 202 , 204 in FIG. 4 correspond to the p-channel field-effect transistors 201 , 203 and the n-channel field-effect transistors 202 , 204 in FIG. 2 . The input terminating resistors 209 and 210 in FIG. 4 correspond to the input terminating resistors 209 and 210 in FIG. 2 .
In the p-channel field-effect transistor 211 , a source is connected to the power supply potential node VDD, a gate is connected to the node Vgp 1 , and a drain is connected to a node Vdp. The second resistor 214 has resistance of 50Ω, and is connected between the power supply potential node VDD and the node Vdp. That is, the second resistor 214 is connected to the p-channel field-effect transistor 211 in parallel.
In the p-channel field-effect transistor 201 , the source is connected to the node Vdp and the drain is connected to the differential output terminal OUTp. In the n-channel field-effect transistor 202 , the source is connected to a node Vdn and the drain is connected to the differential output terminal OUTp. In the p-channel field-effect transistor 203 , the source is connected to the node Vdp and the drain is connected to the differential output terminal OUTn. In the n-channel field-effect transistor 204 , the source is connected to the node Vdn and the drain is connected to the differential output terminal OUTn. The serial connection of the input terminating resistors 209 and 210 is connected between the differential output terminals OUTp and OUTn. The p-channel field-effect transistors 201 , 203 and the n-channel field-effect transistors 202 , 204 are switching circuits which switch an output polarity for differential output.
In the n-channel field-effect transistor 212 , a drain is connected to the node Vdn and a gate is connected to the node Vgn 2 . In the n-channel field-effect transistor 213 , a drain is connected to a source of the n-channel field-effect transistor 212 , a gate is connected to the node Vgn 1 , and a source is connected to the ground potential node. That is, the n-channel field-effect transistor 213 is cascode-connected to the n-channel field-effect transistor 212 .
Voltage of the node Vgn 2 is regulated so that resistance of the cascode connection of the re-channel field-effect transistors 212 and 213 is 50Ω. Thus, the output impedance of the transmission circuit 108 including the driver circuit 802 is regulated at 50Ω.
FIG. 5 is a graph representing current-voltage characteristics of the cascode connection of the n-channel field-effect transistors 212 and 213 . A horizontal axis represents drain voltage of the re-channel field-effect transistor 212 (voltage of the node Vdn). A vertical axis represents drain current of the n-channel field-effect transistor 212 . Note that voltage of the node Vgn 1 connected to the gate of the n-channel field-effect transistor 213 is fixed.
A characteristic line 501 represents a characteristic when the voltage of the node Vgn 2 connected to the gate of the n-channel field-effect transistor 212 is 0.4 V. A characteristic line 502 represents a characteristic when the voltage of the node Vgn 2 connected to the gate of the n-channel field-effect transistor 212 is 0.5 V. A characteristic line 503 represents a characteristic when the voltage of the node Vgn 2 connected to the gate of the n-channel field-effect transistor 212 is 0.55 V. A characteristic line 504 represents a characteristic when the voltage of the node Vgn 2 connected to the gate of the n-channel field-effect transistor 212 is 0.6 V. A characteristic line 505 represents a characteristic when the voltage of the node Vgn 2 connected to the gate of the n-channel field-effect transistor 212 is 0.7 V. A characteristic line 506 represents a characteristic when the voltage of the node Vgn 2 connected to the gate of the n-channel field-effect transistor 212 is 0.8 V.
When the drain voltage of the n-channel field-effect transistor 212 (voltage of the node Vdn) is set at, for example, 0.2 V, a slope of the current-voltage characteristic is ΔI/ΔV=20 mS (ΔV/ΔI=50Ω) on the characteristic line 503 when the gate voltage is 0.55 V. At this time, the drain current of the n-channel field-effect transistor 212 is current I 1 . Accordingly, the bias circuit 801 ( FIG. 8 ) may regulate the voltage of the node Vgn 2 connected to the gate of the n-channel field-effect transistor 212 so as to obtain ΔV/ΔI=50Ω. Thus, the resistance of the cascode connection of the re-channel field-effect transistors 212 and 213 becomes 50Ω.
FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram illustrating a basic configuration example of the bias circuit 801 in FIG. 8 . The bias circuit 801 has a first replica circuit 600 and a second replica circuit 630 .
The first replica circuit 600 has n-channel field-effect transistors 612 and 613 . The first replica circuit 600 is the replica circuit of the cascode connection of the n-channel field-effect transistors 212 and 213 in FIG. 4 . The n-channel field-effect transistor 612 corresponds to the n-channel field-effect transistor 212 in FIG. 4 . The n-channel field-effect transistor 613 corresponds to the n-channel field-effect transistor 213 in FIG. 4 .
The second replica circuit 630 has re-channel field-effect transistors 712 and 713 . The second replica circuit 630 is the replica circuit of the cascode connection of the n-channel field-effect transistors 212 and 213 in FIG. 4 . The n-channel field-effect transistor 712 corresponds to the n-channel field-effect transistor 212 in FIG. 4 . The n-channel field-effect transistor 713 corresponds to the n-channel field-effect transistor 213 in FIG. 4 .
A current source 621 is connected between the power supply potential node VDD and a node N 1 . A resistor 622 is connected between the node N 1 and the ground potential node. In a second operational amplifier 623 , reference voltage of the node N 1 is inputted to a negative input terminal, voltage of a node Vdn is inputted to a positive input terminal, and an output terminal outputs gate voltage to the node Vgp 1 b.
In a p-channel field-effect transistor 611 , a source is connected to the power supply potential node VDD, a gate is connected to the node Vgp 1 b , and a drain is connected to the node Vdn. In the re-channel field-effect transistor 612 , a drain is connected to the node Vdn and a gate is connected to the node Vgn 2 b . In the n-channel field-effect transistor 613 , a drain is connected to a source of the n-channel field-effect transistor 612 , a gate is connected to the node Vgn 1 b , and a source is connected to the ground potential node. To the node Vgn 1 b , fixed voltage is supplied. The voltage of the node Vgn 2 b is regulated so that a first current I 1 ( FIG. 5 ) flows through the n-channel field-effect transistors 612 and 613 .
In a p-channel field-effect transistor 711 , a source is connected to the power supply potential node VDD, a gate is connected to the node Vgp 1 b , and a drain is connected to a node N 2 . In the n-channel field-effect transistor 712 , a drain is connected to the node N 2 and a gate is connected to the node Vgn 2 b . In the n-channel field-effect transistor 713 , a drain is connected to a source of the n-channel field-effect transistor 712 , a drain is connected to the node Vgn 1 b , and a source is connected to the ground potential node.
A current source 624 is connected between the power supply potential node VDD and the node N 2 and a second current ΔI ( FIG. 5 ) flows therethrough. Through each of the p-channel field-effect transistors 611 and 711 , the first current I 1 flows. Through the n-channel field-effect transistors 712 and 713 , current I 1 +ΔI which is the sum of the first current I 1 and the second current ΔI flows.
In a first operational amplifier 625 , voltage of the node N 2 is inputted to a positive input terminal, voltage of a node N 3 is inputted to a negative input terminal, and an output terminal outputs gate voltage to the node Vgn 2 b . In a third operational amplifier 626 , a positive input terminal is connected to the node Vdn, and an output terminal and a negative input terminal are connected to a node N 4 .
A current source 627 is connected between the power supply potential node VDD and the node N 3 and the second current ΔI flows therethrough. A first resistor 628 has resistance of 50Ω, and is connected between the node N 3 and the node N 4 . A current source 629 is connected between the node N 4 and the ground potential node and the second current ΔI flows therethrough.
Because current of the current source 621 flows through the resistor 622 , the reference voltage (for example, 0.2 V) is generated at the node N 1 . The voltage of the node Vdn is drain voltage of the n-channel field-effect transistor 612 . The second operational amplifier 623 controls the voltage of the node Vgp 1 b so that the voltage of the node Vdn is the same as the reference voltage of the node N 1 . Thus, the voltage of the node Vdn becomes fixed voltage of 0.2 V ( FIG. 5 ), for example.
An increase of drain voltage of the re-channel field-effect transistor 712 when the drain current of the n-channel field-effect transistor 712 increases by the second current ΔI is ΔV ( FIG. 5 ). In this case, the voltage of the node N 2 is voltage Vdn+ΔV which is the sum of ΔV and the voltage of the node Vdn.
Further, in order to enable ΔV/ΔI=50Ω in FIG. 5 , the current sources 627 and 629 make the second current ΔI flow through the first resistor 628 having the resistance of 50Ω. Voltage of the node N 4 becomes the same as the voltage of the node Vdn by a voltage follower of the third operational amplifier 626 . Thus, the voltage of the node N 3 becomes voltage Vdn+ΔI×50Ω which is the sum of voltage ΔI×50Ω and the voltage of the node N 4 .
The first operational amplifier 625 controls voltage of the node Vgn 2 b so that the voltage Vdn+ΔI×50Ω of the node N 3 is the same as the voltage Vdn+ΔV of the node N 2 . This results in ΔV=ΔI×50Ω, and the resistance of the cascode connection of the n-channel field-effect transistors 612 and 613 becomes 50Ω.
The bias circuit 801 outputs the voltages of the nodes Vgp 1 b , Vgn 1 b , and Vgn 2 b generated as described above to the driver circuit 802 . In the driver circuit 802 , as illustrated in FIG. 4 , the voltage of the node Vgp 1 b is applied to the gate of the p-channel field-effect transistor 211 and the voltage of the node Vgn 2 b is applied to the gate of the n-channel field-effect transistor 212 , and the voltage of the node Vgn 1 b is applied to the gate of the n-channel field-effect transistor 213 . The p-channel field-effect transistor 211 corresponds to the p-channel field-effect transistor 611 in FIG. 6 . The n-channel field-effect transistor 212 corresponds to the n-channel field-effect transistor 612 in FIG. 6 . The n-channel field-effect transistor 213 corresponds to the n-channel field-effect transistor 613 in FIG. 6 .
Consequently, resistance of the n-channel field-effect transistors 212 and 213 becomes 50Ω the same as that of the n-channel field-effect transistors 612 and 613 in FIG. 6 . That is, the output impedance of the transmission circuit 108 becomes 50Ω, and it is possible to take the impedance matching.
Further, in the driver circuit 802 in FIG. 4 , the elimination of the resistors 205 to 208 with respect to the transmission circuit in FIG. 3 makes it possible to make the amplitude of the output signal large. In the transmission circuit in FIG. 3 , when the voltage of the power supply potential node VDD is 1.2 V, the voltage of the differential output terminal OUTp is 0.9 V and the voltage of the differential output terminal OUTn is 0.3 V. On the other hand, in the driver circuit 802 in FIG. 4 , when the voltage of the power supply potential node VDD is 1.2 V, the voltage of the differential output terminal OUTp is 1.0 V and the voltage of the differential output terminal OUTn is 0.2 V. Consequently, it is possible to make the amplitude of the output signal of the differential output terminals OUTp and OUTn of the driver circuit 802 in FIG. 4 large.
The equivalent circuit of the driver circuit 802 in FIG. 4 is connected to the input terminating resistors 209 and 210 of the reception circuit 109 . Further, the driver circuit 802 has the second resistor 214 in order to make voltage of the node Vdp stable. Then, a bias circuit 801 which is designed, with the above-described input terminating resistors 209 , 210 , and the second resistor 214 taken into consideration in the bias circuit 801 in FIG. 6 in order to make the bias circuit 801 in FIG. 6 correspond to the driver circuit 802 in FIG. 4 will be illustrated in FIG. 7 .
FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram illustrating a configuration example of the bias circuit 801 in FIG. 8 . The bias circuit 801 in FIG. 7 is the one in which a third resistor 614 , fifth resistors 609 , 610 , a fourth resistor 714 , and sixth resistors 709 , 710 are added to the bias circuit 801 in FIG. 6 . Hereinafter, points where the bias circuit 801 in FIG. 7 is different from the bias circuit 801 in FIG. 6 will be described.
The third resistor 614 has resistance of 50Ω, and is connected between the power supply potential node VDD and a node Vdp. That is, the third resistor 614 is connected to the p-channel field-effect transistor 611 in parallel. Each resistance of the fifth resistors 609 and 610 is 50Ω. A serial connection of the fifth resistors 609 and 610 is connected between the nodes Vdp and Vdn.
The fourth resistor 714 has resistance of 50Ω, and is connected between the power supply potential node VDD and the drain of the p-channel field-effect transistor 711 . That is, the fourth resistor 714 is connected to the p-channel field-effect transistor 711 in parallel. Each resistance of the sixth resistors 709 and 710 is 50Ω. A serial connection of the sixth resistors 709 and 710 is connected between the drain of the p-channel field-effect transistor 711 and the node N 2 .
A first replica circuit 700 has the p-channel field-effect transistor 611 , the third resistor 614 , the fifth resistors 609 , 610 , and the n-channel field-effect transistors 612 , 613 . The first replica circuit 700 is the replica circuit of the driver circuit 802 in FIG. 4 .
The p-channel field-effect transistor 611 corresponds to the p-channel field-effect transistor 211 in FIG. 4 . The third resistor 614 corresponds to the second resistor 214 in FIG. 4 . The fifth resistors 609 and 610 correspond to the input terminating resistors 209 and 210 in FIG. 4 . The n-channel field-effect transistor 612 corresponds to the n-channel field-effect transistor 212 in FIG. 4 . The n-channel field-effect transistor 613 corresponds to the n-channel field-effect transistor 213 in FIG. 4 .
A second replica circuit 720 has the p-channel field-effect transistor 711 , the fourth resistor 714 , the sixth resistors 709 , 710 , and n-channel field-effect transistors 712 , 713 . The second replica circuit 720 is the replica circuit of the driver circuit 802 in FIG. 4 .
The p-channel field-effect transistor 711 corresponds to the p-channel field-effect transistor 211 in FIG. 4 . The fourth resistor 714 corresponds to the second resistor 214 in FIG. 4 . The sixth resistors 709 and 710 correspond to the input terminating resistors 209 and 210 in FIG. 4 . The n-channel field-effect transistor 712 corresponds to the n-channel field-effect transistor 212 in FIG. 4 . The n-channel field-effect transistor 713 corresponds to the n-channel field-effect transistor 213 in FIG. 4 .
Each voltage of the nodes in FIG. 7 is the same as each voltage of the nodes in FIG. 6 . The node Vdn is fixed at the same voltage (for example, 0.2 V) as the voltage of the node N 1 . Through the n-channel field-effect transistors 612 and 613 , the first current I 1 flows. Through the n-channel field-effect transistors 712 and 713 , the current I 1 +ΔI flows. The voltage of the node N 2 is the voltage Vdn+ΔV. The voltage of the node N 4 is the same voltage as the voltage of the node Vdn. The voltage of the node N 3 is the voltage Vdn+ΔI×50Ω. The bias circuit 801 in FIG. 7 performs the same operation as that of the bias circuit 801 in FIG. 6 .
The bias circuit 801 in FIG. 7 generates gate voltage so as to make the current-voltage characteristic ( FIG. 5 ) of the n-channel field-effect transistors 212 and 213 correspond to the output impedance of 50Ω, and via the node Vgn 2 b , supplies the gate voltage to the gate of the n-channel field-effect transistor 212 .
Through the n-channel field-effect transistors 612 and 613 , the first current I 1 flows. Through the n-channel field-effect transistors 712 and 713 , the current I 1 +ΔI which is the sum of the first current I 1 and the second current ΔI flows. Through the first resistor 628 , the second current ΔI flows.
To the first operational amplifier 625 , the voltage Vdn+ΔI×50Ω which is the sum of the voltage ΔI×50Ω of the first resistor 628 and the drain voltage of the n-channel field-effect transistor 612 (the voltage of the node Vdn) and the drain voltage Vdn+ΔV of the n-channel field-effect transistor 712 are inputted, and the first operational amplifier 625 , via the node Vgn 2 b , outputs voltage to the gates of the n-channel field-effect transistors 212 , 612 , 712 .
To the second operational amplifier 623 , the drain voltage of the n-channel field-effect transistor 612 (the voltage of the node Vdn) and the reference voltage of the node N 1 are inputted, and the second operational amplifier 623 , via the node Vgp 1 b , outputs voltage to the gates of the p-channel field-effect transistors 211 , 611 , 711 .
The first operational amplifier 625 controls the voltage of the node Vgn 2 b so that the voltage Vdn+ΔI×50Ω of the node N 3 is the same as the voltage Vdn+ΔV of the node N 2 . This results in ΔV=ΔI×50Ω, and the resistance of the n-channel field-effect transistors 612 and 613 becomes 50Ω.
The bias circuit 801 in FIG. 7 outputs the voltages of the nodes Vgp 1 b , Vgn 1 b , and Vgn 2 b generated as described above to the driver circuit 802 . The p-channel field-effect transistor 211 in FIG. 4 corresponds to the p-channel field-effect transistor 611 in FIG. 7 . The n-channel field-effect transistor 212 in FIG. 4 corresponds to the n-channel field-effect transistor 612 in FIG. 7 . The n-channel field-effect transistor 213 in FIG. 4 corresponds to the n-channel field-effect transistor 613 in FIG. 7 .
Consequently, the resistance of the n-channel field-effect transistors 212 and 213 becomes 50Ω the same as that of the n-channel field-effect transistors 612 and 613 in FIG. 7 . That is, the output impedance of the transmission circuit 108 becomes 50Ω, and it is possible to take the impedance matching.
Further, in the driver circuit 802 in FIG. 4 , the elimination of the resistors 205 to 208 with respect to the transmission circuit in FIG. 3 makes it possible to make the amplitude of the output signal large. In the driver circuit 802 in FIG. 4 , when the voltage of the power supply potential node VDD is 1.2 V, the voltage of the differential output terminal OUTp is 1.0 V and the voltage of the differential output terminal OUTn is 0.2 V. It is possible to make the amplitude of the output signal of the differential output terminals OUTp and OUTn of the driver circuit 802 in FIG. 4 large.
FIG. 9 is a chart representing a characteristic of the transmission circuit 108 according to this embodiment. A reference value represents an ideal characteristic of the transmission circuit 108 in FIG. 3 . A representative value at 25° C., a lowest rate value at 25° C., a highest rate value at 25° C., a representative value at 110° C., and a representative value at 0° C. represent simulation results of the characteristic of the transmission circuit 108 in FIG. 8 according to this embodiment (including the driver circuit 802 in FIG. 4 and the bias circuit 801 in FIG. 7 ).
The output impedance (differential) of the transmission circuit 108 according to this embodiment is about 100Ω, and is within the standard. Thus, it is possible to take the impedance matching.
Output amplitude (differential) of the reference value will be described. In the transmission circuit 108 in FIG. 3 , when the voltage of the power supply potential node VDD is 1.2 V and the differential output terminal OUTp is high-level, the voltage of the differential output terminal OUTp is 0.9 V and the voltage of the differential output terminal OUTn is 0.3 V. This results in OUTp−OUTn=0.9 V−0.3 V=+0.6 V. On the other hand, when the voltage of the power supply potential node VDD is 1.2 V and the differential output terminal OUTp is low-level, the voltage of the differential output terminal OUTp is 0.3 V and the voltage of the differential output terminal OUTn is 0.9 V. This results in OUTp−OUTn=0.3 V−0.9 V=−0.6 V. Consequently, amplitude being difference between when the differential output terminal OUTp is high-level and when the differential output terminal OUTp is low-level is +0.6 V−(−0.6 V)=1.2 V.
Next, output amplitude (differential) of this embodiment will be described. In the driver circuit 802 in FIG. 4 , when the voltage of the power supply potential node VDD is 1.2 V and the differential output terminal OUTp is high-level, the voltage of the differential output terminal OUTp is 1.0 V and the voltage of the differential output terminal OUTn is 0.2 V. This results in OUTp−OUTn=1.0 V−0.2 V=+0.8 V. On the other hand, when the voltage of the power supply potential node VDD is 1.2 V and the differential output terminal OUTp is low-level, the voltage of the differential output terminal OUTp is 0.2 V and the voltage of the differential output terminal OUTn is 1.0 V. This results in OUTp−OUTn=0.2 V−1.0 V=−0.8 V. Consequently, the amplitude being difference between when the differential output terminal OUTp is high-level and when the differential output terminal OUTp is low-level is +0.8 V−(−0.8 V)=1.6 V. The output amplitude (differential) in the simulation results of this embodiment is about 1.6 V, and large compared with the reference value (1.2 V).
Note that the above embodiments merely illustrate concrete examples of implementing the present embodiment, and the technical scope of the present embodiment is not to be construed in a restrictive manner by these embodiments. That is, the present embodiment may be implemented in various forms without departing from the technical spirit or main features thereof.
Providing the bias circuit makes it possible to maintain the output impedance at the predetermined value and at the same time make the amplitude of the output signal large.
All examples and conditional language provided herein are intended for the pedagogical purposes of aiding the reader in understanding the invention and the concepts contributed by the inventor to further the art, and are not to be construed as limitations to such specifically recited examples and conditions, nor does the organization of such examples in the specification relate to a showing of the superiority and inferiority of the invention. Although one or more embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, it should be understood that the various changes, substitutions, and alterations could be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. | A transmission circuit includes a driver circuit that includes: a transistor to regulate output impedance, and a switching circuit that is connected to the transistor to regulate output impedance and switches an output polarity for differential output; and a bias circuit that includes: a first replica circuit including another transistor corresponding to the transistor to regulate output impedance, the bias circuit generating a gate voltage so as to make a current-voltage characteristic of the transistor to regulate output impedance correspond to a first output impedance value, and supply the gate voltage to a gate of the transistor to regulate output impedance. | 7 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates generally to imaging systems, and more particularly, to terahertz imaging systems.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Chemical explosives or bombs, sometimes termed improvised explosive devices (IEDs), carried in vehicles, left behind in packages, or delivered on the person of a suicide bomber, present a threat to citizens, structures, and public transportation in the United States and to government and military installations and military personnel outside the U.S. as well. The detection of explosives in vehicles and packages, and especially on the person of suicide bombers, must be very rapid and involve minimal or no contact with the vehicles, packages, or persons. To limit the disruption of public transportation systems, passenger screening devices must minimize false positive alarms. Such screening devices must, therefore, be able to specifically identify threats.
[0003] Known systems for screening vehicles, packages, and persons include magnetometers, x-ray devices (including backscatter x-ray devices), and terahertz imaging systems. Magnetometers may be ineffective at detecting an explosive device because the device may have little or no metal content. Additionally, magnetometer screening requires coming in close proximity to the suspect package or person, such that screening personnel may be injured if an explosion occurs.
[0004] X-ray devices have been incorporated into “drive by” systems used to inspect vehicles and into personnel scanners used to detect threat objects hidden by clothing. X-ray screening devices are able to reveal hidden threat objects, however these device are only able to determine the shape and density of the hidden object. X-ray screening devices are not able to determine the specific chemical composition of the object. As such, x-ray screening devices may be ineffective at detecting an explosive device. Additionally, x-ray screening typically requires coming in close proximity to the suspect vehicle, package, or person, such that screening personnel may be injured if an explosion occurs.
[0005] Terahertz imaging systems use radio waves transmitted at terahertz frequencies (100 gigahertz (GHz) to 10 terahertz (THz)), known as terahertz radiation, to produce an x-ray-like image capable of detecting threat objects, such as those hidden under clothing. Additionally, terahertz imaging systems may be capable of determining the specific chemical composition of an imaged object by comparing the absorption spectra of a suspect object to the absorption spectra of a known threat material. However, screening using known terahertz imaging systems requires coming in close proximity to the suspect vehicle, package or person, which again may cause injury or death to screening personnel if an explosion occurs.
[0006] As such, there is a need for an imaging system capable of quickly and accurately detecting threat objects, such as explosive devices, while allowing screening personnel and equipment to maintain a safe distance from the suspect vehicle, package, or person.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] A terahertz imaging system is therefore provided that uses a terahertz light source to illuminate a target object, such as a suspicious object or person, with a series of short pulses of terahertz light. The terahertz light pulses are individually narrow band and the emitted pulse train is rapidly tuned in wavelength across a wide frequency range in the terahertz band. The pulses have a low average output power but a high peak output power, thereby enabling imaging of the suspicious object or person at a safe distance while avoiding injury to the person being imaged. For each pulse, the reflection of the light is imaged by a detector, such as a detector array. Within the terahertz frequency range, molecules have unique absorption spectra. Embodiments of the invention measure the energy reflected from the illuminated threat object for each of the discrete narrow frequency bands and compare the measurements to the absorption spectra of known dangerous materials to determine whether the threat object contains or carries a known dangerous material.
[0008] In this regard, a terahertz imaging system may comprise a terahertz light source, a detector, and a controller. The terahertz light source may be a free electron laser comprising an electron gun, a linear accelerator, and a wiggler magnet. The free electron laser may emit a plurality of output pulses across a frequency range at a target, each output pulse having a desired output frequency and a full width half maximum equal to or less than 3% of the desired output frequency. A reflection of each output pulse off the target may be received by the detector, and the received reflections may be analyzed by the controller to determine a composition material of the target based on a change in the received reflection at a predefined output frequency. The detector may be gated to the electron gun, such that the detector is activated when the electron gun is activated. The detector may use a heterodyne detection technique.
[0009] In one embodiment, the output pulses have a peak output power of 5 kilowatts to 100 kilowatts and an average output power of 1 watt to 5 watts. The frequency range may be 3 terahertz to 9 terahertz. The desired output frequency of each output pulse may be determined by at least one of an output power of an electron beam emitted by the electron gun and a separation distance between a first plurality of poles and a second plurality of poles of the wiggler magnet.
[0010] In one embodiment, the free electron laser further comprises an output coupler defining an opening through which the output pulses are emitted. A gain of each output pulse may increase as the separation distance between a first plurality of poles and a second plurality of poles decreases. As such, a size of the opening defined by the output coupler may be decreased to offset the increased gain of each output pulse.
[0011] The free electron laser may further comprise a beam redirection apparatus that receives an electron beam after a forward pass through the linear accelerator and the wiggler magnet and changes a direction of the electron beam such that the electron beam makes a reverse pass through the wiggler magnet and the linear accelerator. The reverse pass through the wiggler magnet may increase a gain of the output pulse. The reverse pass through the linear accelerator may decelerate the electron beam such that a portion of kinetic energy of the electron beam is recovered by the linear accelerator.
[0012] In one embodiment, the imaging system further comprises a raster magnet assembly and a backscatter x-ray detector. The raster magnet assembly may direct x-rays emitted by the free electron laser at the target in an x-y pattern, such that the backscatter x-ray detector may receive the x-rays reflected off the target.
[0013] The desired output frequency of the output pulses may be selected based on a predefined maximum absorption frequency of the composition material that is desirable to be detected.
[0014] In one embodiment, the imaging system further comprises at least two resonator mirrors. A position of at least one resonator mirror relative to an axis of the output pulses may be changed based on the desired output frequency.
[0015] In addition to the terahertz imaging system as described above, other aspects of the present invention are directed to corresponding methods for terahertz imaging.
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] FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a terahertz imaging system, according to one embodiment of the invention; and
[0018] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a free electron laser of a terahertz imaging system, according to one embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0019] Embodiments of the invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all embodiments of the inventions 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.
[0020] Referring to FIG. 1 , a functional block diagram of a terahertz imaging system is illustrated, according to one embodiment of the invention. The terahertz imaging system 10 comprises a terahertz light source 12 , a detector 14 , and a display 18 . The light source and the detector may be controlled by a controller 16 , which may be a computer or other microprocessor-based device. The terahertz light source 12 typically illuminates a target object with a series of short pulses of terahertz light, each pulse of light having a different frequency across a frequency range in the terahertz frequency band. For example, each pulse may differ in frequency by a predefined offset from the frequency of adjacent pulses. The frequency range may be 3 terahertz to 9 terahertz. Each output pulse has a relatively narrow bandwidth, such that the laser spectrum full width half maximum of each output pulse is equal to or less than 3%, and preferably about 1%, of the desired output frequency. Full width half maximum (FWHM) (sometimes also termed full width at half maximum) refers to the distance between points on a curve at which the signal defined by the curve is one-half of the signal's peak or maximum value. For laser spectrum FWHM, the curve defines the frequency content of the laser output pulse (i.e., the spectral distribution of the output pulse) and the peak of the curve is at the center frequency of the output pulse. In embodiments of the invention, the FWHM of 3% or less indicates that the distance between points on a curve defining the laser frequency distribution of each output pulse is equal to or less than 3% of the value of the center frequency of the output pulse. The output pulses typically have a peak output power of 5 kilowatts to 100 kilowatts and an average output power of 1 watt to 5 watts. The coherence (i.e., narrow bandwidth) of the output pulses (indicated by the FWHM of 3% or less), coupled with the relatively high peak output power, enable the terahertz imaging system to image target objects at distances sufficient to protect screening personnel. For example, embodiments of the invention may image target objects at distances greater than 10 meters.
[0021] One advantage of imaging in the terahertz frequency range is that common dry dielectric materials, such as clothing and soft-side luggage, are partially transparent to terahertz energy, thereby enabling the detection of dangerous materials behind some optically opaque barriers.
[0022] At least a portion of each output pulse that is emitted by the light source 12 is typically reflected off the target object and received by the detector 14 . The detector 14 may be any suitable device capable of detecting light in the terahertz frequency range. For example, the detector may be a pyroelectric detector, such as a lithium tantalate detector. The detector may use direct imaging techniques, or alternatively may use heterodyne imaging techniques that may enable imaging at greater distances. The detector 14 may be time gated to reduce the detection of background light. As such, the detector may only be activated only when the light source is activated. The time gating may be accomplished by the controller 16 , such that the controller would signal the light source to emit an output pulse and would, at approximately the same time, signal the detector to receive the reflected light.
[0023] Each received reflection may be analyzed, such as by means of the controller 16 , to determine a composition material of the target based on a change in the received reflection at a predefined output frequency. Within the terahertz frequency range, molecules have unique absorption spectra. Many dangerous materials will reflect terahertz light at most wavelengths in the terahertz range, but will absorb terahertz light at one or more predefined wavelengths. Embodiments of the invention measure the energy reflected from the illuminated threat object for each of the discrete narrow frequency bands, such as by means of the detector 14 , and determine at which terahertz frequency(ies) the illuminated object is absorbing the light, such as by means of the controller 16 . The terahertz frequency(ies) at which the illuminated object is determined to be absorbing the light may then be compared to the known absorption spectra of dangerous materials. If the terahertz frequency(ies) at which the illuminated object is absorbing the light matches the known absorption spectra of one or more dangerous materials, then the object may contain or carry that dangerous material such that an appropriate warning may be issued. As such, terahertz imaging is capable of providing spectroscopic information regarding the imaged target object.
[0024] For example, one type of dangerous material that may be desirable to detect using a terahertz imaging system is RDX, which is an organic nitrate explosive. RDX is absorptive of light having a frequency of approximately 6.7 THz and reflective of light having other frequencies in the terahertz range. The terahertz imaging system will typically emit a series of discrete light pulses across the 3 to 9 THz frequency range at frequency intervals of 100 gigahertz (GHz), such that pulses may be emitted having a frequency of 3.0 THz, 3.1 THz, 3.2 THz, and so on through 9.0 THz. Each light pulse may have a predefined duration, such as approximately 1 to 10 microseconds, and typically 5 microseconds. Each light pulse may comprise a train of smaller micropulses, such as 10 picosecond micropulses, that all have the same frequency. The terahertz imaging system may be capable of emitting 10 to 100 output pulses per second, with a typical output of 15 pulses per second. At 15 output pulses per second, the system may scan the 6 THz frequency range, at 100 GHz intervals, in approximately 4 seconds. As each light pulse is emitted over the frequency range, the detector is gated on to receive reflections from the target object. If the target object contains or carries RDX, the detector would typically receive less reflected light from the pulses that have a frequency of or near 6.7 THz because the RDX would be absorbing more of those light pulses.
[0025] When the terahertz imaging system and, more particularly, the controller detects a known dangerous material, the system may alert the screening personnel that a particular dangerous material is present in the illuminated object. The system may also display an image of the illuminated object, and the object's surroundings within the imaging system's field of view, on a display 18 . If the system displays the image that corresponds to the peak absorption wavelength of the detected material, the detected material would typically be displayed as a darker area than the rest of the image because of the increased light absorption. Alternatively, the system may highlight the location of the detected material in the image, such as by changing the color used to display the detected material.
[0026] The terahertz light source of embodiments of the invention may be a tunable-wavelength laser, such as a free electron laser. Referring now to FIG. 2 , a cross-sectional view of a free electron laser is illustrated, according to one embodiment of the invention. A free electron laser 12 uses amplified radiation from a high energy electron beam. The electron beam is typically produced by an electron gun 20 and is then accelerated by a linear accelerator 22 . Line 34 illustrates the path of the electron beam from the electron gun through the linear accelerator. The electron beam has a transverse energy state that is “pumped” by a periodic array of magnets (termed a wiggler magnet 24 ). The alternating poles of the wiggler magnet force the electrons in the beam to assume a sinusoidal path. The accelerating of the electrons along this path results in the release of a photon. Line 36 illustrates the path of the electron beam through the wiggler magnet. In the laser there is gain and an increase in laser field strength when the electron beam (the lasing medium) passes through the wiggler (the laser “pump” that excites energy states at the laser wavelength). The free electron laser typically comprises resonator mirrors 30 , 32 at the ends of the beam path. The laser gain is enhanced as the light from the laser (reflected from the resonator mirrors) fills the region of the electron beam. Line 44 illustrates the laser light reflecting between the resonator mirrors within the free electron laser. This light interacts with the electric field of the electron beam and helps to stimulate additional emission and energy transfer from the electron beam into the laser light. The laser light may then be emitted through an output coupler in the resonator mirror 32 . Typically, about 10% of the produced laser light will be emitted with each pass of light between the resonator mirrors. Line 46 illustrates the emission of the laser light from the free electron laser. The laser light emitted from the free electron system may be aimed at a targeted object using any suitable beam expander, such as a gold-coated parabolic mirror.
[0027] The free electron laser may also comprise an electron beam redirection apparatus 26 capable of reversing the direction of the electron beam. The beam redirection apparatus may comprise a series of permanent magnets forming a 180 degree loop in the beam pathway. Line 38 illustrates the path of the electron beam through the beam redirection apparatus. The electron beam may then pass through the wiggler magnet in the reverse direction, as illustrated by line 40 . The reverse pass of the electron beam through the wiggler magnet doubles the interaction between the electron beam and the laser light and approximately doubles the laser gain.
[0028] After the reverse pass through the wiggler magnet, the electron beam will then typically pass in the reverse direction through the linear accelerator. The phase of the reverse direction electron beam will typically be timed by mechanically adjusting the transport length such that the reverse direction electron beam reenters the accelerator out of phase with the forward direction electron beam. The transport length may be adjusted using any suitable known technique, such as using a mechanical translation stage (e.g., a stepper or servo motor driven leadscrew) to move the position of the beam redirection apparatus relative to the wiggler magnet. Another technique to adjust the transport length may be to use a set of bend magnets to add an adjustable “kink” in the electron beam path. The tolerances of the transport length adjustment for a typical system may be approximately 1 to 10 thousandths of an inch. This enables the reflected beam to couple with the accelerator to add power to the electric fields in the linear accelerator, thus offsetting the power needed to drive the accelerating beam. This regenerative use of the energy from the reverse direction electron beam advantageously reduces the overall power requirement of the terahertz imaging system. Additionally, the coupling of the electron beam decelerates the reverse direction electron beam, thereby decreasing the energy and allowing the reverse direction beam to be stopped with minimal x-ray radiation. For example, the energy of the electron beam after the reverse pass through the wiggler magnet but before the reverse pass through the linear accelerator may be 3-10 megaelectronvolts (MeV). The energy of the electron beam after the reverse pass through the linear accelerator may be less than 100 kiloelectronvolts (KeV). The reverse electron beam will typically be stopped by a beam stop 28 . Line 42 illustrates the path of the electron beam from the linear accelerator into the beam stop.
[0029] As discussed above, each pulse of light that is emitted by the free electron laser has a different wavelength across a frequency range in the terahertz frequency band. The wavelength of the laser light emitted by a free electron laser typically depends on the spatial period of the wiggler magnet and the wiggler magnet's transverse magnetic field intensity on the electron beam axis. The wavelength may be changed by changing at least one of three different parameters: (1) the longitudinal spacing (i.e., parallel to the electron beam path through the wiggler) of the magnetic pole pairs in the wiggler magnet; (2) the electron beam energy; and (3) the separation (i.e., perpendicular to the electron beam path through the wiggler) of the upper and lower sets of magnetic poles in the wiggler magnet (this separation may be termed the “pole gap”). Changing the wiggler magnet longitudinal spacing along the path of the beam may be mechanically challenging. Changing the electron energy may require retuning the transport magnetics used to bend the electron beam in order to recenter the electron beam. Changing the pole gap may be mechanically less difficult than the other available techniques for changing the wavelength of the output pulse, and therefore may be desirable. Changing the pole gap would typically change the strength of the magnetic field, which in turn would change the path of the electrons through the wiggler magnet (i.e., either shortening or lengthening the path), thereby changing the wavelength of the laser light. Increasing the pole gap would typically increase the wavelength and decrease the frequency of the laser light, while decreasing the pole gap would decrease the wavelength and increase the frequency of the laser light. Stepper motor driven jackscrews may be used to move the wiggler magnet poles to change the pole gap.
[0030] The laser light gain may change as the pole gap changes, with the gain typically increasing as the pole gap decreases and the gain decreasing as the pole gap increases. As discussed above, the resonator mirror 32 may comprise an output coupler defining an opening through which the output pulses are emitted. The output coupler may comprise an adjustable iris to change the size of the opening defined by the output coupler. As the frequency of the output pulse changes and the gain changes due to the corresponding pole gap change, the adjustable iris may change the size of the opening to emit more or less laser light to offset the changed gain of each output pulse, thereby keeping the power output relatively constant all wavelengths.
[0031] The round trip circulation time of the THz radiation bouncing between the resonator mirrors typically must be an integral number of THz radiation periods within a defined phase error to preserve the tuning of the free electron laser. As such, the distance between the two mirrors typically must be adjusted as the frequency of the output pulse changes. In a system having a frequency range of 3 to 9 THz, the distance between the two resonator mirrors would typically need to change by approximately 50 micrometers over the frequency range. The distance would typically be changed by moving one of the resonator mirrors, such as by using a stepper motor driven jackscrew.
[0032] Because the free electron laser of the terahertz imaging system uses a high energy electron beam, the imaging system may use the electron beam to form an x-ray beam. An X-ray is a form of electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength in the range of 10 nanometers to 100 picometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 3 exahertz. The x-ray beam may be able to scan the target to create a penetrating radiation image that may complement the terahertz imaging spectrometry data, especially if some portion of the target cannot be accessed by terahertz radiation (e.g., solid metallic containers). The x-ray beam may be used to create a backscatter x-ray image, in which x-ray radiation that bounces back from the target is received by a backscatter x-ray detector. The output of the linear accelerator is typically allowed to drift through the wiggler magnet and be transported to a scanning or raster magnet that directs the time-gated beam pulses to small apertures arrayed in a two-dimensional pattern in an x-ray converter target. The x-ray converter target may be a hemispheric shaped electron stopping heavy metal target, and the apertures in the converter target define a pattern of x-ray beam spots that may be reflected to produce a relatively low resolution backscatter image of the target. The x-ray converter may be mechanically translated to enable the imaging system to image additional points on the target and thereby improve spatial resolution.
[0033] 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 terahertz imaging system uses a terahertz light source to illuminate a target object with a series of short pulses of terahertz light. The pulses have a low average output power but a high peak output power, thereby enabling imaging of the suspicious object or person at a safe distance while avoiding injury to the person being imaged. For each pulse, the reflection of the light is imaged by a detector array. The terahertz light pulses are individually narrow band and the emitted pulse train is rapidly tuned in wavelength across a wide frequency range in the terahertz band. Within the terahertz frequency range, molecules have unique absorption spectra. The energy reflected from the illuminated threat object is measured for each of the discrete narrow frequency bands and compared to the absorption spectra of known dangerous materials to determine whether the threat object contains or carries a known dangerous material. | 6 |
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/735,167, filed Dec. 12, 2003, which is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/885,611, filed Jun. 30, 1997.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates to semiconductor films with steep doping profiles and more particularly to forming abrupt “delta-like” doping in thin layers from 5-20 nm thick suitable for Si or SiGe CMOS, modulation-doped field-effect transistors (MODFET's) devices, and heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBT's) using in-situ doping in a ultra high vacuum-chemical vapor deposition (UHV-CVD) reactor.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] In-situ phosphorus doping in epitaxial Si and SiGe films or layers using PH 3 has been known to demonstrate a very slow incorporation rate of P due to the “poisoning effect” of phosphine on the Si(100) surface. An example of such a doping behavior is shown in FIG. 1 by curve 11 . Curve portion 13 - 14 of curve 11 shows the slow “transient” trailing edge observed in the SIMS profile and corresponds to the slow incorporation rate of P into the silicon film. In FIG. 1 the ordinate represents P concentration in atoms/cc and the abscissa represents depth in angstroms.
[0004] The incorporation of P into a Si layer is increased by the addition of a Ge containing gas (7%) along with phosphine in the reaction zone of a UHV-CVD reactor and has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,958 which issued May 31, 1994 to B. S. Meyerson and assigned to the assignee herein. The phosphorus dopant was incorporated during UHV-CVD in the proper substitutional sites in the silicon lattice as fully electrically active dopants. The amounts of Ge used were small enough that the primary band gap reduction mechanism is the presence of the n-type dopants at relatively high levels instead of the effect of the Ge. In '958, FIG. 2 shows phosphorus being incorporated into a Si layer during UHV-CVD with and without the addition of 7% Ge containing gas. With 7% Ge containing gas, a decade increase in P concentration would be incorporated in 250 to 500 OE into a silicon layer as shown, for example, by the rate of incorporation from 7×10 18 atoms/cc to 5×10 19 atoms/cc in FIG. 2 of '958.
[0005] Another well known problem associated with in-situ phosphorus or boron doping in silicon CVD is its “memory effect” as shown by curve portion 15 - 16 in FIG. 1 for the case of phosphorus herein which tends to create an undesirable high level of dopant in the background due to its “autodoping behavior”. This “memory effect” is also evident in the SIMS analysis shown in FIG. 1 . The “memory effect” corresponds to a very slow fall or decrease in the phosphorus concentration which stems from a residual background autodoping effect. Hence, in-situ doping typically generates a very undesirable “smearing out” of the dopant profile in silicon films formed by CVD.
[0006] FIG. 2 shows curve 11 which is the same as shown FIG. 1 and which illustrates the doping profile of the prior art using PH 3 . Curve 20 shows a desired or targeted profile having a width of 100 angstroms. In FIG. 2 , the ordinate represents P concentration in atoms/cc and the abscissa represents depth in angstroms. Curve 11 has a dopant profile of at least 5 times wider or thicker than the targeted profile of 100 Angstroms in width or in depth as shown by curve 20 .
[0007] As device dimensions shrink and especially for future complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) logic, MODFET's, and HBT's incorporating SiGe layers, very thin layer structures having a width or thickness of 5-20 nm of high doping P concentrations will be needed which are impossible to obtain with present technology at this point using present ultra high vacuum-chemical vapor deposition (UHV-CVD) or standard silicon CVD processing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] In accordance with the present invention, a structure is provided having an increasing or decreasing abrupt doping profile comprising a substrate such as Si or SiGe having an upper surface, a first epitaxial layer of substantially Ge formed over the upper surface, the first layer having a thickness in the range from 0.5 to 2 nm and doped e.g. with phosphorus or arsenic to a level of about 5×10 19 atoms/cc, and a second epitaxial layer of a semiconductor material having any desired concentration of dopants. The second layer may be Si or Si 1-X Ge X . The concentration profile from the edge or upper surface of the first layer to 40 OE into the second layer may change by greater than 1×10 19 dopant atoms/cc.
[0009] The invention further provides a method comprising the steps of selecting a substrate having an upper surface, growing a first epitaxial layer of substantially Ge thereover less than its critical thickness and doped with phosphorus to a level of about 5×10 19 atoms/cc, growing a second epitaxial layer selected from the group consisting of Si and SiGe, the second epitaxial layer having any desired doping profile. The presence of the epitaxial Ge layer accelerates the incorporation rate of the P or As doping into the Ge layer, thereby eliminating the slow transient behavior. The initial, in-situ doping level is determined by the dopant flow in SCCM of the PH 3 /He mixture. The final overall doping profile may be controlled as a function of 1/GR where GR is the growth rate of the first and second layer. The dopant may be supplied or carried by phosphine (PH 3 ) or Tertiary Butyl Phosphine (TBP) gas in the case of P and AsH 3 or Tertiary Butyl Arsine (TBA) in the case of As in a UHV-CVD reactor.
[0010] To eliminate background “autodoping effect”, the structure with phosphorus doping as shown in FIG. 3 is transferred to a load chamber or load lock, while the growth chamber is purged of the background phosphorus. This growth/interrupt/growth process involves hydrogen flushing of the UHV-CVD reactor during interrupt. Then, a coating of Si or SiGe is grown on the sidewalls and/or heated surfaces of the UHV-CVD reactor at high temperature to isolate, eliminate or cover the residual phosphorus atoms prior to reintroducing the structure for further deposition. Alternatively, a second growth chanber i.e. UHV-CVD reactor coupled to the load chamber may be used where further undoped layers may be deposited with very low levels of phosphorus.
[0011] A second epitaxial layer 40 and/or a third epitaxial layer 44 of Si or SiGe shown in FIG. 3 may now be grown with a background doping profile that drops or decreases to less than 5×10 16 atoms/cc after a 300 OE film is grown over layer 36 of structure 30 shown in FIG. 3 .
[0012] The invention further provides a method for forming abrupt doping comprising the steps of forming a layered structure of semiconductor material, selectively amorphizing a first layer having a high Ge content greater than 0.5, and crystallizing the amorphized first layer by solid phase regrowth. The amorphized first layer may be formed by ion implantation.
[0013] The invention further provides a field effect transistor comprising a single crystal substrate having source and drain regions with a channel therebetween and a gate electrode above the channel to control charge in said channel and a first layer of Ge less than the critical thickness doped with a dopant of phosphorus or arsenic positioned below the channel and extending through the source and drain regions.
[0014] The invention further provides a field effect transistor comprising a single crystal substrate, a first layer of Ge less than the critical thickness formed on the substrate and doped with a dopant of phosphorus or arsenic, a second layer of undoped SiGe epitaxially formed on the first layer, a third layer of strained undoped simiconductor material of Si or SiGe, a source region and a drain region with a channel therebetween and a gate electrode above the channel to control charge in the channel.
[0015] The invention further provides a field effect transistor comprising a single crystal substrate, an oxide layer formed on the substrate having an opening, a gate dielectric and a gate electrode formed in the opening over the substrate, a source and drain region formed in the substrate aligned with respect to the gate electrode, a dielectric sidewall spacer formed on either side of the gate electrode and above a portion of the source and drain regions, a first layer of Ge less than the critical thickness doped with a dopant of phosphorus or arsenic selectivel position over exposed portions of the source and drain regions, a second layer of semiconductor material selected from the group consisting of Si and SiGe doped with a dopant of phosphorus or arsenic epitaxially formed over the first layer to form raised source and drain regions.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
[0016] These and other features, objects, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention when read in conjunction with the drawing in which:
[0017] FIG. 1 is a graph of P concentration versus depth in a SiGe substrate showing an actual concentration profile of the prior art.
[0018] FIG. 2 is a graph of P concentration versus depth in a SiGe substrate showing an actual concentration profile to a desired profile.
[0019] FIG. 3 is a cross section view of a first embodiment of the invention.
[0020] FIG. 4 is a graph of P dopant concentration versus depth and of Ge in Si 1-X Ge X versus depth illustrating the invention.
[0021] FIG. 5 is a graph of P concentration versus PH 3 /He mixture flow rate in SCCM.
[0022] FIG. 6 is a graph of measured conductance versus depth as layers are removed and the projected P concentration versus depth in the layer.
[0023] FIG. 7 is a cross section view of a layered structure.
[0024] FIG. 8 is a cross section view of a layered structure having an amorphized layer.
[0025] FIG. 9 is a cross section view of a second embodiment of the invention.
[0026] FIG. 10 is a cross section view showing an intermediate step in forming the embodiment of FIG. 11 .
[0027] FIG. 11 is a cross section view showing a third embodiment of the invention.
[0028] FIG. 12 is a cross section view showing a fourth embodiment of the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0029] Referring to the drawing and in particular to FIG. 3 , a cross section view of structure 30 having an abrupt phosphorus or arsenic profile or abrupt layer doping (ALD) is shown. A substrate 32 having an upper surface 33 may be for example single crystal Si or SiGe. A first layer 36 of 100% or substantially Ge is epitaxially formed on upper surface 33 having a thickness less than the critical thickness and may be, for example, 0.5 to 2 nm and is doped with P or As.
[0030] The effect of the thickness of first layer 36 is not to increase the doping concentration of P or As, but the effect is to increase the sheet dose, which is the doping concentration multiplied by the doped layer thickness. The doping concentration is controlled by the flow rate of the dopant source gas and by the growth rate of first layer 36 , which in turn, is controlled by the flow rate of the Ge source gas which may be, for example, GeH 4 .
[0031] The critical thickness of a layer is the thickness after which the layer relaxes to relieve strain due to lattice mismatch which for a Ge layer is about 1.04 the lattice spacing of a Si layer. Normally, the mechanism for relieving strain is the generation of crystal lattice defects e.g. misfit dislocations which may propagate to the surface in the form of threading dislocations. A relaxed layer is no longer lattice matched to the layer below.
[0032] First layer 36 is substantially Ge and may be 100% Ge. A second layer 40 comprising Si or SiGe doped to any desired level is formed over first layer 36 . Second layer 40 may be formed in a UHV-CVD reactor with a dopant source gas such as PH 3 . A Si source gas such as SiH 4 or Si 2 H 6 and a Ge source gas such as GeH 4 may be used. A third layer 44 comprising doped or undoped Si or SiGe may be formed in a UHV-CVD reactor over second layer 40 .
[0033] A UHV-CVD reactor suitable for use in depositing first layer 36 , second layer 40 and third layer 44 is available from Leybold-Heraeus Co., Germany and is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,964 which issued Jan. 26, 1993 to B. S. Meyerson and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,511 which issued Mar. 4, 1997 to B. S. Meyerson which are incorporated herein by reference. The operation of the reactor and suitable methods for depositing Si and SiGe films is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,298,452 which issued Mar. 29, 1994 to B. S. Meyerson and which is incorporated herein by reference.
[0034] Referring to FIG. 4 , secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) data was obtained from a multilayered structure of Si 1-X Ge X doped with phosphorus. In FIG. 4 , the ordinate on the right side represents Ge relative intensity with respect to curve 50 and the abscissa represents approximate depth in microns below the surface of the multilayered structure. The structure at a depth of 1.17 μm is 100% Si with the amount of Ge, X equal to zero. As shown by level curve portions 51 - 57 on curve 50 , the amount X of Ge is 0.05 at from 1.12 to 1.08 μm, 0.10 at from 1.03 to 0.99 μm, at 0.15 from 0.93 to 0.59 μm, 0.20 from 0.52 to 0.24 μm, 0.25 from 0.2 to 0.17 μm, 1.0 from 0.17 to 0.13 μm, and 0.25 from 0.13 to 0.3 μm, respectively. The layers were epitaxially grown over a single crystal substrate by varying the flow rate of GeH 4 . Curve 60 shows the in-situ phosphorus doping in the multilayers as a function of depth using PH 3 as the dopant source gas. In FIG. 4 , the ordinate on the left side represents P concentration (atoms/cc) with respect to curve 60 and the abscissa represents depth. The 100% seed layer of 0.5-2 nm at the depth of 0.17 μm allows for a very abrupt phoshorus doping profile to occur as shown by curve 60 and particularly at curve portion 62 - 63 , in FIG. 4 and at the same time allows for high doping P concentrations to be achieve controllably as shown by curve 70 in FIG. 5 .
[0035] FIG. 5 is a graph of the phosphorus concentration (atoms/cc) versus 100 PPM PH 3 /He mixture flow (SCCM). In FIG. 5 , the ordinate represents phosphorus concentration (atoms/cc) and the abscissa represents flow (SCCM).
[0036] Due to the limitation of the SIMS technique to resolve very thin layers, the SIMS result shown in FIG. 4 gives a dopant profile width of about 150-200 OE at full width half maximum (FWHM). To better resolve the dopant profile, Hall measurements were used to measure and profile the active carriers throughout the doped sample by stepwise etching through the entire doped structure coupled with direct Hall measurement after each etching step.
[0037] FIG. 6 is a graph showing the conductance versus depth and showing the phosphorus concentration versus depth in a multilayered structure using direct Hall measurements. In FIG. 6 the ordinate on the left side represents conductance (mS) and the abscissa represents depth below the surface of a multilayered Si 1-X Ge X structure having a layer of 1-2 nm Ge at a depth of 115 nm. Curve 80 shows the conductance as measured versus depth. The conductance increases from 0 at 120 nm to 0.21 at 110 nm. The dopant profile as measured by the electrical measurement is shown by curve 88 . Curve 80 and/or its data points were used to generate curve 88 shown in FIG. 6 which shows the actual phosphorus doping profile. Curve 88 was generated by dividing the carrier density as determined from the conductance shown by curve 80 at the respective etched depth by the etch layer thickness. In FIG. 6 , the ordinate on the right side represents P concentration (atoms/cc). Curve 86 shows the projected concentration based on curve 88 which shows the peak concentration rising abruptly from less than 1×10 15 at 121 nm to 5×10 19 at 115 nm corresponding to a 13 OE per decade rise in P concentration. The FWHM based on curve 86 which itself is projected from curve 88 is 8 nm at a peak concentration of 2×10 19 atoms/cc. The doping concentration as shown by curve 86 decreases from 5×10 19 atoms/cc at 115 nm to about 8×10 17 atoms/cc at 109 nm and 1×10 17 atoms/cc at 64.9 nm. The decrease in P concentration from 115 nm to 64.9 nm corresponds to a 20 nm per decade fall or decrease in P concentration.
[0038] It is noted that PH 3 has a sticking coefficient S of 1.0 while SiH 4 has a sticking coefficient S of 1×10 −3 to 1×10 −4 . The doping profile of P is a function of 1/GR where GR is the growth rate of the film.
[0039] Further, to eliminate background autodoping when an abrupt reduction in the P concentration is desired, a growth interrupt method is provided. The substrates or wafers are removed from the growth chamber or UHV-CVD to another vacuum chamber such as a load lock or transfer chamber or another UHV-CVD reactor or furnace where no PH 3 has been flown prior to loading. Then, SiH 4 and GeH 4 gases are flown in the growth chamber to coat the walls or heated surfaces of the growth chamber to bury or to isolate the P on the sidewalls. Then, the substrates or wafers are introduced or moved back into the main or growth chamber and the growth of Si or Si 1-X Ge X is continued. Alternatively, another UHV-CVD reactor or furnace coupled to the transfer chamber may be used to continue the growth of Si or SiGe with reduced or no P or As doping.
[0040] Another method for achieving abrupt P doping, is to grow a first epitaxial layer 80 in the range from 1 to 10 nm thick of Si 1-X Ge X on a substrate 82 as shown in FIG. 7 . The higher the value of X the better for converting layer 80 to amorphous material by ion implantation by ions 83 shown in FIG. 8 ; X may be, for example, greater than 0.5. First epitaxial layer 80 may be unstrained or a strained layer due to lattice mismatch with respect to substrate 82 . A second epitaxial layer 84 may be grown over first epitaxial layer 80 . Layer 84 may be Si or SiGe and may be unstrained or strained. Then using ion implantation shown in FIG. 8 , the first epitaxial layer 80 may be selectively amorphized to form layer 80 ′ shown in FIG. 8 by ions 83 with respect to layer 84 and substrate 82 at a dose in the range from about 10 13 to about 10 14 atoms/cm 2 or higher; layer 84 and any other Si or SiGe layers will not be amorphized. The Ge content of layer 84 and the other layers should be less than the content X in layer 80 .
[0041] The critical dose for amorphization depends on the implanted species as well as on the host lattice. For example, boron does not amorphize Si at any dose, but amorphizes Ge at a dose higher than 1×10 14 atoms/cm 2 . Asenic amorphizes Si at a dose of about 5×10 14 atoms/cm 2 , while Arsenic amorphizes Ge at a dose of 1×10 13 atoms/cm 2 . Thus if an implant dose below the amorphization threshold in Si but above that in SiGe or Ge is used, then only the SiGe or Ge will be amorphized. The dossage peak should be adjusted to occur at the depth of the layer to be amorphized, layer 80 .
[0042] Substrate 82 and first epitaxial layer 80 is then heated to a temperature in the range from 400 âC to 500 â for a period of time such as from 1 to 5 hours which results in solid phase recrystallization of the amorphized layer to form Si 1-X Ge X layer 80 ″ shown in FIG. 9 .
[0043] Recrystallization of amorphous layer 80 ′ is dependent upon the material of the layer. Amorphous Ge recrystallizes at a temperature T greater than 350 âC, while Si recrystallizes at a temperature T greater than 500 âC. The combination of amorphization threshold dose and recrystallization temperature difference between Si and Ge is key to provide recrystallized layers.
[0044] The alloy SiGe recrystallization temperature will be somewhere in between Si and Ge, depending on the Ge content. If thicker doped layers are sought, which are above the critical thickness of Ge on Si, then SiGe with the highest possible Ge content (that will stay strained) should be used. To maximize the sharpness of the doping profile, the layers surrounding the doped layer should have the lowest possible Ge content (depending on the design).
[0045] Dopant activation occurs only in layer 80 ″. Thus the doped layer thickness 80 ″ is determined by the original epitaxial layer thickness 80 . Diffusion of P dopants at the recrystallization temperature is negligible.
[0046] The above method applies to any species and not just to P. In fact getting sharp p-type implants is very much needed in the channel implant of 0.25 μm PMOS and will be needed more when the gate length is shrunk. B cannot be used for such super retrograde profiles, and hence people have resorted to heavy ions such as In. However, the degradation in channel mobility is higher in that case, and the incorporation of In at levels higher than 5×10 17 atoms/cm 3 is almost impossible.
[0047] An n or p channel field effect transistor 91 is shown in FIG. 9 utilizing layer 80 ″. A dielectric layer 85 may be formed on the upper surface of layer 84 to form a gate dielectric such as silicon dioxide. A gate 86 may be blanket deposited and patterned above dielectric 85 which may be polysilicon. Self aligned shallow souce and drain regions 87 and 88 may be formed in layer 84 by ion implantation using gate 86 as a mask. Sidewall spacers 89 and 90 may be formed on the sidewalls of gate 86 . Source and drain regions 87 ′ and 88 ′ may be formed in layers 80 and 84 and substrate 82 using sidewall spacers 89 and 90 as a mask. Source 87 and 87 ′ and drain 88 and 88 ′ may be of one type material (n or p) and layer 80 ″ may be of the opposite type material. Layer 80 ″ functions to adjust the threshold voltage of the field effect transistor 91 , prevent short channnel effects and prevent punch through between source and drain.
[0048] Referring to FIG. 10 , an intermediate step in forming a field effect transistor is shown. A substrate 95 may be relaxed undoped SiGe. A phosphorous-doped Ge layer 96 is formed thereover as described with reference to FIGS. 3 of 9 . An undoped SiGe layer 97 is formed over layer 96 . A strained undoped Si layer 98 may be formed over layer 97 . Layer 98 is suitable for an electron or hole gas 99 to be present under proper voltage biasing conditions.
[0049] Referring to FIG. 11 , field effect transistor 102 is shown. In FIG. 11 , like reference numbers are used for functions corresponding to the apparatus FIG. 10 . Source and drain regions 103 and 104 are formed spaced apart through layers 96 - 98 and into substrate 95 . A gate dielectric 105 may be formed over layer 98 in the region between source 103 and drain 104 . A gate electrode 106 of polysilicon or metal may be blanket deposited and patterned. Alternately, gate dielectric 105 may be deleted and a gate electrode of metal may form a Schottky barrier with layer 98 .
[0050] Referring to FIG. 12 , a cross section view of field effect transistor 110 is shown with raised source 40 ′ and drain 40 ″. In FIG. 12 like references are used for functions corresponding to the apparatus of FIGS. 3 and 9 . Substrate 82 ′ has a layer of field oxide 112 thereover with an opening 113 formed therein. In opening 113 , a gate dielectric 85 is formed on substrate 82 ′. A gate electrode 86 is formed such as from polysilicon and a shallow source 87 and drain 88 are formed by, for example, ion implantation self aligned with respect to gate electrode 86 . Next, sidewalls 89 and 90 are formed on either side of gate electrode 86 . Next, a layer 36 ′ is selectively formed epitaxially on shallow source 87 and drain 88 on substrate 82 ′ which is phosphorous or arsenic doped. Layer 36 ′ is Ge or substantially Ge and corresponds to layer 36 in FIG. 3 . Above layer 36 ′, layer 40 ′ of Si or SiGe is selectively formed epitaxially which is phosphorous or arsenic doped during fabrication. Layer 40 ′ forms source 117 above shallow source 87 and forms drain 118 above shallow drain 88 . Metal silicide contacts (not shown) may be made to source 117 and drain 118 .
[0051] While there has been described and illustrated a structure having an abrupt doping profile and methods for forming an abrupt profile, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and variations are possible without deviating from the broad scope of the invention which shall be limited solely by the scope of the claims appended hereto. | A structure and method of forming an abrupt doping profile is described incorporating a substrate, a first epitaxial layer of Ge less than the critical thickness having a P or As concentration greater than 5×10 19 atoms/cc, and a second epitaxial layer having a change in concentration in its first 40 OE from the first layer of greater than 1×10 19 P atoms/cc. Alternatively, a layer of SiGe having a Ge content greater than 0.5 may be selectively amorphized and recrystalized with respect to other layers in a layered structure. The invention overcomes the problem of forming abrupt phosphorus profiles in Si and SiGe layers or films in semiconductor structures such as CMOS, MODFET's, and HBT's. | 7 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to electromagnetic clutches and, more particularly, to a self-adjusting multiple friction disc clutch having a stationary magnetic field.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Self-adjusting clutches are well known in the art; however, in most of these devices, the adjusting feature occurs when the operating space between the armature and the magnet body exceeds a pre-determined value. That is, for the adjustment to take effect, the clutch must be released and re-engaged.
Some prior art designs have attempted to automatically self-adjust for wear of the frictional surfaces without requiring the clutch to release and to be re-engaged. However, these clutches, in effect, adjusted the disengaged spacing between the frictional surfaces in order to compensate for wear; that is, no adjustment occurred in these devices until the main friction surfaces wore to the extent necessary to actuate the self-adjusting mechanism. Thus, by their very nature these clutches did not maintain a constant pressure on the disc pack since the magnetic engaging force varied over the life of the clutch.
Continuous self-adjusting electromagnetic clutches have been broadly disclosed in the art; however, the teachings of these clutches fail to recognize the problems associated with the multiple friction disc stationary magnetic field clutches, with regard to flux flow and wear compensation. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,994,379 by Miller, owned by the assignee of the present invention, discloses a self-adjusting electromagnetic clutch wherein the stationary magnetic body is separated from other magnetic components in the magnetic circuit and, therefore, teaches a radial air gap around the magnetic body. This radial air gap results in a loss of efficiency of the clutch because of the loss of magnetomotive force which does not contribute to the magnetic holding force, resulting in a lower torque output for a specific unit of generated flux. To understand the importance of having very low air gaps in the magnetic circuit, one has only to consider that the magnetizing force required to produce 65 K lines in air as compared to iron is about 3800:1. Therefore, any radial air gap greatly effects the efficiency in terms of torque output for a given size magnetic body and coil.
Other prior art such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,724,619 as well as No. 3,744,609 by Miller, owned by the assignee hereof, further disclose continuous self-adjusting features, but teach the use of a radial air gap resulting in a certain percentage of flux leakage in the magnetic flux circuit. Again, the overall efficiency of the clutch is greatly reduced as a result of the radial air gaps.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
The invention is an electromagnetic multiple disc friction clutch having a stationary magnetic field wherein a plurality of torque transmitting friction members are mounted to an input and an output means. The friction members are adapted to transmit torque from an input means to an output means upon energization of an electromagnetic actuating means. The input means further has an inner body member with a passage means. A flux permeable armature is coaxially disposed with the input means directly adjacent said electromagnetic means and the armature further has a threaded internal surface. A pressure plate member is mounted within the passage means of the inner body member; one portion of the plate member communicates with the armature through an annular retarder member. The opposite end portion of the plate member is disposed adjacent the plurality of torque transmitting friction members for communication therewith. A means for biasing the pressure plate member is provided between the inner body member and the opposite end portion of the plate member. An annular retarder member is disposed adjacent the one end portion of the pressure plate member as well as coaxial with the armature member. The retarder member further has a means for biasing the armature whereby the biasing means causes the armature to rotate in one direction and restricts rotational motion of the armature in another opposite direction.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide an improved, inexpensive, efficient self-adjusting electromagnetic multiple disc friction clutch having a stationary magnetic body wherein the air gap is only axial, and not radial.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a self-adjusting electromagnetic multiple disc friction clutch with a stationary magnetic field wherein the wear compensating means are not adversely effected by centrifugal force.
Another object of the invention is to provide a self-adjusting electromagnetic multiple disc friction clutch wherein the rotating armature bears directly against the stationary magnet body, and wherein the contacting surfaces wear away until all the magnet force is applied to the disc pack.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide an electromagnetic multiple disc friction clutch having the smallest possible air gap obtainable between the rotating armature and the stationary magnetic body, thereby resulting in the highest possible force obtainable from the magnetic circuit.
It is still another object of the invention to provide an electromagnetic self-adjusting multiple disc friction clutch wherein the adjusting process is continuous until the disc pack is worn out.
Still a further object of the invention is to provide a self-adjusting electromagnetic multiple disc friction clutch in which the electromagnetic engaging force is unaffected by wearing of the torque carrying members.
It is still a further object of this invention to provide a multiple disc clutch with automatic wear compensating means in which it is unnecessary to ever adjust the air gap between the armature and the magnetic pole faces since it is always maintained at or near zero.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic partial cross sectional view of the electromagnetic multiple disc friction clutch according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of the electromagnetic multiple disc clutch in the energized condition;
FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view along arrows 3--3 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view in the direction of arrow 4--4 of FIG. 1; and
FIG. 5 is a side view of the retarder member.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to FIG. 1, an electromagnetic multiple disc friction clutch is shown generally designated by numeral 10. The clutch includes a fixed or stationary magnet body 12 adapted to be secured to a fixed mounting structure (not shown) and fabricated of magnetic flux conducting material such as iron or steel. The magnet body 12 is formed to provide an annular recess or cavity 14 within which is mounted an electromagnetic coil 16 which may be secured in the cavity by the use of a resin or other well known conventional means. The coil 16 has a set of leads 18 which may be connected to a control power source or control circuit (not shown) through an appropriate connector as is well known in the art (not shown).
The clutch of the preferred embodiment is reversible with respect to input and output sides and, thus, clutch structure which in one installation would be an input member, in another installation would be an output member. Accordingly, rotating input and output members referred to in the following description as driving and driven means, respectively, could also have been referred to generally as first and second torque transmitting members. However, for reasons of clarity in the description, the generic terminology was substantially avoided.
The magnet body is provided with a radial recess 13 on the inner diameter as well as a shoulder 15. The annular magnet body is freely mounted to a shaft 20 by means of a combination radial and end thrust bearing 25. The radial and end thrust bearing is mounted to the radial recess 13 of the inner body and against the shoulder 15.
The first element of the clutch axially aligned to the shaft 20 for rotation therewith is an inner body member 30 which may act as the driving member of the clutch. The rotary driving inner body member is held in position on the shaft by means of a retainer 45 and screw 46. The screw is threaded into the end of the shaft and the retainer locates the inner body member against the combined radial and end thrust bearing. The inner body member or driving member 30 includes a smooth lower shoulder 31 and axially extending splines 32 formed along one portion of its outer surface on which are slidably mounted a first plurality of annular friction discs 34. It will be readily understood that the spline connection fixes the first plurality of friction discs to the inner body member rotationally while permitting relative axial movement. A second plurality of friction discs 36 are alternately disposed between adjacent discs 34 to comprise a friction clutch multiple disc pack. Discs 36 are connected to the driven output or outer body member 38 which has an axially extending portion 40 with slots 42 providing an axially slidable but rotatably fixed connection with the friction discs 36.
The annular inner body member 30 has a radial projection 33 at one end forming a reaction plate at one end of the disc pack. The inner body member further has a plurality of radially spaced holes 35 at a predetermined distance between the spline 32 and the inner diameter of the inner body member. These holes are counter bored at one end 37 for a reason later to be disclosed.
An annular armature plate 50 is fabricated from magnetic flux conducting material and is arranged coaxial with the magnet body 12 spaced a small distance from the pole faces 17 and 19 of the magnet body. The radially outer most portion of the armature plate has an axial extension 51 wherein is provided a radial groove 52 on the inner diameter. The rear face 53 of the armature as viewed from the drawings is provided with a knurled surface 54 for a reason later to be described. The radially innermost surface of armature 50 is threaded entirely along the length of the inner diameter 55. Within the threaded inner diameter of the armature plate 50 there is threadably mounted an annular adjusting ring 60. The helical thread which links adjusting ring 60 to armature 50 is such that the armature 50 may rotate relative to the adjusting ring 60 (whenever the armature is energized) thereby imparting force vector components which tend to force the adjusting ring 60 axially to the right as viewed in the drawings. The adjusting ring 60 has a plurality of radially spaced holes 61 aligned with the holes 35 in the inner body member 30. Further, the inner most surface 62 of the annular ring is slightly tapered to provide a low friction sliding engagement with the surface 31 of the inner body member 30.
A pressure plate member 70 is mounted within the axial holes 35 of the inner body member 30. The pressure plate member 70 cooperates at one end 71 with the annular adjusting ring 60 and further communicates at the opposite end 72 with the friction discs when the electromagnetic clutch is energized. The plate member is mounted at one end 71 to the adjusting ring 60 by the use of a screw member 73 and a biasing spring 74. The screw member 73 is centrally mounted to the finger like projections 75 of the pressure plate member. The biasing spring 74 is mounted between the opposite end of the plate member 72 and the counterbore 37 in the inner body member 30. The one end 71 of the plate member further has a smooth surface upon which a retarder member 80 is mounted. The retarder member 80 is retained in its position by a snap ring 85 mounted in the groove 52 of the armature member 50. The retarder member further has a plurality of radially spaced detents 81 (see FIG. 4) which communicate with the knurled surface 54 of the rear face of the armature 50 as viewed in the drawings. The retarder member 80 being mounted to the one end 71 of the pressure plate member permits the retarder member to move axially, but non-rotatably, with respect to the pressure plate member.
The compression spring 74 mounted within the counterbore 37 of the inner body member 30 applies a retraction force tending to bias the armature plate 50 and the adjustment member 60 away from the magnet body member 12. With this retraction or clutch disengaging arrangement, the disengaged air gap between the armature 50 and the magnet body member 12 is held constant throughout the life of the clutch. Thus, the magnetic engaging force initially required to draw the armature 50 into contactive engagement with the magnet body member 12 is always the same.
Since the engaging force remains constant, and since the adjusting member 60 adjusts for any wear that occurs within the friction disc pack, the variances between the static and dynamic torques developed by the clutch are practically unchanged throughout the life of the clutch. Extensive testing with a clutch of the preferred embodiment has demonstrated that with the self-adjusting mechanism shown and described in this clutch, both static and dynamic torques have more than tripled over a clutch of similar construction without the self-adjusting feature.
FIG. 2 is a partial cross section of the preferred embodiment in the energized condition. Note that the armature and adjustment member are moved into contactive engagement with the magnet body, while the pressure plate member contactively engages the friction disc pack and applies a pressure to activate the clutching mechanism.
Referring to FIGS. 3 and 5, there is shown the retarder member with four equally spaced retarder fingers 81. The fingers of the retarder member are in contactive engagement with the knurled surface 54 of the armature member 50 shown in FIG. 1. The selection of using four equally spaced fingers is strictly a matter of choice to facilitate description of the preferred embodiment. It is not intended to limit the scope thereof. As discussed earlier, the retarder member 80 moves axially but non-rotatably with respect to the armature 50. This is accomplished by providing an axial slot 82 in the retarder member which surrounds the outside diameter of the one end of the pressure plate member. As earlier set forth, the clutch of the present invention is reversible with respect to the input and output sides. Thus, the retarder member fingers may be reversed in the opposite direction of that shown so that the armature rotation can be controlled according to the selection of the shaft as an input or output member.
FIG. 4 is a view along arrows 4--4 of FIG. 1 and shows the cross sectional areas of the clutch as well as the knurl 54 on the rear face of the armature. It is this knurled surface 54 which communicates with the fingers 81 of the retarder 80 to provide the adjustment feature in conjunction with the adjustment ring 60.
Operation of the Preferred Embodiment
The clutch, as illustrated in FIG. 1, is shown in the disengaged position whereby the driven and driving rotary members are frictionally uncoupled. When the clutch is desired to be engaged, electrical power is supplied through the leads 18 to the coil 16 which generates a magnetic field according to the flux path illustrated by the dash lines in FIG. 2. The flux path travels in a loop through the magnet body 12, across the upper axial air gap, through the armature and returns back to the magnet body member across the lower axial air gap.
The magnetic flux exerts an axial pull across the air gap pulling the armature plate 50 into contactive engagement with the magnet body 12. As the armature 50 is moved axially into engagement with the pole faces of the magnet body, the magnetic engaging forces exerted on the armature are completely axial and, therefore, provide a closed contact between the pole faces of the magnetic body and the armature. As the armature moves axially toward the magnet body, the rotational velocity of the armature is decreased by the static condition of the magnet body member. The opposite end of the pressure plate member, which continues to rotate at the input shaft speed through the inner body member, is caused to move axially towards the friction plate members by the action of the mutually engageable thread between the armature and the adjustment ring member. This is as a result of the small difference in speed between the armature, which is slowing down as it approaches the stationary magnet body, and the adjustment ring which continues to travel at the input shaft speed. The opposite end of the pressure plate member is threby moved into engagement with the friction disc pack. It is readily observed that when the rotating armature bears against the stationary magnet body, the contacting surfaces will wear away until all of the magnet force is applied to the disc pack. This will leave the smallest possible air gap obtainable between two members that rotate relative to each other, resulting in the highest possible output force or torque obtainable for the given electromagnet and coil size.
Whenever the electromagnetic winding is de-energized, the armature and the adjustment ring are axially withdrawn from the magnet body member under the influence of a biasing force applied by a fixed spring mounted in the counterbore of the inner body member. Upon becoming de-energized, the armature member, inner body member and adjustment ring rotate at the same speed. Relative motion between these elements is not possible due to the nature of the design of the retarder member. The fingers of the retarder member act upon the knurled surface of the armature in such a way as to prevent relative motion between the armature and the adjustment ring member upon de-energization of the electromagnetic coil. The armature member and the adjustment ring member, with respect to each other, therefore, remain in exactly the same position as in the prior energized position. Therefore, when the electromagnet is again energized, the armature, adjustment member, and the pressure plate member will move towards the magnet body and the friction disc packs, respectively, and resume the same basic relative position between the pressure plate member and the friction disc members as existed during the prior energized state.
As earlier explained, the fingers of the retarder member will only permit the armature to rotate in one direction relative to the pressure plate member. The only way relative motion between the pressure plate member and the armature will be permitted to occur is when the frictional surface wears away. As wear occurs, the same basic cycle as described above occurs and continues to occur until all of the friction material of the friction disc pack is worn away. Note that, as wear occurs, there is no loss of torque between the driven and driving means. The movement between the armature and the adjustment ring is immediate and automatically adjusts the position of the torque transmitting members to compensate for any wear that occurs between the friction discs of the friction disc pack.
While only the preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes may be made to the invention as set forth in the appended claims, and, in some cases, certain features of the invention may be used to advantage without corresponding use of other features. Accordingly, it is intended that the illustrative and descriptive materials herein be used to illustrate the principles of the invention and not to limit the scope thereof. | The invention is an electromagnetic friction disc clutch with wear compensating means having mutually opposing cooperating friction discs adapted for releasable coupling of a driving and driven rotary component. When this multiple disc friction clutch is energized by the stationary electromagnetic field, the armature moves in a direction so as to contact the stationary magnet body. The interaction between the armature and an adjustment member causes a wear compensated ring to move, and through a pressure plate the adjustment continues until the pressure plate bears against the friction disc pack. The force on the multiple disc pack increases until the torque between the armature and the magnet body is insufficient to overcome the friction between the armature and the adjustment ring. As the rotating armature bears against the stationary magnet body, the contacting surfaces wear away until all of the magnet force is applied to the disc pack. This leaves the smallest possible air gap obtainable between two members that rotate relative to each other, resulting in the highest obtainable output force, i.e., torque obtainable from a magnetic circuit. The adjustment process continues until the disc pack is worn out. | 5 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the benefit and priority of U.S. Provisional patent application Ser. No. 61,726,232 filed Nov. 14, 2012 entitled A HALL EFFECT MEASUREMENT DEVICE WITH TEMPERATURE COMPENSATION, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to non-destructive testing and non-destructive instruments (NDT/NDI) and more particularly to a Hall Effect probe and measurement device with compensation of measurement drift caused by temperature change.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Hall Effect sensors have been used in measurement devices such as thickness gages (e.g. Olympus NDT Magna Mike 8500) to accurately measure thickness of nonferrous materials. One of the most often seen applications is thickness measurement on plastic bottles. A Hall Effect sensor typically comprises a probe that has magnet(s) generating a primary magnetic field. Measurements are performed by holding the device's magnetic probe to one surface of the test material and placing a small steel target ball on the opposite surface. The target ball, in responding to the primary magnetic field, generates a secondary magnetic field, which varies according to the distance between the probe and the steel target ball. A Hall-effect sensor, which measures the strength of the secondary magnetic field, built into the probe measures the distance between the probe tip and target ball. Typically measurements are instantly displayed as easy-to-read digital readings on the device display panel.
One unique challenge encountered and overcome by the present disclosure involves a hall sensor that is not part of an integrated circuit on board the instrument. As required by many Hall Effect instruments or applications, a major portion of the circuitry is assembled on the main body of the instrument, which is coupled to the Hall Effect sensor or probe via wires or cables with a length that meets the operator's needs, e.g. 1 meter. This physical distance between the Hall Effect sensor and the instrument presents an unknown wiring and connector resistance. As the Hall Effect sensor is located in the probe and sensitive to temperature changes, it presents a unique challenge for the instrument to compensate the temperature of the probe assembly including both magnetic parts and the Hall effect sensor.
It also presents more unique challenges when the operation of a Hall effect sensor based instrument involves interchange of Hall sensor probes and gage and maintaining an accurate and temperature compensated system.
However, it's been widely observed that the accuracy of a measurement from a Hall effect thickness gage drifts with temperature quite noticeably. It is also known that the resistance of the Hall Effect sensor varies with temperature. Because the measurement is directly related to the resistance of the Hall Effect sensor, a change in temperature would result in a change in the Hall Effect resistance and a change in the result of the magnetic measurement. This is also called measurement drift due to temperature.
An existing effort made in an attempt to reduce this effect was to re-calibrate the instrument whenever the instrument is in a condition called “Ball-Off condition”, i.e. whenever there are no targets. By re-calibrating, adjustment is made so that the sensor is calibrated to the current testing conditions, including temperature. However, since this Ball-Off condition does not always occur, or occur frequently enough, the measurement could drift with temperature change without the knowledge of measurement taker or operator.
Another existing effort has been seen in patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,055,768 in which a temperature sensitive current source is deployed to solve the problem of Hall effect sensor sensitivity to temperature. This current source is intended to be part of the Hall effect sensor. However, the circuit as disclosed is limited to compensating temperature effects inside the Hall sensor residing on the same chip.
Yet another existing effort seen in U.S. Pat. No. 6,281,679 involves a system that uses a magnet and a Hall Effect sensor to measure distance. However, the magnets and the Hall sensor move in relation to each other. It teaches a method by which two Hall sensors are matched so that temperature is not a factor. It also addresses methods of regulating the temperature of the magnet and Hall sensors by auxiliary temperature control, including using circulated air. Yet, it failed to mention the challenge brought by and hence the solution to the issue of temperature variation between the locals of Hall probe and the processing circuit, which is located in the instrument.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,274,287 uses a magnet and a Hall sensor to detect disturbances in the field. It also employs a temperature sensor to control the temperature compensation of its measurement on quantity of metallic debris. However, the patent did not make use of the unique property and the subsequent advantages presented by Hall sensors' sensitivity to temperature. It did not make any effort in measuring changes of Hall sensors circuitry reading attributed to temperature change. In addition, it explicitly regards the temperature response as linear, which is not an accurate representation of this line of Hall sensor devices.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore a primary objective of the present disclosure to provide a Hall Effect instrument with the capability of compensating for temperature drift consistently, accurately and in real time of operation.
It is another objective of the present disclosure to accurately measure the Hall Effect sensor resistance via a four-point ohm meter circuit to track the effect of temperature on the Hall Effect sensor.
It is yet another objective of the present disclosure to provide a Hall Effect instrument configured to constantly measure the change in Hall sensor resistance due to change in temperature and to derive a relationship between the temperature and the compensation index on a per probe basis, which has exhibited a deterministic difference observed by the present inventor.
It is yet another objective of the present disclosure to provide a Hall Effect instrument configured to make compensation of the measurement result based on system-wide temperature changes, including temperature changes caused by locale distance between the Hall sensor and the magnets, the Hall sensor (Hall probe) the processing circuit (the instrument), etc.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION TO DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block/flow diagram presenting the Hall Effect instrument with Temperature Compensation using a Four-Wire Ohm Meter Circuit technique according to present disclosure.
FIG. 2 is schematic diagram depicting the components of Probe ( 101 ) for thickness measurement embodying a temperature sensor according to the present disclosure.
FIGS. 3 a and 3 b are schematic circuit diagrams depicting the two-wire or four-wire Ohm Meter Circuit, respectively, used in the present disclosure to accurately measure the Hall Effect sensor resistance, which is highly sensitive to temperature change.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart depicting a Data Acquisition and Processing Module ( 103 ). It shows how the measurements taken from the Hall Effect Sensor ( 203 ) are acquired and processed before the measurements are used for temperature compensation.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart elaborating Temperature Compensation Module ( 104 ). It further comprises three modules, one for probe parameter compensation and one for slope compensation and the third module for calculating the Temperature Compensation Index.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart depicting how the Probe Parameter Temperature Compensation Module ( 501 ) calculates probe parameter temperature compensation, voltage, V COMP — P .
FIG. 7 is a graph showing relationship of V COMP versus Temperature, which is used to determine the temperature compensation slope for the exemplary probe.
FIG. 8 is a flow chart depicting the Probe Slope Temperature Compensation Module ( 502 ) calculating probe slope temperature compensation voltage, V COMP — S .
FIG. 9 is yet another flow chart representing how the Probe Temperature Compensation Index Calculation Module ( 503 ) calculates the Temperature Compensated Index.
FIG. 10 is a flow chart depicting steps through which the Temperature Compensated Measurement is determined from the Temperature Compensated Index.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
It should also be noted that some terms commonly used in the industry are interchangeably used in the present disclosure to denote the Hall effect sensor. For example, “Hall effect sensor”, “Hall probe” and “Hall sensor”, etc., all denote to the Hall effect sensor shown as 203 in FIG. 2 . It should also be noted that “Hall effect instrument” or “Hall sensor instrument” denotes to the whole measurement system including the Hall probe, data acquisition circuitry and the whole logic and processing circuitry (not shown). Such variations in the usage of these terms do not affect the scope of the present disclosure.
Referring to FIG. 1 , a block diagram of the presently disclosed temperature compensated Hall Effect Sensor Measurement System using a Four-Wire Ohm Meter Circuit technique is presented. As can be seen the Hall sensor measurement system includes mainly five modules or five steps used for compensating measurement drift caused by the effect of changes of operational temperature. Each of the five modules is further elaborated to provide more details in subsequent figures.
According to FIG. 1 , the Hall-Effect measurement instrument with temperature compensation in the present disclosure comprises a Hall sensor probe 101 , a Hall Effect measurement circuit 102 , a data acquisition and processing module 103 , a temperature compensation module 104 and a measurement conversion module 105 .
As can be seen in FIG. 1 that signals acquired by probe 101 , including V SNS — PIN , V MON — PIN and temperature at the probe are measured and fed into Hall Effect Measurement Circuit 102 which accurately captures three pairs of differential signals from the Hall Effect Sensor to produce the three Hall Effect Sensor Temperature Uncompensated Raw Data for the Data Acquisition and Processing Module, 103 . The three pairs of differential signals including V SNS — PIN , V MON — PIN are further elaborated in the subsequent description. Temperature uncompensated data is then sent to temperature compensation module 104 which operates to combine thermal stat temperature reading from probe 101 and probe slope from 208 (described later) and temperature compensation algorithm to produce Temperature Compensated Index. The Measurement Conversion Module, 105 , then determines the correct Hall Effect measurement, such as corrected thickness, with the information from compensation module 104 .
It should be appreciated that the temperature compensation function as novel aspect of the Hall instrument is largely carried out and executed concurrently with other normal operational functions of the Hall instrument, and can be built within the same components that otherwise serve other functions of the Hall sensor instrument. For instance, probe 101 both serves for Hall Effect measurement and temperature measurement with a temperature sensor 207 . Data acquisition and processing module mainly serves the processing need for the Hall Effect measurement, and also provides the data processing need for temperature compensation as described in the present disclosure. In other words, the steps and or modules embodied in the present disclosure can largely co-use hardware components of the Hall effect instrument that are designed for the main purpose of the Hall Effect measurement, i.e., thickness measurement.
It should also be appreciated that any of the steps or modules shown in FIG. 1 can alternatively resides in and be executed by other stand-alone or add-on components so that the method of temperature compensation on Hall Effect measurement can be used in combination of existing Hall Effect instrument. The alternatively devised add-on components are also within the framework of the present disclosure.
Reference now is turned to FIG. 2 . According to FIG. 2 , the Hall measurement system firstly embodies a probe, 101 . Probe 101 further comprises a Hall Effect sensor, 203 , magnets, 206 providing the primary magnetic field source, a temperature sensor, 207 , an electrical erasable type of memory device such as an EEPROM, 208 and the probe casing, 209 .
A thickness measurement is taken by placing probe, 101 , between a nonferrous material to be measured and a target ball, 201 . Hall Effect sensor, 203 , measures the magnetic field between target ball, 201 , and probe, 101 . Magnets, 206 , encased in the probe casing, 209 , generate a magnetic field between the probe and the target ball. This magnetic field is detected by Hall Effect sensor 203 . It then sends the Hall Effect sensor measurement signals, the Probe Slope (described later) from the EEPROM, 208 , and the temperature from temperature sensor, 207 , into the data processing circuitry of the measurement system residing on the instrument for further processing.
In addition, temperature sensor 207 provides the temperature of the magnets, Tmag, for temperature compensation module 104 . Lastly, probe 101 uses memory EEPROM 208 to record the probe specific information, such as the Probe Slope (described later) used in the Temperature Compensation Module 104 and other probe identification parameters common to existing practice. How the Probe Slope was derived is subsequently explained in relation to FIGS. 7 a and 7 b.
Referring to FIGS. 3 a and 3 b , Hall Effect Measurement Circuit 102 can be devised with two alternative embodiments, one detailed as using a Four-Wire Ohm Meter with a drive current monitoring circuit 310 in FIG. 3 a ; the other as using a Four-wire Ohm meter with a constant current source I SRC (without circuit 310 ) in FIG. 3 b.
According to FIG. 3 a , the Hall Effect measurement circuit 102 embodies a sub-circuit similar to that of four-wire ohm meter and drive current monitoring circuit 310 . Circuit 102 further embodies components producing three pairs of differential Hall Effect Sensor signals which are accurately measured to produce three Temperature Uncompensated Raw Data for Data Acquisition and Processing Module 103 . The Hall Effect Sensor 203 via Hall Effect measurement circuit, 102 , as shown in FIG. 3 a , produces three pairs of differential signals for further processing.
The three differential pairs of Hall Effect Sensor signals are defined as:
a. V SNS — PIN —Positive Hall Effect Sense Voltage—positive differential input to amplifier, 302 ; b. V SNS — NIN —Negative Hall Effect Sense Voltage—negative differential input to Amplifier, 302 ; c. V MON — PIN —Positive Hall Effect Monitor Voltage—positive differential input to Amplifier, 304 ; d. V MON — NIN —Negative Hall Effect Monitor Voltage—negative differential input to Amplifier, 304 ; e. V IMON — PIN —Positive Hall Effect Voltage modulated with current stability, V IMON —positive differential input to Amplifier, 306 ; f. V IMON — PIN —Negative Hall Effect voltage modulated with current stability, V IMON —negative differential input to Amplifier, 306 .
Continuing to the right-hand side of FIG. 3 a , the Hall Effect measurement circuit 102 produces three Temperature Uncompensated Raw Data outputs are defined as:
g. V SNS — R —Hall Effect Raw Digital Sense Voltage—digital output from the Analog to Digital Converter, 303 ; h. V MON — R —Hall Effect Raw Digital Monitor Voltage—digital output from the Analog to Digital Converter, 305 ; i. V IMON — R —Hall Effect Raw Digital voltage modulated for current stability, V IMOD ,—digital output from the Analog to Digital Converter, 307 .
It should be noted that the Hall Effect measurement circuit includes a sub-circuit that happens to be the same as that used in the existing practice involving Four Wire Ohm Meter. One of the novel aspects of the present disclosure is to repurpose the four-wire circuit for Hall Effect measurement. The temperature compensation aspect of the operation also uses the signals retrieved from the four-wire circuit. It can therefore be understood that the four-wire ohmmeter itself had existed in prior practice. However, the use of such circuit for Hall Effect measurement, thickness measurement and for further making temperature compensation of such measurements are considered novel by the present disclosure.
Still referring to FIG. 3 a , the methodology involved in the usage of Hall Effect measurement circuit 102 is herein described. Starting at the lower left-hand corner of FIG. 3 a , a constant voltage source, 309 , is used to provide a constant current, I SRC , that goes across the resistor, 308 . This constant current, I SRC , is the same constant current that goes across the Hall Effect Sensor from Point 3 to Point 4. The constant current, I SRC , continues and sinks into the amplifier, 301 . A constant current, I SRC , is provided across the Hall Effect Sensor and a Kelvin connection at Points 1 and 2 are made to ensure proper and accurate measurement of a resistor.
With the accurate measurement of the Hall Effect Sensor resistance by measuring the voltage across Points 1 and 2, we have V MON — PIN and V MON — NIN . These two differential signals, V MON — PIN and V MON — NIN , can be measured by connecting them to a differential amplifier, 304 , followed by an Analog to Digital Converter, 305 . The resultant digital signal, V MON — R , represents the voltage across the Hall Effect Sensor.
Continuing with FIG. 3 a , by Ohm's Law, the resistance of the Hall Effect Sensor can be expressed as V MON — R /I SRC . Since I SRC is a constant current, then V MON — R is proportional to the resistance of the Hall Effect Sensor. Since the resistance of the Hall Effect Sensor is also proportional to temperature, we now have a measurement, V MON — R , which is proportional to temperature. This is one of several signals used to compensate measurement due to temperature drift.
Similarly, the Hall Effect Sensor Voltage, V SNS — R , via the differential signals, V SNS — PIN and V SNS — NIN , are measured via amplifier, 302 , and Analog to Digital Converter, 303 , to produce V SNS — R .
And the constant current, I SRC , via V IMOD — PIN and V IMON — NIN are measured by amplifier, 306 , and Analog to Digital Converter, 307 , to produce V IMOD — R .
Lastly V MON — R , V SNS — R , V IMOD — R , as well as temperature of the magnets and Probe Slope (later described) can be used to further determine how to compensate for temperature drift.
Reference is now made to FIG. 3 b . An alternative implementation can be viewed by substituting another design for FIG. 3 a . As for the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 a , the origin of V IMOD — R is the voltage across resistor 308 . In this way VIMOD — R monitors the performance of the constant current drive circuit. Components 301 , 308 and 309 make a constant current source used to drive a current through the Hall Effect sensor 203 . If the Voltage Source 309 changes for any reason, V IMOD — R will detect this and be used to compensate for the matching changes in Vmon and Vsns.
It should be noted that voltage source 309 can be an AC or DC source, bearing in mind that drive current monitoring circuit 310 is effective when AC is used.
Considering as the compensation the voltage source 309 does not need to be extremely stable for excellent instrument performance. Therefore, V IMOD is used to compensate or performance limitations of circuits inside the gage only in this preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 3 a . V IMOD does not compensate the probe. In other words, V IMOD is not a must needed component in order for the system in the present disclosure to function as intended. It should be appreciated that with or without the usage of V IMOD and its associated components are all within the scope of the present disclosure.
As an example, referring to FIG. 3 b , an alternative embodiment is shown to be without V IMOD . A constant current source forcing a current Isrc through the Hall device 209 Point 3 to Point 4. It should be noted that when referring to FIG. 3 b as a replacement for FIG. 3 a , the value Isrc can be used to substitute the use of V IMOD in the subsequent implementations. In this regard, Isrc can be assumed as a constant, which in an exemplary case, to be about 1 mA.
Reference is now turned to FIG. 4 which presents a more detailed diagram of the Data Acquisition and Processing Module, 103 . This module, Data Acquisition and Processing Module, 103 , further comprises two modules: Data Acquisition Module, 401 , and the Signal Processing Module, 402 . The Data Acquisition Module takes in the three inputs, V MON — R , V SNS — R , V IMON — R or Isrc from circuits shown in FIGS. 3 a and 3 b , and through a magnitude detection circuit, produces three signals, V MON — DA , V SNS — DA , and I DA . In FIG. 4 , the three temperature Uncompensated Raw Data from circuits shown in FIGS. 3 a and 3 b are acquired and processed to produce the three temperature Uncompensated Filtered Data for the temperature Compensation Module, 104 .
Three signals, V MON — DA , V SNS — DA , I DA , would then go to the Signal Processing Module, 402 , where they get filtered to produce three final signal magnitudes, V MON — F , V SNS — F , and V IMON — F , for the next stage, Temperature Compensation Module, 104 .
The three Temperature Uncompensated Filtered Data outputs are defined as:
j. V SNS — F —Hall Effect Filtered Digital Sense Voltage—filtered output from the Signal Processing Module, 402 ; k. V MON — F —Hall Effect Filtered Digital Monitor Voltage—filtered output from the Signal Processing Module, 402 ; l. V IMON — F —Hall Effect Filtered Digital V IMOD Voltage modulated with current stability—filtered output from the Signal Processing Module, 402 .
Reference is now made to FIG. 5 with a more detailed diagram of the Temperature Compensation Module, 104 of FIG. 1 . Temperature Compensation Module, 104 , further comprises three modules: Probe Parameter Temperature Compensation Module, 501 , Probe Slope Temperature Compensation Module, 502 , and Probe Temperature Compensation Index Calculation Module, 503 . In this stage, the three Temperature Uncompensated Filtered Data, along with the magnet temperature reading from the Temperature Sensor, 207 , and the Probe Slope from the EEPROM, 208 , are used to calculate the Temperature Compensated Index.
The Probe Parameter Temperature Compensation Module, 501 , receives four inputs: V MON — F , V SNS — F , and V IMON — F from 103 and Temperature from 207 , Tmag. This module, 501 , then produces a first compensation factor V COMP — P . For more details, please see FIG. 6
Probe Slope Temperature Compensation Module, 502 , receives two inputs: Temperature from 207 , Tmag, and Probe Slope from 208 . This module, 502 , then produces a second compensation factor V COMP — S . For more details, please see FIG. 8 .
Probe Temperature Compensation Index Calculation Module, 503 , receives two inputs: V COMP — P and V COMP — S . This module, 503 , then produces Temperature Compensated Index. For more details, please see FIG. 9 .
Referring now to FIG. 6 , a more detailed diagram of the Probe Parameter Temperature Compensation Module, 501 of FIG. 5 is presented. The four inputs, V MON — F , V SNS — F , and V IMON — F from 103 and Tmag from 207 are received through Parameter Input, 510 , and sent to the Probe Parameter Temperature Compensation Calculator, 512 , which produces the product of Probe Parameter Temperature Compensation Module 501 . As can be seen below, Probe parameter Temperature Compensation Calculator 512 can be configured to carry out calculations in one of the following two equations, Eq. 1 or Eq. 2.
V COMP — P =V SNS — F +V MON — F *(α+ V SNS — F *β)+ T mag*(γ+ V SNS — F *δ) Eq. 1
wherein,
Tmag is the temperature from the Temperature Sensor 207 ; α, β, γ and δ are constants based upon the manufacturing tolerances of probe 101 . They can be obtained by those skilled in the art according to Eq. 1, and empirical data from conducting experiments on the probe of each probe type, yielding readings of the V SNS — F , V MON — F , I SRC from the corresponding Four-Wire ohmmeter and the temperature reading, T mag for the probe.
Once V COMP — P is calculated, it goes through the Probe Parameter Temperature Voltage Output, 514 , and is sent to the Probe Temperature Compensation Index Calculation Module, 503 of FIG. 5 .
As can be seen, the temperature compensation calculation according to Eq. 1 reflects temperature changes both in Hall sensor, through reading V MON — F and V SNS — F , and near magnets, through Tmag.
It should be noted that in Eq. 1, it is assumed that I SRC is a constant and the factor represented by V IMON — R is not reflected in it. Therefore Eq. 1 is suitable to be used for embodiment presented associated to FIG. 3 b , wherein the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 a does not include a sub-circuit for monitoring the stability of I SRC .
It should be noted in connection to FIG. 3 a that V IMON — F is used to monitor how stable the constant current, I SRC , is and to factor in the stability of I SRC into the temperature compensation.
For the embodiment of the measurement circuit 310 with voltage source monitoring ( FIG. 3 a ),
V COMP — P =((( V SNS — F )+(( V MON — F −V IMON — F )* A )+((( V MON — F −V IMON — F )*( V SNS — F )* B )/( V IMON — F) )+(( T mag−22)*( V IMON — F )* C )+(( T mag−22)*( V SNS — F )* D ))/( V IMON — F )) Eq. 2
wherein there are six major contributing parts to V COMP — P :
i) V SNS — F is the factor involving the Hall Effect Filtered Digital Sense Voltage; ii) ((V MON — F −V IMON — F )*A) provides temperature compensation based on the Hall sensor temperature as indicated by V MON — F , with coefficient A modulating the magnitude of this portion of the temperature compensation, which is intended to correct the “ball-off” situation, but has an equal impact on “ball-on” situation; iii) ((V MON — F −V IMON — F )*(V SNS — F )*B)/(V IMON — F )) is a scalar temperature compensation factor based on the Hall sensor temperature as indicated by V MON — F , and wherein coefficient B modulates the amount of correction, which is intended to correct the ball-off situation and accounts for manufacturing tolerances of the Probe and Hall Effect Sensor; iv) ((Tmag−22)*(V IMON — F )*C) provides offset temperature compensation based on the magnet temperature as indicated by Tmag, and wherein C is the factor involving the Tmag from Temperature Sensor 207 and accounts for the specific probe manufacturing tolerances; v) ((Tmag−22)*(V SNS — F )*D) provides scalar temperature compensation based on the magnet temperature as indicated by Tmag, and wherein D is a factor involving the Tmag from Temperature Sensor 207 and accounts for the specific probe manufacturing tolerances.
It should be noted that reference temperature herein used in the equation (22° C.) is an exemplary ambient temperature. Different values can be used when calibration is done differently.
A, B, C and D are constants based upon the manufacturing tolerances of probe 101 . They can be obtained by those skilled in the art according to Eq. 2, and empirical data from conducting experiments on the probe of each probe type, yielding readings of the V SNS — F , V MON — F , V IMON — F from the corresponding Four-Wire ohmmeter and the temperature reading, T mag for the probe used in the experiment.
Once the V COMP — F , is calculated, it goes through the Probe Parameter Temperature Voltage Output, 514 , and is sent to the Probe Temperature Compensation Index Calculation Module, 503 .
Again it can be noted that Eq. 1 compensates measurement inaccuracies due to temperature drift quite well without using the factor related to V IMON — F . V IMON — F is used solely to monitor how stable the constant current I SCR is.
Eq. 2 provides better temperature compensation taking into account when I SCR varies. In addition, measurement variation due to interdependencies between the four inputs (V SNS — F , V MON —F , V IMON — F , Temperature) are compensated via factors ii) through v).
Reference is now made to FIG. 7 which present a methodology herein employed to determine the per probe relationship between Temperature and V COMP slope called V COMP-S .
FIG. 7 represents an exemplary probe-specific slope drawing by using experimental data from a case collected from the probe for various temperature settings. The exemplary Hall Effect measurement circuit for the specific probe as shown in FIG. 3 a is measured with various temperatures. V MON — F , V SNS — F and V IMON — F are drawn from the measurement and V COMP — P is calculated by using Eq. 2. FIG. 7 is then plotted representing the relationship between Tmag and V COMP — P .
The Probe Slope derived from the experimental data graph similar to FIG. 7 using a linear curve fit is stored in the EEPROM, 208 , to be retrieved for FIG. 8 .
FIG. 8 presents a more detailed diagram of the Probe Slope Temperature Compensation Module, 502 .
In parallel to the calculation of V COMP — P , V COMP — S is calculated in this module. The Probe Slope, from the EEPROM, 208 , and the magnet's temperature from the Temperature Sensor, 207 , are received through the Parameter Input, 520 , and sent to the Probe Slope Temperature Compensation Calculator, 522 . The calculator used is in the following format:
V COMP — S =Probe Slope*( T mag−Reference Temperature) Eq. 3
where V COMP — S adjusts the overall V COMP based upon the probe's response to magnet's temperature.
Once V COMP — S is calculated, it goes through the Probe Slope Temperature Voltage Output, 524 , and is sent to the Probe Temperature Compensation Index Calculation Module, 503 .
FIG. 9 presents a more detailed diagram of the Probe Temperature Compensation Index Calculation Module, 503 .
The V COMP — P from 501 and V COMP — S from 502 are received through the Parameter Input, 530 , and sent to the Temperature Compensated Index Calculator, 532 . The calculator used is in the following format:
Temperature Compensation Index= V COMP — P −V COMP — S Eq. 4
Once the Temperature Compensated Index is calculated, it goes through the Temperature Compensated Index Output, 534 , and is sent to the Measurement Conversion Module, 105 .
At last, FIG. 10 provides a more detailed exhibit of the Measurement Conversion Module, 105 showing how the temperature compensated thickness measurement is converted from Temperature Compensated Index. In order to use the temperature compensated index V comp (right column in FIG. 10 ) for a specific probe, a specific target is used in experiments to derive measured thickness at the reference ambient temperature (22° C.).
Temperature Compensated Index, or compensated Hall Effect reading V comp is then fed into the Measurement Conversion Module 105 and converted by a probe-target specific conversion, such as shown in FIG. 10 . It is known to those skilled in the art to obtain empirical data between Hall Effect reading and thickness measurement for any specific set of probe and target. The novel aspect of the invention herein presented is that the effect of temperature change to Hall Effect reading is compensated and presented as “compensated index V comp ”. The temperature compensated or corrected measurement (thickness) is therefrom accurately produced. In the exemplary conversion used in FIG. 10 , Temperature Compensated Index V comp is provided to measurement conversion module 105 . Based on the V comp and through linearly interpolation, an accurate measurement is produced by the conversion module 105 .
Although the present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments thereof, many other variations and modifications and other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art. It is preferred, therefore, that the present invention not be limited by the specific disclosure herein. | Disclosed is a Hall Effect instrument with the capability of compensating for temperature drift consistently, accurately and in real time of operation. The instrument embodies a four-point ohm meter circuit measuring Hall Effect sensor resistance and tracking the effect of temperature on the Hall Effect sensor. The instrument takes into account a relationship between the temperature and a temperature compensation index on a per probe basis, which has exhibited a deterministic difference observed by the present inventor. | 6 |
[0001] This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/616,111, filed on Oct. 5, 2004, and incorporates the teachings thereof herein in their entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] A process for the synthesis of polynorbornene or “poly(bicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene)” or polyNB for brevity is reported in U.S. Pat. No. 2,721,189. However this original material was found to contain two types of polymers, one brittle, the other thermoformable and “drawable”. The brittle polymer was later found to be a low molecular weight saturated polymer which was termed an addition type polymer; and, the thermoformable polymer was shown to be formed by ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP). A ROMP polymer has a different structure compared with that of the addition polymer in that (i) the ROMP polymer of one or more NB-functional monomers, contains a repeat unit with one less cyclic unit than did the starting monomer, and, (ii) these are linked together in an unsaturated backbone characteristic of a ROMP polymer and is shown below.
[0003] Despite being formed from the same monomer, an addition-polymerized polyNB is clearly distinguishable over the polymer made by ROMP polymerization. Because of the different (addition) mechanism, the repeating unit of the former has no backbone carbon-carbon double bond unsaturation as shown below:
[0004] The difference in structures of ROMP and addition polymers of NB-functional monomers is evidenced in their properties, e.g., thermal properties. The addition type polymer of NB has a high glass transition temperature (Tg) of about 370° C. The unsaturated ROMP polymer of NB exhibits a Tg of about 35° C., and exhibits poor thermal stability at high temperature above 200° C. because of its high degree of carbon-carbon unsaturation.
[0005] Over the years, reaction conditions have been optimized so as to enable one to choose, and selectively make, either the low molecular weigh addition polymer, or the ROMP polymer. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,330,815 indicates that only the addition polymer is synthesized with TiCl 4 /Et 2 AlCl or Pd(C 6 H 5 CN) 2 Cl 2 , under particular conditions, except that the polymers produced are only those in the molecular weight range from 500 to 750 in which range they are too brittle for any practical application.
[0006] Addition polymers of norbornene have been shown to be produced with “zirconocene type” catalysts such as those taught by Kaminsky et al. These polymers have been found to be a highly crystalline form of a “norbornene-addition polymer”, that is, an addition polymer of a NB-functional monomer, which is totally insoluble, and reportedly does not melt until it decomposes at about 600° C. (under vacuum to avoid oxidation). It is therefore unprocessable (W. Kaminsky et al., J. Mol. Cat. 74, (1992), 109; W. Kaminsky et. al. Makromol. Chem, Macromol. Symp., 47, (1991) 83; and W. Kaminsky, Shokubai, 33, (1991) 536.). An added distinguishing characteristic of the zirconocene catalyst system is that it catalyzes the copolymerization of ethylene and norbornene. In such copolymers, the amount of NB incorporated into the ethylene/NB copolymer can be varied from high to low (W. Kaminsky et. al. Polym. Bull., 1993, 31, 175).
[0007] The polymer formed with a zirconocene catalyst can incorporate ethylene (or compounds containing ethylenic unsaturation at a terminal end thereof) in its backbone, randomly, whether in runs of a multiplicity of repeating units, or even a single unit. It should also be noted that the ionic metallocene catalysts, such as zirconocenes and hafnocenes, use metals from Group IVB as the cation with a compatible weakly coordinating anion.
[0008] Research has continued toward the production of a melt-processable addition polymer of a NB-type monomer, and is the subject of an on-going effort. By “melt-processable” it is meant that the polymer is adequately flowable to be thermoformed in a temperature window above its glass transition temperature (Tg) but below its decomposition temperature. Norbornene monomer, bicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene or “NB” for brevity, and substituted embodiments thereof, such as ethylidenenorbornene or decylnorbornene, and particularly those monomers of NB having at least one substituent in the 5- (and/or 6-) positions are commonly referred to as “norbornene-functional monomers.” The foregoing monomers are characterized by containing a repeating unit resulting from an addition polymerized derivative of bicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene. A first NB-functional monomer may be polymerized by coordination polymerization to form (i) an addition homopolymer; or, (ii) with a second NB-functional monomer, either one (first or second) of which is present in a major molar proportion relative to the other, to form an addition NB-functional copolymer; or, (iii) with a second monomer which is not an NB-functional monomer, present in a minor molar proportion relative to the first, to form an addition copolymer with plural repeating units of at least one NB-functional monomer.
[0009] A few years ago the reactivity of cationic, weakly ligated, transition metal compounds was studied in the polymerization of olefins and strained ring compounds, (A. Sen, T. Lai and R. Thomas, J. of Organometal. Chemistry 358 (1988) 567-568, C. Mehler and W. Risse, Makromol. Chem., Rapid Commun. 12, 255-259 (1991)). Pd complexes incorporating the weakly ligating CH 3 CN (acetonitrile) ligand in combination with a weakly coordinating counteranion could only be used with aggressive solvents such as acetonitrile or nitromethane. When Sen et al used the complexes to polymerize NB, a high yield of a homopolymer which was insoluble in CHCl 3 , CH 2 Cl 2 and C 6 H 6 , was obtained.
[0010] The identical experimental procedure, with the same catalyst and reactants, when practiced by Risse et al used one-half the molar amount of each component. Risse et al reported the synthesis of a poly-NB homopolymer which had a number average molecular weight (Mn) of 24,000. In other runs, using different ratios of NB to Pd 2+ compound, poly-NBs having number average molecular weights of 38,000 and 70,000 respectively with narrow polydispersities Mw/Mn in the range from 1.36 to 1.45, and viscosities in the range from 0.22 to 0.45 dL/g were made. A homopolymer which had a viscosity of 1.1 was synthesized, which upon extrapolation from the molecular weight data given for the prior runs, indicates the weight average molecular weight (Mw) was over 1,000,000. See Mehler and Risse Makromol. Chem., Rapid Commun. 12, 255-9 (1991), experimental section at the bottom of page 258 and the GPC data in Table 1 on page 256. The polymers were soluble in 1,2-dichlorobenzene in which Risse et. al. measured molecular weights by GPC (gel permeation chromatography) and viscometry, as did Maezawa et al in EP 445,755A, discussed below.
[0011] Maezawa et al disclosed the production of high molecular weight NB polymers with a two-component catalyst system. The disclosure states that the polymer is preferably formed in the molecular weight range from 100,000 to 10,000,000. The manner of obtaining the desired molecular weight is shown to be by terminating the polymerization reaction after a predetermined period. Such termination is effected by decomposing the catalyst with an external terminating agent such as acidified methanol, which is added to the reaction to stop the polymerization. There is no internal control of the molecular weight within a predetermined range by an agent that does not deactivate the catalyst.
[0012] Specifically, three known methods of controlling the molecular weight are suggested: (i) varying the amount of the transition metal compound used; (ii) varying the polymerization temperature; and (iii) using hydrogen as a chain transfer agent “CTA” (see page 9, lines 20-23 of the EP 445,755A disclosure) as suggested by Schnecko, Caspary and Degler in “Copolymers of Ethylene with Bicyclic Dienes” Die Angewandte Makromolekulare Chemic, 20 (1971) 141-152 (Nr.283). Despite the foregoing suggestions, there is no indication in EP 445,755A that any of them was effective, as is readily concluded from the illustrative examples in the specification. As stated in their illustrative Example 1 in which the catalyst included a combination of nickel bisacetylacetonate Ni(acac) 2 and methaluminoxane (“MAO”), a polyNB having Mw of 2.22×10 6 (by GPC) was formed. As shown in Table 1 of EP 445,755A, only Examples 5, 6 and 7, in which the (triphenylphosphine)Ni-containing catalysts were used, made homopolymers with weight average moleculoar weights of 34,000; 646,000; and 577,000 respectively. These nickel catalysts with a triphenylphosphine ligand, are shown to have relatively lower productivity than the biscyclooctadienylnickel (see Example 3) and biscyclopentadienylnickel (Exzmple 4) which were also used.
[0013] Allylnickelhalides alone (no Lewis acid cocatalyst) have been used to produce polyNB. The molecular weights of the NB polymer produced in these studies were within the range of 1000 to 1500 (L. Porri, G. Natta, M. C. Gallazzi Chim. Ind. (Milan), 46 (1964), 428). It had been thought that the low yields and the low molecular weights of the polyNB were due to deactivation of the catalysts.
[0014] EP 504,418A discloses the use of a nickel catalyst as a transition metal equivalent to zirconium for the production of high molecular weight norbornene polymer with a three component catalyst system (see Example 117). The three-component catalyst was made in situ by combining triisobutylaluminum; dimethylanilinium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)borate; and, Ni(acac) 2 in toluene. The polymer recovered had a weight average molecular weight (Mw) of 1.21×10 6 and a polydispersity of 2.37. Though essentially the entire specification is directed to the copolymerization of cycloolefins with α-olefins using zirconium-containing catalysts, Okamoto et al did not react norbornene and α-olefin with a nickel catalyst. Nowhere in the EP 504,418A specification is there a teaching that the use of an α-olefinic CTA will control molecular weight. There is no teaching of a polymer with a terminal olefinic end-group. Nor is there any teaching that an α-olefin would do anything but copolymerize.
[0015] The failure to recognize that an a-olefin might function as a CTA, with or without the presence of an alkylaluminum cocatalyst, was understandable since there existed a large body of work related to the copolymerization of cycloolefins with α-olefins, and in none of such polymerizations was there any disclosure that the α-olefin might function as an effective CTA. Further, the great reactivity of ethylene or propylene buttressed an expectation that copolymerization, not chain transfer, is the logical and expected result.
[0016] Acyclic olefins, such as 1-hexene, are known to be effective for utilization as a CTA in the ROMP of cyclic olefins, to reduce molecular weight via a cross-metathesis mechanism. ROMP involves a metal carbene (or metal alkylidene) active center which interacts with the cyclic olefin monomer to afford a metallocycloalkane intermediate. A repeating unit contains a carbon-carbon double bond (—C═C—) for every carbon-carbon double bond in the monomer. How effectively the acyclic olefin reduces the molecular weight of the copolymer formed depends on the structure of the olefin and on the catalyst system (K. J. Ivin, Olefin Metathesis, Academic Press, 1983). In contrast, addition (or vinyl type) polymerization of olefins and diolefins involves the insertion of the monomer into a metal-carbon a-bond, as in Ni—C, or Pd—C. Despite the many disclosures relating to the formation of copolymers of NB-type monomers, and the well-known fact that an olefin is an effective chain transfer agent in a ROMP polymerization, it will now be evident why the difference in the mechanisms of chain termination failed to suggest the use of an olefin as a chain transfer agent in the copolymerization taught herein.
[0017] U.S. Pat. No. 5,571,881 discloses addition polymers derived from norbornene-functional monomers that are terminated with an olefinic moiety derived from a chain transfer agent selected from a compound having a terminal olefinic double bond between adjacent carbon atoms, excluding styrenes, vinyl ethers, and conjugated dienes wherein at least one of said carbon atoms has two hydrogen atoms attached thereto. The addition polymers of described in this patent are prepared from a single or multicomponent catalyst system including a Group VIII metal ion source. These catalyst systems are unique in that they catalyze the insertion of the chain transfer agent exclusively at a terminal end of the polymer chain. U.S. Pat. No. 5,571,881 more specifically discloses a process for controlling the molecular weight of an addition polymer comprising repeating units polymerized from one or more norbornene-functional monomers, said process comprising reacting a reaction mixture comprising at least one norbornene-functional monomer, a solvent for said monomer and an effective amount of a single or multicomponent catalyst system each comprising a Group VIII transition metal source and a chain transfer agent selected from a compound having a terminal olefinic double bond between adjacent carbon atoms, excluding styrenes, vinyl ethers, and conjugated dienes, and at least one of said adjacent carbon atoms has two hydrogen atoms attached thereto.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0018] This invention is based upon the discovery that a catalyst system which is comprised of (a) palladium or a palladium compound and (b) a fluorinated alcohol is effective for polymerizing norbornene-functional monomers into polynorbornene-functional polymers. It has been further discovered that this catalyst system is more effective in polymerizing certain norbornene-functional monomers that are difficult to polymerize, such as norbornene ester monomers, than prior art catalyst systems. The activity of the catalyst systems of this invention can be further improved with respect to polymerizing some monomers by including a Lewis acid and/or a ligand, such as a phosphine or a carbene, in the system. In any case, the catalyst systems of this invention offer the advantage of being soluble in a wide variety of solvents, relatively inexpensive, and capable of polymerizing many norbornene-functional monomers that are difficult to polymerize with conventional catalyst systems.
[0019] The subject invention more specifically discloses a catalyst system that is especially useful for the polymerization of norbornene-functional monomers which is comprised of (a) palladium or a palladium compound and (b) a fluorinated alcohol.
[0020] The present invention also reveals a process for synthesizing a norbornene-functional polymer which comprised polymerizing a norbornene-functional monomer in a solvent in the presence of a catalyst system that is comprised of (a) palladium or a palladium compound and (b) a fluorinated alcohol. Such polymerizations will typically be conducted at a temperature which is within the range of −20° C. to 200° C.
[0021] The subject invention further discloses a catalyst system that is especially useful for the polymerization of norbornene-functional monomers which is comprised of (a) a procatalyst reactant of the structural formula PdXX′L n L′m, wherein X represents a first anionic ligand, wherein X′ represents a second anionic ligand, wherein the second anionic ligand can be the same or different from the first anionic ligand, wherein L represents a first neutral ligand, wherein L′ represents and second neutral ligand, wherein n is an integer from 0 to 3, wherein m is an integer from 0 to 3, and wherein the second neutral ligand can be the same or different from the first neutral ligand, and (b) an activator of the structural formula G 4-n -X-A n , wherein X represents a member selected from the group consisting of carbon, silicon, and germanium, wherein G represents a hydrocarbyl radical that is substituted with at least one fluorine atom, wherein A represents a —OH group, a —COOH group, or a —C(O)Cl group, and wherein n represents the integer 1 or the integer 2.
[0022] The catalyst system can optionally be further comprised of a cocatalyst of the structural formula MR n , wherein M represents a metal selected from the group consisting of Zn, Ti, Zr, Nb, V, Ta, Sc, Li, Na, Mg, Ca, and Y, wherein the R groups can be the same or different and are selected from the group consisting of alkoxide groups, halides, amides, and phosphides, and hydrocarbyl groups, and wherein n represents an integer from 1 to 6. The cocatalyst can be heterogeneous or homogeneous and can be supported supported on carbon black or polystyrene modified with a phosphine, sulfur, or oxygen.
[0023] The catalyst system can optionally also contain a neutral ligand. The neutral ligand will typically be of the structural formula GR 3 , wherein G represents a member selected from the group consisting of N, P, As, Sb, S and O, and wherein the R groups can be the same or different and represent hydrocarbyl groups or fluorocarbon groups. Some preferred neutral ligands include those of the structural formula:
wherein the R groups can be the same or different and represent hydrocarbyl groups or fluorocarbons radicals. The catalyst system can also optionally contain a heterogeneous base of the structural formula: L + A − , wherein L+ is selected from the group consisting of K + , Li + , Na + , Mg + , Ca + , Rb + , H + , Ba + , and Cs + , and wherein A − is selected from the group consisting of CO3-, X—, and SO4-, wherein X represents a halogen atom.
[0024] The subject invention further reveals a catalyst system that is especially useful for the polymerization of norbornene-functional monomers which is comprised of (a) palladium or a palladium compound and (b) a member selected from the group consisting of fluorinated alcohols, fluorinated acids, and ionic liquids.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0025] The norbornene-functional monomers that can be polymerized utilizing the catalyst systems of this invention include norbornadiene which can be substituted or unsubstituted. For instance, the norbornene-functional monomer can be of the structural formula
wherein the R groups and the R′ groups can be the same or different and represent hydrogen atoms, halogen atoms, branched and unbranched alkyl groups containing from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, branched and unbranched haloalkyl groups containing from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, substituted and unsubstituted cycloalkyl groups containing from 5 to 20 carbon atoms, alkylidenyl groups containing from 1 to 6 carbon atoms, arayl groups containing from 6 to 40 carbon atoms, haloaryl groups containing from 6 to 40 carbon atoms, aralkyl groups containing from 7 to 15 carbon atoms, haloaralkyl groups containing from 7 to 15 carbon atoms, alkynyl groups containing from 3 to 20 carbon atoms, branched and unbranched alkenyl groups containing from 3 to 20 carbon atoms, provided the alkenyl radical does not contain a terminal double bond, that is the double bond in the radical is an internal olefinic bond, or vinyl; two R groups when taken with the two ring carbon atoms to which they are attached can represent saturated and unsaturated cyclic groups containing 4 to 12 carbon atoms or an aromatic ring containing 6 to 17 carbon atoms; and wherein z represents an integer from 1 to 5. It should be noted that when R represents an alkylidene radical the carbon atom to which the alkylidene radical is connected does not have another substituent, and when the carbon atom to which the R group is connected has a double bond the R group cannot be an alkylidenyl group. R′ will normally represent a hydrogen atom. However, in some cases it is advantageous for R′ to represent a vinyl group.
[0026] Examples of norbornene-functional monomers include norbornadiene, 2-norbornene, 5-methyl-2-norbornene, 5-hexyl-2-norbornene, 5-ethylidenyl-2-norbornene, vinylnorbornene, dicyclopentadiene, dihydrodicyclopentadiene, tetracyclododecene, methyltetracyclododecene, tetracyclododecadiene, dimethyltetracyclododecene, ethyltetracyclododecene, ethylidenyl tetracyclododecene, phenyltetracyclodecene, trimers of cyclopentadiene (for example, symmetrical and asymmetrical trimers) and halogenated norbornadiene and norbornene-functional monomers wherein the R groups independently represent hydrogen, halogen (for example, Cl, F, I, Br) and fully halogenated alkyl groups of the formula C n F 2n+1 wherein n represents the number of carbon atoms from 1 to 20. Representative substituents are trifluoromethyl, —C 4 F 9 , —C 10 F 21 , and —C 20 F 41 .
[0027] The halogenated norbornene-functional monomers can be synthesized via the Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene with the appropriate halogenated dieneophile as shown in the following reaction schemes:
wherein R′ independently represents hydrogen or F and n is an integer from 1 to 20.
[0028] Some further examples of norbornene-functional monomers that can be polymerized with the catalyst systems of this invention include those of the structural formula:
[0029] Some representative examples of norbornene-type monomers that can be polymerized with the catalyst systems of this invention include, but are not limited, to following: norbornene (bicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene), 5-ethylidenenorbornene, dicyclopentadiene, tricyclo[5.2.1.0 2,6 ]deca-8-ene, 5-methoxycarbonylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5-methylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene-5-carboxylic acid, 5-methylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5-ethylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5-ethoxycarbonylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5-n-propoxycarbonylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5-i-propoxycarbonylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5-n-butoxycarbonylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5-(2-methylpropoxy)carbonylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5-(1-methylpropoxy)carbonylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5-t-butoxycarbonylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5-cyclohexyloxycarbonylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5-(4′-t-butylcyclohexyloxy)carbonylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5-phenoxycarbonylbicyclo[2.2.]hept-2-ene, 5-tetrahydrofuranyloxycarbonylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5-tetrahydropyranyloxycarbonylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, bicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene-5-carboxylic acid, 5-acetyloxybicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5-methyl-5-methoxycarbonylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5-methyl-5-ethoxycarbonylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5-methyl-5-n-propoxycarbonylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5-methyl-5-i-propoxycarbonylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5-methyl-5-n-butoxycarbonylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5-methyl-5-(2-methylpropoxy)carbonylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5-methyl-5-(1-methylpropoxy)carbonylbicyclo [2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5-methyl-5-t-butoxycarbonylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5-methyl-5-cyclohexyloxycarbonylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5-methyl-5-(4′-t-butylcyclohexyloxy)carbonylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5-methyl-5-phenoxycarbonylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5-methyl-5-tetrahydrofuranyloxycarbonylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5-methyl-5-tetrahydropyranyloxycarbonylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5-methyl-5-acetyloxybicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5-methyl-5-cyanobicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5,6-di(methoxycarbonyl)bicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5,6-di(ethoxycarbonyl)bicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5,6-di(n-propoxycarbonyl)-bicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5,6-di(i-propoxycarbonyl)bicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5,6-di(n-butoxycarbonyl)bicyclo [2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5,6-di(t-butoxycarbonyl)bicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5,6-di(phenoxycarbonyl)-bicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5,6-di(tetrahydrofuranyloxycarbonyl)bicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5,6-di(tetrahydropyranyloxycarbonyl)bicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 5,6-dicarboxyanhydridebicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene, 8-methoxycarbonyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-ethoxycarbonyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-n-propoxycarbonyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-i-propoxycarbonyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-n-butoxycarbonyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-(2-methylpropoxy)carbonyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec3-ene, 8-(1-methylpropoxy)carbonyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dode-c-3-ene, 8-t-butoxycarbonyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-cyclohexyloxycarbonyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-(4′-t-butylcyclohexyloxy)carbonyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]-dodec-3-ene, 8-phenoxycarbonyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-tetrahydrofuranyloxycarbonyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]-3-dodecene, 8-tetrahydropyranyloxycarbonyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-acetyloxytetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-methyl-8-methoxycarbonyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2.5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-methyl-8-ethoxycarbonyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1.sup.2,5.1.sup.7,10-]dodec-3-ene, 8-methyl-8-n-propoxycarbonyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-methyl-8-i-propoxycarbonyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-methyl-8-n-butoxycarbonyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-methyl-8-(2-methylpropoxy)carbonyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-methyl-8-(1-methylpropoxy)carbonyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-methyl-8-t-butoxycarbonyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-methyl-8-cyclohexyloxycarbonyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-methyl-8-(4′-t-butylcyclohexyloxy)carbonyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-methyl-8-phenoxycarbonyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-methyl-8-tetrahydrofuranyloxycarbo-nyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]-3-dodecene, 8-methyl-8-tetrahydropyranyloxycarbonyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]-3-dodecene, 8-methyl-8-acetyloxytetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-methyl-8-cyanotetracyclo[4.4.0.1. 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8,9-di(methoxycarbonyl)tetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8,9-di(ethoxycarbonyl)tetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8,9-di(n-propoxycarbonyl)tetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8,9-di(i-propoxycarbonyl)tetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8,9-di(n-butoxycarbonyl)tetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8,9-di(t-butoxycarbonyl)tetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8,9-di(cyclohexyloxycarbonyl)tetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8,9-di(phenoxycarbonyl)tetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8,9-di(tetrahydrofuranyloxycarbonyl)tetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]-3-dodecene, 8,9-di(tetrahydropyranyloxycarbonyl)tetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]-3-dodecene, 8,9-dicarboxyanhydridetetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, tetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1. 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, tetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene-8-carboxylic acid, 8-methyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene-8-carboxylic acid, 8-methyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-ethyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-fluorotetracyclo[4.4.0.1.sup.2,5.1.sup.7,10]dodec-3-ene, 8-fluoromethyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1. 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-difluoromethyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1. 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-pentafluoromethyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-difluoroethyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8,8-difluorotetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8,9-difluoro tetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene 8,8-bis(trifluoromethyl)tetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8,9-bis(trifluoromethyl)tetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-methyl-8-trifluoromethyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8,8,9-trifluorotetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8,8,9-tris(trifluoromethyl)tetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8,8,9,9-tetrafluorotetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8,8,9,9-tetrakis(trifluoromethyl)tetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8,8-difluoro-9,9-bis(trifluoromethyl)tetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8,9-difluoro-8,9-bis(trifluoromethyl)tetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8,8,9-trifluoro-9-trifluoromethyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1. 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8,8,9-trifluoro-9-trifluoromethoxytetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8,8,9-trifluoro-9-pentafluoropropoxytetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-fluoro-8-pentafluoroethyl-9,9-bis(trifluoromethyl)tetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-9-difluoro-8-heptafluoroisopropyl-9-trifluoromethyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]-dodec-3-ene, 8-chloro-8,9,9-trifluorotetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8,9-dichloro-8,9-bis(trifluoromethyl)tetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-(2,2,2-trifluorocarboxyethyl)tetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-methyl-8-(2,2,2-trifluorocarboxyethyl)tetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 ]dodec-3-ene, tricyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 ]undeca-3-ene, tricyclo[6.2.1.0 1,8 ]undeca-9-ene, tetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 .0 1,6 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-methyltetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 .1 1,6 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-ethylidenetetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 . 17,12 ]dodec-3-ene, 8-ethylidenetetracyclo[4.4.0.1 2,5 .1 7,10 .0 1,6 ]dodec-3-ene, pentacyclo[6.5.1.1 3,6 .0 2,7 .0 2,7 .0 9,13 ]pentadeca-4-ene, and pentacyclo[7.4.0.1 2,5 .1 9,12 .0 8,13 ]pentadeca-3-ene.
[0030] There are no restrictions on the palladium metal compound so long as it provides a source of catalytically active palladium metal ions. Preferably, the palladium compound is soluble or can be made to be soluble in the reaction medium. The palladium compound can be comprised of ionic and/or neutral ligand(s) bonded to the palladium metal. The ionic and neutral ligands that can be used are selected from a variety of monodentate, bidentate, or multidentate moieties and combinations thereof.
[0031] Representative of the ionic ligands that can be bonded to the palladium metal to form the palladium compound are anionic ligands selected from the halides, such as chloride, bromide, iodide or fluoride ions; pseudohalides such as cyanide, cyanate, thiocyanate, hydride; carbanions, such as branched and unbranched (C 1 -C 40 ) alkylanions, phenyl anion; cyclopentadienylide anions; π-allyl groupings; enolates of β-dicarbonyl compounds such as acetylacetonoate, 2,4-pentanedionate and halogenated acetylacetonoates, such as 1,1,1,5,5,5-hexafluoro-2,4-pentanedionate, 1,1,1-trifluoro-2,4,pentanedionate; anions of acidic oxides of carbon, such as carboxylates and halogenated carboxylates (for example, acetates, 2-ethylhexanoate, neodecanoate, trifluoroacetate, and the like) and oxides of nitrogen (for example., nitrates, nitrites, and the like) of bismuth (for example., bismuthate, and the like), of aluminum (for example., aluminates, and the like), of silicon (for example, silicate, and the like), of phosphorous (for example, phosphates, phosphites, phosphines, and the like) of sulfur (for example, sulfates, such as triflate, p-toluene sulfonate, sulfites, and the like); ylides; amides; imides; oxides; phosphides; sulfides; (C 6 -C 24 ) aryloxides, (C 1 -C 20 ) alkoxides, hydroxide, hydroxy (C 1 -C 20 ) alkyl; catechols; oxylate; chelating alkoxides and aryloxides.
[0032] Suitable neutral ligands which can be bonded to the palladium metal are the olefins; the acetylenes; carbon monoxide; nitric oxide, nitrogen compounds such as ammonia, isocyanide, isocyanate, isothiocyanate; pyridines and pyridine derivatives (for example, 1,10-phenanthroline, 2,2′-dipyridyl), 1,4-dialkyl-1,3-diazabutadiene, amines such as represented by the formulae: N(R 4 ) 3 , N(R 4 ) 2 —(CH 2 ) n —N(R 4 ) 2 , and N(R 4 ) 2 —(CH 2 ) n —NR 4 —(CH 2 ) n —NR 4 ) 2 , wherein R 4 is independently hydrocarbyl or substituted hydrocarbyl as previously defined and n is 2 to 10. The neutral ligand can also be selected from ureas; nitriles, such as acetonitrile, benzonitrile and halogenated derivatives thereof; organic ethers, such as dimethyl ether of diethylene glycol, dioxane, tetrahydrofuran, furan diallyl ether, diethyl ether, cyclic ethers, such as diethylene glycol cyclic oligomers; organic sulfides such as diethyl sulfide; thioethers; arsines; stibines; phosphines such as triarylphosphines (for example, triphenylphosphine), trialkylphosphines (for example, trimethyl, triethyl, tripropyl, tripentacosyl, and halogenated derivatives thereof), bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane, bis(diphenylphosphino)propane, bis(dimethylphosphino)propane, bis(diphenylphosphino)butane, (S)-(-)2,2′-bis(diphenylphosphino)-1,1′-binaphthyl, (R)-(+)-2,2′-bis(diphenylphosphino)-1,1′-binaphthyl, and bis(2-diphenylphosphinoethyl)phenylphosphine; phosphine oxides, phosphorus halides; phosphites represented by the formula: P(R 4 ) 3 , wherein R 4 independently represents a hydrocarbyl or substituted hydrocarbyl as previously defined; phosphorus oxyhalides; phosphonates; phosphonites, phosphinites, ketones; sulfoxides, such as C 1 -C 20 alkylsulfoxides; C 6 -C 20 arylsulfoxides, C 7 -C 40 alkarylsulfoxides, and the like. It should be recognized that the foregoing neutral ligands can be utilized as optional third components in the catalyst systems of this invention.
[0033] Some representative examples of palladium compounds that can be used include: trans-PdCl 2 (PPh 3 ) 2 , palladium (II) bis(trifluoroacetate), palladium (II) bis(acetylacetonate), palladium (II) 2-ethylhexanoate, Pd(acetate) 2 (PPh 3 ) 2 , palladium (II) bromide, palladium (II) chloride, palladium (II) iodide, palladium (II) oxide, dichlorobis(acetonitrile) palladium (II), dichlorobis(triphenylphosphine) palladium (II), dichlorobis(benzonitrile) palladium (II), palladium acetylacetonate, palladium bis(acetonitrile) dichloride, palladium bis(dimethylsulfoxide) dichloride, palladium (II) acetate, palladium (II) hexafluoroisopropoxide, palladium (II) isopropoxide, palladium (II) hydroxide supported on carbon black, palladium (II) acetate supported on polystyrene modified dicyclohexyl(phenyl)phosphine, bis (tri-tert-butylphosphine) palladium (I) bromide dimer, tris (dibenzylideneacetone) dipalladium (O), tris (dibenzylideneacetone) dipalladium (O) chloroform adduct, bis (tricyclohexylphosphine) palladium (O), bis(tricyclohexylphosphine) palladium (II) acetate, and allyl palladium chloride dimer.
[0034] Virtually any fluorinated alcohol can be used in the catalyst systems of this invention. Hexafluoroisopropanol is a particularly preferred fluorinated alcohol.
[0035] A wide variety of fluorinated acids can also be used in the catalyst systems of this invention. Some representative examples of fluorinated acids that can be used include hydrofluoric acid (HF), trifluoroacetic acid (CF 3 COOH), and triflic acid (CF 3 SO 3 H).
[0036] The ionic liquids that can be utilized in the catalyst systems of this invention are typically weakly coordinating ionic liquids of the formula:
wherein L represents nitrogen or phosphorus, wherein the R groups are hydrocarbon radicals that can be the same or different, and wherein A represents Cl, Br, NO 3 , CF 3 SO 3 , PF 6 , or SbF 6 .
[0037] The molar ratio of the palladium or a palladium compound to the member selected from the group consisting of fluorinated alcohols, fluorinated acids, and ionic liquids will very greatly with the specific catalyst components being employed and the monomer being polymerized. For instance, the molar ratio of the palladium or palladium compound to the member selected from the group consisting of fluorinated alcohols, fluorinated acids, and ionic liquids can vary from about 1:1 to about 1:100,000, and will typically be within the range of 1:500 to about 1:50,000. The molar ration of the palladium or palladium compound to the member selected from the group consisting of fluorinated alcohols, fluorinated acids, and ionic liquids will more typically be within the range of 1:1000 to 1:10,000. In some polymerizations it is preferred for the molar ratio of palladium or palladium compound to the member selected from the group consisting of fluorinated alcohols, fluorinated acids, and ionic liquids to be within the range of 1:4000 to 1:6000. The molar ratio of the monomer to the palladium or palladium compound will typically be within the range of 5,000:1 to 10,000,000:1, and will more typically be within the range of 10,000:1 to 1,000,000:1. In the polymerization of many norbornene-functional monomer it is preferred for the molar ratio of the monomer to the palladium or palladium compound to be within the range of 10,000:1 to 100,000:1.
[0038] Norbornene-functional monomers will typically be polymerized with the catalyst systems of this invention at a temperature which is within the range of about 0° C. to about 150° C., and will more typically be polymerized at a temperature which is within the range of 10° C. to 80° C. The norbornene-functional monomer will preferably be polymerized at a temperature which is within the range of 20° C. to 60° C.
[0039] Norbornene-functional monomers can be polymerized with the catalyst systems of this invention in bulk, vapor phase, or solution. In any case, the catalyst system is brought into contact with the norbornene-functional monomer to initiate the polymerization. The catalyst system can be premixed prior to the polymerization or the catalyst components can be added to the polymerization medium separately (prepared in situ). The order of addition of the various catalyst components to the reaction medium is not normally important.
[0040] Solution polymerizations can be carried out by adding a solution of the preformed catalyst or individual catalyst components to a solution of the norbornene-type monomer or mixtures of monomers to be polymerized. The level of monomers in the solvent preferably ranges from 10 weight percent to 50 weight percent, and more preferably ranges from 20 weight percent to 30 weight percent. After the single component catalyst or catalyst components are added to the monomer solution, the reaction medium is normally agitated (stirred or shook) to ensure complete mixing of catalyst and monomer components.
[0041] Some examples of solvents that can be used in the polymerization reaction include but are not limited to alkane and cycloakane solvents, such as pentane, hexane, heptane, and cyclohexane; halogenated alkane solvents such as dichloromethane, chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, ethylchloride, 1,1-dichloroethane, 1,2-dichloroethane, 1-chloropropane, 2-chloropropane, 1-chlorobutane, 2-chlorobutane, 1-chloro-2-methylpropane, and 1-chloropentane; and aromatic solvents such as benzene, xylene, toluene, mesitylene, chlorobenzene, and o-dichlorobenzene, water; or mixtures thereof. Preferred solvents include normal-hexane, cyclo-hexane, toluene, mesitylene, dichloromethane, 1,2-dichloroethane, and water. It is frequently convenient to utilize a solvent that includes a mixture of various hexane isomers (hexanes solvent).
[0042] This invention is illustrated by the following examples that are merely for the purpose of illustration and are not to be regarded as limiting the scope of the invention or the manner in which it can be practiced. Unless specifically indicated otherwise, parts and percentages are given by weight.
EXAMPLE 1
[0043] In this experiment norbornene monomer was polymerized into polynorbornene utilizing the catalyst system of this invention. In the procedure utilized 0.0019 grams (8.5×10 −6 moles) of palladium acetate and 0.0024 grams (8.5×10 −6 moles) of tricyclohexylphosphine were added as solids to 2 grams (0.0213 moles) of norbornene monomer. The mixture was then dissolved into 5 milliliters of toluene. Then 0.0050 grams (2.5×10 −5 moles) of dimethyl zinc was added and color changes were observed. Then, 0.036 grams (2.12×10 −4 moles) of hexafluoroisopropanol were added to the glass vial and rapid polymerization occurred with a high exotherm. Solid precipitated polymer formed in the vial with essentially 100% of the monomer being polymerized. The toluene solvent boiled off quickly.
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 2
[0044] The procedure utilized in Example 1 was repeated in this experiment except that tri-isobutyl aluminum was employed as the alkylating agent in place of the dimethyl zinc utilized in Example 1. Again rapid polymerization occurred with the result attained being essentially identical to the result experienced in Example 1.
EXAMPLE 3
[0045] The procedure utilized in Example 1 was repeated in this experiment except that the dimethyl zinc utilized in Example 1 was not added. Again rapid polymerization occurred and a yield of about 96% was attained.
EXAMPLE 4
[0046] The procedure utilized in Example 3 was repeated in this experiment and this time essentially 100% of the monomer was polymerized into polymer.
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 5
[0047] The procedure utilized in Example 1 was repeated in this experiment except that the hexafluoroisopropanol utilized in Example 1 was not added. Polymerization did not occur and no polymer was observed.
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 6
[0048] The procedure utilized in Example 2 was repeated in this experiment except that the hexafluoroisopropanol utilized in Example 1 was not added. Polymerization did not occur and no polymer was observed.
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 7
[0049] In the procedure utilized, 0.0024 grams of palladium acetate and 0.0030 grams of tricyclohexylphosphine were added to 1 gram (0.011 moles) of norbornene monomer. The mixture was then dissolved in toluene. Then, 0.1787 grams (0.0011 moles) of hexafluoroisopropanol was added to the resulting solution. The ratio of monomer moles to catalyst moles was 10,000 to 1. No resulting polymer was observed after 10 to 15 minutes.
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 8
[0050] The procedure utilized in Example 7 was repeated in this experiment except that the ratio of monomer moles to catalyst moles was 100,000 to 1. Again, no polymer was observed after 10 to 15 minutes.
EXAMPLE 9
[0051] The procedure utilized in Example 7 was repeated in this experiment except that immediately after the addition of the hexafluoroisopropanol, one drop of dimethyl zinc was added to the resulting solution. Rapid polymerization occurred with high exotherm. A polymer yield of essentially 100% resulted.
EXAMPLE 10
[0052] The procedure utilized in Example 8 was repeated in this experiment except that the ratio of monomer moles to catalyst moles was 100,000 to 1 instead of 10,000 to 1. Again, rapid polymerization occurred with high exotherm and a polymer yield of essentially 100% resulted.
EXAMPLE 11
[0053] In this experiment norbornene monomer was polymerized into polynorbornene utilizing the catalyst system of this invention. In the procedure utilized, 0.0051 grams of nickel octanoate (as a 10% solution) and 2 grams (0.02 moles) of norbornene monomer were dissolved into toluene. The molar ratio of monomer to nickel catalyst was 2500:1. Then, 0.1787 (0.0011 moles) of hexafluoroisopropanol was then added to the resulting solution. Initially, there was no apparent reaction, then a drop of dimethyl zinc was added. After 5 minutes, the solution polymerized resulting in a solid white plug.
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 12
[0054] In the procedure utilized, 0.0190 grams of palladium acetate and 0.0238 grams of tricyclohexylphosphine were premixed and then together with 2 grams (0.02 moles) norbornene monomer were dissolved in toluene. Then, 0.0143 grams of hexafluoroisopropanol were added to the resulting solution. A yellow solution formed, but no polymer was produced after 15 minutes at room temperature.
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 13
[0055] The procedure utilized in Example 12 was repeated in this experiment except that exo-norbornyl zinc bromide was used instead of hexafluoroisopropanol resulting in essentially the same results.
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 14
[0056] The procedure utilized in Example 12 was repeated in this experiment except that nickel octanoate was used instead of the premixed palladium acetate and tricyclohexylphosphine. There appeared to be no reaction with these components.
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 15
[0057] The procedure utilized in Example 13 was repeated in this experiment except that nickel ocatnoate was used instead of the premixed palladium acetate and tricyclohexylphosphine. A black precipitate came out of solution after 15 to 20 minutes at room temperature.
EXAMPLE 16
[0058] In this experiment, 1 gram of norbornene monomer (0.01 moles), 425 μl of a 2M solution of dimethyl zinc in toluene (8.5×10 −4 moles) and 0.2980 grams of hexafluoroisopropanol were premixed. This mixture resulted in a cloudy solution after 1 to 2 minutes of reaction. The resulting solution was then poured into a solution containing 1 additional gram of norbornene monomer and premixed tricyclohexylphosphine and palladium acetate. Initially, there were no changes, but after 5 to 10 minutes there was a slight rise in viscosity. Rapidly, the solution formed into a solid plug, but no exotherm was detected. The monomer converted to essentially 100% polymer.
EXAMPLE 17
[0059] This experiment was a repeat of Example 16 and yielded the same results.
EXAMPLE 18
[0060] In this experiment, 2 gram of norbornene monomer (0.02 moles) was added to a reaction vessel. Then, 0.0190 grams of palladium acetate, which had been premixed with 0.0238 grams of tricyclohexyl phosphine was added to the norbornene monomer. Then, 35 μl of a 0.5 M solution of dibutyl magnesium in toluene (3.4×10 −5 moles) was added. Finally, 0.2980 grams of hexafluoroisopropanol was added which caused to solution to turn yellow. No in crease in viscosity was observed for 15-30 minutes. However, after 1 hour the solution had solidified into a solid plug. The monomer converted to essentially 100% polymer. This experiment shows that dibutyl magnesium can be substituted into the catalyst system in the place of dibutyl zinc.
EXAMPLE 19
[0061] In this experiment 15 grams of dicyclopentadiene monomer was degassed and placed in a glass vial in a dry box. Then, 0.0074 grams of di-tert-butyl cyclohexyl phosphine, 0.0073 grams of palladium acetate, 0.01 grams of hexafluoroisopropyl alcohol (5×10 −5 moles), and 50 μl of dimethyl zinc were added to the vial in that order. After 2 hours at 150° C. a solid puck was produced with a polymer yield of essentially 100 percent being attained.
EXAMPLE 20
[0062] The procedure employed in Example 19 was repeated in this experiment except that propylene norbornene was substituted for the dicyclodentadiene monomer polymerized in Example 19. After 1 hour a solid puck was produced with a polymer yield of essentially 100 percent being attained.
EXAMPLE 21
[0063] The procedure utilized in Example 20 was repeated in this experiment except that bis (pentafluorophenyl) zinc was substituted for the dimethyl zinc used in Example 20. The bis (pentafluorophenyl) zinc was also added prior to the addition of the hexafluoroisopropyl alcohol. After 10 minutes a solid puck was produced with a polymer yield of essentially 100 percent being attained.
EXAMPLE 22
[0064] The procedure utilized in Example 21 was repeated in this experiment except that tricyclohexyl phosphine was substituted for the di-tert-butyl cyclohexyl phosphine used in Example 21. After 3 days a solid puck was produced with a polymer yield of essentially 100 percent being attained. This experiment shows that the use di-tert-butyl cyclohexyl phosphine results in a much faster polymerization of propylene norbornene monomer than is attained with tricyclohexyl phosphine.
EXAMPLE 23
[0065] In this experiment 2.0 grams of norbornene acetate monomer (0.0132 moles) was degassed and placed in a glass vial in a dry box. Then, 0.2 grams of di-tert-butyl cyclohexyl phosphine, 0.0180 grams of palladium acetate (2.6×10 −5 moles), 0.0105 grams of bis (pentafluorophenyl) zinc and 0.0221 grams of hexafluoroisopropyl alcohol (1.3×10 −4 moles) and 50 μl of dimethyl zinc were added to the vial in that order. After 24 hours at 100° C. the polymer produced was recovered by pouring the solution into methanol which caused the polymer to precipitate out of the solution. A polymer yield of 80 percent was attained.
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 24
[0066] In this experiment a palladium acetate stock solution consisting of 0.0447 grams (0.066 moles) of di-tert-butyl cyclohexyl phosphine was added to a 25% by weight solution of norbornene acetate in toluene. To the resulting solution was added N,N-dimethyl annilinium tetrakis (pentafluorophenyl) borate. The solution was then heated to 100° C. for one week. The solution was then poured into methyl alcohol which precipitated 0.85 grams of polymer resulting in a 42% yield.
EXAMPLE 25
[0067] In this experiment, the di-tert-butyl cyclohexyl phosphine palladium (TFA) 2 was dissolved in 2 milliliters toluene and to this solution was added 1 milliliter of bis (pentafluorophenyl) zinc. There was no immediate color change. After 5 minutes, the color became a dark orange. Then, 4 grams (0.0263 moles) of norbornene acetate monomer was added to the solution followed by the hexafluoroisopropanol. The solution was dark orange. The solution was heated to 100° C. for 2 days. A black solution with high viscosity resulted. The solution was then diluted with tetrahydrafuran a yellowish brown color with no insolubles. The solution was then precipitated in methanol to bring about full conversion of polymer which was then dried under vacuum for 5 hours at 82° C. resulting in 4 grams of polymer, essentially a 100% yield. The polymer was redissolved in 35 milliliters of tetrahydrafuran and treated overnight with Anderlite™ IRC-50 resin. No changes were noted. The solution was filtered, then carbon monoxide was bubbled through the solution at 10 pounds per square inch mercury pressure for 4 hours at 65° C. The palladium precipitated out of solution slowly. A yellowish solution with a black precipitate remained. Decolorizing carbon was added to this solution and heated to 65° C. overnight. The solution was filtered 3 times through Whitman No. 4 paper then through a medium glass filter to remove the carbon black and rotovapped to approximately 30 milliliters of solution. The resulting solution turned a greenish color. The solution was filtered through 0.2 μ PTFE Acrodic. The resulting solution was a light yellow color which probably contained colloidal palladium in solution. The resulting yellow solution was poured into a petri dish and covered with a beaker to bring about evaporation of the tetrahydrafuran, forming a uniform film which was approximately 13% by weight of the solution.
EXAMPLE 26
[0068] In this experiment, 1.0 gram (0.0066 moles) of methyl norbornene acetate monomer was added to 0.0518 grams (6.6×10 −5 moles) of the palladium catalyst in toluene. The alkylating agent, namely, tri-ethyl aluminum was added followed by 0.1769 grams (0.0011 moles) of hexafluoroisopropanol. The solution was heated to 100° C. on a hot plate and allowed to run overnight for 18 hours. The solution within minutes became viscous turning a yellowish-brown color. The solution was cooled, diluted to 7 milliliters in tetrahydrafuran and precipitated into 100 milliliters of methanol. The reaction resulted in 0.60 grams of polymer (60% yield). The polymer had a weight average molecular weight (Mw) of 11,600, a number average molecular weight (Mn) of 9,770, and a polydispersity (Mw/Mn) of 1.2.
EXAMPLE 27
[0069] The procedure utilized in Experiment 26 was repeated in this experiment except that 0.0076 grams of trimethyl gallium was used instead of the tri-ethyl aluminum. After 18 hours, the solution became viscous turning a yellowish-brown color. This reaction resulted in 0.90 grams of polymer (90% yield). The polymer had a Mw of 15,410, a Mn of 14,000 and a polydispersity (Pd) of 1.1.
EXAMPLE 28
[0070] In this experiment, 0.1769 grams (0.0011 moles) of hexafluoroisopropyl alcohol was added to the palladium and the norbornene acetate monomer. Diethyl zinc was then added to the resulting solution. The solution was heated to 100° C. for 18 hours. Within 10 minutes, the solution became viscous turning a yellowish-brown color. This reaction resulted in 1.00 gram of polymer (essentially, 100% yield). The polymer had a Mw of 24,920, a Mn of 17,650 and a Pd of 1.4.
EXAMPLE 29
[0071] In this experiment, 1.00 gram (0.0066 moles) of methyl norbornene acetate monomer was added to 6.57×10 −6 moles of di-tert-butyl cyclohexyl phosphine palladium acetate. To this solution was added 0.17 grams (0.001 moles) of hexafluoroisopropanol and excess, 0.023 grams (1.87×10 −4 moles) diethyl zinc. The solution initially did not seem to react, then after 30 minutes, the solution quickly became viscous. The reaction resulted in 0.97 grams of polymer (97% yield) having a Mw of 91,000, a Mn of 53,400 and a Pd of 1.7.
EXAMPLE 30
[0072] The procedure utilized in Experiment 29 was repeated except that the molar ratio of monomer to catalyst was 10,000:1 instead of 1,000:1, meaning 6.57×10 −7 instead of 6.57×10 −6 palladium compound. The reaction was slower and produced 1.00 gram of polymer (essentially 100%) having a Mw of 123,600, a Mn of 51,870 and a Pd of 2.4.
EXAMPLE 31
[0073] The procedure utilized in Experiment 29 was repeated except that excess, 0.02 grams (1.75×10 −4 moles) of tri-ethyl aluminum was used instead of excess diethyl zinc. The reaction resulted in 0.83 grams (83% yield) of polymer having a Mw of 50,240, a Mn of 24,440 and a Pd of 2.0.
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 32
[0074] The procedure utilized in Example 31 was repeated except that the molar ratio of monomer to catalyst was 10,000:1 instead of 1,000:1. The result was that no polymer was produced.
EXAMPLE 33
[0075] The procedure utilized in Example 29 was repeated except that the molar ratio of monomer to catalyst was 10,000:1 instead of 1,000:1 and instead of excess diethyl zinc, only a small amount of diethyl zinc was used. The results were a very fast reaction that produced 1.00 gram of polymer (essentially a 100% yield), a Mw of 154,000, a Mn of 80,000 and a Pd of 1.9.
EXAMPLE 34
[0076] The procedure utilized in Example 29 was repeated in this experiment except that bis (pentafluorophenyl) zinc was used as the alkylating agent instead of the diethyl zinc. The reaction resulted in 0.90 grams of polymer (90% yield) having a Mw of 57,080, a Mn of 35,000 and a Pd of 1.63.
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 35
[0077] The procedure utilized in Example 34 was repeated in this experiment except that the bis (pentafluorophenyl) dimethyl tin was used as the alkylating agent instead of the bis (pentafluorophenyl zinc. The result was that no polymer was produced.
EXAMPLE 36
[0078] In this experiment, a 10 milliliter vial was placed in a dry box. 100 microliters of a palladium acetate stock solution consisting of 0.0295 grams of palladium acetate in 20 milliliters of toluene (0.0066 M) was added to the vial followed by 0.060 grams dicyclopentylphosphine. 0.14 grams of hexafluoroisopropanol (8.3×10 −4 moles) was then added to the vial. To the solution was added, 1.68 grams of triethoxysilylnorbornene (0.0066 moles) monomer, the toluene diluent and the 0.0010 grams of diethyl zinc (8.13×10 −6 moles). The vial was then placed on a 100° C. hot plate overnight. After approximately 18 hours, the reaction produced 1.39 grams of polymer which was a yield of 83%.
EXAMPLE 37
[0079] The procedure utilized in Example 36 was repeated in this experiment except that dicyclohexylphosphine was substituted for the dicyclopentylphosphine. The reaction resulted in 1.37 grams of polymer with a yield of 82%.
EXAMPLE 38
[0080] The procedure utilized in Example 36 was repeated in this experiment except that di(2-norbornyl)phosphine was substituted for the dicyclopentylphosphine. The reaction resulted in 1.46 grams of polymer with a yield of 87%.
EXAMPLE 39
[0081] The procedure utilized in Example 36 was repeated in this experiment except that di-tert-butylphosphine was substituted for the dicyclopentylphosphine. The reaction resulted in 0.88 grams of polymer with a yield of 52%.
EXAMPLE 40
[0082] The procedure utilized in Example 36 was repeated in this experiment except that titanium tetrabutylrate was substituted for the diethyl zinc. The reaction resulted in 1.44 grams of polymer with a yield of 86%.
EXAMPLE 41
[0083] The procedure utilized in Example 37 was repeated in this experiment except that titanium tetrabutylrate was substituted for the diethyl zinc. The reaction resulted in 1.39 grams of polymer with a yield of 83%.
EXAMPLE 42
[0084] The procedure utilized in Example 38 was repeated in this experiment except that titanium tetrabutylrate was substituted for the diethyl zinc. The reaction resulted in 1.46 grams of polymer with a yield of 87%.
EXAMPLE 43
[0085] The procedure utilized in Example 39 was repeated in this experiment except that titanium tetrabutylrate was substituted for the diethyl zinc. The reaction resulted in 1.13 grams of polymer with a yield of 67%.
EXAMPLE 44
[0086] The procedure utilized in Example 37 was repeated in this experiment except that the diethyl zinc was premixed with the palladium acetate and the dicyclohexylphosphine before the addition of the hexafluoroisopropanol. The reaction resulted in 0.92 grams of polymer with a yield of 55%.
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 45
[0087] In this experiment, 1.68 grams triethoxysilyl norbornene (0.0066 moles) was added to a 10 milliliter vial. This was followed by the palladium acetate catalyst, the hexafluoroisopropanol, toluene and then the di-tert-butylphosphine palladium acetate co-catalyst. The contents of the vial were heated to 100° C. for 18 hours in a drybox. Methanol was added to the solution to facilitate precipitation, and then the solution was filtered and dried in a vacuum. This experiment produced no polymer thus resulting in a 0% yield.
EXAMPLE 46
[0088] In this experiment, the di-tert-butyl cyclohexyl phosphine palladium acetate was added to 1 gram of norbornene methyl ester monomer followed by the hexafluoroisopropanol. The diethyl zinc was then added. The molar ratio of momomer to palladium to fluorinated alcohol was 10,000:1:285. The solution was heated to 100° C. After 16 hours, the solution was viscous. The reaction produced 0.60 grams of polymer, a yield of 60%. The weight average molecular weight (Mw) of the polymer was 98,000, the number average molecular number (Mn) was 58,000, and the polydispersity (Pd) was 1.7.
EXAMPLE 47
[0089] The procedure utilized in Example 46 was repeated in this experiment except that (PtBu 2 Cy) 2 Pd(TFA) 2 was substituted for the di-tert-butyl cyclohexyl phosphine palladium acetate employed in Example 46. The reaction produced 0.96 grams of polymer which represented a yield of 96%. The weight average molecular weight (Mw) of the polymer was 106,000, the number average molecular number (Mn) was 54,000, and the polydispersity (Pd) was 1.95.
EXAMPLE 48
[0090] The procedure utilized in Example 47 was repeated in this experiment except that the level of diethyl zinc employed was increased to a molar ratio to palladium of 1235:1. The reaction produced 0.70 grams of polymer which represented a yield of 70%. The weight average molecular weight (Mw) of the polymer was 67,000, the number average molecular number (Mn) was 39,000, and the polydispersity (Pd) was 1.72.
EXAMPLE 49
[0091] The procedure utilized in Example 47 was repeated in this experiment except that nonafluoro-tert-butanol was substituted for the hexafluoroisopropanol utilized in Example 47. The level of fluorinated alcohol was also reduced to a molar ratio to palladium of 1930:1. The reaction produced 0.66 grams of polymer which represented a yield of 66%.
EXAMPLE 50
[0092] The procedure utilized in Example 47 was repeated in this experiment except that the level of hexafluoroisopropanol was reduced to a molar ratio to palladium of 1360:1 and the level of diethyl zinc was reduced to a molar ratio to palladium of 25:1. The polymerization resulted in a yield of less than 10%.
EXAMPLE 51
[0093] The procedure utilized in Example 50 was repeated in this experiment except that the level of hexafluoroisopropanol was increased to a molar ratio to palladium of 2800:1. The polymerization again resulted in a yield of less than 10%.
EXAMPLE 52
[0094] The procedure utilized in Example 50 was again repeated in this experiment except that the level of hexafluoroisopropanol being further increased to a molar ratio to palladium of 5600:1. In this case the polymerization resulted in a yield of 85%.
EXAMPLES 53-60
[0095] In this series of experiments norbornene methyl ester was polymerized with a catalyst system that was comprised of di-tert-butyl cyclohexyl phosphine palladium acetate, hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIPA), and diethyl zinc. The molar ratio of norbornene methyl ester monomer to di-tert-butyl cyclohexyl phosphine palladium acetate to dimethyl zinc was 10,000:1:25. The molar ratio of the hexafluoroisopropanol to palladium is shown in Table I. The polymer yield attained, and the Mw, Mn, and Pd of the polymer synthesized are also reported in Table I.
TABLE I Example HFIPA:Pd Yield Mw Mn Pd 53 2714:1 trace — — — 54 3166:1 trace — — — 55 3619:1 trace — — — 56 4071:1 86% 84,000 54,000 1.5 56 4524:1 71% 64,000 42,000 1.5 58 4976:1 91% 104,000 59,500 1.75 59 5429:1 91% 113,000 70,000 1.6 60 5881:1 96% 134,000 78,5000 1.7
This series of experiments shows that polymer yields can be increased by increasing the ratio of HFIPA to palladium.
EXAMPLES 61-64
[0096] In this series of experiments norbornene methyl ester was polymerized with a catalyst system that was comprised of di-tert-butyl cyclohexyl phosphine palladium acetate, hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIPA), and diethyl zinc. The molar ratio of norbornene methyl ester monomer to di-tert-butyl cyclohexyl phosphine palladium acetate to hexafluoroisopropanol to dimethyl zinc was 10,000:1:5881:50. The order of addition of the various catalyst components was evaluated by adding them in different orders as shown in Table II.
TABLE II Example Order of Catalyst Component Addition Yield 61 monomer Pd* ZnEt 2 * HFIPA 100% 62 monomer Pd* HFIPA* ZnEt 2 75% 63 Pd* ZnEt 2 * HFIPA* monomer 60% 64 monomer ZnEt 2 * HFIPA* Pd 15% *indicates that these catalyst components were premixed
[0097] The Mn, Mw, and Pd of the polymers synthesized is reported in Table III.
TABLE III Example Mw Mn Pd 61 276,000 154,000 1.8 62 235,000 139,000 1.7 63 212,000 127,000 1.67 64 154,000 89,500 1.7
EXAMPLE 65
[0098] In this experiment, the di-tert-butyl cyclohexyl phosphine palladium acetate was added to 1 gram of norbornene methyl ester monomer followed by the addition of diethyl zinc and hexafluoroisopropanol. The molar ratio of monomer to palladium to fluorinated alcohol to diethyl zinc was 20,000:1:5881:50. After 18 hours and 100° C. the polymer yield attained was determined to be 85%.
EXAMPLE 66
[0099] In this experiment the procedure utilized in Example 65 was repeated except that the level of monomer was increased to a ratio of monomer to palladium of 40,000:1. The polymer yield attained was reduced to about 17%.
EXAMPLE 67
[0100] In this experiment norbornene n-butyl ester was polymerized by the sequential addition of di-tert-butyl cyclohexyl phosphine palladium acetate, diethyl zinc, the norbornene n-butyl ester monomer, and finally hexafluoroisopropanol to a polymerization vessel. The molar ratio of monomer to palladium to fluorinated alcohol to diethyl zinc was 10,000:1:5881:50. After 18 hours and 100° C. the polymer yield attained was determined to be 55%.
EXAMPLE 68
[0101] In this experiment norbornene methyl ester was polymerized by the sequential addition of di-tert-butyl cyclohexyl phosphine palladium acetate, diethyl zinc, the norbornene methyl ester monomer, and finally hexafluoroisopropanol to a polymerization vessel. The molar ratio of monomer to palladium to fluorinated alcohol to diethyl zinc was 10,000:1:5881:50. After 18 hours and 100° C. the polymer yield attained was determined to be 100%.
EXAMPLE 69
[0102] In this experiment the procedure utilized in Example 68 was repeated except that the level of norbornene methyl ester monomer was increased to a ratio of monomer to palladium of 20,000:1. The polymer yield attained was reduced to about 85%.
EXAMPLE 70
[0103] In this experiment the procedure utilized in Example 68 was repeated except that the level of norbornene methyl ester monomer was increased to a ratio of monomer to palladium of 40,000:1. The polymer yield attained was reduced to about 45%.
[0104] While certain representative embodiments and details have been shown for the purpose of illustrating the subject invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in this art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the scope of the subject invention. | This invention is based upon the discovery that a catalyst system which is comprised of (a) palladium or a palladium compound and (b) a fluorinated alcohol is effective for polymerizing norbornene-functional monomers into polynorbornene-functional polymers. It has been further discovered that this catalyst system is more effective in polymerizing certain norbornene-functional monomers that are difficult to polymerize, such as norbornene ester monomers, than prior art catalyst systems. The activity of the catalyst systems of this invention can be further improved with respect to polymerizing some monomers by including a Lewis acid and/or a ligand, such as a phosphine or a carbene, in the system. In any case, the catalyst systems of this invention offer the advantage of being soluble in a wide variety of solvents, relatively inexpensive, and capable of polymerizing many norbornene-functional monomers that are difficult to polymerize with conventional catalyst systems. The subject invention more specifically discloses a catalyst system that is especially useful for the polymerization of norbornene-functional monomers which is comprised of (a) palladium or a palladium compound and (b) a fluorinated alcohol. The present invention also reveals a process for synthesizing a norbornene-functional polymer which comprised polymerizing a norbornene-functional monomer in a solvent in the presence of a catalyst system that is comprised of (a) palladium or a palladium compound and (b) a fluorinated alcohol. | 8 |
CLAIMING BENEFIT OF PRIOR FILED U.S. APPLICATION
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Application Ser. No. 61/264,521, filed on Nov. 25, 2009. The content of this document and the entire disclosure of publications, patents, and patent documents mentioned herein are incorporated by reference.
FIELD
This disclosure relates to fusion processes for producing sheet glass and, in particular, to fusion processes which employ fused zirconia melting vessels. Even more particularly, the disclosure relates to controlling the formation of zirconia-based defects in sheet glass produced by fusion processes employing fused zirconia melting vessels.
The techniques disclosed herein are particularly useful when fusion processes are employed to produce glass sheets for use as substrates in the manufacture of liquid crystal displays, e.g., AMLCDs.
BACKGROUND
The fusion process is one of the basic techniques used in the glass making art to produce sheet glass. See, for example, Varshneya, Arun K., “Flat Glass,” Fundamentals of Inorganic Glasses , Academic Press, Inc., Boston, 1994, Chapter 20, Section 4.2., 534-540. Compared to other processes known in the art, e.g., the float and slot draw processes, the fusion process produces glass sheets whose surfaces have superior flatness and smoothness. As a result, the fusion process has become of particular importance in the production of the glass substrates used in the manufacture of liquid crystal displays (LCDs).
The fusion process, specifically, the overflow downdraw fusion process, is the subject of commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,338,696 and 3,682,609, to Stuart M. Dockerty. A schematic drawing of the process of these patents is shown in FIG. 1 . As illustrated therein, molten glass is supplied to a trough formed in a refractory body known as an “isopipe.”
Once steady state operation has been achieved, molten glass overflows the top of the trough on both sides so as to form two sheets of glass that flow downward and then inward along the outer surfaces of the isopipe. The two sheets meet at the bottom or root of the isopipe, where they fuse together into a single sheet. The single sheet is then fed to drawing equipment (shown as glass pulling rolls in FIG. 1 ), which controls the thickness of the sheet by the rate at which the sheet is drawn away from the root. The drawing equipment is located well downstream of the root so that the single sheet has cooled and become rigid before coming into contact with the equipment.
The outer surfaces of the final glass sheet do not contact any part of the outside surface of the isopipe during any part of the process. Rather, these surfaces only see the ambient atmosphere. The inner surfaces of the two half sheets which form the final sheet do contact the isopipe, but those inner surfaces fuse together at the root of the isopipe and are thus buried in the body of the final sheet. In this way, the superior properties of the outer surfaces of the final sheet are achieved.
Upstream of the forming equipment is typically found a glass melting vessel, a glass fining vessel, a finer to stir chamber connecting tube, a stir chamber, a stir chamber to bowl connecting tube, and a delivery vessel.
SUMMARY
The present disclosure provides methods for reducing the level of zirconia based defects in sheet glass produced using fusion processes which employ fused zirconia melting vessels. The methods involve diagnosing the type of zircon defect encountered and if necessary, increasing the temperature of the glass manufacturing equipment upstream of the stir chamber (finer to stir chamber connecting tube, fining vessel, and melting vessel).
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing illustrating a representative overflow downdraw fusion process for making flat glass sheets.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an exemplary forming apparatus that can be used in the glass manufacturing system of FIG. 1 .
FIGS. 3 A-F are optical micrographs of secondary zircon defects in glasses melted at various different temperatures.
FIG. 4 is a graph illustrating the reduction in secondary zircon defects after temperature increases in accordance with the present disclosure were implemented.
FIG. 5 is a graph illustrating the zircon devitrification temperatures for an exemplary glass concentration over a range of zirconia concentrations.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring to FIG. 1 , there is a diagram of an exemplary glass manufacturing system 100 that can use the fusion process to make a glass substrate 105 . As shown in FIG. 1 , the glass manufacturing system 100 includes a melting vessel 110 , a fining vessel 115 , a mixing vessel 120 (e.g., stir chamber 120 ), a delivery vessel 125 (e.g., bowl 125 ), a forming apparatus 135 (e.g., isopipe 135 ) and a pull roll assembly 140 (e.g., draw machine 140 ). The melting vessel 110 is where the glass batch materials are introduced as shown by arrow 112 and melted to form molten glass 126 . The temperature of the melting vessel (Tm) will vary based on the specific glass composition, but may range from between 1500° and 1650° C. For display glasses for use in LCDs, melting temperatures may exceed 1500° C., 1550° C. and for some glasses, may even exceed 1650° C. A cooling refractory tube 113 may optionally be present connecting the melting vessel with the fining vessel 115 . This cooling refractory tube 113 may have a temperature (Tc) that is between 0°-15° C. cooler than the temperature of the melting vessel 110 . The fining vessel 115 (e.g., finer tube 115 ) has a high temperature processing area that receives the molten glass 126 (not shown) from the melting vessel 110 and in which bubbles are removed from the molten glass 126 . The temperature of the fining vessel (Tf) is generally equal to or higher than that of the melting vessel (Tm) in order to lower viscosity and encourage gas removal from the molten glass. In some embodiments, the fining vessel temperature is between 1600° and 1720° C., and in some embodiments exceeds the temperature of the melting vessel by 20° to 70° C., or more. The fining vessel 115 is connected to the mixing vessel 120 (e.g., stir chamber 120 ) by a finer to stir chamber connecting tube 122 . Within this connecting tube 122 , the glass temperature is continually and steadily decreased from the fining vessel temperature (Tf) to the stir chamber temperature (Ts), which typically represents a temperature decrease of between 150° and 300° C. The mixing vessel 120 is connected to the delivery vessel 125 by a stir chamber to bowl connecting tube 127 . The mixing vessel 120 is responsible for homogenizing the glass melt and removing concentration differences within the glass that can cause cord defects. The delivery vessel 125 delivers the molten glass 126 through a downcomer 130 to an inlet 132 and into the forming apparatus 135 (e.g., isopipe 135 ). The forming apparatus 135 includes an inlet 136 that receives the molten glass which flows into a trough 137 and then overflows and runs down two sides 138 ′ and 138 ″ before fusing together at what is known as a root 139 (see FIG. 2 ). The root 139 is where the two sides 138 ′ and 138 ″ come together and where the two overflow walls of molten glass 216 rejoin (e.g., refuse) before being drawn downward between two rolls in the pull roll assembly 140 to form the glass substrate 105 .
The melting vessels used in the manufacture of glass substrates by the fusion process are subjected to extremely high temperature and substantial mechanical loads. So as to be able to withstand these demanding conditions, the refractory blocks making up the melting vessel are typically made from cast fused zirconia. The fused zirconia blocks are highly resistant to wear and are generally associated with low inclusion rates in the finished glass substrate product. In particular, the blocks are created by placing ZrO 2 powder into graphite crucibles or molds which are then placed into an arc furnace. The arc furnace utilizes electric potential to produce temperatures in excess of 2000° C. in order to melt and fuse into cast shapes, the zirconia material.
It has been known that a major source of losses in the manufacture of sheet glass for use as LCD substrates is the presence of zircon crystals (referred to herein as “secondary zircon crystals” or “secondary zircon defects”) in the glass as a result of the glass' passage into and over the zircon isopipe used in the manufacturing process.
Co-assigned US Patent Application 2003/0121287 describes in detail several means for addressing this form of secondary zircon crystal defect; namely to operate the fusion process under conditions that cause;
(a) less zirconia to go into solution in the trough and the upper portions of the isopipe, and/or (b) less zirconia to come out of solution and combine with silica to form secondary zircon crystals at the bottom of the isopipe (this coming out of solution may be considered as involving devitrification and/or precipitation of the zircon crystals).
Operating parameters that addressed these conditions included: (a) lowering the operating temperature (specifically, the glass temperature) at the top of the isopipe (trough and weir regions), or (b) raising the operating temperature (specifically, the glass temperature) at the bottom of the isopipe (root region), or (c) lowering the operating temperature at the top and raising the operating temperature at the bottom of the isopipe.
In accordance with the present disclosure, it has been further discovered that another type of secondary zircon crystallization occurs due to mechanisms well upstream of the forming equipment (e.g. isopipe). These defects are believed to be associated with zirconia dissolving into molten glass after having entered as a result of wear upon the fused zirconia refractory walls of the melting vessel 110 . It is believed that these defects present themselves as secondary zircon in the area of the finer to stir chamber connecting tube 122 , and at extremely high concentrations as secondary zirconia. The defects associated with the finer to stir chamber connecting tube ultimately arise as a result of zirconia (i.e., ZrO 2 and/or Zr +4 +2O −2 ) dissolving into the molten glass at the temperatures and viscosities that exist in the melting vessel itself. The exposure of the zirconia refractory blocks of the melting unit to the molten glass results in slow but appreciable and continuous erosion of the blocks. This degradation or refractory wear results in a detectable amount of zirconia entering the molten glass material. In the melting vessel, when zirconia is slowly eroded from the melting vessel walls, pockets of relatively high concentration of zirconia called “zirconia sludge” or “zirconia stones” are created. Occasionally, these zirconia stones or the zirconia sludge will move downstream in the process from the melting vessel, to the fining vessel, and to the finer to stir chamber connecting tube, where the temperature is considerably lower than in the melting vessel or the fining vessel. Also, the glass viscosity increases as the glass travels from the finer to the stir chamber due to the cooling taking place.
The solubility and diffusivity of zirconia in molten glass is a function of the glass' temperature and viscosity (i.e., as the temperature of the glass decreases and the viscosity increases, less zirconia can be held in solution and the rate of diffusion decreases.) As the glass nears the stir chamber and the temperature decreases, the zirconia sludge regions become supersaturated with zirconia. As a result, it is believed that zircon crystals—ZrSiO 4 (i.e., secondary zircon crystals) nucleate and grow in the finer to stir chamber connecting tube, which is typically made from platinum or a platinum alloy. Most likely nucleation occurs at the glass-platinum interface where flow may be somewhat reduced and the relative weight of the zirconia is likely to create higher concentrations. The platinum itself likely serves are the nucleating agent for many of the defects. At particularly high concentrations of zirconia, it is possible to also observe crystalline zirconia—ZrO 2 (i.e. secondary zirconia crystals). Collectively, the secondary zircon defects and the secondary zirconia defects may be referred to as secondary zirconia based defects.
Eventually these crystals flow into the stir chamber, are mixed throughout the glass melt, and present themselves as defects in the glass sheet. Typically, the building up of zirconia-rich sludge does not become a problem until the melting vessel walls have eroded a substantial amount.
This can take a substantial period of time, e.g., three or more months of continuous operation.
Although the disclosure has focused on fused zirconia refractory melting vessels, it is possible that the same issue may present itself in the case of melting vessels made from any high zirconia content refractory materials. The higher the level of zirconia contained within the refractory, the larger the secondary zirconia based defect issue may be resulting from refractory wear. It has been also theorized that secondary zirconia based defects may present themselves in regions of the melting vessel itself that are not as efficiently heated. The cooler the temperatures in certain regions of the melting vessel (e.g. below the zircon devitrification temperature), the more likely it is for the melting vessel itself to be a location for the secondary zirconia based defect formation. However, many secondary zirconia based defects that occur in the melting vessel will dissolve at the relatively higher temperatures of the fining vessel.
In one embodiment, the present disclosure describes a mechanism for reducing secondary zirconia based crystal formation caused by degradation of the zirconia refractory making up the melting vessel. In such instances, by raising the temperature of certain components of the glass delivery system upstream of the stir chamber, the secondary zirconia based defect problem in the finer to stir chamber connecting tube can be reduced. In one embodiment, the temperature of the finer to stir chamber connecting tube is increased. In another embodiment, portions of the melting, fining and delivery system upstream of the stir chamber are increased. In yet another embodiment, the temperature of the finer to stir chamber connecting tube is raised to a temperature in excess of the zircon devitrification temperature. The zircon devitrification temperature varies depending on the specific glass composition, but for typical glasses used as LCD substrates, the zircon divitrification temperature is between approximately 1150° to 1550° C., depending on the concentration of zirconia dissolved in the glass. In another embodiment, the temperature of portions of the melting, fining and delivery system upstream of the stir chamber are continually maintained at temperatures in excess of the zirconia devitrification temperature.
Interestingly, the inventors have observed that because of the temperature at which certain types of crystals tend to form, one can diagnose the origins of the specific secondary zirconia based defect. For example, it was determined that at temperatures below 1400° C., the zircon crystal defects are generally dendritic in shape and morphology. At 1400° C. and above, the crystal pattern tends to be prismatic. FIG. 3 shows optical micrographs of various samples of Eagle XG™ (sold by Corning Incorporated®—see U.S. Patent Application 2006/0293162) glass melted in a gradient boat within an experimental platinum crucible. The representative glass contained no dissolved zirconia at the beginning of the experiment, but was mixed with 10 volume % crushed solid zirconia refractory. The mixture of glass and refractory was placed in a platinum boat in a thermal gradient from approximately 1100° C. to 1600° C. During the experiment, zirconia from the refractory dissolved into the melt, combined with silica, and crystallized in the form of zircon. As can be observed from the micrographs in FIGS. 3A-3F , the type of crystals that are formed in the resultant glass distinguish their origin. The micrographs display crystal formation in 50° C. increments from 1200° C.-1450° C. Crystals formed at or around the isopipe where the temperature is typically well below 1350° C. can be readily distinguished from those occurring in the upstream process where temperatures are generally well above 1400° C. (e.g. melting vessel, fining vessel, or finer to stirring vessel connecting tube). These identifying crystal characteristics have been found to be repeatable regardless of zirconia concentration in the glass. FIG. 5 shows the devitrification temperature for zircon in Eagle XG™ glass with varying concentration of zirconia in the glass. As can be seen, the devitrification temperature for glass at a platinum interface is lower than that in the glass interior or at an air interface. Since the manufacture of most LCD glasses utilize platinum based refractory for the fining vessel and the finer to stir chamber connecting tube, those systems should have the temperature maintained at least above the zircon devitrification temperature indicated for the platinum interfaces. The highest temperature at which zircon crystals form increases with increasing dissolved zirconia concentration in the glass, and the size of the crystals at a given temperature increases with the amount of zirconia dissolved in the glass. However, the morphology of the zircon crystals is not affected by the amount of dissolved zirconia in the glass—only by the thermal conditions present during crystallization. If the amount of dissolved zirconia in the glass reaches about 7 wt % or more, zirconia also starts to crystallize. Above 8 wt %, only zirconia crystals form, not zircon crystals. Since the temperatures of the various components of the fusion manufacturing process vary, this observation is extremely useful in diagnosing exactly where within the process any given defect is likely to have originated. Once identified, the temperature of the affected area may be changed in an amount sufficient to eliminate the defects. In one embodiment, when a prismatic crystal defect is detected, the temperature is adjusted in all components of the manufacturing system upstream of the stir chamber to a temperature that exceeds the zircon devitrification temperature of the glass.
Increasing the temperature at any point in the process prior to the stir chamber 120 will have the beneficial effect of increased zirconia solubility and will also create a lower viscosity glass capable of effectively dissolving zirconia sludge or zirconia stones that may have entered the flow from the glass melting vessel. In practice, an empirical approach is used with the temperatures being adjusted until the levels of secondary zirconia based defects in the finished glass are at a commercially acceptable level, e.g., at a level less than 0.1 defects per pound of finished glass. In another embodiment, the temperature is adjusted to reduce the defect level of the glass to less than 0.01 defects per pound. In yet another embodiment, the defect level of the glass is reduced to less than 0.0067 defects per pound. In yet another embodiment, the defect level is reduced to less than 0.001 defects per pound. In general terms and in some embodiments, the temperature of the finer to stir chamber connecting tube and other portions of the assembly upstream of the stir chamber should be raised to a level that meets or exceeds the zircon devitrification temperature of the glass.
Although this disclosure has been directed to the secondary zirconia based defect effect that occurs in a fusion glass manufacturing system, it should be understood that it may be likewise applied to other glass manufacturing approaches/processes that employ a zirconia based melting vessel as part of the process equipment.
Specific Embodiments of the Invention
FIG. 4 is a graph showing representative changes in operating temperatures designed to achieve a reduction in the level of secondary zircon defects in the resultant substrate glass from approximately 0.0067 defects per pound to approximately 0.0005 defects per pound, i.e., a 92% reduction in the number of defects. In this example, a representative commercially available alkali, arsenic, barium and antimony free glass composition (Eagle XG™ sold by Corning Incorporated®—see U.S. Patent Application 2006/0293162) was batched and formed on an experimental commercial fusion system. The minimum temperature of the finer to stir chamber connecting tube was increased from approximately 1430° C. to approximately 1490° C. As can be observed from the graph ( FIG. 4 ), once the temperature increase had time to take effect, a dramatic reduction in secondary zircon inclusions was noted.
Although the experimental activity described above was performed with a particular glass composition, suitable operating temperatures (glass temperatures) for other glasses can be readily determined from the present disclosure. The specific temperatures used will depend on such variables as glass composition, glass flow rate and precise location(s) of the enhanced heating. Thus, in practice, an empirical approach is used with the temperatures being adjusted until the levels of secondary zircon defects in the finished glass are at a commercially acceptable level, e.g., at a level of less than 0.0067 defects per pound of finished glass. For complete elimination of the defect associated with the zirconia melting vessel, it is believed that the temperature of all areas upstream of the stir chamber would need to be increased to above the zircon devitrification temperature which is approximately 1580° C. at 6 wt % zirconia content, for example in Eagle XG™ | Methods are provided for controlling the formation of defects in sheet glass produced by a fusion process which employs a zirconia melting unit. The methods comprise controlling the temperature profile of the glass as it passes through the finer, finer to stir chamber connecting tube, and stir chamber to minimize both the amount of zirconia which diffuses into the glass and the amount of secondary zirconia based defects which comes out of solution in the stir chamber. | 8 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a magnetic bubble memory with unimplanted motifs.
It more particularly applies to the storage of binary information or bits, materialized in the form of isolated magnetic domains, called bubbles. These generally cylindrical domains have the reverse magnetization to that of the remainder of the magnetic material (garnet) constituting the layer in which these domains are formed. In this memory, the duplication of the magnetic bubbles makes it possible to carry out bit by bit duplication or bit block duplication.
In a monocrystalline magnetic layer, such as a magnetic garnet film, supported by an amagnetic monocrystalline garnet, the magnetic bubbles or domains are stable through the application of a continuous magnetic field Hp perpendicular to the plane of the magnetic layer. In practice, this magnetic layer is created by a permanent magnet, thus ensuring the non-volatility of the information contained in the memory.
In a magnetic bubble memory, the displacement of the bubbles is brought about by applying a rotary continuous field H T in a direction parallel to the surface of the magnetic layer. The bubbles are displaced around the so-called propagation motif defined in the upper part of the magnetic layer.
These motifs are in the form of disks, lozenges, triangles, T's, etc and can be produced from an iron and nickel-based material, or can be obtained by implanting ions in the upper part of the magnetic layer, across a mask making it possible to define the shape of these motifs. In view of the fact that ion implantation only takes place around the motifs, in the latter case, these motifs are called unimplanted or non-implanted motifs. The propagation motifs are generally contiguous. As a result of their shape, two adjacent motifs define two cavities or hollows between them.
The displacement of the bubbles along these motifs generally takes place for a time equal to one third of the rotation period of the planar magnetic field H T , the bubbles remaining stationary in the cavities defined between two adjacent motifs throughout the remainder of the cycle. In this way, shift registers are obtained in which the binary information 1 is represented by the presence of a bubble and the binary information "o" by the absence of a bubble.
In addition, to these propagation motifs, it is necessary to use electrical conductors for carrying out writing, information recording, non-destructive reading, register-to-register transfer and erasure functions in the bubble memory.
One of the main types of known magnetic bubble memories comprises a system of so-called minor loops or registers used for the storage of information, associated with one or two so-called major loops or registers forming the access stations to the memory. The minor loops are longitudinally juxtaposed and the major loops are oriented perpendicularly to the minor loops. The magnetic bubbles in the minor loops can be transferred into the major loops and vice versa, via unidirectional or bidirectional transfer gates.
When only a single major loop is used, information reading and writing takes place by means of this single loop. In the first case, reference is made to a memory having a major--minor organisation. Conversely, when use is made of two major loops, writing of the information takes place via one of these two loops and reading of the information via the other loop. These major loops are generally located on either side of minor loops. In the latter case of two loops, reference is generally made to a memory having a series--parallel organization.
In the aforementioned bubble memories, the production of a bubble on a major loop, corresponding to the writing of information, is brought about by applying a high current to a generally U-shaped conductor, traversing the propagation motifs constituting the major loops. This operation, generally known as nucleation, is performed when the bubble is in a cavity defined between two adjacent motifs.
Following nucleation, the bubble is then propagated, by the application of a rotary field H T , on the major loop towards the transfer gates, in order to transfer the bubble from the major loop to a minor loop. These transfer gates are generally formed by a U-shaped conductor traversing the motifs forming the minor loop. The application of a current pulse to this conductor makes it possible to extend each bubble between the tops of the propagation motifs and the major loop and those corresponding to the minor loop and then the stopping of the current pulse brings about the contraction of the bubbles on the minor loop. The transfer is then carried out, so that the information is stored on the minor loop.
The reading of this information takes place by transferring a magnetic bubble from a minor loop to a major loop. The transfer takes place in the manner described hereinbefore.
In order to read information in a non-destructive manner, the corresponding bubble must be duplicated. In the case of a bubble by bubble nucleation, said duplication is carried out by means of a conductor passing through the major loop, to which a current pulse is applied, leading to the elongation of the bubble on either side of the propagation paths, followed by the splitting of said bubble into two. One of these bubbles, transferred on a detection path, can be destructively detected by a magnetoresistive detector, generally based on iron and nickel, whilst the other bubble is reinjected into the minor loop at the location occupied by the original bubble.
A bubble memory operating on this principle has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,159, filed on Dec. 3, 1979 and entitled "ion-implanted bubble memory with replicate port". In this patent, use is made of a single major loop and unimplanted propagation motifs.
Magnetic bubble memories having as their propagation motifs, unimplanted motifs and having a structure and operation of the type described hereinbefore (cf the aforementioned U.S. Patent) only make it possible to carry out a duplication of the bubbles corresponding to a bit by bit duplication. These memories do not make it possible to carry out the duplication of a bit block or group.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is a magnetic bubble memory with unimplanted motifs making it possible to obviate this disadvantage.
More specifically, the invention relates to a magnetic bubble memory having a first layer of monocrystalline magnetic material with at least one crystallographic axis having the property of being a planar easy magnetication axis, whereby said first layer has groups of unimplanted, contiguous and aligned motifs, called first motifs, permitting the propagation of the bubbles into a second magnetic layer, positioned below the first magnetic layer, said first motifs being shaped in such a way that two cavities are defined between two first adjacent motifs, wherein each group of first motifs has an axis such that the first motifs of said group are arranged symmetrically with respect to said axis, said groups being arranged parallel to the crystallographic axis of the first layer of material, and wherein it comprises, associated with each group, an electrical conductor, called the first conductor, permitting the duplication of the bubbles, each conductor being arranged perpendicular to the crystallographic axis of the first layer of material, the corresponding group of first motifs being traversed by said conductor.
Preferably, the first motifs have identical shapes and dimensions.
The use of unimplanted propagation motifs arranged symmetrically with respect one one axis and parallel to one of the crystallographic axes of the layer of material containing these motifs, makes it possible to obtain two propagation paths on either side of the said motifs and which are strictly equivalent. In particular, these two propagation paths have identical magnetic properties and equal potential troughs, with respect to the propagation of the bubbles.
Moreover, the relative position of the unimplanted motifs and conductors used for duplication purposes, permits an easy duplication of the magnetic bubbles.
Preferably, each first electrical conductor has an axis of symmetry and is arranged in such a way that said axis of symmetry passes through the two cavities, defined by two first adjacent motifs of the group associated therewith, at the deepest region of said cavities.
According to a preferred embodiment of the bubble memory according to the invention, the first two adjacent motifs of the same group, located at the point where the first associated electrical conductor is arranged, have in each case an implanted region, said regions being positioned symmetrically with respect to the axis of symmetry of the first conductor and symmetrically with respect to the axis of said group of first motifs.
During duplication, the use of such an implanted region facilitates the passage of the bubbles (elongation on either side of the group of motifs, as well as the splitting into two of said bubbles).
In order to permit the propagation and duplication of magnetic bubbles having a diameter of approximately 2 μm, the distance separating the deepest regions of two cavities, defined between two first adjacent motifs of the same group is preferably between 2 and 20 μm.
The structure as described hereinbefore can be advantageously used in a bubble memory having a major-minor organisation.
According to the invention, the bubble memory has minor loops used for the storage of bubbles, arranged in juxtaposed manner and each having two ends, said minor loops being formed by contiguous unimplanted propagation motifs, called second motifs, at least one major loop used as an access loop for the minor loops, arranged perpendicularly to the latter, said major loop being formed by contiguous unimplanted propagation motifs, called third motifs, and means for detecting and producing bubbles on the major loop, wherein each minor loop is bent so as to define, at one of its ends, two separate juxtaposed portions, the first portion being used for the injection of bubbles into the minor loop and the second portion for extracting bubbles from said minor loop, and wherein each minor loop is associated with a group of first motifs used for the transfer of bubbles from the corresponding minor loop to the major loop and vice versa, said groups of first motifs having at one of their ends two separate branches, a first branch being used for the injection of bubbles into the corresponding minor loop and a second branch being used for the extraction of bubbles from the corresponding minor loops, said branches, formed by contiguous, aligned, unimplanted propagation motifs, called fourth motifs, being juxtaposed in such a way that the end of the first branch faces the end of the first portion of the corresponding minor loop and the end of the second branch faces the end of the second portion of the corresponding minor loop, the end of the second branch being provided with a unidirectional transfer gate for ensuring the transfer of bubbles from the minor loop to the group of associated motifs.
According to a preferred embodiment of this bubble memory, the fourth end motif of the first branch and the second end motif of the first portion of the minor loop, which face one another are aligned, said alignment forming an angle of close to 30° with the crystallographic axis of the first magnetic layer.
According to another preferred embodiment of the bubble memory, the groups of first motifs have at their other end a bidirectional transfer gate for ensuring the transfer of bubbles from the major loop to the said groups of motifs and vice versa.
In the case of a bubble memory with a series--parallel organization, the memory comprises two major loops, the first facing the bubble detection means and the second facing the means making it possible to produce the bubbles and is such that the groups of first motifs are joined, at their other end, to the first major loop, the latter having openings formed in the third unimplanted motifs forming the same, permitting the transfer of bubbles from the group of first motifs to said major loop and wherein the other end of the minor loops has a transfer gate permitting the transfer of bubbles from these minor loops to the second major loop and vice versa.
The invention also relates to novel means making it possible to produce magnetic bubbles in a bubble memory. These means comprise a group of contiguous, unimplanted propagation motifs, called fifthmotifs, having a shape such that two cavities are defined between two adjacent motifs, part of the said motifs being arranged so as to form a closed loop, the other part constituting a propagation path for the bubbles produced and an electrical conductor, called the second conductor, permitting the duplication of bubbles disposed perpendicularly to the crystallographic axis of the first magnetic layer, said group of fifth motifs being traversed by the second conductor, at the part where they form a closed loop. Preferably, these fifth motifs have identical shapes and dimensions.
These means advantageously make it possible to replace conventional bubble generators operating on the basis of the nucleation principle.
According to a preferred embodiment of these means, the first magnetic layer has three crystallographic axes, the closed loop having the symmetry of order 3 of said magnetic layer.
According to another preferred embodiment of these means, the second electrical conductor has an axis of symmetry and is arranged in such a way that its axis of symmetry through the two cavities, defined by two adjacent fifth motifs, the deepest region of said cavities.
According to another preferred embodiment of these means, the fifth adjacent motifs, positioned at the location of the second electrical conductor, have in each case an implanted region, said regions being disposed symmetrically with respect to the axis of symmetry of the second conductor.
The invention also relates to a process for the duplication of magnetic bubbles using a bubble memory of the type described hereinbefore.
According to the invention, the duplication of the bubbles is obtained by supplying each duplication conductor with at least one current pulse, bringing about the elongation of the bubbles on either side of the group of motifs associated with said conductor and then splitting these bubbles into two.
Preferably, the current supply to the electrical conductors used for duplication is stopped, when the rotary magnetic field applied parallel to the second layer of magnetic material is parallel to the axis of the group of motifs associated with said conductor.
The process according to the invention can be advantageously used for carrying out either the duplication of bits on a bit by bit basis, the duplication being effected by supplying the electrical conductors used for the duplication with successive current pulses, or for the duplication by bit blocks. It should be noted that a duplication by bit blocks, in a magnetic bubble memory having unimplanted propagation motifs could not be realised with the prior art bubble memories.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention is described in greater detail hereinafter relative to non-limitative embodiments and with reference to the attached drawings, wherein show:
FIG. 1 diagrammatically, part of a bubble memory according to the invention, illustrating the respective arrangement of the unimplanted motifs of said memory with respect to the duplication conductor.
FIG. 2 a larger scale representation of FIG. 1 at the point where the conductor traverses the propagation motifs.
FIG. 3 diagrammatically a bubble memory according to the invention with several minor loops associated with a single major loop.
FIG. 4 diagrammatically, a bubble memory according to the invention with a series--parallel organisation.
FIG. 5 diagrammatically, the means making it possible to produce the bubbles in a memory according to the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 shows a part of a bubble memory according to the invention, which has a group of unimplanted propagation motifs 2, which are juxtaposed and aligned. These propagation motifs 2 are obtained by ion implantation, through a mask, in a layer of monocrystalline magnetic material 4. This material layer 4, e.g. of garnet epitaxied in direction 111, has three equivalent, easy magnetization, crystallographic axes respectively 112, 121 and 211, as shown at the top of FIG. 1.
The propagation motifs 2 have a shape such that two cavities, respectively 6 and 8, are defined between two adjacent motifs 2, which can be in the form of lozenges, triangles, circles, ellipses, polygons, etc. In FIG. 1, these motifs are shaped like lozenges. Preferably, these propagation motifs have identical shapes and dimensions.
According to the invention, the motifs 2 are arranged symmetrically with respect to the axis 10. Moreover, the group of propagation motifs 2 is arranged parallel to one of the crystallographic axes of the material layer 4, in which said motifs are formed, such as e.g. crystallographic axis 112. The arrangement of the propagation motifs 2 makes it possible to obtain two propagation paths for the magnetic bubbles such as 12, located on either side of the group of strictly equivalent motifs. These two propagation paths are respectively represented by arrows F 1 and F 2 .
The magnetic bubbles 12, located in a magnetic material layer 5 (garnet), positioned below the material layer 4 containing the unimplanted motifs 2, can be displaced by applying a continuous, rotary magnetic field H T , directed parallel to material layer 5. In part A of FIG. 1, it is possible to see the displacement of the magnetic bubbles 12 under the action of magnetic field H T . As shown, the magnetic bubbles ae displaced for a time equal to one third of the rotation period of magnetic field H T .
In addition to the propagation motifs 2, the bubble memory has an electrical conductor 14 "traversing" the group of propagation motifs. In practice, the said conductor is placed on a layer 7, positioned above material layer 4 containing propagation motifs 2 and as shown in FIG. 1. This electrical conductor 14, having e.g. an axis of symmetry 16, is arranged perpendicularly to one of the crystallographic axes of the magnetic material layer 4, e.g. crystallographic axis 112.
Preferably, this e.g. U-shaped conductor 14 is arranged in such a way that its axis of symmetry 16 passes through two cavities 6a, 8a, defined by two adjacent motifs 2a, 2b, at the deepest region of these cavities, and conductor 14 traverses the two adjacent motifs 2a, 2b.
This electrical conductor 14 is used for bringing about the duplication of magnetic bubbles 12. This duplication is generally carried out in order to be able to read the information contained in the memory. The duplication of the magnetic bubbles 12 is carried out by supplying the conductor 14 with at least one current pulse, as shown in the drawing. According to the invention, this current pulse must be applied for a clearly defined phase of magnetic field H T , applied to the material layer 5 containing the magnetic bubbles.
As shown in FIG. 2, this optimum phase occurs when the magnetic bubble to be duplicated 12 is located in one of the cavities 6a or 8a defined between two adjacent motifs 2a, 2b, and traversed by conductor 14. Under these conditions, the application of a current pulse to conductor 14 leads to the elongation of the bubble to be duplicated on either side of the group of motifs 2, as shown in FIG. 2, followed by the splitting of said bubble into two. Equivalently, the stopping of the power supply takes place when the magnetic field H T is parallel to axis 10 of the group of propagation motifs 2. One of the bubbles 12a obtained by duplication passes along the propagation F 1 , in order to be detected, and the other bubble 12b obtained by duplication, is passed along propagation path F 2 into the storage registers of the memory.
The current pulse necessary for duplication can either have a single amplitude level (FIG. 1), or several amplitude levels of the same sign (FIG. 3), or several amplitude levels of opposite signs (FIG. 4).
When it is desired to carry out the propagation and duplication of magnetic bubbles having a diameter of approximately 2 microns, the distance 1 (FIG. 2) separating the deepest regions of e.g. two cavities 6a and 8a, defined between two adjacent motifs 2a, 2b, can have a size between 2 and 20 microns.
In order to facilitate the duplication of magnetic bubbles 12, the two motifs 2a, 2b, traversed by electrical conductor 14, can in each case be provided with an implanted region 18. These implanted regions 18 are positioned symmetrically with respect to the axis of symmetry 16 of electrical conductor 14 and symmetrically with respect to axis 10 of the group of propagation motifs 2. The obtaining of these implanted regions is brought about simultaneously with the obtaining of propagation motifs 2, by carrying out ion implantation through an appropriate mask.
The structure as described hereinbefore can advantageously be used in a magnetic bubble memory having a major-minor organization. FIG. 3 shows such an organisation. For simplification purposes, the different elements constituting the memory, as well as the bubbles, have been shown in the same plane.
This bubble memory has several minor loops 20 used for the storage of magnetic bubbles 12, arranged in juxtaposed manner. These minor loops 20 are in each case formed by contiguous, unimplanted propagation motifs 22, having e.g. identical shapes and sizes. With these minor loops 20 is associated a single major loop 24 serving as an access loop to the minor loop 20. Major loop 24 is used both for writing and reading information. Major loops 24, formed by contiguous, unimplanted propagation motifs 26, having e.g. identical shapes and dimensions, is arranged perpendicularly with respect to the minor loops 20. The propagation motifs of the minor loops 20 and major loop 24 have a shape such that two cavities are defined between two adjacent motifs, e.g. a lozenge shape.
According to the invention, the transfer of magnetic bubbles 12 from major loop 24 to a minor loop 20, and the reciprocal transfer, is ensured by means of an intermediate line 28. An intermediate line 28 corresponds to each minor loop 20.
According to the invention, these intermediate lines 28, formed by contiguous, unimplanted propagation motifs 30a, 30b, have a shape such that two cavities are defined between two adjacent motifs and are provided at their end 31, facing the major loop 24, with a bidirectional transfer gate 32 ensuring the transfer of magnetic bubbles 12 from the major loop 24 to the intermediate line 28 (reading) and vice versa (writing). These bidirectional transfer gates 32 can in each case be formed by an electrical conductor, e.g. a U-shaped conductor, traversing the propagation motifs 26 of major loop 24, the U-shaped base being positioned facing said end 31 of the corresponding intermediate line 28.
The transfer of magnetic bubbles by means of bidirectional gates 32 takes place, as in the prior art, by applying a current pulse to the conductor forming these gates. This current pulse makes it possible to extend the bubble, facing bidirectional gates 32, between the tops of propagation motifs 30a of the corresponding line 28 and the tops of the propagation motifs 26 of the major loop 24. The stopping of this current pulse leads to the contraction of the bubble on the major loop 24. It should be noted that all the bidirectional gates 32 are electrically interconnected and that a transfer of bubbles can take place simultaneously to the major loop or to intermediate lines, level with all said bidirectional gates 32.
The propagation motifs 30a of the intermediate lines 28 are, like motifs 2 of FIGS. 1 and 2, aligned and arranged symmetrically with respect to an axis 29, which is positioned parallel to one of the easy magnetization crystallographic axes of the magnetic material layer 38 in which they are formed, said axis being e.g. axis 112, as shown in FIG. 3. Moreover, motifs 30b can have identical shapes and sizes. Moreover, the motifs 30a of an intermediate line 28 are traversed by an electrical conductor 40 having e.g. an axis of symmetry 42, arranged perpendicularly to one of the crystallographic axes of the material layer 38, such as e.g. crystallographic axis 112. The different conductors 40 are electrically interconnected by means of conductors 41.
These conductors 40, like conductor 14 of FIGS. 1 and 2, make it possible to carry out the duplication of magnetic bubbles 12, in order to read the information contained in the minor loops 20 of the memory. This duplication is simultaneously carried out at all conductors 40. Conductors 40 are arranged, as hereinbefore, relative to the cavities defined between two adjacent motifs 30a of the intermediate line. The duplication of the magnetic bubbles by means of these electrical conductors 40 takes place, as hereinbefore, by applying thereto a current pulse at a clearly defined phase of the magnetic field. During the application of a bubble, called mother bubble, one of the two bubbles obtained is directed towards the bidirectional gate 32 and then to the major loop 24 for detection, whilst the other bubble is reinjected into the minor loop 20 from where the mother magnetic bubble or the bubble to be duplicated has been extracted and takes the place of the latter.
As hereinbefore, the duplication of the magnetic bubbles by conductors 40 can be facilitated by using motifs 30a of the corresponding intermediate line 28 having implanted regions (FIG. 1) arranged symmetrically with respect to axis 42 of the corresponding conductor 40 and with respect to the axis 29 of said motifs.
According to the invention, end 36 of the intermediate lines 28, facing the corresponding minor loops 20, has two separate branches respectively 46 and 44, formed by contiguous, unimplanted motifs 30b. These two separate branches 46, 44 are respectively used for the injection of magnetic bubbles 12 into the corresponding minor loop 20 and for the extraction of said bubbles from this loop.
According to the invention, the minor loops 20 are bent in such a way that they define, adjacent to end 48 facing the corresponding intermediate line 28, two separate portions 52, 50, used respectively for the injection and extraction of magnetic bubbles with respect to the minor loop. The minor loops are said to be bent, because they are formed in such a way that on moving in a direction parallel to the axis of one of these loops, four possible positions are encountered for the magnetic bubbles moving on said loop. Moreover, the bubbles introduced on said minor loops can move indefinitely under the action of the magnetic field H T applied to said bubbles.
In order to permit the injection of magnetic bubbles into the minorloops 20, end 52a of portion 52 of the corresponding minor loop 20 must be positioned facing end 46a of branch 46 of the corresponding intermediate line 28. Preferably, two facing propagation motifs, i.e. the end motif of the motifs 30b of branch 46 and the end motif of the motifs 22 of branch 52 of the corresponding minor loop 20 are aligned in such a way that said alignment forms an angle θ of close to 30° relative to one of the crystallographic axes of the magnetic layer 38 in which are formed motifs 30b and 22, such as for example crystallographic axis 112.
The end motifs of the motifs 30b and 22 respectively of branch 46 of intermediate line 28 and portion 52 of the minor loop 20 constitute a joining function, i.e. the magnetic bubbles 12 from major loop 24 via intermediate line 28 during nucleation (information entry) for duplication (information reading) enter the minor loop 20, whilst the bubbles on said minor loop (information storage) remain there.
In the same way, in order to permit the extraction of the magnetic bubbles from the minor loops 20, end 50a of portion 50 of the corresponding minor loop 20 must be arranged facing the end 44a of branch 44 of the corresponding intermediate line 28. The transfer of magnetic bubbles between portion 50 of the minor loop and branch 44 of the intermediate loop is ensured by means of a unidirectional gate 54 constituted e.g. by a U-shaped electrical conductor. The magnetic bubbles are transferred by applying a current pulse to gate 54. It should be noted that all the gates 54 are electrically interconnected and that a transfer of bubbles can take place simultaneously to intermediate lines 28 level with all these conductors.
In order to prevent all disturbances, between the injection and extraction of magnetic bubbles 12, adjacent to the minor loops 20, branch 44 of the intermediate line and portion 50 of the minor loop on the one hand, and branch 46 of the intermediate line and portion 52 of the minor loop on the other, must be sufficiently remote from one another and oriented correctly with respect to one another. This can easily be carried out by the skilled Expert.
Moreover, the lengths of portions 50 and 52 of minor loops 20, as well as the position of the corresponding conductor 40 used for the duplication of the magnetic bubbles, must be accurately defined. In particular, the lengths of portions 50 and 52 of the minor loops 20 must be such that, during the duplication of a magnetic bubble (reading information), the magnetic bubble obtained by duplication which returns on minor loop 20 must traverse a path equal to that which it would have traversed if it had remained on the minor loop, i.e. said bubble must return on the minor loop to the place which was occupied by the bubble to be duplicated.
FIG. 4 shows a bubble memory having an organisation with two major loops 56, 58. This is called a series--parallel organisation. As hereinbefore, all the elements constituting the memory, as well as the magnetic bubbles have been shown in the same plane in order to simplify the drawing. The major loop 56 is used for introducing magnetic bubbles on minor loops (information entry), whilst the major loop 58 is used for the detection of magnetic bubbles (information reading).
It is possible to see the minor loops 20 having at their end 48, two portions 50, 52, respectively used for the extraction and injection of the magnetic bubbles with respect to the minor loops, the intermediate lines 28 respectivelyfacing portions 50, 52 of the corresponding minor loops 20 having two branches 44, 46, as well as duplication conductors 40a, having e.g. an axis of symmetry 42a, each associated with one of the intermediate lines 28. Minor loops 20, intermediate lines 28 and conductors 40a have the same characteristics as those described hereinbefore.
In this drawing, the major loop 56 faces end 60 of minor loops 20, whilst the major loop 58 is located at the other end of the chain of motifs, i.e. in the extension of ends 62 of intermediate lines 28.
In this memory, the transfer of magnetic bubbles 12 from major loop 56 to minor loop 20 is ensured by means of transfer gates 64, which can be unidirectional or bidirectional. These transfer gates 64 are constituted by a U-shaped conductors, traversing the propagation motif 63 of major loop 56, the base of the U being positioned facing end 60 of the corresponding minor loops 20. The electrical conductors 64 are all electrically interconnected.
In addition, the transfer of the magnetic bubbles 12 from intermediate lines 28 to the major loop 58 is ensured by means of a joining function, i.e. the propagation motifs 30a, adjacent to ends 62 of intermediate lines 28, are joined to those of the major loop 58. In order to ensure the transfer of magnetic bubbles, the propagation motifs 65 of major loop 58 are provided with openings 66, as shown in the larger-scale part of FIG. 4. The magnetic loops 12 moving along the propagation motifs 65 of the major loop 58 are not disturbed by these openings 66, which have a size close to that of the magnetic bubbles, e.g. a diameter of 2 microns.
FIG. 4 generally shows a magnetic bubble generator 68 functioning as a part of the nucleation process. This bubble generator 68 is constituted, in known manner by an electrical conductor 70, traversing the propagation motifs 63 of major loop 56, to which can be applied a high current leading to the formation of a bubble. Moreover, FIG. 4 shows a magnetic bubble detector 72 associated with major loop 58, detector 72, which has a standard construction, is constituted by an electrical conductor 74, traversing the propagation motifs 65 of the major loop 58 and a bar-shaped element 76, made from a magnetoresistive material, generally based on iron and nickel. The detection of a magnetic bubble takes place by the application of a current pulse to conductor 74, which makes it possible to lengthen the bubble to a length of roughly 100 microns, in the useful space 77 of conductor 74. The detected bubble is then destroyed in such a way that detector 72 is able to detect another bubble. The destruction of a magnetic bubble corresponds to the transformation thereof into an electrical signal.
The magnetic bubble memories according to the invention have a major-minor or series--parallel organisation and can be used like the prior art memories for carrying out bubble-by-bubble duplication, i.e. bit-by-bit. Moreover, these bubble memories, in view of the relative arrangement of the elements forming them, as well as the structure of each of these elements and particularly the arrangement of the intermediate lines 28 with respect to the crystallographic axis of the layer of material in which they are formed, the structure of these lines and the arrangement of duplication conductors 40 (FIG. 3) 40a (FIG. 4) with respect to said axis, make it possible to carry out the duplication of a group or block of bubbles, i.e. a block of bits. This was not possible with the prior art bubble memories using unimplanted motifs.
According to the invention, the magnetic bubble generator operating on the nucleation principle, such as e.g. generator 68 of FIG. 4, can be replaced by a generator operating on the principle of the duplication of magnetic bubbles. Such a generator is shown in FIG. 5. As hereinbefore, with a view to the simplification of the drawing, the elements constituting this generator, as well as the bubbles, have been shown in the same plane.
This generator 78 is constituted by a group of contiguous, unimplanted propagation motifs 79, having a shape such that two cavities 80, 82 are defined between two adjacent motifs 79. These motifs 79 obtained as hereinbefore, are preferably in the form of circles, as shown in the drawing, or are in the form of polygons, such as triangles or hexagons. Moreover, these motifs 79 have identical shapes and sizes. In part, motifs 79 are arranged so as to form a closed loop 84, whereas the remaining motifs 79 are arranged along a propagation path 86. As shown in the drawing, the propagation path 86 can be arranged parallel to one of the crystallographic axes of the magnetic material layer 87 (magnetic garnet) in which are formed the motifs 79, e.g. crystallographic axis 112. The displacement of the magnetic bubbles along motifs 79, both for the looped part 84 and for the aligned part 86, takes place as hereinbefore by means of a rotary magnetic field H T applied parallel to the magnetic material layer containing the bubbles.
In order to obtain the duplication of the magnetic bubbles 12 moving along the motifs 79 of loop 84, use is again made of an electrical conductor 88, having e.g. an axis of symmetry 90, arranged perpendicularly to one of the crystallographic axes of the magnetic material layer 87, e.g. crystallographic axis 112.
As hereinbefore, (FIGS. 1 and 2) the axis of symmetry 90 of this electrical conductor passes through the two cavities 80a, 82a, defined by the two adjacent motifs 79a, 79b, at the deepest region of these cavities. Conductor 88 traverses the two adjacent motifs 79a, 79b. The duplication of magnetic bubbles 12, located in one of the cavities 80a, 82a, takes place by applying an electrical current pulse to electric conductor 82, as shown in the drawing. This pulse is only applied when it is desired to produce a bubble, i.e. record information in the memory. This pulse can have one or more amplitude levels of the same or opposite signs. One of the bubbles, obtained by duplication, is passed to the access or major loops of the memory, via the propagation path 86, the other duplication bubble being reinjected into loop 84.
Moreover, in order to facilitate the duplication of the magnetic bubble, implanted regions 92 formed in the unimplanted motifs 79a, 79b, traversed by electrical conductor 88, can be provided, in the manner shown in the larger-scale part of FIG. 5. These regions are positioned symmetrically with respect to the axis of symmetry 90 of conductor 88.
The introduction of magnetic bubbles into the loop 84 of motifs 97 can be carried out during the initialization of the memory, by supplying current pulses of an appropriate amplitude. This can be carried out up to the complete filling of loop 84 by magnetic bubbles. When loop 84 is filled with bubbles, it is possible to produce information elements 1, i.e. a bubble, by duplicating a bubble contained in loop 84 by means of conductor 88.
In order to ensure a good stability of the magnetic bubbles contained in the closed loop 84, it is preferable according to the invention for said loop to have the ternary symmetry (three crystallographic axes) of the magnetic material layer 87 in which the propagation motifs 97 are formed. It should be noted that this magnetic layer 87 is the same as that containing the major and minor loops of the memory.
In order to carry out the propagation and duplication of magnetic bubbles having a diameter of approximately 2 microns, the distance d separating the deepest regions of two cavities, e.g. 80a, 82a, defined between two adjacent motifs 79a, 79b can be between 2 and 20 microns (largest-scale part of FIG. 5). | The invention relates to a magnetic bubble memory having a first layer of monocrystalline magnetic material with at least one crystallographic axis having the property of being aplanar easy magnetization axis, whereby the first layer has groups of unimplanted, contiguous and aligned motifs, called first motifs, permitting the propagation of the bubbles into a second magnetic layer, positioned below the first magnetic layer, the first motifs being shaped in such a way that two cavities are defined between two first adjacent motifs, wherein each group of first motifs has an axis such that the first motifs of the group are arranged symmetrically with respect to the axis, the groups being arranged parallel to the crystallographic axis of the first layer of material, and wherein it comprises, associated with each group, an electrical conductor, called the first conductor, permitting the duplication of the bubbles, each conductor being arranged perpendicular to the crystallographic axis of the first layer of material, the corresponding group of first motifs being traversed by the conductor. | 6 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to velocity measurement apparatus, more particularly to an apparatus for measuring the velocity of a moving target by using the Doppler shift of pulsed ultrasonic waves.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Velocity measurement apparatus using the Doppler shift of ultrasonic pulsed waves are known. For example, such an apparatus, is used for measuring the velocity of blood-flow. This type of velocity measurement apparatus basically comprises a transmitting transducer which projects ultrasonic pulsed waves to a moving target, a receiving transducer for detecting echoes from the target, a phase detector or comparator for sensing the Doppler shift due to the velocity of the target, and a device which transforms the output of the phase detector into velocity information.
In order to operate this type of apparatus effectively, the following relationships must exist:
Δf ≦ 1/(2T)
d = (CT)/ 2
where Δf is the Doppler shift frequency, T is the pulse repetition pitch or interval, C is the velocity of sound in the medium in question, and d is the distance between the transducers and the target.
Since the Doppler shift frequency Δf is proportional to the velocity of the moving target, it appears that the maximum detectable velocity of the target is small if the distance involved is large. This fact poses a serious problem for uses of the apparatus for blood flow velocity measurement as it becomes virtually impossible to measure the velocity of high speed blood flow deep within the body.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to improve conventional velocity measurement apparatus using pulsed ultrasonic waves.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a velocity measurement apparatus for detecting blood flow independently of the depth or position in the body.
A further object of the present invention is to prove a velocity measurement apparatus in which the influence of undesirable echoes is eliminated.
In order to achieve the above mentioned objects, the present invention provides a velocity measurement apparatus incorporating the features that the transmitting section is constructed so that the polarity of the pulsed ultrasonic waves projected from the transmitting transducer are changed or modulated irregularly and the receiving section is constructed so that only the echoes from the target to be measured and from those targets having a predetermined distance or positional relationship with the target to be measured are compared with a reference signal by a phase comparator. Undesirable outputs from the phase comparator corresponding to targets not to be measured are removed or eliminated by utilizing the irregular polarity of the waves.
According to the present invention, the transmitting section of the velocity measurement apparatus includes:
a. a pulse modulated sine wave signal source;
b. a circuit for irregularly inverting the polarity of the pulse modulated sine wave signal; and
c. a transmitting transducer for transducing the output of the circuit into an acoustic signal, that is, pulsed ultrasonic waves and projecting those pulsed ultrasonic waves toward a target; and the receiving section includes:
d. a receiving transducer for sensing the echoes from the targets and converting such echoes into electrical signals;
e. a first device for detecting only those parts of the electric signal from the target to be measured;
f. a phase comparator for comparing the output of the first device with a reference pulse modulated sine wave signal;
g. a second device for changing the polarity of either one of the outputs of the first device or the reference pulse modulated signal so as to equalize the polarities of both signals; and
h. a frequency analyzer for detecting a Doppler shift signal from the output of the phase comparator.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration several embodiments in accordance with the present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a transmission section of the velocity measurement apparatus in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 illustrates time and wave form charts explaining the operation of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3A shows the positional relationship between the transducers and targets;
FIG. 3B is a time chart showing the output of the transducer;
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a receiving section of the velocity measurement apparatus in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 5 illustrates time and wave-form charts for explaining the operation of FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 illustrates the wave forms of the output signal from the phase comparator of the receiving section;
FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a portion of a receiving section in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a portion of a receiving section in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the several views, there is illustrated in FIG. 1 a block diagram of an embodiment of a transmitting section of a velocity measurement apparatus in accordance with the present invention. In FIG. 1, a signal generator or master oscillator 1 produces a continuous sine wave signal the frequency of which is normally about 2˜5 MHz. One part of the signal from the master oscillator 1 is supplied to a pulse generator 3 which includes a ripple counter for dividing the master oscillator frequency down to a pulse repetition frequency and digital logic circuits with the pulse generator generating a pulse train as shown in (a) of FIG. 2. This pulse train is synchronized with the sine wave signal from the master oscillator. The width t of a pulse in the pulse train is approximately 4 μs. The sine wave signal from the oscillator 1 and one part of the pulse train (a) from the generator 3 are supplied to a range gate circuit 2 comprising, for example, diodes. The gate circuit 2 produces a pulsed sine wave train as shown in (b) in FIG. 2. For the sake of simplicity, each pulsed sine wave is shown as only one wave length, but in practice, there are several sine waves equal to the wave number of the interval t of each pulse.
The other part of the pulse train (a) from the pulse generator 3 is supplied to an irregular signal generator 4 which produces a pulse train (c) as shown in FIG. 2. In this pulse train, each elemental pulse is produced at an irregular interval such as in accordance with an M sequence code and the time points of the rise and fall of each irregular elemental pulse are synchronized with the pulses of the pulse train (a).
The irregular pulse train (c) and the pulsed sine wave (b) are supplied to a code inverter 5 which may be, for example, a balanced modulator which produces another pulsed sine wave train (d) as shown in FIG. 2. The polarities of this pulsed sine wave train (d) are reversed at irregular intervals according to the polarities of the irregular pulse train (c). The output (d) of the code inverter 5 which is electrical is supplied to an electro-acoustic transducer 6 comprising for example PZT (Lead-Zirconate-Titanate) for conversion to an acoustic form and is projected to the target to be measured as a pulsed ultrasonic wave.
FIGS. 3A and 3B show the positional relationship between transmitting and receiving transducers 6 and 7 and a plurality of stationary targets as well as the received signals or returned echoes. As shown in FIG. 3A the transmitting transducer 6 and the receiving transducer 7 are located at the same position, and the three reflective targets A,B and C are positioned apart from the transducers by distances dA, dB and dC, respectively. FIG. 3B shows the time relationships between a pulsed ultrasonic wave (d) projected from the transmitting transducer 6 and the three echoes which are reflected by the three targets A,B and C. Although the three echoes e A , e B , e C are shown separately for the sake of clarification, they are in fact, superposed. As can be seen from FIGS. 3A and 3B, the three echoes e A , e B , and e C have delay times which correspond to the round trip transmission times ##EQU1## respectively, where C1 is the velocity of an ultrasonic wave in the medium in question.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustration of a receiving section of the velocity measurement apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Echoes such as e A , e B and e C are detected and transformed into electrical signals by the receiving transducer 7 which corresponds to the transducer 7 in FIG. 3A. The output signal of the transducer 7 is amplified by an amplifier 8, and supplied to a gate circuit 9, which has a construction similar to that of the gate circuit 2 in FIG. 1.
In order to drive the gate circuit 9, the pulse train (a) from the pulse generator 3 is supplied to the gate circuit 9 through a delay circuit 10 having a predetermined delay time τ corresponding to the round trip transmission time to the target to be measured.
The output of the gate circuit 9 is supplied to a code inverter 11 which is constructed similarly to the inverter 5 in FIG. 1, e.g. a balanced modulator. Additionally, the irregular pulse train (c) from the irregular pulse generator 4, in the transmitting portion is supplied to the code inverter 11 through delay circuit 12 having the same delay time τ and the same construction as the delay circuit 10.
The output signal (h) of the code inverter 11 is supplied to a phase comparator 13 and compared with a pulsed sine wave resulting from the output of the master oscillator 1 in the transmitting portion fed through a gate circuit 15 gated in accordance with the output of the delay circuit 10. The output of the phase comparator 13 is fed to a frequency analyzer 14 which is, for example, formed of a plurality of band pass filters each of which has a different center frequency and which are connected in parallel with each other. By measuring the output of the frequency analyzer, the velocity of the target to be measured can be determined in a conventional manner.
The operation and the advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description in connection with FIG. 5. First of all, the explanation will be directed to the reason that the velocity measurement apparatus according to the present invention can detect the velocity of a specified target to be measured in spite of the fact that a plurality of targets are located at different positions as shown by A,B and C in FIG. 3A. For sake of clarity, the explanation relates to the case wherein all targets are stationary or at a predetermined position. However, the present invention is also applicable to moving targets.
Assuming that three targets A,B and C are arranged as shown in FIG. 3A and that the distance dC is twice the distance dA, and that the target A is the specified target to be measured, then the output signal of the receiving transducer 7 or the amplifier 8 is as shown in (e) in FIG. 5. This output signal corresponds to the echo signals e A , e B , and e C superposed on the same time scale and is range gated by a gate pulse train (f) in the gate circuit 9. As described above, this gate pulse train (f) is produced by the output of the pulse generator 3, i.e. the pulse train (a) and delayed by the time ##EQU2## Therefore, only the echo components e A and e C which are synchronized with the gate pulse train can pass through the gate circuit 9, and the echo e B which is not synchronized with the gate pulse train (f) is eliminated.
However, as described above, there is still an undesirable echo component e C which is backscattered from target C in the output stage of gate circuit 9. This undesirable echo component e C is removed as follows. The output of the gate circuit 9 is supplied to the code converter 11 which converts the polarity of the input signal in such a manner that the polarity of the input pulsed sine wave is reversed during the pulse time τ from the delay circuit 12. Accordingly, the polarity of the outputs corresponding to the echoes of the components e A -2 , e A -3 , e C -1 and e C -2 from the code inverter 11 are reversed. The output signals corresponding to the echoes e A and e C are shown in FIg. 5 as hA and hC, respectively. They are shown separately for the sake of clarity, but in practice, they are superposed on the same time scale. It can be seen that each phase of the pulsed sine wave hA is the same, but that of the pulsed sine wave hC is changed irregularly.
When these signals hA and hC are compared with the standard or reference pulsed sine wave signal from the oscillator 1 the signals hA and hC are converted into pulse trains iA and iC as shown in FIG. 5. The amplitudes of these pulse trains iA and iC are proportional to the signal amplitudes of hA and hC and to the phase difference between the output signals h and the standard sine wave. The mean value of the pulse train hA during a fixed time interval has a certain value, but that of the pulse train hC becomes zero. This means that the output corresponding to the undesirable echo component e C is removed.
In the above description, the explanation has been directed to the case wherein targets A,B and C are stationary in order to explain simply the manner in which the influence of undesirable echoes can be eliminated. In practice, these stationary echoes are removed by a digital notch filter, the same as in the MTI processor. In the case that the targets or reflective objects are moving, the frequency of the echoes is changed in proportion to the velocity of the target. Accordingly, a phase difference appears between the standard sine wave signal from the master oscillator 1 and the output signal corresponding to the echo due to the target A to be measured. This is shown as jA in FIG. 6. This pulse train corresponds to iA in FIG. 5. The dotted envelope line K in FIG. 6 is a sine wave the frequency Δf of which depends on the velocity of the moving target A, that is, on the Doppler shift.
It is well known that the following relationship exists between a frequency f of a standard sine signal. The Doppler shift Δf, a radial velocity v of a moving target A and the velocity C 1 of sound in the medium ##EQU3##
As the values of c1 and f are predetermined, the velocity v of moving target A can be determined if the value of Δf is first determined.
In accordance with the present invention, the polarity of the output signal or pulse train iC corresponding to the undesirable echo due to target C as in FIG. 5 is shown by the irregular waveform jC in FIG. 6 whether target C is moving or not. For this reason, when the output signal of the phase comparator 13 is filtered and smoothed by the frequency analyzer formed of a plurality of band pass filters, only those components having a frequency Δf are detected and the component which correspond to the pulse train iC or jC do not appear at the output terminals of the filters because they do not have a fixed frequency component. Accordingly, the velocity of the target A can be determined by utilizing a computer to calculate the outputs of the filters or by displaying the outputs on a cathode ray tube.
FIG. 7 illustrates a portion of a receiver section in accordance with another embodiment of the velocity measurement apparatus of the present invention. In this embodiment, the construction and operation of all the blocks except the reference signal oscillator 16 are basically the same as that of the similar numbered blocks in FIG. 4, such that the description of these blocks will be omitted.
Although the reference signal of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 depends on the oscillator 1, the frequency of the reference signal is approximately the same as that of the output sine wave signal of the oscillator 1. Accordingly, it is impossible to detect the direction of movement of the targer that is, whether the target is approaching or moving away. However, the reference signal of the embodiment of FIG. 7 is independent of the oscillator, and the frquency thereof is slightly higher than that of the oscillator 1 by a fixed frequency F 1 , for example, about 5 KHz.
Assuming a Doppler shift frequency of Δf, then the frequency of the output of the frequency analyzer is detected as F ± Δf. The plus or minus code (±) indicates the moving direction of the target to be measured. Therefore, it is possible to measure the velocity of the target by detecting the frequency shift Δf from the frequency F and to measure the direction of movement of the target by detecting whether the frequency of the frequency analyzer is higher or lower than the fixed frequency F.
FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of a portion of the velocity measurement apparatus according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the output of the gate circuit 9 is supplied directly to the phase comparator 13, and the reference signal is formed by gating the output signal of the gate circuit 15 and by, thereafter, code inverting the output of the gate circuit in the code inverter 17. The construction and operation of the gate circuit 15 and the code inverter 17 are basically the same as those of the gate circuit 15 and the code inverter 11 except for the fact that the input signal comes from the oscillator 1. This embodiment has the advantages that the operation of code inversion is carried correctly and that the construction of the code inverter is simplified since the input signal from the oscillator is not distorted.
The velocity measurement apparatus according to the present invention is useful in various fields of velocity measurements and especially in blood flow measurement. Blood vessels are distributed at various depths in the body and the maximum measurable blood velocity is closely related to the distance between the blood vessel and the transmitting and receiving transducers of conventional pulsed ultrasonic wave pulsed flow measurement apparatus. However, a velocity measurement apparatus can easily measure the maximum blood flow velocity in the body independently of the depth of the blood vessel because of the reasons described above.
While I have shown and described several embodiments in accordance with the present invention, it is understood that the same is not limited thereto but is susceptible of numerous changes and modifications as known to a person skilled in the art and I therefore do not wish to be limited to the details shown and described herein but intend to cover all such changes and modifications as are obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art.
For example, for the sake of clarity, the above embodiments have been directed to an apparatus for measuring the velocity of one target located at a fixed position. However, this apparatus according to the present invention can also be utilized for measuring the velocities of a plurality of reflecting targets at the same time by constructing parallel receiving sections corresponding to different time delays. Also, the frequency analyzer can be substituted for a conventional analyzer and smoothing device such as a digital Fourier converter or a time compressed heterodyne frequency analyzer. | A velocity measurement apparatus using pulsed ultrasonic waves which includes a transmitting section which projects pulsed ultrasonic waves to a target at a predetermined position and a receiving section which detects echoes from the target and the Doppler shift. The transmitting section, in order to remove undesirable echoes, causes the polarity of the ultrasonic pulse to be changed at random and the receiving section removes the undesirable echoes by using the irregular polarity of the pulsed ultrasonic echoes. | 8 |
BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE
1. Field of the Disclosure
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to a gas piston system for a firearm.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate a prior art M16 rifle. The M16 rifle includes an upper receiver 50 hinged to a lower receiver 51 at a pivot pin 52 . A removable pin 53 extends through the lower receiver to hold the upper receiver 50 in place. A charging handle 54 at the rear of the upper receiver is provided for charging the weapon. Automatic and semi-automatic operation of the weapon is achieved by a gas tube 56 extending from a forward portion of the barrel 57 to the receiver. A removable ammunition magazine 58 is inserted in the lower receiver.
The upper receiver 50 has a hinge aperture 65 for receiving the hinge pin 52 , and a downwardly extending boss 66 having an aperture 67 for receiving the retaining pin 53 . The gas tube 56 extends through the front of the upper receiver 50 and enters a gas chamber 68 for affecting the backward movement of a bolt carrier 55 upon the firing of a cartridge 76 . The bolt carrier 55 , upon firing, moves backwardly into the gunstock 69 against the action of a recoil spring 70 and buffer 71 in the stock. The charging handle 54 slidably extends into the upper receiver, and carries a projection 74 which engages a projection 72 on the bolt carrier 55 upon rearward movement of the charging handle 54 , to affect the manual charging of the weapon. The charging handle 54 also has an elongated internal slot 73 for clearance of the bolt carrier 55 during operation of the weapon. An automatic sear 75 of conventional nature is provided in the lower receiver according to the conventional practice. The sear 75 is operated by the bolt carrier 55 , for catching an upper hook 78 of the weapons hammer 77 during automatic operation of the weapon. In semi-automatic operation the trigger mechanism (not shown) of the weapon catches the lower hook 79 of the hammer. The cartridge 76 is in firing position in the firing chamber of barrel 57 . The magazine 58 is held in the lower receiver so that cartridges are fed from the top of the magazine to the bolt upon forward movement of the bolt carrier 55 .
The standard design gas system used in AR15 and M16 rifles and M4 carbines utilizes a direct gas impingement (DGI) system which directs expanding gas from the fired cartridge out of the barrel 57 through a gas port in the barrel. The expanding tapped gas is then directed through the gas tube 56 which directs the gas back into the upper receiver. The gas then enters the bolt carrier key forcing the bolt carrier 55 to the rear and unlocking the bolt, beginning the cycling process.
All gas piston systems operate in much the same way; they use propellant gases from the fired cartridge to actuate a piston, which pushes on a rod that cycles the weapon. Most gas piston systems currently available for the AR15 weapon system are retrofit systems made to convert the existing DGI equipped rifles and carbines to a piston system. These piston systems use the existing gas port location and gas port diameter already in place on the DGI configured weapons, making them desirable to owners of these commonly configured weapons.
Most all of these retrofit gas piston systems are also designed to operate with the most common cartridge found in the AR15 weapon platform, the 223 Remington (civilian designation) or the nearly identical 5.56×45 millimeter NATO (military designation) used in the M16 rifle and M4 carbine. These retrofit systems are able to work with existing gas port sizes and locations common to this weapon system mainly because the standard chambering mentioned above has enough “gas port pressure and volume” to activate the piston system. With any of the standard length systems; carbine length, mid length, or rifle length, a piston system generally requires more gas volume and pressure to operate than a DGI system.
The front end of the rifle and/or carbine, often referred to as the “hand guards”, is standardized in three different lengths to coincide with the three gas system lengths found on DGI equipped guns. The gas block attached to the barrel where the gas is “tapped” from the barrel is located just in front of the hand guards, this is also where the gas blocks are for most piston systems. Because the gas blocks are out in front of the hand guards on the barrel the size of the components can be adjusted or enlarged to give the desired performance. This is also the location for the exhaust port on all piston systems, where the hot and dirty propellant gases are discharged.
The fact that piston systems require more gas port pressure and volume to operate, and that most of them use the existing gas port locations and diameters means that they may not function reliably with all available brands and types of ammunition. This is because ammunition manufactures use many different types of propellants in their ammunition to obtain the best performance with the many different bullets weights and styles that are available.
Each propellant has its own burning characteristic and develops its own “pressure curve”. The pressure curve in basic terms is the time it takes a specific propellant to reach its maximum pressure and how fast that pressure drops off as the bullets moves down the barrel; the charted profile of a propellant igniting, its build up of pressure, its maximum pressure, and drop in pressure is the pressure curve. Most gas ports in the barrels are located on the “down slope” of the pressure curve, if a given propellant is too far down its down slope by the time the bullet reaches the gas port the weapon will not have enough port pressure or volume to cycle the weapon.
With few exceptions, gas piston systems for the AR15 rifle work as long as the standard caliber (223 Remington/5.56-mm NATO) for this weapon system is used; in most loads this cartridge provides ample port pressure and volume to operate either system. If cycling or functioning problems occur with certain types of ammunition, then the piston components can be enlarged to give the system more force to operate the weapon and increase reliability because there is little size constraint out in front of the hand guards. Existing gas piston systems currently available for the AR15 rifle are adequate because most of these rifles are chambered for the standard cartridge mentioned above.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to a gas piston system for a firearm. In one embodiment, a firearm includes: a barrel having a port formed through a wall thereof; a bolt carrier assembly operable to transport a cartridge from a magazine to the barrel and eject the spent cartridge from the barrel; and a gas piston system. The gas piston system includes a gas block having a port in communication with the barrel port and an exhaust tube. The exhaust tube has: a head at least partially disposed in the gas block and having a port in fluid communication with the gas block port; a body extending from the head toward a muzzle of the firearm; and a channel extending from the exhaust tube port through the body. The gas piston system further includes a driver movable relative to the gas block between a forward and rearward position and having: a piston slidable along the gas block; a stinger closing the channel in the forward position and opening the channel in the rearward position, and an operating rod operable to push the bolt carrier assembly away from the barrel.
In another embodiment, a gas piston system includes a gas block for mounting to a barrel of a firearm and having a port for communication with a port of the barrel and an exhaust tube. The exhaust tube has a head at least partially disposed in the gas block and having a port in fluid communication with the gas block port; a body extending from the head to a shoe; the shoe having a coupling; and a channel extending from the exhaust tube port through the body and the shoe. The gas piston system further includes an exhaust block for mounting to the barrel and having a coupling engaged with the shoe coupling and a driver. The driver is movable relative to the gas block between a forward and rearward position and has: a piston slidable along the gas block; a stinger closing the channel in the forward position and opening the channel in the rearward position, and an operating rod for extending to a bolt carrier assembly of the firearm. The gas piston system further includes a gas chamber formed in the gas block between the piston and the head.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
So that the manner in which the above recited features of the present disclosure can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the disclosure, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the disclosure may admit to other equally effective embodiments.
FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate a prior art M16 rifle.
FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate a gas piston system in a forward position, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.
FIG. 3A illustrates a driver of the gas piston system. FIG. 3B illustrates an exhaust tube of the gas piston system.
FIG. 4A illustrates an exhaust block of the gas piston system. FIG. 4B illustrates the exhaust block assembled with the exhaust tube.
FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate the gas piston system in a rearward position.
FIGS. 6A-6C illustrate cartridges suitable for use with the gas piston system.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The interest in a larger caliber AR15/M16 style rifle or M4 style carbine is increasing daily and the U.S. Military is also seeking a larger caliber option for this weapon system, and a gas piston system that will operate with it.
Problems arise in using a gas piston system on the M16/AR15 rifles and M4 carbines when “non-standard” calibers are used in this weapon. Larger caliber (bigger bore diameter) cartridges do not have the same port pressure or volume as the standard 223 Remington or 5.56-mm NATO chambering at the existing or standard gas port locations; larger calibers have reduced pressure and volume at the standard locations. Most all retrofit gas piston systems for the M16/AR15 rifle only work with the standard caliber and will not function with any other caliber.
The easiest solution to this problem is to move the gas port closer to the chamber and tap the gas from the barrel sooner where there is more port pressure, or “earlier” in the pressure curve. This is not easily done because the gas port locations have been standardized for some time, and the components for the rifle and carbines are also standardized and any changes would be costly. Because all of the components of the gas piston systems will not fit underneath the hand guards, the other components of the rifle would need to be customized and would be costly.
FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate a gas piston system 1 in a forward position, according to one embodiment of the disclosure. The weapon has just fired and the bullet 2 has started down a rifled bore 3 b of the barrel 3 but has not yet reached the gas port 3 p in the barrel. The gas piston system 1 may include a gas block 4 , a driver 5 , an exhaust block 6 , and an exhaust tube 7 . The driver 5 may include a gas piston 5 p , an operating rod 5 r , and a stinger 5 s formed integrally or connected together, such as by threaded couplings. The exhaust tube 7 may include a head 7 h , a body 7 b , and a shoe 7 s ( FIG. 3B ) formed integrally or connected together, such as by threaded couplings.
The gas block 4 may be mounted to the barrel 3 such that a gas port 4 p formed through a wall of the gas block is in alignment with the barrel gas port 3 p and the exhaust tube 7 may be mounted in the gas block such that a gas port 7 p ( FIG. 3B ) thereof is also in alignment, thereby providing fluid communication between the bore 3 b and a gas chamber 8 . Each of the blocks 4 , 6 may be fastened, such as pinned, screwed, or bolted, to the barrel 3 . The gas chamber 8 may be formed in the gas block 4 between the gas piston 5 p and the exhaust head 7 h . The gas port 3 p may be located along the barrel 3 at any location between the firing chamber and the muzzle and may be optimized for a particular cartridge and/or propellant, such as closer to the firing chamber for a (modified) M4 carbine and farther from the firing chamber for a (modified) M16 rifle. The gas piston system 1 may even be small enough to fit under the hand guards. This flexibility allows the gas piston system 1 to reliably function with any cartridge and barrel length combination.
Interfaces between: the gas piston 5 p and the gas block 4 , the exhaust head 7 h and the gas block, and the barrel 3 and the gas block may be sealed such that no propellant gas is discharged at the gas block. The stinger 5 s may extend into a channel 7 c of the exhaust tube 7 in the forward position, thereby isolating the exhaust channel from the gas chamber 8 .
FIG. 3A illustrates the driver 5 . The driver 5 may further have a hilt 5 h formed at an interface between the gas piston 5 p and the stinger 5 s . The hilt 5 h may have an inner recess forming a portion of the gas chamber 8 and an outer shoulder for seating against the exhaust head 7 h . The driver 5 may further include one or more gas rings 5 g . The gas rings 5 g may each be a metallic split piston ring carried in a groove formed in an outer surface of the gas piston 5 p or a seal profile, such as a labyrinth or controlled gap, formed in an outer surface thereof. The driver 5 may further include a return spring 9 disposed along an outer surface of the operating rod 5 r . The operating rod 5 r may extend into the upper receiver via a passage formed therethrough to the bolt carrier. The return spring 9 may be disposed between a shoulder 5 a formed at the interface of the piston 5 p and rod 5 r and a washer 10 . The washer 10 may be engaged with a catch shoulder (not shown) of the upper receiver.
The gas piston 5 p of the assembly may form one portion of the gas chamber 8 and may trap the expanding propellant gas in the gas chamber. Pressure of the propellant gas may exert force against the hilt 5 h and push the driver 5 rearward further into the upper receiver. As the driver 5 moves rearward, the operating rod 5 r may push on a push pad of the bolt carrier, thereby also moving the bolt carrier rearward and cycling the weapon.
A length of the stinger 5 s may correspond to a stroke length of the bolt carrier necessary to cycle the weapon such that the stinger 5 s may open the exhaust channel once the bolt carrier has stroked rearward, thereby allowing the expanding propellant gas to exit the gas chamber 8 through the exhaust head 7 h , flow through the exhaust channel 7 c , and be discharged at an exhaust outlet 7 o away from the receiver and the shooter.
As the driver 5 strokes rearward, the return spring 9 may be compressed between the spring shoulder 5 a and the keeper 10 such that the spring may return the driver to the forward position as pressure in the gas chamber 8 dissipates. The gas piston system 1 automatically uses only enough of the expanding propellant gas to cycle the weapon (determined by the length of the stinger 5 s ); all of the excess gas not needed is discharged out through the exhaust channel 7 c.
FIG. 3B illustrates the exhaust tube 7 . The exhaust head 7 h may have a conical inner surface 7 i serving as a portion of the gas chamber 8 and as a guide for receiving the stinger 5 s into a rear portion of the exhaust channel 7 c . The exhaust head 7 h may also have the gas port 7 p formed through a wall thereof. A rear face of the exhaust head 7 h may receive the shoulder of the hilt 5 h . The exhaust tube 7 may also include one or more gas rings 7 g disposed or formed on an outer surface of the head 7 h , similar to the gas rings 5 g . The shoe 7 s may have a coupling for fastening the exhaust tube 7 to the exhaust block 6 . The exhaust tube coupling may be a bayonet type having lugs 7 k and a flange 7 f formed in an outer surface of the shoe 7 s for engagement with a complementary coupling of the exhaust block 6 . The exhaust tube coupling may also have a detent socket 7 d formed through the flange 7 f.
FIG. 4A illustrates the exhaust block 6 . FIG. 4B illustrates the exhaust block 6 assembled with the exhaust tube 7 . The exhaust block 6 may be mounted near the muzzle and may have a bore 6 b formed therethrough for passage of the exhaust tube 7 and the coupling for receiving the exhaust shoe 7 s . The block coupling may have a bayonet profile 6 p formed in a front end 6 e thereof for receiving the lugs 7 k . The lugs 7 k may be inserted into the bayonet profile 6 p against the return spring 9 and rotated in the bayonet profile such that the return spring may press the lugs against a locking shoulder of the profile.
The exhaust block 6 may also have a detent socket 6 d formed in a front end 6 e thereof. A detent spring 11 s and a detent plunger 11 p may be inserted into the detent socket 6 d just before mounting of the exhaust tube 7 . The flange 7 f may compress the detent plunger 11 p against the detent spring 11 s as the lugs 7 k are inserted into the bayonet profile 6 p and the flange socket 7 d may align with the plunger as the lugs are rotated in the profile. The plunger 11 p may then pop into the flange socket 7 d , thereby torsionally fastening the exhaust tube 7 to the exhaust block 6 .
Due to its low profile design, the exhaust block 6 may also be mounted to the barrel 3 underneath the hand guards or in front of the hand guards. If mounted out in front of the hand guards, the exhaust block 6 may have a mil-standard 1913 rail on the top for mounting sights, or may have a flip up style front sight attached.
To assemble the gas piston system 1 , the gas block 4 and the exhaust block 6 may be fastened to the barrel 3 . The driver 5 may be inserted first through the exhaust block 6 and then through the gas block 4 until the rear end of the operating rod 5 r enters the upper receiver and contacts the push pad on the bolt carrier. The exhaust tube 7 may then be inserted through the exhaust block 6 until the head 7 h enters the gas block 4 and the shoe 7 s enters the exhaust block 6 . The last inch or so of the exhaust tube insertion may compress the return spring 9 . The exhaust tube 7 may then be pushed all the way in, making sure to align the locking lugs 7 k with the bayonet profile 6 p until the flange 7 f is in contact with a face of the front end 6 e . The exhaust tube 7 may then be rotated (i.e., clockwise) by an angle, such as between twenty-five to ninety degrees, until the detent plunger 11 p engages flange socket 7 d , thereby indicating that the lugs 7 k are fully engaged with the bayonet profile 6 p.
To disassemble the gas piston system 1 , a bullet tip or other pointed instrument may be used to depress the detent plunger 11 p from the flange socket 7 d so that the exhaust tube 7 may be reversely rotated (i.e., counter clockwise) by the angle to release the lugs 7 k from the bayonet profile 6 p . The exhaust tube 7 and then the driver 5 may then be pulled through the exhaust block 6 .
FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate the gas piston system in a rearward position 1 . As shown, the weapon has fired and the bullet 2 is traveling down the rifled bore 3 b and has just passed the gas port 3 p but has not yet exited the muzzle. At this point, the gas chamber 8 becomes pressurized and forces the driver 5 to the rear, moving the bolt carrier to the rear and cycling the weapon. As the driver 5 moves to the rear, the stinger 5 s withdraws from the exhaust channel 7 c , thereby allowing the expanding propellant gas to be vented from chamber 8 , through the gas channel 7 c , and discharged at the outlet 7 o at the front of the gas piston system 1 . Once the bullet 2 exits the muzzle, the pressure in the gas chamber 8 dissipates such that the return spring 9 may push the driver 5 back to the forward position.
Advantageously, the gas piston system 1 for the M16/AR15 rifle or M4 carbine comes from previous experience in designing larger caliber cartridges for this weapon. The shortcomings of existing gas piston systems for this weapon system when chambered in non-standard calibers were noted early on and all attempts to modify them to operate with larger calibers failed. What was needed was a design that would work with any caliber, any barrel length, and with the weapon suppressed or unsuppressed and be reliable. The gas piston system 1 may be used with a suppressor as is or the flange 7 f may be modified to include a second detent socket to misalign the gas port 7 p with the gas port 4 p for a specialized suppressor mode. The gas piston system 1 is a product improvement over all existing gas piston systems currently available for the AR15 rifle.
FIGS. 6A-6C illustrate cartridges 100 suitable for use with the gas piston system 1 . Each cartridge 100 may include a bullet 102 , a case 104 , a charge of gunpowder, and a primer. The cartridges 100 listed in FIG. 6B are usable with the existing M16/AR15 rifle or M4 upper receiver, requiring only a modified barrel, as discussed in US Pat. App. Pub. Nos. 2009/0211483, which is herein incorporated by reference. The cartridges 100 listed in FIG. 6C are usable with only slight modification to the existing M16/AR15 rifle or M4 upper receiver (with a modified barrel), as discussed in US Pat. App. Pub. No. 2011/0005383, which is herein incorporated by reference.
In addition to the cartridges 100 , the gas piston system 1 may be used with the standard 223 Remington/5.56 mm NATO cartridges or any other supersonic or subsonic cartridges usable with an AR15 style rifle or carbine. The gas piston system 1 is streamlined and smaller in size than most other systems, which allows it to be concealed under the hand guards. The ability of this system to be concealed allows the gas block 4 and the exhaust block 6 to be located anywhere along the barrel 3 ; this feature allows the system to be adaptable to any cartridge and barrel length combination desired. Unlike all other gas piston systems that discharge the propellant gases at the gas piston or gas block location, the gas piston system 1 discharges the propellant gas out of the system to the front of the weapon near the muzzle (front discharge), keeping them away from the weapon and the shooter. The gas piston system 1 is also adaptable to very short or long barrels and those weapons using suppressors. Because the gas piston system 1 discharges all excess gasses not used to cycle the weapon automatically, the use of a suppressor on a weapon equipped with this system will not alter its performance.
The gas piston system 1 is more versatile and cleaner than any other system currently available. The entire gas piston system 1 : fits under the hand guards (concealed), works with all calibers and loads, works with all barrel lengths, works in normal and suppressed firing modes (automatically adjusts), and keeps propellant gas out and away from the weapon and shooter (front discharge).
While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present disclosure, other and further embodiments of the disclosure may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof, and the scope of the invention is determined by the claims that follow. | A gas piston system for a firearm includes a gas block having a port in communication with the barrel port and an exhaust tube. The exhaust tube has: a head at least partially disposed in the gas block and having a port in fluid communication with the gas block port; a body extending from the head toward a muzzle of the firearm; and a channel extending from the exhaust tube port through the body. The gas piston system further includes a driver movable relative to the gas block between a forward and rearward position and having: a piston slidable along the gas block; a stinger closing the channel in the forward position and opening the channel in the rearward position, and an operating rod operable to push the bolt carrier assembly away from the barrel. | 5 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a non-linear optical material having a dendrimer structure; and, more particularly, to a non-linear optical material having organic chromophores at the ends and formed based on ester linkages and/or ether linkages.
DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART
A dendrimer is a macromolecule having a branched shape. The macromolecule is symmetrical and well-ordered in two-dimensional or three-dimensional. There are two types of dendrimers: Cone types and globular types. Dendrimers are similar to polymers in that they are giant molecules having a very large molecular weight. However, they are different from general linear polymers in that they are symmetrical circularly and that they are unimolecules with no distribution of molecular weight. In short, dendrimers have the properties of both monomers and polymers. This is very advantageous to their use.
A precursor of a dendrimer compound was first synthesized by E. Buhleier, W. Wehner, F. Vogtle in 1978 (Synthesis, 155, 1978). A dendrimer synthesized by D. A. Tomalia in early 1980 has drawn great attention with its unique symmetrical structure and unique shape and its dendrimer structure (Polym. J. 1985 17, p. 117-132 and Macromolecules 1986 20, 1164).
Also, dendrimers can be formed in a convergent method or a divergent method according to how they are synthesized, which is disclosed in Aldrichim. Acta 1993 26, 90; Am. Chem. Soc. 1990 112, 7638; and J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1992 114, 1018. Since the central part of a dendrimer is completely or almost isolated from the outside, it is possible to protect diverse metal ions or specific functional groups. Also, the wide three-dimensional surfaces of the dendrimer allow the dendrimer to adopt functional groups chemically and be applied for various purposes.
Since the structures of dendrimers are similar to bioactive materials, such as globular proteins, enzymes and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), they have attracted the interest of many researchers. Due to these properties of dendrimers, many researchers have studied the dendrimers in the aspects of guest-host chemical reactions, drug delivery systems, catalysts and surfactants. Recently, dendrimers having a porphyrin ring including zinc at the center and having an ether amide structure have been studied to utilize the property of electron-transfer in a protein (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 1994 33, 1739).
Research on guest-host reactions, involves iron-based dendrimers G. Am. Chem. Soc. 1997 119, 2588) or metallocene-containing dendrimers (Chem. Rev. 1999.99, 1689). Also, many researches are conducted to use the dendrimers as an organic light emitting diode and to enhance the stability, durability and light emitting efficiency (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1996 118, 5326; and J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1994 116, 4537).
In addition, researchers are studying dendrimers having an optical activity. Most of them pay attention to the unique properties of dendrimers originating from their structural features (Macromolecules 1990 23, 912; and Adv. Mater. 1996 8, 494).
Among dendrimers having nonlinear optical phenomena, a material having organic molecules dispersed in a polymer medium (Chem. Mater. 1999, 11, 1966) deteriorates thermal stability due to fluidity of the molecules in the polymer medium. Moreover, coagulation of organic monomers causes optical loss. All this makes the material more restricted in application.
On the other hand, a material having the advantages of polymers' processing properties by polymerizing nonlinear organic molecules is desirable. A nonlinear polymer becomes a main chain or side chain according to how monomers are combined. Research is being conducted to develop a giant molecular polymer having a regularly arranged dendrimer structure and chemically complete linkage, which is different from the conventional linear polymers, and to apply the giant molecular polymer to various fields (U.S. Pat. No. 5,659,010; U.S. Pat. No. 5,496,899; U.S. Pat. No. 6,001,958; J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 122, 3174; and Thin Solid Films 1998, 331, 248).
Main chain polymers are not easily synthesized with nonlinear optical chromophores, and the efficiency of the three-dimensional arrangement of the formed polymer is quite low in a poling process. Side chain polymers are generally formed by attaching the monomolecular chromophores on the main polymer as its branches. This method is difficult in that the main polymer should react with the chromophores directly, but since the chromophores exist as branches of the main chain, their structures are relatively favorable in the respect of the arrangement of the chromophores.
The dendrimers are advantageous in that they are symmetrical in three-dimensional and they can have different material properties according to functional groups adopted at the end. Moreover, chromophores molecules in the dendrimer can be separated from each other completely if the structure of the dendrimer molecule is well-designed. If more than a predetermined content level of chromophores are adopted in the polymers, the chromophores become aggregated due to the static electricity between the chromophores. Thus, the optical nonlinearity is degraded and optical loss occurs due to the aggregation. Recently, researchers have been trying to find solutions to theses problems in the use of dendrimers (Appl. Phys. Lett. 2000, 77(24), 3881).
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an optical material having a dendrimer structure with excellent optical properties, which can prevent decrease in nonlinearity or optical loss, which is caused when chromophores are included.
The inventors have completed the present invention by taking a conception that a nonlinear optical material having excellent optical properties can be formed by combining organic chromophores with a polymer having a dendrimer structure.
The present invention provides a nonlinear optical material having a dendrimer structure which includes organic chromophores at ends, the dendrimer structure being formed based on ester linkages and/or ether linkages.
Since the material used in the present invention has a dendrimer structure based on ester linkages and/or ether linkages, it is very stable and phenolic OH groups are distributed evenly at a high density at ends of a precursor of the polymer. The polymers having a dendrimer structure that can be combined with chromophores may have structures of first to sixth generations upon the repeat number. As described above, the polymers have a dendrimer structure with organic chromophores at the end. Table 1 shows examples of the organic chromophores that can be used.
TABLE 1
AIDC
DR1
DANS
DANI
DASS
RDAS
DAIDC
DDANS
DDANI
DDR1
DDASS
DRDAS
In Table 1, R and R′ are H, Ph, or an alkyl group including 1 to 6 carbon atoms; n is an integer in a range of 1 to 11; and B denotes an alkyl group (including 1 to 6 carbon atoms) or a COOA (A being an alkyl group including 1 to 6 carbon atoms).
The non-linear optical material can be synthesized by linking the organic chromophores shown in Table 1 to the ends of the polymer having a dendrimer structure, i.e., dendritic polymer.
To part of the ends of the dendritic polymer, a non-chromophore may be linked instead of organic chromophores, or both organic chromophores and non-chromophores may co-exist at a diverse ratio. Desirably, the non-chromophores used here are aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon compounds having 1 to 16 carbon atoms and combined with chemical functional groups for thermal and/or optical chemical reaction.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above and other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the preferred examples given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a graph showing electro-optical (EO) coefficients based on the intensity of an electric field of an optical material having a dendrimer structure, i.e., a dendrimer, in accordance with an example of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a graph depicting stabilities of the electro-optical coefficient of optical dendrimers at 80° C., the optical dendrimers being obtained from the examples of the present invention; and
FIG. 3 is a graph describing stabilities of the electro-optical coefficient of the optical dendrimers at 100° C., the optical dendrimers being obtained from the examples of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Other objects and aspects of the invention will become apparent from the following description of the examples with reference to the accompanying drawings, which is set forth hereinafter.
In this part of the present specification, a process for preparing some representative compounds that could be precursors for dendrimers will be described.
Preparation of Precursors for Optical Dendrimers Based on Ester Linkage
A chemical compound (1) is obtained by protecting a benzoic group of a 3,5-dehydroxy benzoic acid with a trichloroethanol, and a chemical compound (2) is obtained by protecting an OH group of a phenolic group with a benzyl group. Then, the chemical compounds (1) and (2) are combined by performing esterification using a coupling reagent in the presence of acids of catalytic amount. They can also be combined by a Mitsunobu reaction that uses triphenylphosphine and diethyl azodicarboxylate (DEAD), but this method may cause a problem in separation and refinement due to a possible side reaction of an acid anhydride. Protected groups of the obtained compound (3) are removed by reaction with zinc. This process is illustrated in Reaction Formula 1.
In case that a core structure for forming a dendrimer is plane, a coupling reaction is performed as shown in Reaction formula 2 by using 1,3,5-trihydroxy benzene, and debenzylation reaction is performed by adding hydrogen in the presence of palladium charcoal to form a compound (6). The compound (6) can be a precursor for an optical dendrimer structure.
Similarly, for the core of three-dimensional an SP3 structure, a compound (8) can be obtained as an optical dendrimer precursor by using 1,1,1-trihydroxyphenylethane, which is shown in Reaction Formula 2 below.
A compound (10), a higher generation dendrimer, may be obtained by using a converging synthesis method, and using the compounds (1) and (4), which are obtained in Reaction Formula 1. The process is shown in Reaction Formula 3.
From the obtained compound (10), a compound (12) and a compound (14), which are second-generation optical dendrimer precursors, can be prepared through a process similar to the coupling reaction of Reaction Formula 2. The process is shown in Reaction Formulas 4A and 4B.
A compound (16) and a compound (18), i.e., third-generation dendrimer precursors, can be prepared in a similar process, which is shown in Reaction Formulas 5A and 5B.
These methods described above, i.e., methods for preparing a precursor based on ester linkage, can be applied to a synthesis of a dendrimer based on ether linkages, other than a dendrimer based on ester linkage.
Preparation of Precursors for Optical Dendrimers Based on Ether Linkages
Phenolic OH groups of 3,5-dihydroxybenzyl alcohol are protected by using benzyl groups to produce a compound (19).
A compound (21) is prepared by reacting the compound (19) and 1,3,5-trihydroxy benzene as shown in the Reaction Formula 6. The prepared compound (21) is used as a precursor for a core material of dendrimer having plane-structure.
Similarly, a second-generation dendrimer structure, for example, a compound (23) can be prepared as shown in Reaction Formula 7 below.
A compound (25) is prepared by reacting the compound (19) and 1,1,1-trihydroxyphenyl ethane, as shown in Reaction Formula 8A. The prepared compound (25) is used as a precursor for a core material of dendrimer having SP3-structure.
Similarly, a compound (27), a second-generation dendrimer structure, can be prepared as shown in Reaction Formula 8B.
Through simple repetition of the above reactions, various materials of high-generation dendrimer structures based on ester and ether linkages can be prepared. Some of the compounds that can be prepared are shown in Formulas 28 through 31.
All the diverse precursors for optical dendrimers which are obtained in the above method include phenolic OH at ends evenly at a high density. Final optical dendrimers can be obtained by adopting the organic chromophores disclosed in Table 1 through chemical reactions.
Herein, the technology of the present invention will be described more in detail with reference to preferred examples in which optical dendrimers are prepared by combining organic chromophores to a dendritic compound. Each dendrimer is identified by using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), and gel-permeation chromatography (GPC) confirms that the distribution of molecular weight converges into 1, a value that agrees with a theoretical value.
EXAMPLE 1
The compound (1) of Formula 1 was obtained by refluxing 15.9 g of 3,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid and 18 g of 1,1,1-trichloroethanol in the presence of 1 g of sulfuric acid for two days and protecting ester groups with benzoic acid functional groups. In the meantime, the compound (2) was obtained by reacting the 3,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid with bromomethyl benzene in the presence of potassium carbonate and protecting phenolic OH groups.
The compounds (1) and (2) in the Reaction Formula 1, each 2.86 g and 7.02 g, were dissolved in 60 ml of tetrahydrofuran anhydride including 5.8 g of triphenylphosphine, and then reacted at 0° C. by slowly adding 3.5 ml of DEAD thereto. The solution was agitated at a room temperature for about one hour and then it was distilled with pressure until the solvent was reduced by two thirds, and then methanol was dropped thereto, thus obtaining white powdery compound (3) of Reaction Formula 1.
6.6 g of the obtained material was dissolved in a solution of 30 ml of acetic acid and 30 ml of tetrahydrofuran along with zinc powder, thus producing slurry. Here, the equivalent ratio of the obtained material and the zinc powder is 1:3. The slurry was agitated for 18 hours intensely. Insoluble floating matters was removed from the slurry. The slurry without the insoluble floating matter was diluted with ethylaceteate and washed with water. The organic solution was concentrated to afford a white powder and then sufficiently washed with hexane-acetic acid co-solvent. The product was re-crystallized from tetrahydrofuran and hexane. From these processes, a white powdery compound (4) of Reaction Formula 1 was obtained. Following are NMR data of the compound (4).
1 H-nmr (400 MHz; solvent: DMSO-d6; δ ppm) 7.80(s, 2H), 7.65(s, 1H), 7.47-7.30(m, 24H), 7.06(s, 2H), 5.15(s, 8H, benzyl), 3.39(br, 1H, —OH).
13 C-nmr (solvent: DMSO-d6; δ ppm) 165.77, 163.91, 159.65, 151.02, 136.59, 133.17, 130.49, 128.50, 127.99, 127.69, 120.59, 120.44, 108.70, 107.82, 69.72.
EXAMPLE 2
The compounds (2) or (4) obtained in the Example 1 were taken out 3.6 equivalents, individually and dissolved in a refined acetone together with 1,1,1-trihydroxyphenyl ethane. Subsequently, 1.5 equivalents of solid material (4-dimethyl amino pyridinium-p-toluene sulfonate: DPTS), which was obtained from an equivalent reaction between 4-dimethylamino pyridine and toluene sulfonic acid, and 3.6 equivalents of dicyclo hexylcarbodiimide (DCC) were added to acetone solution in an atmosphere of nitrogen, and then the solution was agitated at a room temperature for about two days, thus producing slurry. The slurry was filtrated to remove solid matters. Then, acetone was removed by around two thirds, and the resultant was refined by dropping the resultant in methanol, thus producing a compound (7) of Reaction Formula 2 or a compound (13) of Reaction Formula 4B. The compound (7) or (13) was dissolved in dichloromethane completely and methanol was added thereto in the same amount as the compound (7) or the compound (13) and three droplets of acetic acid were added thereto. Subsequently, about 5 wt % of 10% Pd—C was added in the resultant solution. Subsequently, it was reacted in an atmosphere of hydrogen at a pressure ranging from 10 to 15 atmospheres for about a day by using a high-pressure chemical reactor. A material obtained from the reactor was filtrated to remove Pd—C using cellite and concentrated. The resultant viscose material dissolved in a little amount of methanol was re-crystallized at a low temperature with an excessive amount of ethyl ether. Following are analysis data of the compounds (8) and (14).
The compound (8): 1 H-nmr(400 MHz; solvent: acetone-d6; δ ppm) 8.75(s, 6H, OH), 7.25(m, 12H), 7.16(s, 6H), 6.66(s, 3H), 3.23(s, 3H, CH 3 ).
13 C-nmr (solvent: acetone-d6; δ ppm) 165.37, 159.61, 150.33, 147.22, 132.29, 130.40, 122.14, 109.08, 108.63, 52.46, 31.05.
The compound (14): 1 H-nmr (400 MHz; solvent: DMSO-d6; δ ppm) 9.79(s, 12H, OH), 7.96(s, 6H), 7.72(s, 3H), 7.32(d, 6H, J=8.7 Hz), 7.21(d, 6H, J=8.7 Hz), 7.02(s, 12H), 6.56(s, 6H), 2.35(s, 3H, CH 3 ).
13 C-nmr (solvent: DMSO-d6; δ ppm) 164.40, 163.21, 158.82, 151.46, 148.76, 146.41, 131.25, 130.04, 129.51, 121.44, 121.07, 108.30, 107.95, 51.53, 33.51.
EXAMPLE 3
0.69 g of the compound (8) of Reaction Formula 2, which was obtained in the Example 2 as a precursor for an optical dendrimer, and 6.3 equivalents (i.e., 4.85 g) of duple connected aminophenyl isophorone dicyanide(DAIDC), which was to be an organic chromophore, were dissolved in 40 ml of tetrahydrofuran anhydride sufficiently. Here, the DAIDC was a DAIDC of Table 2 where B and R are CH 2 and CH 3 , respectively, and n is 1.
Subsequently, 8.3 equivalents (i.e., 2.12 g) of triphenyl phosphine was added to the above solution, and 1.34 ml of DEAD was divided into four portions and each portion of DEAD was added thereto once every 30 minutes for two hours. The mixture was agitated for one day and it was poured in 0.3 l of methanol slowly to be precipitated. The obtained precipitate was dried in the air, and then it was dissolved again in tetrahydrofuran at a weight ratio of 12%. The solution was re-precipitated in methanol, again, to remove remaining chromophores and reaction byproducts. From this process, red powdered compound 34 was obtained and it was dried in a vacuum condition. This reaction is illustrated in Reaction Formula 11 below. In a similar method, a compound (32) and a compound (33) can be obtained based on Reaction Formulas 9 and 10.
Following are measured data of the compound (34).
1 H-nmr (400 MHz; solvent: CDCl 3 ; δ ppm) 7.36(m, 28H), 7.23-7.10(m, 13H), 6.99-6.95(m, 15H), 6.81-6.66(m, 49H), 6.54(s, 12H), 6.34(s, 6H), 4.95(s, 12H, —PhCH 2 —O), 4.11(br s, 24H, OCH 2 CH 2 N), 3.77(br s, 24H, OCH 2 CH 2 N), 3.05(s, 36H), 2.48(s, 24H), 2.38(s, 24H), 2.26(s, 3H), 1.00(s, 72H).
UV absorption spectrum: λ max=505 nm(CHCl 3 )
Glass transition temperature (Tg, DSC thermal analysis)=165° C.
EXAMPLE 4
0.505 g of the compound (14), which was obtained as a precursor for an optical dendrimer in the Example 2, and 13.2 equivalents (i.e., 3.5 g) were dissolved in 30 ml of tetrahydrofuran anhydride sufficiently. Then, 14.4 equivalents (i.e., 1.25 g) of triphenyl phosphine was added to the solution in the presence of nitrogen, and 0.77 ml of DEAD was added thereto once every 30 minutes for 8 hours. Each time, a fourth of the DEAD was added. The solution was agitated for one day at a room temperature and precipitated slowly by being dropped in 0.3 l of methanol. The obtained precipitate was dried in the atmosphere and then dissolved again in 12 wt % of the tetrahydrofuran. The solution was re-precipitated in methanol to remove remaining chromophores and reaction by-products, thus producing a red powdery compound (37). The red powdery compound (37) was dried in a vacuum condition based on Reaction Formula 14 and used. In a similar method, a compound (35) and a compound (36) can be prepared based on Reaction Formulas 12 and 13.
Following are measured data of the obtained compound (37) in Reaction Formula 14.
1 H-nmr (400 MHz; solvent: CDCl 3 ; δ ppm) 7.91-7.25(m, 56H), 7.23-7.10(m, 15H), 6.99-6.93(m, 24H), 6.81-6.53(m, 99H), 6.54(m, 25H), 6.33(s, 24H), 4.95(s, 24H, —PhCH 2 —O), 4.09(br s, 48H, OCH 2 CH 2 N), 3.75(br s, 48H, OCH 2 CH 2 N), 3.08(s, 72H), 2.53-2.18(m, 99H), 0.99(s, 144H).
UV absorption spectrum: λ max=505 nm(CHCl 3 )
Glass transition temperature (Tg, DSC thermal analysis)=145° C.
EXAMPLE 5
The optical polymer dendrimers obtained in the third and the Example 4 were measured out 1 g, individually, and dissolved in 20 g of a 1,2,3-trichloropropane solvent to prepare a solution of 15% by mass for about 10 hours sufficiently. Then, the solution was filtrated with a filtering film (polytetrafluorethylene; PTFE) having pores of 0.2 μm to remove all fine particles.
Subsequently, a film having a thickness ranging from around 2 to around 3 μm was fabricated by performing rotatory molding on an indium tin oxide (ITO) glass substrate at a speed of 600 rpm/20 sec and drying it at a temperature of 150° C. under a vacuum condition for 10 hours. On top of the film, a top electrode was formed by depositing gold in a depth of 0.1 μm. To examine the optical properties of a material, electro-optical (EO) coefficients of the optical dendrimers were measured and shown in Table 2 below.
TABLE 2
EO coefficients of optical dendrimers
EO-Coefficient,
Content of
r 33 (pm/V)
Chromophores
Compounds
Dendrimers
Tp
TDAIDC104
150 V/μm
(AIDC), %
Example 3
(32)
TDAIDC104
133° C.
26.6
36.2
76
(33)
THPEDAIDC
165° C.
19.6
28.0
78
(34)
G1-3 AIDC
160° C.
19.0
—
77
Example 4
(35)
G2-3 AIDC
165° C.
21.0
—
75
(36)
G1-3 DAIDC
170° C.
29.3
43.4
77
(37)
G2-3 DAIDC
170° C.
19.5
25.7
76
Table 2 shows optical property values of representative optical dendrimers prepared in accordance with the present invention. T p , which stands for temperature poling, is the most effective temperature during electric contact poling. AIDC is a chromophore in a synthesized dendrimer. In Table 1, the theoretical amount of the chromophore AIDC is calculated based on a ratio of weight. TDAIDC104 tends to have a decreasing glass transition temperature. This is because the dendrimer structures include chain-type alkyl links. The optimum temperature of TDAIDC104 appears lower than other materials in an electric field.
The relationship between the intensity of an electric field and the electro-optical coefficient of the compound (36) is shown as a graph in FIG. 1 .
The graph of FIG. 1 shows that the compound (36) has a general tendency that the electro-optical coefficient is in proportion to the intensity of an applied electric field.
The compound (36) has a property of a dendrimer which shows high stability in a high electric field even in the atmosphere, which is not a special environment filled with nitrogen and/or argon.
To measure reliability and stability of the values obtained in Table 2, a dendrimer film positioned in the electric field is left alone for a long time in the conditions of several different temperatures, and their optical coefficients are measured. FIG. 2 presents a graph depicting stabilities of the electro-optical coefficient of optical dendrimers at 80° C. FIG. 3 is a graph describing stabilities of the electro-optical coefficient of the optical dendrimers at 100° C. The optical dendrimers are obtained from the examples of the present invention.
When the optical coefficients of the dendrimers are measured at 80° C., the dendrimers other than the compound (32) having a low glass transition temperature can maintain stability only after they generate about 10 to 15% loss. When the optical coefficients are measured at 100° C., the dendrimers produce more loss. 80% of the compound (32) has been restored and the other dendrimers have produced about 30 to 40% loss, but they become stable after a predetermined time.
The technology of the present invention described above is not limited by the afore-described examples and/or reaction formulas, but they can be substituted, changed or modified within the concept and scope of the present invention.
The present invention is designed to develop a nonlinear optical material having a new polymer structure. Conventional nonlinear optical materials have monomolecular crystal structures or a structure side chains are linked to a linear polymer. However, the present invention suggests a dendrimer structure which is a three-dimensional globular structure.
A dendrimer has a structure of a monomolecule, but since it has a large molecular weight, it has more of the properties of polymers rather than those of monomers. Also, because it has a high connection ability at its ends, it can easily introduce nonlinear optical chromophores, which are shown in the present invention. So, it can increase the concentration of the chromophores up to 78%, a concentration which conventional linear polymers cannot possibly reach. The dendrimer has a structure completely free from unstable factors at the ends of linear polymers. Therefore, it has increased thermal and optical stability. The non-linear optical dendrimers of the present invention can be prepared from low-degree simple-structured molecules to high-degree larger molecules sequentially through a synthetic method. Since the dendrimer structure is formed based on simple and stable linkages such as ester linkages and ether linkages, it generates small optical loss when it is used for optical communication application.
While the present invention has been described with respect to certain preferred examples, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims. | The present invention relates to a non-linear optical material having a dendrimer structure; and, more particularly, to a non-linear optical material having organic chromophores at the ends and formed based on ester linkages and/or ether linkages. Since the non-linear optical material of the present invention is formed based on ester linkages and/or ether linkages, it is very stable. Also, because it is a dendrimer structure, it has the properties of a polymer while having a strong connection ability at the ends, and this makes the non-linear optical material easily adopt organic chromophores easily. As it is stable thermally and optically, it can be applied to optical communication usefully. | 2 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The inventions relates to improvements in creating sealed holes and installing appliances through a structure. More particularly and without limitation, it relates to creating sealed holes and installing vents for gas appliances through walls, including gas baseboard heaters.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Great strides have been made in recent years to develop direct vent gas appliances. Rather than obtaining combustion air from the space in which the appliance is located, the combustion chamber of a direct vent appliances is sealed from the space and takes its combustion air from the outside. This increases the safety, efficiency and environmental comfort provided by the appliance. The exhaust from the appliance is, of course, also vented to the outside.
Typically, a concentric inlet-outlet configuration is used for the incoming combustion air and the outgoing exhaust gases. The exhaust gases are vented through an exhaust pipe at the centre of the configuration. An intake pipe surrounds, but is spaced away from the exhaust pipe. The combustion air is drawn in through the space between the exhaust pipe and the intake pipe.
The combustion air absorbs heat from the exhaust gases further increasing the efficiency of the appliance and reducing the temperature of the exhaust gases. The appliance is often provided with a fan to ensure that sufficient combustion air is drawn in and all of the exhaust gases are vented from the appliance. A fan-based appliance is known as a power vented appliance. Cool exhaust and power venting allow for an appliance to be vented through an exterior wall rather than the traditional manner of venting through the roof.
The ability to install appliances through the wall significantly increases the range of possible installation positions for the appliances. An appliance can now be installed in a single unit of a high-rise apartment building without other modifications to the structure. Retrofit applications are considerably easier. An appliance can be put into an existing house without having to run a chimney through the roof or up an exterior wall.
Unfortunately, transporting and installing these appliances is not yet without difficulty. In a gas baseboard heater of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,635 issued Oct. 19, 1993 to Overall et al the intake pipe and the exhaust pipe are fixed to the body of the appliance at the time of manufacture.
Walls have varying thickness, typically less than two feet, and the pipes need to project beyond the wall for proper venting. This means that the pipes are usually over two feet long. Although the portion of the Overall baseboard inside the space to be heated is stated to be approximately nine inches by five inches by four feet, the length of the pipes provide a transportation depth of well over two feet.
When installing the Overall unit a hole is cut in the wall and the depth of the wall is measured. For most installations, the length of the pipes will need to be cut to fit. A long length of pipe projecting from the exterior of the wall is undesirable as it is unsightly, has less strength than a small projection, and will provides a larger target for undesired bumping or buffeting. A straight cut cannot be made through both pipes as the exhaust gases would tend to re-enter the baseboard through the intake pipe. The exhaust pipe typically extends further from the wall than the intake to allow the exhaust gases to dissipate. Thus the intake pipe must be cut around the already in place exhaust pipe. As well the entire baseboard unit has to be lifted and positioned while the cutting takes place. This can be a cumbersome and inefficient process, and may even affect the size of pipe used in order to allow for a tube cutter or saw to fit around and between the pipes.
Other problems with installing appliances are maintaining access to the appliance after installation, insulating the wall, covering the cut surface of the wall aesthetically and functionally, and installing the unit entirely from the interior.
Referring again to the Overall baseboard, after the hole and pipe are cut then the baseboard heater is mounted on the wall with the pipes projecting through the wall. Screws or other mounting devices hold the baseboard heater in place. Unfortunately, the outside diameter of the pipes and the inside diameter of the hole are not likely to match exactly. If one could make the diameters of the hole and pipes the same then it would be difficult to fit the pipes through the hole. As well, opening up the interior cavity of the wall could create air flow problems within the building resulting in drafts or condensation problems. Insulation could be placed or sprayed outside the pipes into the wall cavity, however this has the dual drawback of requiring work to be performed from the outside because the baseboard heater is in the way in the interior, and fixing the unit in place, making removal difficult for repair or replacement.
After the hole is cut, there is an exposed area of the wall surrounding the pipes that needs to be protected. Again, insulation could be used, however this needs to be done from the outside and is unlikely to be aesthetically pleasing in any event. As well, the exterior surface may actually be chipped or roughened on the outside edge. This is particularly true because it is advisable to cut the hole in the wall from the interior, both to ensure proper placement and to avoid excessive damage to the interior surface when the tool is cutting the interior surface. Insulation may not be able to cover this type of damage. Repair work is time consuming and may require skills that the typical appliance installer does not have.
It is known to increase the size of the hole and insert a separate larger diameter pipe of approximately the same diameter as the hole. The pipe spans the internal cavity of the wall, sealing it off, and is held in place by a flange screwed to the interior surface of the wall. In order to protect the wall and seal the hole from the outside, another pipe is inserted from the outside into the first pipe. This second pipe is also held in place by a ranged screwed into the exterior wall. The flanges are made from metal and it is advisable to further seal the exterior flange using caulking compound. An example of this structure is described in the Installation Operation Instructions for the Siegler Model LSB 10-2D, previously published by Lear Siegler (Canada) Ltd. of Orillia Ontario, Canada. Although the Siegler product could be used to improve the installation procedure for the Overall baseboard, it is an inefficient procedure in terms of time, effort and materials, and it still does not provide an aesthetically pleasing finish or allow the heater to be installed entirely from the interior. Also, it is not possible to insulate the internal cavity as it is blocked after the first pipe is put in place.
Rinnai America Corp. of La Grange, Ga. has marketed direct vent gas wall heaters under model nos. RHFE-551A and RHFE-1001VA with vents that seal interior and exterior surfaces of the wall about the hole. The Rinnai vents are again installed partially from the interior and partially from the exterior. A plastic sleeve is cut to length and placed in the hole from the interior. The sleeve has a flange that is fixed to the interior surface of the wall using screws. An external terminal with a exhaust pipe and a flat seal is placed in the hole from the exterior. Straps are used from the interior, through the sleeve, to pull the vent toward the interior placing the seal against the exterior surface of the wall, the terminal into the sleeve, and the exhaust pipe near the interior wall. The manifold, separate from the rest of the baseboard heater is then pushed onto the exhaust pipe. Although the wall surfaces are sealed, it is not possible to insulate the internal cavity, nor is it possible to perform the entire operation from the interior.
Baker in U.S. Pat. No. 3,550,579 issued Dec. 29, 1970 entitled Flue Seal for Gas appliance and U.S. Pat. No. 3,428,040 issued Feb. 18, 1969 entitled Gas Heater describes flue seals that are installable from the interior. U.S. Pat. No. 3,428,040 uses a series of rubber rings around a telescoping pipe. When the telescoping sections are moved together, the rings are axially compressed and deform outwardly. This brings them into contact with the hole and seals the interior from the exterior. Recognizing the difficulty of choosing appropriate rings and installing them on site, Baker improved the seal as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,550,579 by replacing the rings with a single tapered ring that forms a skin around the telescoping pipe. The skin has a wider diameter than the hole and is slightly deformed as it is inserted into the hole. This skirt quickly and efficiently forms the seal. Unfortunately, both Baker devices have minimal sealing ability and still do not protect the exterior surface of the wall or allow for insulation of the internal cavity of the wall.
It is an object of the present invention to provide improvements for the installation of appliances. The improvements are directed toward providing solution for problems in the art, including without limitation one or more of those problems described above.
The invention can have many different aspects as will be understood from the description provided below that provide different features of installation from one side of a structure, field customization and field installability.
In a first aspect the invention provides a seal that has a resiliently deformable ring. The ring has an internal circumference and an external circumference. The external circumference deforms inwardly when inserted into a hole of smaller diameter than the external circumference and the internal circumference remains constant when inserted into a hole of greater diameter than the internal circumference. The ring rebounds to its normal position when it emerges from the hole, and the ring substantially flattens when brought against a substantially flat surface.
In a second aspect the invention similarly provides a seal with a resiliently deformable ring having a normal position. The ring also has an internal circumference, an external circumference, an upper surface and a lower surface. Each surface extends about the internal circumference from the internal circumference to the external circumference. The ring has a thickness between the upper surface and the lower surface. In order to fit through a hole the ring is deformable by inwardly collapsing the second circumference. In order to seal the hole the ring is deformable by bringing the second circumference toward the first circumference until the lower surface is substantially flat without inwardly collapsing the second circumference.
The seal may have a tubular extension from the lower surface about the first circumference.
The seal of the first aspect or the one with the extension may be provided as part of a weather vent seal kit, along with a tubular sleeve of substantially the same outer contour as the internal circumference of the seal, and along with two straps.
The kit may form part of a seal assembly assembled by inserting the sleeve through the lower surface at the first circumference until it is substantially flush with the upper surface. The sleeve would be bonded to the ring.
The ring may be formed from rubber, while the sleeve may be a rigid pipe, possibly a PVC pipe.
In a third aspect a direct vent gas appliance has a field installable air intake tube and a base cabinet combination having corresponding manual insertion alignment and retention means. The appliance could further have an exhaust pipe and exhaust outlet combination having corresponding manual insertion alignment and retention means. Alternatively, the appliance of may have one or more corresponding key hole cuts and tabs for inserting one end of the tube into the base cabinet when the indentations and tabs are aligned. The keyhole cuts and tabs allow the tube to be rotated once inserted so that the cuts and tabs are no longer aligned. They prevent the tube from being removed from the base cabinet without re-aligning the cuts and tabs.
This last appliance may also have an exhaust pipe threaded on one end and a corresponding exhaust outlet in an air box connected to the base cabinet. The exhaust pipe would be threaded to the exhaust outlet.
In a fourth aspect the invention provides an appliance installation through a structure having a first surface and a second surface and a hole connecting the first and second surfaces. The installation has the above appliance and the ring of the second aspect. The appliance is installed against the first surface, and the intake tube and exhaust pipe extend from the appliance through the hole and the ring.
In a fifth aspect the invention also provides an appliance installation through a structure having a first surface and a second surface and a hole connecting the first and second surface. The installation also has the above appliance and it has one of the above seal assemblies. The seal assembly is installed through the hole with the ring substantially flattened against the second surface. The sleeve extends the depth of the hole to approximately the first surface. The straps retain the assembly in place relative to the structure. The appliance is installed against the first surface and the air intake has a O-ring on the outside of the air intake. The air intake extends from the appliance through the sleeve and beyond the ring. The O-ring seals the intake to the sleeve.
The structure may have an internal cavity about the sleeve that is insulated after installation of the sleeve.
In a sixth aspect the invention provides a kit of one of the above appliances with the pipe and tube disassembled from the remainder of the heater.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
For a better understanding of the present invention and to show more clearly how it may be carried into effect, reference will now be made by way of example to the accompanying drawings, which show the preferred embodiments of the present invention and in which:
FIG. 1 is a partially exploded perspective view from in front, above and to the left of a gas baseboard heater incorporating a portion of the preferred embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 2 is an internal perspective view from in front, above and to the right of a portion of the heater of FIG. 1, showing an assembled air intake pipe and exhaust tube.
FIG. 3 is a fully exploded perspective view from in front, above and to the left of the heater of FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an exhaust elbow employed in the heater of FIG. 1.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a mount flange for the air intake pipe of the heater of FIG. 1.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view from in front, above and to the left of a base cabinet of the heater of FIG. 1.
FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view from in front, above, and to the left of an air box employed in the heater of FIG. 1.
FIG. 8(a) through (c) is a series of diagrammatic sketches showing the measurement for cutting of the air intake pipe and exhaust tube for the heater of FIG. 1.
FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic sketch of the components of a weather vent seal kit according to a portion of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a cross-section showing the coupling of a weather seal and a wall sleeve of the kit of FIG. 9.
FIG. 11 is a cross-section of the coupled weather seal and wall sleeve of FIG. 10, together with pull straps.
FIG. 11a is a perspective view of a seal assembly employing some of the components of FIG. 9.
FIGS. 12(a) through 12(d) are a series of cross-sections showing the insertion of the weather vent seal kit of FIG. 9 through a wall.
FIG. 13 is a diagrammatic front perspective view of the weather vent seal kit of FIG. 9 being secured at the interior of a wall.
FIG. 14 is a diagrammatic front perspective view of insulation being installed around the weather vent seal kit of FIG. 9.
FIG. 15 is a perspective view from the rear, above and to the left of the base cabinet, air intake pipe and exhaust tube of the heater of FIG. 1 with an O-ring about the air intake pipe.
FIG. 16 is a diagrammatic front perspective view illustrating the removal of a plug from the weather vent seal kit of FIG. 9 in preparation for installation of the baseboard heater of FIG. 1.
FIG. 17 is a cross section of an assembled vent seal kit of FIG. 9 and heater of FIG. 1, without a burner.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The general structure and operation of an improved gas baseboard heater will first be described, followed by specific improvements to air intakes, exhaust pipes and wall seals. Referring to FIGS. 1 through 3, a gas baseboard heater 1 is of the type described in the Overall et al patent discussed previously. An air intake tube 3 is connected to a base cabinet 5. The base cabinet is in turn connected to an air box 7. A burner 9 is inside the air box 7. A U-shaped heat exchanger 11 is connected to one side of the air box 7. There is a rubber gasket 11a between the heat exchanger 11 and the air box 7. Between the heat exchanger 11 and the base cabinet 5 is a heat shield 12. The heat shield is mounted on brackets 12a, while the heat exchanger 11 is retained at the U-shaped end by a clip, not shown, mounted on bracket 12b (FIG. 6).
A blower 13 is connected through a gasket 13a (FIG. 3) to the front of the air box 7, while a gas valve 14 is connected to the air box 7 opposite the heat exchanger 11. A pressure limit switch 15 is also connected to the air box 7, above the gas valve 14. The gas valve 14 is connected to a 90° ball type manual shut-off valve 15a (FIG. 1).
A 110 volt electrical supply, not shown, is connected to a junction terminal 16, from which power for all the components of the heater 1 is drawn. A transformer 17 steps the voltage down to 24 volts for use with an external 24 volt thermostat, not shown. Knockouts 18c are placed in the back and bottom of the base cabinet 5 for flexibility in installing electrical lines. Knockouts 18b are placed in the bottom and in an end plate 18a connected to the base cabinet 5 for flexibility in installing gas lines. Knockout 18d is placed in the back of the base cabinet 5 for a 24 volt line from a thermostat, not shown, but referred to again below. In FIG. 2, those components of the heater 1 that lie between the end plate 18a and the air box 7 are not shown so that the knockouts 18b, 18c, 18d are visible.
Referring to FIG. 7, the air box 7 has a back 19 and is divided into an upper chamber 21 and a lower chamber 23 by a divider 25. A mounting bracket 27 is approximately one-quarter inch thick and is welded onto the rear of the air box 7, while an extension 29 is welded to the left of the air box 7. The extension 29 holds the transformer 17 and valve 14 of FIG. 3. The air box is mounted to the base cabinet 5 by screws or other fastening means through openings 30.
Referring to FIGS. 1 through 3, the upper portion of the heat exchanger 11 terminates in the upper chamber 21, and, referring to FIG. 4, is provided with an exhaust elbow 31. The opposite end of the exhaust elbow from the heat exchanger 11 opens into an opening 33 in the back of the air box 7, which is in turn aligned with an opening 35 in the back 37 of base cabinet 5. The opening 33 is extruded outwardly, approximately one quarter of an inch. An exhaust pipe 39 is connected to the elbow 31 through the air intake tube 3 and the openings 33, 35. The blower 13 has fluid connection to the upper chamber 21 through another opening 40 in an air box front 40a.
The lower chamber 23 contains the gas burner 9 which is of the in-shot type with a venturi for efficiently mixing the gas with primary air and directed into the lower portion of the heat exchanger 11. It 23 also contains a gas orifice 42 for regulating gas flow. A hot surface igniter 43 extends through the heat exchanger 11 near the operating end of the burner 9. The hot surface igniter 43 is best mounted by metal screws or some other heat resistant, removable fastener for easy servicing. The blower 13 has fluid connection to the lower chamber 23 through an opening 45 in the air box front 40a.
In operation, any commercially available thermostat, not shown, that is compatible with the electrical connections of the heater 1, senses a low temperature in the room being heated. The blower 13 is activated and air is drawn through the air intake tube 3 outside of the exhaust pipe 39, through the openings 33, 35, 40, 45 into the lower chamber 23 and is forced into the heat exchanger 11 through the upper and lower portions, the elbow 31, and out the exhaust pipe 39. The hot surface igniter 43 is heated for a set period of time, before the gas valve 14 allows gas to flow into the burner 9. The pressure limit switch 15 senses the pressure differential between the upper and lower chambers 21, 23 caused by the blower 13, and if the differential is sufficient to indicate proper operation of the blower 13, gas is allowed to flow into the burner 9. The burner 9 has a venturi for efficient mixing of gas and primary air drawn from the air intake tube 3. Exhaust gases from the burner 41 flow into the heat exchanger 11 and out through the exhaust pipe 39. As the exhaust gases flow around the heat exchanger 11, heat is transferred to room air drawn into a lower grill 47 of a cabinet front 49 and released through an upper grill 51.
As is known in electrical baseboards, a hot spot detector, a liquid filled copper tube, not shown, can run across the top of the base cabinet 5 for the length of the heat exchanger 11. It will shut down the heater 1 if dangerously high temperatures are detected. This can be caused when items are left on the top of the heater 1 so that they cover a portion of the upper grill 51. To discourage items from being placed over the upper grill 51, the front 49 is sloped slightly down toward the front of the heater 1.
It is possible to have the heater 1 operate solely by natural convection, however the efficiency of the heater 1 would be limited as the transfer of heat to the room air cools the exhaust gases and reduces the amount of lift necessary to move the exhaust gases out of the heater 1. Even with a blower 13, the efficiency is limited by the possibility of condensation occurring in the exhaust gases when too much heat is drawn out of them, however it is possible to achieve efficiencies in the lower 80% range, or possibly more given favourable atmospheric conditions. The variables concerned are well known to those skilled in the art. Useful tools include the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (ASHRAE) Psychometric Charts for determining dew points and include efficiency line charts for determining exhaust gas losses for given temperatures and percentages of flue gases, for example the Nomograph for Determining Flue Losses with Natural Gas as set out in National Standard of Canada CAN1-2. 19-M81, Gas-Fired Gravity and Fan Type Direct Vent Wall Furnaces, as published by the Canadian Gas Association
This description will now turn to specific improvements to air intake, exhaust and wall seals. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, the air intake tube 3 has a mount flange 53 at one end. Referring to FIG. 5, the mount flange 53 has a generally flat central ring 55 and two opposing tabs 57 that are bent at 90 degrees approximately one-quarter inch from the outer end of each tab 57. One opening 58 appears on each of the tabs 57. The openings 58 are simply used to hang the flange when it is being painted. The flange 53 fits about, and is welded flush with, one end of the air intake tube 3, the tabs 57 extending outwardly. Referring to FIG. 3, a resilient gasket 59 is glued to the flange 53.
Referring to FIGS. 3 and 6, outside of the opening 35 in the base cabinet 5, are two opposing stops 61, formed by punching in a portion of the base cabinet 5 that has been cut on three sides. Extending from the opening 35 spaced angularly away from the stops 61 are opposing keyhole cuts 63.
To mount the air intake tube 3, one need only align the tabs 57 and the cuts 63, and insert the tube 3 into the base cabinet. The tube 3 is then rotated until the tabs 57 fit into the stops 61. This indicates the proper position of the tube 3. bracket 27 are tightened down into the base cabinet 5, forcing the extruded opening 33 into the gasket 61 and sealing the tube 3 to the upper chamber 21.
Using the key hole configuration of tabs 57 and cuts 63 allows the tube 3 to be made from the same relatively light weight sheet metal with a baked enamel finish as the base cabinet 5.
The exhaust pipe 39 has a threaded end 64 to match threads in the elbow 31 which form an exhaust outlet within the air box 7. The exhaust pipe 39 is mounted by inserting the threaded end 63 through the openings 33, 35 and threading it into the elbow 31. The elbow 31 and pipe 39 are formed from standard stainless steel pipe, and may require the use of a pipe wrench, so it may be preferrable to mount the pipe 39 before mounting the tube 3. Stainless steel is used to prevent corrosion.
Referring to FIG. 8, providing tube 3 and pipe 39 that may be cut to length and installed in the field allows the thickness of a wall 67 to be measured with a measuring tape 69, and the tube 3 and pipe 39 to be cut using a tube cutter, not shown, or other cutting device. It is possible to saw the tube 3 and pipe 39, however it is not advised as rough edges may remain or sanding will be necessary. The tube 3 does not interfere with the cutting of the pipe 39, and vice versa. The remainder of the heater 1 does not interfere with the cutting of either the tube 3 or the pipe 39. Field installable, cut to length in the field, and installed in the field refer to those types of tools that a gas appliance installer would ordinarily employ in installing gas appliances, such as tube cutters and wrenches. Such tools would not include welding tools necessary to weld stainless steel.
Field installable tube 3 and pipe 39 reduce the overall dimensions of the heater 1 for transportation. The tube 3 and pipe 39 can be placed in a box parallel with the base cabinet 5 rather than projecting orthogonally from the base cabinet 5. Being able to cut tube 3 and pipe 39 to length means that only a single length of each of the tube 3 and pipe 39 need be provided by a manufacturer for different wall 67 thicknesses. These improvements can result in significant cost savings in transportation and economies of scale.
For the heater 1, the tube 3 may have an external diameter of approximately one and one-half inches, while the pipe 39 has an external diameter of approximately one inch. In this case, the tube 3 should extend approximately one inch from the wall 67 and the pipe 39 approximately two and one-half inches. This lessens the possibility of exhaust gases re-entering the air intake tube 3.
It will be evident to those skilled in the art that principles described for improvements to air intakes and exhaust are not limited to gas baseboard heaters, but can be extended to other direct vent appliances, not shown. There may need to be consequent modification to the overall dimensions of the various components depending on the internal design and output of the appliance.
It will also be evident that the key hole configuration of cuts and tabs is only one example of a manual insertion alignment and retention means. Those skilled in the art will be able to create others based upon the principles described herein.
Referring to FIG. 9, a weather vent seal kit 75 has a weather seal 77, a sleeve 79, a sleeve plug 81, an O-ring 83 and two pull straps 85. Referring to FIGS. 9, 10 and 11, the seal 77 is formed from a resiliently deformable material such as rubber. The rubber used in the preferred embodiment was provided by Wynn Precision Canada Limited, 255 Hughes Road, Orillia, Ontario L3V 2M3 under part no. WPC compound 3956.
The seal 77 in its normal position is a generally circular ring 87 with a generally tubular extension 89 from the ring 87. Referring to FIG. 10, the ring 87 has an inner circumference A and an external circumference B. It also has an upper surface 91 and a generally smooth lower surface 93. The surfaces 91, 93 extend from the internal circumference A to the external circumference B. There is a thickness 95 between the upper and lower surfaces 91, 93. The internal circumference A at the lower surface 93 lies in a first plane C, while the external circumference B at the lower surface 93 lies in a second, different and generally, parallel plane D.
The extension 89 is integral with the ring 87 and has the same internal circumference A as the ring 87. The extension 89 extends away from the lower surface 93. The depth of the seal 77 at the internal circumference A is approximately one inch, the internal circumference A is approximately two inches, while the external diameter in the normal position is approximately three and one-half inches. The thickness 95 is approximately one-eighth inch at the external circumference B and one-quarter inch at the internal circumference A, although there is some rounding 99 where the lower surface 93 and the extension 89 meet.
The seal 77 is deformable in at least two senses. First it is may be made smaller by squeezing and collapsing the external circumference B. Second it may be made larger by pushing on the lower surface 93 and bringing the plane C into line with the plane D causing the external circumference B to expand and the lower surface 93 to substantially flatten orthogonal to the axis of the extension 89.
The seal 77 is resilient in the sense that the seal 77 tends to return to its normal position unless deformed by outside forces. The thickness 95 is greater at the internal circumference A than the external circumference B in order to resist collapsing of the external circumference B due to stressing of the seal 77 when it 77 is flattened.
The wall sleeve 79 is generally tubular and rigid. The wall sleeve 79 may be formed from sheet metal or plastic or another preferrably non-corrosive material. PVC (polyvinyl chloride) pipe is a suitable material, as it inexpensive, light, bonds well with rubber and is easy to cut. The wall sleeve 79 is cut to the approximate depth of a wall 100 (see FIG. 12), plus seven-eighths of an inch to take into account the thickness 95 of the seal 77. It is advisable to use a tube cutter, not shown, to obtain a smooth cut on the sleeve 79. It is particularly difficult to obtain a straight cut using a hacksaw on PVC pipe.
The wall sleeve 79 is covered at one end to the depth of the seal 77 at the inner circumference A with an adhesive 101, for example PVC cement when using PVC pipe for the sleeve 79 and rubber for the seal 77. The end of the wall sleeve 79 with the adhesive 101 is inserted into the extension 89 until it is flush with the upper surface 91 and held steady until the adhesive 101 sets.
Referring to FIGS. 9 and 11, the straps 85 are rectangular strips, preferrably formed from PVC so that they 85 can be easily attached to the sleeve 79 using PVC cement. Although they 85 need not be rigid, it is preferrable that they 85 are rigid so that they 85 may be more easily reached as described below. The straps 85 extend approximately eight inches from the sleeve 89.
The plug 81 is press fit into the end of the wall sleeve 79 opposite the seal 77 until a stop 102 (see FIG. 9) meets the sleeve 79.
Referring to FIG. 11a, the components, seal 77, sleeve 79, straps 85 and plug 81 form a seal assembly 103.
Referring to FIG. 12, the seal assembly 103 is inserted into the interior surface 104 of a wall 100 through a pre-cut hole 107 of approximately three inches in diameter (FIG. 12a). The seal 77 deforms by folding back and collapsing the external circumference B (FIG. 12b). When the seal 77 emerges from an exterior surface 109 of the wall 100, it 77 resiliently returns to its normal position (FIG. 12c). The straps 85 are then pulled back from the interior to retrieve the vent seal 75. When the lower surface 93 meets the exterior surface 109, the seal 77 is deformed and the lower surface flattens out to rest against the surface 109 and cover the hole 107.
Referring to FIG. 13, the straps 85 are bent back to meet the interior surface 104 and fastened by screws 111 or the like. Wall plugs or anchors, not shown, may be required depending on the wall 100 material.
Referring to FIG. 14, expanding foam 113 is sprayed into the interior of the wall 100 around the wall sleeve 79 slowly, starting at the exterior surface 109 (see FIG. 12) and working toward the interior surface 104. The interior of the wall 100 should not be completely filled in order to allow room for the foam 113 to expand. Once the foam 113 is dry, any excess is cut away.
This results in a uniform, insulated, circular hole inside the sleeve 79 through the wall 100, sealed rom the interior of the wall 100, and sealed at the exterior surface 109. The hole 107 is otherwise covered at the exterior wall 109 by the seal 77 and presents a simple, clean and aesthetically pleasing finish.
It is possible to obtain an adequate seal on exterior surfaces that are not smooth or at right angles to the sleeve 79 due to the use of the foam to be described and the inherent flexibility of the rubber used in the seal 77, however care should be taken when installing the seal 77 in such situations to ensure that damage will not occur to the installation over time.
Referring to FIG. 15, the O-ring 83 is then fit snugly over the tube 3 to within approximately two inches of the end of the tube 3 away from the base cabinet 5. Referring to FIG. 16, the plug 81 is removed from the sleeve 79. The plug 81 serves to prevent undesired material, such as the foam 113, from entering the sleeve 79. It 81 also temporarily seals the sleeve 79 from drafts.
Petroleum jelly or an equivalent lubricant, not shown, is applied to the outside circumference of the O-ring 83. The tube 3 is inserted into the sleeve 79 until the base cabinet 5 meets the interior wall 100. The O-ring 83 seals the space between the tube 3 and the sleeve 79. In the preferred embodiment, the O-ring has an internal diameter of one and twenty-nine sixty-fourths inches and a body diameter of one and twenty-nine thirty-seconds inches.
The base cabinet is then fastened to the interior surface 104 with screws or other fastening means, 106. The heater 1 is connected to gas and electricity, not shown, and the front 40a is connected to the base cabinet 5.
A further advantage of the seal assembly 103 is that the heater 1 can be removed without danage or the need to re-insulate when the heater 1 is re-installed.
It is not strictly necessary for the internal circumference A and the external diameter B to be circular, however it provides uniform stressing of the upper surface 91 and the lower surface 93 so that the seal 77 lies substantially flat against the exterior surface 109. For example, a square ring, not shown, could be designed to provide a seal on the exterior wall 109, but causing it to lie flat might be difficult. Having a generally circular cross-section for sleeve 79, tube 3 and pipe 39 is preferrable for ease of manufacture and alignment.
It is not necessary to employ the vent seal kit 75 in order to exercise the benefits of the field installable tube 3 and pipe 39. Where the kit 75 is not employed, the seal 77 may still be used and installed from the exterior of the wall 100 after the heater 1 has been installed from the interior and foam has been injected from the exterior. In this case, the hole 107 need not be as large as it does not have to accommodate the sleeve 79. The internal diameter of the seal 77 can also be smaller, one and one-half inches for the heater 1 dimensions described herein.
As will be evident to those skilled in the art, the principles described for the vent seal kit 75 and its method of installation from the interior need not be restricted to gas baseboard heaters, nor to gas appliances. It may be employed to create uniform holes that are sealed at one surface, while being installed from an opposing surface. Sample applications might include clothing dryer hot air vents and wiring conduits.
It will be understood that this description is made with reference to the preferred embodiments of the invention. However, it is possible to make other embodiments that employ the principles of the invention and that fall within its spirit and scope as defined by the following claims. | A direct vent gas baseboard heater has field installable concentric air intake tube and exhaust pipe. The intake pipe and exhaust tube can be cut separately from the remainder of the heater, improving the efficiency of installation. They can also be transported aligned with the remainder of the heater, reducing packaging size. The manufacturer can provide a single size of tube and pipe for a variety of installation situations. The tube connects to a base cabinet through a key hole configuration of tabs and cuts, and is twisted until the tabs meet stops in the base cabinet. An extrusion in an air box in the base cabinet is brought against a gasket on a flange of the tube, fixing the tube and sealing it with the air box. The exhaust tube has a threaded end and is threaded into an exhaust outlet in the air box, sealing it to a heat exchanger. A vent seal kit creates a seal assembly having a resiliently deformable ring seal extending into a wall sleeve with straps. The assembly is inserted ring first into a hole in a structure which deforms the seal by bending it back. When the seal emerges through the structure, it rebounds to its original position and the straps are pulled. This brings the seal into contact with the exterior wall, sealing it. Insulation is sprayed from the interior about the wall sleeve, sealing the internal cavity. An O-ring is slipped over the intake tube previously installed on the heater. The intake tube and exhaust pipe are inserted through the wall sleeve, sealed to the wall sleeve by the O-ring. The seal assembly allows the entire installation process to take place from the interior and is particularly advantageous for high-rise installations. | 5 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] The present application is a Continuation-In-Part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/016,424 filed Jan. 18, 2008, entitled: “Improved Systems For Bracing Garage Doors Against Hurricane Force Winds” by Salvatore Michael DeCola, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates in general to garage door systems, and is particularly directed to a door bracing system made of grooved telescoping column members, that are attachable to a garage door and to the structure of the garage building proper, so as to reinforce and anchor a multi-paneled garage door against high velocity winds and against intrusive using instruments.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] A typical multi-panel residential garage door, is comprised of a plurality of panels (usually made of galvanized steel or fiberglass), which are hinged together at hinge joints. The hinge joints are equipped with side wheels or rollers that ride in a pair of guide tracks that extend along opposite sides of the garage door opening. The guide tracks are usually anchored (e.g., bolted) to wall regions of the garage adjacent to the opening and attached via brackets to the ceiling. The door may be opened and closed either by hand or by way of an automated garage door translation device, such as may be mounted to the ceiling and attached to the topmost one of the door panels.
[0004] As described in DeCola et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,038, entitled: “System for Bracing Garage Door Against Hurricane Force Winds”, also described in DeCola, U.S. Pat. No. 5,964,269, entitled: “System of Telescoping Longitudinally Grooved Door-Stiffening Columns For Bracing Garage Door Against Hurricane Force Winds”, and as described in DeCola, U.S. Pat. No. 6,082,431, entitled: “System of Telescoping Longitudinally Grooved Door-Stiffening Columns For Bracing Garage Door Against Hurricane Force Winds,” (the disclosure of each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety), when a multi-panel garage door is exposed to high velocity winds of a violent storm, such as a hurricane, the door panels have a tendency to separate from the guide tracks as a result of continued flexing of the panels and fatigue of the tracks themselves. This repeated flexing causes the side wheels to become detached from the tracks so that the ends of panels become warped, allowing wind to enter the garage and literally rip or ‘peel’ the door away from the garage door opening. Once the garage and adjacent structure has been blown out, the ceiling of the garage and adjacent structure are no longer protected from the extremely high velocity winds of the storm, and it is simply a matter of time before the roof blows off, causing the entire structure to be destroyed.
[0005] Follow-up investigation to the widespread damage to residential buildings in south Florida by Hurricane Andrew in 1992 has revealed that had garage doors been reinforced against such separation from the guide tracks, and not blown out, the full force of the hurricane would not have been able to enter many of the destroyed houses. As a result of this investigation, homebuilders in coastal areas of south Florida are required to provide some form of hurricane reinforcement for their garage doors. Recommendations of how to accomplish this have usually involved the installation of (metal or wooden) girts that extend horizontally across each panel. Such girts are intended to stiffen the panels and prevent their oscillatory motion that leads to the destructive separation from the tracks.
[0006] Unfortunately, such stiffening panels add considerable weight to the door, requiring adjustments of both the lifting coil spring and of the drive of the automated garage door translation mechanism. Moreover, even with such adjustment, the substantial weight of the girts, for which neither the door nor the automated translation mechanisms were originally designed, leads to further wear and tear of the automatic garage door opener. Yet, even with such stiffeners, the fundamental problem they are intended to solve is not remedied, since they do not prevent torquing of the panels at the point of attachment of the door to the tracks, and do not effectively relieve the wind load placed on the entire garage door opening. The girts are unable to prevent torquing since they extend horizontally—making them parallel to joint lines between panels. Such an orientation provides axes of rotation, about which the panels are torqued when subjected to high velocity winds. The girts provide neither reinforcement nor a separation barrier along the lengths of the tracks, nor do they make the door a wind-loadable door.
[0007] Advantageously, the door-bracing system described in the above-reference patents remedies these shortcomings, by means of a door bracing system that contains a plurality of door-stiffening column members that are installed between associated upper mounting brackets above the garage opening and lower mounting brackets affixed to the garage floor. The door bracing system also includes deflection brackets which attach the door panel hinge joints to the column members, so that the entire vertical extent of the garage door is effectively braced against high velocity winds, and thereby prevented from separating along the guide tracks.
Problems of the Prior Art
[0008] Although the inventions described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,620,038; 5,964,269 and 6,082,431 represented a significant advancement over the prior art, each of those patents required that the vertical supports mount to the building housing the garage door above the top of the garage door opening. This made it less convenient to use with roll type garage door without extraordinary efforts. Further, each of those patents require the replacement of hinge pins with longer ones used to connect the panels of the garage door to the vertical supports. Further, there is a lack of flexibility of location in positioning the vertical supports. Further, the top connection of the vertical supports were bolted to the building, which made them difficult to remove once the threat of a hurricane passed. Thus, installation and removal is more difficult.
[0009] Further, when a vertical support was placed in between the tracks for the garage door, there was not a positive connection which would protect against both positive and negative air pressure surges. Further, much of the prior art lacked hardware and techniques for securing a garage door that was the only opening into a secured space, such as a commercial storage unit, that is for securing a garage door from the outside.
[0010] Finally, the prior art did not allow easy assembly and shipping to a customer in a kit form for do-it-yourself installation.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] The invention is directed to apparatus and techniques for bracing garage doors against hurricane force winds which overcome the problems of the prior art. More specifically, the invention is directed to:
[0012] One aspect of the invention relates to apparatus for bracing a roll down door that provides selective access to an area of a building, which has a vertical support, a floor mount for securing said vertical support to a floor at a point adjacent to a path of said roll down door; a top mount which has a mounting bracket for attachment to the building and a support bracket attached to said vertical support which slidably engages the mounting bracket. Portions of the door's surface are connected to the vertical member to resist both positive and negative pressure.
[0013] Another aspect of the invention relates to a method of bracing a roll down door that provides selective access to an area of a building which involves mounting a plate to a floor beneath said roll down door, mounting a mounting bracket to said building, attaching a support bracket to a vertical support, attaching at least one sliding bolt assembly to a vertical support, sliding said support bracket into said mounting bracket; and moving at least one sliding bolt of a sliding bolt assembly into engagement with openings in said plate to prevent the bottom of the vertical member from moving in the plane of the floor.
[0014] Another aspect of the invention relates to a method of bracing a roll down door by sliding a support bracket connected to the top of a vertical member into a mounting bracket mounted to said building and moving at least one sliding bolt of a sliding bolt assembly attached to the bottom of said vertical member into engagement with an opening in a floor plate mounted to a floor underneath said roll down door.
[0015] Another aspect of the invention relates to a kit for bracing roll down doors of a building, including at least one vertical support, a floor plate for each vertical support, at least one sliding bolt assembly for mounting to each vertical support, a mounting bracket for each vertical support for mounting to a building surface and a support bracket for attachment to each vertical support and for slidably engaging a mounting bracket.
[0016] The invention is also directed to a kit for bracing roll down doors of a building from the outside against severe winds, comprising:
a. at least one vertical support; b. a floor plate for each vertical support; c. at least one sliding bolt assembly for mounting to each vertical support; d. a mounting bracket for each vertical support for mounting to a building surface; and e. a support bracket for attachment to each vertical support and for slidably engaging a mounting bracket.
[0022] The invention is also directed to the kit of paragraph [0015] in which the at least one vertical support bar is a telescoping vertical support bar.
[0023] The invention is also directed to the kit of paragraph [0015] in which at least on vertical support is of substantially rectangular cross section with at least one T channel extending the length of the vertical support bar.
[0024] The kit of paragraph [0015] further comprising at least one bracket for attaching to a door panel and a rotatable hook for rotating into engagement with said bracket and connecting to the vertical support bar.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0025] FIGS. 1A , 1 B, and 1 C are perspective views of a single, double and triple vertical support for respective, single, double and triple wide garage doors in accordance with one aspect of the invention.
[0026] FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of hardware used to attach a telescoping vertical support to the garage door in accordance with one aspect of the invention.
[0027] FIG. 3 illustrates a backside piece for attachment to a garage door panel.
[0028] FIG. 4 illustrates a front side piece having a U shaped channel for attachment to a garage door panel.
[0029] FIG. 5 illustrates a hook piece that rotates to fit into the U shaped channel of FIG. 4 to connect the door to the telescoping vertical support.
[0030] FIG. 6 illustrates a channel slide piece that can be adjusted vertically in a T channel track of a vertical support.
[0031] FIG. 7 illustrates an alternative technique for connecting the garage door to the vertical support.
[0032] FIG. 8 illustrates a first technique for mounting the horizontal cross bar shown in FIG. 1 to the building.
[0033] FIG. 9 shows details of the L bracket illustrated in FIG. 8 .
[0034] FIG. 10 shows a second technique for mounting the horizontal cross bar to the building.
[0035] FIG. 11 shows a third technique for mounting the horizontal cross bar to the building.
[0036] FIG. 12 shows a fourth technique for mounting the horizontal cross bar to the building.
[0037] FIG. 13 shows a fifth technique for mounting the horizontal cross bar to the building.
[0038] FIG. 14 shows a sixth technique for mounting the horizontal cross bar to the building.
[0039] FIG. 15 shows a seventh technique for mounting the horizontal cross bar to the building.
[0040] FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a small bracket used in the mounting arrangement of FIG. 15 .
[0041] FIG. 17 is a perspective view of an assembly showing how to connect a vertical support to the horizontal cross bar shown in FIGS. 1A , 1 B and 1 C in accordance with one aspect of the invention.
[0042] FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the bracket used in FIG. 17 .
[0043] FIG. 19 is a detailed view of a preferred version of the bracket shown in FIG. 18 .
[0044] FIG. 20 is a base plate which cooperates to provide an improved floor mounting for a telescoping vertical member in accordance with one aspect of the invention.
[0045] FIG. 21 is a side view of a sliding bolt assembly used in cooperation with the base plate of FIG. 20 for securing a vertical member to the floor of a garage door entrance in accordance with one aspect of the invention.
[0046] FIG. 22 is an end view of the sliding bolt assembly showing how it mounts to T channels of a vertical member in accordance with one aspect of the invention.
[0047] FIG. 23 is a perspective view of how the sliding bolt assembly relates to the bottom of the vertical member in accordance with one aspect of the invention.
[0048] FIG. 24 is a top view of a building mounting bracket which cooperates to provide an improved building mount for securing the top portion of the vertical member to the building in accordance with one aspect of the invention.
[0049] FIG. 25 is an end view of the building mounting bracket of FIG. 24 .
[0050] FIG. 26 is a perspective view of a bracket for securing a vertical member to a building mounting bracket.
[0051] FIGS. 27A and 27B illustrate two alternative ways of enhancing the thickness of the slideable portion of the bracket of FIG. 26 to ensure a snug fit when that bracket is mated to the building mounting bracket.
[0052] FIG. 28 is an end view of the bracket of FIG. 26 shown installed in the building mounting bracket.
[0053] FIG. 29 is a side view of the bracket of FIG. 26 showing preferred dimensions for the holes for mounting the bracket to the vertical member.
[0054] FIG. 30 illustrates one way of mounting a building mounting bracket to a building wall for securing a vertical member to the building with the bracket of FIG. 26 in accordance with one aspect of the invention.
[0055] FIG. 31 illustrates one way to mount a building mounting bracket to a ceiling, or header above a garage door opening for securing a vertical member to the ceiling or header with a bracket of FIG. 26 in accordance with one aspect of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0056] FIG. 1A shows a perspective view of a single vertical support for a singlewide garage door in accordance with one aspect of the invention. The telescoping vertical support 100 is mounted to the floor using a mounting bracket 115 in ways that are shown in the prior art. When the vertical support is removed, the mounting bracket 115 can be removed for normal operation during a time when no hurricane is threatened. The vertical support 100 connects to a cross bar 110 using a bracket 120 , described more hereinafter. The vertical support is connected to at least one panel of the garage door using bracket 130 , as described more hereinafter. The horizontal cross bar 110 is mounted to the wall of the building using one or more brackets as described more hereinafter.
[0057] FIGS. 1B and 1C show perspective views of a double and triple vertical support for double and triple wide garage doors in accordance with one aspect of the invention. In each of these figures, the vertical support 100 is replicated two or three times to accommodate the size of the garage doors.
[0058] FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of hardware used to attach a telescoping vertical support to the garage door in accordance with one aspect of the invention. Depiction of the thickness of the garage door is not illustrated to permit a view of the mounting of the brackets to the garage door to be visualized more readily. The mounting to the garage door occurs using a rear bracket 200 and a front bracket 210 . The two brackets are positioned on opposite sides of a panel thickness for the garage door and are sized so as to permit the panel of the garage door to roll up and be stored in its usual fashion. Bracket 210 has a U channel, described more hereinafter. A channel slide 220 fits into the T channel on the vertical support and can be moved into position and then secured by tightening the nuts associated with the bolt, the bolt head of which rides in the channel. A third bolt, extending from the channel slide is utilized to mount a hook 230 , the point of which fits into the U channel of the front bracket 210 of the door mounting brackets.
[0059] FIG. 3 illustrates a rear bracket piece of a door-mounting bracket for attachment to the garage door panel. The material for the bracket is ⅛ GA steel.
[0060] FIG. 4 illustrates the front bracket having a U shaped channel for attachment to the garage door.
[0061] FIG. 5 illustrates a hook piece that rotates to fit into the U shaped channel of FIG. 4 to connect the door mounting brackets to the telescoping vertical support.
[0062] FIG. 6 illustrates the details of the construction of a channel slide piece that can be adjusted vertically in a track of a vertical support.
[0063] FIG. 7 illustrates an alternative technique for connecting the garage door to the vertical support. In this case, a bracket 700 is mounted to the vertical slide using the bolt heads to guide the bracket positioning of the bracket in the T channel of the vertical support. The bracket 700 is configured to receive and mount a spring-loaded J channel which can be inserted into the holes of the front side door mounting brackets of slightly modified construction shown in FIG. 7 . To remove the J channel, the channel is pulled to the left until it clears the holes and then it can be released to be held in place by the spring for use when it is installed at a later time. The spring keeps the J channel out of the way when the vertical supports are stored when no hurricane threat is present.
[0064] FIG. 8 illustrates a first technique for mounting the horizontal cross bar shown in FIG. 1A to the building. As shown, the horizontal cross bar is held in place by a U channel inserted through the lower portion of an L bracket, the vertical portion of which is mounted to a wood, concrete or steel plate securely fastened to the building. The details of the L bracket illustrated with FIG. 8 are shown in FIG. 9 .
[0065] FIG. 10 shows a second technique for mounting the horizontal cross bar to the building. This technique uses two L brackets, one on either side of a plate to provide additional strength.
[0066] FIG. 11 shows a third technique for mounting the horizontal cross bar to the building. This technique also utilizes two L brackets with the bottom piece of each L bracket being on opposite sides of the channel cross bar.
[0067] FIG. 12 shows a forth technique for mounting the horizontal cross bar to the building. This figure is like FIG. 11 , except that both L brackets are mounted on the same side of the mounting plate.
[0068] FIG. 13 shows a fifth technique for mounting the horizontal cross bar to the building. In this case, one L bracket is utilized to mount to a plate against one portion of the building and a second L bracket, mounted below, accommodates the step nature of the building construction at the point of attachment.
[0069] FIG. 14 shows a sixth technique for mounting the horizontal cross bar to the building. Again, there is a step displacement which can be utilized effectively by mounting two L brackets, one above and one below the cross bar position.
[0070] FIG. 15 shows a seventh technique for mounting the horizontal cross bar to the building. In this case, this technique is similar to that shown in FIG. 8 except that a small bracket 1500 , is utilized to displace an L bracket so that it can attach underneath the bracing to which the roll for the garage door panels is mounted. This allows yet added strength.
[0071] FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a small bracket used in the mounting arrangement of FIG. 15 . Each of the techniques for mounting the horizontal cross bar to the building shown in FIGS. 8-15 , utilize the same L bracket. That is, the construction of the L bracket is such as to accommodate a variety of configurations and mountings. This allows a single piece to have multiple uses and to reduce the number of pieces that might need to be stored or fabricated for an installation by homeowner in a do-it-yourself installation.
[0072] FIG. 17 is a perspective view of an assembly showing how to connect a vertical support to the horizontal crossbar shown in FIGS. 1A , 1 B and 1 C.
[0073] FIG. 18 provides a perspective view of the bracket used in the attachment of FIG. 17 .
[0074] FIG. 19 provides a detailed view of a preferred version of the bracket shown in FIG. 17 .
[0075] Returning to FIG. 17 , one can see that the bracket and the mounting bolt locations are configured so that the head of the mounting bolts can slide in the T channels of the vertical support, allowing it to be adjustable up and down the vertical support.
[0076] Turning again to FIG. 1A , the vertical cross bar (s) the horizontal cross bar, the L brackets for mounting, the door mounting brackets 130 can be conveniently packed and shipped as a kit for easy installation by a homeowner, authorized dealer or contractor. Once installed, the vertical supports can be easily removed by disconnecting the hook from each of the door panel mounting brackets and by sliding the vertical brace 100 on crossbar 110 to either side of the horizontal bar to be secured to the side wall or by lifting the bracket 120 attached to the vertical support 100 so that the top of the bracket 120 clears the horizontal cross bar so that it can be removed and stored. The floor bracket is fastened to the vertical brace and moves with the vertical brace. Push rods can be used to slide into 2 predrilled holes thru a plate fastened in the floor. This plate will remain in the floor and can be driven over etc. Thus, with the L brackets and the cross bar in place, a homeowner can quickly and easily slide the rods into the floor bracket into previously drilled holes, connect or slide the vertical support(s) to or on the horizontal cross bar using bracket 120 , adjust the channel slides to the corresponding heights of the U channels of the door mounting brackets and have a positive connection between the door panels and the vertical support bar that will protect the door against both positive and negative pressure. The sizing of the door mounting brackets are such that they can be accommodated in the roll up of the door panels when the door is open.
[0077] FIG. 20 is a base plate which cooperates to provide an improved floor mounting for telescoping vertical member which provides bracing of garage doors against extreme forces in accordance with one aspect of the invention. The base plate 2000 is preferably made from galvanized steel of approximately 0.104 inches thickness.
[0078] The base plate has four holes 2020 which are utilized to bolt to the base plate to the floor where vertical member is to be mounted to reinforce a garage door. The base plate also has at least two holes 2010 which are use to receive the sliding bolt utilized to mount the vertical member to the base plate as described more hereinafter. Protective caps may be utilized to cover the holes 2010 in the base plate to keep material from entering through those holes into the hole in the driveway material beneath the base plate to keep the holes from filling with dirt and other material that might otherwise be captured by the holes, thus inhibiting the insertion of the sliding bolt assembly to its appropriate depth. The holes 2010 are designed to receive the sliding bolt from the sliding bolt assembly described hereinafter and to allow it to move in and out without being forced. Particular sizing of the holes can vary, depending on the materials to which the base plate is mounted.
[0079] FIG. 21 is a side view of a sliding bolt assembly used in cooperation with the base plate of FIG. 20 for securing a vertical member to the floor of a garage door entrance in accordance with one aspect of the invention. In this view, one can see that two sliding bolts, 2100 A and 2100 B are positioned to slide through apertures in a sliding bolt assembly body 2120 which are perhaps more visible in later views. The two sliding bolts 2100 A and 2100 B are inserted through those apertures and affixed to a connecting bracket 2110 which is welded to both sliding bolts. The welding operation captures the sliding bolts between the two apertures through which the respective bolts slide. The sliding bolt assembly is shown positioned over a vertical member 2130 described more hereinafter.
[0080] FIG. 22 is an end view of the sliding bolt assembly showing how it mounts to T channels of a vertical member in accordance with one aspect of the invention. As shown in the following perspective view, two tabs 2210 A and 2210 B are provided which partially surround the outer surface of the vertical member 2130 . As can be seen in FIG. 22 , the vertical member has a plurality of T channels 2220 . Each of the tabs 2210 A and 2210 B has an opening which will accommodate a bolt. The two channels 2220 are sized to receive the head of such a bolt or a corresponding nut. In this instance, when the slide assembly body is placed as shown in FIG. 22 , nuts are inserted in the T channel and slided to a position where they are substantially underneath the opening in the aperture 2210 A and 2210 B. A bolt is then fed through the opening in the apertures 2210 A and 2210 B and utilized to engage the nut in the T channel thus allowing the bolt and nut combinations to secure the sliding assembly body to the vertical member when the bolts and nuts are tightened.
[0081] Loosening of the bolt and nut assemblies permits the sliding bolt assembly body to change position along the length of the vertical member as desired.
[0082] FIG. 23 is a perspective view of how the sliding bolt assembly relates to the bottom of the vertical member. As shown in this view, top tab 2210 A is positioned over one of the T channels 2220 in the vertical member. A corresponding tab 2210 B (not shown) is positioned over an opposite T channel 2220 . In this view, two nuts and potentially washers, are inserted in the end of the T channels and slided along the T channel until they are positioned respectively below the two openings such as 2330 A are created in the tab 2210 A prior to assembly to permit the threaded body of a bolt to pass through the opening 2330 to engage the nut and any optional washers riding in the T channel track. The bolts and engaged nut assembly can be secured down or loosened to respectively lock in place or permit movement of the sliding bolt assembly body along the T channel track of the vertical member. Note that in the position shown, the bottom end of sliding bolt 2100 B is substantially in the plane of the bottom of the vertical member 2130 . Also in the position shown, the tab joining the two sliding bolts 2100 A and 2100 B holds the sliding bolt assembly in position by capturing tab 2320 A between the sliding bolts. It is clear that the sliding bolt assembly can be rotated so that the tab joining the two sliding bolts is out of engagement with the tab 2320 A so that the sliding bolts can move in a direction that allows the end of sliding bolt 2100 B to extend beyond the plane of the bottom of the vertical member 2130 . The two tabs 2320 A and 2320 B permit the sliding bolt assembly to be held in either a retracted position (shown) or in an extended position (not shown) where the sliding bolt can engage the apertures 2010 in the base plate and the holes provided beneath the base plate for receiving the sliding bolts. A combination lock or other type of lock can be utilized by inserting the hasp of the lock through openings 2310 A or 2310 B to prevent the sliding bolt(s) from moving from the extended or retracted position.
[0083] FIG. 24 is a top view of a building mounting bracket which cooperates to provide an improved building mount for securing the top portion of a vertical member to the building in accordance with one aspect of the invention. In this view, one can see a plurality of mounting holes 2410 which are utilized to mount the mounting bracket to the building as described more hereinafter to facilitate connection of the vertical member to the building in a way in which the garage door can be reinforced.
[0084] FIG. 25 is an end view of the building mounting bracket of FIG. 24 . The side of the holes 2410 are illustrated in invisible lines. The space identified with a typical measurement of 0.629 inches in one embodiment can vary, depending on the desired width of a mating part. That space actually receives a portion of a bracket for securing a vertical member to a building mounting bracket in that space. For that reason, it is preferred that the holes 2410 be countersunk so that head of bolts inserted through those holes 2410 lie flat with the inside surface of the bracket.
[0085] FIG. 26 is a perspective view of the bracket for securing a vertical member to a building mounting bracket. The holes 2610 are provided a lower portion of the mounting bracket and enables bolts to be utilized to secure the mounting bracket to the vertical member, using the T track approach previously described. Note that the bracket used to connect to the mounting bracket can be mounted to the vertical member in two orientations as described more hereinafter. There is an upper portion of the mounting bracket 2620 , which slidably engages with the building mounting bracket previously described. It is desirable that the thickness of the upper portion of the mounting bracket 2620 be thicker than that utilized in the portions which mount to the vertical member.
[0086] FIGS. 27A and 27B illustrate two alternative ways of enhancing the thickness of the slideable portion 2620 of the bracket of FIG. 26 to ensure a snug fit when that bracket is mated to the building mounting bracket. In FIG. 27A , a second piece of metal of the desired thickness, 2710 , is attached to the slideable portion 2620 . Such an attachment can occur by welding. Alternatively, slideable portion 2620 can be surrounded by a U shaped piece of metal 2720 which surrounds the outer edges of material 2620 . This U shaped piece can also be welded to the portion 2620 .
[0087] FIG. 28 is an end view of the bracket of FIG. 26 shown installed in the building mounting bracket. As shown in FIG. 28 , the thickness of the slideable portion of the bracket 2620 is enhanced with the addition of an additional thickness 2710 to ensure a snug fit as the slideable portion and its enhances thickness slide into the mounting bracket 2510 . The holes 2610 are utilized to secure the bracket to the vertical member.
[0088] FIG. 29 is a side view of the bracket of FIG. 26 showing preferred dimensions for the holes for mounting the bracket to the vertical member.
[0089] FIG. 30 illustrates one way of mounting a building mounting bracket to a building wall for securing a vertical member to the building with the bracket of FIG. 26 in accordance with one aspect of the invention. As shown, the building mounting bracket 2510 is bolted to the wall above the garage door opening 3000 . The mounting bracket 2630 is applied to the vertical member 2130 so as to permit the slideable portion of bracket 2630 to slide into the building mounting bracket as shown. In this configuration, both the building mounting bracket 2510 and the vertical member 2130 are parallel with the wall 3000 and perpendicular to the mounting bracket 2630 as shown.
[0090] FIG. 31 illustrates one way to mount a building mounting bracket to a ceiling or header above a garage door opening for securing a vertical member to the ceiling or header with the bracket of FIG. 26 in accordance with one aspect of the invention. As shown in this Figure, the building mounting bracket 2510 is mounted to the ceiling or header above a garage door. The slideable bracket 2630 is mounted to the vertical member 2130 utilizing the T channels as described above. Once the bracket 2630 is mounted to the vertical member, and the positioning 2630 adjusted to be the correct height, the slideable portion, 2620 , of the bracket can be slided into the building mounting bracket to provide a quick and easy mounting which will secure the vertical member to the building mounting bracket for use during a storm.
[0091] Once the base plate shown in FIG. 1 is mounted to the floor by the garage door, and the building mounting bracket is attached to either the ceiling, header or the wall above the garage door, the vertical member, with its installed sliding bolt assembly and its bracket for mounting to the building mounting bracket can be installed and removed in a very short period of time. Upon removal, it may be desirable to provide filler caps, such as rubber plugs, to prevent material from accumulating in holes 2010 of the base plate when the vertical members are stored for later usage.
[0092] Thus, installation of garage door protection requires only the permanent installation of a floor plate and a building mounting bracket. Both of these are unobtrusive and generally not noticeable when a vertical member is not in place. Nevertheless, when the vertical member with its mounting bracket and its sliding bolt assembly need to be positioned to protect the garage door during a storm, the sliding bolt assembly permits rapid installation of the base of the vertical member and the building mounting bracket permits a quick and slideable installation of the top end of the vertical member resulting in a strong and robust vertical member.
[0093] The attachment of the garage door itself to one or more vertical members can occur in the way previously described. The components needed to secure a garage door can be assembled in a kit form in which an outside kit might include:
a. a plurality of L brackets; b. one horizontal cross bar; c. at least one vertical support bar; d. a floor mounting bracket; and e. bracket for substantially surrounding a vertical support bar and for engaging said horizontal cross bar.
[0099] As noted previously, an inside kit can comprise the following items:
a. at least one vertical support; b. a floor plate for each vertical support; c. at least one sliding bolt assembly for mounting to each vertical support; d. a mounting bracket for each vertical support for mounting to a building surface; and e. a support bracket for attachment to each vertical support and for slidably engaging a mounting bracket.
[0105] The installation and the take down of the garage door protection can occur quickly and easily. The installation of a floor bracket and a wall or ceiling bracket can be done by a homeowner with limited building skill in a quick and reliable manner.
[0106] While various embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated herein in detail, it should be apparent that modifications and adaptations to those embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the following claims. | Apparatus and techniques for bracing roll down doors of a building against severe winds and against burglary use a vertical bar mounted in a quick release fashion to a plate mounted to the floor by the door and a mounting bracket, mounted to the building, which receives a bracket mounted to the vertical bar which slides into the bracket. The equipment can be provided in a kit form for easy installation by a homeowner, authorized dealer or contractor. The apparatus can be quickly and easily installed for security or when a threat of severe wind is anticipated and easily removed when the threat has passed. | 4 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of electric motors, in particular geared motors for automobile accessories, which are used for example in window-lifting systems, seat actuation systems or sunroof systems.
The invention is more precisely aimed at a connector for an electric motor, said motor comprising a magnetic ring which is the seat of a magnetic field tied to operating parameters of the motor.
The motors or geared motors to which the invention applies are associated with a control system which uses motor speed and/or position parameters. These parameters are fed to the control system by a Hall-effect sensor associated with the magnetic ring, which is adapted so as to deliver to the sensor a magnetic field dependent on the speed and/or position of the motor shaft.
Generally, the electronic control devices of such motors or geared motors comprise a circuit board secured to the casing of the motor, said board comprising motor electrical supply connections and the Hall-effect sensor. This sensor is fixed on a board part formed of a rigid strip that penetrates into the casing of the motor up to a region neighboring the magnetic ring, in such a way that the sensor is located in the vicinity of said ring.
It can readily be seen that the presence of such an electronic control module on the casing of the motor is incompatible with a high degree of standardization of motors, since such a configuration of the motor and of its casing is not suited to an application in which the speed and/or position sensor is dispensed with, and in which the electronic control device of the motor is located remotely some distance away from the motor.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A main aim of the invention is to remedy this drawback, and to propose a connector for an electric motor, which makes it possible to transport information of magnetic type to an electronic processing device and is capable of amalgamating with this function the conventional functions for the electrical supply of the motor.
With this aim, a connector according to the invention comprises at least one magnetic flux conduction member forming a flux concentrator interposed, when the connector is fixed on the motor, between the magnetic ring and a Hall-effect sensor adapted so as to measure the magnetic flux conducted by the magnetic flux conduction member.
According to one embodiment, the magnetic flux conduction member exhibits an elongate part, an end of the elongate part exhibiting a smaller section than the mean section of the elongate part, neighboring the Hall-effect sensor.
According to a further embodiment, the section of said end decreases progressively in the neighborhood of the Hall-effect sensor.
According to a further embodiment, the elongate part of the magnetic flux conduction member is made of soft steel.
According to other characteristics of the invention:
the magnetic flux conduction member comprises at least one metal pin adapted so that a part of said pin, when the connector is fixed on the motor, lies in the vicinity of the magnetic ring; the magnetic flux conduction member comprises two metal pins whose free ends are disposed symmetrically with respect to an axial plane (P) of the magnetic ring; the connector furthermore comprises at least two electrical power contacts linked to a supply source for the motor; the electrical contacts comprise a part made of brass; at least one of said electrical power contacts is disposed so as to constitute a part of the magnetic flux conduction member; said power contact constituting a part of the magnetic flux conduction member is connected, when the connector is fixed on the motor, to a metal pad secured to the motor and a part of which lies in the vicinity of the magnetic ring; said power contact constituting a part of the magnetic flux conduction member is made of steel; the magnetic flux conduction member is secured to the power contact; the magnetic flux conduction member is affixed to the power contact; the connector is secured to a printed circuit on which the Hall-effect sensor is disposed; the connector is adapted so as to be fixed in a detachable manner on the electric motor.
The invention is also aimed at a geared motor for automobile accessories, such as a window or a seat, comprising a rotor shaft equipped with a magnetic ring, characterized in that it comprises a connector as described above.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described with regard to the appended drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is an end-on view in partial section of a geared motor equipped with a connector according to a first embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic cross section along the line 2 — 2 of FIG. 1 representing the magnetic flux conduction member and the magnetic ring;
FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1 according to a second embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 4 is a cross section similar to FIG. 2 , along the line 4 — 4 of FIG. 3 ;
FIG. 5 is a partial sectional end-on view of a third embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 6 is a sectional diagrammatic side view of the embodiment of FIG. 5 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Represented in FIG. 1 is a geared motor 1 including a motor 2 and a reduction gear 3 , the motor 2 being equipped with an electronic control device 4 which includes a printed circuit board 5 .
The motor 2 includes a stator 6 forming a shroud in which permanent magnets (not represented) are housed and supporting by way of a bearing 7 an end 8 A of a rotor shaft 8 of a rotor 9 . In a known manner, the latter includes windings coiled around stacked laminations. A commutator 10 is linked electrically to the rotor 9 and receives by way of brushes 11 the motor supply current transmitted to the motor 2 at the level of supply lugs 12 .
The geared motor 1 further includes a casing 20 rigidly fixed to the stator 6 and supporting by way of a second bearing assembly, not represented, a second end of the rotor shaft 8 . The rotor shaft 8 span situated on the same side as the second shaft end is configured as a threaded rod forming a worm screw, which drives a set of gears of the reduction gear 3 . A magnetic ring 21 is fixed on the rotor shaft 8 in a region neighboring the supply lugs 12 .
The casing 20 exhibits an aperture 22 near the supply lugs 12 that receives in a detachable manner an electrical connector 30 into which the printed circuit board 5 of the electronic control device 4 is fixed. The printed circuit board 5 supports an electronic circuit able to deliver a supply current for the motor 2 . The connector 30 is held in position by a releasable fastener of conventional type (not illustrated). The current delivered by the electronic circuit travels through power tags 31 secured to the printed circuit board 5 , each of the power tags 31 being connected fixedly to an end 32 A of a contact 32 of a “stirrup” type, that is one end of the power contact 32 includes an elastic clip having two inwardly arched symmetric contact portions.
The printed circuit board 5 additionally supports a Hall-effect sensor 33 intended to receive a magnetic flux indicative of the speed and/or position of the rotor shaft 8 and to transmit to the electronic control device 4 an electrical signal indicative of these operating parameters of the motor 2 .
The connector 30 also includes a magnetic flux conduction member including, in the embodiment of the invention represented in FIG. 1 , of two parallel metal pins 35 , one end of which is fixed to the printed circuit board 5 in the vicinity of the Hall-effect sensor 33 . The other end 35 A constituting the free end of the pin 35 is situated, when the connector 30 is inserted into the aperture 22 of the corresponding casing 20 and held by the fastener, near a periphery of the magnetic ring 21 . The two free ends 35 A are preferably disposed symmetrically with respect to an axial plane P of the magnetic ring 21 .
The relative position of the metal pins 35 and of the magnetic ring 21 is more clearly apparent in FIG. 2 . The magnetic ring 21 generates a magnetic field of constant strength whose direction varies with the angular position of the rotor shaft 8 , and therefore the magnetic flux conducted by the pins 35 of the magnetic ring 21 to the Hall-effect sensor 33 is dependent on an angular position of the rotor shaft 8 . The electrical signal delivered by the Hall-effect sensor 33 therefore affords access to the speed and/or angular position of the rotor shaft 8 . Preferably, the pins 35 forming magnetic flux conduction members are made of steel.
Represented in FIG. 3 is a geared motor 101 of the same type as above, whose motor 102 includes a rotor shaft 108 on which a magnetic ring 121 is fixedly mounted. A connector 130 includes a printed circuit board 105 forming part of an electronic control device 104 of the electric motor 102 and supporting a pair of supply tags 131 situated in proximity to a Hall-effect sensor 133 . The connector 130 is fixed in a detachable manner to the casing 120 of the geared motor 101 by conventional releasable fastener (not represented). The connector 130 includes contacts 132 of “stirrup” type, fixed by one of their ends 132 A to the supply tags 131 and intended to be connected by a second end 132 B to motor supply lugs 112 .
In this embodiment of the invention, and as will be more clearly seen in FIG. 4 , the two lugs 112 each exhibit a part 140 overlapping the magnetic ring 121 oblique with respect to the direction of coupling of the contacts 132 , and which lies in the vicinity of the magnetic ring 121 in an almost tangential manner. The two parts 140 are preferably symmetric with respect to the axial plane P of the magnetic ring 121 . Likewise, the supply tags 131 include a part 131 A partially overlapping the Hall-effect sensor 133 , so that the lugs 112 , the contacts 132 and the supply tags 131 fulfil the flux concentrator function and constitute a member for conducting the magnetic flux of the magnetic ring 121 to the Hall-effect sensor 133 .
Preferably, the contacts 132 are made of steel, a material of this type offering an acceptable compromise between the qualities of electrical and magnetic conduction, and exhibiting excellent mechanical properties.
It is readily understood that the two embodiments of the invention which have just been described make it possible to design geared motors with a high degree of standardization. Specifically, it is not necessary to secure a printed circuit board carrying a Hall-effect sensor to the motor in order to achieve the position and/or speed sensor functions, and hence to modify the casing of a standard motor. Thus, one and the same motor can be used regardless of the application of the geared motor, and regardless of the type of sensor required (speed/position), only the connector having to be modified.
FIGS. 5 and 6 represent a geared motor according to a third embodiment of the invention. A connector 230 , represented only partially, includes, as in the other embodiments, a printed circuit board 205 that supports a Hall-effect sensor 233 .
Magnetic flux conduction pins 241 each exhibit an end near a Hall-effect sensor part 233 A and 233 B, respectively. The other end of the pins 241 can, for example, come into contact with a respective lug 212 . As in the embodiment of FIG. 3 , the lugs 212 supplies the magnetic ring 221 mounted on a rotor 209 . The magnetic flux of the magnetic ring 221 can thus be conducted from the magnetic ring 221 up to the Hall-effect sensor 233 .
As represented in FIG. 6 , the magnetic flux conduction pins 241 exhibit an elongate part. This elongate part exhibits an end neighboring the sensor 233 of reduced section, that is to say of smaller section than the mean section of the elongate part. This reduced section can for example be obtained by using flat pins of reduced width at the level of this end. The reduced section makes it possible to concentrate the magnetic flux at the level of the Hall-effect sensor 233 . The amplitude of the magnetic flux conducted by the pins 241 up to the Hall-effect sensor 233 is thus increased. Similar pins of reduced section may of course be used in the previous embodiments of the invention.
Pins whose section decreases progressively toward the Hall-effect probe are preferably used. The flux losses in proximity to the Hall-effect probe are thus reduced. The pins 241 are preferably made of soft iron, steel, nickel or ferrite. A material exhibiting high magnetic permeability is generally used.
According to a variant, supply tags 242 electrically link an electrical supply harness 208 to the lugs 212 . The supply tags 242 are preferably made of copper or brass so as to ensure high conduction of the electric current between the supply harness 208 and the lugs 212 .
The supply tags 242 and the pins 241 can be fixed at the same level as the lugs 212 . Each supply tag 242 can also be fitted to a pin, for example by soldering, by adhesive bonding or by riveting. It is also possible to use other means of mechanical fixing or simply to stack a tag on top of a pin, retaining them by their respective ends.
The invention, which makes it possible to conduct magnetic information to a remote sensor, renders a single geared motor configuration adaptable to various applications, the standardization of the geared motor being offset by the diversification of the connection engineering, thereby achieving a considerable saving with regard to the complete system. | A connector for an electric motor including a magnetic ring which is the seat of a magnetic field tied to operating parameters of the motor. A magnetic flux conduction member forms a flux concentrator interposed, when a connector is fixed on the motor, between the magnetic ring and a Hall-effect sensor to measure the magnetic flux conducted by the magnetic flux conduction member. The electric motor can be used with geared motors for window-lifting systems, seat actuation systems or sunroof systems, in the automobile field. | 7 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims priority based on U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/400,399, filed Aug. 1, 2002, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/473,670 filed May 23, 2003, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
The U.S. Government has certain rights in this invention pursuant to NAS7-1407 provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Office of Space Science.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Information concerning a patient's breathing and heart function can be vital to the diagnosis and monitoring of many medical conditions. A electrocardiograph is a device that is commonly used to provide information concerning heart function. Electrocardiographs provide outputs that are indicative of electric fields created by the heart as it beats. Operation of an electrocardiograph typically requires attachment of nine leads, which are combined to obtain twelve sets of measurements. A large body of clinical experience has been amassed which has revealed correlations between specific shapes in the output of an electrocardiograph and many different types of heart conditions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention are capable of detecting physiological activity. In one aspect of the invention, motion can be detected. In another aspect, specific physiological activity such as respiration, heart rate or the electrophysiology of a heart can be monitored. In one embodiment adapted for monitoring the physiological activity of a subject, the invention includes a source containing an oscillator configured to illuminate the subject with an electromagnetic signal beam and a receiver configured to observe changes in the amplitude of the electromagnetic signal reflected by the subject.
In a further embodiment, the invention includes an RF oscillator connected to a first antenna portion, where the RF oscillator and the first antenna portion are configured to generate a electromagnetic signal beam that illuminates the subject and a detector connected to a second antenna portion, where the second antenna portion and detector are configured to generate a signal indicative of the amplitude of the electromagnetic signal reflected by the subject.
One embodiment of the method of the invention includes illuminating an area with an electromagnetic signal having a wavelength that renders at least some debris transparent and detecting the amplitude of reflections of the electromagnetic signal and observing variations in the amplitude.
A further embodiment of the invention includes illuminating the subject with an electromagnetic signal beam and observing changes in the amplitude of the electromagnetic signal reflected by the subject.
Another embodiment of the method of the invention for generating an electrocardiogram includes illuminating a heart with an electromagnetic signal beam and detecting the amplitude of the electromagnetic signal reflected by the heart.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a remote-detection system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention illuminating a subject with an electromagnetic signal;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the components of a system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3A is a schematic illustration of three orthogonal components of the dipole of a heart during depolarization and repolarization;
FIG. 3B is a graph showing the amplitude of reflected electromagnetic signal measured in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3C is a graph showing a signal that results when the signal illustrated in FIG. 3C is low pass filtered and normalized;
FIG. 4A is a graph illustrating the amplitude of the reflected electromagnetic signal measured in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention from a distance of two feet;
FIG. 4B is a graph illustrating the amplitude of the reflected electromagnetic signal measured in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention from a distance of eight feet;
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment of a detector in accordance with the present invention including separate antennas for generating and detecting an electromagnetic signal; and
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a remote-detection system in accordance with the present invention that includes separate antennas for generating and detecting an electromagnetic signal.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention use reflected electromagnetic signals to observe breathing, pulse and/or to generate an electrocardiogram of a subject. Other embodiments of the invention can be used to make observations concerning the function of neurons or other tissue types that are capable of generating an electric field. Remote-detection systems in accordance with the present invention typically work by using an RF oscillator to generate an electromagnetic signal beam that is then used to illuminate a subject. In operation, the subject's breathing, motion of the subject's heart beating and the depolarization and repolarization of the heart cells that accompany each heart beat can all contribute to variations in the amplitude of the electromagnetic signal reflected by the subject. An output indicative of the amplitude of the signal reflected by the subject is generated and signal processing techniques can be performed to extract the portions of the output that are indicative of the respiration rate, the pulse rate and/or the electrocardiogram of the subject.
Turning now to the diagrams, FIG. 1 illustrates a remote-detection system 10 in accordance with the present invention that includes an antenna 12 coupled via a directional coupler 14 to an RF oscillator 16 and a RF detector 18 . In addition, the RF detector is connected to a digital signal processor 20 . The RF Oscillator and the antenna can illuminate a subject 24 with an electromagnetic beam 22 . The subject typically reflects a portion of the incident electromagnetic signal and the antenna and the RF detector can be used to generate a signal indicative of the amplitude of the reflected signal. Information can then be extracted from the signal generated by the antenna and the RF detector by the digital signal processor 20 .
When a subject is illuminated with an electromagnetic signal generated by a remote-detection system 10 in accordance with the present invention, the electromagnetic signal can be reflected as a result of the signal encountering a boundary between materials having different complex impedances. The complex impedance of a material is the property that determines the change in amplitude and phase shift of an electromagnetic wave reflected at an interface between that material and another material. The complex impedance of a material may change with the introduction or removal of free charge on the surface of the material. In the illustrated embodiment, the subject is a human and the electromagnetic signal beam 22 illuminates the subject's chest 26 . Air has a comparatively low complex impedance compared to the complex impedance of human tissue. Therefore, a significant amount of any electromagnetic signal illuminating a human subject will be reflected by the subject's body. The pattern of the reflected signal will depend on the shape of the subject's body. Changes in the shape or position of a subject's chest associated with respiration can alter the pattern of the reflected signal in ways that can be observed using the antenna.
A beam 24 with appropriate intensity can illuminate a subject's heart 28 . The amount of the electromagnetic signal reflected by the heart depends upon the complex impedance of the heart cells, which changes as the heart beats. When the heart beats, the heart cells are initially polarized due to an imbalance in the concentration of ions on either side of the cell membrane. As the heart muscles contract, the cell membranes of the heart muscle cells become permeable and the concentration of ions on either side of the membrane balances. All of the heart muscle cells do not depolarize simultaneously. Rather, a depolarization wave sweeps across the heart starting in the atria and moving to the ventricles. Once the heart has finished contracting, the heart muscle cells repolarize. The imbalance of ions on either side of a the cell membranes of polarized heart cells gives them a complex impedance that is significantly different to that of the tissue surrounding the heart. Therefore, electromagnetic signals will be reflected by polarized heart cells. The depolarization of heart muscle cells changes the complex impedance of the heart muscle cells. Consequently, the motion of the heart and the depolarization and repolarization of the heart muscle cells will both have an effect on the pattern of electromagnetic signals reflected by the heart. Observing the changes in reflections from the heart over time in accordance with the present invention can provide information about the frequency with which the heart beats and the electrophysiology of the heart.
A block diagram of a remote-detection system in accordance with the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 2 . The remote-detection system 10 ′ includes a synthesized RF oscillator 40 that is connected to a common node 42 and a first amplifier 44 . The common node 42 is connected to an oscillator 46 and a lock-in amplifier 48 . The output of the first amplifier 44 is connected to an antenna 50 via a directional coupler 52 . The directional coupler is also connected to a second amplifier 54 . The output of the amplifier is connected to a mixer 56 . An RF oscillator 58 also provides an output to the mixer. The output of the mixer is connected to the input of a third amplifier 60 . The output of the third amplifier is connected to a bandpass filter 62 and the output of the bandpass filter is connected to a diode detector. An output of the diode detector is connected to an input of the lock-in amplifier 48 and the output of the lock-in amplifier is then provided to a data acquisition computer 66 .
In one embodiment, the synthesized RF oscillator 40 produces an electromagnetic signal in the range of 20 GHz and can be implemented using a Model 33120A manufactured by Hewlett-Packard Company of Palo Alto, Calif. The first amplifier 44 boosts the strength of the signal and is implemented using a 2-20 GHz amplifier such as a Model 8349B manufactured by the Hewlett-Packard Company. The oscillator 46 generates a kilohertz range modulation signal and is implemented using a Model 83723B manufactured by Hewlett-Packard Company. The lock-in amplifier 48 synchonously detects the kilohertz amplitude-modulated output from the diode detector 64 and can be implemented using a Model SR830 manufactured by Stanford Research Systems of Sunnyvale, Calif. The waveguide horn antenna 50 produces the radiated signal beam and is implemented using a Model 639 manufactured by the Narda division of L-3 Communications Corporation of New York, N.Y. The directional coupler 52 couples the signal to be radiated to the antenna 50 and is implemented using a Model P752C-10 dB manufactured by the Hewlett-Packard Company. The second amplifier 54 provides a low-noise amplification of the reflected signal and is implemented using a 20 GHz amplifier such as a Model AMF-3D-000118000-33-10P manufactured by MITEQ, Inc. of Hauppauge, N.Y. The 2nd harmonic mixer 56 down-converts the signal to 1 GHz and can be implemented using a Model SBE0440LW1 manufactured by MITEQ, Inc. The RF oscillator 58 serves as the local oscillator for the mixer 56 and is implemented using a Model 8340A manufactured by Hewlett-Packard. The third amplifier 60 boosts the signal to a level aappropriate for the diode detector 64 and can be implemented using a 1 GHz amplifier such as a Model 4D-00011800-33-10P manufactured by MITEQ, Inc. The bandpass filter 62 limits the signal reception bandwidth in order to reduce the noise of the detection system and can be implemented using a 300 MHz bandpass filter such as a Model 381-1390-50S11 manufactured by Reactel, Incorporated of Gaithersburg, Md. The diode detector 64 produces a video response proportional to the amplitude of the reflected electromagnetic signal and can be implemented using a Model 8473C manufactured by the Hewlett-Packard Company. The data acquisition computer 66 digitizes the output of the lock-in amplifier 48 , stores the signal, and displays it in a graphical format and can be implemented using a Macintosh Model 8600/300 manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.
As discussed above, the depolarization and repolarization of the heart generates an electric field and changes the complex impedance of the heart. The electric field generated by the heart can be modeled as a dipole moment. The dipole moment of the heart is created as a result of a portion of the heart being polarized and a portion of the heart being depolarized. Therefore, the changes in strength and direction of the dipole moment of the heart provide information concerning the electrophysiology of the heart. The dipole of the heart during the depolarization of the atria generates a P-wave on an electrocardiograph. The dipole of the heart during the depolarization of the ventricles generates a series of waves on the output of an electrocardiograph known as the “QRS complex”. The change in dipole associated with the repolarization of the ventricles generates an output on an electrocardiograph known as a T-wave. These waves and complexes are commonly used in medical diagnosis. A further description of the electric field and physiology of the heart as it beats is described in the paper published by R. K. Hobbie in the American Journal of Physics, vol. 41, p.824 (1973) entitled “The Electrocardiogram as an Example of Electrostatics”, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Orthogonal components of the dipole moment of the electric field generated by a heart during two successive beats are illustrated in FIG. 3A . The magnitude of the orthogonal components of the electric field during the P wave ( 80 ), the QRS complex ( 82 ) and the T wave ( 84 ) are indicated on the graph representing the x, y, and z-components of the electric field.
A graph illustrating an output from a remote-detection system, 10 in accordance with the present invention taken when the system was used to illuminate and observe the reflections from a human subject's chest is illustrated in FIG. 3B . The graph 100 contains a series of large features 102 that are spaced approximately 6 seconds apart and are indicative of the respiration of the subject. In addition, the graph 100 contains a number of smaller features 104 that are spaced less than two seconds apart and are indicative of the beating of the subject's heart.
A graph of a second output of a remote-detection system, 10 in accordance with the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 3C . The second output has been low-pass filtered to smooth away low frequency signals. An effect of the low-pass filtering is to remove the component 102 of the output illustrated in FIG. 3C that is indicative of the respiration of the subject. The graph 120 shows a series of peaks that correspond to a P-wave 122 , a QRS complex 124 and a T-wave 126 . The output graphed in FIG. 3C provides information about a portion of the electrophysiology of the heart as it beats. In order to form a complete picture of the heart (i.e. containing at least as much information as a conventional 12-lead electrocardiogram), three orthogonal measurements can be taken using a single or multiple remote-detection systems in accordance with the present invention. Linear algebra can be used to construct the “12-lead” responses from the three orthogonal components measured with the remote-detection system in accordance with the present invention, to build a complete impression of the electrophysiology of the heart as it beats.
As discussed above, a remote-detection system in accordance with the present invention is capable of obtaining a considerable amount of information concerning a subject. The particular information obtained by the remote-detection system is dependant upon the application. In one embodiment, the detector monitors a subject's respiration and pulse rates. In other embodiments, the detector can obtain an electrocardiogram or monitor muscular or neural function. Alternatively, a detector in accordance with the present invention may simply detect the presence of a living creature either as a security device or to assist rescuers in locating trapped or unconscious people.
In many embodiments involving a human subject, the signal generated by the remote-detection system is in a frequency range of 10 GHz to 80 GHz with a beam width of three feet at a distance of 26 feet. Typically, a three foot wide beam is sufficient to localize a single person without interference. In other embodiments, signals in the range of 1 GHz to 100 GHz can be used. Alternatively, embodiments could use signals in the range of 100 MHz to 200 GHz.
The width of the beam required depends on the application. For example, a broad beam could be used where a detector is attempting to detect the presence of a life form in a collapsed building. A narrow beam could then be used to determine the specific location of the detected life form. In medical diagnostic applications, an appropriate beam would have sufficient width to obtain reflections from the required portions of the subject's body and be sufficiently narrow to avoid unwanted reflections. Where Microwave Monolithic Integrated Circuit (“MMIC”) technology is used to construct remote-detection systems in accordance with the present invention, two patch antennas separated by four inches could produce the three foot wide beam described above. The effective range of the system would effectively scale with antenna size and transmitted power. Where antenna size is an issue, increasing the frequency of the electromagnetic radiation would enable the construction of smaller antennas. However, the amplitude of the reflected signals will typically decrease as the frequency of the signal increases.
The ability of a remote-detection system in accordance with the present invention to operate through structures or debris is dependent upon the materials composing the structures or debris. Many materials such as bricks, wood or cinderblocks are transparent to electromagnetic signals of frequencies in the ranges described above. However, water in concrete and the presence of metal can interfere with the signals received by the remote-detection system.
In other embodiments, remote-detection systems in accordance with the present invention can be used to monitor neural or muscular function. In addition, a remote-detection system could also be used as a monitor for sudden infant death syndrome or for sleep apnea. The applications of the remote-detection system also include exercise equipment, where the remote-detection system can be used to monitor pulse and/or respiration during an aerobic workout. In all instances the remote-detection system is placed a distance from the subject and measurements are made without the need for contact between the system and the subject. The applications of the remote-detection system are not limited to human subjects or human tissue. The devices and principles described above can be equally applied to detection and monitoring of other life forms.
As discussed above, remote-detection systems in accordance with the present invention can work effectively at considerable distances from the subject. A graph illustrating an output from a remote-detection system in accordance with the present invention that was used to monitor the heart rate of a subject located approximately 2 feet from the system is illustrated in FIG. 4A . The graph 160 contains periodic peaks 162 that are spaced less than 1 second apart. These features are indicative of the subject's heart beating.
A graph illustrating an output from a remote-detection system in accordance with the present invention that was used to monitor the heart rate of a human subject located approximately 8 feet from the remote-detection system is illustrated in FIG. 4B . Again, the graph 180 includes a series of periodic peaks 182 spaced less than a second apart. The graph trends downward over a period of eight seconds due to a drift in the DC level of the measurement.
An embodiment of a remote-detection system in accordance with the present invention that includes separate antennas for illuminating a subject and for receiving reflections is illustrated in FIG. 5 . The remote-detection system 10 ″ is similar to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 , except that a first antenna 180 is used to generate an electromagnetic signal beam and a second antenna 182 is used to detect the reflected electromagnetic signal beam.
A block diagram of a remote-detection system 10 ″ including two antennas is shown in FIG. 6 . The remote-detection system 10 ″ includes a function generator 184 that is connected to a common node 185 . A synthesized RF oscillator 186 is also connected to the common node 185 and to a first amplifier 188 . The output of the first amplifier is provided to a waveguide horn antenna 180 via a coax-to waveguide transition 189 . A second antenna 182 is contained in a cryostat 190 and includes a silicon bolometer 192 and a Winston cone 193 . The electromagnetic signal is admitted through a window 194 in the cryostat and outputs from the silicon bolometer are provided to a lock-in amplifier 196 via a second amplifier 198 . The lock-in amplifier is connected to the function generator 184 via the common node 185 and to a data acquisition computer 200 .
The function generator 184 produces a kilohertz range modulation signal and can be implemented using a Model 33120A manufactured by the Hewlett-Packard Company. The synthesized RF oscillator 186 produces an electromagnetic signal in the range of 20 GHz and can be implemented using a Model 83723B manufactured by the Hewlett-Packard Company. The first amplifier 188 can be implemented using a 10 dB RF amplifier such as a Model 8349B manufactured by the Hewlett-Packard Company. The waveguide horn antenna 180 produces the radiated signal beam and can be implemented using a Model 33120A manufactured by Microlab/FXR of Livingston, N.J. The cryostat with silicon bolometer 182 detects the amplitude of the reflected electromagnetic signal and can be implemented using a Model HDL-5 manufactured by Infrared Laboratories, Inc. of Tucson, Ariz. The lock-in amplifier 196 synchronously detects the kilohertz amplitude-modulated output from the silicon bolometer 192 and can be implemented using a Model SR830 manufactured by Stanford Research Systems. The second amplifier 198 boosts the output of the silicon bolometer 192 and can be implemented using a 20-30 dB amplifier such as a Model LN-6C manufactured by Infrared Laboratories, Inc. The data acquisition computer 200 is implemented using a Macintosh 8600/300, manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc.
While the above description contains many specific embodiments of the invention, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention, but rather as an example of one embodiment thereof. Many other variations are possible, including implementing remote-detection systems in accordance with the present invention using planar antennas and MMIC manufacturing techniques. In addition, any process, physiological or otherwise, can be monitored that involves variations in patterns and/or intensity of reflected electromagnetic radiation using remote-detection systems in accordance with the present invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined not by the embodiments illustrated, but by the appended claims and their equivalents. | Apparatus and methods for performing remote detection of physiological activity are described. One aspect of the invention involves obtaining information concerning respiration and heart function. In one embodiment, the invention includes a source containing an oscillator configured to illuminate the subject with electromagnetic signal beam and a receiver configured to observe changes in the amplitude of the electromagnetic signal reflected by the subject. | 0 |
BACKGROUND
[0001] Casing patches have long been used in the hydrocarbon recovery industry in conjunction with a repair to a tubing or casing segment in a wellbore. It will be understood that the term “casing patch” as used herein is intended to relate to both patches actually in the casing of a wellbore and patches that are in a tubing string for a wellbore.
[0002] It is to be assumed for purposes of this disclosure that a faulty section of casing or tubing has already been cut out of the well and the “stub”, i.e., the piece left downhole, and to which the casing patch will be connected, has been dressed.
[0003] Prior art casing patches have included Chevron seals and lead based seals but these have drawbacks such as damage to the Chevron type seals during engagement with the stub as they are exposed to the sharp edge thereof and such as the one time operation of the lead seal type, among other things.
SUMMARY
[0004] A casing patch includes a deformable seal configurable to a deformed and undeformed position for sealing and unsealing respectively with a target stub and a pressure based subsystem in operable communication with the deformable seal.
[0005] A casing patch includes a body, at least one slip system at the body, at least one seal actuatable in response to actuation of the slip system and a stop ring located at the seal to prevent overcompression thereof.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] Referring now to the drawings wherein like elements are numbered alike in the several Figures:
[0007] FIG. 1 is a schematic quarter section view of a casing patch in an unactuated position;
[0008] FIG. 2 is a schematic quarter section view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 a casing patch in an actuated position;
[0009] FIG. 3 is a schematic quarter section view of another embodiment of a casing patch in an unactuated position;
[0010] FIG. 4 is a schematic quarter section view of the embodiment of FIG. 3 in an actuated position; and
[0011] FIG. 5 is a view of an alternate bottom sub with dressing features.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0012] In order to enhance understanding of the invention applicants have elected to describe briefly the components of the tool followed by a discussion of its operation.
[0013] Referring to FIG. 1 , a casing patch 10 as disclosed herein is illustrated in an unactuated position. It is in this position that the device is stored and run in the hole prior to engagement with a stub (introduced and numbered hereunder) in a wellbore.
[0014] The patch 10 comprises a housing 12 that includes several features. One of the features is an anchor system comprising slip ramp 14 extending from housing 12 . The ramp 14 is in one embodiment a unitary structure of the housing and includes two ramp faces 16 and 18 . These, in the illustrated embodiment are generally frustoconically shaped and are configured to complementarily guide and support a plurality of slips. It is to be understood that at least one of the plurality of slips will hold in an uphole direction (uphole slips 20 ), and at least one of the plurality of slips will hold in the downhole direction (downhole slips 22 ), when actuated. The slips may be cut with a left hand thread if desired to promote removal of the patch from the well if desired. In some embodiments of the patch several slips will hold in each direction, when actuated.
[0015] In the illustrated embodiment, a biasing member 24 , which may be a spring, gas charged member, or another member which itself is driven to extend, urges slips 20 to climb ramp 16 thereby causing slip(s) 20 to move in a direction to bite into a stub 26 with which the patch 10 is to engage. Slips 20 therefore are automatically engaged with the stub 26 when the patch 10 comes in engaging contact therewith.
[0016] Another feature of housing 12 is a pressure channel 28 that is formed within the housing 12 as illustrated or may be attached thereto as a separate structure, if desired. The channel 28 has the function of providing a pressure passageway to a volume changeable chamber 70 (seen only in FIG. 2 ) through port 30 , which is connected by channel 28 to inlet port 32 .
[0017] The housing further includes, as illustrated, a pressure relief port 36 and a toothed section 38 complementary to a body lock ring 40 mounted at an end housing 42 of a seal 44 . The body lock ring functions to maintain a compression load on the seal 44 that is created by application of pressure to port 30 . Simultaneously as the compression load is applied to the seal, the fluid supplied through port 30 to chamber 70 exerts a driving force on a drive piston 46 to actuate slips 22 . Thus it will be appreciated that although the slips 20 are actuated automatically upon engagement with the stub 26 , the slips 22 require input from a remote pressure source to actuate.
[0018] Additionally connected to the housing 12 a top sub 50 at an uphole end of the housing 12 and a bottom sub 52 at a downhole end of the housing 12 .
[0019] Further included in the illustrated embodiment of the casing patch 10 is a piston 54 that is moveable from (1) a position in which it inhibits application of pressure to pressure inlet 32 to (2) a position where application of pressure to port 32 is permitted. A release arrangement 56 , which may be a shear member, such as for example a shear ring, is installed to restrain movement of the piston 54 until the opportune time. That time comes when the stub 26 is fully engaged by the patch 10 when set down weight of the patch on the stub 26 (taken up by the piston 54 ) causes the release member 56 to release.
[0020] Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 together, illustrating both a run in and actuated position, respectively, operation of the patch 10 is addressed. Upon running the patch in the hole, the patch encounters stub 26 . It is noted that the illustration hereof presents the stub 26 at the inside dimension of the patch 10 . It is to be appreciated however that the patch could be constructed inside out and then would engage a stub 26 located at an outside dimension of the patch. The components and general principle of operation are identical for the two concepts. In the illustrated embodiment, a leading edge 60 of stub 26 is enveloped by the advancing patch 10 in a more or less clearance fit until the stub 26 encounters slips 20 . Slips 20 are driven somewhat uphole (left in figure) and radially outwardly on ramp 16 by contact with the stub 26 but against the urging of biasing member 24 , which as noted above may be of any type including a coil spring as illustrated. Because of the biasing action of the member 24 , the slips 20 bite into stub 26 and tend to bite more deeply as well as climb ramp 16 radially inwardly upon a pull uphole on patch 10 . Slips 20 thus effectively prevent movement uphole by patch 10 , once engaged.
[0021] Further downhole movement of patch 10 brings edge 60 into contact with a contact face 62 of piston 54 . Contact plus further movement downhole of patch 10 causes a growing load to be placed upon piston 54 and release member 56 . Since piston 54 is releasably retained by release member 56 , piston 54 will not move until a predetermined load is reached. Upon the predetermined load being reached however the release member 56 releases. In the illustrated embodiment, since the release member is a shear ring, the ring shears allowing piston 54 to move to the position illustrated in FIG. 2 . It should be noted that because biasing member 24 bears against piston 54 , consideration must be given to the length of displacement of piston 54 in a given tool to ensure that a sufficient biasing force remains on slips 20 after release of the release member and consequent movement of piston 54 .
[0022] Upon movement of piston 54 , port 32 is newly exposed to hydrostatic pressure having been protected therefrom by piston 54 and seals 64 prior to movement of piston 54 . Since hydrostatic pressure (or pressure-up pressure) is calculable or otherwise known for the target depth, the differential pressure needed at the volume changeable chamber 70 illustrated in FIG. 2 is calculable. It is to be appreciated that what is necessary is that the applied fluid pressure through channel 28 be higher than the environmental pressure surrounding chamber 70 so two movements occur. The movements are simultaneous in an uphole direction for the drive piston 46 (moving uphole) and in a downhole direction for the seal end housing 42 (moving downhole). These movements, in turn, cause certain desirable functions of the patch to occur. The driver piston 46 urges downhole slip(s) 22 to climb ramp 18 moving thus radially inwardly of the housing 12 and uphole to engage the stub 26 and prevent or significantly retard downhole movement of the patch 10 relative to the stub 26 . Simultaneously, end-housing 42 loads the seal 44 to cause engagement with the stub 26 due to an opposite end of the seal 44 being blocked from movement downhole by bottom sub 52 . A seal is also maintained at an inside surface 72 of housing 12 . It is to be noted that because seal 44 is a clearance fit while initially engaging the stub 26 , it is not subject to damage during original engagement of stub 26 . The sealing action is maintained against both the stub 26 and the housing inside surface 72 by the movement inhibiting action of the body lock ring 40 against threads 38 in the housing 12 . In this condition, the seal is maintained indefinitely and the patch is secured.
[0023] In one embodiment the seal is a metal seal, which then forms a metal-to-metal seal between the patch and stub when actuated. In such embodiment, high pressure differentials are easily supported. It is to be understood however that if desired, an elastomeric material or other seal material could be substituted in the patch disclosed. In one metal seal embodiment, three sections 76 , 78 , 80 (as shown) are utilized and are disposed in angular position relating to one another. This configuration facilitates deformation of the seal into an actuated position when subjected to compressive load. Alternatively, the seal may have a more cylindrical configuration and include lines of weakness in the material of the seal. Effective lines of weakness are positioned at an inside apex of a deformation site (a place where the metal is angularly configured as shown) such that if the line of weakness is a groove, the groove would close upon actuation of the seal; or if the line of weakness is material weakness based, the material would flow to allow the same movement direction to be achieved. Embodiments of metal-to-metal seals that may be utilized in the casing patch described herein include those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,896,049 to Moyes, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
[0024] Alluded to above is the ability the system has to be removed from the well. This is possible in one embodiment by the provision of slip teeth that are left hand threads. If such has been manufactured into the patch, then neutral weight and right hand torque, will effectively unscrew the patch from the stub 26 thereby allowing retrieval of the patch to surface or to another location.
[0025] In another embodiment, referring to FIGS. 3 and 4 , stub 26 will be recognized from FIGS. 1 and 2 but the balance of that illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 is different. The casing patch 110 embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4 includes a body 112 , attached to which is a bottom sub 114 and a top sub 116 . Adjacent bottom sub 114 is a seal structure 118 , which may as in previously discussed embodiment be a metal-to-metal seal and may in some embodiments be as disclosed in the '049 patent previously incorporated herein by reference. Seal structure 118 includes end housings 120 and 122 , the latter of which is inclusive of a body lock ring groove 124 that is receptive to a body lock ring 126 . The body lock ring 126 is interactive with a ratchet thread 128 located appropriately (as shown) on an inside dimension of the body 112 . Ring 126 is configured to ratchet along ratchet thread 128 in a direction causing seal 118 to be energized and then held in that position. Seal 118 further includes a stop ring 129 to physically prevent over compression of the seal 118 .
[0026] Adjacent end housing 122 is positioned a slip sleeve 130 which is movably disposed at the inside dimension of the body 112 . Sleeve 130 is positioned between ratchet thread 128 and a stop shoulder 132 provided at the inside dimension of body 112 . The shoulder 132 may be integrally formed as shown or may be created with a device such as a snap ring, etc.
[0027] Slip sleeve 130 further includes an angled face 134 that is configured to “slip” in one direction and “stick” in the opposite direction. In the event a thread is used as the surface feature that causes the slip and stick, then the sleeve 130 may be backed off and the casing patch retrieved by “unscrewing” the same using right or left hand rotation of a string (not shown) as appropriate. The top sub 116 is attached to body 112 at an uphole end thereof by suitable connection such as a thread 138 .
[0028] Finally, the casing patch 110 includes a slip 140 and friction pad 142 . The pad 142 is configured to tightly grip against the target stub 26 while the slip interacts with angled face 134 through its own angular surface 144 . Slip 140 is further possessed of a ratcheting arrangement 146 at the interface of surface 144 and face 134 such that movement occurs relative to sleeve 130 in one direction but is inhibited in the opposite direction.
[0029] In operation, this embodiment of a casing patch 110 is run on a string (not shown) to depth to interact with stub 26 . It is to be appreciated that stub 26 may be previously dressed conventionally or may be dressed at the same time as the casing patch 110 is being run if the casing patch is configured with an alternate bottom sub 114 a (shown in FIG. 5 ). Sub 114 a includes as illustrated carbide or other similar hard material abrasive elements 150 that are capable of machining the stub 26 , during run-in rotation, to a precise outside diameter to ensure appropriate sealing thereto.
[0030] Whether dressed in a separate run or dressed simultaneously, the casing patch 110 is run over the stub 26 until top sub 116 comes into contact with stub 26 at edge 60 thereof. This is the position illustrated in FIG. 3 prior to actuating the patch. Once casing patch 110 is fully seated (as illustrated in FIG. 3 ) and the slip 140 is urged into engagement with the stub and the slip sleeve 130 by stop shoulder 132 (and the resilient nature of the slip in the radial direction due to longitudinal cuts alternating from the top and bottom of the slip, not specifically shown), the patch is pulled uphole. The uphole pull causes the slip sleeve 130 to leave contact with stop shoulder 132 as it moves toward bottom sub 14 due to the slip 140 being “stuck” to the stub 26 . The movement of slip sleeve 130 toward bottom sub 114 causes a shortening of the dimension between sleeve 130 and sub 114 thereby impacting the available axial space for seal 118 . Seal 118 is thus compressively axially loaded between sub 114 and sleeve 130 thereby deforming the same into contact with stub 26 . The deformation is intended to and is capable of creating a high-pressure seal with stub 26 . In the event seal 118 is metal it is as described hereinbefore, the resulting seal is a metal-to-metal seal. Axial loading on the seal 118 is ensured by the body lock ring 126 acting upon thread 128 due to being forced therealong by sleeve 130 . Comparison of FIGS. 3 and 4 side-by-side will complement the immediately foregoing discussion of the operation of the device. | A casing patch includes a deformable seal configurable to a deformed and undeformed position for sealing and unsealing respectively with a target stub and a pressure based subsystem in operable communication with the deformable seal. The patch may also contain a stop ring to prevent overcompression of the seal. | 4 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This patent application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/015,944, filed on June 23, 2014, and titled “Circuit and Method for Active Crosstalk Reduction in Multiple-Channel Power Supply Controllers,” which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] A circuit and method are provided for reducing crosstalk in a multiple channel switching power supply controller.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Power supply control integrated circuits, especially those using current sense comparators, and even more so the ones for controlling power supplies in continuous conduction mode (CCM), are prone to false-triggering due to noise from adjacent switching circuits. Including two or more such controllers within one integrated circuit (IC) is problematic due to noise coupling and ground disturbances caused by an adjacent channel. A sub-optimal PCB layout can cause significant crosstalk in such multi-channel IC.
[0004] FIG. 1 depicts a prior art multi-channel peak current-mode control (CMC) IC 299 for driving a plurality of switching power converters 100 . Each power converter 100 comprises a power inductor 101 operating in continuous conduction mode (CCM) or discontinuous conduction mode (DCM), a control switch 102 having a control gate input, a current sense resistor 104 for sensing current in the control switch 102 , a freewheel diode 103 providing a path for the inductor 101 current when the switch 102 is off. The IC 299 comprises multiple peak CMC controllers 200 , having an input for receiving current sense signal from the resistor 104 , a driver output for controlling the gate input of the switch 102 . Each controller 200 includes a comparator 201 having: an input for receiving current sense signal from the resistor 104 ; a reference input for receiving a reference voltage REF; and an output changing its level when the current sense signal 104 exceeds the reference REF. Each controller 200 also includes: a flip-flop circuit having an output Q for controlling the gate of the switch 102 , a set input S for receiving a clock signal CLK, and a reset input R for receiving the output of the comparator 201 .
[0005] FIG. 2 shows typical CCM waveforms 501 and 502 received at current sense inputs of the prior art IC 299 depicted in FIG. 1 from two resistors 104 . With reference to waveform 501 , in normal operation, the driver output turns the switch 102 off when the voltage at the corresponding resistor 104 exceeds REF. The switch 102 is turned on again when the clock signal CLK is received. However, with reference to waveform 502 , switching transitions of the switch 102 generate disturbance 599 of current sense voltage 104 received by the adjacent controllers 200 . This disturbance can cause false detection of the level REF, and the conduction cycle of the switch 104 can be terminated prematurely.
[0006] A method and a circuit are needed to eliminate these cross-coupling effects in a multi-channel power supply peak current-mode control IC, or any other type of power supply control ICs employing a current sense comparator 201 .
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] A comparator sense input is disconnected from a current sense resistor for the duration of a switching transition in an adjacent channel(s). Instead, the sense input receives a signal of the magnitude and the slew rate sampled prior to the transition.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] FIG. 1 depicts a prior art multi-channel peak current-mode control integrated circuit for driving a plurality of switching power converters.
[0009] FIG. 2 depicts typical continuous conduction mode waveforms received at current sense inputs of the prior art integrated circuit depicted in FIG. 1 .
[0010] FIG. 3 depicts an embodiment of a multi-channel integrated circuit for driving a plurality of switching power converters.
[0011] FIG. 4 depicts an embodiment of a track-and-hold circuit for use in the circuit of FIG. 3 .
[0012] FIG. 5 shows typical waveforms observed with the circuit of FIG. 3
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0013] FIG. 3 depicts a multi-channel integrated circuit 399 of the present invention for driving a plurality of switching power converters 100 . The IC 399 comprises multiple peak CMC controllers 300 , having an input for receiving current sense signal from the resistor 104 , a driver output for controlling the gate input of the switch 102 . In addition to the controller 200 elements of FIG. 1 , the controller 300 also comprises: a track-and-hold circuit 303 having an input for receiving the current sense voltage from the resistor 104 , having an output coupled to the current sense input of the comparator 201 , and having a control input ‘hold’; a blanking pulse generator 305 having an input coupled to the flip-flop 202 output for detecting its rising and falling edges, and having an output for generating a blanking pulse synchronized with these edges; a gate 304 having multiple inputs for receiving the blanking pulses 305 from the adjacent controllers 300 , and having an output for controlling the track-and-hold circuit 303 . The controller 300 may also comprise a delay 306 for delaying the gate driver output with respect to the blanking pulse 305 . An inherent driver delay between the output Q and the gate of the switch 102 may be utilized as the delay 306 .
[0014] In operation, the track-and-hold circuit 303 tracks the level and the slew rate of the current sense voltage at 104 while propagating this voltage to the input of the current sense comparator 201 . The track-and hold circuit 303 disconnects its input from the resistor 104 and replicates the voltage level and slew rate sampled at the resistor 104 extrapolating this voltage for the duration of a blanking pulse 305 received at any of the inputs of the gate 304 .
[0015] FIG. 4 depicts one embodiment of the track-and hold circuit 303 shown in FIG. 3 , comprising: a blanking switch 331 coupled between the resistor 104 and the current sense input of the comparator 201 , having its control gate coupled to the ‘hold’ input; a sense capacitor 332 coupled to the switch 331 for sensing the voltage level and voltage slew rate at the resistor 104 while the switch 331 is in conduction, and for extrapolating the sampled voltage and slew rate at its plate while the switch 331 is off; a track-and-hold current mirror circuit 333 having a control input wired to the ‘hold’ input for sampling displacement current in the capacitor 332 and replicating this current at the plate of the capacitor 332 when the switch 331 is off.
[0016] FIG. 5 shows typical waveforms observed with the a multi-channel integrated circuit 399 depicted in FIG. 3 . Waveforms 401 and 402 represent current sense voltage at the resistor 104 of any two power converters 100 . Waveform 405 shows the blanking pulses produced by the pulse generator 305 . Waveform 404 represents current sense input voltage of the comparator 301 showing the disturbance 499 replaced by an undisturbed slope generated by the track-and-hold circuit 303 within the blanking pulses 405 .
[0017] In the embodiments described above, the present invention provides a method for reducing crosstalk between channels in a multiple-channel power supply control IC incorporating current sense comparators, the method comprising: sampling and holding a current sense voltage and its first derivative monitored at a current sense element; and replacing the instantaneous current sense voltage by its linear extrapolation derived from the sampled current sense voltage and the sampled first derivative. | A comparator sense input is disconnected from a current sense resistor for the duration of a switching transition in an adjacent channel(s). Instead, the sense input receives a signal of the magnitude and the slew rate sampled prior to the transition. | 7 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hydraulic fracturing of geologic formations in hydrocarbon wells. More particularly, the present invention relates to tracing the movement and recovery of hydraulic fracturing liquids pumped into oil and gas wells using plural unique DNA or oligonucleotides tracing compounds, which correspond with plural fracture stages and zones within a geologic formation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Oil and gas are removed from geologic formations by drilling a well bore from the surface. A well casing is inserted into the well bore, which is then perforated so that oil and gas can flow from the adjacent geologic formation into the well casing. The oil and gas may flow upwardly under natural pressure in the formation, but more commonly they are removed using an artificial lift system, such as the well-known sucker-rod pump and surface-mounted pump-jack arrangement. In order to maintain production over an extended period of time, there must be sufficient formation porosity and pressure so that the oil and gas naturally flow from the hydrocarbon bearing geologic formation, through the casing perforations, and into the well casing.
As exploration has expanded into regions where there is insufficient porosity in the oil and gas bearing formations to sustain production, engineers have developed hydraulic fracturing techniques that produce artificial porosity, through which the formation oil and gas can flow into the well casing. Hydraulic fracturing is the fracturing of rock structures adjacent to the well casing perforations using a pressurized liquid pumped down the well casing from the surface. Hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracturing, also commonly referred to as “fracking”, is a technique in which fresh water is mixed with sand and certain chemicals, and then the mixture is injected at high pressure into a well casing to create small fractures in the formation. This liquid mixture is referred to as fracking liquid. These small fractures enable formation fluids, such as gas, crude oil, and brine water to flow into the well casing. Once the fracking process is completed, hydraulic pressure is removed from the well. The formation rock naturally settles back to its original position, but the small grains of sand, referred to as proppants, hold these fractures open so as to yield the desired artificial porosity. Fracking techniques are commonly used in wells for shale gas, tight gas, tight oil, coal seam gas, and hard rock wells. The fracking process is only utilized at the time the well is drilled and placed into production, but it greatly enhances fluid removal and well productivity over the life of the well.
The sequence of events implemented to place a typical oil or gas well into production generally consists of, drilling the well bore, installing the well casing, perforating the casing, hydrofracturing the hydrocarbon bearing formation, installing an artificial lift system, recovering the hydraulic fracturing liquid, and then producing oil and gas from the well. It is significant to note that the presence of the fracturing liquid in the formation interferes with oil and gas production, and that removal of the fracturing liquid is a technical challenge for operators, and one that must be accomplished promptly, and to a reasonable degree of completion before oil or gas production from the well can commence. This disclosure is primarily concerned with the hydraulic fracturing process and the removal, or other disposition, of the hydraulic fracturing liquid (also referred to herein as “fracking liquid”). The types of wells contemplated herein include common vertical wells and wells in which horizontal drilling is used to traverse a geologic formation so as to increase productivity. In fact, hydraulic fracturing is now commonly employed in wells having horizontal bores through gas producing formations. An example of this is the Barnett Shale formation in north Texas, a region that covers approximately seventeen counties and contains natural gas reserves proven to include 2.5 trillion cubic feet, and perhaps as much a 30 trillion cubic feet of recoverable reserves.
The effectiveness of the hydraulic fracturing process, as well as the flow and disposition of the fracking liquid, is of critical importance to the well operator. Since the fracking process occurs far below the surface and is therefore difficult to monitor, any data that confirms the extent of the fractures or indicates the flow and movement of the fracking liquid is helpful in the operation of that well, and is also informative with regard to similar wells that may be drilled in the same oil field. A technique used to determine the flow and movement of the hydraulic fracturing fluid is called tracing. The tracing process involves placing a marking additive (hereinafter a “tracer”) in the hydraulic fracturing liquid before it is pumped into the well, and then monitoring the fluids subsequently recovered from the well to determine the concentration of the tracer in the well fluids recovered. The concentration of the recovered tracer is compared with the concentration originally pumped into the well, and this is used to estimate the amount of the original fracking liquid that has been recovered. Generally, once a substantial portion of the fracturing liquid has been recovered, the well is placed into production.
Fracturing liquids contain a number of additives and chemicals that are used to facilitate the fracturing process. Among these are specialized sand that is used as a proppant, a thickening or gelling agent that increases viscosity thereby enabling the water to carry the proppant into the fractures, acid used to control pH of the well, a breaking agent that later reduces the viscosity so that the fracturing liquid can be more readily recovered, and numerous other chemical treatment, the details of which are beyond the scope of this disclosure. Some consider a portion of these additives and chemicals to be environmentally questionable, and so the movement of the fracturing liquid is monitored with respect to migration of the fracturing liquids into adjacent formations, possibly including fresh water resources. Thus, it is useful to monitor migration of subterranean fluid movements by detecting the tracer in adjacent oil wells and other access points, such as nearby injection wells and water wells. The fracturing liquids also impede production of oil and gas, and operators take a number of actions to facilitate their removal. This may include chemical treatments to alter the fracture liquids to enhance their removal, and also the addition of flushing liquids to dilute or alter the nature of the fracturing liquids.
Various types of tracers have been employed in hydraulic fracturing liquids. Selection and implementation of a tracer is non-trivial because of the cost constraints and the harsh environment that oil and gas wells present. The tracing material needs to be economically feasible in large scale drilling operations, it must be readily detectable at very low concentrations using commercially available test equipment, and it must survive the extremes of pressure and temperature, and the chemical and biological environment present in oil and gas wells. It is known to use certain chemical tracer compounds, fluorescent dye tracers, radioactive isotope tracers, fluorinated benzoic acid, ionized salts, and certain other chemicals. However, the number of discrete and unique tracers that can be used in a single hydraulic fracturing job is quite limited, and is generally just a handful that would be practicable in a single fracking job. This is a significant limitation because an operator cannot monitor a complex fracking job in detail. Many jobs use only a single tracer, which only enables the tracing of the fracking liquids in total. Some jobs can use individual tracers for a few stages of a fracking job.
Thus it can be appreciated that there is a need in the art for a system and method of tracing hydraulic fracturing liquid that provides greater flexibility, greater detail, and accuracy in a reliable and cost effective manner.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The need in the art is addressed by the teachings of the present invention. The present disclosure teaches a method of tracing fracking liquid in oil or gas bearing formations using plural unique DNA sequences as fluid markers. The method includes the steps of, for each of the plural unique DNA sequences, bonding a unique DNA sequence to a group of magnetic core particles, depositing a silica shell about the magnetic core particles, and thereby encapsulating the unique DNA sequence in silica. The method continues by pumping the plural volumes of fracking liquid, each marked with one of the silica encapsulated unique DNA sequences, into the formation, thereby defining plural fracture zones in the formation. Then, pumping fluids out of the formation while taking plural fluid samples. And, for each of the plural fluid samples, gathering the silica encapsulated unique DNA sequences using magnetic attraction with the magnetic core particles, dissolving away the silica shells, thereby separating the plural unique DNA sequences from the magnetic core particles, and analyzing the concentration of the unique DNA sequences in each of the plural fluid samples. Then, calculating the ratio of each of the plural volumes of fracking liquid recovered for each of the plural fluid samples according to the concentration of the unique DNA sequences present in each of the plural samples, and thereby establishing the quantity of the plural volumes of fracking liquids removed from the plural fracture zones.
In a specific embodiment of the foregoing method, the bonding DNA to a group of magnetic particles step is accomplished using electrostatic attraction. In a refinement to this embodiment, the electrostatic attraction is enabled by silanization of the magnetic particle.
In a specific embodiment of the foregoing method, the gathering step is accomplished using a magnet that is fixed within a sample vessel. In another specific embodiment, the method further includes removing the magnetic particles by magnetic attraction. In another specific embodiment, the foregoing method further includes the steps of removing the magnetic particles by precipitation and decanting the DNA off of the magnetic particles.
The present disclosure also teaches a method of tracing fracking liquid in oil or gas bearing formations using plural unique DNA sequences as fluid markers. This method includes the steps of, for each of the plural unique DNA sequences, biotinylating the unique DNA sequence, bonding the biotinylated unique DNA sequence to a group of magnetic core particles, and depositing a silica shell about the magnetic core particles, thereby encapsulating the biotinylated unique DNA sequence in silica. The method further includes pumping the plural volumes of fracking liquid, each marked with one of the silica encapsulated biotinylated unique DNA sequences, into the formation, thereby defining plural fracture zones in the formation, then pumping fluids out of the formation while taking plural fluid samples. Next, for each of the plural fluid samples, separating the silica encapsulated biotinylated unique DNA sequences from the fluid sample using magnetic attraction with the magnetic core particles, dissolving away the silica shells, thereby separating the plural biotinylated unique DNA sequences from the magnetic core particles, gathering the biotinylated unique DNA sequences by bonding to avidin or streptavidin that has been immobilized onto a magnetic carrier, and analyzing the concentration of the biotinylated unique DNA sequences in each of the plural fluid samples. The method is completed by calculating the ratio of each of the plural volumes of fracking liquid recovered for each of the plural fluid samples according to the concentration of the unique DNA sequences present in each of the plural samples, and thereby establishing the quantity of the plural volumes of fracking liquids removed from the plural fracture zones.
In a specific embodiment, the foregoing method further includes removing the plural biotinylated unique DNA sequences from the magnetic core particles. In a refinement to this embodiment, the removing step is accomplished by cleaving the biotin bond using a cleaving agent. In another specific embodiment, the foregoing method further includes removing the separated magnetic core particles from the sample using magnetic attraction.
The present disclosure also teaches a method of tracing fracking liquid in oil or gas bearing formations using plural unique DNA sequences as fluid markers. The method includes, for each of the plural unique DNA sequences, depositing a first silica shell about a group of magnetic core particles, inducing a positive charge on the encapsulated magnetic core particles, bonding a unique DNA sequence, having a negative charge, to the positively charged encapsulated magnetic core particles, and depositing a second silica shell about the bonded magnetic core particles, thereby encapsulating the unique DNA sequence in silica. The method also includes pumping the plural volumes of fracking liquid, each marked with one of the silica encapsulated unique DNA sequences, into the formation, thereby defining plural fracture zones in the formation, pumping fluids out of the formation while taking plural fluid samples. The method also includes, for each of the plural fluid samples, gathering the silica encapsulated unique DNA using magnetic attraction with the magnetic core particles, dissolving away the first silica shells and second silica shells, thereby separating the plural unique DNA sequences from the magnetic core particles, and analyzing the concentration of the unique DNA sequences in each of the plural fluid samples. The method is completed by calculating the ratio of each of the plural volumes of fracking liquid recovered for each of the plural fluid samples according to the concentration of the unique DNA sequences present in each of the plural samples, and thereby establishing the quantity of the plural volumes of fracking liquids removed from the plural fracture zones.
In a specific embodiment, the foregoing method further includes inducing a positive charge on the encapsulated magnetic core particles. In another specific embodiment, the inducing step is accomplished by applying a positively charged amino-saline to the encapsulated magnetic core particles.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a system diagram of the hydraulic fracturing process according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a system diagram of the fracking liquid removal process according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a system diagram of the oligonucleotide marking and pumping process according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a system diagram of the formation fluid sampling process according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a particle fabrication diagram according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a separation process diagram according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a concentration process diagram according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a particle fabrication diagram according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a separation process diagram according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a separation process diagram according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 11 is a concentration process diagram according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 12 is a particle fabrication diagram according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 13 separation process diagram is a according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 14 is a concentration process diagram according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 15 is a separation process apparatus drawing according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 16 is a separation process apparatus drawing according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Illustrative embodiments and exemplary applications will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings to disclose the advantageous teachings of the present invention.
While the present invention is described herein with reference to illustrative embodiments for particular applications, it should be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. Those having ordinary skill in the art and access to the teachings provided herein will recognize additional modifications, applications, and embodiments within the scope hereof and additional fields in which the present invention would be of significant utility.
In considering the detailed embodiments of the present invention, it will be observed that the present invention resides primarily in combinations of steps to accomplish various methods or components to form various apparatus and systems. Accordingly, the apparatus and system components and method steps have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the disclosures contained herein.
In this disclosure, relational terms such as first and second, top and bottom, upper and lower, and the like may be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element proceeded by “comprises a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.
As mentioned hereinbefore, it is important to remove as much of the fracking liquid as possible prior to placing a well into production. The fracking liquid interferes with production for a number of reasons, one of which is the fact that viscosity interferes with flow of reservoir fluids into the well casing. Certain chemical treatments are included in the fracking liquid to reduce its viscosity, called breaking agents. The breaking agents operate over time such that the fracking liquid is viscous as it is pumped into the well, but less viscous when it is pumped out. The fracking liquid is pumped into the formation in several discrete stages, which correspond to several sets of perforations through the well casing, which are located at various depths within the formation. At each stage of the perforations, there are typically several sub-stages injected in the fracture process. The sub-stages may each have a different fracking liquid blend, most often including different proppant material configurations. For example, different sieve size sand or different amounts of sand added to each barrel of fracking liquid. As these sub-stages of fracking liquid are pumped in, they each define different fracture zones within any given fracture stage. Each subsequent sub-stage of fracking liquid pumped into a given stage pushes the previous stage outwardly from the casing perforations. Thus, each zone in the fracture may have a different fracking liquid profile, generally corresponding to the sub-stages. At the time this fracking liquid is recovered from the well, the individual zones drain back into the well casing and are pumped out. The operator of the well desires to understand the performance of the fracking job, including details on how individual zones have been fractured, and how the fracking liquid from each has been recovered, including the volume of liquid and the time taken for the recovery process to occur.
Wells that includes a horizontal bore into a formation commonly include ten or more perforation stages. Each stage may include from five to as many as thirty sub-stages, which corresponds to perhaps two hundred fracture zones in a given well. Ideally, an operator would like to know about the removal of fracking liquid from every zone. Unfortunately, current tracer variants are far more limited in number. It would be challenging to assemble twenty discrete tracing compounds to use in a given well, which places a clear limit on the amount of information an operator can garner during the fracking liquid removal process. The reason this is challenging is because of the extreme and hostile environment present in an oil and gas well. In addition to presenting a complex chemical environment, there is generally an acidic pH, high pressures, turbulent and shear forces, and high temperatures in a well during the fracking process. In order to function reliably, each tracer compound must survive the down-hole environment without alteration of any kind, and each tracer should not react with any chemical compounds present in the well. There can also be biological and enzymatic issues in the well that affect the tracers. In addition, the tracer compounds must be economically feasible, and must be detectable at very low concentrations (in the order of parts per billion or trillion) using commercially available test equipment. Furthermore, during the detection and measurement processes, it may be necessary to remove the tracer compounds from the well formation fluid, and concentrate them, prior to performing a test of its recovered concentration.
The present disclosure teaches the use of plural oligonucleotide compounds as hydraulic fracture liquid tracers. The present disclosure also presents specific handling and automation systems, as well as specific test methodologies. These oligonucleotides include deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), ribonucleic acid (RNA), and locked nucleic acid (LNA), each configured with a unique sequence that can be readily discriminated using certain mass spectrometer test equipment and methodologies.
Reference is now directed to FIG. 1 , which is a system diagram of the hydraulic fracturing process according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. At the surface level 2 , a wellhead 1 is coupled to a well casing 4 , which continues downwardly to a horizontal casing 6 that was drilled and installed into an oil and gas bearing geologic formation 3 . In FIG. 1 , the well has been drilled and cased, and five stages 5 of perforations and fractures have been completed. The various components of the hydraulic fracturing equipment are shown on the surface 2 . The hydraulic fracturing process occurs in a coordinated fashion, stage by stage 5 , and zone by zone 7 , until all of the zones 7 have been fractured. Each individual zone, referenced by a combination of its stage number 5 and its zone number 7 , corresponds to a sub-stage of the fracturing process, and may also have utilized a distinct fracturing liquid mixture, and may have been marked with a unique tracing oligonucleotide.
At the surface 2 , plural hydraulic pumps 14 force fracking liquid down the casing 4 at very high pressure. The hydraulic pumps 14 are fed mixed fracking liquid from a blender 12 . The blender 12 operates on a continuous basis during each stage 5 of the fracking job, continually being fed with the various components of the particular fracking liquid mixture presently required by a fracking job specification. The fracking job specification is generated by petroleum engineers prior to commencement of the job, and its details are beyond the scope of this disclosure. With respect to this disclosure, the fracking liquid mixture components are divided into water 8 , chemicals 16 , sand, or proppant, 18 , and tracer compounds 20 . The water 8 is the largest portion of the fracking liquid, and it is pumped into the blender 12 by a water pump 10 , which supplies the water 8 at a predetermined rate according to the fracking job specification. Similarly, the sand 18 is fed on a conveyor at a predetermined rate, and enters an opening in the top of the blender 12 . The chemicals 16 can be fed in various manners depending on their respective material handling properties. The tracer compounds 20 are fed in precisely using a positive displacement metering pump 22 . This is necessary because the concentration of the tracers 20 are so small, typically on the order of parts per million, or less.
The fracking job of FIG. 1 proceeds according to a sequential schedule. In this illustrative embodiment, that fracking schedule includes five stages 5 (labeled Stage 1 through Stage 5 ), each having five sub-stages that result in five fracture zones 7 (labeled Zone A through Zone E) each, for a total of twenty-five individual zones. Since each zone is to receive a unique fracking liquid blend according to the fracking schedule, and since there is just the single well casing 4 , 6 to serve as the fracking liquid delivery conduit, it is necessary to sequence the preparation and delivery of the fracking liquid. Naturally, this begins with Stage 1 , which is furthest from the wellhead 1 . A set of perforations 26 are formed through the casing 6 , accessing the formation 3 at the location of Stage 1 . The surface 2 equipment is activated, and the fracking liquid, which also includes a unique oligonucleotide marker for Stage 1 -Zone E, is pumped down the casing 4 , 6 . This liquid passed through the perforations 26 and into the formation. On a continuous pumping basis, the subsequent four zones (Zone D, Zone C, Zone B, and Zone A of Stage 1 ) are pumped through the perforations 26 . Note that each zone receives a distinct fracking liquid mixture according the fracking schedule, and that each also receives a unique oligonucleotide marker. Also, note that the zones are pumped in reverse order, where each subsequent zone pushes the prior zone's fracking liquid outwardly into the formation, fracturing it as they progress. In other words, Zone E is pumped first, followed by Zone D, Zone C, Zone B, and Zone A. When Stage 1 is complete, a pressure seal 36 is inserted into the casing to isolate Stage 1 from the next sequence of events.
The pressure seal 36 may be a type of composite plug, as are known to those skilled in the art. Once plug 36 is in place, then the set of perforations 28 for Stage 2 are formed, and the next five sub-stages of fracking liquid with unique oligonucleotides are pumped to form the five fracture zones of Stage 2 . Then, plug 38 is inserted to isolate Stage 2 from the subsequent Stage 3 . This process repeats for Stage 3 , with perforations 30 and plug 40 , Stage 4 with perforations 32 and plug 42 , and finally Stage 5 with perforation 34 . Each of the five stages 5 has five zones 7 , and all twenty-five of the zones have a specific fracture liquid and a unique oligonucleotide disposed within fractures just formed in the formation 3 .
The nature of the stages and fractures zones depends in large measure on the nature of the formation and the petroleum engineers' plan for the extent of the fracturing job. To give this a sense of scale, some exemplary well perforation and fracturing specifics are worth considering. A well may be from 5000 to 20,000 feet deep with horizontal sections extending out to 7000 feet and more. Off-shore wells are even deeper and longer. The well is drilled and then cased with steel casing, which is commonly 5.5″ in diameter. The bottom of the casing is closed in some fashion so that it holds pressure. Once the well is cased, the drilling rig is removed, and a “wireline crew” perforates the casing at stage locations specified by the petroleum engineers. It is common to use seven to eleven stages in a single well, but other quantities are known as well. The perforation is done with plural inverted bullet shaped copper projectiles fired with shaped charges. Each projectile makes a 0.2 to 0.25 inch diameter hole in the casing. A single stage of perforations is typically about twenty feet long, but shorter lengths are used as well, and some perforations can be over one hundred feet long.
The plugs used between stages are generally a composite material that is compressed against the interior of the well casing to withstand pressures on the order of thousands of PSI. The plugs can later be drilled out, however some have a dissolvable core, which opens after several hours to several days later. In the case of dissolvable plugs, the fracture schedule must proceed at a pace commensurate with the rate at which the plugs dissolve.
As noted above, the fracturing process creates a false porosity in the formation. This is particularly useful in horizontal wells cut through shale deposits. A fracture zone can extend three hundred feet from the well casing. The sand, or proppant, holds the fractures open after the hydraulic fracking liquid pressure is removed. Various sizes of sand are utilized in the various zones. An additive is used to gel or thicken the fracking liquid because the increased viscosity enables the liquid to carry the proppant out into the fracture zones. The number of zones in each stage is typically in the four to ten range, but the use of as many as thirty zones in a single stage is known. Thus in a large fracture job, there could be fifteen stages with thirty zones each, totaling four hundred fifty zones, each of which could be marked with a unique oligonucleotide.
With respect to the pumping and pressures applied during the fracking process, fracking liquid flow rates can run 70-75 barrels per minute with pressures well over 7000 PSI. The pumping time for a single stage can range from one to four hours. A typical fracking job can utilize 2 million gallons of fracking liquid.
Reference is now directed to FIG. 2 , which is a system diagram of the fracking liquid removal process according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. This figure generally corresponds to FIG. 1 , after the hydraulic pressure has been removed from the well and the fracking equipment has been removed. This is the recovery phase of the project, where the fracking liquid is removed from the formation. The first step is to open the plugs of FIG. 1 , which can be accomplished by drilling or through the use of dissolvable plugs. This action may allow some of the fracking fluids to flow out of the well due to the pressure built up in the fracturing process, but generally, a down-hole pump will be utilized to recover the fracking liquid. As the fracking liquid is removed, it is typically mixed with formation fluids. Note that while the fracking liquids pumped into the well area generally free of gases, the formation fluids comprise both liquids and gases. FIG. 2 illustrates the fracking liquid recovery process.
In FIG. 2 , a down hole pump 54 has been inserted into the casing 4 , which operates to pump fluids out of the formation, up the casing 6 , 4 , and to the wellhead 1 . In this embodiment, a sucker rod 52 driven pump 54 is employed, however, a submersible pump can also be used, as is known to those skilled in the art. The sucker rod 52 couples the pump 54 to a reciprocating pump jack drive unit 50 at the surface 2 , as are well known in the art. As fluids are removed from the casing, additional formation fluids and fracking liquids flow from the formation 3 and the fracture zones 7 into the casing 6 . The wellhead 1 has a piping arrangement that routes the liquids from a tubing string 56 and gases from a casing annulus 58 to a fluid outlet 60 . Samples of the fluid output 60 are periodically gathered for testing. This testing includes testing for the concentration of the several oligonucleotides that were mixed into the fracking liquid as the fracturing processed occurred.
It can be appreciated that the fracture liquids in the several zones 7 generally flow into the casing on a last-in, first-out basis, and the testing of oligonucleotides may demonstrate this general trend. However, that assumption would only hold true for a uniform formation with consistent porosity and uniform formation pressures. Further, such uniform flow would require that the consistency and break-down of the fracking liquid viscosity was uniform throughout the several zones. In reality, these assumptions would be very unlikely to hold true. There are many variables that affect the nature and rate at which the fracture liquids are recovered. First is the material and consistency of the formation, and the extent of hydrocarbon and brine fluids therein. These two factors are of interest to the operator, because they are indicators of the production potential of the well and also indicate the general nature of the reserve, which influences how nearby wells might be engineered. Another factor is the content of the fracture fluid mixture in each of the several stages. There can also be problems in the recovery process where certain stages do not readily release the fracking liquid, and therefore limit production potential for the well. The oligonucleotide concentration can indicate such problematic areas, and suggest alternative treatments for mitigating them.
Ideally, the well operator's goal is to remove all of the fracking liquid from the well, so that the well only produces formation fluids. In an exemplary well, approximately 2 million gallons of fracking liquid are used, and the recovery process goal is to remove all of this so that the well can be placed into production of oil and/or gas. In a typical well, perhaps 75% of the fracking liquid is actually recovered. It is useful to understand which of the plural zones' fracking liquid has been recovered, and where the 25% of unrecovered fracking liquid might be. This is only possible if all of the fracking liquid zones have been uniquely and discretely marked. With respect to when the well is transitioned from recovery of fracking liquids to production of oil and gas, once the toe perforation start to flow back, then it can be assumed that the well is ready for production. This is because the toe perforation was the last to be fractured, and will be the last to produce. Therefore, once this perforation starts to produce, then the whole well is likely to be ready for production. The unique oligonucleotides that marked the toe perforation stages will indicate to the operator when that stage is beginning to flow.
In an exemplary embodiment, well fluid samples are taken on a periodic basis, which gradually lengthens over time. For example, during the first day of recovery, a first sample can be taken shortly after the recovery pump starts operating, and then samples may be taken at four-hour intervals. The second day samples may be taken at eight-hour intervals, then twelve-hour intervals the next day, until just daily samples are taken. This can go on for a month, or until testing shows that most of the fracking liquids have been recovered. The rate at which fracking liquid and formation fluids are pumped out of the well varies widely, based on the characteristics of the formation. This may range from 1 bbl/day to 2000 bbl/day. In the exemplary well, the recovery rate is approximately 300 bbl/day. At initial pumping, the recovered fluids are nearly all fracking liquid, but by the end of the recovery period, only a small fraction of the pumped formation fluids is fracking liquid. Again, the oligonucleotide testing procedure provides detailed information on the rate of fracking liquid recovery.
Reference is now directed to FIG. 3 , which is a system diagram of the oligonucleotide marking and pumping process according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. This figure illustrates the equipment at ground level 62 used to pump the fracking liquid into the wellhead 64 and down the casing 65 . The water flows from an input pump 76 , which is supplied from a high volume reservoir (not shown), and into a blender 74 . The blender 74 has mechanical agitators inside, which combine and mix the water with sand and chemicals (not shown) on a continuous basis. In the illustrative embodiment the blender 74 has a mixing volume of approximately one hundred barrels. The volume of fracking liquid flowing out of the blender 74 is measured by a flow meter 72 , which is used to monitor and maintain the volumetric flows according to the fracking schedule, and for general record keeping requirements. An input manifold 70 routes the fracking liquid to plural high-pressure fracking pumps 68 . The outlets of the plural high-pressure pumps 68 are combined by an outlet manifold 66 , which is coupled to the wellhead 64 .
As was noted hereinbefore, petroleum engineers develop a fracking schedule that itemizes the mixture components of the several zones of each stage of a fracking job. This schedule is used as the basis for adding oligonucleotides into the blending process in concert with the other blended components. The individual zones are each marked with a unique oligonucleotide. Therefore, in FIG. 3 , there are plural tracer tanks 82 that each contains a unique oligonucleotide. Each of the plural tracer tanks 82 is coupled to a corresponding metering pump 84 . The metering pumps 84 run at fairly low volumetric rates, so peristaltic pumps are a suitable choice for this application. The output of the plural metering pumps 84 are combined by a manifold 86 and coupled to the blender 74 or the water feed line 88 into the blender 74 .
Because the fracturing process is implemented on a continuous basis, and because there is a predetermined fracking schedule, the pumping of the oligonucleotides 82 can be automated. In the illustrative embodiment, the stage schedule 80 contains a database of the volumetric flow for each zone of every stage, and also the type and concentration for each of the discrete oligonucleotides. A controller 78 , such as an industrial programmable logic controller, monitors the flow meter 72 and the stage schedule 80 , and then activates the appropriate metering pump 84 so that the correct amount of oligonucleotide is pumped to yield the specified input concentration, which may be approximate one to five parts per million in the illustrative embodiment. Note that oligonucleotide is produced as a fine dry power. To facilitate the metering and pumping operations, the oligonucleotides are mixed with fresh water into high concentration slurry, and are then placed into the tracer tanks 82 . Agitation may be required to maintain a uniform slurry concentration in the tracer tanks 82 .
Reference is now directed to FIG. 4 , which is a system diagram of the formation fluid sampling process according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. This figure illustrates a more detailed view of the well fluid sampling system, and also shows an automated sampling embodiment. At the ground level 90 , the wellhead comprises the well casing 92 , a tubing string 94 , and the sucker rod 96 , which drives the down-hole pump. Generally, fluids are pumped up the tubing string 94 , and gases flow up the casing 92 annulus. Although, the well fluids often times have a high percentage of gas content, as is know to those skilled in the art. A fluid pipeline 98 is coupled to the tubing string 94 , and a gas pipeline 100 is coupled to the casing 92 annulus. Suitable valves are used, and the well fluids are output 102 to a storage or transportation system (not shown). The illustrative embodiment utilizes a sampling line 104 connected to the fluid pipeline 98 , which is used to draw periodic samples of the well fluids, which would include some of the fracking liquids.
In the automated sampling embodiment of FIG. 4 , the sampling is accomplished periodically and automatically using a solenoid valve 106 under control of an industrial programmable controller 110 . At predetermined intervals, the controller 110 opens the solenoid valve 106 to allow well fluids to pass into the valve body 108 . The valve body 108 automatically routes each sample of well fluid to a predetermined sample vessel 112 . An operator periodically visits the well site to retrieve the sample vessels 112 , and replace them with empty vessels. This arrangement facilitates more accurate sample gathering and less operator involvement. Once the samples are gathered, they are ready for processing and measurement of the concentrations of the plural oligonucleotides originally pumped in with the fracking liquid.
Once the samples are gathered from the wellhead, testing for the concentrations of the plural oligonucleotides is undertaken, and then calculations are made to establish the volume of fracking liquids that have been removed per sample period. These values, gathered over the several sampling periods, are then used to establish the totality of the fracking liquid recovery process, which is presented in table form for the well operator's uses. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the raw well fluids are challenging to deal with, and are hard on all the instruments that are used in the sampling and measuring process. These fluids contain brine, crude oil, dissolved gases, gas bubbles, acids, solids, various well chemicals, the fracking liquid, and the oligonucleotide tracers. The raw well fluids are not ready for testing in a spectrometer, as least not on an ongoing, commercial basis.
In the illustrative embodiment, oligonucleotides are added to the fracking liquid to serve as the tracer material. In order to gather useful information in the testing process, the testing equipment needs to accurately measure minute concentrations of these materials. Additionally, these materials must survive the harsh down-hole environment. Tests conducted in developing this disclosure indicated that oligonucleotides do endure the down-hole environment and are useful for tracing fracking liquid. Oligonucleotides are short, single-stranded DNA or RNA molecules. They are typically manufactured in the laboratory by solid-phase chemical synthesis. These small bits of nucleic acids can be manufactured with any user-specified sequence. The number of potential sequences is very large. The number of sequences is four to the power of N, where N is the length of the sequence. The length of the sequence can range from 2 to 150, which equates to tens of thousands of discrete and unique oligonucleotide sequences. Each sequence has a discrete atomic mass, which is what is measured to identify unique sequences. The range of molecular weights for these oligonucleotides is from 3000 to 6500 atomic mass units.
As was noted hereinbefore, the oligonucleotides contemplated in the illustrative embodiment are DNA, RNA, and LNA. LNA is an acronym for locked nucleic acid. LNA is also referred to as inaccessible RNA, and is a modified RNA nucleotide. During synthesis, the ribose moiety of an LNA nucleotide is modified with an extra bridge connecting the 2′ oxygen and 4′ carbon. The bridge “locks” the ribose. The locked ribose conformation enhances base stacking and backbone pre-organization. This significantly increases the melting temperature of oligonucleotides, making them more tolerant in the down-hole environment. With respect to down-hole durability of these oligonucleotides, testing indicates that LNA is most durable, then RNA, and then DNA. However, DNA can be utilized down-hole and show good durability. Tests establish that DNA is thermally stable to 1000 degrees, and will not shear under wellbore pressures to at least 7700 PSI. It is expected that DNA can out-survive casing static pressure limits of 20,000 psi. The highest risk to the integrity of the DNA molecules are enzymes called DNAase. However, test samples showed that only the DNA samples sent down hole were detected in well fluid, with no byproducts from DNAase. Furthermore, testing with certain mass spectrometer test methodologies showed that DNA could be reliably detected after exposure to the down-hole environment. DNA is highly tolerant to temperatures seen down-hole, and also tolerant to a wide range of pH. While very low pH for extended periods of time can damage DNA, the down-hole environment is usually not that acidic. The down-hole pH may be in the 5-6 range, with pH of 4 being a practical low limit for acidity. However, DNA can tolerate a pH of 3 for reasonable periods of time. It would take long-term exposure to damage oligonucleotides at such pH levels.
Having established that oligonucleotides are suitable for tracing fracking liquids in real-world down-hole environments and time frames, the next hurdle to their application is recovery and testing for minute concentrations present in well fluids. Since the oligonucleotides would be destroyed by flame (gas chromatograph), the testing procedure must use a non-flame type of mass spectrometer. In the illustrative embodiment, a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization source with a time-of-flight mass analyzer (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometer is utilized. This instrument tests a dry sample, so it is necessary to reduce and concentrate the well fluid sample in order to conduct the measurements of oligonucleotide concentrations. A MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer is accurate to +/−0.2%, and can readily distinguish the oligonucleotide sequences discussed herein. The output of MALDI-TOF is spectrograph style graphic, where the horizontal line distinguishes individual oligonucleotide masses and the vertical amplitude indicates the total mass of each oligonucleotide in a given test run. This data can, or course, be quantified for analysis and incorporation in the test results for the well operator.
The challenge of isolating the oligonucleotides from the other well fluid materials is addressed by biotinylation. This simplifies the recovery of the oligonucleotide in the well fluid samples and increases the overall sensitivity of the testing processes. This is accomplished by biotinylating the 5′-end of the sequence of the oligonucleotides before they are added to the fracking liquid and pumped down-hole. Biotinylation takes advantage of the fact that biotin and avidin or streptavidin (hereafter collectively referred to as “avidin”) form the strongest non-covalent bond known in nature with a dissociation constant of greater than ten to the minus fifteenth power. Once the well fluid samples are collected, they are infused with magnetic particles that have avidin immobilized onto their surfaces. Of course the biotinylated oligonucleotides and avidin coated magnetic particles are strongly attracted to one another. This attraction is facilitated by agitating the mixture for a period of time to insure that substantially all of the biotin and avidin have bonded, and therefore assuring that all of the oligonucleotides have been attached to the magnetic particles.
After agitating the sample for a given period to ensure that the biotinylated oligonucleotide has had sufficient opportunity to physically contact the avidin (or streptavidin) magnetic particles, a polar magnet is inserted into the sample, which easily gathers all of the magnetic particles that have the oligonucleotides bonded to them. The magnetic particles are washed to removed well fluid residue, and further washed to collect the magnetic particles from the magnet. The magnetic particles are collected in a small volume allowing for subsequent washing with deionized water to remove any residual components from the sample solution. The magnetic particles are then ready for further preparation for analysis by, preferably, a delayed-extraction (DE) matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometer.
With respect to suitable sample sizes and test concentrations, tracers are added to the fracking liquid with a concentration in the range of one to five parts per million. The sample taken from the well fluid flow may be in the range from four ounces to one gallon, which is concentrated, dried, and then measured with a DE-MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer. Sample concentrations of eight parts per billion are reliably detected, and concentrations below one part per billion can be detected through the foregoing process. Further, the MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer can measure thresholds as low as one part per trillion.
Further testing has indicated that while substantial portions of the oligonucleotides do survive the down-hole environment, there was significant damage to a fraction of them. While it is possible to calibrate the concentration and volumetric calculations to account for such damage losses, there may be a loss of accuracy due to the inconsistent nature and unpredictability of such damage. Accordingly, certain techniques of protecting the oligonucleotides (now referred to collectively as “DNA”) have been investigated. Ideally, a protection mechanism would isolate the DNA from chemical and thermal attacks. It is known that fossilized DNA has serviced exposure over many years, and such natural protection mechanisms were investigated. Interestingly, there has been research on thermal protection conducted in the area of using DNA to encode plastics parts, relying on the unique DNA sequences as a technique for precise barcoding.
Paunescu et al. have research the use of silica encapsulation for protection of DNA published in a paper; D. Paunescu, R. Fuhrer, R. N. Grass, Protection and Deprotection of DNA—High - Temperature Stability of Nucleic Acid Barcodes for Polymer Labeling, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed . (2013), 52, 4269-4272. It was noted that nucleic acids are sensitive to harsh environmental conditions and elevated temperatures, which is a fair statement of the down-hole well environment, even though Paunescu et al. never contemplated such an application. The vulnerability of nucleic acids to hydrolysis, oxidation, and alkylation requires well controlled DNA storage and handling conditions, ideally dry and at low temperatures. It was noted that viable ancient DNA, which has been recovered from permafrost samples, or in desiccated form from amber and from avian eggshell fossils, have been discovered and successfully analyzed. Within these fossils a dense diffusion layer of polymerized terpenes or calcium carbonate separates the desiccated DNA specimen from the environment, water, and reactive oxygen species. This is exemplary of how DNA can be protected from harsh environments even in very long-term exposure scenarios. And, this demonstrates the likelihood that encapsulation of DNA in silica particles can mimic these fossils and protect DNA from aggressive environmental conditions. Such a procedure makes DNA processable at conditions well beyond ordinary biological systems. Furthermore, it was noted that testing indicates that silicate and hydrofluoric acid chemistry is compatible with nucleic acid analysis by means of quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). It has also been determined that silica-protected DNA can readily survive temperatures of at least 200° C., which is sufficiently high for use in down-hole oilfield applications.
Silica is well known as a material with high chemical and thermal stability as well as having excellent barrier properties and can be synthesized at room temperature by the polycondensation of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS). The incompatibility of TEOS and nucleic acid chemistry, both carrying negative charges under reaction conditions, has been previously solved by the introduction of co-interacting species, such as positively charged amino-silanes, directing the growth of amorphous silica to the surface of the DNA double helix.
In an encapsulation approach described by Paunescu et al., a standard DNA ladder was first adsorbed to the surface of submicron-sized silica particles having a diameter of 150 nm, carrying ammonium surface functionalities. In subsequent steps, a silica layer was grown on the nucleic acid decorated surface utilizing N-trimethoxysilylpropyl-N,N,N-trimethylammonium chloride (TMAPS) as co-interacting species and TEOS as silicon source. Although silica surface growth is usually performed under acid or base catalysis, neutral conditions can be employed to prevent the hydrolysis of DNA. Furthermore, it is possible to dissolve the DNA/SiO 2 particles rapidly in a buffered HF/NH 4 solution. For the present disclosure, the submicron-sized silica core particles are replaced with a magnetic core, such as a submicron-sized magnetite, which facilitates the purification and concentration techniques desirable for efficient and reliable concentration testing.
The encapsulation of DNA in silica has been previously investigated for the formation of complex-shaped nanocomposites, however, only if the DNA can be released from the glass spheres unharmed can the stored information be utilized. While silica is unaffected by most chemical reactants at room temperature, it dissolves quickly in hydrofluoric acid (HF) through the formation of hexa-fluorosilicate ions. Hydrofluoric acid is known as a highly toxic chemical, however, aqueous hydrofluoric acid is a relatively weak acid and does not significantly damage nucleic acids. DNA/SiO 2 particles can be rapidly dissolved in buffered oxide etch (HF/NH 4 F, a buffered HF solution). The combination of protected nucleic acids and ultrasensitive biochemical analysis by qPCR or MALDI-TOF makes it possible to prepare chemically stable tracer particles, carrying unique codes with very low detection limits.
Reference is directed to FIG. 5 , which is a particle fabrication diagram according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. A magnetic core particle 120 has a unique sequence of DNA 122 bonded to its surface using a suitable bonding technology, as are known to those skilled in the art. Specific examples will be discussed hereinafter. The bonded core and DNA are subsequently encapsulated with silica 124 , thereby protecting the DNA from the chemicals, pressure, and temperature that are present in a down-hole hydrocarbon well environment. Magnetic core materials are generally the ferrous compounds, and in the illustrative embodiment, magnetite is utilized. Submicron-sized particles ranging from 10 to 200 nm are generally suitable, although other sizes may be employed. Once the silica-encapsulated particles 124 are prepared, they are employed from the fracture liquid tracing as discussed hereinbefore.
Reference is directed to FIG. 6 , which is a separation process diagram according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. After the DNA tracing materials have been blended with the fracking liquid, pumped down hole, and then recovered during the time the fracking liquids are pumped out of the well, plural samples are taken at the wellhead, and they are individually contained on a suitable container, such as an eight ounce glass or plastic jar. The first step is to insert a polar magnet 130 in the jar 126 that contains an individual raw well fluid 128 sample. In this embodiment, an electromagnet is employed so there is an electric coil 132 that is energized to generate magnetic lines of flux, which draw the encapsulated particles 134 by magnetic attraction. Some agitation is beneficial to ensure that most of the particles 134 are adhered to the magnet 130 . Various magnet configurations may be employed, including multi-pole, permanent, and electromagnets. Once the particles 134 are adhered to the magnet 130 , the magnet is withdraw from the well fluids 128 to remove and concentrate the particles. An ionized water rinse may be employed for additional cleansing. The magnet and particles are then placed into a diluted hydrofluoric (HF) acid solution, as shown in FIG. 7 .
Reference is directed to FIG. 7 , which is a concentration process diagram according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. A centrifuge vial 134 that contains an HF acid solution 136 , such as in a buffered HF/NH 4 solution, as are known to those skilled in the art. The magnet 130 and coil 132 are submerged into the solution 136 and coil 132 is deenergized, to release the particles. Note the some agitation is employed to circulate the solution 136 , start dissolving the silica, and rinse the particles off of the magnet 132 . As the silica is dissolved away, the magnetic core particles 138 precipitated to the bottom of the vial 134 and the DNA 140 goes into solution. The vial 134 is inserted into a centrifuge to accelerate the separation. Some of the liquid 136 may be decanted off the vial 134 to further concentrate the sample. The magnetic particles 138 may also be removed by magnetic attraction, such as by placing a magnet under the vial 134 as the DNA 140 laden liquid 136 is poured off. Again, some rinsing and neutralizing agents may be employed to clean the DNA sample prior to analysis using qPCR or MALDI-TOF, as discussed hereinbefore.
Reference is directed to FIG. 8 , which is a particle fabrication diagram according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the biotin/avidin non-covalent bond, which was introduced hereinbefore, is advantageously utilized to concentrate the DNA sample prior to analysis by qPCR or MALDI-TOF. A magnetic core 142 has biotinylated DNA bonded to its surface using a suitable bonding technique, and then the DNA/magnetic core is silica encapsulated 146 . These particles 146 are used to trace fracking liquid, and are then recovered in a sample, as has been discussed hereinbefore.
Reference is directed to FIG. 9 , which is a separation process diagram according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 follows FIG. 8 . In FIG. 9 , the raw well fluid sample 150 is contained in a sample vessel 148 , and a polar magnet 152 is inserted into the well fluid 150 to gather the silica encapsulated tracer particles 154 , by virtue of the aforementioned magnetic cores in the various particles. Agitation may be employed to improve the recovery efficiency of the magnet 152 . The magnet 152 is then withdrawn from the well fluid 150 to recover the particles 154 therefrom. The particles may then be rinsed to further refine the recovered sample particles.
Reference is directed to FIG. 10 , which is a separation process diagram according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, the polar magnet 152 from FIG. 9 is inserted into an HF acid solution 158 to dissolve away the silica from the particles. The magnetic cores 160 remained adhered to the magnet 152 while the DNA 162 goes into solution. Again, agitation is used to facilitate the dissolution of the silica. The magnet 152 is then withdrawn from the HF solution 158 , leaving the DNA 162 behind. The next step is to utilize the biotin/avidin bonding affinity to recover the DNA 162 and further concentrate the sample prior to analysis.
Reference is directed to FIG. 11 , which is a concentration process diagram according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. In this step, magnetic beads 168 , which have an avidin or streptavidin compound bonded to their surfaces (hereinafter “avidin beads”), are immersed into the sample liquid 166 . Note that this liquid may still be the HF solution 158 from FIG. 10 , or there may have been some further rinsing or chemical processes employed. At any rate, in FIG. 11 , the DNA in solution is drawn to the avidin beads 168 . The liquid 166 can then be decanted or filtered off the avidin beads 168 with the DNA bonded thereto. The next step is to cleave-off the DNA from the avidin beads 168 using a suitable cleaning agent.
With respect to the selection of the biotinylation and cleaving compounds, there are many commercially available biotinylation kits that enable simple and efficient biotin labeling of antibodies, proteins and peptides. The biotin is bound to the ends of the DNA molecules and later immobilize onto the avidin beads 168 . The beads 168 are gathered and isolated using magnetic separation. The next step is to elute off the DNA for characterization. A dual biotin with two biotin molecules in sequence can increase binding strength with streptavidin. This helps to keep biotinylated DNA on the beads during heating at higher temperatures. The streptavidin-biotin interaction is the strongest known non-covalent, biological interaction between a protein and ligand. The bond formation between biotin and streptavidin is very rapid and, once formed, is unaffected by wide extremes of pH, temperature, organic solvents and other denaturing agents. Hence, often very harsh methods are required to dissociate the biotin from streptavidin, which will leave the streptavidin adversely denatured. Using derivative forms of biotin allow for a gentle way of dissociation of biotin from streptavidin. Several cleavable or reversible biotinylation reagents allow specific elution of the biotinylated molecule from streptavidin in a gentle way.
Biotinylation with cleavable reagents can be done in different ways, and the selection of a suitable methodology for down-hole application warrants some empirical evaluation. The first option is enzymatic incorporation of a biotin dUTP analogue with a cleavable linker. Incorporation of a biotin with a linker arm containing a disulphide bond allows for a simple dissociation of the DNA fragment, as the disulphide links easily become cleaved with dithiothreitol. This reagent is enzymatically incorporated into a DNA fragment either by end-labeling, nick translation or mixed primer labeling. Another cleavable reagent is by chemical incorporation of the guanido analogue of NHS biotin. III. Chemically biotinylation of proteins using a biotin-X-NHS-Ester. Another option is Chemically biotinylation of DNA using biotin-X-NHS-Ester. NHS-biotin contains a cleavable disulphide bond so the desired DNA can be easily cleaved from the biotin/streptavidin complex. Thiol-cleavable NHS-activated biotins react efficiently with primary amine groups in pH 7-9 buffers to form stable amide bonds. Another option is DSB-XTM Biotin Protein Labeling. This approach provides a method for efficiently labeling small amounts of DNA the unique DSB-X biotin ligand. DSB-X biotin is a derivative of desthiobiotin, a stable biotin precursor that has the ability to bind biotin-binding proteins, such as streptavidin and avidin. Whereas harsh chaotropic agents and low pH are required to dissociate the stable complexes formed between biotin and streptavidin or avidin, DSB-X biotin can be readily displaced by applying an excess of D-biotin or D-desthiobiotin at room temperature and neutral pH.
Reference is directed to FIG. 12 , which is a particle fabrication diagram according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment employs an electric charge attraction between the magnetic core 170 and the DNA 174 through utilization of a first silica encapsulation 172 that is treated to establish a positive charge to compliment the natural negative charge of DNA. The magnetic core 170 is magnetite in the illustrative embodiment, which is encapsulated with a first layer of silica 172 . The first silica encapsulation is treated with positively charged amino-silanes, rendering a positive charge. The positive charge attracts the DNA 174 by virtue of the natural negative charge that DNA possesses. The particle is then encapsulated with second silica layer 176 , which serves to protect the DNA from exposure in the down-hole and well fluid environments.
Reference is directed to FIG. 13 , which is separation process diagram according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. With the particle fabrication complete, the DNA is used to trace fracking liquids in the well and recovered with the raw well fluids 180 . The sample is held in a sample container 178 . A magnet 182 is used to gather the particles 184 , which contain particles from potentially all of the unique tracers utilized in the fracking job. The particles 184 are removed form the well fluid 180 using the magnet 182 , as was described hereinbefore.
Reference is directed to FIG. 14 , which is a concentration process diagram according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. The particles 184 from FIG. 13 are rinsed off into a second container 190 using ionized water 188 in FIG. 14 . The second container 186 contains a dilute HF acid solution that dissolves both the first and second silica layers. This action eliminates the positive charge on the magnetite 190 , which is free to settle either by gravity of centrifugal force, leaving the DNA 192 in solution. Alternatively, a second magnet can be used to remove the magnetite 190 from the HF 188 . The DNA 192 is then concentrated and measured in the matters described hereinbefore.
Reference is directed to FIG. 15 , which is a separation process apparatus drawing according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. As was noted above, agitation is commonly employed to assure that mixtures and bonding actions are sufficiently complete in the foregoing embodiments. Since the well fluid samples must be taken at the oil and gas well sites, they are transported by vehicle to a testing facility. This movement and vibration are advantageously employed to provide the requisite agitation by fixing a magnet 198 to the inside of a lid 196 of the sample vessel 194 . The vessel is inverted during transport to assure that the magnet 198 is flooded with the well fluid samples 200 . This provides the time and movement to fully adhere substantially all of the sample particles 204 to the magnet 198 upon arrival at the testing facility.
Reference is directed to FIG. 16 , which is a separation process apparatus drawing according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. This figure illustrates a further advantage of the magnet 198 in the lid 196 of the sample vessel. The lid is removed from the sample vessel 194 of FIG. 15 and placed onto a process vessel 206 that is filled with dilute HF acid. Naturally, the particles 204 transfer with the magnet, and then the silica dissolves in the HF acid 212 in the process vessel 206 . The magnetite cores 216 remain adhered to the magnet 198 and the DNA samples 214 go into solution in the liquid 212 . Subsequent processing the measurements are then applied, as described hereinbefore.
Thus, the present invention has been described herein with reference to a particular embodiment for a particular application. Those having ordinary skill in the art and access to the present teachings will recognize additional modifications, applications and embodiments within the scope thereof.
It is therefore intended by the appended claims to cover any and all such applications, modifications and embodiments within the scope of the present invention. | Tracing fracking liquid in oil and gas wells using unique DNA sequences. For each of the DNA sequences, bonding to magnetic core particles, and encapsulating them with silica. Pumping the volumes of fracking liquid, each marked with one of the unique DNA sequences, into the well. Pumping fluids out of the well while taking fluid samples. For each of the plural fluid samples, gathering the silica encapsulated DNA using magnetic attraction with the magnetic core particles, dissolving away the silica shells, thereby separating the plural unique DNA sequences form the magnetic core particles, and analyzing the concentration of the unique DNA sequences in each of the plural fluid samples. Then, calculating the ratio of each of the volumes of fracking liquid recovered for each of the fluid samples, and thereby establishing the quantity of the volumes of fracking liquids removed from the fracture zones. | 4 |
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application entitled "Deformable Intraocular Lens Injection Systems and Methods of Use Thereof", Ser. No. 08/368,792, filed Jan. 4, 1995 (now pending), U.S. patent application entitled "Disposable Intraocular Lens Insertion System", Ser. No. 08/345,360, filed Nov. 18, 1994, (now pending), U.S. patent application entitled "Deformable Intraocular Lens Cartridge", Ser. No. 08/197,604, filed Feb. 17, 1994 (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,987), U.S. patent application entitled "Hingeless Lens Cartridges For Insertion Of Deformable Intraocular Lens", Ser. No. 08/196,855, filed Feb. 15, 1994 (now pending), and U.S. patent application entitled "Intraocular Lens Insertion System", Ser. No. 07/953,251, filed Sep. 30, 1992 (abandoned).
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a deformable intraocular lens injecting apparatus for implanting a deformable intraocular lens into the eye. The deformable intraocular lens apparatus according to the present invention includes a transverse hinge to allow a lens holding portion to be opened to receive the deformable intraocular lens and then closed for enclosing the deformable intraocular lens readied for implantation.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The deformable intraocular lens and methods of implantation thereof were invented by Dr. Mazzocco in the early 1980's to replace hard-type intraocular lenses. The invention of the deformable intraocular lens substantially reduced the size of the incision into the eye for the insertion of an intraocular lens in the eye. Further, the reduction in size of the incision greatly decreased complications during and after the eye surgery operation, in particular, greatly increasing the rate of healing of the eye and significantly decreasing post-operative astigmatism. The concept of a deformable intraocular lens has been overwhelmingly received by the eye industry and is widely used today.
Operations involving the implantation of a deformable intraocular lens were originally conducted with a forceps for folding the deformable intraocular lens for insertion through the incision in the eye. Around 1986, STAAR Surgical Company, Co. of Monrovia, Calif. introduced the "STAAR Shooter" greatly facilitating the insertion of a deformable intraocular lens through the incision in the eye. Specifically, the "STAAR Shooter" included a longitudinally oriented hinged lens cartridge (i.e., hinged to open sideways), which received the deformable intraocular lens in a flat configuration. The deformable intraocular lens was folded by closing the lens cartridge. The lens cartridge was then loaded into a lens injecting device having a lens cartridge receiver and a plunger for forcing the deformable intraocular lens from the lens cartridge. More specifically, the lens cartridge comprised a lens holding portion and a nozzle portion made as a molded plastic one-piece lens cartridge. The plunger of the lens injecting device forces the folded deformable intraocular lens from the lens holding portion through the nozzle portion having a tip inserted through the incision in the eye, thus, delivering the deformable intraocular lens inside the eye.
Currently, approximately one-half of operations using deformable intraocular lens are still conducted with the use of forceps. However, the acceptance and use of the "STAAR Shooter" and other similar devices, has grown since the introduction of the "STAAR Shooter." It is expected that the trend will continue, and that the use of forceps will eventually cease as new shooter delivery systems and methods are further developed and introduced into the market place.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A first object of the present invention is to provide an improved deformable intraocular lens injecting apparatus.
A second object of the present invention is to provide a deformable intraocular lens injecting apparatus comprising a transverse hinge to allow a lens holding portion to be opened to receive the deformable intraocular lens and then closed for enclosing the deformable intraocular lens readied for implantation.
A third object of the present invention is to provide a deformable intraocular lens injecting apparatus comprising a lid having a transverse hinge, said lid can be opened and closed for loading a deformable intraocular lens into the lens injecting apparatus.
A fourth object of the present invention is to provide a deformable intraocular lens injecting apparatus comprising a lens injecting device, a transverse hinged lens cartridge, and a nozzle portion.
A fifth object of the present invention is to provide a deformable intraocular lens injecting apparatus comprising a lens injecting device including a lens cartridge receiver and a plunger, a lens cartridge having two portions connected together by a transverse hinge, and a nozzle portion.
The present invention is directed to a surgical device for implantation of a deformable intraocular lens. Specifically, the surgical device is a deformable intraocular lens injecting apparatus including a transverse hinge to allow the apparatus, to be opened and closed to allow the deformable intraocular lens to be loaded into the device for the insertion and implantation operations.
A deformable intraocular lens can be loaded into the lens injecting apparatus in various configurations, however, a flat configuration is particularly preferred. The lens injecting apparatus is preferably designed to be user friendly and easy to load.
The lens injecting apparatus according to the present invention is provided with a transverse hinged closure to allow the lens injecting device to be opened and closed for loading the deformable intraocular lens. The transverse hinge is located between portions or components of the lens injecting apparatus. The lens injecting apparatus can be designed so that both portions are moved to open the lens injecting apparatus, or one portion is held stationery or fixed while the other portion is opened.
Preferred embodiments of the lens injecting apparatus according to the present invention include a transverse hinged closure provided, for example, by a lid, door, swinging access, window, or other related structure that opens to allow the deformable intraocular lens to be loaded in a delivery passageway, and then closed to cover the deformable intraocular lens and define a portion of the delivery passageway.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention involves three separate components including:
1) a lens injecting device;
2) a lens cartridge; and
3) a nozzle portion.
The first component or lens injecting device comprises a lens cartridge receiver and a plunger. A preferred lens injecting device includes a lens cartridge receiver located at one end of the lens injecting device and a slidable plunger. Specifically, one end of the lens injecting device is open and has a recess therein defining a lens cartridge receiver. The recess, for example, can be cylindrical, rectangular, pentagonal, hexagonal, octagonal, etc., or otherwise shaped to conform with the outer surface configuration of the lens cartridge.
The second component or lens cartridge is provided with a transverse oriented hinge to open and close. The preferred lens cartridge comprises two separate portions connected together by a transverse hinge. The transverse hinge has relatively moving components that fit together from each of the portions. Alternatively, the cartridge can be molded as one piece with a "live hinge." A "live hinge" is a hinge that is molded, and does not have to be assembled.
The lens cartridge can be constructed so that both portions of the lens cartridge move, or alternatively, one portion of the lens cartridge is fixed and the other portion of the lens cartridge is moveable. In a more preferred embodiment of the lens cartridge, the bottom portion is fixed and the upper portion is moveable to open like a mouth, for example, of a "crocodile," to greatly facilitate loading of the deformable intraocular lens into the lens cartridge.
In the most preferred lens cartridge, the lower portion can be defined as a lower tray portion and the upper portion can be defined as an upper lid portion wherein the upper lid portion is connected to the lower tray portion by a transverse hinge. The lower tray portion allows the deformable intraocular lens to be loaded into a recess in the lower tray portion. This recess defines a portion of the delivery passageway through the lens cartridge. The upper lid portion may also include a recess or a surface, either defining an upper portion of the delivery passageway through the lens cartridge.
The lower tray portion and the upper lid portion have surfaces that define the delivery passageway through the lens cartridge. One or both of the surfaces can be contoured to facilitate folding of the deformable intraocular lens from a flat configuration into a partially or fully folded configuration. The term folded with respect to the deformable intraocular lens means that the deformable intraocular lens is actually folded, rolled, compressed, or otherwise reduced in outer dimensions when moved through the delivery passageway of the lens cartridge by the plunger of the lens injecting device. In one embodiment, the inner surface of the upper lid portion is contoured for inducing the folding of the deformable intraocular lens. For example, the contour lens shaping surface can be defined by a plurality of longitudinal concave grooves and ridges which tend to fold the outer edges of the deformable intraocular lens both upwardly and inwardly as the deformable intraocular lens is advanced through the delivery passageway of the lens cartridge. A preferred surface contour is defined by three (3) side-by-side longitudinal concave grooves defining a pair of side-by-side folding ridges therebetween.
The third component or nozzle portion connects in some manner with the lens cartridge. Specifically, a delivery passageway through the lens cartridge exits into a delivery passage through the nozzle portion. Preferably, the delivery passageway in the lens cartridge is continuous with the delivery passageway through the nozzle portion. In a most preferred embodiment, the delivery passageway through the lens cartridge tapers inwardly in a direction of movement of the deformable intraocular lens and transitions into an inwardly tapering passageway of the nozzle portion. The smooth transition of the delivery passageways through the lens cartridge into the nozzle portion ensures that the deformable intraocular lens will not be damaged when passing through the transition therebetween.
The three separate components of the deformable intraocular lens injecting apparatus according to the present invention can be connected together when assembled in various manners, for example, preferably the connections are interference or snap fit type connections between the lens injecting device and lens cartridge, and the lens cartridge and the nozzle portion. These connections can be permanent once assembled, and specifically designed to prevent disassembly (e.g., snap fit connections which are not releasable). Alternatively, some or all of the connections can be designed to be purposely separable. Alternatively, threaded-type connections, adhesive connections, heat welded or ultrasonically welded connections, and other types of mechanical fastener-type connections can be implemented alone or in combination to join these components together.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the lens injecting device and the lens cartridge, or a portion of the lens cartridge, can be made as a one-piece unit. For example, the body of the lens injecting device can be made as a one-piece unit with the lower portion of the lens cartridge, and a separate upper portion of the lens cartridge is connected to the one-piece unit by a transverse hinge. In this embodiment, once the deformable intraocular lens is loaded into the lens cartridge portion of the one-piece unit, the nozzle portion is then connected thereto.
In a further embodiment, the lens cartridge, or a portion of the lens cartridge, is formed as a one-piece unit with the nozzle portion. For example, the lower portion of the lens cartridge is molded as a one-piece unit with the nozzle portion, and the upper portion of the lens cartridge is a separate piece connected to the one-piece unit by a live transverse hinge. A deformable intraocular lens can be loaded into the lens cartridge portion and then closed, and this combined assembly is then connected to the lens injecting device.
The delivery passageway through the deformable lens injecting device according to the present invention is preferably configured or contoured for folding the deformable intraocular lens. For example, the delivery passageway can be inwardly tapering (i.e., having a reducing cross-sectional area in the direction of movement of the deformable intraocular lens during the delivery operation). Further, the delivery passageway can be contoured to enhance folding of the lens. For example, one or more grooves can be provided inside the delivery passageway for folding the lens. In a most preferred embodiment, a pair of grooves is provided for bending edges of the deformable intraocular lens upwardly or downwardly from the center plane of the deformable intraocular lens in a flat configuration, and then moving these edges inwardly as the deformable intraocular lens is advanced through the delivery passageway. In this manner, the inwardly tapering feature compresses the deformable intraocular lens while the groove feature modifies the configuration of the lens from its flat configuration to further institute folding and allowing the lens to be further compressed versus a random compression deformable intraocular of the lens which is not as preferable. Specifically, random compressing of the deformable intraocular lens may cause folding in such a manner as to cause high stress and potentially cause damage inside on the surface of the elastic structure of the deformable intraocular lens (e.g., material damage due to shear).
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a preferred embodiment of a lens injecting apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side longitudinal cross-sectional view of the lens injecting apparatus shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a top longitudinal cross-sectional view of the lens injecting apparatus shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 is a side longitudinal cross-sectional view of the lens injecting apparatus shown in FIG. 1 prior to assembly.
FIG. 5 is a side longitudinal cross-sectional view of the lens injecting apparatus shown in FIG. 1 partially assembled.
FIG. 6 is a top longitudinal cross-sectional view of the lens injecting apparatus shown in FIG. 1 prior to assembly.
FIG. 7 is a top longitudinal cross-sectional view of the lens injecting apparatus shown in FIG. 1 partially assembled.
FIG. 8 is a detailed partial side longitudinal cross-sectional view of the lens injecting apparatus shown in FIG. 1 prior to assembly.
FIG. 9 is a detailed partial side longitudinal cross-sectional view of the lens injecting apparatus shown in FIG. 1 fully assembled.
FIG. 10 is a detailed partial side longitudinal cross-sectional view of the lens injecting apparatus shown in FIG. 1 partially assembled.
FIG. 11 is a detailed partial top longitudinal cross-sectional view of the lens injecting apparatus shown in FIG. 1 fully assembled with the plunger retracted.
FIG. 12 is a detailed partial top longitudinal cross-sectional view of the lens injecting apparatus shown in FIG. 1 fully assembled with the plunger partially advanced into contact with the deformable intraocular lens.
FIG. 13 is a side elevational view of a preferred embodiment of the lens cartridge according to the present invention in an open configuration for receiving a deformable intraocular lens.
FIG. 14 is a front elevational view of the lens cartridge shown in FIG. 13.
FIG. 15 is a side elevational view of a preferred embodiment of the lens cartridge according to the present invention in a closed configuration after a deformable intraocular lens has been loaded into the lens cartridge.
FIG. 16 is a front elevational view of the lens cartridge shown in FIG. 15.
FIG. 17 is a top planar view of a top portion of the lens cartridge shown in FIG. 15.
FIG. 18 is a side elevational view of the top portion of the lens cartridge shown in FIG. 17.
FIG. 19 is a front elevational view of the top portion of the lens cartridge shown in FIG. 17.
FIG. 20 is a top planar view of the bottom portion of the lens cartridge shown in FIG. 15.
FIG. 21 is a side elevational view of the bottom portion of the lens cartridge shown in FIG. 20.
FIG. 22 is a front elevational view of the lens cartridge shown in FIG. 15.
FIG. 23 is a front elevational view of the inner sleeve to be installed within the body portion of the lens injecting device shown in FIG. 2.
FIG. 24 is a side elevational view of the inner sleeve shown in FIG. 23.
FIG. 25 is a broken away top elevational view of the inner sleeve shown in FIG. 25.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The present invention is directed to a surgical device for implantation of a deformable intraocular lens into the eye. Specifically, the surgical device or deformable intraocular lens injecting apparatus according to the present invention is capable of delivering a deformable intraocular lens through an incision, in particular a small incision (i.e., 5 millimeters or less) made in the eye.
A preferred embodiment of the deformable intraocular lens injecting apparatus surgical device according to the present invention is capable of receiving a deformable intraocular lens in a flat configuration (i.e., unfolded state), and then folding the deformable intraocular lens into a configuration (e.g., folded, rolled, compressed, etc.) allowing the deformable intraocular lens to pass through the incision in the eye. In other embodiments, the deformable intraocular lens can be partially folded or fully folded prior to being loaded into the lens injecting device, or the lens cartridge is configured to partially fold or fully fold the deformable intraocular lens prior to the lens cartridge being loaded into the lens injecting device.
The deformable intraocular lens injecting apparatus according to the present invention can be designed in a variety of different arrangements embodying the common feature of a transverse hinge connecting components or portions of the apparatus allowing a deformable intraocular lens to be loaded in the apparatus, and then closed for enclosing the deformable intraocular lens readied for implantation. Further, the lens injecting apparatus is preferably made of autoclavable plastic (e.g., polysulfone) injection molded components. However, some or all of these components can be made of stainless steel or titanium. Further, the materials and design of the lens injecting apparatus can be selected to allow the lens injecting device to be disposable (i.e., simple design, low materials costs, low assembly costs). The following are preferred embodiments of the present invention.
A preferred embodiment of the lens injecting apparatus 10 according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 1. The lens injecting apparatus 10 comprises a lens injecting device 12, nozzle portion 14 having a nozzle tip 16, and a plunger 18. The nozzle portion 14 is connected to the lens injecting device 12, and the plunger 18 is slidably disposed within the body portion 12'. Further, the plunger 18 is provided with a gripping portion 20.
Referring to FIG. 2, a lens holding structure such as a lens cartridge 22 is disposed within the lens injecting apparatus 10. The details of the arrangement of the lens cartridge 22 will be described hereinbelow. The lens cartridge 22 is a separate component from the lens injecting device 12 and nozzle portion 14, and is loaded with a deformable intraocular lens prior to being loaded into the lens injecting device 12.
The lens cartridge 22 when loaded into the lens injecting device 12 is disposed within a lens cartridge receiver 24 of the lens injecting device 12 and a lens cartridge receiver 26 of the nozzle portion 14, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. Specifically, a front portion 22a of the lens cartridge 22 is located within the lens cartridge receiver 26 of the nozzle portion 14, and a rear portion 22b of the lens cartridge 22 is located within the lens cartridge receiver 24 of the lens injecting device 12.
The plunger 18 comprises a front plunger portion 18a, a middle plunger portion 18b, and a rear plunger portion 18c. The front plunger portion 18a is provided with a slotted tip 28 for receiving the trailing haptic 30b of the deformable intraocular lens 30, as shown in FIG. 2.
The front plunger portion 18a and the middle plunger portion 18b have a one-piece construction (e.g., plastic molded component). The front plunger portion 18a is a cylindrical rod and the middle plunger portion 18b is a cylindrical rod. Further, the front plunger portion 18a has a smaller diameter relative to the middle plunger portion 18b. Alternatively, the cross-sectional shape of the front plunger portion 18a and middle plunger portion 18b can be other than circular (e.g., rectangular, square, star-shaped, oval, cross-shaped, T-shaped, etc.). Further, the front plunger portion 18a and middle plunger portion 18b can have the same shape and cross-sectional size. In a further alternative embodiment, the cross-section size and shape of the front plunger portion 18a can smoothly transition (i.e., not discontinuous such as step-like transition shown) into the middle plunger portion 18b.
The rear plunger portion 18c is a separate component. The rear plunger portion 18c is provided with a cross-sectional shape providing a keyway-type arrangement with the body portion 12' of the lens injecting device 12 to prevent relative rotation therebetween. Specifically, the body portion 12' is provided with a guide 12a having a passageway sized slightly larger than the outer dimensions of the rear plunger portion 18c to allow sliding therebetween, and cross-sectionally shaped to match the cross-sectional shape of the rear plunger portion 18c. In embodiments having interlocking keyway-type cross-sectional shapes of the passageway through guide 12a and rear plunger portion 18c, these arrangements prevent relative rotation between the plunger 18 and body portion 12'.
The plunger 18 is constructed of two separate pieces to facilitate assembly of the lens injecting device 10. The middle plunger portion 18b is provided with an end 18b', which is received within an end 18c'. Specifically, the end 18b' is configured to fit inside a receiver in the end face of the end 18c'. For example, the end 18b' and end 18c' can be configured to interference fit or snap fit together to facilitate assembly. Alternatively, the plunger 18 can have a one-piece construction.
The rear plunger portion 18c is provided with a tip 18c" to connect the gripping portion 20 to the plunger 18. Specifically, the tip 18c" is configured to snap fit into a hole 32 through a flange 34 of the gripping portion 20. This configuration allows the gripping portion 20 to freely rotate relative to the plunger 18. Alternatively, the gripping portion 20 can be fixed to prevent relative rotation between the gripping portion 20 and plunger 18. Even further, the gripping portion 20 and plunger 18 can have a one-piece construction. Still further, the surface of gripping portion 20 may comprise a knurled, textured, slotted or otherwise not smooth surface to enhance gripping friction. Further, the gripping portion 20 may comprise a thumb engaging structure which operates in conjunction with a related finger engaging structure optionally provided on lens injecting device 12.
The gripping portion 20 is provided with a receiver 20a for accommodating the rear end 12b of the lens injecting device 12 when the plunger is advanced forward. In a preferred embodiment, the receiver 20a is threaded to cooperate with one or more protrusions or threads on the rear end 12b to provided threaded advancement of the plunger 18.
The body portion 12' is provided with a cavity 12c for accommodating the plunger 18, and allowing movement of the plunger 18 relative to the lens injecting device 12. Further, the lens cartridge 22 is provided with a passageway 22c leading to a passageway 14a through the nozzle portion 14. The passageway 14a exits at the nozzle tip 16.
The assembly of the lens injecting device 10 is shown in FIGS. 4-7. After the deformable intraocular lens 30 is loaded into the lens cartridge 22, the rear end 22b of the lens cartridge is loaded into the lens cartridge receiver 24 of the lens injecting device 12, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 7. The lens cartridge receiver 24 is defined by an inner sleeve 36 installed within the front end 12a of the body portion 12'. The inner sleeve 36 comprises a front inner sleeve portion 36a and a rear inner sleeve portion 36b. The lens cartridge receiver 24 is configured to provide a locking fit with the rear end 22b of the lens cartridge 22.
After the lens cartridge 22 is loaded into the lens cartridge receiver 24 of the body portion 12', the nozzle portion 14 is connected to the lens cartridge 22. Further, the front end 22a of the lens cartridge 22 is loaded into the lens cartridge receiver 26 of the nozzle portion 14, which snap fit together.
The details of the connection between the lens cartridge 22 nozzle portion 14 is shown in FIGS. 8-10.
The lens cartridge 22 includes an upper tang 38 and a lower tang 40 cooperating with an upper hole 42 and a lower hole 44, respectively, of the nozzle portion 14. Further, the tangs 38 and 40 are provided with inclined portions 38a and 40a, respectively, to facilitate assembly of the nozzle portion 14 over the front end 22a of the lens cartridge 22. Once the nozzle portion 14 is fully assembled on the front end 22a of the lens cartridge 22, the edges 38b and 40b of the tangs 38 and 40 catch the edges 42a and 44a, respectively, of the holes 42 and 44, as shown in FIG. 9.
The details of the manner in which the slotted tip 28 of the plunger 18 makes contact with the deformable intraocular lens 30 is shown in FIGS. 11 and 12. The slotted tip 18 is shown as having a flat end face, however, the end face can be rounded (e.g., convex), recessed (e.g., concave), faceted or other shapes.
The slotted tip 28 is located in the position shown in FIG. 11 after the lens cartridge 22 has been loaded into the lens injecting device 10. During the implantation operation, the slotted tip 28 is advanced forward until the slotted tip surrounds the trailing haptic 30b and contacts or almost contacts the optic portion 30c, as shown in FIG. 12.
The rear end 22b of the lens cartridge 22 is provided with an inwardly tapering (e.g., funnel-shaped) passageway 22d for guiding the slotted tip 28 of the plunger 18 into accurate contact with the deformable intraocular lens 30. The inwardly tapering passageway 22d leads into a lens holding passageway 22e having curved sides to accommodate the deformable intraocular lens in a flat configuration. The lens holding passageway 22e transitions into the passageway 22c of the lens cartridge 22. The passageway 22c transitions into the passageway 14a of the nozzle portion 14. The passageway 14a includes a greater inwardly tapering passageway portion 14b leading into a lesser inwardly tapering passageway portion 14c.
The detailed construction of a preferred lens cartridge 22 for use in the lens injecting apparatus 10 is shown in FIGS. 13-22.
The lens cartridge 22 comprises an upper portion 100 connected to a lower portion 102 by transverse hinge 104. The transverse hinge 104 is a structure involving separate relatively moving components. Various designs and arrangements of the transverse hinge 104 can be substituted for the design shown (e.g., separate pin design), however, designs are somewhat limited due to molding considerations. Alternatively, the transverse hinge 104 can be replaced with an integral molded "live" hinged structure at the cost of increasing the difficulties of molding the lens cartridge.
The transverse hinge 104 is oriented transverse to a center longitudinal axis of the lens injecting apparatus 10. This arrangement allows the lens cartridge 22 to be opened similar to the mouth structure of a "Crocodile", providing easy user friendly loading of the deformable intraocular lens into the lens cartridge 22. The lens cartridge 22 is preferably configured so that the lens cartridge 22 opens in a forward direction as shown in FIG. 13, however, it is possible to modify the configuration so that the lens cartridge opens in an opposite rearward direction.
The transverse hinge 104 is preferably located above the center axis (i.e., off center axis) of both the lens cartridge 22 and lens injecting apparatus 10, again to facilitate loading of the deformable intraocular lens, and to provide the inwardly tapering passageway 22d (See FIG. 11 ) for accommodating the advancing slotted tip 28 of the plunger 18. Specifically, the location of the transverse hinge 104 is placed above the center location of the passageway 22d to simplify the design and molding technique. Alternatively, the hinge 104 can be located at the center of the height of the lens cartridge 22, however, the passageway 22d would have to be molded through the transverse hinge to allow the slotted tip 22 to pass through the passageway 22d when the lens cartridge is in a closed configuration.
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 13, the upper portion 100 is movable (i.e., functions as a lid) relative to the fixed lower portion 102. This design facilitates loading the deformable intraocular lens, since the orientation (i.e., substantially horizontal) of the lower portion 102 of the lens cartridge 22 remains fixed (i.e., not moving) during the loading operation. However, alternatively, the lower portion 102 can be designed to be movable relative to a fixed upper portion 100, or both the upper portion 1130 and lower portion 102 can both be movable.
The transverse hinge 104 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 13, is formed when the upper portion 100 and lower portion 102 are snap fitted together. Specifically, the upper portion 100 comprises a pivot portion 106, which snap fits into a pair of pivot supports 108 provided on the lower portion 102.
The pivot portion 106 is defined by a cylindrical pin-like structure 106a having a pair of ends 106b (See FIG. 17) molded into the upper portion 100. The cylindrical pin-like structure 106a is supported by an elongated connector portion 110 to an upper lid portion 110a of the upper portion 100.
The pivot supports 108 are each defined by a pair of opposed gripping elements 108a, 108b for gripping one end 106b of the pivot portion 106. The gripping elements 108a, 108b are molded above a lower tray portion 102a of the lower portion 100. The upper portion 100 is also molded with a recess 112 (See FIGS. 13 and 14) to accommodate the elongated connector portion 110 of upper portion 100. In addition, the lower portion 100 is molded with the passageways 22d and 22e (See FIGS. 11 and 14) to accommodate the slotted tip 28 of the plunger 18.
The exterior shape (i.e., contour) of the lens cartridge 22 includes a faceted front end 22a and a cylindrical rear end 22b, as shown in FIG. 15. Specifically, the bottom portion 102 of the lens cartridge 22 includes a cylindrical base portion 102b (See FIGS. 15 and 16) for being accommodated within the cylindrical-shaped lens cartridge receiver 24 of the inner sleeve 36 of the body portion 12'. The upper lid portion 100a of the upper portion 100 is provided with a flat top surface 100b (See FIG. 16), cylindrical side surfaces 100c, and conical surface 100d (i.e., beveled surface) while the lower tray portion 102a of the lower portion 102 is provided with a cylindrical bottom and side surface 102c and a conical surface 102d for being accommodated within the faceted-shaped lens cartridge receiver 26 of the nozzle portion 14. The conical surface 100d is continuous with conical surface 102d to provide a bevel edge to facilitate assembly.
The upper lid portion 100a of the upper portion 100 is provided with a pair of latch portions 100e cooperating with a pair of latch portions 102e of the lower portion 102. The latch portions 100e comprise protrusions 100f interlocking with recesses 102f of the lower portion 102. This arrangement allows the upper portion 100 to be securely connected to the lower portion 102 prior to loading into the injecting device 12. This arrangement also allows the lens cartridge 22 to be reopened (i.e., a releasable connection) for inspection of the loaded or reloaded deformable intraocular lens.
Further, the upper lid portion 100a of the upper portion 100 is provided with a pair of alignment guides 100g (e.g., pins) cooperating with alignment recesses 102g in the lower tray portion 102b for properly aligning the upper portion 100 with the lower portion 102 when the lens cartridge 22 is closed. The alignment guides 100g and alignment recesses are optional, and can be eliminated in some designs.
The interior shape of the lens injecting device 10, in particular the contours of the surfaces of the lens delivery passageways through the lens cartridge 22 and nozzle portion 14 are particularly important for proper delivery of the deformable intraocular lens. Specifically, the lens delivery passageway is contoured to change the state of the deformable intraocular lens from a flat configuration to a fully folded configuration as the deformable intraocular lens is advanced through and along the delivery passageway.
The upper lid portion 100a of the upper portion 100 is provided with a recess 114 (See FIGS. 14 and 18) defined by a slight convex surface 114a. The recess 114 accommodates an upper portion of the deformable intraocular lens when the lens cartridge 22 is closed.
The upper lid portion 100a also has a center concave groove 114g aligned with the center longitudinal axis of the lens injecting device. Center concave groove 114g is located at the front end of the upper lid portion 100a. A pair of side concave grooves 114f and 114h are positioned side-by-side with center concave groove 114g. Side concave grooves 114f and 114h are also aligned parallel with the center longitudinal axis of the lens injecting device.
Also included in the upper lid portion 100a is a tapered concave groove 114g', which is contiguous with center concave groove 114g at its front end. At its rear end, tapered concave groove 114g' tapers to a point 114m within recess 114. The recess 114 transitions into the set of longitudinal grooves 114f, 114g (114g'), 114h in the direction of the advancing deformable intraocular lens.
The front set of concave grooves 114f, 114g, 114h define a pair of ridges 114k and 114l, which are contiguous with a pair of curvilinear edges 114k' and 114l' defined by tapered concave groove 114g'. The curvilinear edges 114k' and 114l' end at rear point 114m within recess 114. The ridges 114k and 114l and the curvilinear edges 114k' and 114l' function to fold the deformable intraocular lens as the lens is advanced in the direction of implantation.
The upper portion 100 is provided with an alignment key 116 for accurately locating the lens cartridge 22 in the lens cartridge receiver 24 of the lens injecting device 12. The alignment key 116 cooperates with a keyway in the lens cartridge receiver to be described below to prevent relative rotation between the lens cartridge 22 and lens injecting device 12.
The lower portion 102 is provided with a recess 118 defined by a flat surface, a contoured surface 122, stepped side surfaces 124, and end surface 126 (See FIGS. 20 and 22). These surfaces define a lower portion of the delivery passageway through the lens cartridge 22.
The lens cartridge receiver 24 of the lens injecting device 12 is provided by inner sleeve 36, as shown in FIGS. 8-10. Detailed views of the inner sleeve 36 are shown in FIGS. 23-25.
The inner sleeve 36 is provided with a cylindrical portion 128 having a thicker cross-sectional wall thickness and a cylindrical portion 130 having a thinner cross-sectional wall thickness. Both cylindrical portions 128 and 130 have the same outer diameter but different inner diameters. The cylindrical portion 130 defines a collar for receiving the rear end 22b of the lens cartridge 22. An inner edge 132 is provided at the transition between the cylindrical portion 128 and cylindrical portion 130. The inner edge 132 serves as a stop when the lens cartridge 22 is loaded into the lens cartridge receiver 24.
The cylindrical portion 130 is provided with a keyway 134 comprising a longitudinal keyway portion 134a extending into a transverse keyway portion 134b for accommodating the key 116 of the lens cartridge 22, as shown in FIG. 16. This arrangement provides a locking arrangement when the lens cartridge 22 is pushed in and then rotated (i.e., a bayonet type locking configuration). Further, the inner sleeve 36 is provided with a key 136 (FIG. 23) to cooperate with a keyway 138 provided in the bottom of the lens injecting device 12 at the lens cartridge receiving end, as shown in FIG. 10).
In the preferred embodiment shown, the transverse hinge of the lens cartridge 22 is positioned inside the lens cartridge receiver 24 of the lens injecting device 12 when assembled together, as shown in FIG. 9. This arrangement prevents the lens cartridge 22 from being opened once inserted into the lens cartridge receiver 24 of the lens injecting device 12. Alternatively, the lens cartridge can be designed so that the transverse 104 is still operable when loaded into the lens cartridge receiver 24 (e.g., the rear portion 22b of the lens cartridge 22 can be lengthened so that the transverse hinge 104 does not enter into the lens cartridge receiver 24 when assembled.
OPERATION
A deformable intraocular lens is loaded into the lens cartridge 22 when the lens cartridge 22 is in an open mode. The lens cartridge 22 can be either partially connected or disconnected to the lens injecting device 12 at the time of loading.
In the event that the lens cartridge 22 is not yet connected to the lens injecting device 12, then the loaded lens cartridge 22 is loaded into the lens cartridge receiver 24 of the lens injecting device 12. In the event the lens cartridge 22 is partially connected to the lens injecting device 12, the lens cartridge 22 is pushed further into the lens cartridge receiver 24 of the lens injecting device 12.
The tip 16 of the nozzle portion 14 is then placed through the incision made in the eye, and then the plunger 18 is actuated by a user pressing on the gripping portion 20 while holding the body portion 12'. The tip 28 of the plunger 18 is forced into the delivery passageway of the lens cartridge 22, which then forces and advances the deformable intraocular lens along the delivery passageway through the nozzle portion 14 and out of the tip 16 thereof. | A deformable intraocular lens injecting apparatus including a transverse hinge for loading a deformable intraocular lens therein. The transverse hinge connects together two portions of the lens injecting apparatus. A preferred embodiment includes 1) a lens injecting device, 2) a lens cartridge having a transverse hinge, and 3) a nozzle portion. In a most preferred embodiment, the lens cartridge includes a fixed lower tray portion transversely hinged to an upper lid portion. | 0 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to television systems, and more particularly, those that transmit information that is in addition to the normal video information ("teletext").
It is known that television video signals are reproduced using a cathode ray tube (CRT) that has an intensity modulated electron beam that sweeps from left to right and top to bottom across a fluorescent phosphor coated CRT face to produce a raster which contains a picture having an intensity at each point of the raster in accordance with the intensity of the beam at each respective point. When the beam reaches the bottom of the raster, it must thereafter jump back ("retrace") to the top. During such retrace, the electron beam must be cut-off ("blanked") to avoid generating spurious picture details. The time duration of this cut-off is known as the "vertical blanking interval" (VBI) and is designated by the numerical "100" in FIG. 1. During the VBI, there occurs a vertical synchronization signal 101, that determines exactly when the beam is to start its retrace. Preceding and succeeding the vertical sync signal 101 are three horizontal lines having equalizing pulses occuring at twice the horizontal frequency in first and second equalizing pulse intervals 102 and 103 respectively.
Teletext is a system for transmitting a still picture, such as a weather map, stock market report, general news, etc. that is time-division multiplexed onto a standard television signal. Each picture is called a "page", and the totality of all pages is called a "menu". Teletext and similar data transmission systems use coded signals inserted during horizontal lines 15, 16, 17 or 18 in the VBI. These teletext signals have picture level amplitudes, i.e., amplitudes between blanking and white levels. In some receivers, vertical retrace is relatively slow and vertical blanking is insufficient so that such a teletext signal may appear on the CRT display, thereby causing interference, i.e., the sweeping CRT electron beam is still coming back to the top of the CRT when the teletext signal starts being transmitted. In general, interference can occur from the insertion of teletext signals on any line after the vertical sync pulse if blanking is very insufficient.
It is desirable to use as many lines occuring in the VBI as practical to transmit teletext since the more lines, the higher the page transmission rate. However, it has been found impractical to use more than two lines after the vertical sync pulse in each VBI due to the interference problem discussed above.
Teletext or other data signals can be transmitted during the first equalizing pulse interval 102 shown in FIG. 1 when potential interference would be out of view below the bottom of the picture. Use of three lines per field with a 100 page continuous menu would result in a maximum waiting time for a selected page of about 10 seconds as compared to 30 seconds for a one-line system. The data format can be arranged to accomodate the twice horizontal line frequency equalizing pulses.
It is therefore desirable to have a teletext system that has a high transmission rate without causing interference to the normal displayed picture.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Method and apparatus comprises transmitting a television signal having a vertical synchronizing signal and equalizing signals occurring before and after said sychronization signal, and transmitting an additional information signal between said equalizing pulses that occur before said synchronization signal.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a diagram of the vertical blanking interval of a television signal;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a portion of a transmitter;
FIG. 3 is block diagram of a portion of a receiver;
FIG. 4 is a timing diagram of waveforms that exist in FIG. 2; and
FIG. 5 is a timing diagram of wavforms that exist in FIG. 3.
It should be noted that FIGS. 2 and 3 have circled letters, which letters correspond to the lettered waveforms of FIGS. 4 and 5 respectively.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Teletext information is received during line 1 of FIG. 1 at input terminal 10 of the arrangement of FIG. 2 from, e.g. a Ceefax encoder (not shown) which is known in the art. As shown in FIG. 4A, Ceefax information has a signal duration during line 1 of one horizontal line minus one horizontal sync pulse width. (The information is in the form of about 300 bits of non-return to zero information taking place during this interval, which is shown as shading). The overall interval is divided in half into intervals A and B, since in the present invention the standard Ceefax signal must be interrupted to allow for the presence of equalizing pulses. The teletext information signal is applied to gates 30 and 32. A clock 34 applies clock signals to gating generator 36, which generator 36 provides to gates 30 and 32 gating pulses that start at the beginning of the equalizing pulse interval 102 and that correspond to intervals A and B respectively, as shown in FIGS. 4C and B, respectively. Thus, gate 30 provides a Ceefax output signal during interval A and no output during interval B, while gate 32 provides a Ceefax output signal during interval B but not during interval A, both as shown in FIGS. 4D and E, respectively.
The delay line 38 delays the signal of FIG. 4E by one equalizing pulse width to produce the signal of FIG. 4F. This signal of FIG. 4F is added to the signal of FIG. 4D by adder 16 to produce the signal of FIG. 4G, which is the same as a known prior art Ceefax signal except that it starts at the trailing edge of the first equalizing pulse in line 1 and has a gap 80 in the middle for the insertion of an equalizing pulse. It will be appreciated that only one line interval is shown in FIG. 4, the other two intervals being identical except for starting at the beginning of the remaining two lines 2 and 3 respectively in the first equalizing pulse interval 102.
Adder 40 receives the signal of FIG. 4G at one input and a standard composite video signal from terminal 42. As is conventional the composite video signal includes equalizing pulses, one of which pulses occurs during (and this fills in) the gap 80. Thus, at output terminal 44 there exists a standard composite video signal having a Ceefax teletext signal during the first three horizontal lines preceding the vertical sync signal. Adder 40 output terminal 44 is coupled to a transmitter modulator (not shown).
FIG. 3 shows a decoder for use in a receiver that receives transmissions from a transmitter having the encoder of FIG. 1. Terminal 20 receives a base-band video signal having a Ceefax teletext signal therein as shown in FIG. 5A. A standard TV display 82 displays the conventional video information contained in the video signal at terminal 20. A known sync separator and line identification counter 22 applies sync signals to clock 50 and a pulse identifying the trailing edge of the first equalizing pulse in line 1 to gate generator 24. Generator 24 generates and applies a three-line-wide pulse to gate 26. During the occurrence of this pulse, the teletext information is applied by gate 26 to gates 52 and 54.
Clock 50 provides pulses to gate generator 56, which generator 56 provides gating signals as shown in FIGS. 5B and C, respectively during intervals A and B respectively to gates 52 and 54. Gate 52 provides teletext signals during interval A, while gate 54 provides such signals during interval B as shown in FIGS. 5D and E, respectively. The signal of FIG. 5D is delayed by one equalizing pulse width by delay line 58 and added to the signal of FIG. 5E by adder 60 to form a standard continuous (without the equalizing pulse gap) Ceefax signal as shown in FIG. 5F. It will be appreciated that the operations depicted in FIG. 5 are repeated for the next two lines (lines 2 and 3 of FIG. 1). The standard Ceefax signal of FIG. 4F is applied to a known Ceefax decoder 28 from which it is read out as a standard TV signal and finally applied to display 62. Display 62 can therefore be the same as display 82.
The vertical retrace by which the scanning beam is returned to the top of the raster occurs after the beginning of the vertical sync pulse interval 101 because of the time delays involved in recognition of the vertical sync pulse. Consequently, the vertical retrace does not begin until after the Ceefax information is transmitted. The Ceefax information therefore exists in some of the last few horizontal lines at the bottom of the raster. These lines will ordinarily occur in an overscan portion of the raster, which is a portion of the raster near the edge of the picture tube which cannot be viewed because it is covered by a mask or frame surrounding the picture tube. Variations in beam intensity will cause the phosphor in the overscan region to emit light of various intensities, and these variations of light may be seen at the edge of the mask as a flicker which may be annoying. To eliminate the flicker, the Ceefax information may be encoded in such a manner that the average brightness remains constant. For example, the information may be encoded as phase or position modulation of pulses. Variations of the signal may vary the incremental position of a pulse but does not change the existence of the pulse or its amplitude. For high data rates, the average intensity is therefore constant and no flicker occurs.
It will be understood any one, two, or all three of the first three horizontal lines can be used to transmit teletext signals. | A teletext system transmits auxiliary information before the vertical sync pulse in the vertical blanking interval to avoid interference to the normal transmitted picture. At the transmitter a time gap is placed in the auxiliary information to allow for the equalizing pulses, while at the receiver the gap is removed. One, two, or all three lines that occur before the vertical sync pulse in the vertical blanking interval can be used to transmit the auxiliary teletext information signals. | 7 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The production of polyesters and copolyesters of dicarboxylic acids and aliphatic glycols has been carried out commercially for many decades. Among the earliest disclosures relating to the production of polyesters and copolyesters is the disclosure in U.S. Pat. No. 2,465,319, issued Mar. 22, 1949. Since this disclosure many variations have been made in the process and many catalysts have been discovered and patented. On Dec. 8, 1970, there issued U.S. Pat. No. 3,546,179, which is directed to the use of compounds containing both silicon and phosphorus atoms a compounds as a catalyst for the production of such polyesters and copolyesters.
The use of metal halides and certain silicon compounds as catalysts in the polycondesation of dicarboxylic acids and aliphatic glycols is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,143,057; 4,254,241; and U.S. Pat. No. Re. 30,554. The metal halides employed in the examples therein are necessarily employed with solvent present. In addition these compounds tend to be hydrolytically unsatable and, thus, require careful hanlding during their use. Thus, although these catalysts are highly advantageous it would be highly desirable to have a catalyst that may be of use without a solvent and which is hydrolytically stable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It has now been found that coordination complexes of a metal alkoxyhalide and a silicon compound, as hereinafter defined, are excellent polyesterification catalyst complexes for the production of polyesters and copolyesters useful for making films, fibers and other shaped articles.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In the production of polyesters and copolyesters the reaction is generally considered a dual or two stage reaction. In the first stage esterification or transesterification occurs and in the second stage polycondensation occurs as follows: ##STR1## This invention is concerned with novel polyesterification catalyst compositions and processes for producing polyesters using such catalyst compositions.
The novel catalyst compositions of this invention are coordination complexes of (A) a metal alkoxy halide and (B) a silicon compound, as hereinafter more fully defined. The use of these catalyst complexes or compositions results in the elimination of the use of a solvent for the catalyst, provides a less moisture sensitive, more hydrolytically stable catalyst and results in the production of polyesters and copolyesters of high degrees of polycondensation that are characterized by high melting point, high elongation at break, good tensile strength and good stability to heat and light.
The first stage esterification or transesterification reaction is carried out in the traditional manner by heating the mixture at between about 150° C. and about 270° C., preferably between about 175° C. and about 250° C. During this stage any of the well-known esterification or transesterification catalysts can be used, illustrative thereof one can mention zinc acetate, manganese acetate, cobalt (I) acetate, zinc succinate, zinc borate, magnesium methoxide, sodium methoxide, cadmium formate, and the like. The concentration thereof is that conventionally used, namely between about 0.001 and about one percent by weight, based on the weight of dicarboxylic acid compound charged. It is preferably between about 0.005 and about 0.5 percent by weight and more preferably between about 0.01 and about 0.2 percent by weight.
In the second stage, or the polycondensation, the coordination complex catalysts of this invention are useful. These novel coordination complex catalysts comprise two essential components. The first component is a metal alkoxy halide and the second component is one or more of the hereinafter defined silicon compounds.
The metal alkoxy halide used to produce the coordination complexes useful as catalysts are the alkoxy halides of the metals titanium, zirconium, zinc, germanium, tin, lead, antimony and bismuth; preferably titanium, germanium and antimony; and most preferably titanium. The metal alkoxy halides useful as catalysts are of the general formula:
M(OR).sub.a X.sub.b
wherein M is the metal and is at least one of titanium, zirconium, zinc, germanium, tin, lead, antimony and bismuth; R is alkyl, aryl, alkylaryl, arylalkyl or haloalkyl having between 1 and about 20 carbon atoms, preferably having between 1 and about 4 carbon atoms; a and b are each an integer having a value of from 1 to 3; the sum (a+b) is equal to or less than 4; and X is at least one of F*, Cl, Br or I with the provisio that when M is antimony a is an integer having a value of from 1 to 4 and the sum (a+b) is equal to or less than 5. Illustrative of suitable metal alkoxy halides one can include the mono-, di-, and tri-alkoxy bromides, alkoxy chlorides, alkoxy fluorides and alkoxy iodides of titanium and zirconium; the mono- and di-alkoxy bromides, alkoxy chlorides, alkoxy fluorides and alkoxy iodides of zinc, germanium, tin, antimony, bismuth and lead including the mixed bromide-chlorides, bromide-iodides and chloride-iodides of tin. The preferred metal alkoxy halides are the haloalkoxy titanates. These metal halides are well known to the average chemist and are fully enumerated in chemical handbooks to the extent that specific naming thereof is not necessary herein to enable one skilled in the art to know chemical names of the specific metal alkoxy halides per se; see the The Organic Chemistry of Titanium, Feld and Cowe, Butterworth & Co., Ltd. (1965).
In producing the coordination complexes useful as catalysts, the molar ratio of metal alkoxy halides to silicon compound in the coordination complex can vary between about 2:1 and about 1:10; preferably between about 1:1 and about 1:7, and most preferably between about 1:1 and about 1:2.
In the polycondensation reaction the coordination catalyst complex is preferably used in an amount of between about 0.01 and about 0.2 weight percent, or higher, based on the weight of dicarboxylic acid compound charged, more preferably 0.01 to 0.06 weight percent. Although any catalytically effective amount can be employed. As used in this application the term "dicarboxylic acid compound" means both the free dicarboxylic acids and the esters thereof.
The dicarboxylic acid compounds used in the productionof polyesters and copolyesters are well known to those skilled in the art and illustratively include terephthalic acid, isoterephthalic acid, p,p'-diphenyldicarboxylic acid, p,p'-dicarboxydiphenyl ethane, p,p'-dicarboxydiphenyl hexane, p,p'-dicarboxydiphenyl ether, p,p'-dicarboxyphenoxy ethane, and the like, and the dialkyl esters thereof that contain from 1 to about 5 carbon atoms in the alkyl groups thereof.
Suitable aliphatic glycols for the production of polyesters and copolyester are the acyclic and alicyclic aliphatic glycols having between about 2 and 10 carbon atoms, especially those represented by the general formula HO(CH 2 ) p OH, where p is an integer having a value of between about 2 and about 10, such as ethylene glycol, trimethylene glycol, tetramethylene glycol, pentamethylene glycol, decamethylene glycol, and the like.
Other known suitable aliphatic glycols include 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol, 3-ethyl-1,5-pentanediol, 2,2,4,4-tetramethyl-1,3-cyclobutanediol, and the like. One can also have present a hydroxylcarboxyl compound such as 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, 4-hydroxyethoxybenzoic acid, or any of the other hydroxylcarboxyl compounds known as useful to those skilled in the art.
It is also known that mixtures of the above dicarboxylic acid compounds or aliphatic glycols can be used and that a minor amount of the dicarboxylic acid component, generally up to about 10 mole percent, can be replaced by other acids or modifiers such as adipic acid, sebacic acid, or the esters thereof, or with a modifier that imparts improved dyeability to the polymers. In addition one can also include pigments, delusterants or optical brighteners by the known procedures and in the known amounts.
The polycondensation reaction is generally carried out at a temperature between about 225° C. and about 325° C., preferably between about 250° C. and about 290° C. at reduced pressure and under an inert atmosphere. These traditional reaction conditions for the polycondensation reaction are well known to those skilled in the art.
The silicon compounds that are used in conjunction with the metal alkoxy halide to produce the coordination complex catalyst of this invention are represented by the following generic formulas: ##STR2##
X is hydrogen or methyl and is methyl only when m is one;
R* is alkyl or haloalkyl having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms;
R** is methyl, ethyl, butyl, acetoxy, methoxy, ethoxy or butoxy;
R is methyl, ethyl, butyl, methoxy, ethoxy, butoxy, or trimethylsiloxy;
R' is methyl, methoxy, ethoxy, butoxy or trimethylsiloxy;
R" is methoxy, ethoxy, butoxy, trimethylsiloxy or vinyldimethylsiloxy;
R'" is methyl, ethyl, butyl, or trimethylsilyl;
Me is methyl;
Z is methyl or T;
Q is an NCCH 2 --, NH 2 CH 2 NHCH 2 --, NC-- HS-- or HSCH 2 CH 2 S-- group;
n is an integer having a value of from 2 to 5;
m is an integer having a value of zero or one;
x is an integer having a value of from 1 to 100; and
y is an integer having a value of from 1 to 100.
Subgeneric to the silicon compounds represented by formula (I) are the compounds represented by the following subgeneric formulas: ##STR3##
Subgeneric to the silicon compounds represented by formula (II) are the compounds represented by the following subgeneric formulas: ##STR4##
Illustrative of the silicon compounds which may be employed in forming the polycondensation catalyst of the invention are the following: beta-cyanoethyl triethoxysilane, gamma-mercaptopropyl triethoxy-silane, gamma-aminopropyl triethoxysilane, diethoxy-phosphorylethyl methyl diethoxysilane, vinyl tri-ethoxysilane, vinyl trimethoxysilane, vinyl tri-acetoxysilane, gamma-methacryloxypropyl trimethoxy-silane, diethoxyphosphorylethyl heptamethyl cyclo-tetrasiloxane, trimethyl silyl terminated copolymer having dimethylsiloxy and methylvinylsiloxy units in the molecule, beta-cyanoethyl trimethylsilane, gamma-(2-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane, S-beta(2-mercaptoethyl) mercaptoethyl triethoxysilane, beta-mercaptoethyl, vinyl methyl diethoxysilane, vinyl methyl di(trimethylsiloxy)-silane, tetramethyl divinyl disiloxane, heptamethyl vinyl cyclotetrasiloxane, 1,3,5,7-tetramethyl 1,3,5,7-tetravinyl cyclotetra-siloxane, diethoxyphosphorylethyl methyl diethoxy-silane, diethoxyphosphorylisopropyl triethoxysilane, diethoxyphosphorylethyl methyl di(trimethylsiloxy)-silane, heptamethyl diethoxyphosphorylethyl cyclo-tetrasiloxane, 1,3,5,7-tetramethyl 1,3,5,7-tetra(di-ethoxyphosphorylethyl)cyclotetrasiloxane, 1,1,3,3-tetramethyl-1,3-di(diethoxyphosphorylethyl)-disiloxane.
In a typical polycondensation reaction, the prescribed amounts of dicarboxylic acid compounds, diols, and catalysts are charged to the reactor. The reaction mixture is then heated under an inert gas atmosphere at a temperature of between about 180° C. and about 210° C. to effect the initial esterification or transesterification. Thereafter, a substantial amount of the glycol is removed and the transesterification is completed by heating the reaction mixture at a temperature of from about 225° C. to about 235° C. The second stage polycondensation reaction is then carried out by heating the reaction mixture at a temperature of from about 225° C. to about 325° C. under a reduced pressure of from about 0.1 mm. to about 20 mm. of mercury, preferably below about 1 mm. The use of the catalyst complexes or mixtures of this invention has often resulted in shorter overall reaction periods, decreased formation of glycol dimer, e.g. diethylene glycol, and resulted in the absence of a solvent for the catalyst.
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
The following examples were carried out by preparing the haloalkoxy titanate by preparing a solution of the alkoxy titanate or haloalkoxy titanate and an acetyl halide (acetylchloride and acetyl bromide were employed) into a reaction flask (as a standard 3 neck-round bottom flask) equipped with a mechanical stirrer condenser and dropping funnel. The acetyl halide was slowly added to the titanate. The mixture was refluxed for about 2 to 21/2 hours in an oil bath at a temperature of about 70° C. and 80° C. The resulting mixture was distilled under vacuum with fractions being analyzed as set forth in the following examples.
The titanium alkoxyhalides formed above was then reacted with a silicon compound, as hereinbefore described and as set forth in the examples. The resulting mixture, i.e., the polycondensation catalyst, was analyzed by microanalysis.
The polycondensation catalyst was then employed as a polycondensation catalyst by mixing with dimethyl terephthalate (736 grams) ethylene glycol (542 grams) and manganese acetate (0.222 grams). The transesterification reaction was carried out by heating the mixture to about 178° C. to about 190° C. for a period of time (about 3 hours) under an argon atmosphere with methanol being distilled from the reaction mixture. The temperature was then raised to about 230° C. and maintained for about one hour to complete the transesterification step. The temperature was then raised to about 280° C. and the pressure was reduced to below about 1 millimeter of mercury and the polycondensation process was carried out. During the polycondensation reaction the mixture was stirred with a mechanical stirrer and a small amount of a stabilizer was added when the mixture was at a temperature of about 250° C. and at 5 millimeters of mercury. The amount of stabilizer employed in each example was 0.325 grams. The polycondensation reaction was terminated when the intrinsic viscosity was 0.57, a typical value for a commercially acceptable polyester, and the time required to obtain the intrinsic viscosity was recorded as the polycondensation time (the time from reaching 1 mm mercury pressure to when the polyester has an intrinsic viscosity was 0.57). The intrinsic viscosity determinations were made by preparing a solution of 0.5 weight percent of polyester in o-chlorophenol and measuring its viscosity at 25° C. in an Ubbelohde viscometer.
The whiteness of the polyester was measured by use of a Hunterlab Tristimulus (x,y,z) Colorimeter D-25 which uses filters that approximate spectrally the standard observer functions of the eye and measure color in terms of the parameters x,y,z which are obtained from the Hunterlab Tristimulus (x,y,z) Colorimeter. The b value is an indication of the yellowness or whiteness of the polyester and is determined by the equation: ##EQU1##
The lower the value of b the less yellow is the polyester. The measurement of b is made using a 2 inch square block of polyester resin after the polyester resin has been polished. A positive b value indicates that some yellow exists while a negative b value indicates some blue exists.
STABILIZER
The stabilizer was prepared by charging 57 grams (0.0648) mole) of ethyl acetate (solvent), 54.9 grams of superphosphoric acid (105%), 18.0 grams (0.170) mole) of diethylene glycol and 330 grams (5.4 mole) of propylene oxide into a 3-neck round bottom flask equipped with a mechanical stirrer and a condenser. The superphosphoric acid was added first with ethyl acetate and diethylene glycol then being added. The reaction mixture was cooled to about 20° C. and the propylene oxide was added dropwise under an argon atmosphere while the reaction mixture was stirred and cooled by an ice bath. The temperature of the reaction mixture was kept at between about 30° and 40° C. during the addition of the propylene oxide which addition took about two hours.
The reaction mixture was refluxed for 2 hours at about 44° C. and subsequently stripped in vacuum of excess propylene oxide to give 265 grams of the stabilizer product having 6.26 weight percent phosphorus and characterized by an infrared spectrum having strong bands at 3400 cm -1 , 1737 cm -1 , 1455 cm -1 , 1375 cm -1 and 1260 cm -1 .
EXAMPLE 1
The coordination complex component monochloro tri(isopropoxy) titanate was produced by preparing a mixture of 65.0 grams of tetra isopropyl titanate and 18.0 grams of acetyl chloride in a reaction flask (a standard 3 neck-round bottom flask) equipped with a mechanical stirrer, condenser and dropping funnel. The acetyl chloride was slowly added to the tetra isopropyl titanate to prepare the solution. The mixture was refluxed for 21/2 hours in an oil bath at about 70° to 80° C. and then distilled in vacuo. Microanalysis of the fraction distilling at about 135° C. to 140° C. (18 mm Hg) showed 40.19 wt. percent carbon; 8.13 wt. percent hydrogen; and 14.19 wt. percent chlorine.
The above product (26.3 grams) was mixed with 34.0 g of di(isopropoxy) phosphoryl ethyl methyl diethoxysilane. An exothermic reaction occurred and a yellow oil solution was observed.
The resulting catalyst was used in the preparation of polyester, as above described, which had a molecular weight of 17,800 and a b-value of 7.4.
EXAMPLE 2
The coordination complex component monobromo tri(isopropoxy) titanate was produced by preparing a solution of 34.8 grams (0.122 mole) of tetra isopropyl titanate and 14.8 grams (0.122 mole) of acetyl chloride in a reaction flask (a standard 3 neck-round bottom flask) equipped with a mechanical stirrer, condenser and dropping funnel. The acetyl chloride was slowly added to the tetra isopropyl titanate to prepare the solution. The mixture was refluxed for 21/2 hours in an oil bath at about 70° to 80° C. and then distilled in vacuo.
Microanalysis of the fraction collected at 70°-80° C. and 0.5 millimeter of mercury showed 34.15 wt. percent carbon; 6.74 wt. percent hydrogen; and 27.53 wt. percent bromine.
The above fraction was mixed with an equal molar amount of di(isopropoxy) phosphoryl ethyl methyl diethoxysilane. An exothermic reaction occurred and a yellow oil solution was observed.
This polycondensation catalyst was used to produce a white polyester as above described having a molecular weight of about 17,410 and a b-value of 5.99.
EXAMPLE 3
The coordination complex component dichloro di(isopropyl) titanate was produced by preparing a solution of 521 grams (2.0 mole) of monochloro tri(isopropoxy) titanate prepared in Example 1 and 157 grams (2.0 mole) of acetyl chloride in a reaction flask (a standard 3 neck-round bottom flask) equipped with a mechanical stirrer, condenser and dropping funnel. The acetyl chloride was slowly added to the monochloro tri(isopropery) titanate to prepare the solution. The mixture was refluxed for 2 hours in a oil bath at about 70° to 80° C. Microanalysis of the product fraction collected at 95°-98° C. and 1.0 millimeter of mercury and showed 30.34 wt. percent carbon; 6.30 wt. percent hydrogen; and 28.48 wt. percent chlorine.
The above product, 0.8 moles (189.0 grams) of dichloro di(isopropoxy) titanate, was added to 261 grams (0.8 mole) of di(isopropoxy) phosphoryl ethyl methyl diethoxysilane. A exothermic reaction occurred and an orange oil soltion was observed.
The resulting catalyst was used to produce a polyester which had a molecular weight of about 17,000 and a b value of 4.3.
EXAMPLE 4
A polycondensation catalyst was prepared according to the invention by mixing equimolar amounts of monochloro tributoxy titanate and di(methoxy)phosphoryl ethylmethyl diethoxysilane in an erlenmeyer flask. The product was a yellow oil.
The resulting catalyst was used to prepare a polyester which had a molecular weight of 24,500 and a b-value of 6.5.
EXAMPLE 5
The coordination complex component monobromo tri(butoxy) titanate was produced by preparing a mixture of 85 grams (0.25 mole) of tetrabutyl titanate and 30.74 grams (0.25 mole) of acetyl bromide in a reaction flask (a standard 3 neck-round bottom flask) equipped with a mechanical stirrer, condenser and dropping funnel. The acetyl bromide was slowly added to the tetra butyl titanate to prepare the mixture. The mixture was refluxed for 21/2 hours in an oil bath and at about 70° to 80° C. and subsequently distilled in vacuo. Microanalysis of the fraction collected at 142°-152° C.; and 0.35 millimeters of mercury showed 41.38 wt. percent carbon; 8.02 wt. percent hydrogen; 22.20 wt. percent bromine.
The product fraction, above, was mixed with an equal molar amont of di(methoxy) phosphoryl ethyl methyl diethoxysilane. A exothermic reaction occurred and a yellow oil solution was observed.
The resulting catalyst was used in the preparation of a polyester which had a molecular weight of 20,274 and a b value of 5.1.
EXAMPLE 6
The coordination complex component trichloro butoxy titanate was produced by preparing a mixture of 95.0 grams (0.5 mole) of titanium tetrachloride and 37.0 grams (0.5 mole) of butanol in a reaction flask (a standard 250 milliliter 3 neck-round bottom flask) equipped with a mechanical stirrer, condenser and dropping funnel. The titanium tetrachloride was slowly added to the butanol. An ice bath was used to maintain the reaction temperature under control owing to the exothermic nature of the reaction. A yellow solution was observed which upon standing produced a white crystalline product. Microanalysis of the product after washing with hexane and drying in vacuo showed 21.77 wt. percent carbon; 4.62 wt. percent hydrogen; 45.30 wt. percent chlorine.
A portion of the above product (1.17 grams; 0.00515 mole) was mixed with an equal molar amount of di(isopropoxy) phosphoryl ethyl methyl diethoxysilane (1.678 grams; 0.00515 mole). A yellow oil was observed as the product.
The resulting catalyst was used in the preparation of a polyester which had a molecular weight of 19,450 and a b-value of 3.4. | The process and the catalyst used therein for producing polyesters and copolyesters, useful for making films and fibers, by the polycondensation of dicarboxylic acids and aliphatic glycols using coordinations complexes of metal halides and silicon compounds as catalysts. | 2 |
This application is a Continuation of, and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/241,983, filed 23 Sep. 2011, allowed, which was a Continuation of, and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 to, International application no. PCT/EP2010/053171, filed 12 Mar. 2010, and claims priority therethough under 35 U.S.C. §§119, 365 to Swiss application no. 00536/09, filed 1 Apr. 2009, the entireties of which are incorporated by reference herein.
BACKGROUND
1. Field of Endeavor
The invention relates to a method for operating a gas turbine with sequential combustion and low CO emissions.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Gas turbines with sequential combustion have been successful in commercial operation for some time now. In them, compressed air is combusted with fuel in a first combustor, and a first turbine, referred to as the high-pressure turbine, is exposed to admission of hot gases. The temperature of the hot gases which discharge from the high-pressure turbine is increased again in a second combustor as a result of renewed addition of fuel and its combustion, and a second turbine, which is referred to as the low-pressure turbine, is exposed to admission of these hot gases.
Compared with conventional gas turbines with only one combustor, they are characterized by the additional degree of freedom of a separate fuel control for the first and second combustors. This furthermore offers the possibility of first of all putting into operation only the first combustor and engaging the second combustor only in the case of higher load. This enables a flexible operating concept with good emissions behavior over a wide operating range of the gas turbine.
In recent years, the main focuses of development were the reduction of NOx emissions and higher part load efficiency. Gas turbines with sequential combustion, which are operated according to known methods, as are described in EP0718470, for example, have very low NOx emissions and can achieve excellent part load efficiency.
The aforementioned known operating concepts, however, at low part load, especially within the range of about 20% to 50% of the relative load, can lead to high CO (carbon monoxide) emissions.
These high CO emissions are typically created at low part load by the second combustor of a gas turbine with sequential combustion. Conventionally, the second combustor is ignited at low part load if the rows of variable compressor inlet guide vanes are closed and the hot gas temperature or turbine inlet temperature of the high-pressure turbine has reached an upper limit value. For ignition, the second combustor is supplied with a minimum fuel flow which is typically prespecified by the control characteristic of the fuel control valve. On account of the high exhaust temperature of the first turbine, self-ignition of the fuel flow which is introduced into the second combustor occurs. The fuel flow is increased via the load for load control. Providing the fuel flow is low, the temperature of the hot gases in the second combustor is not significantly increased. The reaction speed remains correspondingly relatively low and unburnt hydrocarbons and CO may occur on account of the short residence time in the combustor. These occur especially in the case of lean combustion, that is to say in the case of combustion with a high air ratio λ. The air ratio λ is the ratio of air mass actually available for combustion to the at least required stoichiometric air mass. It is also referred to as air coefficient, air ratio number, or excess air.
Within the limits of a flexible power plant operation, however, the possibility of running for longer operating periods at low part load is increasingly also required. A longer operation at low part load can only be realized if the CO emissions also remain at a low level. Conventionally, a CO catalyst is used for reducing CO emissions. In addition to high acquisition costs, these lead to pressure losses in the exhaust gas system of the gas turbine and to forfeiture of power and efficiency which is associated therewith.
SUMMARY
One of numerous aspect of the present invention includes a method for operating a gas turbine with sequential combustion and a gas turbine with sequential combustion which enables operation with reduced CO emissions.
Another aspect includes a method for operating the gas turbine which keeps the air ratio λ of the operating burner of the second combustor below a maximum air ratio λ max during part load operation. This method can include three new elements and also supplementing measures which can be implemented individually or in combination.
The maximum air ratio λ max in this case depends upon the CO emission limits which are to be observed, upon the design of the burner and of the combustor, and also upon the operating conditions, that is to say especially the burner inlet temperature.
A first element is a change in the principle of operation of the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes which allows the second combustor to be put into operation only at higher part load. Starting from no-load operation, the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes is already opened while only the first combustor is in operation. This allows loading up to a higher relative load before the second combustor has to be put in operation. If the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes is opened and the hot gas temperature or turbine inlet temperature of the high-pressure turbine has reached a limit, the second combustor is supplied with fuel. In addition, the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes is quickly closed. Closing of the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes at constant turbine inlet temperature TIT of the high-pressure turbine, without countermeasures, would lead to a significant reduction of the relative power. In order to avoid this power reduction, the fuel mass flow, which is introduced into the second combustor, can be increased. The minimum load at which the second combustor is put into operation and the minimum fuel flow into the second combustor are therefore significantly increased. As a result, the minimum hot gas temperature of the second combustor is also increased, which reduces the air ratio λ and therefore reduces the CO emissions.
In order to enable a uniform loading up, that is to say increasing the power of the gas turbine with practically constant gradients, the closing of the row of compressor inlet guide vanes at constant turbine inlet temperature TIT of the high-pressure turbine is carried out as soon as the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes is opened and the hot gas temperature or turbine inlet temperature of the high-pressure turbine has reached the limit. In addition, the closing of the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes is synchronized with the fuel supply to the second combustor, i.e. both processes are carried out at the same time or with a slight time delay in relation to each other.
At least one row of guide vanes, which is variable in its intake angle for controlling the intake mass flow of the compressor, is referred to as a row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes. In modern compressors, at least the front row of compressor guide vanes is typically variable. As a rule, two or more rows of guide vanes are variable.
The limit of the turbine inlet temperature TIT of the high-pressure turbine is also referred to as the part load limit. As a rule, it is lower than or equal to the full load limit, wherein the full load limit is the maximum turbine inlet temperature at full load.
When unloading, the process is reversed, that is to say with the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes closed the load is lowered by reducing the fuel mass flow which is fed to the second combustor until a suitable limit value of the relative load, of the TIT of the low-pressure turbine, of the turbine exhaust temperature (TAT) of the low-pressure turbine, of the fuel mass flow to the second combustor, or of another suitable parameter or of a combination of parameters, is reached. As soon as this limit value is reached, the fuel feed to the second combustor is stopped and the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes is quickly opened.
In order to avoid a repeated engaging and disengaging of the second combustor with the opening and closing of the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes which are associated therewith, the limit value, which triggers the disengagement of the second combustor, can be provided with a hysteresis. That is to say, the relative load at which the second combustor is disengaged is lower than that at which it is engaged.
Ideally, the TIT of the first turbine is kept constant by the controller during the quick closing or opening of the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes. In practice, however, as a result of the quick closing of the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes and as a result of the engaging and disengaging of the second combustor, overswings of the TIT of the high-pressure turbine can occur. In order to avoid these, in one embodiment a pre-controlling of the fuel control valve of the first combustor is proposed. During the quick closing of the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes, the fuel control valve of the first combustor is correspondingly closed to a small degree by the pre-controlling. Similarly, during the quick opening of the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes, the fuel control valve is correspondingly opened to a small degree by the pre-controlling.
The second element for reducing the air ratio λ is a change in the principle of operation by increasing the turbine exhaust temperature of the high-pressure turbine TAT 1 and/or the turbine exhaust temperature of the low-pressure turbine TAT 2 during part load operation. This increase allows opening of the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes to be shifted to a higher load point.
Conventionally, the maximum turbine exhaust temperature of the second turbine is determined for the full load case and the gas turbine, and possibly the downstream waste heat boiler, are designed in accordance with this temperature. This leads to the maximum hot gas temperature of the second turbine not being limited by the TIT 2 (turbine inlet temperature of the second turbine) during part load operation with the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes closed, but by the TAT 2 (turbine exhaust temperature of the second turbine). Since at part load with at least one row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes closed, the mass flow and therefore the pressure ratio across the turbine is reduced, the ratio of turbine inlet temperature to turbine exhaust temperature is also reduced. Correspondingly, with constant TAT 2 , the TIT 2 is also reduced and in most cases lies considerably below the full load value. A proposed slight increase of the TAT 2 beyond the full load limit, typically within the order of magnitude of 10° C. to 30° C., admittedly leads to an increase of the TIT 2 , but this remains below the full load value and can practically be achieved without service life losses, or without significant service life losses. Adaptations in the design or in the choice of material do not become necessary or can be limited typically to the exhaust gas side. For increasing the TIT 2 , the hot gas temperature is increased, which is realized by an increase of the fuel mass flow and a reduction of the air ratio λ which is associated therewith. The CO emissions are correspondingly reduced.
A further possibility for reducing the air ratio λ of the burner in operation is the deactivating of individual burners and redistribution of the fuel at constant TIT 2 .
In order to keep the TIT 2 constant on average, the burner in operation has to be operated hotter in proportion to the number of deactivated burners. For this, the fuel feed is increased and therefore the local air ratio λ is reduced.
A theoretic mixture temperature of the hot gases and all the cooling air mass flows according to ISO 2314/1989, for example, is used as the turbine inlet temperature. However, use can also be made of the hot gas temperature before entry into the turbine, or the so-called “firing temperature”, or a mixture temperature downstream of the first turbine guide vanes, for example.
Starting from high load, in which all the burners of the second combustor are in operation, different modes of operation are possible in which burners are deactivated inversely proportionally to the load, for example.
For an operation which is optimized for CO emissions, in a gas turbine with a parting plane, a burner which is adjacent to the parting plane is typically deactivated first of all. In this case, the plane in which a casing is typically split into upper and lower halves is referred to as the parting plane. The respective casing halves are connected in the parting plane by a flange, for example.
Its adjacent burners are subsequently then deactivated or a burner which is adjacent to the parting plane on the opposite side of the combustor is deactivated and in alternating sequence the adjacent burners which alternate on the two sides of the combustor, starting from the parting plane, are deactivated.
A burner which is adjacent to the parting plane is preferably deactivated first of all since the parting plane of a gas turbine is typically not absolutely leakproof and in most cases a leakage flow leads to a slight cooling and dilution of the flammable gases and therefore to locally increased CO emissions. As a result of deactivating the burners which are adjacent to the parting plane, these local CO emissions are avoided.
As a compromise, it has to be accepted, however, that by deactivating individual burners at least two burners operate with cold, inoperative adjacent burners. Each limitation to a cold adjacent burner potentially leads to increased CO emissions, which is why the number of groups of cold burner is to be minimized. Depending upon the design of the gas turbine, especially upon the leakages in the region of the parting plane, an individual group of deactivated burners, two groups of deactivated burners which are arranged on both sides of the parting plane, or a large number of groups of deactivated burners, can be advantageous.
A further possibility for reducing the air ratio λ is a controlled “staging”. Homogenous combustion processes can lead to pulsations in annular combustors. These are typically avoided at high load by so-called “staging”. Restricting the fuel feed to at least one burner is understood as staging. For this, a restrictor or another throttling element is fixedly installed in the fuel line of the at least one burner which is to be restricted. The air ratio λ of the at least one restricted burner becomes greater in proportion to the reduced fuel quantity for all the operating states. At high load, this leads to a desired inhomogeneity in the annular combustor. At low load, this inhomogeneity, however, leads to an over-proportional increase of CO production of the at least one restricted burner. The combustion instabilities, which are to be avoided by staging, as a rule no longer occur at low load, or are negligibly small. In one exemplary embodiment, it is proposed, therefore, to carry out the restricting not by a fixed restrictor but by at least one control valve. This at least one control valve is opened at low load so that all the activated burners can be operated virtually homogenously with a low air ratio λ. At high load, the at least one control valve is throttled in order to realize the staging.
The at least one control valve can be arranged in the feed line of individual burners. Alternatively, the burners can also be assembled into at least two groups, each group having a control valve and a ring main for distribution of the fuel.
In a further embodiment, for reducing the air ratio λ at part load, compressor exit air or compressor tapped air (also referred to as bleed air) is expanded and added to the intake air. This can be achieved, for example, by engaging a so-called “anti-icing system”, in which air from the compressor plenum is added to the intake air for increasing the intake temperature. The tapping of compressor air leads to a reduction of the air quantity which flows through the combustor. Furthermore, the compressor work with regard to the overall power of the gas turbine is increased. In order to compensate for the increased power input of the compressor, the turbine power, and therefore the amount of fuel, must be increased. Both lead to a reduction of the air ratio λ and therefore to a reduction of the CO emissions.
Further possibilities for reducing the CO emissions are opened up by controlling the cooling air mass flows and/or the cooling air temperature.
At part load, the TIT 1 , for example, can be reduced. In proportion to the reduced hot gas temperature, the hot gas components become cooler and the cooling capacity can be reduced by a reduction of the high-pressure cooling air mass flow and/or by an increase of the high-pressure cooling air temperature downstream of the cooling air cooler. In proportion to the reduced cooling capacity, cold strands or flow regions, which are created by cooling air and cooling air leakages, are reduced. Consequently, the temperature profile at the inlet into the second combustor becomes more homogenous. With the homogenous inlet profile, local cooling of the flame is avoided and therefore the CO emissions are reduced.
Correspondingly, at part load with reduced TIT 2 , the low-pressure cooling capacity can be reduced by a reduction of the low-pressure cooling air mass flow and/or by an increase of the low-pressure cooling air temperature downstream of the cooling air cooler. As a result of the reduced cooling capacity, cold regions in the combustor are directly alleviated, that is to say hot and cold strands relative to the hot gas temperature are reduced and CO emissions are correspondingly reduced.
Alternatively, depending upon the cooling air system, the low-pressure cooling air quantity can be increased. If a large part of the low-pressure cooling air is introduced into the second turbine, the air mass flow through the burners and combustor can be reduced as a result. The air ratio λ is therefore reduced and a reduction of CO emissions can be achieved.
In order to be able to use the low-pressure cooling air system effectively as a bypass for the combustors, especially as a bypass for the second combustor, in one embodiment a division of the low-pressure cooling air system into one section for the second combustor and one section for the second turbine is proposed. In this case, the cooling air flow for at least one section of the system is constructed with control capability. Ideally, both sections of the system are controllable so that at part load the cooling air mass flow into the burners and into the combustor is reduced while at the same time the cooling air mass flow into the second turbine is increased.
This controlling of the cooling air system is typically carried out in dependence upon the load or relative load. Controlling in dependence upon the position of the front row of compressor inlet guide vanes, upon the compressor exit pressure, upon the TIT 1 , TIT 2 , or upon another suitable parameter, and also upon a combination of parameters, is also possible.
Instead of controlling the cooling air mass flows and/or cooling air temperature, controlling in dependence upon the same parameters or parameter combinations, for example, can also be used.
In a further embodiment, the fuel temperature to which the fuel is increased in a preheater is controlled as a function of the load. For reducing the CO part load emissions, the fuel temperature at part load is increased. As a result of increasing the fuel temperature, the reaction speed increases and the flame migrates upstream. This leads to a more stable flame with improved burnout and correspondingly reduced CO emissions.
This controlling of the fuel temperature is typically carried out in dependence upon the load or relative load. Controlling in dependence upon the position of the front row of compressor inlet guide vanes, upon the compressor exit pressure, upon the TIT 1 , TIT 2 , or upon another suitable parameter, and also upon a combination of parameters, is also possible.
Instead of controlling the fuel temperature, controlling in dependence upon the same parameters or parameter combinations, for example, can also be used.
In addition to methods, gas turbines useful for implementing the methods are included in yet further aspects of the invention. Depending upon the chosen method or combination of methods, the design of the gas turbine has to be adapted and/or the fuel distribution system and/or the cooling air system have to be adapted in order to ensure the feasibility of the method.
In order to enable the deactivation of individual burners at part load, provision is to be made for an individual on/off valve in at least one fuel line to at least one burner of the second combustor.
In order to realize a load-dependent staging, provision is to be made for a control valve in at least one fuel line to at least one burner of the second combustor. Alternatively, the fuel distribution system can be divided into at least sub-groups of burners with associated fuel distribution, wherein each sub-group includes a fuel control valve and also a fuel ring main for distribution of the fuel to the burners of the respective sub-group.
In order to enable opening of the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes, a check of the surge margin of the high-pressure compressor and possibly an adjustment of the pressure build-up in the compressor, by re-staggering of the blading, for example, is to be carried out.
In order to realize an increase of the part load turbine exhaust temperature, at least the turbine exhaust and the exhaust gas lines are to be designed for a turbine exhaust temperature which is higher than the maximum full-load exhaust gas temperature.
In order to realize a controlling of the cooling air mass flows and temperatures, the cooling air cooler(s), is or are to be designed with control capability and control valves are to be provided for the cooling air systems. In addition, the systems within the scope of the broadened operating range are to be designed for increased cooling air flows and for an increased maximum temperature downstream of the cooler.
Further advantages and developments are to be gathered from the description and the attached drawings. All the explained advantages are applicable not only in the respectively specified combinations, but also in other combinations or alone without departing from the scope of the invention.
One embodiment is characterized, for example, by a determination of different components for reducing the locally occurring air ratio λ. All the components of a gas turbine lie within the range of permissible tolerances. These tolerances lead to slightly different geometries and characteristics for each component. This especially also leads to different pressure losses and flow rates during operation. The tolerances are selected so that they have practically no influence upon the operating behavior during normal operation, especially at high part load and full load. At part load with a high air ratio λ, the combustor, however, is operated under conditions in which even small disturbances can have a significant influence upon the CO emissions. If, for example, a fuel lance with a low flow coefficient is installed in a burner with large cross sectional area, this combination can lead to an increase of the local air ratio λ, which leads to a locally increased production of CO. In order to avoid this, a matching of components for the reduction of the locally occurring air ratio λ is proposed. For this, the geometries and/or flow coefficients of the various components are measured and components with high flow rates and components with low flow rates are combined inside the second combustor.
A fuel lance is one example for a fuel feed into a burner of a second combustor. This is specified by way of example here and further on. The exemplary embodiments apply just the same to other types of fuel feed, such as pipes or profiles with fuel nozzles.
A typical example is the installation of fuel lances with high flow rate in burners with large cross section and correspondingly low pressure loss.
A further optimization possibility is offered by the matching of the second combustor to the first combustor. In this case, as a rule a component with a high flow rate in the first combustor is combined with a component with low flow rate in the second combustor.
For example, a burner lance with a low flow rate is arranged downstream of a burner of the first combustor which has a high fuel flow rate. The locally high flow rate in the first combustor leads to a locally high exit temperature from the first combustor and therefore to a locally increased inlet temperature in the upstream-disposed burners of the second combustor. In proportion to the increased inlet temperature for this burner, the reaction speed of fuel which is injected into it is higher than on average to all the burners. Therefore, it can be operated with a locally higher maximum air ratio λ max . A lance with a low flow coefficient can be installed at this position for matching to the first combustor.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown schematically in FIGS. 1 to 11 .
Schematically, in the drawings:
FIG. 1 shows a gas turbine with sequential combustion,
FIG. 2 shows a section through the second combustor of a gas turbine with sequential combustion and also the fuel distribution system with a fuel ring main and eight individual on/off valves for the restricting of eight burners,
FIG. 3 shows a section through the second combustor of a gas turbine with sequential combustion and also the fuel distribution system with a fuel ring main and four individual control valves for controlling the fuel flow of four burners,
FIG. 4 shows a section through the second combustor of a gas turbine with sequential combustion and also the fuel distribution system with two separately controllable sub-groups and two fuel ring mains,
FIG. 5 shows a conventional method for controlling a gas turbine with sequential combustion,
FIG. 6 shows a method for controlling a gas turbine with sequential combustion, in which during loading-up during operation with only the first combustor, the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes is opened until it is closed abruptly upon engaging the second combustor,
FIG. 7 shows a method for controlling a gas turbine with sequential combustion, in which during loading-up after engaging the second combustor, the TAT limits are increased beyond the full-load limit,
FIG. 8 shows a cross section through the second combustor of a gas turbine with sequential combustion, in which all the burners are in operation,
FIG. 8 a shows a cross section through the second combustor of a gas turbine with sequential combustion, in which on the left and right in each case the burners which are adjacent to the parting plane are deactivated and the remaining burners are in operation,
FIG. 8 b shows a cross section through the second combustor of a gas turbine with sequential combustion, in which on the left and right in each case two burners which are adjacent to the parting plane are deactivated and the remaining burners are in operation,
FIG. 9 a shows a cross section through the second combustor of a gas turbine with sequential combustion, in which on the right a burner which is adjacent to the parting plane is deactivated and the remaining burners are in operation,
FIG. 9 b shows a cross section through the second combustor of a gas turbine with sequential combustion, in which on the left and right in each case a burner which is adjacent to the parting plane is deactivated and the remaining burners are in operation,
FIG. 10 shows a cross section through the second combustor of a gas turbine with sequential combustion, in which three groups of burners are deactivated and the remaining burners are in operation, and
FIG. 11 shows a cross section through the second combustor of a gas turbine with sequential combustion, in which one group of burners is deactivated and the remaining burners are in operation.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 shows a gas turbine with sequential combustion useful for implementing methods as described herein. The gas turbine includes a compressor 1 , a first combustor 4 , a first turbine 7 , a second combustor 15 , and a second turbine 12 . Typically, it includes a generator 19 which, at the cold end of the gas turbine, that is to say at the compressor 1 , is coupled to a shaft 18 of the gas turbine.
A fuel, gas, or oil is introduced via a fuel feed 5 into the first combustor 4 , mixed with air which is compressed in the compressor 1 , and combusted. The hot gases 6 are partially expanded in the subsequent first turbine 7 , performing work.
As soon as the second combustor is in operation, additional fuel, via a fuel feed 10 , is added to the partially expanded gases 8 in burners 9 of the second combustor 15 and combusted in the second combustor 15 . The hot gases 11 are expanded in the subsequent second turbine 12 , performing work. The exhaust gases 13 can be beneficially fed to a waste heat boiler of a combined cycle power plant or to another waste heat application.
For controlling the intake mass flow, the compressor 1 has at least one row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes 14 .
In order to be able to increase the temperature of the intake air 2 , provision is made for an anti-icing line 26 through which some of the compressed air 3 can be added to the intake air 2 . For control, provision is made for an anti-icing control valve 25 . This is usually engaged on cold days with high relative air moisture in the ambient air in order to forestall a risk of icing of the compressor.
Some of the compressed air 3 is tapped off as high-pressure cooling air 22 , recooled via a high-pressure cooling air cooler 35 and fed as cooling air 22 to the first combustor 4 (cooling air line is not shown) and to the first turbine.
The mass flow of the high-pressure cooling air 22 , which is fed to the high-pressure turbine 7 , can be controlled by a high-pressure cooling air control valve 21 in the example.
Some of the high-pressure cooling air 22 is fed as so-called carrier air 24 to the burner lances of the burners 9 of the second combustor 15 . The mass flow of carrier air 24 can be controlled by a carrier-air control valve 17 .
Some of the air is tapped off, partially compressed, from the compressor 1 , recooled via a low-pressure cooling air cooler 36 and fed as cooling air 23 to the second combustor 15 and to the second turbine 12 . The mass flow of cooling air 23 can be controlled by a cooling-air control valve 16 in the example.
The combustors are constructed as annular combustors, for example, with a large number of individual burners 9 , as is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 by way of example of the second combustor 15 . Each of these burners 9 is supplied with fuel via a fuel distribution system and a fuel feed 10 .
FIG. 2 shows a section through the second combustor 15 with burners 9 of a gas turbine with sequential combustion, and also the fuel distribution system with a fuel ring main 30 and eight individual on/off valves 37 for deactivating eight burners 9 . By closing individual on/off valves 37 , the fuel feed to individual burners 9 is stopped and this is distributed to the remaining burners, wherein the overall fuel mass flow is controlled via a control valve 28 . As a result, the air ratio λ of the burners 9 in operation is reduced.
FIG. 3 shows a section through the second combustor 15 and also a fuel distribution system with a fuel ring main 30 and fuel feeds 10 to the individual burners 9 . In the example, four burners 9 are provided with individual control valves 27 for controlling the fuel flow in the fuel feeds 10 to the respective burners 9 . The overall fuel mass flow is controlled via a control valve 28 . The separate controlling of the fuel mass flow to the four burners 9 with individual control valves 27 allows staging. The four individual control valves are fully opened at low part load so that fuel is introduced evenly into all the burners 9 of the second combustor 15 , so that all the burners 9 are operated with the same air ratio λ for minimizing the CO emissions. With increasing relative load, particularly if, for example, above 70% relative load increased pulsations can occur, the individual control valves 27 are slightly closed in order to realize a staging and therefore to stabilize the combustion. In this case, the air ratio λ of the burner 9 which is supplied via the slightly closed individual control valves 27 is increased. This, however, at high load is non-critical with regard to the CO emissions.
FIG. 4 shows a section through the second combustor 15 of a gas turbine with sequential combustion, and also the fuel distribution system with two separately controllable sub-groups of burners. These have in each case a fuel ring main for a first sub-group 31 and a fuel ring main for a second sub-group 32 and the associated fuel feeds 10 . For the independent control of the fuel quantity of both sub-systems, provision is made for a fuel control valve for the first sub-group 33 and a fuel control valve for the second sub-group 34 .
The two control valves for the first and the second sub-groups 33 , 34 are controlled at low part load so that the fuel mass flow per burner is the same.
As a result, fuel is introduced evenly into all the burners 9 of the second combustor 15 so that all the burners 9 are operated with the same air ratio λ for minimizing the CO emissions. With increasing relative load, especially if, for example, above 70% relative load increased pulsations occur, the control valve of the first sub-group 33 is not opened as wide as the control valve of the second sub-group 34 in order to realize a staging and therefore to stabilize the combustion.
Alternatively, the control valve of the first sub-group 33 can be connected downstream of the second control valve 34 . In this case, similar to the example from FIG. 3 , at part load the control valve of the first sub-group 33 is to be completely opened and at high part load is to be restricted in order to then realize a staging. The overall fuel mass flow is then controlled via the control valve 34 . In the event that the fuel is a liquid fuel, such as oil, water injection becomes necessary for reducing the NOx emissions, depending upon the type of burner. This is carried out similarly to the fuel supply, for example, and provision is to be made for corresponding lines and control systems.
In the case of so-called dual-fuel gas turbines, which can be operated both with a liquid fuel, such as oil, and with a combustible gas, such as natural gas, separate fuel distribution systems are to be provided for each fuel.
FIG. 5 shows a conventional method for controlling a gas turbine with sequential combustion. Starting from no-load operation, that is to say from a relative load P rel of 0%, the gas turbine is loaded up to full load, that is to say to a relative load P rel of 100%. At 0% P rel , the say is adjusted to a minimum opening angle.
The first combustor is ignited, which leads to a turbine inlet temperature TIT 1 of the first turbine 7 and to a corresponding turbine exhaust temperature TAT 1 . The second combustor is not yet in operation so that no heating of the gases in the second combustor takes place. The temperature TAT 1 of the gases which discharge from the first turbine 7 is reduced to the turbine inlet temperature TIT 2 of the second turbine 12 as a result of the combustor cooling and also in consideration of the low-pressure turbine cooling. The expanded gases discharge from the second turbine 12 with a temperature TAT 2 .
In one phase I of the method, starting from 0% P rel , for power increase the TIT 1 is first increased to a TIT 1 limit. With increasing TIT 1 , the exhaust temperature TAT 1 and the temperatures TIT 2 and TAT 2 of the subsequent second turbine 12 also increase.
In order to further increase the power after reaching the TIT 1 limit, at the start of phase II the second combustor 15 is ignited and the fuel feed 10 to the burners 9 of the second combustor is increased in proportion to the load. The TIT 1 and TAT 2 increase over load in phase II correspondingly with a steep gradient until a first limit of the TAT 2 is reached. Conventionally, the TAT 2 limit is identical to a TAT 2 full-load limit.
In order to further increase the power after reaching the TAT 2 limit, in a phase III of the method the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes 14 is opened in order to control the power by increasing the intake mass flow. The pressure ratio of the second turbine 12 increases in proportion to the intake mass flow, which is why at constant TAT 2 the TIT 2 increases further over the relative load P rel until a first TIT 2 limit is reached.
In order to further increase the relative load P rel after reaching the first TIT 2 limit, in a phase IV of the method the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes 14 is opened further at constant TIT 2 until it reaches the maximum opened position.
In the example which is shown, in a phase V of the method, with a constant position of the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes 14 , the TIT 2 is increased from the first TIT 2 limit to a second TIT 2 limit until 100% P rel P is reached.
FIG. 6 shows a method for controlling a gas turbine with sequential combustion, in which, compared with the method which is shown in FIG. 5 , phase II has been modified: phase II in this case is split into two parts. As soon as the limit of the TIT 1 at the end of phase I is reached, the load is increased in a phase IIa by the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes 14 being opened. The second combustor 15 is not yet in operation during phase IIa. As soon as the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes 14 has reached the open position at the end of phase IIa, the second combustor 15 is engaged and the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes 14 is quickly closed. The fuel mass flow, which is introduced into the second combustor 15 , is increased synchronously with the closing of the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes 14 . As a result, the second combustor is operated in steady state mode only at significantly higher load with significantly increased fuel mass flow and significantly increased TIT 2 . Since the intake mass flow, as soon as the second combustor is in steady-state operation, is consistently the minimum flow, the air ratio λ is significantly reduced and therefore the CO emissions are reduced. In phase IIb, the power is increased by increasing the TIT 2 until reaching the TAT 2 limit, similar to the method which is described for phase II. During the fast closing of the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes 14 , increased CO emissions may occur, which is why these are run in with an angular speed which is as high as possible. The angular speed on the one hand is restricted by the limits of the actuating elements of the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes 14 , and on the other hand load fluctuations and problems in controlling the turbine inlet temperatures may occur in the case of excessively fast closing. Also, if the actuating elements allow closing of the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes 14 within a few seconds, the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes 14 is closed within a time interval of a few minutes, for example, preferably within an interval of less than half a minute.
FIG. 7 shows a method for controlling a gas turbine with sequential combustion, in which, compared with the method which is shown in FIG. 5 , phase III has been modified. Two modifications are represented in FIG. 7 .
The first modification of phase III is the increasing of the TAT 2 limit to a second limit which is higher than the TAT 2 full-load limit. This allows a further increasing of the TIT 2 until the second TAT 2 limit is reached. In this case, the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes 14 remains closed until the end of phase Ma. Owing to the fact that the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes 14 remains closed and the fuel mass flow increases with the TIT 2 , the air ratio λ is significantly reduced and therefore the CO part load emissions are reduced. In phase IIIb, the TAT 2 limit is reduced in proportion to load until, at the end of the phase, the first TAT 2 limit is reached. In order to increase the power, despite falling TAT 2 , the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes 14 is opened with a steep gradient. The mass flow, and therefore the pressure ratio across the second turbine 12 , increases in proportion to the opening of the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes 14 . With the pressure ratio, the temperature ratio of TIT 2 to TAT 2 increases so that, despite falling TAT 2 , the TIT 2 is increased further until at the end of phase IIIb it reaches the first TIT 2 limit.
The second modification which is shown in FIG. 7 is an increasing of TIT 1 and TAT 1 at the start of phase Ma. The increasing is shown only by way of example during phase III. It is independent of transition points of the method or of the phases. It can be carried out in each CO emissions-critical part load range. The air ratio λ is not directly influenced in this case. The minimum air ratio λ min for achieving low-emissions combustion is dependent upon the boundary conditions of the combustion. By increasing the TAT 1 , these boundary conditions are improved. By increasing the TAT 1 , the temperature and reaction speed in the second combustor 15 increase, as a result of which burnout is improved and CO emissions are reduced.
FIG. 8 shows a schematic cross section through the second combustor 15 of a gas turbine with sequential combustion, in which all the burners 9 are in operation. They are identified as being in operation by an x in each case.
FIG. 8 a shows a cross section through the second combustor 15 of a gas turbine with sequential combustion, in which on the left and right in each case the burners 9 which are adjacent to the parting plane 38 are deactivated and the remaining burners 9 are in operation. The deactivated burners 9 are identified as being inoperative by an ‘o’.
FIG. 8 b shows a cross section through the second combustor 15 of a gas turbine with sequential combustion, in which on the left and right in each case two burners 9 which are adjacent to the parting plane 38 are deactivated and the remaining burners 9 are in operation.
For activating the individual burners in FIGS. 8 a and 8 b , individual on/off valves, as shown in FIG. 2 , for example, can be provided in the fuel feeds 10 to the individual burners 9 . In one embodiment of the method, at high relative load P rel all the burners 9 are in operation. With lowering of the load below a limit value of P rel , the burners 9 which are adjacent to the parting plane 38 are deactivated first of all, corresponding to FIG. 8 a.
After a further lowering of the load below a lower limit value of P rel , the burners 9 which are two positions distant from the parting plane 38 are additionally also deactivated, corresponding to FIG. 8 b.
FIG. 9 a shows a cross section through the second combustor 15 of a gas turbine with sequential combustion, in which on the right a burner 9 which is adjacent to the parting plane 38 is deactivated and the remaining burners 9 are in operation.
FIG. 9 b shows a cross section through the second combustor 15 of a gas turbine with sequential combustion, in which on the left and right in each case a burner 9 which is adjacent to the parting plane 38 is deactivated and the remaining burners 9 are in operation.
Alternatively to the deactivating of burner sub-groups which is shown in FIGS. 8 a/b , starting from high load, during which all the burners 9 are in operation, individual burners 9 can also be deactivated. First of all, as shown in FIG. 9 a , only a burner 9 which is adjacent to the parting plane 38 and lying on the left in the direction of view is deactivated. In the next step, a burner 9 which is adjacent to the parting plane 38 and lying on the right in the direction of view is deactivated.
Additional burners 9 can be deactivated in turn inversely proportionally to the load.
FIG. 10 shows a cross section through the second combustor 15 of a gas turbine with sequential combustion, in which three groups of burners 9 are deactivated and the remaining burners 9 are in operation. Such a configuration can be selected, for example, when the influence of leakages at the parting plane 38 upon the CO emissions is little and also the influence of deactivated, cold adjacent burners upon the CO emissions of the activated burners 9 is little. An advantage of this arrangement is the relatively homogenous temperature profile at the exit of the combustor 15 .
FIG. 11 shows a cross section through the second combustor 15 of a gas turbine with sequential combustion, in which only one group of burners 9 is deactivated and the remaining burners 9 are in operation. This arrangement is advantageous if the influence of deactivated, cold adjacent burners upon the CO emissions of the activated burners 9 is very large and the poor exit temperature profile—which ensues in the process—of the combustor 15 of the subsequent second turbine 12 can be tolerated or the cooling can be adapted to the temperature profile.
All the explained advantages are not limited just to the specified combinations but can also be used in other combinations or alone without departing from the scope of the invention. Other possibilities are optionally conceivable, for example, for deactivating individual burners 9 or groups of burners 9 .
LIST OF DESIGNATIONS
1 Compressor
2 Intake air
3 Compressed air
4 First combustor
5 Fuel feed
6 Hot gases
7 First turbine
8 Partially expanded hot gases
9 Burner of second combustor
10 Fuel feed
11 Hot gases
12 Second turbine
13 Exhaust gases (for the waste heat boiler)
14 Variable compressor inlet guide vanes
15 Second combustor
16 Low-pressure cooling-air control valve
17 Carrier-air control valve
18 Shaft
19 Generator
21 High-pressure cooling-air control valve
22 High-pressure cooling air
23 Cooling air
24 Carrier air
25 Anti-icing control valve
26 Anti-icing line
27 Individual control valve
28 Fuel control valve
29 Fuel feed
30 Fuel ring main
31 Fuel ring main for first sub-group
32 Fuel ring main for second sub-group
33 Fuel control valve for first sub-group
34 Fuel control valve for second sub-group
35 High-pressure cooling-air cooler
36 Low-pressure cooling-air cooler
37 Individual on/off valve
38 Parting plane
TAT Turbine exhaust temperature
TAT 1 Turbine exhaust temperature of the first turbine
TAT 2 Turbine exhaust temperature of the second turbine
TIT Turbine inlet temperature
TIT 1 Turbine inlet temperature of the first turbine
TIT 2 Turbine inlet temperature of the second turbine
P rel Relative load
X Activated burner
O Deactivated burner
While the invention has been described in detail with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that various changes can be made, and equivalents employed, without departing from the scope of the invention. The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of the invention. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the invention and its practical application to enable one skilled in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto, and their equivalents. The entirety of each of the aforementioned documents is incorporated by reference herein. | In a method for the low-CO emissions part load operation of a gas turbine with sequential combustion, the air ratio (λ) of the operative burners ( 9 ) of the second combustor ( 15 ) is kept below a maximum air ratio (λ max ) at part load In order to reduce the maximum air ratio (λ), a series of modifications in the operating concept of the gas turbine are carried out individually or in combination. One modification is an opening of the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes ( 14 ) before engaging the second combustor ( 15 ). For engaging the second combustor, the row of variable compressor inlet guide vanes ( 14 ) is quickly closed and fuel is introduced in a synchronized manner into the burner ( 9 ) of the second combustor ( 15 ). A further modification is the deactivating of individual burners ( 9 ) at part load. | 5 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to the filing date of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/412,748, as filed on Nov. 11, 2010, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Agriculture structures are a key component to farmer's ability to grow crop and raise animals, typically on a limited amount of space. Movable agriculture buildings increase the flexibility and viability of small-scale agriculture through extended the growing season and pasturing animals.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Embodiments of this invention increases the economically viability of small-scale agriculture including four season organic vegetable production and grazing livestock by integrating the moving and anchoring systems for movable agriculture structures.
[0004] Embodiments of the present invention relates to a movable greenhouse and track system. The movable greenhouse and track system may include a track configured to be anchored to a first plot of farming land and a second plot of farming land. The movable greenhouse and track system may further include a greenhouse is capable of being anchored to the track and an anchoring member. The greenhouse may include a series of hoops forming an interior area; a member attached to the hoops for keeping the interior area of the greenhouse a certain temperature different than a temperature from an area exterior to the greenhouse; and a member for facilitating movement of the greenhouse along the tunnel of the track. The interior area of the greenhouse may include the first plot of farming land. After a predetermined time, the member for facilitating movement allows the greenhouse to be moved from the first plot of farming land to the second plot of farming land.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] Error! Reference source not found. is a diagram of the front view of the invention 101 according to some embodiments.
[0006] Error! Reference source not found. shows both sides of the structure 101 according to some embodiments.
[0007] Error! Reference source not found. shows the structure 101 attached to in a first position location 105 according to some embodiments.
[0008] FIG. 4 shows an end view of the sidewall hoop 112 with attached roller sitting on the anchored track and baseboard 164 according to some embodiments.
[0009] FIG. 5 shows another iteration of the structure sitting on a track 122 that has been set with a concrete foundation 120 according to some embodiments.
[0010] FIG. 6 show that the track anchors 136 can be situated in multiple ways, in this specific example they are facing away from themselves, according to some embodiments.
[0011] FIG. 7 shows the track being anchored to the concrete foundation 120 according to some embodiments.
[0012] FIG. 8 shows the track being anchored on to the concrete foundation in such a way where the track is elevated off the ground according to some embodiments.
[0013] FIG. 9 show the profile of the structure and a method of anchoring the structure to the track according to some embodiments.
[0014] FIG. 10 shows the profile of the structure and anchoring system with a variation in which the structure is anchored directly to the track with the use of a quick link 160 or shackle 161 according to some embodiments.
[0015] FIG. 11 shows the profile of the structure and anchoring system with a variation in which the wheel axle has a forged eyelet which allows the structure to be anchored at each wheel point to the track directly below according to some embodiments.
[0016] FIG. 12 shows an alternate structure to track mounting approach where the rail 121 is mounted to the bottom of all of the hoops 112 and then sits on the rollers 129 mounted into the roller holder 131 according to some embodiments.
[0017] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing how the track 122 and hoops 112 are set across the width of the structure according to some embodiments.
[0018] FIG. 14 a shows a profile of the original track design with a roller to fit the track according to some embodiments.
[0019] FIG. 14 b shows another profile of the track using a different groove that would provide a greater surface area for the roller to sit according to some embodiments.
[0020] FIG. 14 c shows another possible track iteration.
[0021] FIG. 14 d shows another possible track iteration.
[0022] FIG. 14 e shows another possible track iteration.
[0023] FIG. 14 f shows another possible track iteration.
[0024] FIG. 14 g shows another possible track iteration.
[0025] FIG. 14 h shows another possible track iteration.
[0026] Error! Reference source not found.a-b show implementations of how the V-track can be installed to anchor the track to the ground according to embodiments.
[0027] FIGS. 16 a - d show implementations of the track according to embodiments.
[0028] FIGS. 17 a - b shows track designs according to embodiments
[0029] FIG. 18 shows a diagram of a single v-track section and a single v-track connector according to some embodiments.
[0030] FIG. 19 shows a side view of the track pieces, connectors, track anchors the anchor eyes (or anchor points where to the structure is anchored to the track), and the track anchors according to embodiments.
[0031] FIG. 20 shows the relative location of the anchor points to the hoops of the structure.
[0032] FIGS. 21 a - b show how the structure can be anchored to the track according to embodiments.
[0033] FIG. 22 shows another anchoring implementation working directly with the roller when a track sits on a permanent foundation according to embodiments.
[0034] FIG. 23 shows how the structure is anchored to the track.
[0035] FIG. 24 represents an anchoring implementation in which the anchor eyes in the track are not set in between consecutive hoops according to embodiments.
[0036] FIG. 25 shows anchoring in which the location of specific anchoring components is changed. In this example the turnbuckles are located at the tops of the anchoring system according to embodiments.
[0037] FIGS. 26 a - c is a reference chart showing the various configurations for the V-track based on the size of the structure and the number of position.
[0038] FIGS. 27 a - g show the anchoring system end according to embodiments.
[0039] FIGS. 28 a - b shows how material can be secured to the attachment channel according to embodiments.
[0040] FIG. 29 shows a sample 3-position movable greenhouse rotation.
[0041] FIG. 30 shows an example in which 6 positions of track have been put together and two structures share those 6 locations on the same set of tracks according to embodiments.
[0042] FIG. 31 shows a sample movable greenhouse rotation in which 4 plots are used. In non moving structures crops are often limited to the single long season warm crop.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0043] Embodiments of this invention relate to movable agriculture buildings 101 that slide back and forth along a track or rails 122 . A track or rail is anchored to the ground, pad, concrete, or footers. This track is anchored to the ground 119 or concrete 120 and the structure 101 is secured to the track 122 . When the structure 101 needs to be moved, the structure 101 in unsecured from the track 122 , moved to a new location 102 and then secured to the track 112 . The entire structure 101 could be moved to a new position 102 , or only moved for part of the length of the structure 101 .
[0044] The present disclosure is discussed with reference to FIGS. 1-31 . Before continuing with the application, a general overview of some of each of these Figures is presented below followed by a further description of these Figures.
[0045] Error! Reference source not found. is a diagram of the front view of the invention 101 according to some embodiments. The track 122 is secured to the ground 119 . The roller 129 rests on the track. There is a hole in the sidewall hoop for a forged eye-bolt. A cable with a turn-buckle 133 connects the anchored track 136 to the structure 101 . The structure is able to move to an alternate location 102 , therefore anchoring the structure to the previously anchored track 102 .
[0046] Error! Reference source not found. shows both sides of the structure 101 according to some embodiments. Here the rollers are on the inside; however rollers are locatable on either side of the sidewall hoops. Both sides of the track 122 are anchored 136 and both sides of the structure are anchored to the track.
[0047] Error! Reference source not found. shows the structure 101 attached to in a first position location 105 according to some embodiments. In this example the structure has been moved by a tractor 168 from its second position 106 where crops 103 were growing underneath the cover of the movable structure 101 in the ground 119 . This could be the structure being moved between any number of locations.
[0048] FIG. 4 shows an end view of the sidewall hoop 112 with attached roller sitting on the anchored track and baseboard 164 according to some embodiments. The anchor hole 138 in the hoop is where the forged eye bolt for the anchoring mechanism is located. The roller is attached to the sidewall hoop using a roller axle 130 . The baseboard is attached to the hoop using pipe straps 145 . Located on the baseboard is also the attachment channel 165 that receives the plastic covering from the top and well as can hold material such as plastic or weed fabric 166 coming up from the ground to seal the gap created by raising the hoops off the ground.
[0049] FIG. 5 shows another iteration of the structure sitting on a track 122 that has been set with a concrete foundation 120 according to some embodiments. Here the track acts like more of a rail for the structure to sit on. This could be beneficial if working to set a movable structure on uneven ground, at which point the track could be adjusted as set in the concrete foundation.
[0050] FIG. 6 show that the track anchors 136 can be situated in multiple ways, in this specific example they are facing away from themselves, as opposed to that seen in FIG. 4 where they are situated to cross according to some embodiments.
[0051] FIG. 7 shows the track being anchored to the concrete foundation 120 according to some embodiments. A concrete foundation could be set along the length of the track with the intention of setting all of the v-track sections 123 on the foundation. Another way this can be done is to simply use the concrete foundation to act as v-track connectors 127 and the rest of the track resting on the ground.
[0052] FIG. 8 shows the track being anchored on to the concrete foundation in such a way where the track is elevated off the ground according to some embodiments. This could be used in such a way that is also a benefit for those working with uneven ground where leveling would be a detriment to the soil. Another application of this would be in an urban setting where the structures are built on footers with the intention of filling the space between the concrete foundation with soil to act as a raised bed. This would be beneficial is working on ground that is rock or concrete or if the soil was previously contaminated with something such as heavy metals.
[0053] FIG. 9 show the profile of the structure and a method of anchoring the structure to the track according to some embodiments. The sidewall hoop has been set with a forged eye bolt 141 to secure the anchoring mechanism to the hoop. The endwall hoop 113 on either end uses a brace band 146 and brace band bolt 147 in place of the eye bolt. Hoops 2 , 3 , and 4 114 - 116 from either end use the same eye bolt and securing mechanism. Located on the track is also a forged anchor eye 142 located in an anchor point 125 located in the track itself, which have been pre-drilled and are located throughout the track to be able to allow for efficient movement between multiple plots 105 - 110 . A single track anchor point in this example anchors consecutive hoops.
[0054] FIG. 10 shows the profile of the structure and anchoring system with a variation in which the structure is anchored directly to the track with the use of a quick link 160 or shackle 161 according to some embodiments.
[0055] FIG. 11 shows the profile of the structure and anchoring system with a variation in which the wheel axle has a forged eyelet which allows the structure to be anchored at each wheel point to the track directly below according to some embodiments.
[0056] FIG. 12 shows an alternate structure to track mounting approach where the rail 121 is mounted to the bottom of all of the hoops 112 and then sits on the rollers 129 mounted into the roller holder 131 according to some embodiments.
[0057] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing how the track 122 and hoops 112 are set across the width of the structure according to some embodiments. In this example the wheels are placed on the inside of the hoops; they can just as easily be placed on the outside of the structure, which could increase the amount of potential growing space under the structure.
[0058] FIG. 14 a shows a profile of the original track design with a roller to fit the track according to some embodiments.
[0059] FIG. 14 b shows another profile of the track using a different groove that would provide a greater surface area for the roller to sit according to some embodiments.
[0060] FIGS. 14 c - h show other possible track iterations.
[0061] Error! Reference source not found.a shows another implementation of how the V-track can be installed to anchor the track to the ground. Additional methods have been to use concrete footers to seam the track instead of the track connectors or to use concrete slabs under the entire length of the v-track and bolt the v-track to the slab.
[0062] Error! Reference source not found.b shows another implementation of how the V-track can be installed to anchor the track to the ground.
[0063] FIG. 16 a shows another implementation of the track set in a soil foundation and the way in which that track can be altered to shift the method of anchoring the track to the ground.
[0064] FIG. 16 b shows another implementation of the track set in a soil foundation and the ways in which that track can be altered.
[0065] FIG. 16 c shows another implementation of the track set in a concrete foundation and the way in which that track can be altered to shift the method of anchoring the track to the ground.
[0066] FIG. 16 d shows another implementation of the track set in a concrete foundation and the ways in which that track can be altered.
[0067] FIG. 17 b shows the same track design as FIG. 17 a , however a motor 169 has been added. This is shown to highlight the various embodiments of this concept. This would be applicable in many situations, an example of which would be to automate movement when a specific weather incident presents. For example, if a crop is being tested for drought tolerance. The crop could be exposed to an outdoor environment and when it begins to rain a sensor could automate the movement of the structure to cover the crop that is being tested for drought tolerance to continue the research in a place that doesn't actually suffer from drought.
[0068] FIG. 18 shows a diagram of a single v-track section 123 and a single v-track connector 124 according to some embodiments. The v-track section has been prepared with holes 137 for the t-bar anchors 134 . At either end of each track section are v-track connector holes 127 that are set to connect track sections together. The track connectors are placed on the underside of each section of track so as to allow uninhibited movement of the structure from section to section.
[0069] FIG. 19 shows a side view of the track pieces, connectors, track anchors the anchor eyes (or anchor points where to the structure is anchored to the track), and the track anchors. Supplemental earth augers 135 are used for additional anchoring. These earth augers can be used to provide additional anchoring to the track and/or to the structure.
[0070] FIG. 20 shows the relative location of the anchor points to the hoops of the structure. Although the anchor point can secure to the bottom of each hoop, placing the anchor point in the center of the hoops 142 allows one anchor point to be secured to two hoops and allows the cable used for anchoring to also provide diagonal bracing in the sidewalls of the structure. The V-track is designed for the seams and overlaps to correspond with the hoop spacing. When anchor points land on a track seam, a track connector bolts is replaced with a forged anchor eye.
[0071] FIG. 21 a shows how the structure can be anchored to the track. There are many implementation of this design. As shown, a forged eye-bolt is installed in the sidewall hoop and a forged anchor eye is installed in the track.
[0072] FIG. 21 b shows another implementation in which structure is similarly anchored as in FIG. 21 a although in this setting directly to the track or foundation without eyebolts.
[0073] FIG. 22 shows another anchoring implementation working directly with the roller when a track sits on a permanent foundation. The hinged anchor has the ability to rotate and lock into the foundation and therefore holding the structure in a set location.
[0074] FIG. 23 shows how the structure is anchored to the track. There are many implementation of this design. As shown, the connector 150 , a forged eye-bolt is installed in the sidewall hoop and a forged anchor eye is installed in the track. The two are connected with a wire 151 , wire thimbles 154 , wire clamps 155 , quick links 160 , and turn-buckles 161 . The turn-buckles are tight when anchored and are loosened when unanchored and the structure is moved. The anchor eyes stay bolted to the track, and the rest of the hardware moves with the structure. In the next position the anchor eyes are already installed in the correct location and the hardware can easily be reattached.
[0075] FIG. 24 represents an anchoring implementation in which the anchor eyes in the track are not set in between consecutive hoops. Another points in the track can be located anywhere on the track, in between hoops, at hoops, and between sets of hoops.
[0076] FIG. 25 shows anchoring in which the location of specific anchoring components is changed. In this example the turnbuckles are located at the tops of the anchoring system.
[0077] FIG. 26 a is a reference chart showing the various configurations for the V-track based on the size of the structure and the number of position. This chart ensures that the anchor points are installed correctly for each position and that the track anchoring aligns with the structure at each location. This highlights how the track spacing and layout interacts with the structure and the hoop spacing. It also shows how the anchor points are installed for all positions in the beginning.
[0078] FIG. 26 b is a reference chart showing the various configurations for the V-track based on the size of the structure and the number of position. This chart ensures that the anchor points are installed correctly for each position and that the track anchoring aligns with the structure at each location. This highlights how the track spacing and layout interacts with the structure and the hoop spacing. It also shows how the anchor points are installed for all positions in the beginning.
[0079] FIG. 26 c is a reference chart showing the various configurations for the V-track based on the size of the structure and the number of position. This chart ensures that the anchor points are installed correctly for each position and that the track anchoring aligns with the structure at each location. This highlights how the track spacing and layout interacts with the structure and the hoop spacing. It also shows how the anchor points are installed for all positions in the beginning.
[0080] FIG. 27 a shows the anchoring system end with wire thimble, wire clamps, and wire.
[0081] FIG. 27 b represents turnbuckles used to tighten anchor systems.
[0082] FIG. 27 c represents quick links used to secure anchor system to eye bolts in the track.
[0083] FIG. 27 d represents an alternate to the quick link.
[0084] FIG. 27 e represents a brace band that is used in place of eye bolts in the sidewall hoops on the endwall locations.
[0085] FIG. 27 f represents an alternative to FIG. 27 a.
[0086] FIG. 27 g represents a yolk to yolk turnbuckle used on the exterior anchoring system of the structure. These are used in conjunction with earth augers and forged-eye bolts on the bottom of the sidewall hoops.
[0087] FIG. 28 a shows how material can be secured to the attachment channel from the top of the structure and from the bottom of the structure. Plastic covering the structure is commonly brought down from the top. On the bottom of the structure the track can actually be used as an anchor for something like weed fabric for weed prevention, but also as a means to seal the gap from the ground to the baseboard.
[0088] FIG. 28 b shows how the attachment channel could actually be located in the track to create the same seal as in FIG. 28 a.
[0089] FIG. 29 shows a sample 3-position movable greenhouse rotation. A typical stationary tunnel would only be used for tomatoes. This rotation uses the building for carrots, tomatoes, spinach, and leeks.
[0090] FIG. 30 shows an example in which 6 positions 105 - 110 of track have been put together and two structures share those 6 locations on the same set of tracks.
[0091] FIG. 31 shows a sample movable greenhouse rotation in which 4 plots are used. In non moving structures crops are often limited to the single long season warm crop.
[0092] The anchoring system, in addition to securing the structure 101 , also provides significant additional bracing and structural support for the structure 101 . The anchoring secures each hoop 112 on the structure, bracing of the structure, the roller 129 , or roller axle 130 , bracing the structure from forces directed in multiple directions, and enhances its ability to counter adverse weather incidents. This integrated moving and anchoring system increases flexibility, saves time and money, therefore increasing the economic viability of small-scale agriculture.
[0093] Crops 103 and animals are moved and rotated through fields using movable buildings 101 . The movable buildings 101 add increased flexibility, increased ability to grow crops 103 and/or raise animals in both conventional agriculture systems as well as in natural, organic, and sustainable systems.
[0094] Movable buildings 101 for agriculture include, but are not limited to, movable greenhouses for season extension and environmental control of perennial and annual crops, movable hoop coops for grazing or over-wintering animals, movable structures for holding compost and allowing the continuation of the composting process by moving the structure with piles as they are turned, movable sod houses for growing and maintaining grass outside of the conventional outdoor growing season, movable buildings for aqua-agriculture, such as moving over fish ponds or hatchery to maintain water temperature and add thermal mass to the system, and also movable buildings for shading or shelter for use with providing shade for mushroom cultivation, animals in the heat or even to warm a patio, vegetable/animal washing or processing area, or even a swimming pool.
[0095] Movable greenhouses 101 help growers by mitigating the problems associated with stationary greenhouses, relating to soil, pests, and crop rotations and timing. Movable greenhouse technology is a crucial component of maximizing the economic viability of diversified farms while also improving farm efficiency, increasing food security, and simply providing more delicious locally grown food through the year.
[0096] Advantages of Movable Greenhouses Include:
[0097] Building Organic Matter: In soil building years, movable greenhouses allow planting long-term, deep-rooting, leguminous green manure crops on the exposed sections.
[0098] Minimize Pest & Soil Concerns: Avoid the increased pest pressure while also minimizing excess soil nutrients and soil borne disease issues that are often problems for stationary greenhouses.
[0099] Season Extension: Plant cold hardy crops in the spring and fall/winter while still taking advantage of full season warm crop production.
[0100] Reduce Soil Borne Disease: Movable greenhouses instantly control soil problems by exposing the soil to the purifying effects of sun, rain, wind, snow, and freezing temperatures.
[0101] Eliminate Greenhouse Cooling: Eliminate the expense of cooling the greenhouse when planning for fall/winter harvestable crops. While summer crops are in the greenhouse growers can sow outdoors in the field where the greenhouse will move.
[0102] Diversify Crop Rotations: Movable greenhouses provide the opportunity to diversify crop rotations while at the same time incorporating long-term green manures without sacrificing greenhouse cropping potential.
[0103] Extend Market Availability: Many of the crops are harvestable up to five weeks earlier and/or five weeks later than crops without greenhouse protection, thus extending the length of the marketable season by as much as 2½ months.
[0104] Advantages of Movable Agriculture Buildings for Animals:
[0105] Grazing and Fertilizing: Grass-fed animals are pastured in movable buildings while fertilizing fields.
[0106] Full-time or Part-time Containment: Animals can be fully contained and moved with the structure or allowed to graze outside of the building
[0107] Security: Having the animals inside of the structure increases security against aerial & ground predators
[0108] Overwintering: These structures have the ability to be used the field during growing months and then moved to a location for overwintering animals in a protected environment the remainder of the year.
[0109] Mitigate Hot and Cold Temperatures: during extreme temperatures, movable buildings can be used to make ground available that would otherwise not be available. Example: Heat generated from chickens in a movable hoop coop in winter can be enough to keep ground thawed. In addition, with water and moisture created by animals, dry ground can be kept moist enough for agricultural purposes even in drought.
[0110] Additional Advantages of Movable Agriculture Buildings:
[0111] Low Initial Investment: When used properly, movable buildings can have a faster return on investment than stationary buildings and still have a low initial investment.
[0112] Flexible Purposes: A movable agriculture building can have several uses throughout the year. It could be used for sheep in the early spring to bring them outdoors earlier than they could if they were just outdoors. When the sheep can go outdoors without a protected structure, the building could then be used for vegetables. A building could also be used for recreation part of the year and vegetables the rest. For example, it could cover a swimming pool in the spring and fall and vegetables the rest of the year.
[0113] Equipment Moves with the Structure: Overhead irrigation, renewable energy systems (solar thermal, photovoltaic panels, or wind generators), roosts, feeders, and waterers, can all be installed to move with the structure.
[0114] Easy to Expand the Length of a Movable Building: Significant expense is occurred in materials associated with endwalls. To increase the size of a movable buildings can “stretch” by separating the building in the middle and adding 12′ modules to increase the length in the middle without having to rebuild the endwalls. Example: Stretching a 48′ L movable high tunnel to a 96′ L high tunnel would consist of splitting the structure in the middle and adding four 12 ′ modules to make up the new length.
[0115] Flexibility during Construction: Because the building is movable, the building site does not have to be the same as the first use site. For example, a plot can be planted in position 1 and the building can be constructed in position 2 . Upon completion, the building can be moved to position 1 , without disturbing the crops that are already in the ground.
[0116] The terms “Greenhouse”, “High Tunnel”, and “Hoop House” areused interchangeably in this document, diagrams, and attachments. The terms “Movable Agriculture Buildings for Animals” and “Hoop Coops” are used interchangeably in this document, diagrams, and attachments. None of the diagrams, drawings, or figures are to scale.
[0117] The anchoring system provides additional bracing and structural support for the structure. This integrated moving and anchoring system increases flexibility, saves time and money, therefore increasing the economic viability of small-scale agriculture.
[0118] FIG. 4 shows the cross-section of one type of track 122 and roller 129 that can serve this function. The term V-track refers to the V-grove in the roller 129 and the upside-down V-profile of the track 122 . This track is formed with a break, although it could also be welded or extruded. The track and roller profile do not need to be a V-shape. A round track 122 with flanges, pegs, or feet can be secured to the ground 119 and a pipe roller 129 could be used. The track 122 could be a channel, square, curved, triangular, etc. with a compatible roller. The roller 129 can spin about its axis or can slide or glide along a track 122 or railing. Multiple rollers 129 can be used as shown in FIGS. 17 a and 17 b . The track itself can have wheels, casters or rollers and the structure can move along those rollers as shown in FIG. 12 . The track 122 can be a rail and the structure can have a rail that slide with respect to each other. The friction between sliding members can be used to help anchor the structure and keep it from moving.
[0119] There are many ways that the track 122 can be anchored to the ground 119 . It can be staked in place or set in concrete or a foundation 120 . The track or rail 122 can be anchored by earth augers 135 . The track or rail 122 can be bolted to concrete, rock, or a footer 120 . The track or rail 122 can also be secured or anchored to an object that is already anchored. Rings or flanges could be welded or fabricated into a track or rail 122 to allow for anchoring. For example, a welded ring could be welded to a track so that a t-post can be driven through the ring, anchoring the track. There are various methods for securing the track to the ground.
[0120] FIGS. 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 a , 26 b , and 26 c show strategies for anchoring the structure 101 to the track 122 . In these scenarios, the anchoring strategy maximizes the number of the structure's hoops 112 that are secured to the track 122 . Structures 101 with odd numbers of hoops 112 can easily be anchored to all but one hoop 112 on each side. This hoop 112 could also be anchored down using two exterior anchor points 125 using earth augers 135 as shown in FIG. 26 c . Structures 101 with an even number hoops 112 will have each hoop 112 secured to an anchor point 125 on the track 122 . This design aligns the anchor points 125 with the center of the hoop spacing. This ensures that each track anchor point 125 is located in between two hoops 112 in order to anchor as many hoops 112 to the track 122 as possible.
[0121] The anchor points 125 do not need to be centered in the hoops 112 . An anchor point could be centered below hoop # 2 114 and secured to hoop # 2 114 . Or the anchor point below hoop # 2 114 could be secured to hoop # 1 113 and hoop # 3 115 (and potentially hoop # 2 114 as well). Table 1 (shown below) is a reference chart showing one design, this is also shown in FIG. 20 . In this embodiment, the anchor points 125 are installed in the beginning for each location of the structure 101 . The anchor points 125 are always in between two hoops 112 . The track length is twice the hoop spacing and starts half of the hoop spacing before the structure 101 . In this example the hoop spacing is 6 ft and the track extends past each end by 3 ft. This ensures that the same track pieces can be used on both sides (right and left track sections are the same). The track seams may end up at an anchor point 125 , than the forged anchor eye 142 on the track 112 replaces one of the tract connector bolts. For the 3-position 30 ft×48 ft structure, this will not occur at the first or second anchor point 125 (6 ft and 18 ft from the end respectively), but will occur for the third anchor point 125 at 36 ft. FIG. 20 shows the anchor point locations with respect to the track 122 and the structure 101 .
[0000]
TABLE 1
V-TRACK MOVABLE HIGH TUNNEL REFERENCE CHART
The following charts contains important information regarding FST 2nd Generation V-Track.
Each column specifies the high tunnel length and number of positions.
24′ High Tunnel length
48′ High Tunnel Length
96′ High Tunnel Length
24 ft
24 ft
24 ft
48 ft
48 ft
48 ft
96 ft
96 ft
96 ft
Total # of Positions
Total # of Positions
Total # of Positions
2 Positions
3 Positions
4 Positions
2 Positions
3 Positions
4 Positions
2 Positions
3 Positions
4 Positions
Total # of Hoops (6′ Spacing)
Total # of Hoops (6′ Spacing)
Total # of Hoops (6′ Spacing)
5 Hoops
5 Hoops
5 Hoops
9 Hoops
9 Hoops
9 Hoops
17 Hoops
17 Hoops
17 Hoops
Total # of Anchor Eyes
Total # of Anchor Eyes
Total # of Anchor Eyes
8 Anchor Eyes
12 Anchor Eyes
16 Anchor Eyes
16 Anchor Eyes
24 Anchor Eyes
32 Anchor Eyes
32 Anchor Eyes
48 Anchor Eyes
64 Anchor Eyes
Anchor Eyes located between:
Anchor Eyes located between:
Anchor Eyes located between:
Hoops 1&2, and Hoops 4&5.
Hoops 1&2, Hoops 3&4, Hoops 6&7, and Hoops 8&9.
Hoops 1&2, Hoops 3&4, Hoops 5&6, Hoops 7&8, Hoops 10&11,
Hoops 12&13, Hoops 14&15, Hoops 16&17.
Total Track Length
Total Track Length
Total Track Length
60 ft
90 ft
120 ft
108 ft
162 ft
216 ft
204 ft
306 ft
408 ft
3 ft Overlap
3 ft Overlap
3 ft Overlap
3 ft Overlap
3 ft Overlap
3 ft Overlap
3 ft Overlap
3 ft Overlap
3 ft Overlap
24 ft Position 1
24 ft Position 1
24 ft Position 1
48 ft Position 1
48 ft Position 1
48 ft Position 1
96 ft Position 1
96 ft position 1
96 ft Position 1
6 ft Gap
6 ft Gap
6 ft Gap
6 ft Gap
6 ft Gaps
6 ft Gap
6 ft Gap
6 ft Gap
6 ft Gap
24 ft Position 2
24 ft Position 2
24 ft Position 2
48 ft Position 2
48 ft Position 2
48 ft Position 2
96 ft Position 2
96 ft Position 2
96 ft Position 2
3 ft Overlap
6 ft Gap
6 ft Gap
3 ft Overlap
6 ft Gap
6 ft Gap
3 ft Overlap
6 ft Gap
6 ft Gap
24 ft Position 3
24 ft Position 3
48 ft Position 3
48 ft Position 3
96 ft Position 3
96 ft Position 3
3 ft Overlap
6 ft Gap
3 ft Overlap
6 ft Gap
3 ft Overlap
6 ft Gap
24 ft Position 4
48 ft Position 4
96 ft Position 4
3 ft Overlap
3 ft Overlap
3 ft Overlap
Total # of 12′ V-Track Sections
Total # of 12′ V-Track Sections
Total # of 12′ V-Track Sections
10 Sections
15 Sections
20 Sections
18 Sections
27 Sections
36 Sections
34 Sections
51 Sections
68 Sections
Total # of 1′ V-Track Connectors
Total # of 1′ V-Track Connectors
Total # of 1′ V-Track Connectors
8 Connectors
14 Connectors
18 Connectors
16 Connectors
26 Connectors
34 Connectors
32 Connectors
50 Connectors
66 Connectors
Distance (ft) from End of Track to Each Anchor Eye
Distance (ft) from End of Track to Each Anchor Eye
Distance (ft) from End of Track to Each Anchor Eye
6 Anchor: 1 Pos: 1
6 Anchor: 1 Pos: 1
6 Anchor: 1 Pos: 1
6 Anchor: 1 Pos: 1
6 Anchor: 1 Pos: 1
6 Anchor: 1 Pos: 1
6 Anchor: 1 Pos: 1
6 Anchor: 1 Pos: 1
6 Anchor: 1 Pos: 1
24 Anchor: 2 Pos: 1
24 Anchor: 2 Pos: 1
24 Anchor: 2 Pos: 1
18 Anchor: 2 Pos: 1
18 Anchor: 2 Pos: 1
18 Anchor: 2 Pos: 1
18 Anchor: 2 Pos: 1
18 Anchor: 2 Pos: 1
18 Anchor: 2 Pos: 1
36 Anchor: 1 Pos: 2
36 Anchor: 1 Pos: 2
36 Anchor: 1 Pos: 2
36 Anchor: 3 Pos: 1
36 Anchor: 3 Pos: 1
36 Anchor: 3 Pos: 1
30 Anchor: 3 Pos: 1
30 Anchor: 3 Pos: 1
30 Anchor: 3 Pos: 1
54 Anchor: 2 Pos: 2
54 Anchor: 2 Pos: 2
54 Anchor: 2 Pos: 2
48 Anchor: 4 Pos: 1
48 Anchor: 4 Pos: 1
48 Anchor: 4 Pos: 1
42 Anchor: 4 Pos: 1
42 Anchor: 4 Pos: 1
42 Anchor: 4 Pos: 1
66 Anchor: 1 Pos: 3
66 Anchor: 1 Pos: 3
60 Anchor: 1 Pos: 2
60 Anchor: 1 Pos: 2
60 Anchor: 1 Pos: 2
60 Anchor: 5 Pos: 1
60 Anchor: 5 Pos: 1
60 Anchor: 5 Pos: 1
84 Anchor: 2 Pos: 3
84 Anchor: 2 Pos: 3
72 Anchor: 2 Pos: 2
72 Anchor: 2 Pos: 2
72 Anchor: 2 Pos: 2
72 Anchor: 6 Pos: 1
72 Anchor: 6 Pos: 1
72 Anchor: 6 Pos: 1
96 Anchor: 1 Pos: 4
90 Anchor: 3 Pos: 2
90 Anchor: 3 Pos: 2
90 Anchor: 3 Pos: 2
84 Anchor: 7 Pos: 1
84 Anchor: 7 Pos: 1
84 Anchor: 7 Pos: 1
114 Anchor: 2 Pos: 4
102 Anchor: 4 Pos: 2
102 Anchor: 4 Pos: 2
102 Anchor: 4 Pos: 2
96 Anchor: 8 Pos: 1
96 Anchor: 8 Pos: 1
96 Anchor: 8 Pos: 1
114 Anchor: 1 Pos: 3
114 Anchor: 1 Pos: 3
108 Anchor: 1 Pos: 2
108 Anchor: 1 Pos: 2
108 Anchor: 1 Pos: 2
126 Anchor: 2 Pos: 3
126 Anchor: 2 Pos: 3
120 Anchor: 2 Pos: 2
120 Anchor: 2 Pos: 2
120 Anchor: 2 Pos: 2
144 Anchor: 3 Pos: 3
144 Anchor: 3 Pos: 3
132 Anchor: 3 Pos: 2
132 Anchor: 3 Pos: 2
132 Anchor: 3 Pos: 2
156 Anchor: 4 Pos: 3
156 Anchor: 4 Pos: 3
144 Anchor: 4 Pos: 2
144 Anchor: 4 Pos: 2
144 Anchor: 4 Pos: 2
168 Anchor: 1 Pos: 4
162 Anchor: 5 Pos: 2
162 Anchor: 5 Pos: 2
162 Anchor: 5 Pos: 2
180 Anchor: 2 Pos: 4
174 Anchor: 6 Pos: 2
174 Anchor: 6 Pos: 2
174 Anchor: 6 Pos: 2
198 Anchor: 3 Pos: 4
186 Anchor: 7 Pos: 2
186 Anchor: 7 Pos: 2
186 Anchor: 7 Pos: 2
210 Anchor: 4 Pos: 4
198 Anchor: 8 Pos: 2
198 Anchor: 8 Pos: 2
198 Anchor: 8 Pos: 2
210 Anchor: 1 Pos: 3
210 Anchor: 1 Pos: 3
222 Anchor: 2 Pos: 3
222 Anchor: 2 Pos: 3
234 Anchor: 3 Pos: 3
234 Anchor: 3 Pos: 3
246 Anchor: 4 Pos: 3
246 Anchor: 4 Pos: 3
258 Anchor: 5 Pos: 3
258 Anchor: 5 Pos: 3
276 Anchor: 6 Pos: 3
276 Anchor: 6 Pos: 3
288 Anchor: 7 Pos: 3
288 Anchor: 7 Pos: 3
300 Anchor: 8 Pos: 3
300 Anchor: 8 Pos: 3
312 Anchor: 1 Pos: 4
324 Anchor: 2 Pos: 4
336 Anchor: 3 Pos: 4
348 Anchor: 4 Pos: 4
360 Anchor: 5 Pos: 4
378 Anchor: 6 Pos: 4
390 Anchor: 7 Pos: 4
402 Anchor: 8 Pos: 4
[0122] The design highlighted in FIG. 9 , FIG. 10 , FIG. 11 , FIG. 21 a , FIG. 21 b , FIG. 23 , FIG. 24 , FIG. 25 has the structure anchored to the track anchor point 125 with steel cable or wire 151 . FIGS. 23 , 23 , and 25 show the cables 151 secured to the hoops 112 of the structure 101 approximately 3 ft from the ground 119 and attaches to a forged eye-bolt 141 going through the hoop 112 of the structure 101 .
[0123] In this iteration, the cable is secured to the forged eye-bolts 141 that pass through the hoops 112 with a wire thimble 154 and wire clamps 155 . The hoops 112 at the endwalls 113 do not use a forged eye-bolt 141 so that the threads do not extend past the endwall. Although a forged eye-bolt 141 could be used, a brace band 146 is substituted as shown in FIG. 23 . Brace bands 146 could be used everywhere where the cable anchoring secures to the structure. Other hardware can also be used, for example double-brace bands, shackles 161 , etc.
[0124] The cable 151 is secured to the track anchor eye 142 with a quick link 160 , a turn-buckle 158 , a wire thimble 154 , and wire clamps 155 . A compression sleeve could easily be substituted wherever the wire thimble 154 and clamp 155 are used. The quick link 160 is easy to install and can easily be removed when the structure is unanchored and moved. The turn-buckle 158 tightens the anchoring cable 151 and can be loosened when the quick link 160 needs to be removed. This assembly is shown in FIG. 27 a and FIG. 27 f . Other flexible items can be used instead of wire/cable 151 , chain for example. Rigid members or bars can also be used. These items can be tensioned with threads, turn-buckles 158 , chain binders, draw latches, cumalong, tension clips, webbing, knots or clasps. The cable 151 (or cable substitute) can anchor to one or multiple points 125 on the structure 101 . The anchoring could be at or between the hoops of a structure as shown in FIG. 24 . The structure 101 can be anchored to the bottom of the hoops 112 , higher up the hoops 112 , or to any of the structure's other bracing or components. The rollers 129 or axles 130 themselves can be anchored to the track 122 , rail, or ground 119 . For example, the roller axle 130 could be a forged eye-bolt 141 and the eye could be anchored to the track 122 , rail or ground 119 as shown in FIG. 11 . FIG. 17 a and FIG. 17 b shows an alternative roller concept where a second roller 129 is used to secure the structure to the track 122 . In this case the track 122 or rail fits in between the rollers 129 . The structure 101 is secured to the rail 122 with two rollers 129 . A bolt, pin, or other device can be used to prohibit the structure 101 or rollers 129 from moving.
[0125] The roller 129 could fit inside of the track prohibiting the tunnel in one direction (ex: up/down) but still need to be anchored in another direction (ex: front/back). A channel track 122 can be anchored and rollers 129 or sliding objects can fit inside the channel. To stop the structure from rolling bolts or pegs could be installed on either side of the roller to prohibit movement, a similar implementation to FIG. 22 .
[0126] A device could rotate up from the track (or down from the structure) to secure, the two elements together, FIG. 22 . The structure could be held in place with magnetic forces. For example, electro-magnets or physical magnets could be used to keep the structure anchored in place. Magnetic force can be used to move the structure 101 along a track 122 or rail (similar to trains on magnetic rails). The track 122 could be fabricated so that pins or through bolts can be installed to lock the track 122 and structure together.
[0127] The track 122 is designed for multiple track 122 pieces to seam together. This ties the track 122 and anchoring together. An alternative design could have track sections 123 that are not seamed together with track connectors 124 . Instead each track 122 section could be secured by itself. One example of this could be a concrete footer 120 installed below each track seam. The end of each track 122 could then secure to one side of the footer. This would allow for uninterrupted motion of the roller 129 over the track 122 , without actually seaming the track sections 123 together. FIG. 18 and FIG. 19 show one design for seaming track sections 123 together. Again, the track connector bolts can be replaced for forged anchor eyes 142 for an anchor point 125 at that location. The holes for the track connector bolts are slotted so that a carriage bolt can be used, eliminating the need for two wrenches/sockets during installation.
[0128] Track sections 123 can move with the structure 101 . The structure 101 could be anchored to one track position. When moved, a second track position (full or partial) could be installed so that structure 101 can move. The old track 122 that is no longer can be moved (or leap frogged) ahead so the structure 101 can be moved further. Using this method one track section (or one full position of track) can be repeatedly moved and the structure can transpose indefinitely along its length.
[0129] FIG. 18 is a top view of the V-track and its various holes and their purpose. The four holes on each end are for the track connector bolts or a forged anchor eye 142 if an anchor point 125 lands on a track seam. The hole in the center is for an anchor point 125 if needed. The four larger holes are for the track anchors 136 . These anchor holes are large enough to install the track anchors 136 at an angle. The V-track connectors 124 have eight holes that line up with the track connector holes. All of the track connecting holes are slotted for ease of assembly. The slots on the track run a perpendicular direction to the slots on the connectors. This gives the user some play when installing the track.
[0130] Supplemental anchors may be used or required when the tunnel is left in place or during severe weather. Earth augers 135 are shown in FIG. 26 a , FIG. 26 b , and FIG. 26 c for that purpose. These anchors can help secure the track 122 and/or structure 101 . Anchor points 125 can be on the inside and outside of the center of the track. In some applications you might want it on the inside on one side and the outside on the other. This may be relevant in situations where a predominant wind comes from the same direction. | A movable greenhouse and track system may include a track configured to be anchored to a first plot of farming land and a second plot of farming land. The movable greenhouse and track system may further include a greenhouse is capable of being anchored to the track and an anchoring member. The greenhouse may include a series of hoops forming an interior area; a member attached to the hoops for keeping the interior area of the greenhouse a certain temperature different than a temperature from an area exterior to the greenhouse; and a member for facilitating movement of the greenhouse along the tunnel of the track. The interior area of the greenhouse may include the first plot of farming land. After a predetermined time, the member for facilitating movement allows the greenhouse to be moved from the first plot of farming land to the second plot of farming land. | 8 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to desk structures and more particularly pertains to an adjustable computer desk for adjustably supporting a computer keyboard and monitor at desired heights.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of desk structures is known in the prior art. More specifically, desk structures heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art desk structures include U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,974; U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,204; U.S. Pat. No. 4,925,240; U.S. Pat. No. 4,766,422; U.S. Pat. No. Design 327,780; and U.S. Pat. No. Design 284,147.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose an adjustable computer desk for adjustably supporting a computer keyboard and monitor at desired heights which includes a desk having a monitor platform and a keyboard platform supported within apertures extending through an upper surface of the desk, and platform height adjustment assemblies mounted to the platforms for adjustably positioning the platforms relative to the upper surface of the desk.
In these respects, the adjustable computer desk according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of adjustably supporting a computer keyboard and monitor at desired heights.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of desk structures now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new adjustable computer desk construction wherein the same can be utilized for adjustably supporting computer hardware. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new adjustable computer desk apparatus and method which has many of the advantages of the desk structures mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a adjustable computer desk which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art desk structures, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention generally comprises desk for adjustably supporting a computer keyboard and monitor at desired heights. The inventive device includes a desk having a monitor platform and a keyboard platform supported within apertures extending through an upper surface of the desk. Platform height adjustment assemblies are mounted to the platforms for adjustably positioning the platforms relative to the upper surface of the desk.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new adjustable computer desk apparatus and method which has many of the advantages of the desk structures mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a adjustable computer desk which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art desk structures, either alone or in any combination thereof.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new adjustable computer desk which may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new adjustable computer desk which is of a durable and reliable construction.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new adjustable computer desk which is 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 adjustable computer desks economically available to the buying public.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new adjustable computer desk which provides in the apparatuses and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new adjustable computer desk for adjustably supporting a computer keyboard and monitor at desired heights.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new adjustable computer desk which includes a desk having a monitor platform and a keyboard platform supported within apertures extending through an upper surface of the desk, and platform height adjustment assemblies mounted to the platforms for adjustably positioning the platforms relative to the upper surface of the desk.
Even still another object of the present invention is to provided a new adjustable computer desk wherein the platform height adjustment assemblies are electrically operated.
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
FIG. 1 is an isometric illustration of an adjustable computer desk according to the present invention in use.
FIG. 2 is a top plan view, partially in cross section, of the invention.
FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the invention.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross section view of a portion of a monitor platform height adjustment means of the invention.
FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross sectional view of a portion of a keyboard platform height adjustment means of the invention.
FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view taken along line 6--6 of FIG. 2.
FIG. 7 is an exploded isometric illustration of a guide means of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is an enlarged isometric illustration of a portion of the invention illustrating a control switch thereof.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1-8 thereof, a new adjustable computer desk embodying the principles and concepts of the present invention and generally designated by the reference numeral 10 will be described.
More specifically, it will be noted that the adjustable computer desk 10 comprises a desk 12 of any desired configuration having an upper surface 14 supported in a spaced relationship relative to a ground surface upon which the desk resides. The upper surface 14 of the desk 12 is shaped so as to define a monitor aperture 16 extending therethrough and a keyboard aperture 18 also extending through the upper surface. A monitor platform 20 is positioned within the monitor aperture 16, with a keyboard platform 22 being similarly positioned within the keyboard aperture 18. As shown in FIG. 3, the present invention 10 further comprises a monitor platform height adjustment means 24 for adjustably positioning the monitor platform 20 relative to the upper surface 14 of the desk 12. Further, a keyboard platform height adjustment means 26 is provided with the invention 10 for adjustably positioning the keyboard platform 22 relative to the upper surface 14 of the desk. By this structure, an individual can selectively position the monitor platform 20 and the keyboard platform 22 relative to the upper surface 14 of the desk 12 as desired to support a computer monitor and a computer keyboard, respectively, at desired heights relative to the upper surface.
As best illustrated in the cross section views of FIGS. 3 and 4, it can be shown that the monitor platform height adjustment means 24 according to the present invention 10 preferably comprises a motor bracket 28 mounted beneath the upper surface 14 of the desk 12 so as to extend across the monitor aperture 16. A monitor motor 30 is mounted to the bracket 28 and includes a motor shaft projecting towards the monitor platform 20. A threaded rod 32 is mounted to the motor shaft of the monitor motor 30 and threadably engages a threaded receiver 34 mounted to a lower surface of the monitor platform 20. The monitor motor 30 is electrically coupled to a control box 36 having a power cord 38 extending therefrom. A control switch 40, as shown in FIG. 8 for example, is electrically coupled to the control box 36 for effecting selective energization of the monitor motor 30 in both forward and reverse directions. By this structure, the monitor motor 30 can be selectively energized to rotate the threaded rod 32 so as to position the monitor platform 20 relative to the upper surface 14 of the desk 12. It should be noted that the monitor platform 20 is capable of being positioned below the upper surface 14 of the desk 12, or alternatively above the upper surface as desired.
Referring now to FIG. 5 with concurrent reference to FIG. 3, it can be shown that the keyboard platform height adjustment means 26 according to the present invention 10 preferably comprises a keyboard motor 42 mounted beneath the upper surface 14 of the desk 12. The keyboard motor 42 includes an unlabeled motor shaft, with a threaded rod 44 projecting from the motor shaft of the keyboard motor. As shown in FIG. 5, a threaded collar 46 is threadably engaged to the threaded rod 44 of the keyboard motor 42 and includes a projection 48 extending into a yoke 50 of a pivot rod 52. The pivot rod 52 is pivotally mounted beneath the upper surface 14 of the desk 12 and engages an elongated bracket 54 mounted beneath the keyboard platform 22. Another control switch 40, as shown in FIG. 1, is electrically coupled to the control box 36 and can be selectively actuated to operate the keyboard motor 42. By this structure, an energization of the keyboard motor 42 will effect axial movement of the threaded collar 46 along the threaded rod 44 to rotate the pivot rod 52 and cause a subsequent positioning of the keyboard platform 22 relative to the upper surface 14 of the desk 12. It should be noted that the keyboard platform 22 can be positioned beneath the upper surface 14, or alternatively, can be positioned above the upper surface 14 of the desk 12 as desired.
As shown in FIGS. 2, 6, and 7, the present invention 10 may further comprise a monitor platform guide means 56 coupled to the monitor platform 20 and the upper surface 14 for guiding the monitor platform into a parallel orientation relative to the upper surface. Similarly, a keyboard platform guide means 58 can be provided with the invention 10 for guiding the keyboard platform 22 in a parallel orientation relative to the upper surface 14 of the desk 12. As shown in FIG. 6 and 7, the guide means 56 and 58 are substantially similar in design and configuration and each comprise a support bracket 60 mounted beneath the upper surface 14 of the desk 12 which supports a sliding collar 62 in a substantially spaced and parallel orientation relative to the upper surface. A vertical guide rod 64 orthogonally projects from a mounting plate 66 which is secured to a lower surface of the respective platform 20 or 22. The vertical guide rod 64 projects through the sliding collar 62 to thus guide the respective platform 20 or 22 into a substantially parallel orientation relative to the upper surface 14. A securing pin 68 is preferably directed through an aperture in a lower distal end of the vertical guide rod 64 to preclude unintentional separation of the vertical guide rod 64 from the sliding collar 62.
In use, the adjustable computer desk 10 according to the present invention can be easily utilized to adjustably support a computer keyboard and a monitor at a desired height.
As to a further discussion of the manner of usage and operation of the present invention, the same should be apparent from the above description. Accordingly, no further discussion relating to the manner of usage and operation will be provided.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be 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 and obvious 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.
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. | A desk for adjustably supporting a computer keyboard and monitor at desired heights. The inventive device includes a desk having a monitor platform and a keyboard platform supported within apertures extending through an upper surface of the desk. Platform height adjustment assemblies are mounted to the platforms for adjustably positioning the platforms relative to the upper surface of the desk. | 0 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit of Provisional Application No. 60/781,418, filed Mar. 10, 2006 for the “COMPUTER-BASED AUCTION AND TOURNAMENT GAME PROCESS”.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates generally to games, and more particularly to online electronic games of chance.
[0003] The passion and draw of sports and competition are undeniable in the human race. Literally, in every culture, in every country, there are forms of sport and competition that draw the focus, attention and passion of a significant percentage of the population. These competitive contests form a type of recreation, whether as an athlete or a spectator. Whether the Olympics, the Super Bowl, or simply a cricket match between two long-time rival clubs, competition will be watched and cheered for by millions of people.
[0004] Inextricably coupled to this fact is the passion for betting or wagering on the outcome of competition. There are countless reports and facts surrounding the unbelievable sums of money and time spent by mankind to wager, track and celebrate the outcome of these competitive matches. For example, in 2005, Las Vegas sportsbooks reported that over $90.7 million dollars was wagered on the Super Bowl, while betting for the NCAA Basketball tournament (a.k.a. March Madness) came in at $80 million dollars. These figures do not take into account the Billions of dollars that are wagered through online casinos, illegal book-makers, in office pools and between friends. Most estimates have these figures in the $4-5 billion dollar range, for the Super Bowl alone.
[0005] The data shows that there is a passion for mankind to place wagers whose outcome depends on the results of a competitive match. Further, as the data indicates, there is a far greater population of casual betters that enjoy friendly wagers on competition, whether in an office pool, amongst friends, or at the neighborhood bar. In all of these scenarios, the individuals who wish to participate in a competitive pool that involves wagers must typically meet in a single location to finalize the pool(s) and the wager positions of each player. Although there are many software applications that facilitate the creation of a tournament bracket, the prediction of what teams may win a tournament, or the fantasy style trading and auctions of teams, there does not exist an application that facilitates the direct betting on tournaments between peers.
[0006] Thus, there is an unmet need for an electronic gaming system in which players can participate in betting with other users, in an auction format, for each player/team in the competitive tournament, with rights to the team/player going to the highest bidder, and payouts following a predetermined payout schedule.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The invention is summarized as a method for operating a central processor to provide a networked exchange in which one or more users can participate in a game of chance, through a hosted auction. This method comprises selecting a pre-scheduled competition that emulates a real-world event (RWE) upon which to base the auction. Establishing the names of entities in the auction that emulate the RWE. Selecting a payout schedule for distributions of the auction proceeds based on results of the RWE. Notifying potential bidders of the auction event, and accepting bids from various bidders in an auction process that results in ownership rights to game entities awarded to winning bidders. Providing notification of winning and losing bidders, and determining winners and providing for payout distributions based on the payout schedule.
[0008] A Real World Event (RWE) refers to any event in real life that entails one or more actors, players or teams in competition. These events are most typically, but not limited to sporting events, reality competitions, or other related competitions.
[0009] In order to accomplish method of the invention, an electronic network-based auction system is provided that comprises a server system for hosting transaction operations, and client terminals connected to the server via a communications network. Various client/server architectures may be used. The exchange host is operated by an exchange operator. Hosts and Users access the auction system to create auction events and bid on auction entities via client terminals. The server side of the system preferably comprises at least one database, an internal proxy, an external proxy, an exchange processor and a listing. The client side can be any suitable client terminal. Separate client software for hosts and auction bidders may be provided, both may be provided together, or all activity may reside on the host server.
[0010] A technical advantage of the present invention is that a system and method for networked game of chance that is based upon auction events that mirror real-world events (competitive tournaments) is provided. Another technical advantage is that the invention provides real-time exchange to occur over a network. Another technical advantage is that the Host can set the payout schedule and other parameters of the Auction to emulate any RWE for auction. Another technical advantage is that the Auction Event is interactive, allowing multiple bidders to participate by bidding on the same entity, and watching the bid increments increase and high bidder change designation during the auction process.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram representing a computer arrangement and the software modules provided herein for implementing the game of the subject invention,
[0012] FIG. 2 is a flow chart representing the auction and reporting transactions in the game,
[0013] FIG. 3 is a flowchart representing the selecting of a game template for a RWE,
[0014] FIG. 4 is a flowchart representing the creating and populating a game template that mirrors a RWE,
[0015] FIG. 5 is a flowchart representing the configuring the details for the game auction, such as start and stop,
[0016] FIG. 6 is a flowchart representing users establishing a user account,
[0017] FIG. 7 is a flowchart representing the users participating in the game auction to select and place an auction bid for a game entity that mirrors a RWE,
[0018] FIG. 8 is a flowchart representing the evaluation of bids from all users to calculate and display the payout potential for all users as each part of the RWE is completed,
[0019] FIG. 9 is a flowchart representing the game host transactions to update the results of the RWE to allow the game to calculate and display the appropriate payouts to each user,
[0020] FIG. 10 is a depiction of one potential relationship of Host game screens, and methodology for creating and managing an auction game,
[0021] FIG. 11 is a flowchart representing the internal steps to create the Host auction,
[0022] FIG. 12 is a depiction of one potential set of user game screens for auction participants,
[0023] FIG. 13 is a flowchart representing two or more users forming ad-hoc consortia to bid together for fractional rights to an entity in the subject invention,
[0024] FIG. 14 is a depiction of one potential template for a RWE, as well as potential payout distribution and user payout displays,
[0025] FIG. 15 is a depiction of another possible RWE template that allows auction of the multiple number combinations that relate to the score of a competitive RWE, and
[0026] FIG. 16 is an overall system block diagram.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0000] Game Definitions
[0027] The following terms are used throughout this application, the definitions of which are provided to assist in understanding the various elements of the subject invention.
[0028] Game: The subject invention is provided in the form of a Game, specifically as a software Application that facilitates use by the Host, and one or more Users.
[0029] Host: The Host is the single individual who utilizes the Game to create and manage Auctions that mirror Real World Events (RWEs), such as sports tournaments. The Host will establish the game, manage the information in the Database, and generally oversee the success of the Game.
[0030] User: The Users are one or more individuals who are invited to play the Game by the Host. These individuals are potential bidders, access the Game over their personal computing devices, and participate in the game as described in the subject invention.
[0031] Application: The Game is reduced to practice in a software Application that will run on the Host computer system.
[0032] Real World Event (RWE): Refers to any event in real life that entails one or more players or teams in competition. Most typically, but not limited to sporting events, reality competitions, or other related competitions.
[0033] Entity: Refers to each player or team that is created in the Game, which mirror the players or teams in a RWE. Each Entity in the Game is available for Users to Bid during the Auction, to claim the Rights to that Entity throughout the Game.
[0034] Bid: The value that a User is willing to wager during the Auction to gain the rights to an Entity.
[0035] Auction: During a Game, all entities created by the Host that mirror a RWE are available for bidding during a determined duration. During this duration, the Entities are auctioned to the highest bidding User using the Application that facilitates the Game.
[0036] Right: The right to receive a payout for the Entity, should that Entity advance in the Game, which mirrors the results of the RWE.
[0037] Team: Any team that is participating in a RWE, consisting of more than one Player or Actor, such as the teams in a football match, or the teams in a basketball tournament.
[0038] Player: Any individual, or Actor, who is participating in a RWE, such as the individual golfers in a golf tournament, or the individual drivers in a race car event.
[0000] General Definitions
[0039] The invention will now be described with references to the like drawings, which include reference numbers to describe details throughout. It may be evident, however, that the invention can be practiced without these specific details.
[0040] While certain ways of displaying information for users are described in certain figures, those skilled in the relevant art will recognize that various other alternatives can be employed. Therefore, the terms “screen”, “web page”, and “page” are generally interchangeable herein.
[0041] While, for the purposes of simplicity of explanation, one or more methodologies shown herein, e.g., in the form of a flowchart, are shown and described as a series of acts, it is to be understood and appreciated that the subject invention is not limited by the order of acts, as some acts may, in accordance with the invention, may occur in a different order and/or concurrently with other acts that are shown and described herein. Moreover, not all stated acts may be required to implement a methodology in accordance with the invention.
[0000] The Game Format
[0042] The invention creates a game that enables a unique format for placing wagers and participation in any type Real World Event (RWE) such as a sports tournament or reality competition. Specifically, the game can be applied to any competition event that requires two or more players or teams to compete for a final outcome. This can span a specific period of a competition, or more likely the competition itself, whether a game or match, or a tournament that incorporates many teams over several rounds of competition to yield a final winner.
[0043] In addition to the implementation of the game through an application, unregistered users can also be referred to an online website, to gain a better understanding of the application and how the game operates. Through this access to examples and feature descriptions, users are enticed to become registered users of the actual application, which allow them to host their own games.
[0044] It is also possible through this online website to gain access to pre-populated games that mirror RWEs, for purchase and ownership by registered users. These pre-populated games will allow Hosts to hold auctions without the personal labor to create the Game itself.
[0045] The application is constructed to allow multiple simultaneous games to be hosted, which also mirror the fact that multiple RWEs can take place at any given time. For example, the Host can maintain a game for a basketball tournament while also maintaining a game for a golf tournament or race car event.
[0046] The application will allow any number of users to participate in any active game. For example, the Host may have 100 Users participating in a game mirroring a RWE basketball tournament, while an additional 200 Users may be participating in a game that mirrors a RWE golf tournament.
[0047] For any game being hosted, Users find the entities that mirror the players or teams in the RWE listed in the game auction. During the duration of the game auction, Users can bid in an auction format for the rights to each entity. The User with the highest bid at the completion of the auction duration is awarded the rights to the entity for the duration of the RWE. The sum of all bids by all Users creates the total payout pot for the Game. For each game template that mirrors a RWE, the rights for each entity gain the potential to receive a distribution percentage of the total payout pot if the entity advances through the RWE. For example, in the RWE known as the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament, a User may bid and win the rights to a specific team entity that mirrors that actual team in the RWE tournament. The RWE tournament has 5 rounds of play, and thus the game also has 5 rounds of play. Should the RWE team win in the first round, the User who holds the rights to the corresponding team entity will be awarded the determined percentage of the total payout pot for the first round. Should the RWE team advance again in the second round, the User who holds the rights to the corresponding team entity will be awarded the determined percentage of the total payout pot for the second round, and so on. This continues until the RWE team is eliminated, or wins the final match and the entire RWE. The User who holds the rights to the corresponding team entity will therefore be awarded the percentage of the total payout pot that is the sum of all rounds the RWE team advances.
[0048] Referring now to FIG. 1 , there is a schematic representation of a game system 100 (that can be implemented in hardware, software or other means) that facilitates participating in the game in accordance with the subject invention.
[0049] The game system also includes a game interface 102 , that allows the Host and Users to access the game system via several different means over a network.
[0050] The Host Auction Creator 103 provides the Host the ability to create and establish specific games that mirror RWEs.
[0051] Auction Templates 104 relate to any RWE, and provide the template structure in the Host Auction Creator 103 that enable the Host to populate with player or team data that mirrors the RWE.
[0052] The Active Game Auction 105 Component contains all active or previously created auction games.
[0053] The Host Auction Maintainer 106 provides the Game Host the ability to update, maintain and oversee each created auction.
[0054] The Reports Creator 107 provides the ability to create, view or print reports that collect together relevant information pertaining to the game(s) for either the Host or the Users.
[0055] Game User Accounts Component 108 provides the ability for Users to establish their identity in the application, enabling them to participate in one or more games/auctions.
[0056] The Transaction engine 109 provides the ability for Users to place bids during an auction, and maintains the allocation of rights to each game entity based on the bids placed.
[0057] FIG. 2 is a flowchart representing the auction and reporting transactions in accordance with the invention. Upon selecting the template that represents the desired RWE, the Host populates 202 the names of each entity (players or teams) in the template. Also, the Host determines 204 the unique elements of the game, such as start and stop duration, and payout percentages.
[0058] At 206 , Users are created as a result of the Host invitations, and the access of each user to the application, where they create a User Account. Once participating in the game, Users compete 208 in the auction by bidding points for a chance to gain the rights to each game entity. Users with the highest bids gain the rights to each entity at 210 . This process continues in an open auction format until the end of the auction duration, which is typically the start of the RWE, at 212 .
[0059] Once the RWE is underway, the Host updates the results of each RWE match in the application 214 , which updates the payouts for the Users who hold rights to the entity that advances. This process continues until the completion of the RWE at 216 , where the final results of the game are calculated at 218 .
[0060] FIG. 3 illustrates a methodology for establishing what game template is selected for a RWE in accordance with the invention. Upon a decision by the Host to create a game that mirrors a RWE at 300 , the Host has an option to create the game manually 302 , or to obtain a pre-populated game 304 from an online website.
[0061] Should the Host elect to manually create the game, FIG. 4 is a flowchart representing the creation and population of the game template that mirrors a RWE in accordance with the invention. In the template for the game that is selected 400 , the Host determines the name of each entity 402 , as well as the detailed information for that entity (optional) at 404 . This information will be visible to the Users throughout the auction event. The methodology for population of data into the template continues until all entities are populated 406 .
[0062] Also during the creation of a game, FIG. 5 is a flowchart representing the configuration of the details for the game auction, such as start and stop in accordance with the invention. At 500 , the Host determines how the total payout pot will be distributed in each round to Users who hold rights to entities that advance. At 502 , the start and stop duration for the auction event are determined, which establishes the window of time that Users can place bids on each entity. At 504 , the Host can determine any additional messages or information that they would like to display to the Users during the game.
[0063] FIG. 6 is a flowchart representing the users ability to establish a user account in accordance with the invention. At 600 , Users are defined by whether they have created a user Account in the Application. If not, at 602 the User is provided the ability to establish a new account. At 604 , the User determines such unique data as the User Name and Password that will allow repeated access to the application in the future. Resulting User Account information is stored to the application database 606 .
[0064] Once a User enters an active auction event, FIG. 7 is a flowchart representing the users participating in the game auction to select and place an auction bid for a game entity that mirrors a RWE in accordance with the invention. At 700 , the User selects an entity that represents a player or team in the RWE that they have interest. At 702 , the User evaluates the current bid amount for the entity, as well as the projected payouts for each round of the RWE that are available through the application display. Should the User make a decision to bid at 704 , they establish a maximum bid amount 706 that they would be willing to bid for that entity. At 708 , the application evaluates the current bid placed against the new bid amount from the User, and determines which User attains the rights to the entity through the highest bid. The results are updated in the application, and the User is informed if their bid attained the rights 712 to the entity, or if they have been outbid 710 .
[0065] FIG. 8 is a flowchart representing the evaluation of the bids from all users to calculate and display the payout potential for all users as each part of the RWE is completed in accordance with the invention. At 800 , the total of the bids across all game entities establishes the total payout pot. By determining the game template selected by the Host at 300 , the correct payout calculation template is also determined at 802 , as it is a part of the game template. Based on the template, and the payout percentages determined by the Host at 500 , the application calculates the appropriate payouts 804 for each round the entity advances based on the RWE. The payout information is displayed prominently in the payout window 806 during the auction event to assist Users in determining their maximum bid threshold.
[0066] FIG. 9 is a flowchart representing the game host ability to update the results of the RWE to allow the game to calculate and display the appropriate payouts to each user in accordance with the invention. At 900 , the Host updates the winning entities in the game based on the winning players or teams in the RWE. The application then calculates the User payouts 902 based on the flowchart represented in FIG. 8 , and allocates them for visibility in reports or displays on screen. If the RWE is complete 904 , the final payouts and reports 906 are available upon completion of this step by the Host.
[0067] FIG. 10 depicts one potential relationship of Host game screens, and methodology for creating and managing an auction game, in accordance with the invention. Those skilled in the relevant art will recognize that there are many ways to create and illustrate the information in accordance with the subject invention, and this figure indicates one such arrangement.
[0068] FIG. 11 is a flowchart representing the internal steps to create the Host auction, in accordance with the invention. Those skilled in the relevant art will recognize that there are many ways to create and illustrate the information in accordance with the subject invention, and this figure indicates one such arrangement. In this embodiment, the Host is presented with three options for the creation and maintenance of each game. The Host may select from a list of previously saved games, create a new game manually, or download a game from an online website.
[0069] FIG. 12 depicts one potential set of user game screens for auction participants, in accordance with the invention. Those skilled in the relevant art will recognize that there are many ways to create and illustrate the information in accordance with the subject invention, and this figure indicates one such arrangement.
[0070] FIG. 13 is a flowchart representing the transactions for two or more users to form ad-hoc consortia to bid together for fractional rights to an entity in the subject invention in accordance with the invention. This feature of the invention is relevant when Users desire to bid on an entity, but the current bid exceeds their ability to individually compete for rights to the entity. At 1300 , the User selects the team they wish to bid. At 1302 , the User determines they are unable to compete for full rights, but are interested in competing for a fractional interest in the entity, to potentially receive a correspondingly fractional payout. By entering a maximum bid value, and indicating appropriately, the application aligns the User with other interested Users, to form Ad-Hoc consortia at 1304 . The Users are given an opportunity to join the consortia, or to decline at 1306 . If the User accepts at 1308 , the application designates the Ad-Hoc consortia, and determines the fractional interest in the entity for each User participating at 1310 . This consortium is maintained in the database at 1312 . As the payout pot increases, these fractional payouts are also maintained for reports or display by the application.
[0071] FIG. 14 depicts one potential template for a Real World Event (RWE), as well as potential payout distribution and user payout displays, in accordance with the invention. This template is for a RWE that has sixteen teams or players that compete over 4 rounds of a tournament. The payout distributions are representative, and the payout amounts assume a total payout pot of 10 , 000 as indicated. Those skilled in the relevant art will recognize that there are many ways to create and illustrate the information in accordance with the subject invention, and this figure indicates one such arrangement.
[0072] FIG. 15 depicts another possible RWE template that allows auction of the multiple number combinations that relate to the score of a competitive RWE, in accordance with the invention. This template is for any RWE that has two teams or players that compete with a final score as the result. In this preferred embodiment, the auction allows Users to bid on the possible number combinations that correspond to the last digits in the score of the RWE. The payout distributions are representative, and the payout amounts assume a total payout pot of 1,860 as indicated. Those skilled in the relevant art will recognize that there are many ways to create and illustrate the information in accordance with the subject invention, and this figure indicates one such arrangement.
[0073] FIG. 16 is an overall system block diagram in accordance with the invention. At 1600 , the Application that represents the invention resides on the Host computer. This application includes a database 1602 , which contains and maintains the data in accordance with the subject invention. 1604 represents the collection of wired and wireless intra and inter networks that allow the Host computer to connect to one or more Users ( 1606 - 1610 ). Users may also be able to access the Game via Personal Digital Assistants 1612 , or mobile telephones 1614 . While the invention has been described above in the general context of computer-executable instructions that may run on one or more computers, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention also can be implemented in combination with other program modules and/or as a combination of hardware and software. In FIG. 16 , the general architecture used is a client/server architecture. Client/server architectures, per se, are generally known. As shown in FIG. 16 the Host Server operates connected to the Internet, and allows for player connectivity via client terminals. This arrangement may take the embodiment of a private party host terminal connected to multiple private party client terminals.
[0074] Another embodiment would operate as an online casino acting as the Host terminal, with multiple casino customers accessing over client terminals connected to the Casino Intra-net, or over the Internet
[0075] Another embodiment would operate as an internal network, without involvement of the Internet, such as within the controlled network of a casino, or between multiple casinos. | A method for operating a central processor to provide a networked exchange in which one or more users can participate in a game of chance, through a hosted auction. The method comprising selection of a pre-scheduled competition that emulates a real-world event upon which to base the auction, establishing the names of entities in the auction that emulate the real-world event, selecting a payout schedule for distributions of the auction proceeds based on results of the real-world event, notifying potential bidders of the auction event, accepting bids from various bidders in an auction process that results in ownership rights to game entities awarded to winning bidders, providing notification of winning and losing bidders, determining winners and providing for payout distributions based on the payout schedule. | 6 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to methods and apparatus used for graphically defining display screens and operator (man-machine) interface control for computing systems.
More particularly, the invention relates to methods and apparatus for (a) graphically defining and generating a "Display Library" (to be defined hereinafter) that can be used by a stand alone process control and/or process measurement instrument containing an interpretation engine (a software task designed to interpret Display Definitions) to actually render displays and control their appearance and behavior during real time process operations; and (b) interpreting the contents of the aforesaid Display Libraries (using said interpretation engine) during the normal operation of a stand alone instrument, thereby rendering displays having the defined appearances and behaviors.
By using the invention, display screens and operator interface controls can be created, provided to and executed on a wide range of user process control and measurement instruments which run on platforms that are otherwise incapable of supporting a display editor.
2. Definitions
a) "Appearance" is defined herein to include at least the following items for every category of defined Display Object, where said categories include bar charts, trends, numerics, text, geometric shapes, pictures, etc.: position, size, foreground color and background color of a given Display Object. In addition, depending on the specific type of Display Object involved, further appearance parameters may be included, such as font size for a text object, etc.
b) "Taught Behavior" is defined herein as a context sensitive (e.g., manual mode versus auto mode, etc.) response(s) to a single external event (such as an operator depressing a button, an alarm going off, etc.), i.e., what happens if a given button is pressed, if a given alarm goes off, etc.
c) "Inherent Behavior" is defined herein to be a response that is associated with a specific type of Display Object, such as bar charts, trends, numerics, text, geometric shapes, pictures, etc. For example, with number object an up arrow button being depressed is predefined to increment the numeric data source for the number referenced by that object. It should be noted that a Taught Behavior may override an inherent behavior; i.e, when an increment button is depressed it can be taught to ignore that event or take some other action (according to the preferred embodiment of the invention Taught Behavior gets priority of Inherent Behavior).
d) "Custom Procedural Logic" is a run time interpretable program presented in the form of data to a Display Definition interpretation engine. Such program may be used to process data, including performing calculations and taking conditional steps, based on real time data inputs.
e) A "Data Source Identifier" is defined herein to include a description of what to access; for example, a real time process value within a instrument's dynamic data base, text from within a static text library (created, according to the preferred embodiment of the invention, via the display editor used to create the aforementioned Display Definitions), information from another Display Object, etc.
f) A "Display Object" is defined herein to be a set including one of more of the following types of information:
(1) Appearance;
(2) Taught Behaviors;
(3) Custom Procedural Logic;
(4) A Data Source Identifier; and/or
(5) Other (contained) Display Objects.
g) A "Display Definition" is a data set (as opposed to executable code) defined herein to mean an interpretable collection (or list) of Display Objects.
h) A "Display Library" is defined herein to be a collection of one or more Display Definitions together with the aforementioned static text library.
i) "Rendering" a display is defined herein to mean activating and cyclically updating (i.e., at the display refresh rate) the collection of Display Objects contained within a given display.
When interpreted by the aforementioned interpretation engine, the Display Library, in the instrument run time environment, constitutes the complete operator interface for that instrument.
3. Description of the Related Art
Methods and apparatus for defining graphically display screens and operator (man-machine) interface control for computing systems such as PC's, main frames, etc., (where the apparatus takes the form of a programmable device utilizing such methods), are known in the art. For example, a commercially available set of such methods is embodied in the "Dataview" software, produced by UFO Systems, Inc. and sold with the "Micromax" product sold by Leeds & Northrup.
While such methods and apparatus are effective for certain hardware platforms, such as the aforementioned PC's, main frames, etc.; they are ineffective for platforms having limited processing resources, memory, keyboard limitations or devices utilizing fixed segment display (such as LED displays), etc., typified by platforms which support process control and process measurement instrumentation.
Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is possible to implement special purpose programs which are specifically designed to run on platforms having limited processing resources, etc., for providing display screens and operator interfaces for without the benefit of an editor. For example, the Leeds & Northrup 25,000 Chart Recorder includes displays hard coded as executable programs (embedded code) written in both assembly language or "C" code installed in Read Only Memory (ROM), in the aforementioned chart recorder.
This approach to providing displays and operator interfaces does not permit immediate graphical feedback while designing and/or defining the displays (as opposed to the feedback provided when, for example, designing displays using a display editor); the programming effort itself is tedious; and it is not be possible to download modified or customized display definitions to target instruments without removing, reprogramming and replacing ROM.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide methods and apparatus for graphically defining and generating Display Libraries that can be used by a wide range of stand alone process control and/or process measurement instruments not having the system resources available to support a display editor.
Furthermore, it would be desirable to provide methods and apparatus for actually rendering displays and controlling their appearance and behavior during real time process operations, via a means for interpreting the contents of the aforesaid Display Libraries, along with real time data inputs and user inputs, on platforms incapable of supporting a display editor.
Still further, it would be desirable to provide displays and operator interfaces which can be designed by a process that permits immediate graphical feedback while designing and/or defining the displays; and which easily and conveniently permits Display Libraries to be modified, replaced, customized and/or augmented after initial installation in a target instrument without having to remove, replace and reprogram ROM.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly it is an object of the invention to provide methods and apparatus for graphically defining and generating Display Libraries that can be used by a wide range of stand alone process control and/or process measurement instruments not having the system resources available to support a display editor.
Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide methods and apparatus for actually rendering displays and controlling their appearance and behavior during real time process operations on platforms incapable of supporting a display editor.
Still further, it is an object of the invention to provide displays and operator interfaces which can be designed by a process that permits immediate graphical feedback while designing and/or defining the displays; and which easily and conveniently permits Display Libraries to be modified, replaced, customized and/or augmented after initial installation in a target instrument without having to remove, replace and reprogram ROM.
According to one aspect of the invention, a method for providing display screens and operator interfaces for process control and measurement instruments, comprises the steps of: (a) graphically defining and generating a Display Library, utilizing a graphical display editor, wherein the Display Library is suitable for use by a process control and/or process measurement instrument, not capable of executing the graphical display editor; (b) providing the Display Library to an instrument; and (c) interpreting the contents of the Display Library provided to the instrument, utilizing an interpretation engine resident in the instrument, wherein the interpretation engine runs during the operation of the instrument in order to render a given display.
According to an alternate characterization of the invention a method for providing display screens and operator interfaces for process control and measurement instruments wherein the display screens and operator interfaces are generated on a first device and are subsequently input to and interpreted on a second device, capable of being decoupled from and run independently with respect to the first device, wherein the second device lacks the system resources to support a display editor, comprises the steps of: (a) generating a Display Definition utilizing the first device; (b) providing the Display Definition to the second device in the form of an interpretable, non-executable data set; (c) interpreting the Display Definition within the second device; and (d) rendering the desired display in response to Display Definition.
Yet another embodiment of the invention is directed to apparatus for providing display screens and operator interfaces for process control and measurement instruments, comprising: (a) means for graphically defining and generating a Display Library, including a graphical display editor, wherein the Display Library is suitable for use by a process control and/or process measurement instrument, not capable of executing the graphical display editor; (b) means for providing the Display Library to an instrument for controlling a process and/or measuring process data; and (c) means for interpreting the contents of the Display Library provided to the instrument, wherein the means for interpreting is resident in the instrument and runs during the operation of the instrument in order to render a given display.
Still another embodiment of the invention is directed to a method for providing display screens and operator interfaces for a process control and/or measurement instrument not capable of executing a graphical display editor, comprising the steps of: (a) providing a Display Library to the instrument; and (b) interpreting the contents of the Display Library provided to the instrument, utilizing an interpretation engine resident in the instrument, wherein the interpretation engine runs during the operation of the instrument in order to render a given display.
The invention features the ability to provide field instrument upgrades without requiring hardware or firmware (ROM) modifications. The invention also features the ability to support concurrent multiple languages (e.g., English, French, etc.), i.e., switch from one language to another on-line by allowing virtue of the fact that according to a preferred embodiment of the invention the text Display Objects do not contain actual text but merely reference to it (such that the interpretation engine can apply a given reference to selected language). Still further the invention provides a reduced display development cost for process control and measurement instruments (compared with the aforementioned hard coding approach to display development), by featuring a user friendly approach to the design and development of instrument displays and operator interfaces.
These and other objects, embodiments and features of the present invention and the manner of obtaining them will become apparent to those skilled in the art, and the invention itself will be best understood by reference to the following Detailed Description read in conjunction with the accompanying Drawing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 depicts an overview of a process contemplated by a preferred embodiment of the invention, in which apparatus for defining displays and creating a Display Library data file in one processing environment is depicted along with apparatus (in the form of a target instrument constituting a second processing environment) which can use such a Display Library data file when made available to an embedded software platform (embedded into a process control and/or measurement instrument), which includes a Display Library interpretation engine.
FIG. 2 depicts an exemplary Display Library data file of the type suitable for processing by the interpretation engine embedded in a software platform included in a process control and/or measurement instrument of the type contemplated by the invention.
FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary Display Definition (contained in the exemplary Display Library depicted in FIG. 2) and the contents of a representative Data Object included in the Display Definition.
FIG. 4 depicts in the form of a flow chart an overview of a process contemplated by a first aspect of the invention for creating a Display Library suitable for use by a process control and/or process measurement instrument (using a graphical editor), and making the Display Library available for use on an instrument not capable of executing the editor, where an instrument resident interpretation engine, running during the operation of the instrument, is utilized to interpret the contents of the Display Library and render displays.
FIG. 5 depicts in the form of a flow chart a more detailed illustration of process steps used, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, for graphically defining and generating a Display Library.
FIG. 6 depicts in the form of a flow chart a more detailed illustration of process steps used, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, for interpreting the contents of a Display Library utilizing an instrument resident interpretation engine.
FIG. 7 depicts in the form of a flow chart a more detailed illustration of process steps used, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, for recognizing and interpreting signals generated external to an instrument resident interpretation engine.
FIG. 8 depicts, in the form of a flow chart, an overview of a process contemplated by an alternate embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Reference should now be made to FIG. 1 which, as indicated hereinabove, depicts an overview of a process contemplated by a preferred embodiment of the invention.
In particular, FIG. 1 depicts PC 101 (such as any commercially available IBM compatible personal computer ("PC"), which, according to the illustrative embodiment of the invention depicted in FIG. 1, accepts inputs from a mouse and/or a keyboard that may be processed by a graphical display editor running on PC 101 ("IBM" is a registered trademark of the International Business Machines Corporation).
Graphical display editors suitable for running on a PC, such as PC 101, are generally well known in the art and include, for example, the Dataview graphical display editor software referred to hereinbefore. Although graphical editing techniques per se are well known, there is no known editor which generates the type of Display Library data file having the format and content of a Display Library data file as defined hereinbefore.
The content and format of a Display Library data file suitable for use in accordance with the teachings of the present invention will be described hereinafter with reference to FIGS. 2-3 (FIG. 1 illustrates one such Display Library data file as file 155 (Editor Output 150); where the data file is shown to include a set of Display Definitions and associated text data).
Those skilled in the art will recognize that the format and content of the desired Display Library data file (tailored to meet the requirements of a "mirror image" interpretation engine running on a target instrument; and vice versa) will fully and completely describe the graphical editing steps necessary to produce such file.
Accordingly, given the state of graphical editing in general and the capabilities of those skilled in the art, no further description of the editor per se (used to generate Display Libraries on PC 101, such as the Display Library depicted in FIGS. 2-3) will be set forth hereinafter, except to say that the invention can (for example) be implemented by a Windows based software package that facilitates the interactive creation of the Display Definitions used to control product displays
Referring again to FIG. 1, a display screen, 102, is shown to include exemplary display 103 which may be characterized (represented) in the form of a Display Definition created by the editor used to produce the desired Display Library (simply referred to hereinafter as the "editor").
In fact, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the editor running on PC 101 may be used to generate the desired Display Library data file in a first processing environment (PC 101); and the data file can subsequently be made available to a target instrument, such as the depicted instrument 120 (which constitutes a second processing environment), via a communications link (such as link 175 shown in FIG. 1), removable media (such a portable diskette not shown), installation in pre-programmed ROM, etc., where the Display Library data file is (according to the teachings of the invention) made available to the software platform embedded into instrument 120.
Although instrument 120 may not be capable of supporting a graphical display editor in the its processing environment (the aforementioned second processing environment); according to the invention, the embedded software platform is designed to include the aforementioned "mirror image" Display Library interpretation engine.
Interpretation engines in general, like the graphical display editors that create the data sets interpreted by such engines, are also well known by those skilled in the art. Once the format and content of the data set to be interpreted are known, those skilled in the art can build a suitable interpretation engine that reacts, to among other things, real time data inputs (such as process data per se), user inputs (such as a button on the instrument panel being depressed, etc.), as well as the contents of the Display Library Data file. The process steps used, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, for interpreting the contents of a Display Library utilizing an instrument resident interpretation engine, is described in detail hereinafter with reference to FIGS. 6-7.
Since the format and content of the Display Library data file contemplated by the invention is described in detail herein with reference to FIGS. 2-3, and the process steps used (in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention) for interpreting the contents of a Display Library (utilizing an instrument resident interpretation engine), along with steps for performing other interpretation engine functions of significance, are described herein with reference to FIGS. 6-7; no further description of the interpretation engine per se will, or needs to be, set forth hereinafter to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention.
It should be noted that FIG. 1 illustrates display 103 appearing on the face of instrument 120 at 199; and display 199 matches the display (103) created originally on PC 101; with display 103's Display Definition having been included (according to the illustrative example being set forth herein) in the Display Library made available to instrument 120.
It should further be noted with reference to FIG. 1 that the programmable devices (such as, PC 101 and instrument 120 depicted in FIG. 1, etc.), used according to a preferred embodiment of the invention for implementing the novel processes to be described in detail hereinafter, constitute examples of apparatus suitable for practicing the invention when properly programmed. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate how to program devices like PC 101 and instrument 120 to carry out the teachings of the invention after reviewing the details of the aforementioned novel processes described herein.
Finally, with reference to FIG. 1, it should be noted that a commercially available example of an instrument like instrument 120, suitable for providing a processing environment in which the present invention may be practiced, is the aforementioned Leeds & Northrup 25,000 Chart recorder. This example, and the other examples of hardware and software set forth herein, are provided for the sake of illustration only without intending to limit the spirit or scope of the present invention.
Reference should now be made to FIG. 2 which depicts, as indicated hereinbefore, an exemplary Display Library Data file which consists of a Display Library and associate text data (which may include one or more text data language files).
In particular, FIG. 2 depicts Display Library 200 as a collection of one or more (at least one) Display Definition(s), illustrated (for the sake of example only) as Display Definitions 201, 202, 203 and 204; together with a static text library 205 stored in the portion of the Display Library labeled "Text Data".
As defined hereinbefore, each Display Definition is a data set (as opposed to executable code) which is an interpretable collection (or list) of Display Objects. FIG. 2 depicts exemplary Display Definition 204 as a collection of Display Objects 206, 207 and 208.
It should be recalled that a Display Object is defined herein to be a set including one or more of the following types of information: (1) Appearance; (2) Taught Behaviors; (3) Custom Procedural Logic; (4) A Data Source Identifier; and/or (5) Other (contained) Display Objects.
This is illustrated with reference to FIG. 3 which depicts an exemplary Display Definition 300 (which could be any Display Definition contained in a given Display Library), containing exemplary Display Objects 301, 302 and 305; and the contents of exemplary Display Object 301 included in Display Definition 300.
In particular, FIG. 3 illustrates that a Display Object, which can be created and used in accordance with the teachings and stated objects of the invention set forth elsewhere herein, includes the aforementioned (1) Appearance information (shown at 311); (2) Taught Behavior (shown at 312); (3) Custom Procedural Logic (shown at 313); (4) a Data Source Identifier (shown at 314); and (5) a contained Display Object or Objects (shown at 315; and by way of further example Display Objects 303 and 304 contained within Display Object 302), where each type of information that may be included as part of a given Display Object has been previously defined herein.
It should be noted that a Display Object, like Display Object 302, contains multiple Display Objects (such as 303 and 304), when, for example, displays are embedded within other displays (such as where several layers of display menus appear within a given display).
According to the present invention, Display Libraries, such as the one depicted in FIG. 2; and Display Definitions and Display Objects (such as the one(s) depicted in FIG. 3), may be created according to the exemplary process depicted in FIG. 5.
Before describing the FIG. 5 process steps, reference should first be made to FIG. 4 which, as indicated hereinbefore, depicts (in the form of a flow chart) an overview of one process contemplated by the invention.
In particular, FIG. 4 depicts (in summary form) a process including the following steps: (a) graphically defining and generating a Display Library, utilizing a graphical display editor, wherein the Display Library is suitable for use by a process control and/or process measurement instrument, not capable of executing the graphical display editor (step 401, the details of which, according to one embodiment of the invention, are depicted in and described with reference to FIG. 5); (b) providing the Display Library to an instrument (step 402); and (c) interpreting the contents of the Display Library provided to the instrument, utilizing an interpretation engine resident in the instrument, wherein the interpretation engine runs during the operation of the instrument in order to render a given display (step 403, the details of which, according to one embodiment of the invention, are depicted in and described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7).
Step 401, when performed using (for example) the aforementioned exemplary Windows based software package to create Data Libraries containing the information taught herein (to drive the "mirror image" interpretation engine referred to hereinbefore), facilitates the interactive creation of the Display Definitions used eventually to generate displays and provide desired operator interfaces.
The step of providing a Display Library to an instrument (step 402), may be performed, according to various alternate embodiments of the invention, using (for example): a Read Only Memory (ROM) device installed in the target instrument; a communication link coupled to the instrument; and/or a removable storage medium (such as a floppy disc) accessible by the instrument.
Step 403, the step of "interpreting" the contents of a Display Library using an instrument resident interpretation engine, will be explained in greater detail with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, as indicated hereinbefore.
Reference should now be made to FIG. 5 which, as previously indicated, depicts in the form of a flow chart a more detailed illustration of process steps used, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, for graphically defining and generating a Display Library (step 401 of FIG. 4).
Assuming again, for the sake of illustration only, that the exemplary Windows based software package being used to create Data Libraries containing the information taught herein (providing the user with the ability to "see" and interact on, for example, a PC display while creating Display definitions and operator interfaces); step 501 of the process depicted in FIG. 5 represents the activity of a user interacting with the exemplary software package (which accepts graphical inputs) for the purpose of creating Display Definitions (i.e., defining the set of "Display Objects" referred to at step 501 of FIG. 5) for inclusion in the Display Library being created.
In particular, according to one of many possible scenarios in which a user would interact with a graphical package to create Display Definitions in accordance with the teachings of the invention, the user would select a target screen geometry (i.e., specify the metes and bounds of the screen); specify a display upon the selected screen (i.e., specify the display's location); and then select and place within the specified display location a particular Display Object (i.e., pick the object you want and place it on the screen within the display being created). Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that all displays in the Display Library being created must have the same target screen geometry.
The steps outlined hereinabove may easily and conveniently be performed using, for example, the aforementioned (commercially available) Windows based software package, following the teachings set forth herein for preferred Display Definition content.
Practicing step 501, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, enables the user to view and modify what is being created on screen (for ultimate replication on a screen included as part of a target instrument), as a given Display Definition (list of Display Objects) is defined.
Steps 502 and 503 of FIG. 5 are included in the process depicted in FIG. 5 to clearly indicate that, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the user may optionally include Taught Behavior (as defined hereinbefore), at step 502 of the depicted process; and/or Custom Procedural Logic (also defined hereinbefore), at step 503 of the depicted process, in a given Display Object as it is being defined (the other elements of a Display Object as defined hereinabove, e.g., Appearance, etc., being required).
Reference should now be made to FIG. 6 which, as indicated previously, depicts in the form of a flow chart a more detailed illustration of process steps used, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, for interpreting the contents of a Display Library utilizing an instrument resident interpretation engine.
In particular process step 601 in FIG. 6 indicates that the instrument resident interpretation engine contemplated by a preferred embodiment of the invention, functions to cyclically update a given display (at the instrument's display refresh rate), i.e., what one sees; and that (as summarized by step 602) the engine is further responsible for recognizing and interpreting externally generated signals (signals generated externally with respect to the engine itself, such as when an operator depresses a button on an instrument panel, etc.), i.e., determining how the display will react (what it will do) in response to the external input interpreted in conjunction with the contents of the Display Library data file.
If, for example, no buttons are depressed on the target instrument panel, no alarms are signaled, etc.; the process depicted in FIG. 6 would cause the data displayed on the screen to be refreshed each data cycle, over and over again, until some behavior (like a button being depressed) or real time process variable, calls for something else to happen.
As indicated hereinbefore, FIG. 7 which depicts in the form of a flow chart a more detailed illustration of a set of steps that may be used to implement step 602 of FIG. 6, i.e., a more detailed illustration of process steps used, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, for recognizing and interpreting signals generated external to an instrument resident interpretation engine.
Signals generated external to an instrument resident interpretation engine, as previously mentioned, include: real time data inputs (such as process data per se), user inputs (such as a button on the instrument panel being depressed, etc.), interpreted in conjunction with the contents of the Display Library Data file.
Before reviewing the process steps related to the specific functions of the interpretation engine described with reference to FIG. 7, it should be noted for the sake of completeness that, according to the preferred embodiment of the invention, Inherent Behaviors are implemented through execution of interpretation engine code and are not described in a given Display Definition; whereas Taught Behaviors are described within a given Display Definition and are then implemented, once again, by interpretation engine code.
It should also be recalled that, according to the preferred embodiment of the invention, Taught Behavior overrides i.e., take precedence over, Inherent Behavior.
Furthermore, it should be understood (and those skilled in the art will readily appreciate) that the interpretation engine contemplated by the invention (a) causes a display to be rendered as a function of the contents of the Display Library, including any Inherent Behavior implicit in the definition of Display Objects included in the Display Library (with the interpretation engine actually extracting information as needed from the Display Library); and that (b) the interpretation engine responds to external events (such as an operator pressing a button, process data triggered alarms built into the interpretation engine logic and/or custom procedural logic resident included in a given Display Object, etc. Thus, for example, if some process variable is greater than a predetermined amount; the interpretation engine could cause the word "DANGER" to be displayed, etc.
Referring to FIG. 7, it may be seen that, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, a suitable set of steps for recognizing and interpreting signals generated external to an instrument resident interpretation engine include: (a) recognizing and processing signals generated external to the interpretation engine, according to any defined Taught Behavior for a given Display Object and any Inherent Behavior implicit in the definition of the given Display Object (step 701); (b) utilizing each Display Object's Data Source Identifier to locate and retrieve real time data to be displayed (step 702); (c) executing any defined Custom Procedural Logic for each Display Object (step 703); and (d) formatting and drawing the retrieved real time data according to its defined Appearance (step 704).
As previously indicated, according to the preferred embodiment of the invention, Taught Behavior takes precedence over said Inherent Behavior in performing said step of recognizing and processing signals generated external to the interpretation engine.
Those skilled in the art will recognize that the foregoing description has been presented for the sake of illustration and description only. It 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, reference should now be made to FIG. 8 which, as indicated hereinbefore, depicts in the form of a flow chart an overview of a process contemplated by an alternate embodiment of the invention.
In particular, FIG. 8 illustrates an alternate embodiment of the invention that includes the steps of: (a) generating a Display Definition using a first device (at step 801); (b) providing the Display Definition to a second device in the form of an interpretable, non-executable data set (at step 802); (c) interpreting the Display Definition data set provided to the second device (at step 803); and rendering a display in response to the interpreted Display Definition (at step 804).
What has been described in detail hereinabove are methods and apparatus which meet all of the aforestated objectives.
The embodiments and examples set forth herein were presented in order to best explain the principles of the instant invention and its practical application to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the instant invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.
In view of the above it is, therefore, to be understood that the claims appended hereto are intended to cover all such modifications and variations which fall within the true scope and spirit of the invention. | Methods, together with apparatus for implementing such methods, for providing display screens and operator interfaces for process control and measurements, comprising the steps of (a) graphically defining and generating Display Libraries that can be used by a stand alone process control and/or process measurement instrument containing an interpretation engine (a software task designed to interpret Display Definitions) to actually render displays and control their appearance and behavior during real time process operations; and (b) interpreting the contents of the aforesaid Display Definitions (using said interpretation engine) during the normal operation of a stand alone instrument, thereby rendering displays having the defined appearances and behaviors. By using the invention, display screens and operator interface controls can be created, provided to and executed on a wide range of user process control and measurement instruments which run on platforms that are otherwise incapable of supporting a display editor. | 6 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
The present application claims benefit of priority to earlier filed provisional application, U.S. Application Ser. No. 60/825,850, filed on Sep. 15, 2006, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND
In the health care industry, there are a number of professionals who provide services and care to patients who may be admitted to a care facility, such as a hospital. Because each of these professions has a unique set of skills and training, and unique sets of standards regarding care and treatment, crafting a common plan for the overall treatment and care of a patient can sometimes be problematic. The lack of a common and coherent plan for treatment of a patient can result in diminished confidence in the patient and their family in the course of treatment and a lack of efficiency in providing care and treatment.
That lack of efficiency in the treatment plan and the provision of treatment can lead to increased stays in hospital and also to increased costs and disruption of service to other patients.
In conventional medical practice, multiple treatment or care plans may be written for each patient. However, conventionally, these plans are not developed at the same time and based on the information from the patient. It is this lack of commonality and coherence between the different treatment or care plans that the present disclosure seeks to address.
It has been noted in statistical research regarding the quality and efficacy of health care in the U.S. that as many as 98,000 people die in U.S. hospitals each year as a result of errors. Further, it is estimated that as many as sixty-five patients out of every one thousand patients treated may suffer injury or illness as a consequence of their treatment. These statistics point to a need to improve the provision of health care provided in a hospital or health care facility setting.
Improvements to the planning and execution of patient care plans are desirable.
SUMMARY
The present disclosure relates generally to improvements in the establishment of patient care plans and the execution of patient care plans. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a coordinated, collaborative approach to the development of a patient care plan at the admission of a patient to hospital and may include a plurality of healthcare professionals in the development of the plan. The present disclosure also relates to an approach to executing the patient care plan during the patient's stay in hospital with specific milestones established before transitioning the treatment from one stage of the care plan to the next stage of the care plan.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a diagram of an overall patient care plan structure according to the present disclosure.
FIG. 2 is a table of metrics and categories of improvement that may be addressed by the patient care plan of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 3 is a list of care objectives to be met for a patient at a first tollgate of a patient care plan developed according to the present disclosure.
FIG. 4 is a listing of elements to be addressed in the first tollgate corresponding to the objectives of FIG. 3 .
FIG. 5 is a listing of care objectives to be met for the patient between the first tollgate of FIG. 4 and a second tollgate of the patient care plan developed according to the present disclosure.
FIG. 6 is a listing of elements to be addressed in the second tollgate corresponding to the objectives of FIG. 5 .
FIG. 7 is a listing of care objectives to be met for the patient between the second tollgate of FIG. 6 and a third tollgate of the patient care plan developed according to the present disclosure.
FIG. 8 is a listing of elements to be addressed in the third tollgate corresponding to the objectives of FIG. 7 .
FIG. 9 is a listing of care objectives to be met for the patient between the third tollgate of FIG. 8 and a fourth tollgate of the patient care plan developed according to the present disclosure.
FIG. 10 is a listing of elements to be addressed in the fourth tollgate corresponding to the objectives of FIG. 9 .
FIG. 11 is a listing of care objectives to be met for the patient between the fourth tollgate of FIG. 10 and a fifth tollgate of the patient care plan developed according to the present disclosure.
FIG. 12 is a listing of elements to be addressed in the fifth tollgate corresponding to the objectives of FIG. 11 .
FIG. 13 is a first page of a tollgate form corresponding to the care objectives for transitioning between a second tollgate of a patient care plan according to the present disclosure and a third tollgate of the patient care plan.
FIG. 14 is a second page of the tollgate form of FIG. 13 .
FIG. 15 is a second embodiment of the first page of the tollgate form of FIG. 13 , with entries on the form corresponding to a plurality of phases of a patient care plan according to the present disclosure.
FIG. 16 is a second embodiment of the second page of the tollgate form of FIG. 14 , with entries on the form corresponding to the first page of the form shown in FIG. 15 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
During the intake and admittance process for a new patient at a hospital, it is not unusual for a variety of health care professionals and administrative staff to interview the patient and/or their family. While many of the questions asked during the interview process are vital to assessing the patient's condition and gathering information that will aid the treatment of the patient, many of the questions asked are also duplicative. Much of this duplication of effort comes from the fact that the different health care professionals need similar information to formulate a care plan for the patient. The reason for the duplicate questions comes from the fact that the different professionals visit with the patient at different times during the intake process and the information gathered by each professional is typically not available to the other professionals in a timely fashion. Often the same information may have been gathered by a care professional but has not been captured or recorded in any tangible medium that will allow sharing of the information with other professionals.
Another implication of the conventional approach to patient intake and diagnosis is that the intake process is stretched out over time. Each of the professionals need to visit with the patient prior to the professional being able to formulate a patient care plan and the contents of the different plan will likely have some dependency or overlap with the other care plans. Coordination during the assessment between the different professionals can be time-consuming and completion of the plans may be a precursor to the patient being fully admitted into the hospital and treatment begun.
The present disclosure contemplates a team of professionals representing each of the stakeholder professions involved with the development of a comprehensive patient care plan during the admission process. The team of professionals, including for example but not limited to, a physician, a nurse and a pharmacist, would be jointly involved in the information gathering and assessment of the patient. Rather than different professionals being involved at different times, this team would be together, examining, gathering information and questioning the patient contemporaneously. Questions called for or implicated in the development of different elements of the comprehensive patient care plan are asked once and the information required by each professional is gleaned from one answer from the patient or the family. In the interest of preserving patient privacy while still ensuring the commonality of the process for all professionals, one or more of the involved care professionals may be visually shielded from the patient but able to hear and participate verbally in the examination and information gathering. Such a shielded professional, such as, for example, a pharmacist, may be able to aid a physician in the determination of a pharmacological plan and will hear the medications orders directly from the physician. This will remove delay in the med orders being placed and the treatment being initiated.
This also ensures that each professional is hearing the same information. It is not uncommon for patients to respond differently to the same general question asked by different professionals. In the conventional approach, the different answers could lead to confusion or lack of coherence in the different professionals' care plans and these discrepancies must be addressed at a later time, when and if the care plans come into some degree of conflict with each other. This may result in delays or problems in timing or consistency of the care provided based on the different plans. Having each professional hear the answer simultaneously, these potential discrepancies can be identified and addressed before they can have an adverse effect on the diagnosis and treatment of the patient.
By having the professionals work together to examine, question and gather information regarding the patient, the process of developing a specific patient care plan can also be streamlined. Instead of having each professional develop an individual plan, and then having to harmonize the different plans at some later point in time, the professionals who have gathered the relevant information may work together to build a single coherent plan from the outset. No additional time or resources will need to be expended to ensure that the elements of the plans related to the different professionals mesh together. The different elements may be formulated jointly and in cooperation with each other.
One additional added benefit of the joint development of the patient care plan elements is that the time required to establish the plan and then begin to implement the plan may be shortened rather dramatically. It may not be uncommon for conventional independent intake procedures to require a number of hours from entry of a non-critical care patient into the hospital until the care plan is in place and treatment can begin. According to the present disclosure, the time required to analyze a patient's needs, development the care plan and initiate treatment may be shortened to a maximum time of ninety minutes.
While the present disclosure is generally focused on non-critical patient intake, efficiency and coherence improvements inherent in the described approach may also be extended to critical emergency patient intake. In emergency time-sensitive situations, such as for example, trauma center patient intake, it is more common to have a team of professionals treating the patient from the time of entry. However, improvements of the present disclosure may be applied to the development of an overall patient care plan for the course of a patient's stay in hospital, beyond the critical response phase in the trauma center or emergency room. Features of the present disclosure may also be incorporated into the emergency patient intake process to aid what may be currently an interdisciplinary or interprofessional treatment team approach to help improve the efficiency of these more time sensitive operations. In addition, after the critical treatment phase has been completed, the process of the present disclosure may then also be applied to develop the overall care plan for the patient.
In addition to improving the efficiency and coherence of the intake and patient care plan development processes, the present disclosure also relates to the structure and implementation of the care plan over the course of the patient's stay in hospital and after discharge. As shown conceptually in FIG. 1 , the care plan 100 may have a plurality of phases 102 of treatment beginning with the entry of the patient into the hospital.
As shown in FIG. 1 , each phase 102 of care plan 100 is linearly arranged and dependencies between the different phases may be coordinated so that no two phases 102 are in the process of being executed simultaneously. This may help ensure that there is no confusion within the care plan as to which of several treatments or actions should precede or follow other treatments or actions. The care plan may be developed so that there is no temporal or treatment overlap between and among phases, requiring each phase 102 to be completed and certified completed by a milestone or tollgate 104 before the next phase 102 may begin. The contents of each phase 102 may be controlled so that if several treatment elements need to take place simultaneously, these elements are all in the same phase 102 and the phase includes information as to the order in which the treatments should be performed or the extent of overlap of or between treatments.
FIG. 2 is a table which illustrates a plurality of metrics 110 that may be used to evaluate the need for and the effectiveness of a collaborative care approach as disclosed herein. Each of the metrics 110 listed on the left side of the table are further categorized as indicated in the right side of the table. The table includes shading illustrating for which of a plurality of categories 112 (listed along the top of the table) the metrics might be measured or recorded. As is shown, many of the metrics 110 used indicate effects throughout the various categories 112 listed, so that improvement of these metrics are indicative a broad efficacy of the collaborative care approach disclosed herein.
FIG. 3 illustrates a list of example care objectives that may be addressed in the care phase extending from admission of a patient to a health care facility up to the review of Tollgate 1 , relating to the completion of the admission process of the patient to the care facility and establishment of the care plan. The shading of the symbols within symbol row 114 indicates to which of the categories 112 of FIG. 2 that these care objectives may be related. Under one or more of the categories 112 is a list of actions 116 that may be included in the services or activities 116 that may be included in this process. As an example, this phase of care may be defined as actions that must take place within the first ninety minutes that a patient is in the care facility.
FIG. 4 illustrates the elements that may be included in Tollgate 1 , which may be used to signal the completion of the admissions process and the development and initiation of the care plan for a particular patient. Within each of the Tollgate elements are an identifier of the category from FIG. 2 to which each of the elements relates. The elements that mat be included in this Tollgate may be different and adapted to the care plan for each patient. Once the elements for Tollgate 1 (and for any future Tollgates described below) are defined, the elements become requirements which must be achieved before the patient care plan is permitted to advance to the succeeding phases of care. As noted above, these objectives to be completed by the close of the first care phase and the tollgate may preferably be completed and passed within the first ninety minutes.
FIG. 5 illustrates a list of example care objectives that may be addressed in the care phase between Tollgate 1 and Tollgate 2 . The color codes of the symbols indicate to which of the categories of FIG. 2 that these care objectives may be related. Actions are again included is list form beneath one or more of the listed categories. This care phase may preferably span, for example, the first four hours that the patient is in the care facility, and following the completion of Tollgate 1 .
FIG. 6 illustrates the elements that may be included in Tollgate 2 . Within each of the Tollgate elements are an identifier of the category from FIG. 2 to which each of the elements relates. As noted above, the objectives of Tollgate 2 may preferably be completed within the first four hours and after the completion of Tollgate 1 .
FIG. 7 illustrates a list of example care objectives that may be addressed in the care phase between Tollgate 2 and Tollgate 3 . The color codes of the symbols indicate to which of the categories of FIG. 2 that these care objectives may be related. This care phase may preferably span, for example, the first twenty-four hours that the patient is in the care facility, and following the completion of Tollgate 2 .
FIG. 8 illustrates the elements that may be included in Tollgate 3 . Within each of the Tollgate elements are an identifier of the category from FIG. 2 to which each of the elements relates. As noted above, the objectives of Tollgate 3 may preferably be completed within the first twenty-four hours and after the completion of Tollgate 2 .
FIG. 9 illustrates a list of example care objectives that may be addressed in the care phase between Tollgate 3 and Tollgate 4 . The color codes of the symbols indicate to which of the categories of FIG. 2 that these care objectives may be related. This phase of care may preferably extend up to approximately twenty-four hours prior to discharge of the patient from the care facility.
FIG. 10 illustrates the elements that may be included in Tollgate 4 . Within each of the Tollgate elements are an identifier of the category from FIG. 2 to which each of the elements relates. As noted above, the objectives of Tollgate 4 may preferably be completed within the twenty-four hours of the discharge of the patient from the care facility and after the completion of Tollgate 3 .
FIG. 11 illustrates a list of example care objectives that may be addressed in the care phase between Tollgate 4 and Tollgate 5 . The color codes of the symbols indicate to which of the categories of FIG. 2 that these care objectives may be related. This phase of care may preferably extend from approximately twenty-four hours prior to discharge of the patient from the care facility up to the discharge of the patient.
FIG. 12 illustrates the elements that may be included in Tollgate 5 . Within each of the Tollgate elements are an identifier of the category from FIG. 2 to which each of the elements relates. As noted above, the objectives of Tollgate 5 may preferably be completed within two hours prior to the discharge of the patient from the care facility and after the completion of Tollgate 4 .
Referring now to FIGS. 13 and 14 , a first page 150 and a second page 152 of a tollgate form 154 are illustrated that may be used by one or members of the patient care team to assess and determine the status of the actions and objections set for a patient at a particular tollgate during the process of carrying out the patient care plan. The particular example of tollgate form 154 may be used at the conclusion of up to three phases of treatment in the plan illustrated above. The form of FIGS. 13 and 14 may be a hardcopy form, such as printed on paper, or it may be embodied in a digital format, such as displayed on a desktop or laptop computer screen, or on a palm-style or other tablet type computing and/or data capture device. If it is a paper or other hardcopy form, it may be a print from a digital record of the patient care plan that has been generated or printed to facilitate bedside or conference room data collection and recordation. On second page 152 is a table for listing any issues with the creation or the execution of the patient care plan that may be used as feedback to assist the treatment of future patients.
Referring now also FIGS. 15 and 16 , a sample form 254 is shown which has been filled out in accordance with a particular patient care plan and has been used to address the elements of a plurality of tollgates in this plan.
The elements within each care phase and each tollgate are indicated above as illustrative examples and not intended to limit the nature and extent of elements that might be included. The basis for the selection of elements is preferably medical need and administrative requirements, although other bases may also be used to drive the selection of the elements. It is intended that any items or elements listed in either a care phase or a tollgate as part of the overall care plan for a patient will be directly related to the provision of services to the patient and/or the patient's family.
While the care plan as described herein includes five distinct care phases with five corresponding tollgates, the number of tollgates and care phases may be adapted as needed for a particular care facility or for the care of a particular patient or group of patients. With particular diagnoses, more or fewer phases and corresponding tollgates may be defined. Longer term care facilities and patients with longer term care needs and in-hospital stay requirements may have many more care elements, phases and tollgates. Out-patient centers and non-critical care facilities may admit, treat and discharge patients on a much shorter time scale than described above and the number and timing of phases and corresponding tollgates may be adapted for these different time scales and care requirements. Full spectrum care facilities including, for example, critical care departments, Level 1 Trauma Centers, oncology treatment facilities, etc, may have a plurality of different implementations of the collaborative patient care plan described herein that have been adapted to meet the particular needs of different groups patients and health care providers.
The above described care plan is configured to work with an average hospital stay of four days. The stakeholder care providers involved in the treatment of a patient will determine the appropriate planning timeframe for a care plan while the care is being developed. The overall length of the plan, the number of tollgates, the elements to be included in each care phase and the desired outcome are all defined during the initial evaluation period described above. If the anticipated stay is only two days, based on the initial diagnosis, the plan would be adapted to match the length of stay and the course of treatment called for by the diagnosis and the patient's particular characteristics. It is anticipated that the care planning process described above is a flexible and adaptive model. By this, it is meant that the plan may be set initially to match the apparent patient conditions and diagnosis, but the care phases, elements within the phases and the tollgates may be altered to match changing requirements of the patient or changes to the initial diagnosis. For example, new symptoms may appear during the course of treatment or patient condition may be altered unexpectedly during treatment. The care plan may be adapted as needed to address these changed conditions or symptoms.
It is anticipated that the overall approach described above may be adapted as needed to address particular patients or groups of patients, different health care providers or groups of providers, and for different health care facilities or groups of facilities. The collaborative care plan described above may be implemented as a system and the system may be automated and computerized for use by the care providers within a particular facility or organization. In such an automated system, the patient care planning, execution and tracking according to the present disclosure may be recorded as electronic signals of some form of digital storage medium. However, it is anticipated that such a system may be implemented without the need for automation. In other words, a system of patient care planning, execution and tracking may be accomplished in a series of hardcopy documents.
A test implementation of a patient care planning system according to the present disclosure was carried out at a unit of an existing health care facility. Prior to the initiation of this test implementation, a series of benchmarks for performance measures were established regarding the current operation of the facility. Over the course of several months, the patient care planning system was used to plan and execute the provision of care to patients assigned the unit during their in-patient stays at the facility. As the test implementation was progressing, the same performance measures were continually addressed to determine variations from the original benchmarks. The changes to the performance measures from the benchmarks in a positive direction provided validation of the approach described herein.
In the test implementation, the performance measures included such things as patient satisfaction (subjective), quality improvements related to medication reconciliation expressed in terms of the overall number of errors per patient, quality performance core measures specific to patient care quality, length of stay and overall patient cost for treatment. With regard to patient satisfaction, the test unit of the facility noted an increase of approximately 24% above the benchmark. The overall length of stay on average was reduced by approximately 34% over the course of the first six months of operation of the unit. An overall reduction of approximately 40% in the cost to the patient of the care received was also realized over this same period of time.
Of particular note is the reduction of the average number of errors per patient in the medication reconciliation and the improvement to the quality performance core measures that were achieved by the unit over the first six months of operation. The medication reconciliation measure relates to any medication errors that might be made during the course of a patient stay. Over the first six months of operation of the test implementation, the medication reconciliation error rate per patient was reduced by almost 100%. For several of the months of operation, zero errors total occurred in the unit. With regard to the core measures, there are several elements or bundles which are measured to derive an overall performance rate. For two particular measures, pneumonia and congestive heart failure, significant improvements have also been realized. For the core measure relating to pneumonia, compliance went from approximately 38% to approximately 98.4%, with five of the six months demonstrating 100% compliance with the core measure. For the core measure relating to congestive heart failure, compliance of 100% was achieved for four of the six months with an overall compliance of 94% being achieved.
Clearly, implementation of the test system in the unit if this health care facility provided a clear and dramatic improvement to the overall quality and efficacy of the care provided to patients. In addition, this system implementation has also resulted in the reduction of the average cost per patient stay and an improvement to the overall sense of patient satisfaction with the care provided.
A system according to the present disclosure may be incorporated into an existing operational and/or physical structure or a new operational or physical structure may be adopted within which to operate such a system. A facility or organization may implement the above-described approach to collaborative patient care as a method within an existing operational and/or physical structure or may adapt a new operational or physical structure within which to implement such a method. | A system for developing a patient care plan and executing the patient care plan and assessing the success of the planning and execution of the patient care plan. A coordinated, collaborative approach to the development of a patient care plan at the admission of a patient to a health care facility and may include a plurality of healthcare professionals in the development of the plan. The plan may include a plurality of phases spanning from admission through treatment and discharge of the patient from the health care facility. A system of executing the patient care plan with specific milestones established before transitioning the treatment from one stage of the care plan to the next stage of the care plan. A method of developing, executing and assessing the execution of a patient care plan including a plurality of phases of patient care and milestones to be met before transitioning to the next phase of care. | 6 |
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present invention relates to an automotive vehicle body structure for improving the crash safety of the vehicle.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] It has been proposed to control the deceleration of the passenger compartment of a vehicle by appropriately selecting the deformation mode of the part of the vehicle body other than the passenger compartment at the time of a vehicle crash, and prevent the deformation of the vehicle body from reaching the passenger compartment as a part of efforts to increase the protection of the vehicle occupants at the time of a vehicle crash (see Japanese patent laid open publication No. 7-101354 and others).
[0003] In view of reducing the injury to the vehicle occupant at the time of a vehicle crash, it is important to note that there is a delay in the deceleration of the vehicle occupant with respect to the deceleration of the vehicle body because the passenger restraint system such as a seat belt acts like a spring at the time of a vehicle crash, and the peak of the vehicle occupant deceleration occurs at the time of the maximum elongation of the spring although the vehicle body deceleration remains constant. Furthermore, this peak is significantly greater than the average deceleration of the vehicle body because the vehicle occupant reduces its speed in a shorter period of time than the main part of the vehicle body. Therefore, to reduce the maximum level of the vehicle occupant deceleration, it is necessary not only to reduce the average deceleration of the vehicle body but also to reduce the overshoot of the vehicle occupant deceleration due to the action of the restraint system as a spring.
[0004] In view of reducing the injury to the vehicle occupant, the waveform of the vehicle body deceleration is highly important. FIG. 14 shows a waveform of the vehicle body deceleration G 2 which can minimize the vehicle occupant deceleration G 1 according to the foregoing considerations. The vehicle body deceleration G 2 in this case means the deceleration of the part of the vehicle body to which the seat is attached. As shown by the solid line, a deceleration level higher than the average deceleration is produced for a prescribed (short) time period in an initial phase (interval a in the drawing), and an opposite deceleration is produced for a short time period (interval b in the drawing) before the vehicle body starts decelerating at the average deceleration (interval c in the drawing). It has bee confirmed by simulations conducted by the inventors that such a time history of the vehicle body deceleration is effective in reducing the overshoot of the vehicle occupant deceleration particularly owing to the reverse deceleration in interval b, and the vehicle occupant deceleration G 1 can be significantly reduced as compared to the case of a constant deceleration (rectangular wave) for a given distance for deceleration (dynamic stroke).
[0005] For more details of vehicle body structures based on the foregoing concept, reference should be made to copending US patent applications Ser. Nos. 09/376,098 filed Aug. 17, 1999, 09/377,366 filed Aug. 18, 1999, 09/376,888 filed Aug. 18, 1999, ______ filed Jul. 21, 2000 (our ref: F684), ______ filed Jul. 28, 2000 (our ref: F685), 09/621,336 filed Jul. 21, 2000, 09/608,669 filed Jun. 30, 2000, ______ filed Aug. 23, 2000 (our ref: F688). The contents of these copending patent applications are hereby incorporated in the present application by reference.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The present invention is intended to improve previous proposals made in connection with the vehicle body structure based on the above described concept, and a primary object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle body structure which can favorably control the deceleration of the vehicle body supporting the vehicle seat at the time of a frontal vehicle crash so that the maximum deceleration of the vehicle occupant may be reduced.
[0007] A second object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle body structure based on the above described concept which is simple in structure, and requires minimum changes from the existing vehicle body design.
[0008] A third object of the present invention is to a vehicle body structure based on the above described concept which adds very little weight to the existing vehicle body design.
[0009] A fourth object of the present invention is to a vehicle body structure based on the above described concept which can produce a highly desirable deceleration time history for the vehicle seat at the time of a vehicle crash.
[0010] According to the present invention, such objects can be accomplished by providing an automotive vehicle body structure, comprising: a vehicle body main frame including a floor member defining a floor of a passenger compartment, a dashboard panel extending upright from a front end of the floor member, and a pair of front side beams extending between a front end of the vehicle body and the dashboard panel; a crash load transmitting member extending from a front end of the vehicle body to a part adjacent to the floor member; a vehicle seat connected to the crash load transmitting member; a guide member attached to the main frame for normally fixedly securing the crash load transmitting member but allowing the crash load transmitting member to move rearward of the vehicle body when the crash load transmitting member is subjected to a rearward force exceeding a prescribed threshold level; and a stopper which is fixedly attached to the main frame, and adapted to abut a part of the crash load transmitting member upon a rearward movement of the crash load transmitting member by a prescribed distance; the prescribed threshold level being smaller than a level that will cause a collapsing deformation of the crash load transmitting member.
[0011] Thus, the guide member normally retains the crash load transmitting member, which may comprise a sub frame for supporting an engine and/or a wheel suspension system, firmly to the vehicle body main frame as a part of the vehicle body, but allows the crash load transmitting member to move rearward, and hit the stopper so that the desired deceleration time history may be achieved in the crash load transmitting member which is integral with the seat so that the deceleration of the vehicle occupant may be favorably controlled.
[0012] Typically, the part of the vehicle body structure adjacent to the front dashboard panel is relatively rigid as compared to the rear end of the vehicle body so that an effective stopper can be formed in this part without requiring any special enforcement.
[0013] For even more efficient utilization of the material for the vehicle body, the guide member may be located adjacent to a lower end of the dashboard panel, and an enlarged part is provided in a part of the crash load transmitting member ahead of the guide member by the prescribed distance so that the guide member may serve as the stopper which abuts the enlarged part as the crash load transmitting member moves rearward by the prescribed distance. Thus, the weight increase that is required for improved crash safety can be minimized.
[0014] To achieve a highly favorable time history of the deceleration of the crash load transmitting member, particularly at the time the crash load transmitting member collides with the stopper, a cushioning member may be provided between the stopper or the guide member and the enlarged part of the crash load transmitting member. The cushioning member may consist of either a plastically collapsible extension of the enlarged par or a plastically collapsible extension of the guide member.
[0015] The retaining force of the guide member in retaining the crash load transmitting member can be easily attained by forming the guide member with a channel shaped bracket which surrounds a part of the crash load transmitting member so as to achieve a prescribed frictional retaining force. The frictional force can be suitably adjusted by using a suitable frictional lining or controlling the force used for fastening the guide member.
[0016] Alternatively, the guide member may comprise a rod which is passed through a longitudinal slot formed in one of the main frame and the crash load transmitting member and secured to the other of the main frame and the crash load transmitting member so as to achieve a prescribed frictional retaining force.
[0017] The guide may also comprise a rod which extends in the fore-and-aft direction from one of the main frame and the crash load transmitting member, and a hole formed in the other of the main frame and the crash load transmitting member to receive and retain the rod with a prescribed retaining force.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] Now the present invention is described in the following with reference to the appended drawings, in which:
[0019] [0019]FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of an automotive vehicle body structure embodying the present invention;
[0020] [0020]FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of a front part of the vehicle body structure shown in FIG. 2;
[0021] [0021]FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of an essential part of the first embodiment of the present invention;
[0022] [0022]FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing the mode of operation of the first embodiment of the present invention;
[0023] [0023]FIG. 5 is view similar to FIG. 3 showing a second embodiment of the present invention;
[0024] [0024]FIG. 6 is view similar to FIG. 3 showing a third embodiment of the present invention;
[0025] [0025]FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view showing a part of the third embodiment of the present invention;
[0026] [0026]FIG. 8 is view similar to FIG. 1 showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention;
[0027] [0027]FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of an essential part of the fourth embodiment of the present invention;
[0028] [0028]FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 8 showing the mode of operation of the fourth embodiment of the present invention;
[0029] [0029]FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of an essential part of a fifth embodiment of the present invention;
[0030] [0030]FIG. 12 is a fragmentary side view showing the mode of operation of the fifth embodiment of the present invention;
[0031] [0031]FIG. 13 is view similar to FIG. 1 showing a sixth embodiment of the present invention; and
[0032] [0032]FIG. 14 is a graph showing the desired time histories of deceleration of the vehicle body and vehicle occupant.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0033] [0033]FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a vehicle body structure embodying the present invention. The main frame 1 of the vehicle body comprises a floor member 2 defining a floor of a passenger compartment, a dashboard panel 3 extending upright from the front end of the floor member 2 , and a pair of front side beams 4 extending from the dashboard panel 3 to the front end of the vehicle body on either side of thereof. The dashboard panel 3 defines a rear end of an engine room and a front end of the passenger compartment. As best shown in FIG. 2, a sub frame 5 is provided in a lower part of the engine room, and a front end of the sub frame 5 is joined to the front end of the front side beams 4 by a front member 13 including a pair of lateral members 13 a and 13 b and a vertical member 13 c while the rear end of the sub frame 5 is integrally connected to a pair of connecting members 6 which extend rearward under the floor member 2 although only one of them is shown in FIG. 1. In this embodiment, the sub frame 5 forms a crash load transmitting member jointly with the connecting members 6 as described hereinafter.
[0034] An intermediate part of each of the connecting members 6 is integrally provided with an upright member 6 a which is passed into the passenger compartment through a hole formed in the floor member 2 . The upper end of the upright member 6 a is attached to a seat base 7 supporting the lower surface of a seat 8 . The two connecting members 6 having an identical structures are disposed on either side of the vehicle body, but only one of them is described in the following for the convenience of description. The seat 8 is slidably supported by the seat base 7 via guide rails (not shown in the drawings) fixedly attached to the seat base 7 so that the seat 8 can move in the fore-and-aft direction relative to the seat base 7 and the floor member 2 for adjustment. The seat 8 is incorporated with a seat belt 10 having three ends which are all anchored to the seat 8 so as to effectively restrain a vehicle occupant 9 in the seat 8 without regard to the fore-and-aft position of the seat 8 . The seat belt may also consist of a more conventional seat belt having one or two of the anchor points which are attached to the vehicle body.
[0035] A pair of floor frame members 11 are fixedly attached to the lower surface of a corner defined between the floor member 2 and the front dashboard panel 3 on either side of the vehicle body to reinforce the part connecting the front side beams 4 with the front dashboard panel 3 . A holder 12 made of stamp formed sheet metal having a rectangular cross section in the shape of letter C is fixedly attached to the lower surface of each of the floor frame members 11 by using threaded bolts 15 as shown in FIG. 3. The end of the sub frame 5 facing the passenger compartment is retained by the holders 12 which are fixedly attached to the lower surfaces of the corresponding floor frame members 11 .
[0036] The sub frame 5 is integrally provided with a bracket 5 a on each side for supporting a wheel suspension system (not shown in the drawing), in particular a base end of a major lower arm thereof. A cross member 5 c extends laterally across the sub frame 5 . The sub frame 5 also supports an engine via brackets 5 b of which only one of them is shown in FIG. 3. The sub frame 5 of this embodiment is used not only for supporting the engine and wheel suspension systems but also for absorbing the impact of a vehicle crash as described hereinafter.
[0037] The shape of the inner recess defined by the holder 12 closely conforms to the outer circumferential surface of the corresponding part of the sub frame 5 so that the sub frame 5 can be frictionally retained by the holder 12 by suitably selecting the fastening force of the threaded bolts 15 . It is preferable to interpose a lubricating plastic member between the inner surface of the holder 12 and the part of the sub frame 5 frictionally retained by the holder 12 , and fasten the threaded bolts 15 so that the sub frame 5 may be retained by a prescribed retaining force. This retaining force is selected to be smaller than the load that will cause a buckling deformation of the sub frame 5 when it is applied to the front end of the sub frame 5 . In other words, the sub frame 5 is adapted to move rearward with respect to the vehicle body when subjected to a load resulting from a frontal vehicle crash, instead of undergoing a buckling deformation, until the sub frame 5 or the connecting member 6 collides with a member which is capable of withstanding the reaction from the buckling deformation of the sub frame 5 .
[0038] For this purpose, a stopper 14 is fixedly attached to the floor member 2 at a certain distance from the rear end of the connecting member 6 so that the connecting member 6 collides with the stopper 14 when the connecting member 6 has moved rearward by a prescribed distance in an intermediate phase of a frontal vehicle crash. The collision of the connecting member 6 with the stopper 14 creates a reverse deceleration to the connecting member 6 and the seat 8 attached to it.
[0039] The action of the present invention is described in the following by taking an exemplary case of a frontal crash of the vehicle onto an object on the road with reference to FIG. 4.
[0040] Immediately following a vehicle crash, the front ends of the front side beams 4 and sub frame 5 are both subjected to an impulsive load. Because the rear end of the sub frame 5 is only frictionally engaged by the holders 12 as mentioned earlier, input of a large crash load causes the sub frame 5 to slide rearward relative to the holders 12 while the front side beams 4 undergo a compressive or buckling deformation. Thus, the seat 8 which is fixedly attached to the sub frame 5 via the connecting member 6 decelerates more sharply and strongly (interval a in FIG. 14) than the main frame 1 which is directly connected to the front side beams 4 . At this time, in appearance, the seat 8 moves rearward relative to the floor member 2 which continues to move forward owing to the compressive deformation of the front side beams 4 .
[0041] The occupant tends to move forward under the inertia force during this phase, but the restraint of the seat belt 10 prevents the forward movement of the vehicle occupant 9 .
[0042] In an intermediate phase of the vehicle crash, the sub frame 5 having a front end which has been relatively intact in spite of the relatively high deceleration acting thereon eventually collides with the stopper 14 via the rear end of the connecting member 6 . This causes a force opposing the crash load acting on the sub frame 5 to be transmitted to the seat 8 via the connecting member 6 . The forward acceleration resulting from this collision cancels the forward inertia force acting on the vehicle occupant 9 (first half of interval b in FIG. 14). Also, the stopper 14 is firm enough to withstand the impulsive load which will cause a compressive or collapsing deformation of the sub frame 5 .
[0043] In a final phase of the crash, as soon as the deformation stress of the sub frame 5 is added to the deformation stress of the front side beams 4 , the deceleration acting on the vehicle body suddenly increases (second half of interval b in FIG. 14), and, thereafter, the floor member 2 and seat 8 decelerate in a single body, and the relative speed between the floor member 2 and seat 8 reduces to zero. At this time point, because the restraining load of the seat belt 10 balances with the deceleration in the final phase of the crash, the vehicle occupant 9 continues to decelerate in a single body with the floor member 2 and seat 8 until the vehicle body comes to a complete stop (interval c of FIG. 14).
[0044] Thus, the crash load at the time of a frontal vehicle crash is transmitted to the sub frame 5 in the early phase of the crash, but not so much to the floor member 2 which is part of the vehicle body. Therefore, the sub frame 5 simply moves rearward, instead of undergoing a buckling deformation. Only after the connecting member 6 has collided with the stopper 14 and subjected to the resulting forward acceleration, the seat 8 is allowed to decelerate in a single body with the vehicle body main frame 1 .
[0045] According to the present invention, the mode of guiding the rearward movement of the crash load transmitting member (sub frame 5 and connecting member 6 in the foregoing embodiment) relative to the main frame 1 is not limited by the above illustrated embodiment, but may consist of any other structure which joins the crash load transmitting member to the main frame so as to allow a relative displacement between them to take place at a crash load which is lower than that would cause a buckling or compressive deformation of the crash load transmitting member.
[0046] A second embodiment of the present invention is described in the following with reference to FIG. 5. The parts corresponding to those of the previous embodiment are denoted with like numerals.
[0047] In the second embodiment of the present invention, the guide member consists of a part of the sub frame 5 having a guide slot 21 formed therein. The guide slot 21 extends in the fore-and-aft direction. The sub frame 5 is mounted on the under surface of the floor frame member 11 by a threaded bolt 22 passed through the slot 21 . To control the friction between the bolt 22 and the inner surface of the slot 21 , a collar 23 is fitted onto the threaded bolt 22 . Preferably, the inner surface of the slot 21 and/or the upper surface of the sub frame 5 which abuts the lower surface of the floor frame member 11 may be lined with a suitable friction material to control the friction with the corresponding parts. At any even, the sub frame 5 is retained by the floor frame member 11 with a retaining force which is less than that required for supporting the bucking or compressive deformation of the sub frame 5 , and the rearward movement of the sub frame 5 is guided by the cooperation between the slot 21 and the threaded bolt 22 . This embodiment provides similar advantages as those provided by the previous embodiment, and produces a deceleration time history at the time of a vehicle crash similar to that of the previous embodiment.
[0048] A third embodiment is described in the following with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, and the parts corresponding to those of the previous embodiments are denoted with like numerals. In the third embodiment, a pin 24 integrally extends from the sub frame 5 in the forward direction. A hollow holder 25 is fixedly attached to the under side of the floor frame member 11 . The free end of the pin 24 is provided with an enlarged head 24 a . The holder 25 is provided with a funnel shaped insertion hole 25 a which is adapted to resiliently expand when the head 24 a is pushed thereinto and retain the head 24 a therein with a certain retaining force which opposes the effort to pull the head 24 a rearward as indicated by the arrow in the drawing. This retaining force is again smaller than the force that will be required to cause a buckling or compressive deformation of the sub frame 5 . This embodiment also provides similar advantages, and a similar deceleration waveform at the time of a vehicle crash.
[0049] [0049]FIGS. 8 and 9 show a fourth embodiment of the present invention. The parts corresponding to those of the previous embodiments are denoted with like numerals. This embodiment is similar to the first embodiment, but the connecting member 6 extends only to a middle part of the passenger compartment. In this case, the holder 26 frictionally engages the sub frame 5 in a similar manner as the first embodiment, but additionally serves as a stopper in cooperation with a bulge member 28 attached to a part of the sub frame 5 which is located ahead of the holder 26 by a prescribed distance. The bulge member may consist of any unitary or separate enlarged part of the sub frame 5 . The holder 26 is provided with a front end 26 a which is adapted to undergo a compressive or buckling deformation as the sub frame 5 moves rearward under an impulsive load resulting from a vehicle crash before holding the sub frame 5 stationary with respect to the main frame 1 . The front end 26 a of the holder 26 a serves as a cushioning member which prevents a sharp change in the deceleration of the sub frame 5 . In this case also, the frictional retaining force and the reaction force resulting from the compressive or buckling deformation of the front end 26 a of the holder 26 are each lower than the force that is required to cause a buckling or compressive deformation of the sub frame 5 .
[0050] The action of the present invention is described in the following by taking an exemplary case of a frontal crash of the vehicle onto an object on the road with reference to FIG. 10.
[0051] Immediately following a vehicle crash, both the front side beams 4 and sub frame 5 are subjected to an impulsive load, and start deformation. Because the sub frame 5 remains relatively intact as opposed to the front side beams 4 which undergoes a buckling or compressive deformation to a more significant extent. As a result, the seat 8 which is fixedly attached to the sub frame 5 via the connecting member 6 decelerates more sharply and strongly than the vehicle body main frame 1 (interval a of FIG. 14). As a result, the seat 8 , in appearance, moves rearward relative to the floor member 2 which continues to move forward as the front side beams 4 undergo a bucking or compressive deformation.
[0052] At this time, the vehicle occupant 9 tends to move forward under the inertia force, but the restraining force of the seat belt 10 acting on the vehicle occupant 9 increases and prevents the occupant 9 from moving forward.
[0053] In an intermediate phase of the crash, the bulge member 28 which is fixedly attached to the sub frame 5 collides with the holder 26 , the former being subjected to a high deceleration with its front end withstanding the load. The inertia force of the main frame 1 is eventually transmitted to the bulge member 28 , and the resulting impulsive load causes a buckling deformation of the front end 26 a of the holder 26 . The relative movement between the main frame 1 (including the front side beams 4 and floor member 2 ) and the connecting member 6 (including the seat 8 ) continues until the holder 26 has completed its buckling deformation. As a result, the reaction force to the crash load acting on the front side beams 4 is applied to the seat 8 via the connecting member 6 and with a certain cushioning effect, and the resulting forward acceleration partly cancels the forward inertia force acting on the vehicle occupant 9 (first half of interval b in FIG. 14).
[0054] In a final phase of the crash, as soon as the deformation stress of the sub frame 5 is added to the deformation stress of the front side beams 4 , the deceleration of the vehicle body suddenly increases (second half of interval b in FIG. 14), and, thereafter, the floor member 2 and seat 8 decelerate in a single body, and the relative speed between the floor member 2 and seat 8 reduces to zero. At this time point, because the restraining load of the seat belt 10 balances with the deceleration of the vehicle occupant in the final phase of the crash, the vehicle occupant 9 continues to decelerate in a single body with the floor member 2 and seat 8 until the vehicle body comes to a complete stop (interval c of FIG. 14).
[0055] According to this structure, because the stopper (holder 26 and bulge member 28 ) for the crash load transmitting member (the sub frame 5 and connecting member 6 ) is provided in a part of the vehicle body which can readily provide an adequate rigidity such as the engine room (of a front engine vehicle), the restriction on the design of the passenger compartment can be minimized, and the freedom in the design of the vehicle body can be increased with the added advantage of optimizing the distribution of the vehicle body rigidity. As compared to the arrangement in which the colliding parts are provided in a rear end of the vehicle body, and are suitably reinforced for a higher rigidity as was the case with the first to third embodiments, the arrangement for the stopper can be made both compact and light-weight.
[0056] [0056]FIG. 11 shows a fifth embodiment of the present invention, and the parts corresponding to those of the previous embodiments are denoted with like numerals. In this embodiment, a pair of lower front side beams 35 are provided under the engine room on either side of the vehicle body, instead of a sub frame. Each lower front side beam 35 is passed through an inner bore 29 a defined by a holder 29 which is made of a relatively solid member and firmly attached to the floor frame member 11 by threaded bolts 30 . A collar 31 is fitted onto the lower front side beam 35 at a point which is located ahead of the holder 29 by a prescribed distance. The collar 31 includes a relatively solid base end 31 a which is firmly secured to the lower front side beam 35 , and an extension 31 b which extends from the base end 31 a toward the holder 29 , and is adapted to undergo a compressive or buckling deformation when it is pushed onto the holder 29 .
[0057] According to this embodiment, at the time of a frontal vehicle crash, the lower front side beam 35 initially moves rearward along with the connecting member 6 and the seat 8 which are integral with the lower front side beam 35 in the same way as in the previous embodiment while the upper front side beams 4 undergo a compressive or buckling deformation. As the lower front side beams 35 have moved rearward by the prescribed distance, the extension 31 b abuts the holder 29 , and collapses by undergoing a compressive or buckling deformation as illustrated in FIG. 12. As soon as the extension 31 b has entirely collapsed, the base end 31 a abuts the holder 29 , and this causes the lower front side beams 35 to move jointly with the main frame 1 . The action and effect of this embodiment are similar to those of the previous embodiments, and a similar deceleration time history can be achieved at the time of a vehicle crash as the previous embodiments.
[0058] [0058]FIG. 13 shows a sixth embodiment of the present invention which is similar to the previous embodiment, but lacks the extension 31 b extending from the base end 31 a of the collar 31 . Therefore, as the lower front side beams 35 move rearward and cause a sharp rise in the deceleration of the seat 8 which is attached to the front side beams 35 via a connecting member 6 , it simply abuts the holder 29 , and causes the lower front side beams 35 to move in a single body with the vehicle body main frame 1 . The action and effect of this embodiment are similar to those of the previous embodiments, and a similar deceleration waveform can be achieved at the time of a vehicle crash as the previous embodiments.
[0059] Although the present invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiments thereof, it is obvious to a person skilled in the art that various alterations and modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention which is set forth in the appended claims. | In an automotive vehicle body structure including a crash load transmitting member extending from a front end of the vehicle body to a part adjacent to the floor member, and integrally carrying a seat thereon, a stopper is fixedly attached to the main frame, and adapted to abut a part of the crash load transmitting member upon a rearward movement of the crash load transmitting member by a prescribed distance. A guide member normally retains the crash load transmitting member firmly to the vehicle body main frame as a part of the vehicle body, but allows the crash load transmitting member to move rearward, and hit the stopper so that the desired deceleration time history may be achieved in the crash load transmitting member which is integral with the seat, and the deceleration of the vehicle occupant may be favorably controlled. | 1 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to an apparatus for conditioning of bulk material, such as shavings or chips, especially of the vegetable type, such as wood-chips, for the production of fibers or pulp for making paper or cardboard or making fiberboards.
It is known to produce the pulp necessary for paper-making by a process in which wood chips or other vegetable substances are used. These wood chips, which can be approximately 20 to 40 mm long and up to approximately 20 mm wide, are defibered, so as then to be processed further in the appropriate way. To achieve as high a fiber quality as possible, the wood chips can be conditioned in a silo by means of low-pressure or high pressure steam.
The conditioned bulk material is discharged by means of a clearing unit through one or more orifices provided in the silo bottom, via screw conveyors, and is delivered to the defibration mill. During interruptions in operation, for example, during operating faults and the like, blockages in the silo occur as a result of the swelling of the wood-chips. Such agglomerations can be eliminated only by knocking, poking, etc. Moreover, the bulk material tends to form bridges, with a result that the discharge of the material from the silo becomes irregular and can even be blocked completely. Also, the temperature of the wood-chips is uneven and is unsatisfactory in view of the subsequent process steps. Considerable steam losses occur as a result of the formation of bridges and channels in the bulk material. Another disadvantage is that, because of the irregular steam distribution or varying retention time, the wood-chips change irregularly and their properties are thereby impaired, so that during subsequent use problems of quality can arise and additional costs are incurred.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is the object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for the conditioning of bulk material, especially vegetable material such as wood-chips, for the production of fibers or pulp for making paper, cardboard or fiberboards, which produces substantially uniform conditioning of the bulk material by simple means.
In accomplishing the foregoing objective, there has been provided, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, an apparatus comprising a silo, a bottom defined within said silo and having at least one orifice, a clearing unit disposed within said silo, at least one discharge device, a plurality of steam feed lines comprising steam nozzles attached to said silo at various locations on said silo and shielded against bulk material present within said silo, and a plurality of fittings for relieving said bulk material mounted within said silo. Said steam nozzles are preferably provided with inspection orifices which allow removal of impurities within said nozzles. In a preferred embodiment the apparatus further comprises an impregnation station for additional treatment of the bulk material, comprising a cross-conveyor and an impregnating screw conveyor within which is contained an impregnating liquid.
Because relief devices are used, the swelling bulk material can expand under these devices, even when no chips are extracted from the silo. Appropriately arranged steam feed lines guarantee a good uniform steam distribution. Moreover, the shielding of the steam feed lines can prevent these lines from becoming clogged with bulk material.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description. It should be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the present invention, are given by way of illustration and not limitation. Many changes and modifications within the scope of the present invention may be made without departing from the spirit thereof, and the invention includes all such modifications.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention may be more readily understood by referring to the accompanying drawing by which
FIG. 1 shows a side view of a silo according to the invention,
FIG. 2 shows a side view of the lower part of the silo according to FIG. 1, with an impregnating screw conveyor and with a rotor as a clearing unit,
FIG. 3 shows a top view of the apparatus similar to that of FIG. 1, with a single discharge conveyor screw and with a rotary bottom as a clearing unit,
FIG. 4 shows the apparatus similar to that of FIG. 2, but with two parallel discharge conveyor screws, and
FIG. 5 shows a side view of a steam nozzle of the apparatus according to FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The apparatus 1 according to the invention, shown in the drawing, is provided for the conditioning of bulk material, such as chips, fibers and the like, and can preferably be employed for the treatment of wood-chips which are used for the production of pulp for the making of paper or cardboard or of fibers for making fiberboards. The apparatus 1 has a silo 2 possessing on the inside, above the bottom 3, a clearing unit 4 which can be designed, for example, as a rotating body with radially projecting flexible drag arms (not shown) or as a rotary bottom (not shown). Such a cleaning unit 4 is for instance known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,666,117 and rotates above the bottom 3 of the silo 2 and pushes the bulk material through an orifice 29 in a trough 6 so that the bottom 3 is cleared and further bulk material can fall down from above. The orifice 29, under which a discharge screw conveyor 5 is located, is situated in the bottom 3 and is preferably congruent with the opening of trough 6. The discharge screw conveyor 5 includes the trough 6 which is located under the orifice in the silo bottom 3 and in which a conveyor screw 7 is mounted rotatably about an axis 8. The discharge screw conveyor 5 can appropriately be made so long that it extends over the entire diameter of the silo 2. FIG. 1 shows that the axis 8 extends not at right angles to the vertical mid-axis 9, but in such a way that the discharge screw conVeyor 5 ascends in the conveying direction (arrow). The angle of ascent can be approximately 3° to 15°, preferably approximately 5°.
Inside the silo 2 there can be various fittings which have guide surfaces 10 inclined obliquely downwards for the wood-chips to be introduced into the silo 2 from above and which can be designed as a helix 11, a wedge 12, a funnel 13 and a cross member 14 and as a truncated cone. The conical fittings 11 to 13 serve for the uniform damping of the wood chips and for simultaneous relief, to prevent bridges of the bulk material from forming in the silo 2 as a result of the swelling of the wood-chips. A uniform discharge of the bulk material is thus achieved.
For the conditioning of the wood-chips, which can preferably be carried out at low pressure and at a constant temperature of 92° C., but also under a high pressure of, for example 12 bar and at approximately 190° C., there are steam nozzles 15 which are arranged and distributed at various locations in the silo 2, so as to ensure a substantially uniform introduction of steam. In the present exemplary embodiment, the steam nozzles 15 are provided both on the side walls of the silo 2 in different, planes and at different distances from one another and on the cross member 14 and especially also on or under the silo bottom 3 on and the trough 6 of the discharge screw conveyor 5. At the same time, the steam nozzles 15 are arranged in such a way that they are largely shielded against the bulk material, in order to prevent clogging of the nozzles. For this purpose, the steam nozzles are preferably arranged on the silo 2 in the region of the spaces 16 which are located under the fittings 11 to 14 or which are jointly limited by their oblique guide surfaces 10. The lower steam nozzles above all are protected by sieve-shaped plates with conical orifices (FIG. 5).
It can be seen from the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 5 that the steam nozzles 15 can have conical outflow holes 17 which taper conically in the direction of the steam flow (arrow). It can be beneficial, at the same time, to design the steam nozzle 15 so that it has several or a plurality of outflow holes 17 which can appropriately be provided in a sieve-shaped plate 18. The conical outflow holes 17 prevent the steam nozzles from being clogged with the bulk material, since the smaller opening cross-section of the conical or funnel-shaped outflow holes 17 faces the wood-chips, and therefore these cannot settle in the outflow holes 17.
It is expedient, furthermore, to equip the steam nozzles 15 with an inspection orifice 19, so that, as required, the inner space 20 of the steam nozzle 15 is accessible from outside. The inspection orifice 19 is closed by a releasable cover or flange 21 which is articulated pivotably on the steam nozzle 15 by means of an axle 22. Connected to that end face of the steam nozzle 15 located opposite the outflow holes -7 is a pipeline 23 through which the hot steam for the conditioning of the bulk material can be supplied. By means of the inspection orifice 19, it is possible to clean the inner space 20 and the outflow holes 17 from the inside, for example in order to remove impurities carried along or introduced by the steam supplied. As shown in FIG. 5, the cleaning orifice 19 is formed at right angles to the longitudinal axis 24 to the steam nozzle 15 and is arranged close behind the sieve plate 18, so that this sieve plate is easily accessible and can be cleaned easily.
It can be seen from FIG. 2 that the wood-chips, after being discharged from the silo 2, are conditioned additionally in an impregnating station 25. The bulk material is fed to the impregnating station via a discharge screw conveyor 5 which ascends obliquely upwards, in order to force steam out of the wood-chips as a result of compression. The impregnating station 25 contains an impregnating liquid 26 which is located in an impregnating screw conveyor 27 ascending obliquely in the conveying direction (arrow) and in a preferably vertical cross-conveyor 28 likewise designed as a screw conveyor. In the exemplary embodiment, the discharge screw conveyor 5 and the impregnating screw conveyor 27 are arranged at different angles of ascent, the ascent of the impregnating screw conveyor 27 appropriately being greater than the ascent of the discharge screw conveyor 5. The impregnating screw conveyor 27 can be arranged at an angle of approximately 5° to 60°, preferably approximately 25°, as indicated in the present exemplary embodiment.
In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, there is only a single discharge screw conveyor 5 which extends diametrically over the silo 2 and its entire diameter. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 4 there are two parallel discharge screw conveyors 5 under the silo 2. This affords the advantage that the bulk material is discharged from the silo more uniformly and no deposits of bulk material can occur on the silo bottom 3, as can sometimes happen with only one discharge screw conveyor 5, when chips accumulate laterally next to the discharge screw conveyor 5 and cake together to form a wedge.
When two or more discharge screw conveyors 5 are used, two or more impregnating screw conveyors 27 and two or more cross conveyors 28 are appropriately likewise provided, so that altogether a uniform and high-quality conditioning of the chips can be achieved. By the use of two or more discharge screw conveyors 5, the retention time of the chips also becomes more uniform and steam losses are prevented. Moreover, several defibration mills can be fed independently of one another, thus saving considerable costs, because there is then no need for a separate silo for each defibration mill.
The fittings 11 to 14 prevent the bridging of the bulk material, because the downward movement of the bulk material on the silo wall is braked and incipient vaults collapse immediately as a result of the faster downward movement of the material in the middle of the silo. The fittings 11 to 14 can be arranged asymmetrically on the silo wall. The steam flowing into the silo 2 through the steam nozzles 15 can be distributed uniformly under the conical or wedge-shaped fittings 11 to 13 and flow out annularly, thereby ensuring the most efficient possible steam treatment of the chips. Since no bridges can occur in the bulk material, no channels form in the material either. The steam can pass through the bulk material slowly from the bottom upwards and is largely absorbed by the chips, so that there are virtually no steam losses and a high efficiency of steam treatment is achieved. Because the moisture is absorbed, the wood-chips swell, thereby increasing their volume, and they can enter the spaces 16 underneath the fittings 11 to 14, so that the increase in volume does not cause any blockage. Furthermore, the uniform steam distribution in the silo 2 is assisted, because the steam nozzles 15 are arranged at various locations in the silo 2, especially also on the screw troughs 6 and on the silo bottom 3 under the relief fittings 11 to 14. The conical design of the outflow holes 17 in the steam nozzles 15 ensures that the wood-chips do not penetrate into the narrowed outflow holes 17. Because of the funnel-shaped widening, the chips pass into the inner space 20 of the steam nozzle 15, so that the outflow holes 17 remain free and do not clog. Small chips and any impurities in the steam can easily be removed from the inner space 20 through the inspection orifice 19.
Because of the oblique ascent of the discharge screw conveyor 5 and because the wood-chips are relatively soft as a result of the absorption of moisture, a certain compression is generated in the discharge screw conveyor 5. The remaining steam is thereby forced out of the wood-chips. Subsequently, the wood-chips pass into the impregnating screw conveyor 27 which conveys them upwards somewhat more steeply. The chips are impregnated here. Since they have previously been squeezed or compressed, they readily absorb the impregnating liquid 26. The chips conditioned in this way, after leaving the impregnating screw conveyor 27, are delivered to a following defibration installation for further processing. | An apparatus for the conditioning of bulk material, in particular vegetable material such a wood chips, for the production of fibers or pulp is provided, comprising a silo, a plurality of steam nozzles distributed substantially uniformly over said silo and shielded against clogging with said bulk material, and a plurality of fittings disposed within said silo for relieving said bulk material. The apparatus provides substantially uniform conditioning of the bulk material. | 3 |
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present invention relates to a method and a device for scheduling users in a cellular radio system.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Traditionally, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems such as Interim Standard-95 (IS-95) and Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) are designed to handle many low or medium bit rate users, creating a rather smooth and relatively slow changing interference. However, the current trend goes towards much more bursty traffic with high rate demands. Examples of application resulting in such behavior include for example World Wide Web (WWW) applications and peer-to-peer traffic. Such applications will generate highly varying data rates compared to speech and video services typically are associated with rather constant and moderate bit rates.
[0003] In WCDMA users are non-orthogonal to each other in the up link (UL) thereby generating interference between each other even within the same cell. Therefore the system has an upper interference limitation, where the cell noise can not be increased further if the system shall remain stable. This limits the maximum cell capacity.
[0004] One way to handle both the more bursty traffic and the lack of orthogonality is to use Time-division between the users instead of codes, and thereby increase the UL WCDMA efficiency, see FIG. 1 . In FIG. 1 the principle difference between normal code multiplexed scheduling and time division scheduling is schematically depicted for three users. As is apparent the use of a time division scheduling increases the possibility to transmit high data rates.
[0005] Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) is a well-known method for divide the resources in cellular system.
[0006] The basis of a TDM scheme for WCDMA Enhanced Uplink (EUL) with a 2 ms Transmission Time Interval (TTI), is depicted in FIG. 2 a . The TDM users are typically scheduled per Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) process. In EUL there are 8 HARQ processes for a 2 ms TTI. As a result, if one user is scheduled for HARQ process x, it typically is x+8 TTIs until the next transmission. To use the same HARQ process number is efficient since if user has to retransmit, it can automatically use the previous HARQ process number for the retransmission, without having to perform any scheduling. It should also be noted that TDM users can also use two (or more) continuous HARQ processes, as shown in FIG. 2 b.
[0007] When CDM is used, All HARQ process in accordance with 3GPP specification TS 25.321 is activated for the UE, i.e. as long as the UE has a grant greater than zero, it can use any HARQ process to transmit the data, until a grant zero (i.e. not allowed to transmit any data) is received. For the 2 ms TTI it is also possible to use the “Per HARQ process”, see 3GPP specification TS 25.321, chapter 9.2.5.2.2. This can be used to achieve time division between users. Node-B schedule allocates only one user for each HARQ process, i.e. Node-B transmits an absolute grant to the UE which is valid for a specific HARQ process until a new grant is received. The valid HARQ process is decided by the CURRENT_HARQ_PROCESS_ID, see section 11.8.1.4 in 3GPP Specification TS 25.321.
[0008] Further, in FIG. 3 a rough estimate of the cell capacity for different number of users per cell using theoretical calculations is shown. In FIG. 3 it is assumed that the users transmit simultaneously, so that full buffers are assumed. FIG. 3 shows the big difference in terms of capacity between one user transmitting such as in a Time Division Multiplexing scheme and one or more users transmitting such as in a Code Division Multiplexing (CDM) scheme. As can be seen in FIG. 3 , the lack of orthogonality between users in the same cell quickly decreases the possible cell capacity. A cell with TDM scheduling will be able to maintain the high cell throughput for more than one user. The TDM capacity will also decrease with the number of users, due to more control signaling and less efficient TDM scheduling, but much more slowly than for a CDM system. The aim with TDM is to even with quite many high data rate user be able to maintain the cell capacity.
[0009] A problem arising when using TDM scheduling for a EUL WCDMA system, is that the 3GPP specification makes it difficult to handle too many TDM users efficiently. Thus, when many TDM users use the up-link simultaneously there will be an unacceptably long time between the transmission attempts for each user. A long time between the transmission attempts for each user will negatively impact the user experiences because it:
gives bad throughput for TDM users—not able to reach high bit rates, has a long ping time for first packet, and is not acceptable for any time critical data.
[0013] Another problem is related to the fact that some TDM users are not utilizing the bandwidth available in a TDM scheme. Examples of such applications are Voice over IP (VoIP) and chat applications such as chat clients, email, presence etc. In FIG. 4 , the problem is illustrated. As can been seen in FIG. 4 the user 2 is not fully utilizing the bandwidth provided in the TDM scheme.
[0014] There is a constant desire to improve the utilization bandwidth in radio communication. Hence there exists a need to improve the use of bandwidth in a cellular radio system, in particular a WCDMA radio system.
SUMMARY
[0015] It is an object of the present invention to improve the bandwidth utilization in radio communication.
[0016] This object and others are obtained by the method and device as set out in the appended claims.
[0017] Thus, in accordance with the present invention a limit to the number of TDM users per cell is provided in a cellular radio system, such as WCDMA system and in particular a WCDMA system employing an Enhanced Uplink (EUL). Other users in the cell are scheduled using CDM scheduling.
[0018] In accordance with one embodiment a method is provided in accordance with which users are moved from a CDM mode to a TDM mode if a user activity measurement is higher than a threshold value for a certain period of time.
[0019] In accordance with one embodiment a method is provided in accordance with which users are moved from a TDM mode to a CDM mode if a user activity measurement is lower than a threshold value for a certain period of time.
[0020] Hereby an efficient method for utilizing available bandwidth is obtained whereby users can be efficiently scheduled in both a TDM mode and a CDM mode simultaneously.
[0021] The invention also extends to a device and a node in a cellular radio system adapted to perform the method as described above.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0022] The present invention will now be described in more detail by way of non-limiting examples and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0023] FIG. 1 is a view illustrating CDMA transmission and TDM transmission,
[0024] FIGS. 2 a and 2 b is a view illustrating different scheduling of TDM users,
[0025] FIG. 3 is a view illustrating the utilization of bandwidth for different number of users in a cell,
[0026] FIG. 4 is a view illustrating use of bandwidth for different types of applications,
[0027] FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating procedural steps performed when scheduling users in a cellular radio system,
[0028] FIG. 6 is a scheduler adapted to schedule users, and
[0029] FIG. 7 is a view illustrating division of HARQ process numbers into TDM slots or CDM slots.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0030] In accordance with the present invention a scheduler is provided, which is adapted to schedule users both in a CDM scheme and in a TDM scheme in response to available radio resources in a cell of a cellular radio system.
[0031] In FIG. 5 an exemplary flow chart illustrating logical steps performed in a scheduler for scheduling users in a cell is shown. The cellular radio system in which the scheduler schedules users can for example be a WCDMA system.
[0032] First in a step 501 it is checked if each user activity measurement is higher than a threshold value for a certain period of time. If the user activity is higher than the threshold value, the user is moved from a CDM mode to a TDM mode, in a step 503 . Next in a step 505 , it is checked if a user activity measurement is lower than a threshold value for a certain period of time. If the activity is lower than the threshold value users are moved from a TDM mode to a CDM mode in a step 507 . The procedure can then be repeated by returning to step 501 .
[0033] In FIG. 6 an exemplary scheduler 600 is depicted. The scheduler 600 comprises a module 601 for providing measurements. The module 601 can in accordance with one embodiment comprise means for generating measurements within the scheduler. In accordance with another embodiment the module 601 is adapted to receive an external feed of measurements from another unit within the radio system. The scheduler 600 further comprises a user moving module 603 connected to the measurement module 601 adapted to move users of a cellular radio system between a CDM mode to a TDM mode. In particular the module 603 is adapted to move users between a CDM mode to a TDM mode in response to measurements provided by the measurement module 601 .
[0034] Below different exemplary methods for measuring the activity of TDM and CDM users are described. These measurements can then be used to decide if a user should be assigned to TDM mode or CDM mode.
[0035] In order to measure the activity measurement to decide if a CDM user shall be moved to TDM mode, one or more of the following parameters for monitor each UE can be monitored:
given grants, or estimate the rate used (in node B), or estimated received power in node B, a combination of above measurement
[0040] In accordance with one embodiment an averaging window can be implemented, including periods of no transmission, to get the average activity.
[0041] In order to measure the activity measurement to decide if a TDM user shall be moved to CDM mode, one or more of the following parameters for monitor each UE can be monitored:
estimate the rate used (in node B), or estimated received power in node B, or a combination of above measurement
[0045] The given grant can also be measured for the TDM users, but it can be less efficient, since it may be that the TDM scheduling assigns a higher grant to a TDM user that it is actually using.
[0046] In accordance with one embodiment, threshold decides if the CDM UE activity is high enough to be in TDM mode. The threshold can be fixed, but may also be a variable threshold. A variable threshold can for example be set up as a function of the TDM load in a cell. In accordance with one embodiment the variable threshold can be implemented as:
High TDM load->high activity needed to be in TDM mode Medium TDM load->medium activity needed to be in TDM mode Low TDM load->all EUL users allowed in TDM mode
[0050] Another threshold can be set to decide when a TDM users' activity is low enough to be switched to the CDM mode. The threshold can be a constant, for example zero, or a variable threshold can be used such a s function of the TDM/CDM load as described above
[0051] In accordance with another exemplary embodiment, the TDM slot resources are divided among the TDM users based on their activity. For example, if TDM user i has two times as high activity compared to TDM user j, TDM user I will get two times more TDM slots. The number of TDM slots a TDMN user can achieve can be expressed more general as:
[0000]
TDM_slot
i
=
⌈
8
·
activity
i
∑
activity
⌉
[0052] In accordance with another exemplary embodiment, the HARQ process numbers (“TDM slots”) are divided into TDM slots or normal WCDMA (CDM) slots. This approach is depicted in FIG. 7 . When the activity of a TDM user is below an activity threshold, it is assigned to the CDM slots. There can be more than one user assign to these CDM slots, i.e. more than one user can be scheduled simultaneously at these TDM slots. If a user exceeds an activity threshold, it can instead be assign to one of the TDM slots. For each TDM slot, there can only be assigned one single user, i.e. one user at a time can be scheduled at that TDM slot (HARQ process number).
[0053] By using the method a device as described herein it is possible to achieve a more efficient use of TDM resources. For example, it is possible to achieve high TDM user peak bit rates. It is further possible to obtain a higher total capacity. Further, in a scenario with high TDM load and many TDM users it is possible to switch the users with lowest activity to normal CDM scheduling in order to retain the peak bit rate for the remaining TDM users. | In a cellular radio system, the number of TDM users per cell is limited. The cellular radio system can be a WCDMA system and in particular a WCDMA system employing an Enhanced Uplink (EUL). Other users in the cell are scheduled using CDM scheduling. | 7 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a display apparatus and a video wall having the same; in particular, relates to a display apparatus transmitting a video signal via a differential digital signal toward a display apparatus of a next stage and a video wall having this display apparatus.
[0003] 2. Descriptions of the Related Art
[0004] Video walls have been applied popularly in large exhibitions and in public places for the need of large-sized displays in recent years. A video wall combines a plurality of display apparatuses each of which selects one corresponding part of a displayed picture according to its position in the video wall and enlarges the part to display on a whole screen of the display apparatus. All of the plurality of display apparatuses then together display the displayed picture carried by a video signal.
[0005] Because the video wall uses the plurality of display apparatuses to display one picture, two adjacent display apparatuses are generally connected via a computer digital video interface, such as DVI connectors, to transmit the video signal outputted from a video source in a digital format. However, such a transmission in the digital format needs a data enable signal. To generate the data enable signal, the circuitry of conventional display apparatuses applied in video walls is very complicated.
[0006] FIG. 1 shows an application of a conventional video wall, wherein the application comprises a video source 100 and a plurality of identical display apparatuses 110 , 120 , 130 , and 140 . The video source 100 outputs video signals including an analog RGB signal, a transition minimized differential signaling (TMDS) signal and a video signal. The video wall includes the four display apparatuses 110 , 120 , 130 , and 140 in this application. The display apparatus 110 selects one of the video signals inputted into an input module 113 and displays a part of a displayed picture according to the selected video signal provided by the video source 100 . The selected video signal is then transmitted to an input module 123 of the display apparatus 120 in a differential digital format through a TMDS output 115 . The display apparatus 120 displays another part of the displayed picture according to the received video signal in the differential digital format. The received video signal in the differential digital format is then transmitted to the display apparatus 130 of a next stage through a TMDS output 125 .
[0007] Similarly, the display apparatus 130 displays still another part of the displayed picture according to the received video signal in the differential digital format. The received video signal is then transmitted to the display apparatus 140 of a next stage. The four display apparatuses of the video wall hence receive the video signal outputted from the video source 100 . According to its arranged position in the video wall, each of the display apparatuses chooses a corresponding part of the displayed picture (¼ of the displayed picture in this application) and enlarges the part to display on the screen of the display apparatus. As a jigsaw puzzle, the four parts of the displayed picture each of which is displayed by one corresponding display apparatus combine into the displayed picture carried by the video signal transmitted from the video source 100 . The displayed picture is enlarged four times greater than the original one thereby.
[0008] A circuitry of the display apparatus of the prior art is illustrated in FIG. 2 , wherein the display apparatus comprises an A/D (analog-to-digital) converter 210 , a differential digital signal (DS) receiver 220 , a video decoder 230 , a selection switch 235 , a first scaler 240 , a differential digital signal (DS) transmitter 250 , and a second scaler 260 .
[0009] The A/D converter 210 , the DS receiver 220 , and the video decoder 230 receive an analog RGB signal from a computer, a differential digital signal, and a video signal respectively. The selection switch 235 is configured to select one of synchronous signals outputted from the A/D converter 210 and the DS receiver 220 . Each of the synchronous signals comprises a pixel clock signal CLK, a horizontal synchronizing signal H-Sync, and a vertical synchronizing signal V-Sync. The synchronous signal outputted from the DS receiver 220 further comprises a data enable signal DE. The selection switch 235 selects one of the two synchronous signals. The synchronous signal selected by the selection switch 235 as well as the digital RGB (display) signals transmitted from the AID converter 210 and the DS receiver 220 are transmitted to a graphics port 242 of the first scaler 240 . The synchronous signal and the digitized YUV (display) signal outputted from the video decoder 230 are transmitted to a video port 244 of the first scaler 240 directly.
[0010] The first scaler 240 is configured to selectively process the input signal from either the graphics port 242 or the video port 244 and then to re-generate an output video signal, including the synchronous signal and the display signal, transmitted from a display port 246 to the DS transmitter 250 and the second scaler 260 . The DS transmitter 250 transmits the output video signal to the display apparatus of a next stage. The second scaler 260 selects the corresponding part to display according to the position of the display apparatus and enlarges the corresponding part to display on a display device (not illustrated) of the display apparatus.
[0011] As FIG. 2 shows, the display apparatus of the prior art comprises two scalers, wherein the scalers herein are called scan converters in some documents. In practical circuit design, either one or both of the two scalers are sometimes replaced by field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). The functions of the scalers, the scan converters, and the FPGAs are similar in such an application. The functions of the scalers involve at least image scaling and/or frame rate conversion. The video signal in a differential signaling format received by the DS receiver 220 or transmitted by the DS transmitter 250 may be a TMDS signal or a low voltage differential signaling (LVDS) signal. Besides, the DS receiver 220 and DS transmitter 250 should be selected in accordance with the type of the differential signal employed in the video transmission between two adjacent display apparatuses. No matter TMDS or LVDS is used, the DS transmitter 250 needs to receive a data enable signal for properly functioning.
[0012] However, the outputted synchronous signals of most of the A/D converters used for video display applications in the market, such as AD9884 of Analog Device Inc., ICS1531 of Integrated Circuit System Inc., or TDA8752 of Philips, do not include a data enable signal as the A/D converter 210 shows. The other circuits, e.g., the DS receiver 220 and the video decoder 230 are able to output a data enable signal. Because the synchronous signal outputted from the A/D converter 210 does not include a data enable signal, the first scaler 240 is used to process the synchronous signal outputted from the A/D converter 210 so that the re-generated synchronous signal outputted from the display port 246 includes a data enable signal.
[0013] The circuitry of the display apparatus in FIG. 2 involves a complicated design because there are two scalers in this application requiring controlled and set. In general, the video format outputted from the display port 246 is configured with a fixed resolution, such as 1024×768 pixels. For an input video having a higher resolution, such as 1280×1024 pixels, the displayed picture would be compressed by the first scaler 240 and then transmitted to the next display apparatus. Therefore, after processed by the first scaler 240 , the resolution of the displayed picture received by all of the following display apparatuses is 1024×768 instead of 1280×1024. The display quality is sacrificed.
[0014] Another drawback of the display apparatus in FIG. 2 is that there is a delay time generated by the first scaler 240 when the first scaler 240 processes the inputted video signal. Since the displayed picture is combined by all parts displayed by the display apparatuses which are connected in series, an artifact of the displayed moving picture resulting from the delay time is significant.
[0015] Because of the above problems, the present invention discloses a new circuitry to simplify the structure of conventional display apparatuses and to solve the aforementioned drawbacks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0016] The present invention provides a display apparatus and a video wall having the display apparatus. The aforementioned drawback that the synchronous signal outputted from an A/D converter does not comprise a data enable signal can be solved by adding a data enable signal generator into the display apparatus of the present invention. Besides, the present invention does not need an additional scaler like the first scaler 240 in FIG. 2 so it avoids that the resolution degraded after processed by the additional scaler becomes a compressed but not original resolution. Therefore, the display quality would not be affected, and the delay time is eliminated. In other words, the moving picture artifact due to the delay time is solved.
[0017] In one embodiment, a de-interlacer is added to improve the display quality and to maintain a color space of the transmitted video signal in an RGB format.
[0018] In the above embodiment, every element of the display apparatus is controlled by a microcontroller. The microcontroller is coupled to a memory which stores the detailed data of each synchronization timing. For an analog RGB signal inputted by computers, when its timing format is determined, the microcontroller reads the detailed data of the corresponding synchronization timing from the memory to control operations of each element, including to control the data enable signal generator to generate a data enable signal.
[0019] The present invention also provides the following elements. An A/D converter is configured to receive an analog RGB signal and to output a first display signal and a first synchronous signal. A differential digital signal receiver is configured to receive a differential digital signal and to output a second display signal and a second synchronous signal. A data enable signal generator, connected to the A/D converter, is configured to receive the first synchronous signal from the A/D converter and to output a third synchronous signal having a data enable signal. A selection switch, having an input end electrically connected to the data enable signal generator and the differential digital signal receiver, is configured to select one of the second synchronous signal and the third synchronous signal and to output a fourth synchronous signal. A differential digital signal transmitter is configured to transmit the fourth synchronous signal and to selectively transmit one of the first display signal and the second display signal. A scaler is configured to receive the fourth synchronous signal and to selectively receive one of the first display signal and the second display signal as a basis for a picture displayed on the display apparatus.
[0020] The aforementioned display apparatus further comprises a video decoder for receiving a video signal and for outputting a third display signal and a fifth synchronous signal, wherein the fifth synchronous signal is transmitted to the selection switch, and the selection switch outputs the fourth synchronous signal according to one of the second synchronous signal, the third synchronous signal, and the fifth synchronous signal. In such an embodiment, the differential digital signal transmitter is configured to transmit the fourth synchronous signal and to selectively transmit one of the first display signal, the second display signal and the third display signal based on the fourth synchronous signal. For example, if the fourth synchronous signal is outputted based on the second synchronous signal, then the differential digital signal transmitter transmits the second display signal by disabling the A/D converter and the video decoder. The scaler is configured to receive the fourth synchronous signal and to selectively receive one of the first display signal, the second display signal and the third display signal based on the fourth synchronous signal, as a basis for a picture displayed on the display apparatus.
[0021] Alternatively, the aforementioned display apparatus further comprises a video decoder for receiving a video signal and for outputting a digitized video signal; and a de-interlacer, connected to the video decoder, for receiving the digitized video signal and for converting from the digitized video signal into a fourth display signal and a sixth synchronous signal. The sixth synchronous signal is transmitted to the selection switch, and the selection switch outputs the fourth synchronous signal according to one of the second synchronous signal, the third synchronous signal and the sixth synchronous signal. In such an embodiment, the differential digital signal transmitter is configured to transmit the fourth synchronous signal and to selectively transmit one of the first display signal, the second display signal and the fourth display signal based on the fourth synchronous signal. The scaler is configured to receive the fourth synchronous signal and to selectively receive one of the first display signal, the second display signal and the fourth display signal based on the fourth synchronous signal, as a basis for a picture displayed on the display apparatus.
[0022] In the aforementioned display apparatus, the de-interlacer converts from the digitized video signal in a first color space into the fourth display signal in a second color space, wherein the digitized video signal in the first color space is an interlaced video signal and the fourth display signal in the second color space is a progressive scan video signal. The first color space is YUV, and the second color space is RGB.
[0023] The aforementioned display apparatus further comprises a microcontroller, coupled to the data enable signal generator, for receiving the analog RGB signal and for controlling the data enable signal generator to generate the data enable signal according to a timing format of the analog RGB signal; and a memory coupled to the microcontroller. After the microcontroller receives the analog RGB signal, the microcontroller determines the timing format of the analog RGB signal according to a data stored in the memory and controls the data enable signal generator to generate the data enable signal according to a plurality of timing setting parameters corresponding to the determined timing format stored in the memory.
[0024] In the aforementioned display apparatus, the differential digital signal is a TMDS signal or an LVDS signal.
[0025] Another object of the present invention is to provide a video wall having a plurality of display apparatuses connected in series. Each of the display apparatuses comprises a differential digital signal receiver and a differential digital signal transmitter. The differential digital signal receiver is configured to receive a differential digital signal transmitted by a display apparatus in a previous stage. The differential digital signal transmitter is configured to transmit the differential digital signal to a display apparatus in a next stage. A display apparatus in a first stage of the plurality of display apparatuses may comprise the aforementioned display apparatus provided by the present invention.
[0026] Another object of the present invention is to provide a display apparatus adapted for a video wall. The display apparatus comprises: an A/D converter for receiving an analog RGB signal and for outputting a first display signal and a first synchronous signal having a data enable signal; a differential digital signal receiver for receiving a differential digital signal and for outputting a second display signal and a second synchronous signal; a selection switch, having an input end electrically connected to the A/D converter and the differential digital signal receiver, for selecting one of the first synchronous signal and the second synchronous signal and for outputting a third synchronous signal; a differential digital signal transmitter for transmitting the third synchronous signal and for selectively transmitting one of the first display signal and the second display signal; and a scaler for receiving the third synchronous signal and for selectively receiving one of the first display signal and the second display signal as a basis for a picture displayed on the display apparatus.
[0027] The aforementioned display apparatus further comprises a video decoder for receiving a video signal and for outputting a third display signal and a fourth synchronous signal. The fourth synchronous signal is transmitted to the selection switch, and the selection switch outputs the third synchronous signal according to one of the first synchronous signal, the second synchronous signal, and the fourth synchronous signal. In such an embodiment, the differential digital signal transmitter is configured to transmit the third synchronous signal and to selectively transmit one of the first display signal, the second display signal and the third display signal based on the third synchronous signal. The scaler is configured to receive the third synchronous signal and to selectively receive one of the first display signal, the second display signal and the third display signal based on the third synchronous signal, as a basis for a picture displayed on the display apparatus.
[0028] Alternatively, the aforementioned display apparatus further comprises a video decoder for receiving a video signal and for outputting a digitized video signal; and a de-interlacer, connected to the video decoder, for receiving the digitized video signal, and for converting from the digitized video signal into a fourth display signal and a fifth synchronous signal. The fifth synchronous signal is transmitted to the selection switch, and the selection switch outputs the third synchronous signal according to one of the first synchronous signal, the second synchronous signal, and the fifth synchronous signal. In such an embodiment, the differential digital signal transmitter is configured to transmit the third synchronous signal and to selectively transmit one of the first display signal, the second display signal and the fourth display signal based on the third synchronous signal. The scaler is configured to receive the third synchronous signal and to selectively receive one of the first display signal, the second display signal and the fourth display signal based on the third synchronous signal, as a basis for a picture displayed on the display apparatus.
[0029] In the aforementioned display apparatus, the de-interlacer converts from the digitized video signal in a first color space into the fourth display signal in a second color space. The digitized video signal in the first color space is an interlaced video signal and the fourth display signal in the second color space is a progressive scan video signal. The first color space is YUV and the second color space is RGB.
[0030] The aforementioned display apparatus further comprises a microcontroller, coupled to the A/D converter, for receiving the analog RGB signal and for controlling the A/D converter to generate the data enable signal according to a timing format of the analog RGB signal; and a memory coupled to the microcontroller. After the microcontroller receives the analog RGB signal, the microcontroller determines the timing format of the analog RGB signal according to a data stored in the memory and controls the A/D converter to generate the data enable signal according to a plurality of timing setting parameters corresponding to the determined timing format stored in the memory.
[0031] In the aforementioned display apparatus, the differential digital signal is a TMDS signal or an LVDS signal.
[0032] Another object of the present invention is to provide a video wall having a plurality of display apparatuses. The plurality of display apparatuses are connected in series. Each of the display apparatuses comprises a differential digital signal receiver and a differential digital signal transmitter. The differential digital signal receiver is configured to receive a differential digital signal transmitted by a display apparatus in a previous stage. The differential digital signal transmitter is configured to transmit the differential digital signal to a display apparatus of a next stage of the plurality of display apparatuses. A display apparatus in a first stage may comprise the aforementioned display apparatus provided by the present invention.
[0033] The present invention further provides a video conversion apparatus adapted for a display apparatus. More particularly, the video conversion apparatus is adapted for A/D converting and transmitting an analog video to an external display apparatus via a differential digital signal transmission. The video conversion apparatus comprises an A/D converter for receiving an analog RGB signal and for outputting a first display signal and a first synchronous signal; and a data enable signal generator, connected to the A/D converter, for receiving the first synchronous signal and for outputting a second synchronous signal having a data enable signal. The data enable signal generator receives a plurality of timing parameters of a timing format of the analog RGB signal. The data enable signal is generated according to a (pixel) clock signal, a horizontal synchronizing signal, and a vertical synchronizing signal of the first synchronous signal and the plurality of timing parameters of the timing format of the analog RGB signal.
[0034] The aforementioned video conversion apparatus further comprises a microcontroller and a memory. The microcontroller, coupled to the data enable signal generator and the memory, is configured to receive the analog RGB signal and to determine the timing format of the analog RGB signal. The microcontroller retrieves the plurality of timing parameters corresponding to the timing format from the memory and transmits the plurality of timing parameters to the data enable signal generator to generate the data enable signal.
[0035] In the aforementioned video conversion apparatus, the data enable signal is a composite signal consisting of both a horizontal data enable signal and a vertical data enable signal in a single data enable signal. The horizontal data enable signal is generated according to the clock signal and the horizontal synchronizing signal of the first synchronous signal and a plurality of timing parameters of the horizontal synchronizing signal. The vertical data enable signal is generated from the horizontal data enable signal and a plurality of parameters of the vertical synchronizing signal.
[0036] The present invention further provides a video wall having a plurality of display apparatuses, wherein at least one display apparatus has the aforementioned video conversion apparatus to receive an analog RGB signal.
[0037] Because of the use of the display apparatus having a video conversion apparatus, the present invention simplifies the complexity of the system, decreases delay time, and does not compress the timing format outputted from a video source so the resolution is not changed.
[0038] To make the aforementioned and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention understood clearly and easily, please refer to the following descriptions as well as the appended figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0039] FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified application of a video wall of the prior art;
[0040] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a display apparatus of the prior art;
[0041] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of a display apparatus in accordance with the present invention;
[0042] FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of another embodiment of the display apparatus in accordance with the present invention;
[0043] FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram in which a data enable signal generator follows an A/D converter in accordance with the present invention;
[0044] FIG. 6 illustrates a timing diagram of a timing signal of the data enable signal generator in accordance with the present invention;
[0045] FIG. 7 illustrates a timing diagram including a data enable signal, a horizontal synchronizing signal, and a vertical synchronizing signal; and
[0046] FIG. 8 illustrates a flow chart of generation of a data enable signal.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0047] One embodiment of the present invention provides a display apparatus and a video wall having the display apparatus. The display apparatus of this embodiment solves the problem that a synchronous signal outputted from an A/D converter does not include a data enable signal by adding a data enable signal generator. The present invention does not need an additional scaler like the scaler 240 illustrated in FIG. 2 . Therefore, the problem that a video signal, after processed by the additional scaler, received by the following display apparatuses is compressed but not original can be avoided so the display quality is not influenced. Besides, the delay time due to the additional scaler is also eliminated so a moving picture artifact due to the delay time is avoided.
[0048] In one embodiment, a de-interlacer is included to improve the display quality and to maintain the color space of the video signal in an RGB format during transmission.
[0049] In one embodiment of the present invention, the elements included in a display apparatus are controlled by a microcontroller. The microcontroller is coupled to a memory which is configured to store detailed data of each synchronization timing. When a timing format of an analog RGB signal is determined, the microcontroller reads the corresponding detailed data from the memory and controls operations of each element, including controlling the data enable signal generator to generate a data enable signal. In other words, after the microcontroller receives the analog RGB signal, the microcontroller determines the timing format of the analog RGB signal according to the data stored in the memory and controls the data enable signal generator to generate a data enable signal according to a plurality of timing setting parameters corresponding to the determined timing data in the memory.
[0050] The following descriptions specify several embodiments of the present invention.
[0051] FIG. 3 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a preferred embodiment of a display apparatus in accordance with the present invention. The embodiment comprises an A/D converter 310 , a DS receiver 320 , and a video decoder 330 respectively for receiving an analog RGB signal from a computer, a DS signal, and a video signal. A synchronous signal outputted from the A/D converter 310 comprises a pixel clock signal CLK, a horizontal synchronizing signal H-Sync, and a vertical synchronizing signal V-Sync. The synchronous signal is transmitted to a data enable signal generator 315 to generate a data enable signal DE. The synchronous signal and the data enable signal DE are transmitted to an input end of a selection switch 335 .
[0052] In an embodiment of the present invention, a de-interlacer 340 follows the video decoder 330 to de-interlace the input video. After de-interlaced, the video signal in interlaced format is converted into a video signal in progressive scan format. Moreover, the de-interlacer 340 can converts the color space from a YUV format into an RGB format.
[0053] The selection switch 335 selects one of the processed synchronous signals according to the analog RGB signal, the DS signal, and the video signal, and outputs the selected synchronous signal to a DS transmitter 350 and a scaler 360 . The DS transmitter 350 transmits the selected video signal to a display apparatus of a next stage. The scaler 360 selects a corresponding part of the displayed picture needed displaying according to the position of the display apparatus and enlarges to fit a display device (not illustrated) of the display apparatus for display.
[0054] As mentioned above, the data enable signal generator 315 may solve the problem that the synchronous signal outputted from the A/D converter 310 does not comprise a data enable signal. In another embodiment, the de-interlacer 340 may improve the display quality and maintain the color space of the transmitted video signal in an RGB format. As aforementioned, each element of the embodiment is controlled by a microcontroller 380 coupled to a memory 370 . The memory 370 stores the detailed data of each synchronization timing. For example, when the timing format of the analog RGB signal is determined, the microcontroller 380 reads the corresponding data from the memory 370 and controls the data enable signal generator 315 to generate a data enable signal.
[0055] It is clear that the scaler 240 in FIG. 2 is not included in the embodiment of FIG. 3 ; therefore, the design of the display apparatus is simplified. Moreover, lack of the scaler 240 makes the timing format (including the resolution) of transmitted video signal as the same as that of the original input signal during transmission. In other words, the original input signal having a high resolution would not be compressed during transmission. Lack of the scaler 240 also makes the delay time eliminated so that an artifact of a displayed moving picture may be avoided.
[0056] Recently, some providers sell A/D converters capable of generating a data enable signal, such as TDA8754 of Philips or THC7216 of THinc. The block diagram illustrated in FIG. 3 may be simplified to that illustrated in FIG. 4 if such A/D converters are applied. In contrast with the embodiment in FIG. 3 , the embodiment in FIG. 4 does not include the data enable signal generator 315 . That is because the A/D converter 410 is able to generate a data enable signal itself. The rest elements in FIG. 4 are similar to those in FIG. 3 .
[0057] Referring back to FIG. 3 , the data enable signal generator 315 follows the A/D converter 310 . The synchronous signal processed and outputted by the A/D converter 310 is transmitted to the data enable signal generator 315 to generate the data enable signal DE. The detailed diagram is illustrated in FIG. 5 .
[0058] As illustrated in FIG. 5 , the data enable signal generator 515 receives a (pixel) clock signal CLK, a horizontal synchronizing signal H-Sync, and a vertical synchronizing signal V-Sync outputted from the A/D converter 510 in order to generate the data enable signal DE. The microprocessor 520 is coupled to the data enable signal generator 515 and a memory 530 . The memory 530 stores the parameters associated with all synchronization timings. The microprocessor 520 retrieves the particular parameters, corresponding to the synchronization timing outputted from the A/D converter 510 , from the memory 530 in order to control and set the data enable signal generator 515 . The data enable signal generator 515 generates the data enable signal DE according to the particular parameters, the clock signal CLK, the horizontal synchronizing signal H-Sync, and the vertical synchronizing signal V-Sync. In practice, the data enable signal generator 515 may be implemented with a FPGA or a synchronization counter, such as a 74F269 chip. FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 show how the data enable signal generator 515 generates the data enable signal DE in detail. Those skilled in the art may realize the generation of the data enable signal with reference to the drawings.
[0059] FIG. 6 shows a diagram of the synchronous signal, wherein numeral 610 denotes a horizontal synchronizing signal H_SYNC which represents a line period of a corresponding video signal, numeral 620 denotes a vertical synchronizing signal V_SYNC which represents a frame period of a corresponding video signal, numeral 630 denotes a horizontal data enable signal H_DE which represents a horizontal active video of a corresponding video signal, and numeral 640 denotes a vertical data enable signal V_DE which represents a vertical active lines of a corresponding video signal. The period of the horizontal synchronizing signal 610 refers to the number of the horizontal total cycles (H_Total) and the unit is “clock.” The horizontal data enable signal 630 lags behind the horizontal synchronizing signal 610 for H_Left cycles and actives for H_Width cycles and the units of both H_Left and H_Width are “clock.” The period of the vertical synchronizing signal 620 is denoted as V_Total and the unit is “scanning line.” The vertical data enable signal 640 lags behind the vertical synchronizing signal 620 for V_Top scanning lines and actives for V_Height scanning lines.
[0060] In an embodiment of the present invention, the vertical data enable signal 640 is embedded in the horizontal data enable signal 630 , and a data enable signal DE substitutes for it. To attain this object, please refer to FIG. 7 , wherein numeral 710 denotes the horizontal synchronizing signal H-SYNC, numeral 720 denotes the vertical synchronizing signal V-SYNC, and numeral 730 denotes the data enable signal DE. The vertical data enable signal 640 being embedded in the horizontal data enable signal 630 means that the data enable signal 730 is blocked between a front porch and a back porch of the vertical synchronization signal 720 , i.e., the data enable signal 730 keeps low during the period V_Blank denoted as 740 . The data enable signal 730 hence carries the information of the vertical data enable and horizontal data enable. The data enable signal 730 is the aforementioned data enable signal DE disclosed in the embodiment of the present invention. The memory 530 in FIG. 5 stores all parameters of the synchronization timings for display, such as H_Total, V_Total, H_Left, H_Width, V_Top, V_Height, and so on.
[0061] FIG. 8 shows a flow chart illustrating how a data enable signal generator generates a data enable signal in accordance with the present invention. In step 805 , receiving timing parameters and an enabling signal from a microprocessor is executed to enable a data enable signal. In step 810 , setting the data enable signal to logic low is then executed. In step 820 , receiving a vertical synchronizing signal V_SYNC is executed. In step 830 , counting and delaying for V_Top cycles of horizontal synchronization is executed. In step 840 , setting a count number to 0 is executed. In steps 850 and 860 , receiving the horizontal synchronizing signal and generating the data enable signal are executed. In step 870 , adding the count number by 1 is executed. In step 880 , determining whether the count number is equal to the vertical height V_Height. If yes, the method returns to step 820 to re-receive the vertical synchronizing signal V_SYNC. If not, the method returns to step 850 to receive a next horizontal synchronizing signal.
[0062] Step 860 further comprises the following steps. In step 864 , counting and delaying for H_Left clock cycles is executed. In step 866 , setting the data enable signal to logic high is executed. In step 868 , counting and delaying for H_Width clock cycles is executed. In step 869 , setting the data enable signal to logic low is executed.
[0063] The technology disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention, especially the technology that a differential digital signal is transmitted to a display apparatus of a next stage, may be applied to the display apparatuses of a video wall. The differential digital signaling used in the present invention does not limit to TMDS only. LVDS is also applicable. The spirit of the present invention is to generate a data enable signal for an A/D converter without the ability to generate a data enable signal.
[0064] In conclusion, the characteristics of the present invention at least include: providing a data enable signal generator to generate a data enable signal for a differential digital signal transmitter to transmit a differential digital signal if an A/D converter does not provide the data enable signal; providing a data enable signal for a differential digital signal transmitter to transmit a differential digital signal directly if an A/D converter already provides the data enable signal; and providing a de-interlacer to improve the display quality and to maintain the color space of a transmitted video signal in an RGB format during transmission.
[0065] With the aforementioned characteristics, the circuitry according to the spirit of the present invention can be simplified compared to that of the prior art. The advantages of the present invention at least include: simplifying the circuitry of a display apparatus so the complexity of design is decreased; maintaining the timing format of an original input signal having any resolution during transmission, i.e., maintaining a high resolution in all display apparatuses; and reducing a delay time due to an additional scaler so that an artifact is hence avoided.
[0066] The above disclosure is related to the detailed technical contents and inventive features thereof. People skilled in this field may proceed with a variety of modifications and replacements based on the disclosures and suggestions of the invention as described without departing from the characteristics thereof. Nevertheless, although such modifications and replacements are not fully disclosed in the above descriptions, they have substantially been covered in the following claims as appended. | A display apparatus and a video wall having the same and, more particularly, a display apparatus using a differential digital signal transmitted to a display apparatus in a next stage for display are provided. The display apparatus and the video wall provide a data enable signal, which is required by the differential digital signal transmission, to solve the problem of being unable to provide the data enable signal for most of the conventional A/D converters employed for the video display applications. Only one scaler instead of two scalers is used to solve the moving picture artifact due to delay. A de-interlacer is used to improve the display quality and to maintain a color space of the transmitted video signal in an RGB format. | 7 |
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/099,975, filed Jul. 30, 1993, now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/032,958, filed on Mar. 17, 1993, now abandoned.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to novel chemical compounds having immunomodulatory activity, and in particular to macrolide immunosuppressants. More particularly, the invention relates to semisynthetic analogs of ascomycin and FK-506, means for their preparation, pharmaceutical compositions containing such compounds and methods of treatment employing the same.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The compound cyclosporine (cyclosporin A) has found wide use since its introduction in the fields of organ transplantation and immunomodulation, and has brought about a significant increase in the success rate for transplantation procedures. Unsatisfactory side-effects associated with cyclosporine, however, such as nephrotoxicity, have led to a continued search for immunosuppressant compounds having improved efficacy and safety.
Recently, several classes of macrocyclic compounds having potent immunomodulatory activity have been discovered. Okuhara et al., in European Patent Application No. 184162, published Jun. 11, 1986, disclose a number of macrocyclic compounds isolated from the genus Streptomyces. Immunosuppressant FK-506, isolated from a strain of S. tsukubaensis, is a 23-membered macrocyclic lactone represented by formula 1a, below. Other related natural products, such as FR-900520 (1b) and FR-900523 (1c), which differ from FK-506 in their alkyl substituent at C-21, have been isolated from S. hygroscopicus yakushimnaensis. Yet another analog, FR-900525, produced by S. tsukubaensis, differs from FK-506 in the replacement of a pipecolic acid moiety with a proline group.
FR-900520, also known as ascomycin, has been previously disclosed by Arai et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 3,244,592, issued Apr. 5, 1966, where the compound is described as an antifungal agent. Monaghan, R. L., et al., on the other hand, describe the use of ascomycin as an immunosuppressant in European Patent Application No. 323865, published Jul. 12, 1989.
Although the immunosuppressive activity of FK-506 has been clinically confirmed, toxicity in mammals has limited its utility. The activity of FK-506 has, however, prompted efforts to discover novel analogs of FK-type compounds which possess superior properties. These efforts include the isolation of new fermentation products, the microbial transformation of existing chemical entities, the chemical modification of these macrocycles, and the synthesis of hybrid species derived from smaller synthetic fragments. ##STR3##
Fermentation products of FK-type compounds include C-21-epi derivatives of FK-506; a 31-demethylated derivative of FK-506; 31-oxo-FK-506; and compounds derived from FK-506, FR-900523 and FR-900525 which are characterized by the introduction of hydroxy-protecting groups, formation of a double bond by elimination of water between carbons 23 and 24, oxidation of the hydroxy group at carbon 24 to the ketone, and reduction of the allyl side-chain at carbon 21 via hydrogenation. Other published derivatives include those derived from FK-506 and FR-900520 where the lactone ring is contracted to give a macrocyclic ring containing two fewer carbons.
Several microbial transformations of FK-type compounds at carbon 13 have been published, such as the microbial demethylation of FR-900520 to form the bis-demethylated 13,31-dihydroxy ring-rearranged derivative of FR-900520; the microbial monodemethylation of FK-506 and FR-900520, respectively; and the microbial demethylation of FR-900520 at C-31, as well as a number of other macrocyclic microbial transformation products.
Numerous chemical modifications of the FK-type compounds have been attempted. These include the preparation of small synthetic fragments of FK-type derivatives; a thermal rearrangement of a variety of derivatives of FK-506 which expands the macrocyclic ring by two carbons; and modifications which include methyl ether formation at C-32 and/or C-24, oxidation of C-32 alcohol to the ketone, and epoxide formation at C-9.
Although some of these modified compounds exhibit immunosuppressive activity, the need remains for macrocyclic immunosuppressants which do not have the serious side effects frequently associated with immunosuppressant therapy. Accordingly, one object of the invention is to provide novel semisynthetic macrolides which possess the desired immunomodulatory activity but which may be found to minimize untoward side effects.
Another object of the present invention is to provide synthetic processes for the preparation of such compounds from starting materials obtained by fermentation, as well as chemical intermediates useful in such synthetic processes.
A further object of the invention is to provide pharmaceutical compositions containing, as an active ingredient, one of the above compounds. Yet another object of the invention is to provide a method of treating a variety of disease states, including post-transplant tissue rejection and autoimmune disfunction.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In one aspect of the present invention are disclosed compounds having the formula ##STR4## and the pharmaceutically acceptable salts, esters, amides and prodrugs thereof, wherein
R 100 is hydrogen, hydroxy, halogen, --OR 13 or --OR 14 ;
R 101 is methyl, ethyl, allyl or propyl;
R 102 is hydrogen and R 103 is selected from (a) hydrogen, (b) hydroxyl and (c) hydroxyl protected by a hydroxy-protecting group or, taken together, R 102 and R 103 form a bond; and
one of R 104 and R 105 is hydrogen, and the other of R 104 and R 105 is a group having the formula ##STR5## where m and n are independently zero, one or two;
X is selected from the group consisting of oxygen, --S(O) s -- where s is zero, one or two, --N(R 1 )-- and --C(R 2 )(R 2' )--, or is absent; and
R 3 , R 4 and R 5 are independently selected from the group consisting of (a) hydrogen; (b) alkyl; (c) haloalkyl; (d) cycloalkyl; (e) cycloalkylalkyl; (f) alkenyl; (g) alkynyl; (h) hydroxyalkyl; (i) hydroxylalkoxyalkyl; (j) aryl substituted by R 6 , R 7 and R 8 ; (j') arylalkyl substituted by R 6 , R 7 and R 8 ; (k) alkoxycarbonyl; (l) alkoxycarbonylalkyl; (m) carboxyalkyl; (n) aminoalkyl; (o) thiolalkyl; (q) heterocyclic; (r) (heterocyclic)alkyl; (s) (heterocyclic)alkylaminoalkyl; (p) acyl; (u) N-mono- or N,N-dialkylaminoalkyl; (v) N-mono- or N,N-dialkylcarboxamidoalkyl; (w) N-mono- or N,N-diarylcarboxamidoalkyl; (x) formyl; (x') protected formyl; (z) (heterocyclic)alkenyl; and (aa) (heterocyclic)alkynyl. Alternatively, R 3 and R 5 , when taken together, may form a methylene --CH 2 -- so that the group of Formula (11) becomes a bicyclic radical.
In the above, R 1 is selected from the group consisting of (a) hydrogen; (b) alkyl; (c) haloalkyl; (d) cycloalkyl; (e) cycloalkylalkyl; (f) alkenyl; (g) alkynyl; (h) hydroxyalkyl; (i) hydroxylalkoxyalkyl; (j) aryl substituted by R 6 , R 7 and R 8 ; (j') arylalkyl substituted by R 6 , R 7 and R 8 ; (k) alkoxycarbonyl; (l) alkoxycarbonylalkyl; (m)carboxyalkyl; (n) aminoalkyl; (o) thiolalkyl; (p) --S(O) x --R 9 , wherein x is one or two and R 9 is selected from the group consisting of alkyl, aryl, and arylalkyl; (q) heterocyclic; (r) (heterocyclic)alkyl; (s) (heterocyclic)alkylaminoalkyl; (t) acyl; (u) N-mono- or N,N-dialkylaminoalkyl; (v) N-mono- or N,N-dialkylcarboxamidoalkyl; (w) N-mono- or N,N-diarylcarboxamidoalkyl; (x) formyl; (x') protected formyl; (y) --P(O)(OR 10 )(OR 10' ) where R 10 and R 10' are independently selected from the group consisting of loweralkyl, arylalkyl and aryl; (z) (heterocyclic)alkenyl; (aa) (heterocyclic)-alkynyl; (bb) urea; (cc) nitro; and (dd) polyhydroxylalkyl.
R 2 and R 2' in the above are independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, hydroxy, hydroxyalkyl, amidoalkyl, N-alkylcarboxamido, N,N-dialkylamino, pyrrolidin-1-yl and piperidin-1-yl, or, taken together, R 2 and R 2' are oxo, thiooxo or --O(CH 2 )O--, where i is two, three or four.
R 6 , R 7 and R 8 in the above are independently selected from (i) hydrogen; (ii) --(C 1 -to-C 7 alkyl); (iii) --(C 2 -to-C 6 alkenyl); (iv) halogen; (v) --(CH 2 ) m NR 11 R 11' where m is an integer between one and ten, inclusive, and R 11 and R 11' are independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl, aryl, arylalkyl, heterocyclic, (heterocyclic)alkyl, (heterocyclic)alkenyl and (heterocyclic)alkynyl; (vi) --CN; (vii) --CHO; (viii) mono-, di-, tri- or perhalogenated alkyl; (ix) --S(O) s R 11 where s is zero, one or two; (x) --C(O)NR 11 R 11' ; (xi) --(CH 2 ) m OR 11 ; (xii) --CH(OR 12 )(OR 12' ), where R 12 and R 12' are independently --(C 1 -to-C 3 alkyl) or, taken together, form an ethylene or propylene bridge; (xiii) --(CH 2 ) m OC(O)R 11 ; (xiv) --(CH 2 ) m C(O)OR 11 ; (xv) --OR 13 ; (xvi) --S(O) t NR 11 R 11' , where t is one or two; (xvii) --NO 2 ; (xviii) --N 3 ; and (xviv) guanidino optionally substituted by a radical selected from the group consisting of loweralkyl, aryl, acyl, arylsulfonyl, alkoxycarbonyl, arylalkoxycarbonyl, aryloxycarbonyl and alkylsulfonyl. Alternatively, any two adjacent R 6 , R 7 and R 8 and the atoms to which they are attached may form a carbocyclic or heterocyclic ring having 5, 6 or 7 ring atoms which optionally include one or two additional heteroatoms independently selected from the group consisting of --O--, --S(O) s -- where s is zero, one or two, and --NR 11 --.
R 13 in the above is selected from (i) --PO(OH)O - M + , (ii) --SO 3 - M + , and (iii) --C(O)(CH 2 ) m C(O)O - M + , where M + is a proton or a positively charged inorganic or organic counterion, and m is an integer between one and ten, inclusive.
R 14 in the above is selected from the group consisting of (i) acyl; (ii) --(C 1 -to-C 7 alkyl); (iii) --(C 2 -to-C 6 alkenyl); (vi) --(CH 2 ) m NR 11' , where m is an integer between one and ten, inclusive; (v) --S(O) s R 11 , where s is zero, one or two; (vi) --C(O)NR 11 R 11' ; (vii) --(CH 2 ) m OR 11 ; (viii) --CH(OR 12 )(OR 12' ); (ix) --(CH 2 ) m OC(O)R 11 ; (x) --(CH 2 ) m C(O)OR 11 ; and (xi) --S(O) t NR 11 R 11' , where t is one or two;
In another aspect of the present invention are disclosed pharmaceutical compositions, comprising a compound of the invention in combination with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
In a further aspect of the present invention is disclosed a method for treating a patient in need of immunomodulative therapy, comprising administering to such a patient a therapeutically effective amount of a compound of the invention for such time as is necessary to obtain the desired therapeutic effect.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Among the preferred compounds of the present invention are those having formula (I) in which:
m and n are independently zero or one;
X is selected from the group consisting of --S(O) s -- and --N(R 1 )--; and/or
R 1 , R 3 , R 4 and R 5 are independently selected from the group consisting of (a) hydrogen; (b) alkyl; (c) cycloalkyl; (d) cycloalkylalkyl; (e) hydroxyalkyl; (f) hydroxylalkoxyalkyl; (g) aryl substituted by R 6 , R 7 and R 8 ; (h) arylalkyl substituted by R 6 , R 7 and R 8 ; (i) alkoxycarbonyl; (j) alkoxycarbonylalkyl; (k) carboxyalkyl; (l) aminoalkyl; (m) thiolalkyl; (n) heterocyclic; (o) (heterocyclic)alkyl; (p) (heterocyclic)alkylaminoalkyl; (q) acyl; (r) N-mono- or N,N-dialkylaminoalkyl; (s) N-mono- or N,N-dialkylcarboxamidoalkyl; (t) N-mono- or N,N-diarylcarboxamidoalkyl; and (u) formyl.
Also preferred are those compounds in which X in the heterocyclic ring of formula (II) is selected from the group consisting of --N(R 1 )-- and --C(R 2 )(R 2' )--, and the total of m and n is zero, one or two (that is, where the heterocycle is a 5- to 7-membered ring).
Representative of the compounds of the present invention are those which are demonstrated in Examples 5, 7, 9, 11-22, 27, 28, 31, 38, 39, 44, 58, 61, 62, 67, 76 and 105-111, below. The most preferred of these compounds, and that contemplated as the best mode thereof, is the compound described in Example 17 hereof.
As used throughout this specification and in the appended claims, the following terms have the meanings specified:
The term "acyl" as used herein refers to an aryl or alkyl group, as defined below, appended to a carbonyl group including, but not limited to, acetyl, pivaloyl, benzoyl and the like.
The term "alkenyl" as used herein refers to straight or branched chain groups of 2 to 12 carbon atoms containing a carbon-carbon double bond including, but not limited to ethenyl, 1-propenyl, 2-propenyl, 2-methyl-1-propenyl, 1-butenyl, 2-butenyl and the like.
The terms "alkoxy" as used herein refer to a loweralkyl group, as defined below, attached to the remainder of the molecule through an oxygen atom including, but not limited to, methoxy, ethoxy, isopropoxy, n-butoxy, sec-butoxy, isobutoxy, tert-butoxy and the like.
The terms "alkoxyalkyl" as used herein refers to an alkoxy group, as defined above, appended to an alkyl group including, but not limited to, methoxymethyl, ethoxymethyl, methoxyethyl, ethoxyethyl, i-propyloxymethyl, n-butoxyethyl and the like.
The term "alkoxycarbonyl" as used herein refers to an alkoxy group, as defined above, attached via a carbonyl group including, but not limited to, methyloxycarbonyl, ethyloxycarbonyl, tert-butyloxycarbonyl, cyclohexyloxycarbonyl and the like.
The term "alkoxycarbonylalkyl" as used herein refers to an alkoxycarbonyl group, as defined above, attached via an alkyl group including, but not limited to, methyloxycarbonylmethyl, ethyloxycarbonylethyl, tert-butyloxycarbonylmethyl, cyclohexyloxycarbonylmethyl and the like.
The term "alkyl" as used herein refers to a monovalent straight chain or branched chain group of 1 to 12 carbon atoms including, but not limited to, methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, sec-butyl, isobutyl, tert-butyl and the like.
The terms "alkylamino" and "loweralkylamino" as used herein refer to a group having the structure --NH--(loweralkyl), where the loweralkyl portion is as defined below. Alkylamino and loweralkylamino groups include, for example, methylamino, ethylamino, isopropylamino and the like.
The term "alkylsulfonyl" as used herein refers to an alkyl group, as defined above, attached via a sulfur dioxide diradical including, but not limited to, methanesulfonyl, camphorsulfonyl and the like.
The terms "alkylthioether", "thioalkoxy" and "thioloweralkoxy" as used herein refer to a loweralkyl group, as previously defined, attached via a sulfur atom including, but not limited to, thiomethoxy, thioethoxy, thioisopropoxy, n-thiobutoxy, sec-thiobutoxy, isothiobutoxy, tert-thiobutoxy and the like.
The term "alkynyl" as used herein refers to straight or branched chain groups of 2 to 12 carbon atoms containing a carbon-carbon triple bond including, but not limited to acetylenyl, propargyl and the like.
The term "amidoalkyl" as used herein refers to a group having the structure --N(R 401 )C(O)R 402 appended to a loweralkyl group, as previously defined. The groups R 401 and R 402 are independently selected from hydrogen, lower alkyl, aryl, arylalkyl, and halosubstituted alkyl. Alternatively, R 401 and R 402 , taken together, may be --(CH 2 ) aa -- where aa is an integer of from two to six.
The term "aminoalkyl" as used herein refers to a group having the structure --NR 403 R 404 appended to a loweralkyl group, as previously defined. The groups R 403 and R 404 are independently selected from hydrogen, lower alkyl, aryl and arylalkyl. Alternatively, R 403 and R 404 , taken together, may be --(CH 2 ) bb -- where bb is an integer of from two to six.
The terms "aryl" as used herein refers to carbocyclic aromatic groups including, but not limited to, phenyl, 1- or 2-naphthyl, fluorenyl, (1, 2)-dihydronaphthyl, (1,2,3,4)-tetrahydronaphthyl, indenyl, indanyl and the like.
The terms "arylalkoxy" and "arylalkylether" as used herein refer to an arylalkyl group, as defined below, attached to the parent molecular moiety through an oxygen atom. Arylalkoxy includes, but is not limited to, benzyloxy, 2-phenethyloxy, 1-naphthylmethyloxy and the like.
The term "arylalkoxycarbonyl" as used herein refers to an arylalkoxy group, as defined above, attached via a carbonyl group including, but not limited to, benzyloxycarbonyl, 9-fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl and the like.
The term "arylalkyl" as used herein refers to an aryl group, as previously defined, appended to an alkyl group including, but not limited to, benzyl, 1- and 2-naphthylmethyl, halobenzyl, alkoxybenzyl, hydroxybenzyl, aminobenzyl, nitrobenzyl, guanidinobenzyl, fluorenylmethyl, phenylmethyl(benzyl), 1-phenylethyl, 2-phenylethyl, 1-naphthylethyl and the like.
The terms "arylether" and "aryloxy" as used herein refer to an aryl group, as previously defined, attached to the parent molecular moiety through an oxygen atom. Aryloxy and arylether include, but are not limited to, phenoxy, 1-naphthoxy, 2-naphthoxy and the like.
The term "aryloxycarbonyl" as used herein refers to an aryloxy group, as defined above, attached via a carbonyl group including, but not limited to, phenyloxycarbonyl.
The term "aryloxycarbonylamino" as used herein refers to an aryloxycarbonyl group, as defined above, appended to an amino group including, but not limited to, phenyloxycarbonylamino.
The term "arylsulfonyl" as used herein refers to an aryl group, as defined above, attached via a sulfur dioxide diradical including, but not limited to p-toluenesulfonyl, benzenesulfonyl and the like.
The terms "arylthioether" and "thioaryloxy" as used herein refer to an aryl group, as defined above, attached via a sulfur atom.
The term "carboxamido" as used herein refers to an amino group attached via a carbonyl group and having the formula --C(O)NH 2 .
The term "carboxyalkyl" as used herein refers to a carboxyl group, --CO 2 H, appended to a loweralkyl group, as previously defined.
The term "cycloalkenyl" as used herein refers to a cyclic group of 5 to 10 carbon atoms possessing one or more carbon-carbon double bonds including, but not limited to, cyclopentenyl, cyclohexenyl and the like, in which the point of attachment can occur at any available valency on the carbocylic ring.
The term "cycloalkyl" as used herein refers to a cyclic group of 3 to 8 carbon atoms including, but not limited to, cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl and the like.
The term "cycloalkylalkenyl" as used herein refers to a cycloalkyl group, as defined above, appended to an alkenyl group, as defined above.
The term "cycloalkylalkyl" as used herein refers to a cycloalkyl group appended to a lower alkyl group including, but not limited to, cyclohexylmethyl and cyclohexylethyl.
The term "cycloalkylalkynyl" as used herein refers to cycloalkyl, as defined above, appended to an alkynyl group, as defined above.
The term "guanidinoalkyl" as used herein refers to a group of the structure --N(R 405 )C(═NR 406 )NHR 407 appended to a loweralkyl group, as previously defined. R 405 , R 406 and R 407 are independently selected from hydrogen, lower alkyl, heterocyclic, aminoalkyl and aryl. Alternatively, R 406 and R 407 , taken together, may be --(CH 2 ) cc -- where cc is an integer of from two to six.
The terms "halo" and "halogen" as used herein refer to an atom selected from fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine.
The terms "haloalkyl" as used herein refer to halogen appended to an alkyl group, as previously defined.
The term "heterocyclic" as used herein, except where otherwise specified, refers to any aromatic or non-aromatic 5-, 6- or 7-membered ring or a bi- or tri-cyclic group comprising fused six-membered rings having between one and three heteroatoms independently selected from oxygen, sulfur and nitrogen, wherein (i) each 5-membered ring has 0 to 2 double bonds and each 6-membered ring has 0 to 3 double bonds, (ii) the nitrogen and sulfur heteroatoms as well as the carbon atoms may optionally be oxidized by unsaturation and/or substitution by hydroxy, thiol, oxo or thiooxo, (iii) the nitrogen heteroatom may optionally be quarternized, (iv) any of the above heterocyclic rings may be fused to a benzene ring. Representative heterocycles include, but are not limited to, pyrrolyl, pyrrolidinyl, pyrazolyl, pyrazolinyl, pyrazolidinyl, cytosinyl, thiocytosinyl, imidazolyl, imidazolinyl, imidazolidinyl, pyridyl, piperidinyl, pyrazinyl, piperazinyl, pyrimidinyl, pyridazinyl, xanthenyl, xanthonyl, xanthopterinyl, oxazoyl, oxazolidinyl, thiouracilyl, isoxazolyl, isoxazolidinyl, morpholinyl, indolyl, quinolinyl, uracilyl, urazolyl, uricyl, thiazolyl, thiazolidinyl, isothiazolyl, isothiazolidinyl, isoquinolinyl, thyminyl, benzimidazolyl, benzothiazolyl, benzoxazolyl, furyl, thienyl and benzothienyl.
The term "(heterocyclic)alkyl" as used herein refers to a heterocyclic group appended to an alkyl group, as previously defined.
The term "(heterocyclic)alkylaminoalkyl" as used herein refers to a (heterocyclic)alkyl group appended to an aminoalkyl group, as previously defined.
The term "(heterocyclic)alkylether" as used herein refers to a (heterocyclic)alkyl moiety, as defined above, attached via an oxygen atom.
The term "(heterocyclic)alkenyl" as used herein refers to a heterocyclic group appended to an alkenyl group, as previously defined.
The term "(heterocyclic)alkylthioether" as used herein refers to a (heterocyclic)alkyl moiety, as defined above, attached via a sulfur atom.
The term "(heterocyclic)alkynyl" as used herein refers to a heterocyclic group appended to an alkynyl group, as previously defined.
The term "(heterocyclic)ether" as used herein refers to a heterocyclic moiety, as defined above, attached via an oxygen atom.
The term "(heterocyclic)thioether" as used herein refers to a heterocyclic moiety, as defined above, attached via a sulfur atom.
The terms "hydroxyalkyl" as used herein refer to --OH appended to a loweralkyl group, as defined below.
The terms "hydroxyalkyloxyalkyl" as used herein refer to --OH appended to an alkyloxyalkyl group, as defined above.
The term "hydroxy-protecting group" as used herein refers to those groups which are known in the an to protect a hydroxyl group against undesirable reaction during synthetic procedures and to be selectively removable including, but not limited to, dimethylthexylsilyl, trisubstituted silyl such as tri(lower)alkylsilyl (e.g. trimethylsilyl, triethylsilyl, tributylsilyl, tri-i-propylsilyl, tert-butyl-dimethylsilyl, tri-tert-butylsilyl, triphenylmethyl-dimethylsilyl, etc.); lower alkyldiarylsilyl (e.g. methyl-diphenylsilyl, ethyl-diphenylsilyl, propyl-diphenylsilyl, tert-butyl-diphenylsilyl, etc.), and the like; triarysilyl (e.g. triphenylsilyl, tri-p-xylylsilyl, etc.); triarylalkylsilyl (e.g. tribenzylsilyl, etc.), acyl substituted with an aromatic group and the like. Other classes of hydroxy-protecting group which may be useful include, but are not limited to, chlorocarbonate analogues such as trimethylsilylethoxycarbonyl, methylthiomethoxyethoxycarbonyl or benzenesulfonylethoxycarbonyl; trimethylsilylethoxymethyl, and the like,
The term "loweralkyl" as used herein refers to an alkyl group, as defined above, of 1 to 8 carbon atoms.
The terms "monoalkylamino" and "dialkylamino" refer respectively to one and two alkyl or cycloalkyl groups, as defined above, appended to an amino group including, but not limited to, methylamino, isopropylamino, cyclohexylamino, dimethylamino, N,N-methylisopropylamino; bis-(cyclohexyl)amino and the like.
The term "N-alkylcarboxamido" as used herein refers to an alkylamino group, as defined above, attached via a carbonyl group and having the formula HN(alkyl)C(O)--.
The term "N-arylcarboximido" as used herein refers to an arylamino group, as defined above, attached via a carbonyl group and having the formula HN(aryl)C(O)--.
The term "N,N-dialkylcarboxamido" as used herein refers to an amino group substituted with two alkyl groups, as defined above, wherein the two alkyl groups need not be identical, attached via a carbonyl group and having the formula N(alkyl)(alkyl')C(O)--.
The term "N,N-diarylcarboxamido" as used herein refers to an amino group substituted with two aryl groups, as defined above, wherein the two aryl groups need not be identical, attached via a carbonyl group and having the formula N(aryl)(aryl')C(O)--.
The term "N-alkylcarboxamidoalkyl" as used herein refers to an alkylcarboxamido group, as defined above, attached via an alkyl group and having the formula HN(alkyl)C(O)--alkyl--.
The term "N-arylcarboxamidoalkyl" as used herein refers to an arylcarboxamido group, as defined above, attached via an alkyl group and having the formula HN(aryl)C(O)--alkyl--.
The term "N,N-dialkylcarboxamidoalkyl" as used herein refers to an amino group substituted with two alkyl groups, as defined above, wherein the two alkyl groups need not be identical, attached via a carbonyl group and having the formula N(alkyl)(alkyl')C(O)--alkyl--.
The term "N,N-diarylcarboxamido" as used herein refers to an amino group substituted with two aryl groups, as defined above, wherein the two aryl groups need not be identical, attached via a carbonyl group and having the formula N(aryl)(aryl')C(O)--alkyl--.
The term "oxo" as used herein refers to an oxygen atom forming a carbonyl group.
The term "polyhydroxyalkyl" as used herein refers to two or more hydroxyl groups appended to an alkyl group, as defined above.
The term "protected formyl group" as used herein refers to those groups which are known in the art to protect a formyl group against undesirable reaction during synthetic procedures and to be selectively removable including, but not limited to, dimethyl acetal, diethyl acetal, bis(2,2,2-trichloroethyl) acetals, Dibenzyl acetal, 1,3-dioxane, 5-methylene-1,3-dioxane, 5,5-dibromo-1,3-dioxane, O-methyl-S-2-(methylthio)ethyl acetal, 1,3-oxathiolanes and the like.
The term "thioalkoxyalkyl" as used herein refers to a thioalkoxy group, as defined above, appended to a loweralkyl group.
The term "thioalkyl" as used herein refers to an alkyl group, as defined above, attached via a sulfur atom.
The term "thiooxo" as used herein refers to a sulfur atom forming a thiocarbonyl group.
The term "pharmaceutically acceptable salts, esters, amides and prodrugs" as used herein refers to those carboxylate salts, amino acid addition salts, esters, amides and prodrugs of the compounds of the present invention which are, within the scope of sound medical judgement, suitable for use in contact with with the tissues of humans and lower animals with undue toxicity, irritation, allergic response, and the like, commensurate with a reasonable benefit/risk ratio, and effective for their intended use, as well as the zwitterionic forms, where possible, of the compounds of the invention. The term "salts" refers to the relatively non-toxic, inorganic and organic acid addition salts of compounds of the present invention. These salts can be prepared in situ during the final isolation and purification of the compounds or by separately reacting the purified compound in its free base form with a suitable organic or inorganic acid and isolating the salt thus formed. Representative salts include the hydrobromide, hydrochloride, sulfate, bisulfate, phosphate, nitrate, acetate, oxalate, valerate, oleate, palmitate, stearate, laurate, borate, benzoate, lactate, phosphate, tosylate, citrate, maleate, fumarate, succinate, tartrate, naphthylate, mesylate, glucoheptonate, lactiobionate and laurylsulphonate salts and the like. These may include cations based on the alkali and alkaline earth metals, such as sodium, lithium, potassium, calcium, magnesium and the like, as well as nontoxic ammonium, quaternary ammonium and amine cations including, but not limited to, ammonium, tetramethylammonium, tetraethylammonium, methylamine, dimethylamine, trimethylamine, triethylamine, ethylamine and the like. (See, for example S. M. Berge, et al., "Pharmaceutical Salts," J. Pharm. Sci., 66: 1-19 (1977) which is incorporated herein by reference.)
Examples of pharmaceutically acceptable, non-toxic esters of the compounds of this invention include C 1 -to-C 6 alkyl esters wherein the alkyl group is a straight or branched chain. Acceptable esters also include C 5 -to-C 7 cycloalkyl esters as well as arylalkyl esters such as, but not limited to benzyl. C 1 -to-C 4 alkyl esters are preferred. Esters of the compounds of the present invention may be prepared according to conventional methods.
Examples of pharmaceutically acceptable, non-toxic amides of the compounds of this invention include amides derived from ammonia, primary C 1 -to-C 6 alkyl amines and secondary C 1 -to-C 6 dialkyl amines wherein the alkyl groups are straight or branched chain. In the case of secondary amines the amine may also be in the form of a 5 or 6 membered heterocycle containing one nitrogen atom. Amides derived from ammonia, C 1 -to-C 3 alkyl primary amides and C 1 -to-C 2 dialkyl secondary amides are preferred. Amides of the compounds of the invention may be prepared according to conventional methods.
The term "prodrug" refers to compounds that are rapidly transformed in vivo to yield the parent compound of the above formula, for example by hydrolysis in blood. A thorough discussion is provided in T. Higuchi and V. Stella, "Pro-drugs as Novel Delivery Systems", Vol 14 of the A. C. S. Symposium Series, and in Bioreversible Carriers in Drug Design, ed. Edward B. Roche, American Pharmaceutical Association and Pergamon Press, 1987, both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Where appropriate, prodrugs of derivatives of compounds of the present invention may be prepared by any suitable method. For those compounds in which the prodrug moiety is an amino acid or peptide functionality, the condensation of the amino group with amino acids and peptides may be effected in accordance with conventional condensation methods such as the azide method, the mixed acid anhydride method, the DCC (dicyclohexylcarbodiimede) method, the active ester method (p-nitrophenyl ester method, N-hydroxysuccinic acid imide ester method, cyanomethyl ester method and the like), the Woodward reagent K method, the DCC-HOBT (1-hydroxy-benzotriazole) method and the like. Classical methods for amino acid condensation reactions are described in "Peptide Synthesis" Second Edition, M. Bodansky, Y. S. Klausnet and M. A. Ondetti (1976).
As in conventional peptide sysnthesis, branched chain amino and carboxyl groups at alpha and omega positions in amino acids may be protected and deprotected if necessary. The protecting groups for amino groups which can be used involve, for example, benzyloxycarbonyl (Z), o-chlorobenzyloxycarbonyl ((2-Cl)Z)), p-nitrobenzyloxycarbonyl (Z(NO 2 )), p-methoxybenzyloxycarbonyl (Z(OMe)), t-amyloxycarbonyl (Aoc), isobornealozycarbonyl, adamantyloxycarbonyl (Adoc), 2-(4-biphenyl)-2-propyloxy carbonyl (Bpoc), 9-fluorenyl-methoxycarbonyl (Fmoc), methylsulfonylethoxy carbonyl (Msc), trifluoroacetyl, phthalyl, formyl, 2-nitrophenylsulfonyl (Nps), diphenylphosphinothioyl (Ppt) and dimethylphosphino-thioyl (Mpt).
The examples for protecting groups for carboxyl groups involve, for example, benzyl ester (OBzl), cyclohexyl ester, 4-nitrobenzyl ester (OBzlNO 2 ), t-butyl ester (OtBu), 4-pyridylmethyl ester (OPic) and the like.
In the course of the synthesis of certain of the compounds of the present invention, specific amino acids having functional groups other than amino and carboxyl groups in the branched chain such as arginine, cysteine, serine and the like may be protected, if necessary, with suitable protecting groups. It is preferable that, for example, the guanidino group (NG) in arginine may be protected with nitro, p-toluenesulfonyl (Tos), benzyloxycarbonyl (Z), adamantyloxycarbonyl (Adoc), p-methoxybenzenesulfonyl, 4-methoxy-2,6-dimethylbenzenesulfonyl (Mts) and the like; the thiol group in cysteine may be protected with benzyl, p-methoxybenzyl, triphenylmethyl, acetamidomethyl, ethylcarbamyl, 4-methylbenzyl (4-MeBzl), 2,4,6-trimethylbenzyl (Tmb) and the like; and the hydroxy group in serine may be protected with benzyl (Bzl), t-butyl, acetyl, tetrahydropyranyl (THP) and the like.
Numerous asymmetric centers may exist in the compounds of the present invention. Except where otherwise noted, the present invention contemplates the various stereoisomers and mixtures thereof. Accordingly, whenever a bond is represented by a wavy line, it is intended that both steric orientations are intended.
It should also be noted that certain variable elements of the structural formulae herein, such as the radicals R 11 and R 12 or the integers m, s and t, may appear more than once in a particular formula. In such instances, it is intended that, within a single formula, the values of these variables may be the same or different at each occurrence.
The compounds of the invention, including but not limited to those specified in the examples, possess immunomodulatory activity in animals. As immunosuppressants, the compounds of the present invention are useful when administered for the prevention immune-mediated tissue or organ graft rejection. Examples of transplanted tissues and organs which suffer from these effects are heart, kidney, liver, lung, small-bowel, and the like. The regulation of the immune response by the compounds of the invention would also find utility in the treatment of autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, type I diabetes, uveitis, allergic encephalomyelitis, glomerulonephritis, and the like.
Further uses include the treatment and prophylaxis of inflammatory and hyperproliferative skin diseases and cutaneous manifestations of immunologically-mediated illnesses, such as psoriasis, atopical dermatitis, and Epidermolysis bullosa. Further instances where a compound of the invention would be useful include various eye diseases (autoimmune and otherwise) such as ocular pemphigus, Scleritis, and Graves' opthalmopathy, etc.
Other treatable conditions would include but are not limited to intestinal inflammations/allergies such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis; renal diseases such as interstitial nephritis; hematic diseases such as aplastic anemia, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, and autoimmune hemolytic anemia; skin diseases such as dermatomyositis; circulatory diseases such as myocardosis; collagen diseases such as Wegener's granuloma; nephrotic syndrome such as glomerulonephritis; Pyoderma; Behcet's disease such as intestinal-, vasculo- or neuro-Behcet's disease, and also Behcet's which affects the oral cavity, skin, eye, vulva, articulation, epididymis, lung, kidney and so on. Furthermore, the compounds of the invention are useful for the treatment and prevention of hepatic disease such as immunogenic diseases (for example, chronic autoimmune liver diseases such as the group consisting of autoimmune hepatitis, primary biliary cirrhosis and sclerosing cholangitis), partial liver resection, acute liver necrosis (e.g., necrosis caused by toxin, viral hepatitis, shock or anoxia).
When used in the above or other treatments, a therapeutically effective amount of one of the compounds of the present invention may be employed in pure form or, where such forms exist, in pharmaceutically acceptable salt, ester or prodrug form. Alternatively, the compound may be administered as pharmaceutical compositions containing the compound of interest in combination with one or more pharmaceutically acceptable excipients. By a "therapeutically effective amount" of the compound of the invention is meant a sufficient amount of the compound to treat gastrointestinal disorders, at a reasonable benefit/risk ratio applicable to any medical treatment. It will be understood, however, that the total daily usage of the compounds and compositions of the present invention will be decided by the attending physician within the scope of sound medical judgement. The specific therapeutically effective dose level for any particular patient will depend upon a variety of factors including the disorder being treated and the severity of the disorder; activity of the specific compound employed; the specific composition employed; the age, body weight, general health, sex and diet of the patient; the time of administration, route of administration, and rate of excretion of the specific compound employed; the duration of the treatment; drugs used in combination or coincidental with the specific compound employed; and like factors well known in the medical arts. For example, it is well within the skill of the art to star doses of the compound at levels lower than required for to achieve the desired therapeutic effect and to gradually increase the dosage until the desired effect is achieved.
The total daily dose of the compounds of this invention administered to a human or lower animal may range from about 0.00 1 to about 3 mg/kg/day. For purposes of oral administration, more preferable doses may be in the range of from about 0.005 to about 1.5 mg/kg/day. If desired, the effective daily dose may be divided into multiple doses for purposes of administration; consequently, single dose compositions may contain such amounts or submultiples thereof to make up the daily dose.
The pharmaceutical compositions of the present invention comprise a compound of the invention and a pharmaceutically acceptable carder or excipient, which may be administered orally, rectally, parenterally, intracisternally, intravaginally, intraperitoneally, topically (as by powders, ointments, drops or transdermal patch), bucally, or as an oral or nasal spray. By "pharmaceutically acceptable carder" is meant a non-toxic solid, semi-solid or liquid filler, diluent, encapsulating material or formulation auxiliary of any type. The term "parenteral" as used herein refers to modes of administration which include intravenous, intramuscular, intraperitoneal, intrasternal, subcutaneous and intraarticular injection and infusion.
Pharmaceutical compositions of this invention for parenteral injection comprise pharmaceutically acceptable sterile aqueous or nonaqueous solutions, dispersions, suspensions or emulsions as well as sterile powders for reconstitution into sterile injectable solutions or dispersions just prior to use. Examples of suitable aqueous and nonaqueous carriers, diluents, solvents or vehicles include water, ethanol, polyols (such as glycerol, propylene glycol, polyethylene glycol, and the like), carboxymethylcellulose and suitable mixtures thereof, vegetable oils (such as olive oil), and injectable organic esters such as ethyl oleate. Proper fluidity can be maintained, for example, by the use of coating materials such as lecithin, by the maintenance of the required particle size in the case of dispersions, and by the use of surfactants.
These compositions may also contain adjuvants such as preservative, wetting agents, emulsifying agents, and dispersing agents. Prevention of the action of microorganisms may be ensured by the inclusion of various antibacterial and antifungal agents, for example, paraben, chlorobutanol, phenol sorbic acid, and the like. It may also be desirable to include isotonic agents such as sugars, sodium chloride, and the like, Prolonged absorption of the injectable pharmaceutical form may be brought about by the inclusion of agents which delay absorption such as aluminum monostearate and gelatin.
In some cases, in order to prolong the effect of the drug, it is desirable to slow the absorption of the drug from subcutaneous or intramuscular injection. This may be accomplished by the use of a liquid suspension of crystalline or amorphous material with poor water solubility. The rate of absorption of the drug then depends upon its rate of dissolution which, in turn, may depend upon crystal size and crystalline form. Alternatively, delayed absorption of a parenterally administered drug form is accomplished by dissolving or suspending the drug in an oil vehicle.
Injectable depot forms are made by forming microencapsule matrices of the drag in biodegradable polymers such as polylactide-polyglycolide. Depending upon the ratio of drug to polymer and the nature of the particular polymer employed, the rate of drug release can be controlled. Examples of other biodegradable polymers include poly(orthoesters) and poly(anhydrides) Depot injectable formulations are also prepared by entrapping the drug in liposomes or microemulsions which are compatible with body tissues.
The injectable formulations can be sterilized, for example, by filtration through a bacterial-retaining filter, or by incorporating sterilizing agents in the form of sterile solid compositions which can be dissolved or dispersed in sterile water or other sterile injectable medium just prior to use.
Solid dosage forms for oral administration include capsules, tablets, pills, powders, and granules. In such solid dosage forms, the active compound is mixed with at least one inert, pharmaceutically acceptable excipient or carrier such as sodium citrate or dicalcium phosphate and/or a) fillers or extenders such as starches, lactose, sucrose, glucose, mannitol, and silicic acid, b) binders such as, for example, carboxymethylcellulose, alginates, gelatin, polyvinylpyrrolidone, sucrose, and acacia, c) humectants such as glycerol, d) disintegrating agents such as agar-agar, calcium carbonate, potato or tapioca starch, alginic acid, certain silicates, and sodium carbonate, e) solution retarding agents such as paraffin, f) absorption accelerators such as quaternary ammonium compounds, g) wetting agents such as, for example, cetyl alcohol and glycerol monostearate, h) absorbents such as kaolin and bentonite clay, and i) lubricants such as talc, calcium stearate, magnesium stearate, solid polyethylene glycols, sodium lauryl sulfate, and mixtures thereof. In the case of capsules, tablets and pills, the dosage form may also comprise buffering agents.
Solid compositions of a similar type may also be employed as fillers in soft and hard-filled gelatin capsules using such excipients as lactose or milk sugar as well as high molecular weight polyethylene glycols and the like.
The solid dosage forms of tablets, dragees, capsules, pills, and granules can be prepared with coatings and shells such as enteric coatings and other coatings well known in the pharmaceutical formulating art. They may optionally contain opacifying agents and can also be of a composition that they release the active ingredient(s) only, or preferentially, in a certain part of the intestinal tract, optionally, in a delayed manner. Examples of embedding compositions which can be used include polymeric substances and waxes.
The active compounds can also be in micro-encapsulated form, if appropriate, with one or more of the above-mentioned excipients.
Liquid dosage forms for oral administration include pharmaceutically acceptable emulsions, solutions, suspensions, syrups and elixirs. In addition to the active compounds, the liquid dosage forms may contain inert diluents commonly used in the art such as, for example, water or other solvents, solubilizing agents and emulsifiers such as ethyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, ethyl carbonate, ethyl acetate, benzyl alcohol, benzyl benzoate, propylene glycol, 1,3-butylene glycol, dimethyl formamide, oils (in particular, cottonseed, groundnut, corn, germ, olive, castor, and sesame oils), glycerol, tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol, polyethylene glycols and fatty acid esters of sorbitan, and mixtures thereof.
Besides inert diluents, the oral compositions can also include adjuvants such as wetting agents, emulsifying and suspending agents, sweetening, flavoring, and perfuming agents.
Suspensions, in addition to the active compounds, may contain suspending agents as, for example, ethoxylated isostearyl alcohols, polyoxyethylene sorbitol and sorbitan esters, microcrystalline cellulose, aluminum metahydroxide, bentonite, agar-agar, and tragacanth, and mixtures thereof.
Topical administration includes administration to the skin or mucosa, including surfaces of the lung and eye. Compositions for topical administration, including those for inhalation, may be prepared as a dry powder which may be pressurized or non-pressurized. In non-pressurized powder compositions, the active ingredient in finely divided form may be used in admixture with a larger-sized pharmaceutically acceptable inert carrier comprising particles having a size, for example, of up to 100 micrometers in diameter. Suitable inert carriers include sugars such as lactose. Desirably, at least 95% by weight of the particles of the active ingredient have an effective particle size in the range of 0.01 to 10 micrometers.
Alternatively, the composition may be pressurized and contain a compressed gas, such as nitrogen or a liquified gas propellant. The liquified propellant medium and indeed the total composition is preferably such that the active ingredient does not dissolve therein to any substantial extent. The pressurized composition may also contain a surface active agent. The surface active agent may be a liquid or solid non-ionic surface active agent or may be a solid anionic surface active agent. It is preferred to use the solid anionic surface active agent in the form of a sodium salt.
A further form of topical administration is to the eye, as for the treatment of immune-mediated conditions of the eye such as autoimmune diseases, allergic or inflammatory conditions, and corneal transplants. The compound of the invention is delivered in a pharmaceutically acceptable ophthalmic vehicle, such that the compound is maintained in contact with the ocular surface for a sufficient time period to allow the compound to penetrate the corneal and internal regions of the eye, as for example the anterior chamber, posterior chamber, vitreous body, aqueous humor, vitreous humor, cornea, iris/cilary, lens, choroid/retina and sclera. The pharmaceutically acceptable ophthalmic vehicle may, for example, be an ointment, vegetable oil or an encapsulating material.
Compositions for rectal or vaginal administration are preferably suppositories which can be prepared by mixing the compounds of this invention with suitable non-irritating excipients or carriers such as cocoa butter, polyethylene glycol or a suppository wax which are solid at room temperature but liquid at body temperature and therefore melt in the rectum or vaginal cavity and release the active compound.
Compounds of the present invention can also be administered in the form of liposomes. As is known in the art, liposomes are generally derived from phospholipids or other lipid substances. Liposomes are formed by mono- or multi-lamellar hydrated liquid crystals that are dispersed in an aqueous medium. Any non-toxic, physiologically acceptable and metabolizable lipid capable of forming liposomes can be used. The present compositions in liposome form can contain, in addition to a compound of the present invention, stabilizers, preservatives, excipients, and the like. The preferred lipids are the phospholipids and the phosphatidyl cholines (lecithins), both natural and synthetic. Methods to form liposomes are known in the art. See, for example, Prescott, Ed., Methods in Cell Biology, Volume XIV, Academic Press, New York, N.Y. (1976), p. 33 et seq.
The compounds of the invention may be prepared using one or more of the processes which follow. The starting materials for use in these processes are preferably one of the macrotides isolated from culture media obtained in accordance with known methods by fermentation of microorganisms of the genus Streptomyces, which are disclosed in European Patent Application No. 0184162. Samples are available from the Fermentation Research Institute, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305, Japan under the provisions of the Budapest Treaty, under deposit No. FERM BP-927. This strain has been redeposited on April 27, 1989 with the Agricultural Research Culture Collection International Depository, Peoria, Ill. 61604, USA under the provisions of the Budapest Treaty, under deposit No. NRRL 18488. The macrolide FR-900520 (European Patent Application 0184 162), also known as ascomycin, may be prepared in accordance to the published methods of (i) H. Hatanaka, M. Iwami, T. Kino, T. Goto and M. Okuhara, FR-900520 and FR-900523, Novel immunosuppressants isolated from A streptomyces. I. Taxonomy of the producing strain. J. Antibiot., 1988. XLI(11), 1586-1591; (ii) H. Hatanaka, T. Kino, S. Miyata, N. Inamura, A. Kuroda, T. Goto, H. Tanaka and M. Okuhara, FR-900520 and FR-900523, Novel immunosuppressants isolated from A streptomyces. H. Fermentation, isolation and physico-chemical and biological characteristics. J. Antibiot., 1988. XLI(11), 1592-1601; (iii) T. Arai, Y. Koyama, T. Suenaga and H. Honda, Ascomycin, An Antifungal Antibiotic. J. Antibiot., 1962, 15(231-2); and (iv) T. Arai in U.S. Pat. No. 3,244,592. One or more of the processes discussed below may be then employed to produce the desired compound of the invention.
Such processes comprise:
(a) producing a compound of formula I, which contains bis(CH--OR) groups, in a corresponding compound wherein R is a protecting group.
(b) producing a compound of formula I, which contains a mono(CH--OR) group, by selective deprotection in a corresponding compound wherein R is a protecting group.
(c) producing a compound of formula I, which contains a CH--OR group, by selective activation of a selected CH--OH group in a corresponding compound wherein --OR is a leaving group which is easily displaced by nucleophilic attack.
(d) producing a compound of formula I, which contains a CH--R 100 group, by selective displacement of a selected CH--OR group in a corresponding compound wherein --R 100 is a nucleophile.
(e) producing a compound of formula I, which contains a CH--OH group, by selective and final deprotection in a corresponding compound.
In process (a), suitable protecting groups for hydroxyl include those groups well known in the art such as dimethylthexylsilyl, trisubstituted silyl such as tri(lower)alkylsilyl (e.g. trimethylsilyl, triethylsilyl, tributylsilyl, tri-i-propylsilyl, tert-butyl-dimethylsilyl, tri-tert-butylsilyl, triphenylmethyl-dimethylsilyl, etc.); lower alkyldiarylsilyl (e.g. methyl-diphenylsilyl, ethyl-diphenylsilyl, propyl-diphenylsilyl, tert-butyl-diphenylsilyl, etc.), and the like; triarysilyl (e.g. triphenylsilyl, tri-p-xylylsilyl, etc.); triarylalkylsilyl (e.g. tribenzylsilyl, etc.), and the like, in which the preferred one may be tri(C 1 -to-C 4 )alkylsilyl and C 1 -to-C 4 alkyldiphenylsilyl, and the most preferred one may be tert-butyldimethylsilyl;
Suitable o-silylations may be carried out using a wide variety of organosilicon reagents such as, but not limitted to tert-butyldimethylsilyl chloride, N-(tert-butyldimethylsilyl)-N-methyltrifluoroacetamide (Mawhinney, T., and Madison, M. A. J. Org. Chem., 1982, 47, 3336), tert-butylchlorodiphenylsilane (Hanessian, S. and Lavallee, P Can. J. Chem., 1975, 63, 2975), tert-butyldimethylsilyl trifluoromethanesulfonate (Mander, L. N. and Sethi, S. P. Tetrahedron Lett., 1984, 25, 5953), dimethylthexylsilyl chloride or dimethylthexylsilyl trifluoromethanesulfonate (Wetter, H. and Oertle, K. Tetrahedron Lett., 1985, 26, 5515), 1-(tert-butyldimethylsilyl)-imidazole and the like.
Carbonate hydroxy-protecting groups may be introduced using a wide variety of a haloformates such as methy, ethyl, 2,2,2-trichloroethyl, isobutyl, vinyl, allyl, 2-(trimethylsilyl)ethyl, 2-(benzenesulfonyl)ethyl, 2-(trimethylsilyl)ethoxy methyl, benzyl and substituted benzyl chloroformates, where benzyl substituents include p-methoxy, 3,4-dimethoxy and p-nitro, in the presence of tertiary base such as pyridine, triethylamine, imidazole, diisopropylethylamine and the like. (Tetrahedron Lett., 1980, 21, 3343; ibid., 1981, 22, 3667; ibid. 1981, 22,969; ibid. 1981, 22, 1933.)
The reaction may be carried out in a solvent which does not adversely affect the reaction (e.g., diethylether, dichloromethane, tetrahydrofuran, chloroform or N,N-dimethylformamide or a mixture thereof). The reaction may require cooling or heating, depending on the activation method chosen. Further, the reaction is preferably conducted in the presence of an organic or inorganic base such as an alkaline earth metal (e.g. calcium, etc.), alkali metal hydride (e.g. sodium hydride, etc.), alkali metal hydroxide (e.g. sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, etc.), alkali metal carbonate (e.g. sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate, etc.), alkali metal hydrogen carbonate (e.g. sodium hydrogen carbonate, potassium hydrogen carbonate, etc.), alkali metal alkoxide (e.g. sodium methoxide, sodium ethoxide, potassium tert-butoxide, etc.), alkali metal alkanoic acid (e.g. sodium acetate, etc.), trialkylamine (e.g. triethylamine, etc.), pyridine compounds (e.g. pyridine, lutidine, picoline, 4-N,N-dimethylaminopyridine, etc.), quinoline, and the like, preferably in the presence of organic bases such as imidazole, triethylamine or pyridine.
The reaction may also be carried out using a starting material having an opposite configuration at a carbon center. In this situation, the following two additional steps are required to yield a starting material having an epimeric hydroxyl moiety, i.e. (1) the alcohol is oxidized to its corresponding ketone, (2) the obtained ketone is reduced under selective conditions. Both chiral centers having either [R]- or [S]-configuration can be obtained selectively and separately.
In process (b), suitable reagents for selective deprotection of a protecting group from C-32 may be carefully carded out using, but not limitted to aqueous hydrogen fluoride in acetonitrile (Newton, R. F., Reynolds, D. P., Finch, M. A. W., Kelly, D. R. and Roberts, S. M. Tetrahedron Lett., 1979, 3891 ), tetraalkyl ammonium fluoride in tetrahydrofuran (Corey, E. J. and Snider, B. B. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1972, 94, 2549, Corey, E. J. and Venkateswarlu, A. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1972, 94, 6190) or tetraalkyl ammonium chloride-potassium fluoride in acetonitrile (Carpino, L. A. and Sau, A. C. J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun. 1979, 514) whererin an alkyl group as defined above, p-toluenesulfonic acid, potassium carbonate in anhydrous methanol (Hurst, D. T. and MaInnes, A. G. Can. J. Chem., 1965, 43, 2004), citric acid in methanol (Bundy, G. L. and Peterson, D.C. Tetrahedron Lett., 1978, 41), acetic acid:water (3:1) (Corey, E. J. and Varma, R. K. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1971, 93, 7319), Dowex 50W-X8 in methanol (Corey, E. J., Ponder, J. W. and Ulrich, P. Tetrahedron Lett., 1980, 21, 137), boron trifluoride etherate in chloroform (Kelly, D. R., Roberts, M. S. and Newton, R. F. Synth. Commun. 1979, 9, 295), methanolic hydrogen fluoride (Hanessian, S. and Lavallee, P. Can. J. Chem., 1975, 53, 2975; ibid., 1977, 55, 562), and pyridinuim fluoride in tetrahydrofuran (Nicolaou, K. C., Seitz, S. P., Pavia, M. R. and Petasis, N. A. J. Org. Chem., 1979, 44, 4011 ), pyridinium p-toluenesulfonate in ethanol (Prakash, C., Saleh, S. and Blair, I. A. Tetrahedron Lett., 1989, 30, 19), N-bromosuccinimide in dimethylsulfoxide (Batten, R. J. et al., Synthesis, 1980, 234), and tetraethyldiboroxane in the presence of catalytic amounts of trimethylsilyl triflate (Dahlhoff, W. V. and Taba, K. M., Synthesis, 1986, 561).
The reaction is usually conducted under from cooling to heating, preferably from 0° C. to 50° C. The reaction may require 20 minutes to one day, depending on the reagent and temperature chosen.
In process (c), suitable reagents for activation of an alcohol include acetic anhydride, trifluoromethanesulfonic anhydride (triflic anhydride), fluorosulfonic anhydride, methanesulfonyl chloride (mesyl chloride), p-toluenesulfonyl chloride (tosyl chloride), trifluoroacetic anhydride, trifluoroacetyl chloride, o-nitrobenzenesulfonyl chloride, 1-methyl-2-fluoropyridinium salt and the like.
The activation may be carried out in a solvent which does not adversely affect the reaction (e.g., diethylether, dichloromethane, tetrahydrofuran, chloroform or N,N-dimethylformamide or a mixture thereof). The reaction may require cooling or heating, depending on the activation method chosen. Further, the reaction is preferably conducted in the presence of an organic or inorganic base such as an alkaline earth metal (e.g. calcium, etc.), alkali metal hydride (e.g. sodium hydride, etc.), alkali metal hydroxide (e.g. sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, etc.), alkali metal carbonate (e.g. sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate, etc.), alkali metal hydrogen carbonate (e.g. sodium hydrogen carbonate, potassium hydrogen carbonate, etc.), alkali metal alkoxide (e.g. sodium methoxide, sodium ethoxide, potassium tert-butoxide, etc.), alkali metal alkanoic acid (e.g. sodium acetate, etc.), trialkylamine (e.g. triethylamine, etc.), pyridine compounds (e.g. pyridine, lutidine, picoline, 4-N,N-dimethylaminopyridine, etc.), quinoline, and the like, preferably in the presence of organic bases such as triethylamine or pyridine.
The reaction is usually conducted under from cooling to heating, preferably from -70° C. to 50° C. The reaction may require 20 minutes to one day, depend on the reagent and temperature chosen.
In process (d), a variety of compounds may be prepared from the displacement reactions. An activated hydroxyl group may be reacted with a primary or secondary amine (as defined above and below). The displacement reaction may be carded out in a solvent which does not adversely affect the reaction (e.g. chloroform, dichloromethane, tetrahydrofuran, pyridine, dimethylsulfoxide, N,N-dimethylformamide, hexamethylphosphoramide, etc. or a mixture thereof). The reaction may be conducted above, at, or below ambient temperature, preferably from 0° C. to 50° C. The reaction may require 20 minutes to one week, depend on the reagent chosen.
In process (e), a final deprotection of C-24 protecting group may be carried out according to the method described in process (c).
The compounds, processes and uses of the present invention will be better understood in connection with the following examples, which are intended as an illustration of and not a limitation upon the scope of the invention. Both below and throughout the specification, it is intended that citations to the literature are expressly incorporated by reference.
EXAMPLE 1
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =tert-butyldimethylsilyloxy; R 104 =tert-butyldimethylsilyloxy; R 105 =H
Ascomycin (25 g, 0.032 mol) was dissolved in a solution of imidazole (43.03 g, 0.64 mol) in dry N,N-dimethylformamide (500 mL) and tert-butyldimethylchlorosilane (47.64 g, 0.32 mol) was added in portions and stirred at room temperature for 24 hours. N,N-dimethylformamide and excess tert-butyldimethylchlorosilane were removed by evaporation (35° C. water bath) under high vaccum. The solid residue was dissolved in 350 mL of ethyl acetate, and the ethyl acetate layer was washed with saturated ammonium chloride aqueous solution (200 mL×3), 10%-NaHSO 4 (200 mL×3), brine, saturated NaHCO 3 (200 mL×3), and brine (200 mL×3). After dired over MgSO 4 , solvent was removed in vacuo and the solid residue was purified by silica gel chromatography, followed by HPLC eluting with 5% acetone in hexane providing the title compound (27 g) in 84% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=1058.
EXAMPLE 2
Formula I: R.sup. 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =tert-butyldimethylsilyloxy; R 104 =OH; R 10 =H
To a solution of 48% hydrogen fluoride aqueous solution (5 mL) was added Example 1 (32 g, 0.031 mol) in acetonitrile (500 mL), and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 90 minutes. It was cooled to 0° C. in an ice bath, and solid NaHCO 3 was added to the reaction mixture. It was stirred for 1 hour and solid was removed by filtration. Acetonirile was removed in vacuo and ethyl acetate (500 mL) was added to tthe residue, and the organic layer was washed with 10%-NaHCO 3 (300 mL×3), brine (250 mL), 10%-NaHSO 4 (300 mL×3), and brine (350 mL×3), and dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate. Evaporation of the solvent gave 35 g of crude title compound which was purified by silica gel column chromatography, followed by HPLC eluting with 25%-acetone in hexane. 24.28 g (85%) of pure compound was obtained. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=844; In addition to the title compound, unreacted starting material (Example 1, 1.5 g) and ascomycin (500 mg) were isolated as a pure form.
EXAMPLE 3
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =tert-butyldimethylsilyloxy: R 104 =O-trifluoromethanesulfonyl; R 105 =H
The product of Example 2 (4.0 g, 4.42 mmol) was dissolved in 20 mL of methylene chloride at 0° C. pyridine (3.57 mL, 44.2 mmol), followed by trifluoromethanesulfonic acid anhydride (0.74 mL, 4.42 mmol) were carefully added to the reaction mixture. It was stirred at 0° C. for 20 minutes and the solvent was removed. Ethyl acetate (50 mL) was added to the residue. The organic layers were washed with brine, saturated NaHCO 3 (20 mL×3), brine (20 mL), 10%-NaHSO 4 (20 mL×3), brine (20 mL×3) and dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate. After the solvent was removed, the title compound was obtained in quantitative yield (4.2 g). This compound was used for the displacement reaction without further purification and characterization.
EXAMPLE 4
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =tert-butyldimethylsilyloxy; R 104 =H; m=0 ; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =methyl
The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol) was dissolved in 10 mL of freshly distilled methylene chloride, 1-methylpiperazine (1.24 mL, 10.15 mmol) and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) were added, and the reaction was then stirred at 50° C. for 5 hours and at room temperature for one over night. The reaction mixture was directly poured onto silica gel column and eluted to obtain semi-pure title compound (925 mg) in 46% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=1026. M+H=988.
EXAMPLE 5
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =methyl
The product of Example 4 (920 mg, 0.93 mmol) was dissolved in 10 mL of acetonitrile:water (9:1), 48% hydrogen fluoride aqueous solution [48%-HF] (0.6 mL) was added, and the reaction was then stirred at room temperature for 5 hours. It was cooled to 0° C. in an ice bath, and solid NaHCO 3 was added to the reaction mixture. It was stirred for 0.5 hour and solid was removed by filtration. Acetonirile was removed in vacuo and the residue was purified by reverse phase HPLC (RP-HPLC), eluting with acetonitrile-water-0.01% trifluoroacetic acid system. 290 mg of pure title compound was obtained. MS (FAB) m/z: M+H=874, M+K =912; mp=132° C. (dec.)
EXAMPLE 6
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 110 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =tert-butyldimethylsilyloxy; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =benzyl
The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol) was dissolved in 8 mL Of freshly distilled methylene chloride, 1-benzylpiperazine (1.06 mL, 6.1 mmol) and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.1 mmol) were added, and was then stirred at 45° C. for 5 hours. The reaction mixture was directly poured onto silica gel column and eluted to obtain semi-pure title compound (1.52 g). It was then purified by HPLC, eluting with 30% acetone-hexane. 660 mg of pure title compound was isolated in 31% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=1102. M+H=1064.
EXAMPLE 7
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =benzyl
The product of Example 6 (1.3 g, 1.22 mmol) was dissolved in 35 mL of acetonitrile, 48% hydrogen fluoride aqueous solution [48%-HF] (2.2 mL) was added, and the reaction was then stirred at room temperature for 8 hours. The reaction was quenched by the addition of saturated NaHCO 3 solution and the product was extracted with 50 mL of ethyl acetate (x2). The ethyl acetate layer was washed with 10%-NaHCO 3 , brine and dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate. Evaporation of the solvent gave 1 g of crude tile compound was obtained. This was purified by RP-HPLC, eluting with acetonitrile-water-0.01%-trifluoroacetic acid system. 330 mg of the pure title compound was obtained. MS (FAB) m/z: M+H =950, M+K=988; mp=114°-116° C.
EXAMPLE 8
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =tert-butyldimethylsilyloxy; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =phenyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-phenylpiperazine, provided the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 1-penylpiperazine (1.53 mL, 6.07 mmol), and triethylamine (1.17 mL, 5.05 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride were used. 660 mg of the pure title compound was isolated in 32% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=1088. M+H=1050.
EXAMPLE 9
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =phenyl
Following the procedure of Example 5, the product of Example 8 (250 mg, 0.24 mmol), 48%-HF (0.5 mL) in 10 mL of acetonitrile were used. 202 mg of the pure title compound was isolated after purified by RP-HPLC. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=974. M+H=936. mp=119° C. (dec.)
EXAMPLE 10
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =tert-butyldimethylsilyloxy; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 H; R 1 =tert-butyloxycarbonyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-tert-butyloxycarbonylpiperazine, provided the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 1-tert-butyloxycarbonylpiperazine (1.13 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride were used. 670 mg of the pure title compound was isolated in 31% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=1112. M+H=1074.
EXAMPLE 11
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =tert-butyloxycarbonyl
Following the procedure of Example 5, the product of Example 10 (660 mg, 0.65 mmol), 48%-HF (3 mL) in 30 mL of acetonitrile were used. 279 mg of the pure title compound was isolated after purified by RP-HPLC. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=998.
EXAMPLE 12
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =[4-nitrobenzyl]
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-[4-nitrobenzyl]piperazine, provided the desired compound. To a solution of piperazine (2 g, 0.023 mol) in 10 mL of ethanol added a solution of 4-nitrobenzyl bromide (5 g, 0.023 mol) in 20 mL of warm ethanol. It was gently refluxed for 1 hour and stirred at room temperature for one over night. The resulting white precipitate was filtered, washed with a small amount of cold ethanol, and dried to yield 1-[4-nitrobenzyl]piperazine hydrobromide (3 g). MS m/z M+H=222, H 1 -NMR (in MeOH-d 4 ) δ=2.7 (t, 4H, piperazine), 3.25 (t, 4H, piperazine), 3.75 (s, 2H, benzyl), 7.62 (d, 2H, aromatic), 8.20 (d, 2H, aromatic). The obtained 1-[4-nitrobenzyl]piperazine hydrobromide (3 g, 9.93 mmol) was dissolved in 60 mL of 3N sodium hydroxide aqueous solution and stirred at room temperature for 30 minutes. The product was extracted with ethyl acetate (50 mL×3), and the combined ethyl acetate layer was washed with brine, dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate. Solvent was removed to obtain 1.7 g of 1-[4-nitrobenzyl]piperazine in 78% yield. MS m/z M+H=222, H 1 -NMR (in MeOH-d 4 ) δ2.45 (t, 4H, piperazine), 2.90 (t, 4H, piperazine), 3.55 (s, 2H, benzyl), 7.52 (d, 2H, aromatic), 8.50 (d, 2H, aromatic). The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 1-[4-nitrobenzyl]piperazine (1.7 g, 8.1 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride were used. The reaction was carried out at 45° C. for 15 hours. 1.07 g of semi-pure compound was isolated in 48% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=1147. M+H=1109. The obtained product (1.0 g, 0.9 mmol) was treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 30 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5, except stirred at 45° C. for 3 hours. 554 mg of the pure title compound was isolated in 50% yield after RP-HPLC. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=1033. M+H=996. mp=113° C. (dec.)
EXAMPLE 13
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =β-naphthylmethyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-β-naphthylmethylpiperazine, provided the desired compound. To a solution of piperazine (2.0 g, 0.023 mol) in 15 mL of ethanol added a solution of (2-bromomethyl)naphthalene (5 g, 0.023 mol) in 15 mL of warm ethanol. It was stirred at 55° C. for 1 hour and stirred at room temperature for one over night. The resulting precipitate was filtered, washed with ethyl acetate (20 mL×2), and dried to yield 1-naphthylmethylpiperazine hydrobromide (2.3 g). MS m/z M+H=227, H 1 -NMR (in MeOH-d 4 ) δ=2.85 (t, 4H, piperazine), 3.20 (t, 4H, piperazine), 3.72 (s, 2H, benzyl), 7.45 (m, 3H, aromatic), 7.70 (s, 2H, aromatic), 7.80 (3, 3H, aromatic). The obtained 1-naphthylmethylpiperazine hydrobromide (2.2 g, 7.16 mmol) was dissolved in 50 mL of 3N sodium hydroxide aqueous solution and stirred at room temperature for 30 minutes. The product was extracted with ethyl acetate (50 mL×3), and the combined ethyl acetate layer was washed with brine, dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate. Solvent was removed to obtain 1.2 g of 1-[naphthylmethyl]piperazine in 75% yield. MS m/z M+H=227, H 1 -NMR (in MeOH-d 4 ) δ=2.5 (m, 4H, piperazine), 2.95 (t, 4H, piperazine 3.55 (s, 2H, benzyl), 7.74 (m, 3H, aromatic), 7.72 (s, 2H, aromatic), 7.79 (m, 3H, aromatic). The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 1-naphthylmethylpiperazine (1.84 g, 8.1 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride were used. 860 mg of pure compound was isolated in 38% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+H=1114 . The obtained product (850 mg, 0.76 mmol) was treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 30 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5. 413 mg of the pure title compound was isolated after purified by RP-HPLC in 41% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=1038. M+H=1000. mp=125°-126° C.
EXAMPLE 14
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 2 =R 2' =R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with piperidine, provided the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), piperidine (0.6 mL, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride were used. 1.01 g of pure compound was isolated in 55% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+H=973. M+K=1011. The obtained product (1.0 g, 1.03 mmol) was treated with 48%-HF (3 mL) in 40 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5. 560 mg of the pure title compound was isolated in 56% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=897. M+H=859. mp=100°-101° C.
EXAMPLE 15
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =formyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-piperazinecarboxaldehyde, provided the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 1-piperazinecarboxaldehyde (0.62 mL, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride were used. It was stirred at 45° C. for 15 hours. 270 mg of pure compound was isolated in 13% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+H=1002. M+K=1040. The obtained product (260 mg, 0.26 mmol) was treated with 48%-HF (1 mL) in 15 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5. 176 mg of the pure title compound was isolated in 68% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+H=888. M+K=926. mp=126°-128° C.
EXAMPLE 16
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 2 and R 2' taken together to form --O(CH 2 ) i O-- wherein i=2
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 4-piperidone ethylene ketal, provided the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.0 g, 1.9 mmol), 4-piperidone ethylene ketal (0.742 mL, 5.7 mmol), and triethylamine (0.81 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride were used. 1.03 g of pure compound was isolated in 54% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+H=1031. M+K=1069. The obtained product (1.0 g, 0.97 1 mmol) was treated with 48%-HF (3 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5. 574 mg of the pure title compound was isolated in 57% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+H=917. M+K=955. mp=109°-110° C.
EXAMPLE 17
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m= 0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =2-hydroxyethyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-[2-hydroxyethyl]piperazine, provided the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.0 g, 1.9 mmol), 1-[2-hydroxyethyl]piperazine (0.71 mL, 5.7 mmol), and triethylamine (0.81 mL, 5.7 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride were used. 970 mg of pure compound was isolated in 49% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+H=1018. M+K=1056. The obtained product (960 mg, 0.94 mmol) was treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 40 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5. 414 mg of the pure title compound was isolated in 49% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+H=904. M+K=942.
EXAMPLE 18
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; X=oxygen
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with morpholine, provided the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.0 g, 1.9 mmol), morpholine (0.51 mL, 5.7 mmol), and triethylamine (0.81 mL, 5.7 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride were used. 780 mg of pure compound was isolated in 42% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+H=975. M+K=1013. The obtained product (780 mg, 0.80 mmol) was treated with 48%-HF (3 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5. 457 mg of the pure title compound was isolated in 59% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+H=861. M+K=899. mp=107°-108° C.
EXAMPLE 19
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =2-(2-hydroxyethoxy)ethyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-[2-(2hydroxyethoxy)ethyl]piperazine, provided the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 1-{2-(2-hydroxyethoxy)ethyl]piperazine (0.998 mL, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride were used. 1.2 g of pure compound was isolated in 56% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+H=1062. M+K=1100. The obtained product (1.2 g, 1.13 mmol) was treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5, except reaction time was 2.5 hours. 580 mg of the pure title compound was isolated in 53% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+H=948. M+K=986. mp=102°-104° C.
EXAMPLE 20
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =2-pyridyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-(2-pyridyl)piperazine, provided the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.0 g, 1.93 mmol), 1-(2-pyridyl)piperazine (0.881 mL, 5.79 mmol), and triethylamine (0.81 mL, 5.79 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used and stirred at 45° C. for one over night. 580 mg of pure compound was isolated after silica gel column chromatography, followed by normal phase HPLC purification in 29% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+H=1051. M+K=1089. The obtained product (570 mg, 0.543 mmol) was treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 25 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5, except reaction time was 4 hours. 400 mg of the pure title compound was isolated in 63% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+H =937. M+K=975. mp=110° C. (dec.).
EXAMPLE 21
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =H; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =2-pyrimidyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-(2-pyrimidyl)piperazine, provided the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 1-(2-pyrimidyl)piperazine (0.996 mL, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. 870 mg of pure compound was isolated after silica gel column chromatography, followed by normal phase HPLC purification in 41% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+H=1052. M+K=1090. The obtained product (0.86 g, 0.82 rental) was treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 30 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5, except reaction time was 3.5 hours. 380 mg of the pure title compound was isolated in 40% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+H =938. M+K=976. mp=110°-111° C.
EXAMPLE 22
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m-1; n=1; R 1 =R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H
Commercially available N-tert-butyloxycarbonyl-piperazine (0.5 g, 2.68 mmol) was dissolved in 5 mL of THF:water (1:1) and cooled in an ice bath. Triethylamine (0.748 mL, 5.4 mmol), followed by benzyloxycarbonyl chloride (0.575 mL, 3.21 mmol) in diethyl ether was slowly added to the reaction mixture. It was stirred at 0° C. for 1.5 hours. Solvents were removed and 50 mL of ethyl acetate was added to the residue. The ethyl acetate layer was washed with saturated NaHCO 3 (20 mL×3), brine (20 mL×3), and dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate. N-tert-butyloxycarbonyl-N;benzyloxycarbonyl-piperazine (1.0 g) was obtained after evaporated to dryness in quantitative yield. MS: M+NH 4 =338. M+H + =321. N-tert-butyloxycarbonyl-N'-benzyloxycarbonyl-piperazine (1.8 g, 3.13 mmol) was dissolved in 10 mL of 4N-HCl/dioxane. It was stirred at room temperature for 30 minutes. The reaction mixture was cooled in an ice bath, 1N-NaOH solution was carefully added to the mixture to adjust pH above 10. Ethyl acetate (50 mL×3) was used to extract the compound. The combined ethyl acetate layers were washed with brine, dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate. After removal of the solvent, 1.1 g of N-benzyloxycarbonyl-piperazine was obtained in quantitative yield. Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with N-benzyloxycarbonyl-piperazine, provided the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (1.1 g, 1.06 mmol), N-benzyloxycarbonyl-piperazine (700 mg, 3.18 mmol), and triethylamine (0.44 mL, 3.15 mmol) in 5 mL of methylene chloride were used. 339 mg of pure compound (C-32-N-benzyloxycarbonyl-piperazinyl-C-24-TBDMS-Ascomycin) was isolated in 29% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+H=1108. M+K-1146. The above obtained product (329 mg, 0.297 mmol) was treated with 48%-HF (0.55 mL) in 10 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5. 316 mg of semi pure compound (C-32-N-benzyloxycarbonyl-piperazinyl-Ascomycin) was isolated. This was directly used for the next reaction without further purification. The obtained product (317 mg, 0.32 mmol) was carefully hydrogenated in 40 mL of methanol in the presence of 10%-palladium on charcoal until theoretical ammount of hydrogen gas was consumed. 290 mg of crude product was purified by reverse phase-HPLC. 117 mg of the pure title compound was obtained in 47% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+H=860. M+K=898. mp=132° C. (dec).
EXAMPLE 23
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =3-pyridyl
3-Bromopyridine (0.963 mL, 10 mmol) and piparazine (0.861 g, 10 mmol) are gently refluxed in 20 mL of absolute ethanol until the starting materials are disappeared on TLC. Ethanol is removed in vacuo to obtain 1-[3-pyridyl]piperazine hydrochloride. The hydrochloride salt is removed according to the procedure described in Example 22 to yield 1-[3-pyridyl]piperazine. Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-[3-pyridyl]piperazine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 1-[3-pyridyl]piperazine (6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.2 g, 1.13 mmol) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5. The pure title compound is isolated.
EXAMPLE 24
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =4-pyridyl
4-Bromopyridine hydrochloride (2.25 g, 11.61 mmol) and piparazine (5 g, 58.05 mmol) were dissolved in 10 mL of absolute ethanol and replaced into a sealed tube. It was kept in 95° C. oil bath for 5 hours and allowed to stand at room temperature for one over night. The white precipitate was filtered off, washed with a small amount of cold ethanol, and the filtrate was concentrated in vacuo to obtain 1-[4-pyridyl]piperazine hydrobromide hydrochloride salt with a contamination of unreacted piperazine. MS m/z M+H=165. H 1 -NMR (in CDCl 3 ) δ=2.95 (m, 4H), 3.36 (t, 4H), 6.82 (2H, aromatic), 8.10 (2H, aromatic). The obtained 1-[4-pyridyl]piperazine hydrobromide hydrochloride salt (1.0 g) was dissolved in 50 mL of 3N sodium hydroxide aqueous solution and stirred at room temperature for 15 minutes. The product was extracted with ethyl acetate (50 mL×3) and the combined ethyl acetate layer was washed with brine (50 mL×2), dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate. The solvent was removed in vacuo to obtain 450 mg of 1-[4-pyridyl]piperazine in 77% yield. MS m/z M+H=165. H 1 -NMR (in CDCl 3 ) δ=3.00 (m, 4H), 3.30 (t, 4H), 6.65 (2H, aromatic), 8.25 (2H, aromatic). Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-[4-pyridyl]piperazine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 1-[4-pyridyl]piperazine (999 mg, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.2 g, 1.13 mmol) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to yield the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 25
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl, R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =methanesulfonyl
N-tert-butyloxycarbonylpiperazine (1.0 g, 5.34 mmol) was dissolved in 5 mL of THF:water (1:1) and cooled in an ice bath. Triethylamine (1.45 mL, 10.68 mmol), followed by methanesulfonyl chloride (0.50 mL, 6.44 mmol) in 5 mL of ether were added, and stirred at 0° C. for 1 hour and at room temperature for 2 hours. Solvents were removed and 40 mL of ethyl acetate was added to the residue. The ethyl acetate layer was washed with brine (30 mL×3) and dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate. After filtered, the filtrate was concentrated in vacuo to yield 1.314 g of N-tert-butyloxycarbonyl-N'-methanesulfonyl-piperazine in 93% yield. MS m/z M+NH 4 =282. H 1 -NMR (in CDCl 3 ) δ=1.48 (s, 9H, Boc), 2.79 (s, 3H, S-CH 3 ), 3.18 (t, 4H, piperazine), 3.55 (t, 4H, piperazine). The obtained N-tert-butyloxycarbonyl-N'-methanesulfonyl-piperazine (1.3 g, 4.97 mmol) was dissolved in 10 mL of 20% trifluoroacetic acid in methylene chloride and stirred at room temperature for 30 minutes. Solvent and trifluoroacetic acid were removed to obtain N-methanesulfonylpiperazine trifluoroacetic acid salt in quantitative yield. MS m/z M+H=165, H 1 -NMR (in MeOH-d 4 ) δ=2.95 (s, 3H, S-CH 3 ), 3.35 (m, 4H, piperazine), 3.5 (m, 4H, piperazine). The obtained N-methanesulfonylpiperazine trifluoroacetic acid salt (2.2 g) was dissolved in 30 mL of acetonitrile and cooled in an ice bath. Solid sodium bicarbonate was added to the acetonitrile solution and stirred for 2 hours. Solid was filtered off and the filtrate was concentrated in vacuo to yield N-methanesulfonylpiperazine in quantitative yield. MS m/z M+H=165, M+NH 4 =182; H 1 -NMR (in MeOH-d 4 ) δ=2.85 (s, 3H, S-CH 3 ), 2.95 (t, 4H, 3.22 (t, 4H, piperazine). Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-methanesulfonylpiperazine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), base-treated salt free form of 1-methanesulfonylpiperazine (999 mg, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to yield the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 26
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =diethylphosphoryl
N-tert-butyloxycarbonylpiperazine (1.0 g, 5.34 mmol) was dissolved in 5 mL of THF:water (1:1) and cooled in an ice bath. Triethylamine (1.45 mL, 10.68 mmol), followed by diethylchlorophosphate (1.16 mL, 8.01 mmol) in 5 mL of ether were added, and stirred at 0° C. for 1 hour and at room temperature for 2 hours. Solvents were removed and 40 mL of ethyl acetate was added to the residue. The ethyl acetate layer was washed with brine (30 mL×3) and dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate. After filtered, the filtrate was concentrated in vacuo to yield 1.5 g of N-tert-butyloxycarbonyl-N'-diethylphosphoryl-piperazine in 88% yield as an oil. MS m/z M+H=323, M+NH 4 =340. H 1 -NMR (in CDCl 3 ) δ=1.32 (t, 6H, 2×CH 3 ), 1.48 (s, 9H, Boc), 3.1 (m, 4H, piperazine), 3.37 (t, 4H, piperazine), 4.05 (m, 4H, 2×OCH 2 ). The obtained N-tert-butyloxycarbonyl-N'-diethylphosphoryl-piperazine (1.5 g, 4.66 mmol) was dissolved in 10 mL of 10% trifluoroacetic acid in methylene chloride and stirred at room temperature for 30 minutes. Solvent and trifluoroacetic acid were removed to obtain 1.6 g of N-diethylphosphorylpiperazine trifluoroacetic acid salt in quantitative yield. MS m/z M+H=223, H 1 -NMR (in MeOH-d 4 ) δ=1.35 (m, 6H, 2×CH 3 ), 3.19 (m, 4H, piperazine) (m, 4H, piperazine), 4.05 (m, 4H, 2×OCH 2 ). Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-diethylphosphorylpiperazine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), base-treated salt free form of N-diethylphosphorylpiperazine (1.358 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to yield the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 27
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =1-pyrrolidinocarbonylmethyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-[1-pyrrolidinocarbonylmethyl]piperazine, provided the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.0 g, 1.93 mmol), 1-[1-pyrrolidinocarbonylmethyl]piperizine (1.14 g, 5.79 mmol), and triethylamine (0.81 mL, 5.79 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride were used. 1.4 g of pure compound was isolated in 67% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+H=1085. M+K=1123. The obtained product (1.2 g, 1.11 mmol) was treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 45 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5, except reaction time was 3.5 hours. 620 mg of the pure title compound was isolated in 52% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+H=971. M+K=1009. mp=110°-112° C.
EXAMPLE 28
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =1-morpholinocarbonylmethyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-[1-morpholinocarbonylmethyl]piperazine, provided the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.0 g, 1.93 mmol), 1-[1-morpholinocarbonylmethyl]piperizine (1.23 g, 5.79 mmol), and triethylamine (0.81 mL, 5.79 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride were used. 1.1 g of pure compound was isolated in 55% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+H=1101. The obtained product (1.0 g, 0.909 mmol) was treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 45 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5. 624 mg of the pure title compound was isolated in 56% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+H=987. M+K=1025. mp=112°-113° C.
EXAMPLE 29
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0 ; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =cyclopropyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-cyclopropylpiperazine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 1-cyclopropylpiperazine (6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 30
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =cyclobutyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-cyclobutylpiperazine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), base-treated free base form of 1-cyclobutylpiperazine (854 mg, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 31
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =cyclopentyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-cyclopentylpiperazine, provided the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), base-treated free base form of 1-cyclopentylpiperazine (934 mg, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride were used. It was gently refluxed at 45° C. for one over night. 1.07 g of the title compound with C-24-TBDMS group was isolated in 51% yield after silica gel chromatography. MS (FAB) m/z: M+H=1042. The obtained product (1.05 g, 1.008 mmol) was treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 for 4 hours. After purified by reverse phase HPLC, the pure desirable title compound (459 mg) was obtained in 39% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=966. mp=124°-125° C.
EXAMPLE 32
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =cyclohexyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-cyclohexylpiperazine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), base-treated free base form of 1-cyclohexylpiperazine (1.024 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 33
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =cycloheptyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-cycloheptylpiperazine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), base-treated free base form of 1-cycloheptylpiperazine (1.110 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to provide the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 34
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =cyclooctyl
Following the procedures of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-cyclooctylpiperazine, provide the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), base-treated free base form of 1-cyclooctylpiperazine (1.196 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 35
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =N-morpholinocarbonyl
N-tert-butyloxycarbonylpiperazine (1.0 g, 5.34 mmol) was dissolved in 5 mL of THF:water (1:1) and cooled in an ice bath. Triethylamine (1.45 mL, 10.68 mmol), followed by 4-morpholinocarbonyl chloride (0.752 mL, 6.4 mmol) in 5 mL of ether were added, and stirred at 0° C. for 1 hour and at room temperature for 2 hours. Solvents were removed and 40 mL of ethyl acetate was added to the residue. The ethyl acetate layer was washed with brine (30 mL×3) and dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate. After filtered, the filtrate was concentrated in vacuo to yield 1.39 g of N-tert-butyloxycarbonyl-N'-morpholinocarbonyl-piperazine in 87% yield as a solid. MS m/z M+H=300, M+NH 4 =317; H 1 -NMR (in CDCl 3 ) δ=1.49 (s, 9H, Boc), 3.25 (m, 8H, 4×CH 2 ), 3.52 (m, 4H), 3.65 (m, 4 H). The obtained N-tert-butyloxycarbonyl-N'-morpholinocarbonyl-piperazine (1.38 g, 4.62 mmol) was dissolved in 10 mL of 20% trifluoroacetic acid in methylene chloride and stirred at room temperature for 1 hour. Solvent and trifluoro acetic acid were removed to obtain N-morpholinocarbonylpiperazine trifluoroacetic acid salt in quantitative yield. MS m/z M+H=200, H 1 -NMR (in MeOH-d 4 ) δ=3.22 (m, 4H), 3.3 (m, 4H), 3.45 (m, 4H), 3.65 (m, 4H). The obtained N-morpholinocarbonylpiperazine trifluoroacetic acid salt is dissolved in 30 mL of acetonitrile and cooled in an ice bath. Solid sodium bicarbonate is added to the acetonitrile solution and stirred for an additional 2 hours. Solid is filtered off and the filtrate is concentrated in vacuo to yield N-morpholinocarbonylpiperazine. Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-morpholinocarbonylpiperazine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 1-morpholinocarbonylpiperazine (1.212 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to yield the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 36
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 2 =R 2' =OH
Commercially available 4,4-piperidinediol hydrochloride (3.72 g, 20 mmol) is dissolved in 30 mL of acetonitrile and cooled in an ice bath. Solid sodium bicarbonate is added to the acetonitrile solution and stirred for an additional 2 hours. Solid is filtered off and the filtrate is concentrated in vacuo to yield 4,4-piperidinediol. Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 4,4-piperidinediol, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 4,4-piperidinediol (713.4 mg, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to yield the pure title compound.
Alternatively, the title compound is also synthesized from the compound of Example 16. Compound of Example 16 (916 mg, 1 mmol) is treated with 10 mL of cold dioxane:HCl (1:1) mixture until starting material is disappeared on TLC plate. The solution is carefully evaporated to dryness and purified by reverse phase HPLC as has been described in Example 7.
EXAMPLE 37
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=1; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =methyl
To a solution of homopiperazine (5 g, 50 mmol) in 10 mL of ethanol added a solution of methyl iodide (0.62 mL, 10 mmol) in 5 mL of ethanol in a sealed tube. It was gently stirred at 95° C. for 5 hours. The resulting white precipitate was filtered, washed with a small amount of cold ethanol, and the filtrate was concentrated in vacuo to yield 1-methyl homopiperazine hydroiodide. MS m/z M+H=115. The obtained 1-methylhomopiperazine hydroiodide is converted into free base according to the procedure describing in Example 25. Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-methyl homopiperazine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 1-methylhomopiperazine (700 mg, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The reaction is carried out at 45° C. for 15 hours. Semi-pure compound is isolated from silica gel column chromatography. The obtained product (1.0 g, 0.9 mmol) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 30 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5. The pure title compound is isolated from silica gel column chromatography, followed by reverse phase HPLC.
EXAMPLE 38
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =piperonyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-piperonylpiperazine, provided the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.0 g, 1.93 mmol), 1-piperonylpiperazine (1.275 g, 5.79 mmol), and triethylamine (0.81 mL, 5.79 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride were used and stirred at 45° C. for one over night. 1.2 g of pure compound was isolated after silica gel column chromatography, followed by normal phase HPLC purification in 56% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+H=1108. M+K=1146. The obtained product (1.2 g, 1.08 mmol) was treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5, except reaction time was 5 hours. 702 mg of the pure title compound was isolated in 53 yield after RP-HPLC purification. MS (FAB) m/z: M+H=994. M+K=1032. mp=115°-117 ° C.
EXAMPLE 39
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =piperonyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-piperazineacetophenone, provided the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 1-piperazineacetophenone (1.244 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.563 mL, 4.06 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride were used. The reaction was carded out at 45° C. for one over night with stirring. The reaction mixture was purified on silica gel cloumn and the compound was eluted with 10% acetone in hexane to obtain semi-pure product (1.2 g). MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=1130, M+H=1092. The obtained product (2.0 g, 1.09 mmol) was treated with 48%-HF (3 mL) in 30 mL of acetonitrile and then purified in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound (462 mg) in 43% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=1016. mp=116°-117° C.
EXAMPLE 40
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =4-acetylphenyl
Commercially available glycerol formal (2.6 mL, 30 mmol) is treated with carbon tetrabromide (11.94 g, 36 mmol) and triphenylphosphine (11.80 g, 45 mmol) in 40 mL of methylene chloride. Fractional distilation gives the desired bromide derivative. The obtained bromo derivative is reacted with piperazine to yield its hydrobromide salt, and free base is liberated by treatment of solid sodium bicarbonate according to the method described in Example 25. Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with the above piparazine derivative, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 3-(1-piperazinyl)-1,3-dioxolanemethyl (1.049 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to yield the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 41
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =[2,3-bishydroxy]propyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 3-(1-piperazinyl)-1,2-propanediol, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 3-(1-piperazinyl)-1,2-propanediol (975.7 mg, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 42
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =2-pyridylmethyl
Commercially available 2-pyridylcarbinol (2.89 mL, 30 mmol) is treated with carbon tetrabromide (11.94 g, 36 mmol) and triphenylphosphine (11.80 g, 45 mmol) in 40 mL of methylene chloride to obtain 2-pyridylmethyl bromide. The obtained 2-pyridylmethyl bromide is reacted with piperazine to yield its hydrobromide salt, and free base is liberated by treatment of solid sodium bicarbonate according to the method described in Example 25. Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-[2-pyridylmethyl]piperazine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 1-[2-pyridylmethyl]piperazine (1.076 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. Pure C-24-TBDMS compound is isolated. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to yield the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 43
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 2 and R 2' taken together to form --O(CH 2 ) i O-- wherein i=3
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 4-piperidone propylene ketal, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 4-piperidone propylene ketal (975.2 mg, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 44
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 2 =N-pyrrolidino; R 2' =H
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 4-pyrrolidinopiperidine, provided the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.0 g, 1.93 mmol), 4-pyrrolidinopiperidine (891 mg, 5.79 mmol), and triethylamine (0.537 mL, 3.86 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride were used. The reaction was carded out at 35° C. for 5 hours with stirring. The reaction mixture was purified on silica gel cloumn. After the by-products were eluted with 10% acetone in hexane, the compound was eluted with 5% methanol in methylene chloride to obtain semi-pure product (1.2 g) in 60% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=1080, M+H=1042. The obtained product (1.18 g, 1.13 mmol) was treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound. 253 mg (24%), MS (FAB) m/z: M+K= 928, M+H=966. mp=122°-125° C.
EXAMPLE 45
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 2 =N-piperidino; R 2' =H
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-piperidinopiperidine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 1-piperidinopiperidine (1.025 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 46
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 2 =N,N-dimethylamino; R 2' =H
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 4-dimethylaminopiperidine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 4-dimethylaminopiperidine (1.110 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 47
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 2 =R 2' =H; R 3 =N-pyrrolidinoethyl; R 4 =R 5 =H
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 2-(2-N-pyrrolidinoethyl) piperidine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 2-(2-N-pyrrolidinoethyl) piperidine (1.110 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 48
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 2 =R 2' =H; R 3 =N,N-dimethylaminoethyl; R 4 =R 5 =H
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 2-(2-dimethylaminoethyl) piperidine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 2-(2-dimethylaminoethyl) piperidine (951.7 mg, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 49
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 2 =R 2' =R 3 =(S)-N-methyl-2-piperidinomethyl; R 4 =R 5 =H
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with (S)-N-methyl-2-[2'-piperidinomethyl]pyrrolidine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), (S)-1-methyl-2-(2'-piperidinomethyl)pyrrolidine (1.110 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 50
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=0; R 2 =R 2' =H; R 3 =(S)-1-[2-(pyrrolidinomethyl)]; R 4 =R 5 =H
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with (S)-(+)-1-(2-(pyrrolidinomethyl)pyrrolidine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), (S)-(+)-1-(2-(pyrrolidinomethyl)pyrrolidine (939.4 mg, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 51
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 2 =R 2' =H; R 3 =N,N-dimethylaminomethyl; R 4 =R 5 =H
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with N-(2-piperidylmethyl) dimethylamine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), N-(2-piperidylmethyl) dimethylamine (866 mg, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 52
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 2 =R 2' =H; R 4 =N,N-diethylcarbonyl; R 3 =R 5 =H
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with N,N-diethyl nipecotanide, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), N,N-diethyl nipecotanide (1.122 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 53
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; X=sulfur
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with thiomorpholine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), thiomorpholine (1.122 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (612.5 μL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated With 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 54
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =3-furoyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-(3-furoyl)piperazine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 1-(2-furoyl)piperazine (1.097 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 55
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =allyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-allylpiperazine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2. 1 g, 2.03 mmol), base-treated salt free form of 1-allylpiperazine (769 mg, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 56
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =propargyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-propargylpiperazine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), base-treated salt free form of 1-propargylpiperazine (756 mg, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 57
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =2-pyrazinyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-(2-pyrazinyl)piperazine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 1-(2-pyrazinyl)piperazine (1.0 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 58
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =ethoxycarbonyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-ethoxycarbonylpiperazine, provided the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 1-ethoxycarbonylpiperazine (0.889 mL, 6.08 mmol), and triethylamine (0.563 mL, 4.06 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride were used. The reaction was carried out at 45° C. for one over night with stirring. The reaction mixture was directly loaded on silica gel cloumn and the compound was eluted with 20% acetone in hexane to obtain semi-pure product (952 mg) in 45% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=1084, M+H=1046. The obtained product (900 mg, 0.86 mmol) was treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound. 275 mg (34%), MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=970, M+H=932. mp=110°- 112° C.
EXAMPLE 59
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =ethoxycarbonylmethyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with N-(carboethoxymethyl)piperazine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), N-(carboethoxymethyl)piperazine (1.049 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 60
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =2-(N,N-diethylamino)ethyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-[2-(diethylamino) ethyl]piperazine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), base-treated salt free form of 1-[2-(dimethylamino) ethyl]piperazine (1.129 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 61
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =acetyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-acetylpiperazine, provided the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 1-acetylpiperazine (780.6 mg, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.563 mL, 4.06 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride were used. The reaction was carried out at 45° C. for one over night with stirring. The reaction mixture was purified on silica gel cloumn. After the column was washed with 10% acetone in hexane to remove by-products, the compound was eluted with 20% acetone in hexane, followed by 2.5% methanol in methylene chloride to obtain product (0.640 g) in 31% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=1054, M+H=1016. The obtained product (638 mg, 0.629 mmol) was treated with 48%-HF (3 mL) in 30 mL of acetonitrile and then purified in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound (394 mg) in 70% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=940, M+H=902. mp=119°-120° C. (dec.).
EXAMPLE 62
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =iso-propylaminocarbonylmethyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with isotroperenol, provided the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.0 g, 1.93 mmol), base-treated salt free form of isoproterenol (1.07 g, 5.79 mmol), and triethylamine (0.537 mL, 3.86 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride were used. The reaction was carded out at 45° C. for one over night with stirring. The reaction mixture was purified on silica gel cloumn. After the column was washed with 10% acetone in hexane to remove by-products, the compound was eluted with 10% methanol in methylene chloride to obtain semi-pure product (2.1 g). MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=1111, M+H=1072. The obtained product (2.0 g, 1.86 mmol) was treated with 48%-HF (5 mL) in 40 mL of acetonitrile and then purified in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound (679 mg) in 38% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=997, M+H=959. mp=114°-118° C.
EXAMPLE 63
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 2 =R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =N-methyl-N-phenylaminocarbonylmethyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with piperidinoacetic acid N-methylanilide, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), piperidinoacetic acid N-methylanilide (1.421 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to yield the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 64
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 2 =R 2' =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 3 =N-pyrrolylmethyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-(2-piperidylmethyl) pyrrole, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), base-treated salt free form of 1-(2-piperidylmethyl) pyrrole (1.0 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 65
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 2 =R 2' =R 3 =R 5 =H; R 4 =N-pyrrolyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with N-[3-piperidyl]pyrrole, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol) N-[3-piperidyl]pyrrole (915 mg, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 66
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 2 =2-hydroxyethyl; R 2' R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 4-piperidineethanol, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2. 1 g, 2.03 mmol), 4-piperidineethanol (787 mg, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 67
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 2 =hydroxy; R 2' =R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 4-hydroxypiperidine, provided the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.0 g, 1.93 mmol), 4-hydroxypiperidine (0.585 ml, 5.79 mmol), and triethylamine (0.672 mL, 4.83 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride were used. The obtained product (1.24 g, 65%, M+H + =989) was treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 40 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound (360 mg) in 33% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K + =913, M+H + =875. mp=98°-104° C.
EXAMPLE 68
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 2 =--C(O)NH 2 ; R 2' =R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 4-piperidine carboxamide, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 4-piperidine carboxamide (780.6 mg, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 69
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 2 =R 2'=R 3 =R 5 =H; R 4 =ethoxycarbonyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with ethyl nipecotate, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), ethyl nipecotate (957.4 mg, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 70
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =3-chlorophenyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-(3-chlorophenyl) piperazine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), base-treated salt free form of 1-(3-chlorophenyl)piperazine (1.198 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to yield the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 71
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =2-cyanophenyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-(2-cyanophenyl) piperazine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 1-(2-cyanophenyl)piperazine (1. 140 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to yield the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 72
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =3,4-dimethoxyphenyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl) piperazine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), base-treated salt free form of 1-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)piperazine (1.353 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to yield the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 73
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl) piperazine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), base-treated salt free form of 1-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)piperazine (1.532 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to yield the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 74
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=0; R 2 =R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 2 =acetamido
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 3-acetamidopyrrolodine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 3-acetamidopyrrolodine (780.6 mg, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 75
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=0; R 2' =R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 2 =trifluoroacetamido
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 3-[trifluoroacetamido]pyrrolodine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 3-[trifluoroacetamido]pyrrolodine (1.109 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 76
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=0; R 2 =R 2' =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 3 =hydroxymethyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with (R)-(-)-2-pyrrolidine methanol, provided the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.0 g, 1.93 mmol), (R)-(=)-2-pyrrolidine methanol (0.57 1 ml, 5.79 mmol), and triethylamine (0.538 mL, 3.86 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride were used. The obtained product (1.13 g, 60%, M+H + =989) was treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 30 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound (260 mg) in 27% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K + =913, M+H + =875. mp=90° C. (dec.).
EXAMPLE 77
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =nitro
Piperazine is carefully treated with sodium nitrite and hydrochrolic acid in aqueous media to produce N-nitopiperazine hydrochloride. The obtained N-nitopiperazine hydrochloride (2.2 g) is dissolved in 30 mL of acetonitrile and cooled in an ice bath. Solid sodium bicarbonate is added to the acetonitrile solution and stirred for 2 hours. Solid is filtered off and the filtrate is concentrated in vacuo to yield N-nitropiperazine. Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-nitropiperazine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 1-nitropiperazine (792.4 mg, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 78
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=0; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; X=absent
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with azetidine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), azetidine (410.6 μL, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 79
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=0; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; X=sulfur
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with thiazolidine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), thiazolidine (480.1 μL, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 80
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=0; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =N-aminocarbonylamino
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-imidazolidinyl urea, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 1-imidazolidinyl urea (792.1 mg, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 81
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =2-pyrimidyl
The product of Example 103 (775 mg, 1 mmol) is treated with trifluoromethanesulfonic acid anhydride according to the procedure described in Example 3, and the obtained product is reacted with 1-(2-pyrimidyl)piperazine according to the method described in Example 4. The obtained crude product is purified by the method described in example 5 to yield the title compound.
EXAMPLE 82
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 taken together form a bond; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =2-pyrimidyl
The product of Example 102 (773 mg, 1 mmol) is treated with trifluoromethanesulfonic acid anhydride according to the procedure described in Example 3, and the obtained product is reacted with 1-(2-pyrimidyl)piperazine according to the method described in Example 4. The obtained crude product is purified by the method described in example 5 to yield the title compound.
EXAMPLE 83
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =allyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =2-hydroxyethyl
Compound [Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =allyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =OH; R 105 =H] (25.4 g, 0.0316 mol) is dissolved in a solution of imidazole (43.03 g, 0.64 mol) in dry N,N-dimethylformamide (500 mL) and tert-butyldimethylchlorosilane (47.64 g, 0.32 mol) is added in portions and stirred at room temperature for 24 hours. It is then treated in the same fashion described in Example 1 to obtain the compound [Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =allyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =tert-butyldimethylsilyloxy; R 104 =tert-butyldimethylsilyloxy; R 105 =H]. The obtained compound is treated in the same method described in Example 2 to yield the compound [Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =allyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =tert-butyldimethylsilyloxy; R 104 =OH; R 105 =H]. The product of the above reaction (4.1 g, 4.42 mmol) is dissolved in 20 mL of methylene chloride at 0° C. pyridine (3.57 mL, 44.2 mmol), followed by trifluoromethanesulfonic acid anhydride (0.74 mL, 4.42 mmol) are carefully added to the reaction mixture. It is stirred at 0° C. for 20 minutes and treated in the same procedure described in Example 3 to produce the compound [Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =allyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =tert-butyldimethylsilyloxy; R 104 =O-trifluoromethanesulfonyl; R 105 =H]. The product of the above reaction (2.2 g, 2.03 mmol) is dissolved in 10 mL of freshly distilled methylene chloride, 1-[2-hydroxyethyl]piperazine (0.7 mL, 5.7 mmol) and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) are added, and the reaction is then stirred at 50° C. for 5 hours and at room temperature for one over night. The reaction mixture is treated in the same manner described in Example 6 to produce the compound [Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =allyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =tert-butyldimethylsilyloxy; R 104 =H; R 105 =4-[2-hydroxyethyl]piperazinyl]. The product of the above reaction (962 mg, 0.94 mmol) is reacted with 48% hydrogen fluoride aqueous solution [48%-HF] by the method described in Example 5 to yield the title compound.
EXAMPLE 84
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =allyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =2-pyrimidyl
The title compound is prepared following the procedure of Example 83, but replacing the compound [Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =allyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =OH; R 105 =H] with the compound [Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =methyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =OH; R 105 =H].
EXAMPLE 85
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =methyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =2-pyrimidyl
The title compound is prepared following the procedure of Example 83, but replacing 1-[2-hydroxyethyl]piperazine with 1-[2-pyrimidyl]piperazine.
EXAMPLE 86
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =n-propyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =2-hydroxyethyl
The title compound is prepared following the procedure of Example 83, but replacing the compound [Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =allyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =OH; R 105 =H] with the product of Example 104, and replacing 1-[2-hydroxyethyl]piperazine with 1-[2-hydroxyethyl]piperazinyl.
EXAMPLE 87
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =propyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =2-pyrimidyl
The title compound is prepared following the procedure of Example 83, but replacing the compound [Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =allyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =OH; R 105 =H] with the product of Example 104.
EXAMPLE 88
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =3-chloropropyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-(3-chloropropyl) piperazine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 1-(3-chloropropyl) piperazine (1.158 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 89
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =pyrrolidinocarbonylmethyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-(pyrrolidinocarbonylmethyl)piperazine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 1-(pyrrolidinocarbonylmethyl)piperazine (1.201 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 90
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =2-aminoethyl
1-(2-aminoethyl)piperazine (1.29 g, 10 mmol) is dissolved in 20 mL of dioxane:water (1:1) mixture and 2-(tert-butoxycarbonyloxyimino)-2-phenylacetonitrile (2.46 g, 10 mmol) is added. The mixture is then stirred until no starting material is detected on thin layer chromatography. The obtained mixture is fractionally separated by silica gel chromatography, followed by RP-HPLC to obtain 1-[2-tert-butoxycarbonylaminoethyl]piperazine. Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-[2-tert-butoxycarbonylaminoethyl]piperazine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 1-[2-tert-butoxycarbonylaminoethyl]piperazine (1.396 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5, followed by a carefully deprotection of N-tert-butoxycarbonyl group with 10% trifluoroacetic acid to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 91
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =N-piperazinoethyl
1,1'-ethylenedipiperazine (1.98 g, 10 mmol) is dissolved in 20 mL of dioxane:water (1:1) mixture and 2-(tert-butoxycarbonyloxyimino)-2-phenylacetonitrile (2.46 g, 10 mmol) is added. The mixture is then stirred until no starting material is detected on thin layer chromatography. The obtained mixture is fractionally separated by silica gel chromatography, followed by RP-HPLC to obtain N-[4-tert-butoxycarbonylpiperazino]ethyl-piperazine. Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with N-[4-tert-butoxycarbonylpiperazino]ethyl-piperazine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), N-[4-tert-butoxycarbonylpiperazino]ethyl-piperazine (1.817 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5, followed by a carefully deprotection of N-tert-butoxycarbonyl group with 10% trifluoroacetic acid to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 92
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=0; R 2 =R 2' =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 3 =--C(O)OH
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with proline, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), proline (700 mg, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 93
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =2-cyclohexylethyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-[2-cyclohexylethyl]piperazine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 1-[2-cyclohexylethyl]piperazine (1.195 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 94
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =2-[3-pyridylmethylamino]-ethyl
1-(2-[3-pyridylmethylamino]-ethyl)-piperazine (2.20 g, 10 mmol) is dissolved in 20 mL of dioxane:water (1:1) mixture and 2-(tert-butoxycarbonyloxyimino)-2-phenylacetonitrile (2.46 g, 10 mmol) is added. The mixture is then stirred until no starting material is detected on thin layer chromatography. The obtained mixture is fractionally separated by silica gel chromatography, followed by RP-HPLC to obtain 1-(2-[N-tert-butoxycarbonyl-3-pyridylmethylamino]-ethyl)-piperazine. Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-(2-[N-tert-butoxycarbonyl-3-pyridylmethylamino]-ethyl)-piperazine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 1-(2-[N-tert-butoxycarbonyl-3-pyridylmethylamino]-ethyl)-piperazine (1.951 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5, followed by a carefully deprotection of N-tert-butoxycarbonyl group with 10% trifluoroacetic acid to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 95
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=1; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =3-chloropropyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-(3-chloropropyl)homopiperazine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 1-(3-chloropropyl)homopiperazine (1.021 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 96
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=1; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =5-iodonaphthalene-1-sulfonyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 1-(5-iodonaphthalene-1-sulfonyl)-1H-hexahydro-1,4-diazepine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), 1-(5-iodonaphthalene-1-sulfonyl)-1H-hexahydro-1,4-diazepine (2.535 g, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 97
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=2; n=1; R 2 =R 2' R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with heptamethyleneimine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), heptamethyleneimine (769 μL, 6.09 mmol), and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product (1.0 g) is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 98
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 and R 105 taken together form an oxo group
Methylsulfide-chlorine complex was prepared by adding oxalyl chloride (0.32 g) into a stirred solution of dimethylsulfoxide (0.44 g) in methylene chloride (4 mL) and stirring at -70° C. for 0.5 hours. The solution of the complex was added in slow dropwise fashion into a stirring solution of ascomycin (1.6 g) in methylene chloride (5 mL) at -70° C. After stirring for 0.25 hours, triethylamine (1.4 g) was added at -70° C. Stirring was continued at -70° C. for 0.5 hours and then at room temperature for 1 hour. The reaction mixture was then diluted with ether (100 mL), washed with 1N HCl (aq) (2×30 mL), saturated brine (30 mL), dried over magnesium sulfate and solvent removed. The product was purified on silica gel (70 g) with ether elution. Yield: 0.95 g; MS (FAB) m/z: M+H=790.
EXAMPLE 99
Formula I: R 100 =H; R.sup. 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; R 105 =OH
Lithium tri-t-butoxyaluminum hydride (0.2 mL, 1M in THF) was added slowly into a stirred solution of the product of Example 48 (0.056 g) in dry THF (1 mL) at -70° C. under nitrogen. After stirring at -70° C. for 3 hours, it was partitioned between ether (50 mL) and 1N HCl (10 mL). The organic phase was dried over magnesium sulfate, the solvent was removed and the product purified by prep TLC (35% acetone in hexanes). Yield: 0.025 g; MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=830.
EXAMPLE 100
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; R 105 =O-trifluoromethanesulfonyl
The product of Example 99 (4.0 g, 4.42 mmol) is dissolved in 20 mL of methylene chloride at 0° C. pyridine (3.57 mL, 44.2 mmol), followed by trifluoromethanesulfonic acid anhydride (0.74 mL, 4.42 mmol) are carefully added to the reaction mixture. It is stirred at 0° C. for 20 minutes and the solvent is removed. Ethyl acetate (50 mL) is added to the residue. The organic layers are washed with brine, saturated NaHCO 3 (20 mL×3), brine (20 mL), 10%-NaHSO 4 (20 mL×3), brine (20 mL×3) and dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate. After the solvent is removed, the title compound is obtained. This compound was used for the displacement reaction without further purification and characterization.
EXAMPLE 101
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =methyl; R 105 =H
The product of Example 100 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol) is dissolved in 10 mL of freshly distilled methylene chloride, 1-methylpiperazine (1.24 mL, 10.15 mmol) and triethylamine (0.85 mL, 6.09 mmol) are added, and the reaction is then stirred at 50° C. for 5 hours and at room temperature for one over night. The reaction mixture is directly poured onto silica gel column and eluted to obtain pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 102
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 and R 103 taken together form a bond; R 104 =OH; R 105 =H
Ascomycin (10 g, 12.6 mmol) and pyridinium p-toluene sulfonate (1 g, 3.98 mmol) were dissolved in 200 mL of toluene and stirred at 70° C. for one over night. Solvent was removed and the residue was purified by silica gel column chromatography, eluting with 5-10% acetone in hexane. 8.89 g of the title compound was isolated in 91% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K =812.
EXAMPLE 103
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =H; R 104 =OH; R 105 =H
The produce of Example 102 (2.2 g, 2.8 mmol) was hydrogenated in the presence of 5% rhodium on alumina (220 mg) in 100 mL of ethanol at room temperature for 1 hour. After filtered, the filtrate was concentrated in vacuo to obtain the rifle compound in quantitative yield. The obtained product was then loaded on silica gel column, and eluted with 5-10% acetone in hexane to obtain the pure title compound in 75-80 yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=814.
EXAMPLE 104
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =n-propyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =OH; R 105 =H
FK-506 (150 mg, 0.2 mmol) was dissolved in 6 mL of ethyl acetate and 30 mg of 10%-palladium on charcoal was added. It was hydrogenated at room temperature for 20 minutes under one atmosphere pressure. After filtered the catalyst, the solvent was evaporated to dryness to yield 150 mg of crude product, which was then purified by silica gel column chromatography, eluting with chloroform:acetone (5:1) mixture. 114 mg of the pure title compound was isolated in 76% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=844.
EXAMPLE 105
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 2 =R 2' =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 3 =hydroxymethyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with (±)-2-piperidinemethanol, provided the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), (±)-2-piperidinemethanol (700 mg, 6.08 mmol), and triethylamine (0.846 mL, 6.08 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride were used. The reaction was carried out at 45° C. for one over night with stirring. The reaction mixture was purified on silica gel cloumn. After the column was washed with 10% acetone in hexane to remove by-products, the compound was eluted with 10% methanol in methylene chloride to obtain the product (850 mg) in 42% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=1041, M+H=1003. The obtained product (850 mg, 0.85 mmol) was treated with 48%-HF (3.5 mL) in 35 mL of acetonitrile and then purified in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound (290 mg) in 39% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=927, M+H=889. mp=98°-100° C.
EXAMPLE 106
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 2 =R 2' =R 3 =R 5 =H; R 4 =hydroxymethyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with (±)-3-piperidinemethanol, provided the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), (±)-3-piperidinemethanol (700 mg, 6.08 mmol), and triethylamine (0.846 mL, 6.08 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride were used. The reaction was carried out at 45° C. for one over night with stirring. The reaction mixture was purified on silica gel cloumn. After the column was washed with 10% acetone in hexane to remove by-products, the compound was eluted with 10% methanol in methylene chloride to obtain the product (1.34 g) in 66% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=1041, M+H=1003. The obtained product (1.34 g, 1.33 mmol) was treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 40 mL of acetonitrile and then purified in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound (247 mg) in 20% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=927, M+H=889. mp=110°-112° C.
EXAMPLE 107
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 2 =R 2' =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 3 =2-hydroxyethyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with (±)-2-piperidine-ethanol, provided the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.1 g, 2.03 mmol), (±)-3-piperidine-ethanol (785 mg, 6.08 mmol), and triethylamine (0.0.846 mL, 6.08 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride were used. The reaction was carried out at 45° C. for one over night with stirring. The reaction mixture was purified on silica gel cloumn. After the column was washed with 10% acetone in hexane to remove by-products, the compound was eluted with 10% methanol in methylene chloride to obtain the product (1.32 g) in 64% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+H=1017. The obtained product (1.3 mg, 1.28 mmol) was treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 40 mL of acetonitrile and then purified in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound (615mg) in 53% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=941, M+H=903. mp=85°-90° C.
EXAMPLE 108
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 2 =R 2' =R 3 =R 5 =H; R 4 =hydroxy
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with (±)-3hydroxypiperidine, provided the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.0 g, 1.93 mmol), (±)-3-hydroxypiperidine(0.585 ml, 5.79 mmol), and triethylamine (0.672 mL, 4.83 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride were used. The reaction was carded out at 45° C. for one over night with stirring. The reaction mixture was purified on silica gel cloumn. After the column was washed with 10% acetone in hexane to remove by-products, the compound was eluted with 10% methanol in methylene chloride to obtain the product (1.11 g) in 58% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+H=989. The obtained product (1.10 g, 1.113 mmol) was treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 40 mL of acetonitrile and then purified in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure rifle compound (149 mg) in 15% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K + =913, M+H + =889.
EXAMPLE 109
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 2 =R 2' =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 3 =hydroxymethyl
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with (S)-(+)-2-pyrrolidine methanol, provided the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.0 g, 1.93 mmol), (S)-(+)-2-pyrrolidine methanol (0.57 1 ml, 5.79 mmol), and triethylamine (0.538 mL, 3.86 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride were used. The reaction was carded out at 45° C. for one over night with stirring. The reaction mixture was purified on silica gel cloumn. After the column was washed with 10% acetone in hexane to remove by-products, the compound was eluted with 10% methanol in methylene chloride to obtain the product (1.24g) in 65% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+H=989. The obtained product (1.04 g, 1.06 mmol) was treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 40 mL of acetonitrile and then purified in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound (212 mg) in 23% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K + =913, M+H + =875. mp=75°-95° C.
EXAMPLE 110(a)
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =R 104 =dimethylthexylsilyloxy; R 105 =H
Ascomycin (1 g, 1.26 mmol) was dissolved in a solution of imidazole (0.86 g, 12.6 mmol) in dry N,N-dimethylformamide (10 mL) and dimethylthexylchlorosilane (1.24 g, 6.3 mmol) was added in portions and stirred at room temperature for 3 days. Diethylether (100 ml) was added to the reaction mixture, and the organic layer was washed with saturated ammonium chloride aqueous solution (30 mL×3), 10%-NaHSO 4 (30 mL×3), brine (30 mL), saturated NaHCO 3 (30 mL×3), and brine (30 mL×3). After dired over MgSO 4 , solvent was removed in vacuo and the solid residue was purified by silica gel chromatography (569 mg), followed by HPLC eluting with 10% acetone in hexane providing the title compound (372.5 mg) in 27% yield. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K + =1114. mp=100°-104° C.
EXAMPLE 110(b)
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =dimethylthexyl-silyloxy; R 105 =H
During the purification of the crude product of Example 110-(a) by silica gel column chromatography, pure-mono substituted title compound (456 mg) was isolated in 39% yield MS (FAB) m/z: M+K + =972. mp=92°-94° C.
EXAMPLE 111
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =dimethylthexylsilyloxy; R 104 =OH; R 10 =H
To a solution of 48% hydrogen fluoride aqueous solution (0.2 mL) was added Example 110(a) (0.2 g, 0.186 mmol) in acetonitrile (10 mL), and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 30 minutes. It was cooled to 0° C. in an ice bath, and solid NaHCO 3 was added to the reaction mixture. It was stirred for 1 hour and solid was removed by filtration. Acetonitrile was removed, and the crude title compound was purified by silica gel column chromatography. 140 mg (81%) of pure compound was obtained. MS (FAB) m/z: M+K=972.
EXAMPLE 112
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=1; n=0; R 3 and R 5 taken together=CH2; R 1 =benzyl; R 4 =H
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with (1S,4S)-2-benzyl-2,5-diazabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.0 g, 1.93 mmol), (1S,4S)-2-benzyl-2,5-diazabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane (1.09 g, 5.79 mmol), and triethylamine (0.672 mL, 4.83 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 40 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 113
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=1; n=0; R 3 and R 5 taken together=CH2; R 4 =H; X=oxygen
Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with (1S,4S)-2-oxa-5-azabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.0 g, 1.93 mmol), (1S,4S)-2-oxa-5-azabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane (587 mg, 5.79 mmol), and triethylamine (0.538 mL, 3.86 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 30 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 114
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=1; n=0; R 3 and R 5 =H; X=oxygen; R 4 =N,N-dimethylaminomethyl
2-[(N,N-dimethylamino)methyl]morpholine is prepared by the method described in the literature (Araki, K. et. al., J. Med. Chem. 36: 1356-1363 (1993)). Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 2-[(N,N-dimethylamino)methyl]morpholine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.0 g, 1.93 mmol), 2-[(N,N-dimethylamino)methyl]morpholine (5.79 mmol), and triethylamine (0.672 mL, 4.83 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 40 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 115
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=1; n=0; R 3 and R 5 =H; X=oxygen; R 4 =2-acetamidoethyl
2-(2-Acetamidoethyl)morpholine is prepared by the method described in the literature (Araki, K. et. al., J. Med. Chem. 36:1356-1363 (1993)). Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 2-(2-acetamidoethyl)morpholine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.0 g, 1.93 mmol), 2-(2-acetamidoethyl)morpholine (5.79 mmol), and triethylamine (0.538 mL, 3.86 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 30 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 116
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=1; n=0; R 3 and R 5 =H; X=oxygen; R 4 =2-[(ethoxycarbonyl)amino]methyl
2-{[(Ethoxycarbonyl)amino]methyl}morpholine is prepared by the method described in the literature (Araki, K. et. al., J. Med. Chem. 36:1356-1363 (1993)). Following the procedure of Example 6, but replacing 1-benzylpiperazine with 2-{[(ethoxycarbonyl)amino]methyl}morpholine, provides the desired compound. The product of Example 3 (2.0 g, 1.93 mmol), 2-{[(ethoxycarbonyl)amino]methyl}morpholine (5.79 mmol), and triethylamine (0.672 mL, 4.83 mmol) in 10 mL of methylene chloride are used. The obtained product is treated with 48%-HF (4 mL) in 40 mL of acetonitrile in the procedure described in Example 5 to obtain the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 117
Formula I: R 100 =H; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =OH; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =2-pyrimidyl
The product of Example 81 (5 mmol) is dissolved in 25 mL of methylene chloride. This is added to a solution of 5 mL of methylene chloride containing tert-butyl hydroperoxide in 2,2,4-trimethylpentane (6.65 mL, 20 mmol) and selenium oxide (830 mg, 7.5 mmol). The reaction is monitored by thin layer chromatography. The mixture is stirred at room temperature until the starting material is disappeared. Solvents are removed and an approximately 100 mL of ethyl acetate is added to the residue. The ethyl acetate layer is washed with brine, dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate. Purification of the title compound is carded out by high performance liquid chromatography.
EXAMPLE 118
Formula I: R 100 =F; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =H; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =2-pyrimidyl
A solution of the product of example 117 (100 mg) in 1 mL of methylene chloride is cooled to -78° C. in a dry ice/isopropanol bath. To this stirred solution, diethylaminosulfur trifluoride (10 μL) is added. After 3 minutes, saturated sodium bicarbonate (1 mL) is added followed by 5 mL of ethyl acetate and the mixture is warmed to room temperature. Extraction from ethyl acetate, drying over anhydrous magnesium sulfate and purification by high performance liquid chromatography gives the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 119
Formula I: R 100 =OC(O)CH 3 ; R 101 =ethyl; R 102 =H; R 103 =H; R 104 =H; m=0; n=1; R 3 =R 4 =R 5 =H; R 1 =2-pyrimidyl
A solution of the product of example 117 (100 mg) in 1 mL of pyridine is cooled to 0° C. in an ice bath. To this stirred solution, N,N-dimethylaminopyridine (3 μg), followed by acetic acid anhydride (20 μl) are added. After stirred at 0° C. for 5 hours, it is stirred at room temperature for one over night. Extraction from ethyl acetate, drying over anhydrous magnesium sulfate and purification by high performance liquid chromatography gives the pure title compound.
EXAMPLE 120
In Vitro Assay of Biological Activity
The immunosuppressant activity of the compounds of the present invention was determined using the human mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) assay described by Kino, T. et al. in Transplantation Proceedings XIX (5):36-39, Suppl. 6 (1987), incorporated herein by reference. The results of the assay, shown below in Table 1, demonstrate that the compounds tested are effective immunomodulators at sub-micromolar concentrations.
TABLE 1______________________________________Ex. # IC.sub.50 (M) Ex. # IC.sub.50 (M)______________________________________5 <1 × 10.sup.-6 28 <1 × 10.sup.-67 <1 × 10.sup.-6 31 <1 × 10.sup.-69 <1 × 10.sup.-6 38 <1 × 10.sup.-611 <1 × 10.sup.-6 39 <1 × 10.sup.-612 <1 × 10.sup.-6 44 <1 × 10.sup.-613 <1 × 10.sup.-6 58 <1 × 10.sup.-614 <1 × 10.sup.-6 61 <1 × 10.sup.-615 <1 × 10.sup.-6 62 <1 × 10.sup.-616 <1 × 10.sup.-6 67 <1 × 10.sup.-617 <1 × 10.sup.-6 76 <1 × 10.sup.-618 <1 × 10.sup.-6 105 <1 × 10.sup. -619 <1 × 10.sup.-6 106 <1 × 10.sup.-620 <1 × 10.sup.-6 107 <1 × 10.sup.-621 <1 × 10.sup.-6 108 <1 × 10.sup.-622 <1 × 10.sup.-6 109 <1 × 10.sup.-627 <1 × 10.sup.-6______________________________________
It is understood that the foregoing detailed description and accompanying examples are merely illustrative and are not to be taken as limitations upon the scope of the invention, which is defined solely by the appended claims and their equivalents. Various changes and modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications, including without limitation those relating to the chemical structures, substituents, derivatives, intermediates, syntheses, formulations and/or methods of use of the invention, may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. | Compounds having the formula ##STR1## and pharmaceutically acceptable salts, esters, amides and prodrugs thereof, wherein one of R 104 and R 105 is hydrogen, and the other of R 104 and R 105 is a group having the formula ##STR2## as well as pharmaceutically compositions containing such compounds and methods of immunomodulative therapy utilizing the same. | 2 |
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to breeding of Brassica napus . The invention has particular utility in creating spring B. napus lines from winter B. napus lines.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Brassica napus is grown commercially to produce edible oil that is low in saturated fat. In Europe, B. napus is commonly referred to as rapeseed or rape. Most B. napus commercially produced in North America is canola, which by definition must produce seed that yields oil having less than 2% erucic acid and meal that contains no more than 30 micromoles of the following glucosinolates per gram of air-dry, oil-free solid: 3-butenyl glucosinolate, 4-pentenyl glucosinolate, 2-hydroxy-3 butenyl glucosinolate, and 2-hydroxy-4-pentenyl glucosinolate. As used herein, a “non-canola” B. napus line is one which does not meet this definition, e.g., because the seeds produce oil with too much erucic acid or have too high a glucosinolate level.
[0003] Most B. napus lines are typically classified as either spring lines or winter lines. Winter lines are commonly planted in the autumn and flower in the spring after a period of vernalization over the winter. Spring lines do not require vernalization to flower and are commonly planted and harvested in the same growing season. Winter lines are common in Europe, but most winter lines fare poorly in the colder winters of Canada and the northern United States. As a consequence, most B. napus grown commercially in North America are spring lines.
[0004] Although open-pollinated B. napus lines remain quite common, commercial production of spring B. napus increasingly employs hybrid lines. Hybrid lines tend to have higher yields due to heterosis or “hybrid vigor”. This heterosis is more pronounced the more distant the genetic relationship between the parent B. napus lines.
[0005] For this reason, several researchers have suggested crossing winter and spring B. napus lines to produce higher-yielding hybrids. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,069,302 (“Osborn”, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference) proposes crossing a spring B. napus line with a B. napus line that is itself derived from at least one winter line.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Definitions
[0006] As used herein, a “winter B. napus ” is a B. napus that has a winter flowering habit, i.e., that does not germinate, initiate vegetative growth, undergo gametogenesis and flower in less than 77 days when subjected to the following conditions, which are referred to below as “standardized growing conditions” or simply “SGCs”: the seeds are planted in 4-inch plastic pots in a general growth medium (e.g., Premier Pro-Mix BX potting soil from Permier Horticulture of Quebec, Canada) in an environmentally controlled growth cabinet (e.g., Conviron ATC60 from Controlled Environments Limited of Winnipeg, Manitoba) with a 16 hour photoperiod, a day time temperature of 20 degrees Celsius and night time temperature of 17 degrees Celsius, watered daily as needed and a 20:20:20 (NPK) liquid fertilizer added three times weekly.
[0007] As used herein, a “spring B. napus ” is a B. napus that has a spring flowering habit, i.e., that will germinate, initiate vegetative growth, undergo gametogenesis and flower in no more than 55 days when subjected to the aforementioned standardized growing conditions.
[0008] A “rapid-cycle Brassica rapa ”, as that term is used herein, is a B. rapa that has a rapid-cycle flowering habit, i.e., that will germinate, initiate vegetative growth, undergo gametogenesis and flower in no more than 20 days when subjected to the standardized growing conditions detailed above. As it flowers in less than 55 days, a “rapid-cycle Brassica rapa ” may also be said to have a spring flowering habit.
Overview
[0009] Specific details of several embodiments of the disclosure are described below. One aspect of the present disclosure is directed toward a method for producing a modified Brassica napus . In accordance with this method, a first winter B. napus line is crossed with a rapid-cycle B. rapa line in a first cross, thereby producing an F1 modified B. napus plant that has a spring flowering habit. The rapid-cycle B. rapa line has a mean flowering time under standardized growing conditions of no greater than 20 days. After the first cross, seed from the F1 modified B. napus plant (or progeny thereof) is crossed with a second winter B. napus line in a second cross to produce a plant, which may be referred to as a first backcross (BC1) plant, that has a spring flowering habit.
[0010] Another embodiment of the invention provides a method for producing a modified Brassica napus having a winter flowering habit. In this method, a first winter B. napus line is crossed with a rapid-cycle B. rapa line in a first cross, thereby producing an F1 modified B. napus plant that has a spring flowering habit. The rapid-cycle B. rapa line has a mean flowering time under standardized growing conditions of no greater than 20 days. After the first cross, the F1 modified B. napus plant (or progeny thereof) is crossed with a second winter B. napus line in a second cross to produce a first backcross population. From the first backcross population, at least one first backcross (BC1) plant that has a spring flowering habit is selected. Thereafter, the BC1 plant or progeny thereof is crossed with a third winter B. napus line in a third cross to produce a second backcross plant population. From the second backcross plant population, at least one second backcross (BC-W) plant that has a winter flowering habit is selected.
[0000] Producing F1 Spring B. napus
[0011] Aspects of the invention are directed to the production of a spring modified B. napus line by crossing a winter B. napus line with a rapid-cycle Brassica rapa line. In a preferred embodiment, the winter B. napus line used in the cross will not germinate, initiate vegetative growth, undergo gametogenesis and flower at all unless subjected to vernalization. Although this is no guarantee, a line that is less prone to flower without vernalization may have a more distant genetic relationship to most common spring B. napus lines (defined below). As a consequence, one might predict that crossing such a winter B. napus line with a common spring B. napus line would yield a hybrid with greater heterosis than would a winter line that flowers more readily.
[0012] Several restriction fragmentation length polymorphisms (RFLPs) have been linked to specific vernalization-responsive flowering time loci. See, e.g., Ferreira, M. E., et al., “Mapping Loci Controlling Vernalization Requirement and Flowering Time in Brassica napus,” Theor. Appl. Genet. 98:727-732 (1995); see also Osborn, T. C. et al, “Comparison of Flowering Time Genes in Brassica rapa, B. napus , and Arabadopsis thaliana,” Genetics 146:1123-1129 (1997). These include vfn1, which was mapped as a quantitative trait locus (QTL) of Linkage Group (LG) 9; vfn2, which was mapped as a QTL of LG12; and vfn3, which was mapped to LG16. Osborn identifies suitable RFLP loci to distinguish winter and spring vfn1 and vfn2 alleles and provides sequences that may be used for PCR probes to screen for winter vfn1 and vfn2 alleles.
[0013] Winter B. napus lines suitable for use in the present method may (but need not) have winter alleles for one, two, or three of the vfn1, vfn2, and vfn3 loci. In one useful implementation, the winter B. napus line used in the present method has a homozygotic winter vfn1 allele.
[0014] A wide variety of suitable winter B. napus lines are known and available to breeders from a variety of sources. A non-limiting, partial list of winter B. napus lines that are expected to work well in connection with the disclosed process would include Columbus, Jetton, Darmor, Campala, Casino, Bristol, Plainsman, Jet Neuf, Wichita, Major, Samourai, and Ceres. Some of these winter lines are European B. napus lines while others are North American winter lines. As explained below, spring modified B. napus lines of the present disclosure may be useful in creating hybrid spring B. napus lines. If such hybrid B. napus lines employ a parent line derived primarily from North American sources, using European winter B. napus lines in the present method may provide a rich source for diverse genetics that may further enhance heterosis.
[0015] In one embodiment, the winter B. napus line is a canola-quality line, i.e., it produces seed with oil having no more than 2% erucic acid and meal that contains no more than 30 micromoles of the previously identified glucosinolates per gram of meal. This can help quickly produce a canola-quality modified B. napus in accordance with the invention. In another useful approach, however, the winter B. napus line is not a canola line, e.g., because the glucosinolate level in its meal is too high. Many European varieties of B. napus do not meet the definition of canola. As explained below, using such varieties in this first cross can improve heterosis in further hybrid breeding.
[0016] Suitable rapid-cycle B. rapa lines are available under the trade name Wisconsin Fast Plants and available from multiple sources, including Carolina Biological Supply Company of Burlington, N.C., US (“Carolina”). The Fast Plant Standard seed from Carolina is expected to work well, though the other seed types offered by Carolina may be useful for specific breeding goals.
[0017] In one implementation, this cross employs a female winter B. napus line and a male rapid-cycle B. rapa line. The female line may exhibit cytoplasmic male sterility or may be emasculated manually. The pollen from the B. rapa line would then be available to pollinate the B. napus line. In other embodiments, the B. rapa may be the female line (e.g., by manual emasculation) and the B. napus may be the male line.
[0018] As noted above, the present disclosure provides a method in which a winter B. napus line is crossed with a rapid-cycle B. rapa line to produce at least one F1 plant that is a modified B. napus line. B. napus is commonly understood to be an allopolyploid with an “A” genome traceable to B. rapa and a “C” genome traceable to Brassica oleracea . Crossing B. napus and B. rapa in accordance with embodiments of the present invention, therefore, is believed to modify the A genome of the winter B. napus line while leaving the C genome largely intact. Those skilled in the field may refer to the F1 plant as a B. napus or as a “modified” B. napus , with “modified” possibly being further characterized as a “partially reconstituted” or “species interspecific”. For purposes of clarity, the term “modified B. napus ” shall be deemed to encompass plants that result from a cross of a B. napus line and a B. rapa line, as well as progeny of such a cross. Furthermore, the term B. napus as used herein shall encompass both conventional and modified B. napus.
[0019] A surprisingly high percentage of the F1 plants that come from the described B. napus×B. rapa cross are spring B. napus . It is worth noting that the scope of a spring flowering habit encompasses a rapid-cycle flowering habit, as well. Spring F1 plants of the present invention could, but certainly need not, have a rapid-cycle flowering habit.
[0020] Many commercially desirable F1 plants will have a spring flowering habit, but not a rapid-cycle flowering habit, i.e., will germinate, initiate vegetative growth, undergo gametogenesis and flower in 21-55 days under SGCs. Although rapid flowering is a desirable characteristic, rapid-cycle B. rapa may have a rather short time from planting to full maturity. The Wisconsin Fast Plant Program indicates that the Wisconsin Fast Plants, for example, mature within about 40 days after planting. Shorter growing seasons for B. napus are typically associated with reduced yield and/or lower oil quality, so a very short time to maturity may be expected to adversely impact yield and/or oil quality. Aspects of the present invention, however, yield spring B. napus lines that are expected to have very good agronomic and oil quality characteristics.
[0021] The resultant F1 hybrid may or may not produce canola-quality seed. If a non-canola B. napus is used as the winter line in making the F1, there is a good chance that some or all of the resultant F1 plants will produce seed that fail to meet the canola definition stated above. In one implementation, the F1 plants may be screened to identify seed that both has a spring flowering habit and produces canola-quality seed.
[0022] As noted above, Osborn and others have proposed crossing winter and spring B. napus lines and selecting spring B. napus plants from the resultant F1 population. Unfortunately, many of the plants in the F1 population are not spring B. napus . Osborn suggests using genetic screening of vfn1, vfn2, and/or vfn3 loci to identify plants that are expected to have a spring growth habit (as that term is used in the Osborn patent). Such screening may be less expensive than growing all of the F1 population to see which plants will have a spring flowering habit, but it adds complexity to a breeding program.
[0023] Aspects of the present invention provide a surprisingly high spring conversion efficiency, where “spring conversion efficiency” is the percentage of the F1 population resulting from the winter B. napus ×rapid-cycle B. rapa cross that has a spring flowering habit. In certain implementations, this spring conversion efficiency is at least 80%, desirably 85% or more, and preferably at least 90%. As explained in connection with the examples below, winter B. napus ×rapid-cycle B. rapa crosses have yielded an astounding 100% spring conversion rate in this first cross, i.e., all of the F1 plants have a spring flowering habit.
[0000] Backcrossing Spring B. napus with Winter B. napus
[0024] In accordance with a further embodiment, the F1 seeds produced by the winter B. napus ×rapid-cycle B. rapa cross outlined above (or progeny of the F1 seed) are crossed again with a second winter B. napus line to yield a first backcross plant (BC1). The F1 seed used in this second cross desirably has a spring flowering habit. At least a significant percentage, if not all or substantially all, of the BC1 plants may have a spring flowering habit.
[0025] In one embodiment, this second cross is a true backcross, i.e., the same winter B. napus used in the first cross is used in the second cross with the F1 seed. In other embodiments, the first winter B. napus line used in the first cross is different from the second winter B. napus line used in the second cross. This may not be considered a true “backcross” as that term is conventionally used, but the term backcross as used herein in connection with producing the present BC1 plant (and subsequent BCn plants) is intended to encompass a cross of a spring modified B. napus F1 (or BCn) plant as described above with any suitable winter B. napus line. Even if there is no recurrent parent in the cross pollination, the term “backcross” is intended to reflect the cross a spring modified B. napus or its progeny “back” with any winter line.
[0026] The resultant BC1 seed may be subjected to any number of additional “backcrosses” with winter B. napus . Preferably, the BC1 seed used in such an additional backcross has a spring flowering habit; if the BC1 population includes some plants that do not have a spring flowering habit, one can test the BC1 seed and select only those plants that have a spring flowering habit. In some embodiments, each of these backcrosses is a true backcross, i.e., the winter line is the same in the first cross to produce the F1 seed and in each of the subsequent crosses. In other embodiments, the winter line used in a subsequent cross may differ from one or more of the winter line(s) used in the previous crosses. For example, the BC1 seed may be crossed with a third winter B. napus line to produce a second backcross plant (BC2) and the third winter B. napus line may be different from one or both of the first and second B. napus lines used to produce the F1 and BC1 plants, respectively.
[0027] This process may be repeated to create a whole series of backcross generations, BC1, BC2, BC3, . . . BCn. In each backcross, the winter parent may be a recurring parent from the preceding cross (a true backcross). Alternatively, two or more different winter lines may be used in the backcrosses. In each such backcross, a backcross population may be created and plants having a spring flowering habit may be selected from that population.
Further Hybrid Breeding—Spring
[0028] In another further embodiment, seed produced by crossing the winter B. napus line and rapid-cycle B. rapa line as noted above can be crossed in a second hybrid cross with another spring B. napus to produced a second hybrid B. napus , referred to herein as a F′1 hybrid, with a spring flowering habit. In this embodiment, the F1, BC1, BC2, . . . BCn seed described above, or progeny of such seed, may be used in the second hybrid crossing step. If so desired, seed from a suitable F1 or BCn plant having a spring flowering habit may be selfed one or more times to increase the amount of available seed. The selected seed (whether a selected F1 or BCn plant or the higher volume of seed from selfing) may be crossed with an existing spring B. napus line to form F′1 plants and plants having a spring flowering habit may be selected from the F′1 population.
[0029] Such an approach can be particularly advantageous in breeding a commercial canola line, for example. As noted above, the winter B. napus line selected for the initial cross to form the F1 hybrid may be a non-canola line. The genetic differences of such lines from most commercial spring canola lines will tend to be greater than such differences from most winter canola lines. At least some of this genetic difference is expected to be found in the F1 seed and in backcrosses and other progeny thereof. When the F1 seed is crossed with an existing spring B. napus line, the genetic differences between the two parent lines may enhance heterosis, producing F′1 plants that have better yield and/or vigor.
[0030] In one specific embodiment, therefore, the F1 line (or its progeny) selected for the second hybrid cross is a non-canola line. This non-canola F1 line is then crossed with a spring B. napus line that meets the canola definition and the resultant F′1 plants may be screened to select those that are canola quality.
[0031] As explained above, crossing B. napus and B. rapa in accordance with the present invention is believed to modify the A genome of the winter B. napus line while leaving the winter line's C genome largely intact. This means that a significant majority of the winter line's genetics will be carried forward into the modified B. napus F1 plants that result from B. napus×B. rapa cross.
[0032] In contrast, crossing spring×winter B. napus as proposed by Osborn results in modification of both the A and C genomes. Osborn teaches selecting a F1 plant from such a cross that has a spring growth habit and crossing that F1 plant with another spring line. This further dilutes the winter germplasm in the spring-stable line. Creating a spring modified B. napus and “backcrossing” that F1 plant (or its progeny) with another winter line, however, reinforces the winter genetics in the A genome while retaining a winter-derived C genome.
[0033] Methods in accordance with embodiments of the invention thus introduce significant new germplasm from winter lines' C genome into a spring B. napus breeding program. This largely untapped pool of germplasm is expected to increase heterosis in spring B. napus hybrids such as the F′1 plants noted above. As heterosis is associated with increased yield, this is expected to enable higher-yielding B. napus varieties.
Further Hybrid Breeding—Winter
[0034] Aspects of the invention can also be used to substantially speed up a winter B. napus breeding program. In accordance with one such method, a spring BC1 B. napus such as that described above is crossed with a winter line to form a backcross population. At least one second backcross plant that has a winter flowering habit is selected from that backcross population; this winter plant is referred to below as a BC-W to note its winter flowering habit. As a result, the breeding program takes a winter B. napus , creates a spring B. napus in which much of the winter C genome is believed to be intact, and then converts that spring B. napus back into a winter B. napus . Particularly if the first and second backcrosses are true backcrosses employing the same winter line used in the first cross with the rapid cycle B. rapa , this can leave some key genetics in the winter line intact through the complete cycle.
[0035] This embodiment process has particular commercial significance if multiple crosses are conducted using plants with a spring flowering habit before selecting the BC-W line with the winter flowering habit. As noted above, a series of backcross generations—BC1, BC2, . . . BCn—may be created. The spring conversion efficiency of these backcrosses remains fairly high even through multiple generations, so one can continue to select a plant from the backcross population that has a spring flowering habit.
[0036] Because most winter B. napus lines require vernalization, the time from planting to maturity for a winter B. napus is significantly longer than that for a spring B. napus . This means that spring breeding programs can take advantage of more greenhouse cycles per year than a similar winter breeding program, reducing the total time to develop a desired trait.
[0037] Employing the present embodiment, however, a winter breeder can achieve much the same greenhouse cycle times as a spring breeding program by using the BC1-BCn spring B. napus generations described above. As each of these “backcrosses” permits the introduction of another winter B. napus line, the development time of the winter B. napus traits is greatly reduced. Once the breeder has developed such a spring B. napus with the desired traits, that spring B. napus can be crossed with another winter B. napus to create a backcross population and a resultant plant having a winter flowering habit may be selected from that population. This new winter B. napus line can then be used in the breeder's standard winter breeding program.
[0038] Because the rapid-cycle B. rapa appears to impact only the A genome in the F1 generation and the C genome from the winter parent(s) appears to be largely intact, a winter breeder can carry many of the traits of interest from his or her winter lines through multiple generations of spring breeding. When the breeder selects a plant with a winter flowering habit (referred to as BC-W above) from a backcross population, therefore, there appears to be a good likelihood of successfully carrying forward the developed trait from the spring backcross generations into the BC-W plant and its progeny.
EXAMPLES
[0039] Aspects of certain methods in accordance with embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the following examples.
Example 1
F1 Hybrid Cross
[0040] Seeds of three winter B. napus lines—Columbus, Jetton, and Darmor—were planted and stored in cold conditions for three months for vernalization before being moved to a greenhouse. Fast Plant Standard seed from Carolina, identified below as FPS, was found to flower in 18 days at SGCs so it was determined to have a rapid-cycle flowering habit. Another B. rapa line, AcBoreal, was found to flower at 27 days at SGCs, so it has a spring flowering habit and is not a rapid-cycle B. rapa line.
[0041] Each of the three winter B. napus lines were crossed with each of the B. rapa lines to make 5 plants of each cross. The winter B. napus lines were male sterile (they were emasculated or exhibited genetic cytoplasmic male sterility) and served as the female parent; the B. rapa lines were used as the male parent. The resultant F1 populations of each cross were grown under SGCs to determine their time to flowering. The time to the earliest flowering was noted for those plants that did flower; if no flowers were seen within 4 months at SGCs, the plant as noted as non-flowering. The results are shown in Table 1.
[0000]
TABLE 1
Female
Male
Flowering
Parent
Parent
Plant
Total
Plants
Days of Earliest
Flowering
(winter B. napus )
( B. rapa )
ID
Plants
(%)
Flower (SGCs)
Habit
Columbus
FPS
F1-C
5
5 (100%)
~30-35
Spring
AcBoreal
5
0
Non-flowering
Winter
Jetton
FPS
F1-J
5
5 (100%)
~35-40
Spring
AcBoreal
5
0
Non-flowering
Winter
Darmor
FPS
F1-D
5
5 (100%)
~30-35
Spring
AcBoreal
5
0
Non-flowering
Winter
[0042] The spring conversion efficiency results for these crosses are remarkable. Crossing the winter B. napus lines with AcBoreal, a B. rapa with a spring flowering habit, produced an F1 population in which every single plant had a winter flowering habit, demonstrating a spring conversion efficiency of 0% (0 of 5 plants). Every F1 plant produced by crossing the rapid-cycle B. rapa FPS line with the same winter B. napus lines had a spring flowering habit, showing a remarkable 100% spring conversion efficiency (5 of 5 plants). This 100% spring conversion efficiency is impressive in its own right, but is made even more remarkable in comparison to the cross with AcBoreal, which itself has a spring flowering habit but did not yield a single F1 plant with a spring flowering habit.
Example 2
Backcross 1 (BC1)
[0043] Seed from one of the F1-C plants (Columbus×FPS cross) and one of the F1-J plants (Jetton×FPS cross) were then backcrossed to the original parent line, i.e., the F1-C was backcrossed with Columbus and the F1-J was crossed with Jetton. Twenty plants of each cross were produced. In each instance the winter B. napus line was used as the male and the F1 seed produced in Example 1 was used as the female. The resultant backcrossed seed (BC1) was planted and grown at SGCs and the time to the earliest flowering was noted for those plants that did flower; if no flowers were seen within 4 months at SGCs, the plant as noted as non-flowering. The results are shown in Table 2.
[0000]
TABLE 2
Female Parent
Male
Plant
Total
Flowering
Days of Earliest
(Winter B. napus )
Parent
ID
Plants
Plants (%)
Flower (SGCs)
Columbus
F1-C
BC1-C
20
8 (40%)
~30-43
Jetton
F1-J
BC1-J
20
1 (5%)
~40
Example 3
Backcross 2 (BC2)
[0044] Seed from the plant with the shortest flowering time for each backcross in Example 2 was then used as the male line in a cross with a female winter line. The Jetton backcross (BC1-J) was backcrossed to Jetton and the Columbus backcross (BC1-C) was “backcrossed” with a variety of different winter lines, as noted in Table 3. Ten to twenty-five plants of each cross were produced, also as noted in Table 3. The resultant backcrossed seed (BC1) was grown at SGCs and the time to the earliest flowering was noted for those plants that did flower; if no flowers were seen within 4 months at SGCs, the plant was noted as non-flowering.
[0000]
TABLE 3
Days of
Female
Flowering
Spring Plants
Earliest
Parent
Male
Total
Plants
(percentage of
Flower
(Winter B. napus )
Parent
Plant ID
Plants
(%)
total plants)
(SGCs)
Columbus
BC1-C
BC2-C
20
15 (75%)
12 (60%)
30
Jetton
BC1-J
BC2-J
25
20 (80%)
18 (72%)
31
Campala
BC1-C
F1(BC2)-A
20
18 (90%)
17 (85%)
32
Casino
BC1-C
F1(BC2)-B
20
18 (90%)
13 (65%)
34
Bristol
BC1-C
F1(BC2)-C
20
19 (95%)
16 (80%)
33
Plainsman
BC1-C
F1(BC2)-D
10
9 (90%)
8 (80%)
32
Jet Neuf
BC1-C
F1(BC2)-E
20
20 (100%)
20 (100%)
28
Wichita
BC1-C
F1(BC2)-F
20
20 (100%)
20 (100%)
27
[0045] The results of this experiment show that the spring conversion efficiency remains quite high even though the male parent is already a backcross. All of the backcrosses had a spring conversion efficiency of at least 60%, with the entire population resulting from two of the crosses having a spring flowering habit. This suggests that a substantial majority of the winter genetics can be retained in a BC2 generation seed that has a spring flowering habit.
Example 4
Backcross 3 (BC3)
[0046] Seed that flowered in Example 2 was used as the male parent in a cross with a winter line. In each case, a true backcross was made, e.g., BC2-C was crossed with Columbus. In addition, the earliest-flowering plant of the Wichita cross in Example 2 (designated F1(BC2)-F) was backcrossed with different winter varieties, as noted below in Table 4. Twenty plants of each such cross were grown at SGCs and the time to the earliest flowering was noted for those plants that did flower; if no flowers were seen within 4 months at SGCs, the plant as noted as non-flowering. For purposes of comparison, a known spring B. napus , Westar, was also planted under SGCs and the days to flower were noted.
[0000]
TABLE 4
Female parent
Male
Total
Days of Earliest
(Winter B. napus )
Parent
Plant ID
Plants
Flower (SGCs)
Columbus
BC2-C
BC3-C
20
46
Jetton
BC2-J
BC3-J
20
50
Campala
F1(BC2)-A
BC1(BC3)-A
20
~80
Casino
F1(BC2)-B
BC1(BC3)-B
20
56
Bristol
F1(BC2)-C
BC1(BC3)-C
20
47
Plainsman
F1(BC2)-D
BC1(BC3)-D
20
52
Jet Neuf
F1(BC2)-E
BC1(BC3)-E
20
52
Wichita
F1(BC2)-F
BC1(BC3)-F
20
37
Eric
F1(BC2)-F
F1(BC3)-G
20
48
Navajo
F1(BC2)-F
F1(BC3)-H
20
48
Contact
F1(BC2)-F
F1(BC3)-I
20
55
Mohican
F1(BC2)-F
F1(BC3)-J
20
46
Westar (spring)
—
—
5
37
[0047] Ten of the twelve backcrosses produced in accordance with an embodiment of the invention had a spring flowering habit. Of the two exceptions—the Campala backcross, BC1(BC3)-A, and the Casino backcross, BC1(BC3)-B—one had a flowering time of 56 days and very nearly qualifies as having a spring flowering habit. This suggests that even after 3 backcrosses to winter B. napus , the progeny of the winter B. napus ×rapid-cycle B. rapa cross disclosed herein can yield B. napus with a spring flowering habit.
[0048] Although not shown in Table 4, the earliest-flowering plant of the Wichita backcross, F1(BC2)-F, population was also crossed with Westar and another spring B. napus line. The resultant F1 hybrid had improved vigor and appeared to have better yield, based on leaf size, larger pod size, and more seeds, when compared to either parent line.
Example 5
Comparison to Spring×Winter B. napus Crosses
[0049] A first spring×winter B. napus population was created by crossing a spring B. napus line with Columbus; as in Example 1, Columbus was male sterile and served as the female parent. The process used in Example 1 to produce F1-C, i.e., crossing the FPS rapid-cycle B. rapa and Columbus, was repeated. Five plants of each cross were produced and the resultant seed was grown at SGCs for at least 100 days. The plant with the earliest flowering time for the spring×Columbus cross (designated here as SW-F1) flowered in 43 days. The plant with the earliest flowering time for the FPS×Columbus cross (designated here as FPSC-F1) flowered in 31 days.
[0050] SW-F1 and FPSC-F1 were each backcrossed with Columbus. Thirty plants of each cross were produced and the resultant seed was grown at SGCs for at least 100 days. The time to the earliest flowering was noted for those plants that did flower; if no flowers were seen in that time, the plant was noted as non-flowering. The results, including for each cross the shortest first flowering time for any of the 30 plants and the average first flowering time for those plants that did flower, are set forth in Table 5.
[0000]
TABLE 5
Shortest
Average
Flowering
Days of Earliest
Days of
No.
Female
Male
Total
Plants
Flowering
Earliest
of Spring
Parent
Parent
Plants
(%)
(Under SGCs)
Flowering
Plants
Columbus
SW-F1
30
3 (10%)
83
89
0
Columbus
FPSC-F1
30
18 (60%)
35
59
9
[0051] These results again highlight the surprising utility achieved by crossing rapid-cycle B. rapa with winter B. napus in accordance with aspects of the invention. The SWC-F1 parent in the backcross of Table 5 had a spring flowering habit that was reinforced through multiple generations of spring backcrosses and selection for spring flowering habit. All thirty of the backcrosses of that plant with a winter line had a winter flowering habit, i.e., the spring conversion efficiency of the cross was 0%, and the average number of days to earliest flowering of the three lines that did flower in the time allotted was almost 90 days. In contrast, the FPSC-F1 backcross yielded 18 plants that flowered in the same time, with one reaching first flower in just 35 days. Of those 18 plants, 9 had a spring flowering habit, representing a 30% spring conversion efficiency (9 of the 30 total plants), with an average among those 9 plants of 47 days to earliest flowering.
[0052] Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in a sense of “including, but not limited to.” Words using the singular or plural number also include the plural or singular number respectively. When the claims use the word “or” in reference to a list of two or more items, that word covers all of the following interpretations of the word: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list, and any combination of the items in the list.
[0053] The above detailed descriptions of embodiments of the invention are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed above. Although specific embodiments of, and examples for, the invention are described above for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications are possible within the scope of the invention, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize. For example, while steps are presented in a given order, alternative embodiments may perform steps in a different order. The various embodiments described herein can also be combined to provide further embodiments.
[0054] Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing quantities of ingredients, properties such as molecular weight, percentages, reaction conditions, and so forth used in the specification and claims are to be understood as being modified by the term “about.” Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth are approximations that may depend upon the desired properties sought.
[0055] In general, the terms used in the following claims should not be construed to limit the invention to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification, unless the above detailed description explicitly defines such terms. Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing quantities of ingredients, properties such as molecular weight, percentages, reaction conditions, and so forth used in the specification and claims are to be understood as being modified by the term “about.” Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth are approximations that may depend upon the desired properties sought. | Crossing a winter B. napus line with a rapid-cycle B. rapa line has been discovered to provide an unexpectedly simple and efficient way to create a modified B. napus with a spring flowering habit. In one implementation, such a modified B. napus or its progeny is crossed with a second winter B. napus line to produce a plant having a winter flowering habit. This allows one to significantly shorten the development cycle for winter-flowering B. napus lines by conducting part of the breeding program with spring-flowering time cycles, then migrating the resultant germplasm back into a winter-flowering line. | 0 |
The present invention relates to a wheel structure for rotation about an axis and, more particularly, to a wheel structure such as a sprocket carrier and a method for fabricating that sprocket carrier by use of a resin impregnated continuous filament.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Wheels have been fabricated from several materials by various methods, including, for example, steel utilizing a stamping process or an alloy using a casting process. Steel wheels are typically thought of as offering high strength characteristics. However, a negative characteristic of the use of steel is its associated weight. To reduce this weight (the undesirable characteristic) considerable attention has been given to cast metal alloy structures which offer the advantage of being much lighter in weight than their stamped steel counterparts, but often more expensive. Filamentary reinforced plastic structures have recently been given attention because of their corrosion resistance and the possibility of lower cost and reduced weight. Further, high strength characteristics may be achieved if a continuous filament is utilized in the wheel structure.
U.S. Letters Pat. No. 3,917,352, by S. D. Gageby, dated Nov. 4, 1975, entitled Continuous-Strand, Fiber Reinforced Plastic Wheel, discloses a wheel having a hub portion and rim portions formed integrally with the hub portion by a continuous filament running from one rim over the hub to the opposite rim. This method of continuously winding the whole wheel tends to accumulate an excessive amount of filament at the center of the hub leading to increased weight.
U.S. Letters Pat. No. 4,527,839, by N. Fujitaka, et al., dated July 9, 1985, entitled Synthetic Wheel Formed From Two Halves, discloses a two piece wheel having a plurality of spokes connected to a central hub. The wheel body is made of a fiber-reinforced resin. However, since the fiber used by Fujitaka is random, the wheel cannot offer the same high strength characteristics as the continuous filament structure of the invention disclosed herein.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a continuous filament reinforced plastic wheel having lower cost, reduced weight, and high strength.
The low cost, reduced weight, high strength wheel may be utilized for a sprocket carrier, for example. The wheel is formed with a generally Y-shaped cross section wherein the hub of the wheel is formed by the lower single leg of the Y-shape. Connecting webs formed by the two upper arms of the Y-shape join opposite rims which mount the sprockets of the sprocket carrier. The wheel described thus far is formed by a continuous filament which is wound upon a mandrel in a generally spheroidal form and then split into two hemispheroidal preforms which are placed back-to-back and joined at the hub to form the Y-configuration.
The method for forming the reduced weight, high strength wheel according to the present invention provides four principle steps. The first step requires the polar winding of a continuous filament on a split mandrel to form a filament-wound preform having a generally spheroidal shape. The second step calls for splitting the spheroidal filament-wound preform along the center line of the split mandrel to obtain two hemispheroidal preforms. The third step requires the pressing of the two hemispheroidal preforms together back-to-back upon the split mandrel under heat to join and stabilize the preforms. The fourth step separates each split mandrel from the joined preforms leaving the generally Y-shaped wheel.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
Other objects of the present invention will become apparent by reference to the following detailed description when considered with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 shows a polar winding apparatus for winding a continuous resin-impregnated filament upon a split mandrel;
FIG. 2 schematically shows the spheroidal preform splitting operation;
FIG. 3 shows a pair of split, filament-wound preforms;
FIG. 4 is similar to FIG. 3 showing the pair of split, filament-wound preforms in cross section mounted upon the split mandrels;
FIG. 5 shows a single filament-wound preform upon a mandrel after a toroidally shaped insert has been pressed upon the preform;
FIG. 6a illustrates a cylindrically wound preform, while FIG. 6b shows the preform split from its mandrel;
FIG. 7 shows the split mandrel arranged back-to-back to join the split filament-wound preforms thereon with the cylindrically wound preform wrapped about the assembled preforms;
FIG. 8 illustrates a preheating step of the assembled filament-wound preforms;
FIG. 9 depicts a pressure and temperature molding step;
FIG. 10 demonstrates an optional post curing step;
FIG. 11 shows a machining step;
FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the two filament-wound preforms in their assembled Y-shaped configuration;
FIG. 13 demonstrates an optional step wherein a triangular hub ring may be added to the configuration of FIG. 12;
FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XIV--XIV of FIG. 15; and
FIG. 15 is a side view of the assembled wheel of the present invention showing a sprocket mounted thereon.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to the drawings, a filamentary reinforced plastic (FRP) wheel structure for rotation about an axis and a method for manufacturing that wheel are shown. The FRP utilized in the construction of the wheel of the present invention may be formed from one of several filaments and resins. The filaments may consist of standard or high strength glass, carbon, or graphite fibers, an aromatic amide structure sold under the trademark Kevlar, boron fibers, nylon fibers, quartz fibers, or any other suitable fibers. The resins may consist of thermo plastics such as polycarbonate, polyetherketone, and polysulfone or thermoplastics such as epoxy, polyester, polyamide, and polyimide. In the preferred embodiment, the type of filament used is glass or graphite or combinations thereof and the resin used is epoxy.
The principle steps for fabricating a wheel, such as a sprocket carrier, are shown in FIGS. 1 through 11. First, a continuous filament 10 is polar wound on a split mandrel 12 to form a filament-wound preform 14 (FIG. 2) having a generally spheroidal shape. Second, the spheroidal preform 14 is split at 16 perpendicular to the center line 17 of the mandrel 12 to obtain a pair of hemispheroidal preforms 18, FIGS. 2 and 3. Third, the split preforms 18 upon the split mandrel 12 are placed back-to-back, FIG. 7, and pressed under heat to cure and join the structure, FIG. 9. Finally, the split mandrels 12 are separated from the filament-wound preforms 18, FIG. 10.
FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a preform winding apparatus 20 for practicing the method of the present invention for winding a wheel. The continuous filament 10 is removed from a roving package 22 and passed about a tensioning system 24 before being coated in the resin impregnating bath system 26. The filament 10 penetrates a feed eye 28 for guiding the filament onto the split mandrel 12. In the polar winding operation, the feed eye 28 is normally maintained in a stationary position. However, the feed eye may be adjusted along support arm 30, if necessary. The split mandrel 12 is positioned on a supporting axis 32 which is integrally connected to one end of a Z-shaped arm 34 whose second end connects to a main frame 36 for rotation about that point of connection, as shown by arrow 38. Rotation of the Z-shaped arm 34 causes the filament 10 to wind about split mandrel 12 at a winding angle with respect to the center line 17 of the mandrel. The mandrel 12 is then rotated about axis 32 as shown by arrow 40 to cause each additional filament wrap to be placed in side-by-side relationship with the preceding filament winding.
In FIG. 1, the polar winding step comprises a plurality of winding layer. A first sequence of continuous filament 10 wound about the split mandrel 12 occurs at a first winding angle θ which is defined as the angle between the center line 17 of mandrel 12 and the line formed by the filament 10 as it exits the feed eye 28. It will be understood that, as the Z-shaped arm 34 rotates about its point of connection to mainframe 36° for 360°, a continuous winding of filament 10 will be placed upon the split mandrel 12. If the split mandrel 12 is then rotated through a small angle in a clockwise direction as indicated by arrow 40, the next winding of filament 10 will be placed just below the first winding shown in FIG. 1. As the arm 34 rotates 360°, the opposite side of the split mandrel 12 will see the second winding placed just above the first winding. Thus, the reader will understand that a full layer of filament 10 may be placed upon 360° of the surface of the mandrel 12 by rotating that mandrel only 180° about its axis 17. The reader will also understand that the filament material will build up faster at the ends of the mandrel 12 than at the split line 16 or center of the mandrel. See FIG. 4, for example. In the preferred embodiment, the buildup may be reduced by varying the acute angle θ between the filament line and the center line 17 of the mandrel. This variation may be accomplished, for example, by adjusting a knob 42 which permits a mounting plate 44 to rotate upon arm 34.
By varying the winding angle θ from 4° to 15°, for example, the polar opening about shaft 32 may be varied. For example, in the preferred embodiment, the first layer of filament winding on the mandrel 12 is built up with a winding angle of 6° to provide polar openings of approximately six inches diameter. After the split mandrel 12 is rotated 180° to place a single layer of filament windings on the mandrel, the winding angle θ is changed to 8° to provide polar openings of approximately seven inches and to place a second layer of filament windings upon the mandrel 12 at a slightly different angle. For a third layer of filament windings, the winding angle is adjusted to 10° to provide an opening of approximately eight inches. The reader should note that the winding angle has been described here with respect to the polar opening in the spheroidally shaped preform 14. However, a more important design parameter for establishing the winding angle is an angle which efficiently resists loads applied to the finished wheel structure. It will be understood that two layers of filament windings may be deposited by rotating the mandrel 12 only 360° about its center line 17, while the arm 34 turns the mandrel 12 through a series of revolutions to accomplish the winding. To place three layers of filament windings 10 upon the mandrel 12, the mandrel is rotated 540°.
After the polar winding operation described above has been completed, the resulting spheroidally shaped filament-wound preform 14 is split along the line 16 by a splitting tool 46 as seen in FIG. 2. The splitting tool 46 may be mounted upon the feed eye mechanism 28, FIG. 1.
The splitting operation results in two hemispheroidal preform 18, as shown in FIG. 3. The continuous nature of the filament 10 is clearly disclosed by the orientation of the filament winding across the two preforms 18. Each preform 18 includes a first hub section 48 and a connecting web section 50 arranged at an acute angle to the hub section for connecting a rim section 52 shown at a right angle to the hub 48 in FIG. 3.
FIG. 4 is similar to FIG. 3 but shows the split hemispheroidal preforms 18 and the split mandrel 12 in cross section. It will now be seen that the connecting web 50 does not contact the split mandrel 12 as the filament 10 is wound thereabout. The filament buildup in hub section 48 is also illustrated in FIG. 4. Note that one option within the present invention is to provide one of the split mandrels 12 with a surface 54 which supports the hub section 48 of the preforms 18. In FIG. 4, the right-hand split mandrel is 12 shown with the surface 54 indented. The reason for this indentation will be seen by reference to FIG. 12 wherein the preforms 18 have been assembled in a back-to-back configuration with one hub section 48 formed with its outer surface generally perpendicular to the center line of the wheel or sprocket carrier; while the other hub section 48 has its outer surface at an obtuse angle to the axis. This is the reason for the offset mandrel surface 54 shown on the right-hand mandrel in FIG. 4.
FIG. 4 also shows two toroidally shaped inserts 56 which may be formed from the continuous wrapping of the same resin coated filament as used to form the hemispheroidal preforms 18. In the preferred embodiment, however, the toroidal insert 56 is formed by a woven strip of fibers, which are woven at 90° to each other and at 45° to a radial from the center line of the wheel. This woven strip is then shaped into the toroidal form shown in FIG. 4 and pressed against preforms 18.
As seen in FIG. 5, the pressing of toroidal strip 56 onto the connecting web section 50 of preform 18 caused the web section to conform to the configuration of the split mandrel 12 and pulls the rim section 52 away from its split mandrel support to orient the rim section 52 at right angles to the axis of the wheel being formed and generally parallel to the hub section 48 thereof.
After the second step of splitting the hemispheroidally shaped filament-wound preforms 18 has been completed, and the toroidally shaped rim 56 added to each hemispheroidal preform 18, the preforms 18 are assembled in a back-to-back configuration as shown in FIG. 7.
As shown in FIG. 6, a cylindrically wound preform 58 may be wound upon a cylindrical mandrel 60 from the same resin coated filament 10 that was used to wind the spheroidally shaped preform 14. The winding angle of the filament 10 which forms cylindrically wound preform 58 is plus or minus 10° to the axis of mandrel 60 and two to four layers of filament windings are placed upon the mandrel. Thereafter, the cylindrical preform 58 is slit as shown in FIG. 6b and wrapped about the joined hemisphersidal preforms 18 as shown in FIG. 7. Thus, the cylindrically wound preform 58 forms a saddle insert 62, as best seen in FIG. 8.
Before the hemispheroidal preforms 18 are placed in a back-to-back configuration as shown in FIG. 7, the preforms may be chilled, preferably when still in the spheroidal shape 14 shown in FIG. 2. This facilitates handling and shaping.
After the assembly of the two hemispheroidal preforms 18 as shown at FIG. 7, the assembly, including the split mandrels 12, may be inductively heated in an optional preheat step. The induction heater 64 includes 2 induction coils 66 as shown in FIG. 8. The inductions coils 66 optionally raise the temperature of the preform assembly to approximately 150° F. The temperature is selected to be low enough for safe handling yet high enough to minimize the time necessary for the pressure and temperature curing step shown in FIG. 9.
The assembled hemispheroidal preforms 18 are then placed within a compression mold 68 along with the split mandrels 12. The mold 68 consists of a base 70 which supports four side rams 72, only two of which are shown in FIG. 9. Each ram has a surface that covers a 90° arc and conforms to the desired final shape of the assembled hemispheroidal preforms 18. Additionally, a press 74 is provided which rides on guides 76 to apply pressure, in combination with the rams 72, to all surfaces of the hemispheroidally shaped preforms 18. Located within the surface of the press 74 and the four side rams 72 are resistance heaters, not shown, which are utilized to elevate the temperature of the preforms 18 as pressure is applied thereto.
The compression pressures applied by press 74 and rams 72 may range from 150 to 1000 psi, but in the preferred embodiment a minimum pressure of 250 psi is used. The mold temperature may vary between 275° to 350° F. depending on the curing requirement of the resin system being used. However, the preferred embodiment utilizes a temperature of 275° F. The time necessary to cure the preforms 18 during the pressing operation is in the range of 5 to 15 minutes. In the preferred embodiment, a ten-minute pressing time has been used.
After the temperature and pressure curing step of FIG. 9, the molded preform 18 is removed from the two split mandrels 12 by the use of air injectors, for example.
The final temperature treatment of the molded preform 18 is a post curing operation at an elevated temperature for a fixed period of time. This elevated temperature treatment step may be accomplished by placing the molded preform 18 in an oven 78, FIG. 10, for a fixed period of time or by conveying the preform through a continuous oven, not shown. The elevated temperature treatment step occurs at 325° F. for a period of two hours in the preferred embodiment.
The molded preform, after removal from the post cure oven 78, has a Y-shaped cross-sectional configuration, as shown in FIG. 12. The outer surface of the left-hand preform 18 is generally perpendicular to the axis of the wheel while the outer surface of the right-hand preform 18 is at an obtuse angle to that axis. The obtuse angle of the outer surface of the right-hand preform 18 is formed due to excessive filament buildup during the polar winding of the spheroidally shaped filament-wound preform 14. This excess buildup has been limited to some extent by the use of the three winding angles θ described above. However, the buildup may be removed by a pair of machining steps illustrated by the dashed lines 82 and 86 in FIG. 12.
To accomplish the machining steps, the molded preform 18 is placed within a milling machine 80, for example, and a first cut is made along line 82 by an end milling tool 84. Thereafter, a bore shown by line 86 in FIG. 12 is made to increase the inner diameter. The arrangement of FIG. 12 permits all machining steps to be accomplished from a single side of the wheel 88 thus formed. Obviously, other machining sequences are possible within the teachings of the present invention.
FIG. 12 generally illustrates the Y-shaped cross-section of the wheel 88 formed by the process described thus far. The reader will understand that wheel 88, as described, is formed completely from filamentary reinforced plastic (FRP). The reader should also understanding that the chilling step described above, the preheat step shown in FIG. 8, and the post cure step shown in FIG. 10 are optional steps. Further, the use of the toroidally shaped rim portions 56 and the saddle insert 62 are options which may be used to increase the strength of the above-described wheel 88 at the appropriate places. The key to the invention described thus far is the polar winding of a continuous filament at an appropriate angle to provide a strong, light weight, corrosion resistant wheel, specifically designed for an appropriate task, in this case a sprocket carrier.
Referring now to FIG. 13, a triangularly shaped hub ring casting 90 is shown. The triangular shape describes the cross-section of the toroid that is placed upon the outer surface of the right-hand preform 18 as shown in FIG. 12 to fill the gap left by the machining process which made the cut shown at line 82. The ring 90 may be made by casting resin impregnated filaments or by winding the same filament 10 about a suitable mandrel wherein the windings cross each other at 90° and are arranged at 45° to a radius projecting from the center of the toroidally shaped hub 90. The reader will understand that any appropriate method of forming the hub ring 90 may be utilized and that the hub ring may or may not be necessary.
The assembled sprocket carrier wheel 92 is shown in greater detail in FIG. 14 after an additional set of machining steps have been performed on the hub 48 and the rim sections 52. The generally Y-shaped cross-section and only half of the sprocket carrier 92 is shown in FIG. 14. It will be noted that the rims 52 have been counterbored at a plurality of locations respectively to accommodate a plurality of bushings 94 which, in the preferred embodiment, are formed with a shoulder 96. Each rim 52 is provided with eleven counterbored apertures respectively to receive eleven bushings 94. The bushings may be made of corrosion-resistant steel and are retained in the bores in rims 52 by a press fit and a suitable bonding material, such as epoxy.
Similarly, hub 48 has been machined to provide apertures which respectively outboard bushings 98 each having a flange 100 thereon. A careful inspection of FIG. 14 will show that the flange 100 fits within a chamfered opening 102 in an outboard shear plate 104. The bushing 98 is retained within the bore in hub 48 by a press fit and bonding with epoxy, for example. The interaction of flange 100 with the chamfer 102 retains the outboard shear plate 104 in the position shown. Similarly, a second inboard bushing 106 is press-fit into the outboard bushing 98 and retained therein by, for example, epoxy. A flange 108 on bushing 106 retains an inboard shear plate 110 in the position shown. The reader will note that the outer diameters of the outboard shear plate 104 and inboard shear plate 110 are not the same. These diameters are established to press firmly against the inner surfaces of connecting web sections 50. The purpose of the inboard and outboard bushings 98 and 106 and inboard and outboard shear plates 104 and 110 is to provide a support for bolts 112 which mount the sprocket carrier 92 to an appropriate hub, not shown. The bushings 98 and 106 and the sheer plates 104 and 110 may all be constructed from corrosion-resistant steel.
Referring to FIG. 14, a pair of sprockets 114 is shown bolted by bolts 116 respectively to the outer surfaces of rims 52 through bushings 94. Each sprocket 114 is formed with a bolt ring 118 having a track carrying platform 120 extending toward the center of sprocket carrier 92 (FIG. 14) and a plurality of teeth 122 extending radially therefrom. In FIG. 14, the bolts 116 are shown secured to rims 52 by nuts 124.
As seen in FIG. 15, the outboard bushings 106 are alternately reversed to more efficiently secure the outboard and inboard shear plates 104 and 110. The reader will understand that other variations of the sprocket carrier 92, including the configuration of the shear plates, the number of bolt holes and bushing holes, the cross-section of the wheel 88, and the configuration of the sprocket 114 may all be varied within the teachings of the present invention. Accordingly, the present invention should be limited only by the appended claims. | A filament wound wheel is shown having a high percentage of continuous fiber oriented in the optimum load bearing direction for maximum strength. Also shown is a manufacturing method for the wheel including the steps of polar winding a continuous filament on a split mandrel to form a filament winding, slitting the filament winding on the mandrel to form two preforms, placing the two preforms in a back-to-back configuration, pressing each preform upon its split mandrel under heat to cure and join the preforms and separating the split mandrels from the joined preforms. | 1 |
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a divisional application of U.S. Ser. No. 12/154,037, filed May 20, 2008 now U.S. Pat. No. 8,439,237.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not Applicable.
THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT
Not Applicable.
REFERENCE TO A “SEQUENCE LISTING,” A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING APPENDIX
Not Applicable.
BACKGROUND
Embodiments include containers and forms for preserving, storing, and displaying wigs and hair pieces.
DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART INCLUDING INFORMATION DISCLOSED UNDER 37 CFR 1.97 AND 37 CFR 1.98
U.S. Pat. No. 3,289,823 discloses a wig container with a hinged support for a display head.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,327,842 discloses a wig box and styling stand with a collapsible styling stand.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,338,388 discloses a collapsible wig case which accommodates a upright head form with wig and is compact for storage when in the collapsed position.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,438,480 discloses a wig carrying case which supports a shaped manikin head in a convenient position for dressing a wig.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,587,836 discloses a prestyled wig carrier constructed primarily of a single piece which supports a styrofoam head with styled wig.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,621,988 discloses a rectangular case which contains one or more shaped manikin heads attached to the walls of the case.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,658,174 discloses a wig form support which fits securely in a rectangular case.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,770,114 discloses convertible case which accommodates a wig form in the horizontal position for transport.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,891,082 discloses an inflatable wig tote with inflatable wig form.
U.S. Pat. No. D209,952, a design patent, discloses the ornamental design for a doll wig package.
U.S. Pat. No. D318,174, a design patent, discloses the ornamental design for a box for containing a cap.
None of the prior art wig or hair piece boxes deal with the problem of loss of style and curl or deals with the preservation of one directional curl and style of stored wigs and hair pieces. Embodiments of the present disclosure solve this long-recognized problem.
The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.
Embodiments of the present disclosure meet the need for a compact wig and hair piece box which allows efficient transport, storage and display of the contained wig or hair piece before it is sold to a consumer, and thereafter allows convenient compact storage of the wig or hair piece by the consumer.
BRIEF SUMMARY
Embodiments include a wig or hair piece box comprising: a rectangular enclosure having a bottom wall, two side walls, two end walls, and a hinged front wall. The bottom, front, and side walls having the same length. The bottom and front walls having a greater width than the side walls. One side wall having a slit, the front wall having a window, a flap hinged to the front wall, the flap having a tab for insertion into the side wall slot, and an upper spacer at one end wall and a lower spacer at the other end wall.
Other embodiments include a wig or hair piece form for holding a wig or hair piece which comprises a body having a top end and a lower end, a shoulder attached to the top end and extending around the edges of the top end, the top end and the body oval in cross section with a major axis and a minor axis, the major and minor axes throughout the body parallel and gradually increasing from the top end to the lower end, and the lower end having a hemi-ovoid shape.
Embodiments include a wig and hair piece box with a form which holds the wig or hair piece and preserves the original style and one directional tip end curl.
In addition to the exemplary aspects and embodiments described above, further aspects and embodiments will become apparent by reference to the drawings and by study of the following descriptions.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment closed wig or hair piece box 100 containing a wig or hair piece on a form.
FIG. 2 is a view of an embodiment wig or hair piece box containing a wig or hair piece on a form with the front wall opened.
FIG. 3 is a view of the inside of an embodiment wig or hair piece box before the box is folded.
FIG. 4 is side view of an embodiment form.
FIG. 5 is a front view of an embodiment form.
FIG. 6 is a side view of an embodiment form with wig or hair piece attached.
FIG. 7 is a front view of an embodiment form with wig or hair piece attached.
FIG. 8 is a front view of an embodiment form with wig or hair piece attached and covered by a hair net.
FIG. 9 is a front view of an embodiment form with wig or hair piece attached and covered by a hair net and by a sleeve.
FIG. 10 is a top view of an embodiment form.
FIG. 11 is a cross section view of an embodiment form taken at line 11 - 11 .
FIG. 12 is a perspective view of an embodiment U-shaped retainer.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The following embodiments and aspects thereof are described and illustrated in conjunction with systems, tool and methods which are meant to be exemplary and illustrative, not limiting in scope. In various embodiments, one or more of the above-described problems have been reduced or eliminated, while other embodiments are directed to other improvements.
In this disclosure the term “wig” means an easily detachable manufactured covering of natural or synthetic hair for the head. The term “hair piece” means natural or synthetic hair which is either woven to a user's natural hair for long term use or detachable attachment for short term use, commonly termed a weave or extension. The term “weft” means a collection of multiple strands of natural or synthetic hair (attached together by intricate stitched work with a sewing machine or fused together by glue and woven material) which is treated as a unit in the manufacture and styling (making) of a wig or hair piece. The term “weft track” means a strip (stitched or fused section) to which wefts (strands) of hair are attached. The term “root end” means the end of hair which is stitched or fused together to the weft track, which is to be attached to the wig supporting fabric or base cap, or to the user's natural hair in the case of a hair piece. The term “tip end” means the opposite ends of the strands of hair or weft which is not attached to the wig or hair piece supporting fabric or base cap or to user's natural hair.
FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment closed wig or hair piece box containing a wig or hairpiece on a form. Visible in FIG. 1 is the hanger 120 with hole 120 , front wall 112 , window 114 with transparent pane 116 , and enclosed form 150 with attached wig or hair piece 160 . Retainer 126 is also visible in FIG. 1 . Descriptive indicia 171 may be located on the box.
FIG. 2 is a view of an embodiment wig or hair piece box containing a wig or hair piece on a form with the front wall opened. Visible in FIG. 2 is the form 150 with form top 152 having an attached wig or hair piece 160 , hairnet 170 , and sleeve 172 . The form was placed in an enclosure comprised of bottom wall 131 , left wall 129 , right wall 132 , upper spacer 122 , and lower spacer 124 . Hanger 120 with a hole 121 extended from the upper spacer 122 . A U-shaped retainer 126 secured the form in the enclosure. The front wall 112 (also referred to herein as top wall 112 ) was attached at fold 113 to left wall 129 . A window 114 in front wall 112 was covered by transparent pane 116 . A flap 112 a was attached at fold 134 to front wall 112 . A tab 136 was attached to flap 112 a at fold 138 .
FIG. 3 is a view of the inside of an embodiment wig or hair piece box before the box is folded and assembled. The box is constructed from a single piece of material, with the exception of the transparent window pane. Fold lines are indicated by dashed lines. Visible in FIG. 3 is the bottom wall 131 , the top wall 112 , the left side wall 129 , and the right side wall 132 . The right side wall 132 has a flap 133 which is folded up on fold line 145 and adhesively attached to the right side wall 132 . The bottom wall, top wall and left and right side walls have the same length. The widths of the bottom wall and top wall are equal and greater than the widths of the side walls. A slit 142 is at the junction between the bottom wall 131 and the right side wall 132 . The top wall 112 has a window 114 which is covered by a transparent pane 116 . A flap 112 a is attached to the front wall 112 . A tab 136 is attached to the flap 112 a.
Left upper assembly tab 115 and left lower assembly tab 111 are attached to left wall 129 . Right upper assembly tab 135 and right lower assembly tab 134 are attached to right wall 132 . V-shaped notches and cuts 125 , 123 , 141 , and 140 are cut into the assembly tabs 115 , 111 , 135 and 134 , respectively.
An upper spacer 122 is comprised of an upper end wall 136 , upper wedge 182 , upper flap 137 , and upper flange 183 and is attached to one end of the bottom wall 131 . A slit 143 is cut between the upper end wall 136 and the bottom wall 131 . A lower spacer 124 is comprised of a lower end wall 138 , lower wedge 181 , lower flap 139 , lower flange 180 and is attached to the other end of the bottom wall 131 . Upper wedge 182 has flaps 184 and 185 attached at the edges of the wedge. Lower wedge 181 has flaps 186 and 187 attached at the edges of the wedge.
The first step in assembling the box was to fold the flap 133 at fold 145 through about 180.degree. until it was flat against right side wall 132 . Flap 133 was adhesively fixed to the right side wall 132 .
Assembly tabs 115 and 111 were bent upward along fold lines 119 and 117 , respectively, at about right angles to left side wall 129 . Assembly tabs 135 and 134 were bent upward along fold lines 147 and 146 , respectively, at about right angles to right side wall 132 .
Left side wall 129 was bent upward at fold 131 at about a right angle to bottom wall 131 . Right side wall 132 was bend upward at fold 144 at about a right angle to bottom wall 131 .
V-shaped notches and cuts 123 and 140 of assembly tabs 111 and 134 , respectively, were engaged to connect assembly tab 111 with assembly tab 134 . V-shaped notches and cuts 125 and 141 of assembly tabs 115 and 135 , respectively, were engaged to connect assembly tab 115 with assembly tab 135 .
Upper end wall 136 was bent upward at fold 148 at about a right angle to bottom wall 131 . Flaps 184 and 185 were bend upward at about a right angle to upper wedge 182 . Upper wedge 182 and upper flap 137 were bent against flaps 184 and 185 so that the flaps 184 , 185 were enclosed by upper end wall 136 and upper flap 137 . In addition, the interlocked upper assembly tabs 115 and 135 were enclosed between upper end wall 136 and upper flap 137 . Finally, flange 183 was bent at about a right angle to upper flap 137 and hanger 120 was inserted through slit 143 . Flange 183 was adhesively secured to bottom wall 131 .
Lower end wall 138 was bent upward at fold 149 at about a right angle to bottom wall 131 . Flaps 186 and 187 were bend upward at about a right angle to lower wedge 181 . Lower wedge 181 and lower flap 139 were bent against flaps 186 and 187 so that the flaps 186 , 187 were enclosed by lower end wall 138 and lower flap 139 . In addition, the interlocked lower assembly tabs 111 and 134 were enclosed between lower end wall 138 and lower flap 139 . Finally, flange 180 was bent at about a right angle to lower flap 139 . Flange 180 was adhesively secured to bottom wall 131 .
The above foldings and securings resulted in a rectangular enclosure with bottom wall 131 , left side wall 129 , right side wall 132 , upper spacer 122 (shown on FIG. 2 ) and lower spacer 124 (shown on FIG. 2 ). At this point a form with an attached wig or hair piece was inserted in the rectangular enclosure. Front wall 112 was bent at fold 113 at about a right angle to cover the open top of the rectangular enclosure with inserted form with a wig and flap 112 a was bent at fold 134 at about right angles to extend over the outside of right wall 132 . Flap 112 a was secured by insertion of tab 136 into slit 142 , providing a wig box which can be reversibly closed and secured.
Embodiments of wig or hair piece boxes were manufactured by any suitable thin, flexible, durable material, such as cardboard or plastic strips. The transparent pane was manufactured any suitable transparent material such as plastic, glass, or cellophane. It is anticipated that the outer surfaces of the boxes will have indicia relating to the box contents. Embodiments include wig or hair piece boxes with front wall 7 inches in length, 4 inches in width, and with side walls 3 inches in height.
FIG. 4 is side view of an embodiment form 150 which comprises a form top 152 and a form body 154 . The form body 154 has an upper end 157 , a lower end 159 , and the bottom 158 of the body. The top 152 has a shoulder 151 which extends about the circumference of the top. The body 154 has the shape of an oval which gradually increases in both major and minor axes to the lower end 159 of the body. A major axis is longer than a minor axis. The bottom 158 of the body has a hemi-ovoid shape, that is, approximating the shape of an egg which has been sliced along its length. In FIG. 4 the minor axes of the body is approximately parallel to the surface of the figure.
Embodiment forms have the major axis equal to the minor axis, that is, are cylindrical in shape with any cross section taken along the length of the form having the shape of a circle. Such embodiments have a bottom of the body with a hemispheric shape.
Embodiment forms are manufactured of any suitable strong, resilient material. Suitable materials include foamed plastics, some examples of which are polystyrene, polybutadiene, polyurethane, and polyethylene. Other embodiments include forms manufactured of cardboard or papier-mache. Other embodiment forms are manufactured of flexible plastic or rubber, are bag-like in structure, and are filled with a fluid such as air or water.
Embodiment forms have a top with minor axis of 2¼ inches and major axis of 3¼ inches. Embodiments have a body length of 7 inches. It is specifically contemplated that the dimensions of embodiments will vary according to the dimensions of the wigs used with the forms.
FIG. 5 is a front view of an embodiment form 150 . The features and descriptions of FIG. 4 also apply to FIG. 5 . In FIG. 5 the major axes of the body is approximately parallel to the surface of the figure.
FIG. 6 is a side view of an embodiment form with wig attached. In FIG. 6 the minor axis of the top and form body is parallel to the surface of the figure. Visible in FIG. 6 is the form 150 , the top 152 of the form, the upper end 157 of the form, and the form bottom 158 . The top 152 has a shoulder which extends from the circumference of the top.
Also visible in FIG. 6 is a wig or hair piece 160 . This wig comprises an elongated band or weft track 162 . Weft strands of hair 164 are fixedly attached to the band or weft track 162 . In embodiments the band is 10 to 12 feet in length. In embodiments wefts of hair consist of 10 to 50 strands of hair. In embodiments the length of hair is about 7 inches. In embodiments the terminal ends of the wefts, termed “tip end” are curled, with the curl of all hair strands substantially parallel to each other, termed a “one directional tip end curl”. Although embodiment wigs and hair pieces have wefts of hair comprised of human hair, the use of wigs and hair pieces with wefts of hair comprised of synthetic hair or animal hair is specifically contemplated.
In use, in embodiments, a first end of the elongated band or weft track 162 is removably attached to the form 150 at the upper end 157 of the form using a pin. The elongated band or weft track with attached hair strands is wrapped about the form and the second end of the elongated band or weft track is attached to the form body with another pin. The hair strands 164 are arrayed substantially parallel to each other about the outside of the form body with the wefts overlapping each other and extending down the form with the curled ends 166 of the hair strands substantially curled around the bottom 158 of the form body, preserving the one directional tip end curl of the wig or hair piece.
Although embodiments of the form are described in this application in connection with a wig comprised of an elongated band or weft track with attached wefts, it is specifically contemplated that other types of wigs also can be used in connection with the disclosed wig boxes and forms.
Although embodiments of the form are described in this application in connection with a wig or hair piece, it is specifically contemplated that forms can be used to hold hair pieces with the associated preservation of the original style and one directional tip end curl.
Embodiments of the disclosed wig boxes and forms are used both for the packaging and display of wigs and hair pieces for sale by manufacturers, as well as for use by consumers to conveniently store and preserve the condition of wigs and hair pieces when not in use. Embodiment boxes and forms allow convenient storing and displaying wigs or hair pieces while requiring a minimal amount of space.
FIG. 7 is a front view of an embodiment form with wig or hair piece attached. In FIG. 7 the major axis of the top and form body is parallel to the surface of the figure. Visible in FIG. 7 is the form 150 , the form top 152 , the upper end 157 of the form, and the form bottom 158 . Also visible in FIG. 7 is a wig 160 comprising an elongated band or weft track 162 , wefts 164 , and curls 166 at the end of the hair strands as described in connection with FIG. 6 with the one directional tip end curl preserved and with the tips of the strands of hair substantially covering the bottom of the form.
FIG. 8 is a front view of an embodiment form with wig or hair piece attached and covered by a hair net. Visible in FIG. 8 is the form 150 , attached wig or hair piece 160 , and hair net 170 . The hair net is pulled over the form with attached wig or hair piece from the top 152 and serves to secure the wefts of hair 164 of the wig to the form, and helps to maintain the orientation of the wefts, and helps to maintain the one directional tip end curl 166 of the hair strands about the bottom 158 of the form 150 with the tips of the strands of hair 166 substantially covering the bottom 158 of the form 150 .
FIG. 9 is a front view of an embodiment form with wig attached and covered by a hair net and by a sleeve. Visible in FIG. 9 is the form 150 , the attached wig or hair piece 160 , and a hair net 170 which has been pulled over the entire form with attached wig or hair piece, and a conical sleeve 172 which covers the hair net. The conical sleeve 172 may contain descriptive indicia 171 which identify the type of wig or hair piece.
FIG. 10 is a view of the top of an embodiment form. The top 152 has the shape of an oval with a major axis 193 which is longer than the minor axis 191 .
FIG. 11 is a cross section view of an embodiment form taken at line 11 - 11 as shown in FIG. 5 . The cross section of the form has the shape of an oval with a major axis 195 which is longer than the minor axis 196 .
FIG. 12 is a perspective view of an embodiment U-shaped retainer 126 . Visible in FIG. 12 is the left arm 127 , right arm 128 , and retainer base 130 . The retainer 126 prevents displacement of the form with attached wig or hair piece in the enclosure.
While a number of exemplary aspects and embodiments have been discussed above, those of skill in the art will recognize certain modifications, permutations, additions and sub-combinations thereof. It is therefore intended that the following appended claims and claims hereafter introduced are interpreted to include all such modifications, permutations, additions and sub-combinations as are within their true spirit and scope. | An exemplary embodiment providing one or more improvements includes wig or hair piece boxes for both the efficient storage and display of wigs or hair pieces before sell, as well as providing simple, efficient and effective storage facilities for wigs or hair pieces for use of the consumer. The wig or hair piece boxes include a form which holds the wig or hair piece and preserves the curl, style, and one directional curl of the hair tip end on the wig or hair piece. This avoids the common problem of loss of original curl and style of the wig or hair piece which plagues conventional wig and hair piece boxes. | 0 |
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/210,699, now United States patent No. X, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/782,625 filed Mar. 14, 2013. The foregoing prior applications are incorporated herein by reference.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY-SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
[0002] (Not Applicable)
THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT
[0003] (Not Applicable)
REFERENCE TO AN APPENDIX
[0004] (Not Applicable)
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0005] The invention relates broadly to structures used to keep debris from gutters, and more particularly to a structure for preventing leaves from entering into gutters.
[0006] Rain gutters (also known as eavestroughs or, gutters) are narrow channels or troughs that collect and divert water flowing off of a roof. Gutters have been disposed at roof edges for centuries to catch precipitation and either redirect it to a storage vessel, such as an underground cistern, or away from the foundation of the building to prevent the precipitation from damaging the building to which the gutters are attached. Conventional gutters mount to a face of the building, such as a soffit fascia, with the lip of the rear edge of the gutter just under the drip edge of the building's roof. When water runs down the roof, it falls under the force of gravity into the gutter, collects in pools and flows by gravity out of the inclined gutter into a vertical downspout. The downspout carries the water to a storage vessel or away from the foundation of the building.
[0007] Solid particles that fall onto roofs also fall into uncovered gutters. For example, sticks, leaves, seeds, needles and other particles fall onto roofs, typically from overhanging trees, and then roll or slide into gutters. Smaller particles in small quantities can be carried by rain water out of gutters and are harmless, other than when they deteriorate in cisterns and cause spoilage. However, sticks and larger particles, or small particles in larger quantities, cannot be carried away by the water flowing in a gutter. Such sticks and particles collect together to form a barricade, and then smaller particles are filtered by the debris to block the satisfactory flow of water from the gutter into the downspout. The water then collects in the gutter and creates a sanitary hazard and/or overflows, thereby damaging the building and gutter and defeating the purpose of the gutter system.
[0008] There are numerous systems for preventing, or reducing, the infiltration of particles into the open tops of gutters. These are placed over gutters to keep water flowing instead of being clogged by leaves and debris. These systems include porous, filtering materials, such as expanded metal and polymer screens, along with solid “caps” that drive solid particles over the cap while depending on the surface tension of water to flow over the cap and gutter and around a solid panel into the gutter. Brush-like structures have also been placed in gutters, and coiled, spring-shaped wire structures have been placed in gutters to extend along the length of the gutter. One problem with the coil apparatus is that leaves and other debris that are low-hanging through the wires cannot clear the far edge of the gutter as they move downhill and they catch the far edge of the gutter. The surface tension method using a sheet-type cap over the gutter appears to be the best at self-clearing, but it can cause a mold slime-like formation in the darkened gutter.
[0009] The prior art of which the inventor is aware provides advantages over an open-top gutter, but also disadvantages. To applicant's knowledge, all prior art fails to provide sufficient certainty that debris will neither clog the gutter nor the filtering apparatus. Therefore, the need exists for a method and means for keeping gutters clear of leaves and other debris while allowing sunlight and airflow into the gutter, which reduces mold and slime buildup on the filter and gutter.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] The invention contemplates a means to bridge over a gutter to allow leaves and other debris to slide off the roof, across the bridging structure above the gutter, and onto the ground without dropping into or catching onto, the gutter or filter. This is accomplished with a novel bridging structure that is described herein and shown in the illustrations. The structure has a plurality of rods aligned parallel to and along the downward sliding direction of the leaves and other debris. These rods are positioned substantially parallel and as close to one another as possible to prevent significant debris from falling into the gutter between the rods while still allowing the water to pass through into the gutter through the openings between the rods.
[0011] Except for very small particulate, the apparatus prevents most or all debris that comes into contact with a roof from entering the gutter, while still allowing rain and other liquid and small particulate to be carried away in a desirable manner by the gutter and downspouts. The apparatus also allows wind to blow up through the gutter filter to dislodge leaves and other debris, as well as dry out the gutter by the sun penetrating through the aligned rods of the apparatus.
[0012] The apparatus is referred to herein as a gutter leaf slide bridge (GLSB). The GLSB is designed so that the water and small quantities of very small particles that constitute non-clogging debris fall into the gutter, and larger debris, such as leaves, sticks and large seeds, roll or slide across the GLSB beyond the outside edge of the gutter and fall to the ground. The GLSB allows sunlight and air movement through the gutters beneath it, thereby preventing a slimy mold buildup in the gutter found with many systems that enclose the gutter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] FIG. 1 is a side schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the present invention.
[0014] FIG. 2 is a side schematic view illustrating an alternative embodiment of the present invention.
[0015] FIG. 3 is a top schematic view illustrating a mechanism for forming a portion of the present invention.
[0016] FIG. 4 is a side schematic view illustrating an alternative embodiment of the present invention.
[0017] FIG. 5 is a side schematic view illustrating an alternative embodiment of the present invention.
[0018] FIG. 6 is a side schematic view illustrating an alternative embodiment of the present invention.
[0019] FIG. 7 is a side view in section illustrating a fastener portion for the present invention.
[0020] FIG. 8 is a side schematic view illustrating an alternative embodiment of the present invention.
[0021] FIG. 9 is a schematic view in perspective illustrating an alternative embodiment of a portion of the present invention.
[0022] FIG. 10 is a side schematic view illustrating an alternative embodiment of the present invention.
[0023] FIG. 11 is a front schematic view illustrating the embodiment of FIG. 1 .
[0024] FIG. 12 is a front schematic view illustrating an alternative embodiment of the present invention.
[0025] FIG. 13 is a magnified schematic view illustrating the embodiment of FIG. 12 .
[0026] In describing the preferred embodiment of the invention which is illustrated in the drawings, specific terminology will be resorted to for the sake of clarity. However, it is not intended that the invention be limited to the specific term so selected and it is to be understood that each specific term includes all technical equivalents which operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar purpose. For example, the word connected or terms similar thereto are often used. They are not limited to direct connection, but include connection through other elements where such connection is recognized as being equivalent by those skilled in the art.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0027] U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/782,625 filed Mar. 14, 2013 and U.S. Non-provisional application Ser. No. 14/210,699 filed Mar. 14, 2014 are hereby incorporated in this application by reference.
[0028] In an embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 11 , the GLSB 10 uses substantially parallel, spaced rod members 12 to form the bridge that supports the debris as it is carried across the upwardly facing opening of the gutter 14 to the far edge 14 f of the gutter 14 . The rod members 12 can be made of any metal, such as steel or aluminum, or plastic, polymer-reinforced composites or any other suitable material. The rod members 12 preferably range in diameter from about 0.03 to about 0.06 inches. The rods should be of minimum diameter possible and the sizes listed can be combined with larger rods or smaller rods. Of course, other diameters are contemplated if they are sufficiently strong and otherwise suitable. The rods are a length that allows them to span the distance across the gutter 14 that is required to carry and support debris over the gutter 14 . As an example, for a conventional piece of five inch wide aluminum gutter, the rod member 12 is a length that permits it to overhang the far edge 14 f by about one-half to one and one-half inches. Therefore, useful rods could be six to seven inches long, depending on how and where the rods are attached to the building or gutter.
[0029] The rods are preferably spaced laterally from each next adjacent rod to form a gap therebetween of about one-quarter of an inch or less, but this distance can be modified as will become apparent to the person of ordinary skill. Each rod member 12 is preferably aligned substantially perpendicular to the gutter's longitudinal axis, although a small angle is possible as will become apparent from the description herein. When aligned substantially perpendicular to the gutter's longitudinal axis, the rod members 12 are aligned with their longitudinal axis substantially along the direction debris and water flow down the roof 20 when under the influence of gravity. That is, the rod members 12 are substantially parallel, or only slightly transverse, to the direction water and debris flow down the roof 20 under the influence of gravity (wind and other effects may vary the direction). The rods are also substantially parallel to one another. This configuration allows the rod members 12 to provide as little resistance to continued flow of debris over the gutter, while allowing water to flow between the rod members 12 into the gutter with little resistance. In order to maintain the rods parallel to one another, the rods themselves preferably have a spring effect that is substantial enough that if a rod is bent to one side, upon release it returns substantially to its original position. This “spring effect” can arise by using spring steel, for example.
[0030] Each rod member 12 can be mounted at the gutter 14 near the inner edge of the gutter 14 i . The rod members 12 extend from or near the roof's edge 20 e in cantilevered fashion above and beyond the far edge 14 f of the gutter 14 , as shown in FIGS. 1 and 11 . A vertical gap, g, is formed between the top surface of the far edge 14 f of the gutter and the lower surfaces of each of the rod members 12 . The vertical gap, g, is to allow leaves and leaf-like debris that have portions (stems, thorns, etc.) that may extend downwardly through the gaps between the rods to flow to the ends of the rods without resistance, such as from catching on the gutter's far edge, as the debris slides down the parallel rod members 12 . The vertical gap between the far ends of the rods and the top of the gutter allows leaves and other debris that are low-hanging between and beneath the rods to slide past the end of the gutter as they move downhill along the rods, and not catch thereon.
[0031] The rod members 12 are substantially parallel and form a “comb-like” structure over the gutter 14 with the “teeth” of the “comb” being formed by the rod members 12 . A spine or frame 12 f , to which the rods mount, is substantially perpendicular to the rods and attaches uphill of the gutter 14 . The rod members 12 are cantilevered to as far beyond the far edge 14 f of the gutter 14 as is necessary to assure most or all debris completely bypasses the gutter 14 and falls away from the gutter. The back or “spine” of the “comb” preferably attaches to the house structure 30 , roof edge 20 e , or inner edge 14 i of the gutter 14 , but the frame 12 f can simply rest upon the surface of the roof 20 . The rods 12 are preferably angled substantially parallel, or slightly transverse, to the roof 20 , so that a generally downhill slope results. The frame can be integrated into the lower edge 20 e of the roof 20 , such as by inserting rods into spaced apertures disposed along a half-round piece of plastic, wood or metal that is attached at the lower edge of the roof, within the thickness of the lower edge 20 e.
[0032] In one embodiment contemplated, the frame of the “comb” is integral to the gutter's inner edge 14 i , having been mounted there during manufacture of the gutter. In another embodiment contemplated, rubber or other flexible roofing sheet material that is self-adhesive is adhered to the roof and over the frame of the comb-shaped structure to direct water falling down the roof over the frame of the comb. The rods can extend through apertures formed in the rubber sheet so that the sheet extends beneath the rods a short distance after passing over the frame and toward the roof edge 20 e . The rods cantilever above the gutter's far edge.
[0033] The rods' lengths can be a few inches to about a foot or even more depending on whether the rear attachment point of the rods is at the back of the gutter or on the roof. Thus, the rods preferably extend from just above and just beyond the far edge 14 f of the gutter to as far back toward or on the roof 20 as is necessary to reach the desired mounting or resting point of the frame. The rods 12 are sloped downward from the rear attachment point at the frame to the far edge 14 f of the gutter 14 to form a self-clearing leaf slide that guides leaves and leaf-like debris along a continuously sloped structure away from the sloped roof, onto the sloped rods and then off of the rods to the ground or a container for collection.
[0034] One type of GLSB uses short lengths of rods attached to a frame formed from a pipe 150 or round drill stock, as shown in FIG. 2 . The pipe 150 is attached above the rear edge 114 i of the gutter 114 with u-bolts (not visible) or a novel snap-in fastening device that allows the pipe 150 to pivot within the u-bolts or other fastener in the manner of a hinge. This pivoting is along an angle of about 30 to 90 degrees to an “up position” (see dashed lines in FIG. 2 ) from the rods' 112 operable location above the front gutter edge 114 f . The pivoting allows access to the inside of the gutter 114 for periodic cleaning or other maintenance. As noted above, the pipe 150 can be mounted to a structure that is deliberately formed in the gutter during manufacture of the gutter (see FIG. 6 ), or the pipe 150 can be retro-fitted, or the pipe can be mounted to the house's roof 120 or fascia.
[0035] One advantage of the pipe 150 structure shown in FIG. 2 is that the water tends to be driven downwardly, perpendicular to the rods 112 . As the water flows off the roof 120 it immediately flows along the curved surface of the pipe 150 , which is substantially perpendicular to the rods 112 at the intersection of the rods 112 with the pipe 150 . By directing the flow of water perpendicular to the rods at the intersection, this configuration reduces the probability that the water will cling by surface tension to the rods 112 and flow off the ends of the rods rather than fall into the gutter 114 . Thus, when the pipe 150 forms an approximately ninety-degree angle with the rods 112 at their intersection, there is a substantial structural and functional advantage.
[0036] Another GLSB is made from a wire mat 200 , as shown in FIG. 3 . The mat 200 can be about one foot wide, and is made by bending one strand of wire 202 back and forth around a die that consists of a plurality of dowels 204 or other prepared, solid structures at each side to form parallel wires that serve as the rods spaced about one quarter inch apart (see FIG. 3 ). Once the wire 202 is wound through and around the dowels 204 , the dowels are moved apart by force to remove any slack in the wire 202 and form the final length of the rods. The curved portions at the ends of each pair of rods can be cut off, or they can be retained and bent downwardly and inwardly to allow the debris to clear the curved ends as it falls off the rods, and also direct water into the gutter using surface tension on the rods. In this case the downwardly bent portions may not touch the gutter, but form a barrier to prevent larger rodents and other creatures from entering the gutter. The curved portions can be bent downwardly and inwardly to form a support leg that rests upon the far edge of the gutter as described herein, which also provides a barrier for pests.
[0037] As shown in FIG. 4 , one side of the mat 200 so formed is attached to the roof 220 (such as by a screw 210 extending through the roof side curved portions) and the other side of the mat 200 cantilevers above the far edge 214 f of the gutter 214 . The vertical gap, g 2 , formed between the front gutter edge 214 f and the underside of the mat 200 can be maintained by forming support structures at periodic intervals along the mat's length using parts of the mat formed. For example, during manufacture of the wire mat 200 , some of the wire 202 can be bent toward the gutter to form spaced “legs” 240 under the mat 200 that rest on the far edge 214 f of the gutter (see FIG. 5 ). These legs are spaced supports that contact the gutter 214 and space the gutter 214 from the mat 200 . A continuous GLSB can be made using this configuration because the top surfaces of the rods extend past the far edge of the gutter.
[0038] The mat 200 can be bent in its long direction along the roof to fit into a valley formed between two intersecting and transverse roof sections. A rubber roofing material can be adhered over the uppermost portion of the mat and the roof in order to force water and debris onto the top of the mat. Such a configuration permits the mat to carry debris out of the valley where it would otherwise collect, but water is permitted to flow through the rods to the gutter. Preferably, the lower ends of the rods extend over the far edge of the intersecting gutters' corner (or any vertical shield that is mounted to the gutter lip at this corner to direct the large volume of water from the valley into the gutter) in order to bridge entirely over the gutter.
[0039] By using wire stock from a large spool of wire at the job site, a mat can be formed on-site of desired width, wire spacing and length using special wire-forming equipment made for this purpose. As the wire (about one-sixteenth inch diameter) comes off the reel it is work-hardened and made straight. Next it is placed in a flat die having dowels at each end of the mat's width to wrap around and form the wire spacing of the rods. The dowels at each end are pulled apart for forming the final length of the mat (see FIG. 3 ). The flat mat formed is cut into lengths, for example three feet long. Then the mat can be bent to curve the mat for each field need of gutter width and height to roof relationship. A gap can be formed between the far edge of the gutter and the wire mat bridge. Also a cantilever (ideal) mat can be formed by attaching a bent mat to the roof and cutting off the opposite end to form separate rods 212 as shown in the illustration of FIG. 4 .
[0040] In one embodiment, the invention is formed in units of a specific length, such as three feet, and each unit is attached to other units in series. The attached collection of units is mounted along the gutter's length. The length of each unit of the apparatus (as measured along the gutter's length) can be on the order of a few feet for ease of installation of each unit. Alternatively, the apparatus can be constructed to be continuous along the length of the gutter in some embodiments so that there are no connectors or weaknesses that might be present in a series of connected units that depend on the installer's skill in connecting them.
[0041] The invention can take the form of a “comb” with the “teeth” being the rods, rails or bridging components and the transverse spine being a frame to which the rods mount. Alternatively, the invention can be in the form of disks with spacers like a large diameter washer spaced with a smaller diameter washer. Alternatively, a broom-like device can be used with the broom straws acting as the bridge over the gutter, and the straws cantilevering above the ends of gutter the same as the comb teeth forming a gap.
[0042] As the parallel rods are made closer and closer together, this decreasing gap improves the action of sieving debris. However, the closer the rods are together the more likely capillary action will occur, which could cause some of the water to cling to, and flow along, the rods past the far edge of the gutter, thereby defeating the purpose of the gutter. The surface tension of the water and its velocity direction as it comes off the roof or rod-holding device can be in the direction of the rods. This problem can be reduced or eliminated by using finer and flatter rods. Another solution is to form sawtooth-shaped (when viewed from the side) and/or v-shaped (when viewed from the end) profiles on the bottoms of the rods that cause the water to have a smaller surface to cling to so it drops off into the gutter before reaching the ends of the rods.
[0043] An alternative solution can be obtained by placing the rods at an angle to the water direction coming off the roof, and another uses the surface tension of the water clinging to a sheet that the rods pass though to drop the water below the rods. For example, if a rubber sheet is adhered at its top edge to the roof and extends a short distance down the roof to cover the frame of the rods, the rods of the invention can pierce the sheet, which causes the rods to extend transversely (at an angle to the sheet) beyond the sheet's point of attachment to the roof. The sheet thus extends from above the rods to below the rods with the rods extending through the sheet. This configuration creates a flow path for water to flow onto the sheet from the roof, down the sheet and through the rods by clinging to the sheet due to surface tension. In this configuration, the water follows the sheet down through the rods, rather than following the rods at an angle to the sheet.
[0044] Shorter rods could be passed under and between the main rods 12 , 112 and 212 that carry off the leaves, and the shorter rods (which do not have to be as long as the main rods) cause the water on the bottoms of the main rods to be more likely to fall into the gutter, rather than be carried over the ends of the main rods and past the gutter. Such shorter rods could also help support the upper rods that cantilever over the far, outer edge of the gutter. Additionally, smaller diameter (e.g., one-thirty second of an inch) or shorter (or both) rods can be alternated with the preferred main rods (e.g., one sixteenth of an inch diameter) described herein to help carry smaller debris and thereby reduce the amount of matter that can hang down between the rods as the matter passes over the far lip of the gutter. This is illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 13 , in which the main rods 612 a are twice the diameter and long enough to reach past the far edge of the gutter, and the smaller diameter rods 612 b are substantially the same length, but half the diameter. The smaller diameter rods 612 b can be shorter, and preferably do not carry substantial weight of larger debris that falls onto the main rods 612 a . Instead, the row of smaller diameter rods 612 b filter the smaller debris that falls past the larger main rods 612 a , and, because they are smaller diameter, the rods 612 b promote water falling into the gutter 614 , rather than flowing past the gutter's far edge. Furthermore, the smaller diameter rods 612 b may be shorter than the gutter's width, so that even if water flows to their ends and then drops, the water falls into the gutter 614 . If a second row of smaller diameter rods is placed beneath the row of larger diameter rods, the gaps between the smaller rods can be smaller than the gaps between the larger rods.
[0045] If metal sheeting is used to hold the rods, the sheeting could be formed to have rods and bring the water into the gutter. This could also be done as a plastic or metal molding and look much like a hair comb with its teeth hanging out over the end of the gutter and the spine of the comb (above the teeth) attached to the roof above the gutter.
[0046] In order to test the embodiments discussed above, a work table was made to hold a roof section having a gutter section at the low end and a water flow device at the high end. The roof section can be held at different slopes and different type roofing was placed on the table and different flow rates were selected. Leaves and roof debris was placed between the water source and the gutter on the roof section and the results were observed under closely controlled conditions.
[0047] The testing work supports the efficacy of the embodiments described herein. Most of the testing used one-sixteenth inch diameter rods and flat rods turned on edge (thinnest edges up and larger surfaces facing the next-adjacent rod). The testing showed that holding the rods parallel to one another is very important. The rods need to spring back to their original positions if they are deformed downwardly against the far edge of the gutter or laterally to a non-parallel relation. Furthermore, the capillary attraction of water to and between the rods increased as the rods were moved closer together and increased as the diameter of the rods increased.
[0048] The GLSB method and structures described herein show promise, because during testing the GLSB embodiments cleared a range of debris made up of small and large leaves, seed pods, twigs, and pine needles with a minimum of small debris going into the gutter. The amount that went into the gutter was cleared by normal flow of water in the gutter to the down spout. GLSB rods can be incorporated into a gutter so that the rods are manufactured along with the gutter and the two are integral. Different climate locations and debris types could call for different solutions to reduce cost and maintenance.
[0049] Applicant's studies show the cantilevered ends of the GLSB rods allow the debris to clear the end of the gutter. However, when the lower edges of the distal ends of the rods are held against the upper, outer edge of the gutter, leaves and debris are held back and do not slide off the ends of the rods. The studies thus far show that the slide made of thin rods perpendicular to the gutter's length and held above the outside edge of the gutter work better than the surface tension leaf rejection method that is conventional.
[0050] The water was brought below the rods of some embodiments by having the rods pass through metal or plastic sheeting as described above. The rods of other embodiments have been attached through plastic piping (having a one inch diameter and a one-eighth inch wall) and in others into one-quarter inch diameter solid rod stock. The sheeting can be part of the drip edge on the roof's edge, the sheeting can be part of the one inch diameter pipe between the drip edge and the gutter, and the sheeting can be part of the one-quarter inch rod on the roof itself.
[0051] Both the one inch diameter piping and the one-quarter inch solid rod can be mounted using a fastener that forms a hinge means for pivoting the GLSB rods to access the gutter for cleaning. This can be by rotating the pipe or rod to lift the GLSB rods. Stops can be put on the pipe or holding rod to define the maximum down and/or up position.
[0052] Rods can be formed by cutting a sheet along spaced, parallel lines and twisting the formed flat segments 90 degrees. Although this is an inexpensive method for forming GLSB rods, there can be problems with water attraction (capillary action) and holding the rods parallel.
[0053] The method of attaching the rods (teeth) to the back of the gutter, when the “comb” design is being used, will now be described in detail. For a new gutter system using GLSB or for a flat, high-back gutter already in use, a holding device 360 can be attached to the upper part of the back edge of the gutter 314 that allows the GLSB to be snapped in place, moved up or taken off easily, as shown in FIG. 6 . The holding device 360 can be molded out of plastic or metal that is attached to a conventional gutter 314 , or the holding device 360 can be extruded as part of a plastic gutter. In the illustrations of FIGS. 7 and 8 , the pivot structure 400 defines a C-shaped opening 402 for the cylindrical frame 408 of the comb-shaped device 412 to snap into. The lower tip 404 of the “C” provides a limit for downward movement of the rods of the device 412 , because the rods will rest against the lower tip 404 and maintain the vertical spacing between the rods and the far edge of the gutter. In order for the rods to move any lower, they must be bent. However, the rods can be lifted upwardly for cleaning as shown in FIG. 8 in dashed lines.
[0054] As shown in FIG. 8 , the frame 408 of the comb-shaped structure 412 is mounted in the holding device 400 in such a way (such as a friction fit) that pivoting up or down is possible when a sufficient force is applied. However, it is preferred that downward pivoting does not occur without deliberately moving the rods, in order to maintain the space between the lip of the gutter 414 and the bottom of the rods. As shown in FIG. 9 , the comb can be molded or made from wire 500 attached to a dowel 502 , and that dowel 502 can serve as a frame and be inserted in the holding device 400 as shown above, with the wire 500 serving as the rods.
[0055] As shown in FIG. 9 , the wire 500 has curved ends 504 that join adjacent pairs of wire. This means that any large debris sliding down the wires can catch in the curved ends 504 and not fall off the structure. It is preferred to either cut the curved ends off back to the straight portions of the wire 500 , or bend the curved ends downward toward the gutter (not visible) and back to allow the debris to clear the curved ends. The curved ends can form legs that support the wire 500 at the far edge of the gutter when the wire contacts the far edge of the gutter.
[0056] This detailed description in connection with the drawings is intended principally as a description of the presently preferred embodiments of the invention, and is not intended to represent the only form in which the present invention may be constructed or utilized. The description sets forth the designs, functions, means, and methods of implementing the invention in connection with the illustrated embodiments. It is to be understood, however, that the same or equivalent functions and features may be accomplished by different embodiments that are also intended to be encompassed within the spirit and scope of the invention and that various modifications may be adopted without departing from the invention or scope of the following claims. | A gutter protecting apparatus includes a plurality of substantially parallel rods extending in a downward slope from near a roof edge to and beyond the far side of the gutter. The rods extend substantially perpendicular to the gutter's length and to a frame to which the rods connect at the upper edge. Preferably, the lower rod ends are spaced above and slightly beyond the far edge of the gutter to allow debris to pass the gutter without catching. Legs can extend down from some rods to the gutter's far edge to provide support. The apparatus can be pivotably mounted to the roof, the fascia or the gutter, permitting access beneath. The apparatus forms a cage-like covering over the gutter to exclude matter and small creatures, while allowing the liquid to flow past. Sunlight bypassing the rods and movement of air through the gutter make the water exiting the downspout cleaner. | 4 |
[0001] The invention relates to manufacturing books particularly in the context of desktop publishing.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Today, desktop publishing in both the software and printing sectors has advanced to quality levels comparable to professional offset printing.
[0003] Despite the fact that printing equipment, special quality paper and publishing software are readily available on the market, there remains one outstanding component that would complete desktop publishing operations: the binding of a desktop-printed book in a professional and traditional style.
[0004] A traditional book has a collection of printed pages or bookblock mounted in a cover by endpapers which are pasted to the inside front and back covers of the book. The printed pages making up the bookblock are usually a series of folded over sheets or “sections” that are sewn together and assembled into the bookblock. Commercial binding produces these traditional books of good quality at a reasonable price for large series, but for individual books or books produced in small series the cost of binding is prohibitive.
[0005] Thermal binding using hot melt adhesives has been widely used particularly for soft cover books. However, thermal binding does not produce a book having the same qualities as a traditionally bound book. U.S. Pat. No. 6,042,318 for example discloses an apparatus and method for hot melt binding.
[0006] WO 92/02888 describes a computer based book manufacturing, distributing and retailing system wherein the text and images of a large number of books are
[0007] stored in a computer, and individual books can be printed to command and bound in a thermal binder, enabling the delivery of a selected book to a purchaser in a short time.
[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,202 describes a book publishing kit for children, the kit including a number of sheets and templates permitting children to provide text and drawings to be forwarded for assembling and publishing as a book.
[0009] A child's bookbinding kit has been marketed under the name “Story Plus”. This is intended primarily for children to produce a book including the child's paintings on folded-over sheets. The sheets have large openings for the child to sew the folded sheets together and assemble them into a book using glue.
[0010] GB-A 2 221 196 describes making a book by folding printed sheets and wire-stitching them along the fold line, in replacement of prior techniques where the folded sheets were sewn along their fold line.
[0011] JP-A-2002 178664 describes producing a book using a personal computer using a standard story that can be varied by the author, printing on a standard printer and then stapling together the printed sheets and sticking the outside sheet of the stapled printed sheets directly to a book cover.
[0012] Various pieces of office equipment have been developed for clasping or attaching together sheets using plastic or metal securing elements, or by thermal binding. However the resulting assembled sheets are not comparable to the traditional book structure having a stitch-bound bookblock mounted in a cover by endpapers.
[0013] There remains a need for a simple and easy-to-use book binding kit, which enables any individual or business to manufacture a bound book of traditional structure and of the quality found on the market, using existing desktop publishing equipment.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0014] The invention offers a solution to the problem of short-run printing and binding costs. It makes it possible to print and stitch-bind to professional standards one-book units at a price that was previously reserved for a large series of printed copies (two thousand or more).
[0015] The invention provides a kit for manufacturing a stitch-bound printed book, whose principal components are a book cover, a collection of pre-perforated sheets that can be printed usually using a desktop printer of A4 format to make up a printed bookblock, and endpapers for assembling the printed bookblock in the cover.
[0016] The first principal component of the kit is a book cover composed of a front and a back attached by a spine for accepting a bookblock formed from a collection of bound pages of corresponding size.
[0017] The kit also includes a corresponding pre-perforated collection of loose single unfolded sheets for making up a bookblock that fits the book cover. The loose sheets have printable areas. They are usually blank sheets initially. Their size corresponds to a given printing format, for example A5, 21×21 cm, or A4, acceptable by available personal printers such as standard A4 desktop printers. The collection of loose sheets has, along one unfolded edge that corresponds to the book's spine, a series of binding perforations for accepting a binding thread. The loose unfolded sheets are printable on one or both sides with text, images or both to constitute printed pages of the book, using a normal desktop printer. The printed pages can then be bound to form the bookblock by reconstituting them as a collection with their binding perforations aligned and by sewing thread through the binding perforations.
[0018] The remaining main components of the kit are: a pair of front and back endpapers i.e. including folded-over sheets forming board papers that are attachable to the inside front and back faces of the book cover for securing the bookblock—which is formed by sewing together the collection of loose pre-perforated printed sheets—to form the stitch-bound printed book; and peel-off adhesive layers for securing the bookblock to the front and back endpapers and for securing the front and back endpapers to the cover.
[0019] Particularly when it is packaged for individual sales, the kit can also include a needle and thread, clamps for facilitating assembly, adhesive strips, a jacket, printed instructions and software. The parts of the kit can be sold together or individually.
[0020] Manufacturing a book from a kit according to the invention involves stitch-binding of individual unfolded sheets instead of the usual stitch-binding of folded sheets. This makes it technicaly feasible to print the prepared collection of perforated sheets in an A4 printer. The kit also lends itself to using adhesive contact paper for the endpapers in place of the application of glue, simplifying and making binding practical and convenient.
[0021] The kit according to the invention is suitable for all publishing and graphics software users, including home users and semi-professionals as well as professionals. Such users, who are already proficient with home printers and publishing software, will now have the opportunity of binding their own work in a professional-looking book.
[0022] Writers, students, notaries, designers, small and medium sized companies whose professional activities often require them to use the services of a print-shop for single or small series will greatly benefit from the kit according to the invention.
[0023] The kit according to the invention is suitable for sale via retail stores or directly over the internet. For instance, many web sites provide short stories and novels online to avoid printing and inventory management costs. Customized kits according to this invention can now be sold online by these web sites so their customers can produce a proper stitch-bound book.
[0024] Also, outlets for “print-on-demand” books can use the kits with customized cover designs for binding the individually printed books. This print-on-demand method is both financially and environmentally advantageous because it excludes all risks of overstocking and waste of paper. Using the kit according to the invention, print-on-demand books can now be stitch-bound at reasonable cost.
[0025] Further features of the inventive kit for manufacturing a book and the steps for manufacturing a book from the kit, as well as further aspects of the invention, are set out in the claims and in the following description. The claimed further aspects of the invention include a collection of pre-perforated sheets to be used for manufacturing a stitch-bound book, and a method of manufacturing a stitch-bound book in particular using desktop publishing equipment. The stitch-bound book is preferably, but not exclusively, a hard-cover book where the bookblock formed from the printed pre-perforated sheets is mounted in the cover by end papers.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0026] In the accompanying schematic drawings, given by way of example:
[0027] FIG. 1 is an overall view of a book manufacturing kit according to the invention, showing the components separately and not to scale; and
[0028] FIGS. 2 to 7 illustrate successive steps in the assembly of a book, after the collection of pre-perforated sheets has been printed.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0029] FIG. 1 shows the individual components of one embodiment of a book manufacturing kit according to the invention, namely a hard-back cover 10 , a pre-perforated collection of loose single sheets 15 of paper, front and back endpapers or “guard pages” 20 a , 20 b , a cover jacket 25 , a needle 30 and thread 31 , two clamps 35 , a double or single sided adhesive strip 40 for reinforcing the cover spine, and a double-sided adhesive strip 45 for covering the sewn edge of the collection of sheets 15 when it: is formed into a bookblock. These components can be sold/delivered together in one or two boxes containing also printed instructions and/or software.
[0030] Software when included may contain assembly instructions and/or a demonstration illustrating the assembly process as well as printing instructions including protocols for standard printers, prompts for placing the paper correctly, etc. Moreover, especially in the case where the kit is designed to produce a book on a specific theme, the software can include standardized texts and/or images that can be merged into the user's input to produce the book's themed content. Typical themes would be for creating the person's own biography, presenting recipes, vacation souvenirs, anniversaries, or other events or subjects.
[0031] The illustrated book cover 10 is a hard-back cover made of cardboard, plastics material, leather or imitation leather, or covered therewith. It is usually plain but can also be printed on the outside, e.g. with customized cover designs useful for individuals or businesses who want to produce a series of books with a special cover. The cover 10 can alternatively be a paperback or magazine-type cover. A soft cover will usually employ a paper weighing 180-200 g/m2.
[0032] The illustrated cover 10 has a rigid front 11 and back 12 connected by a spine 13 . The width and height of the cover's front 11 and back 12 may slightly exceed the dimensions of the collection of sheets 15 , and the thickness of spine 13 is chosen according to the intended number of pages of the book. A hard-back cardboard cover 10 like the one shown has, on its inside, folded over edges 14 leaving uncovered central parts 17 that will be covered in the final book by outside sheets of the endpapers 20 a , 20 b forming so-called board-papers.
[0033] The collection of sheets 15 is usually made of A5, 21×21 cm format, or A4 paper, all printable in standard A4 printers. A4 is a practical maximum size adapted to usual desktop printers. The paper is usually good quality “ink jet” paper, typically weighing at least 100 g/m 2 , preferably at least 120 g/m2. Paper of 135 g/m2 gives excellent results as it permits high quality recto-verso printing on standard printers and is not likely to warp when printed. Ink-jet paper is prefered for kits sold to the public as ink jet printers are in more widespread use by individuals. Sheets of a quality specially intended for laser printing can also be used, in particular for professional users.
[0034] The collection of sheets 15 has, along and in the proximity of one edge that corresponds to the book's spine 13 , a series of binding perforations 16 for accepting the binding thread 31 . This thread 31 is standard white binding thread, and can be supplied in a length of, say, 500 cm. The perforations 16 are of corresponding narrow diameter, about 1-2 mm, able to accept a double thickness of the thread 31 .
[0035] The perforations 16 are pre-perforated for example by punching or drilling packets of the sheets of paper, before they are separated into collections of a given number of sheets that are included in the kit. The perforations 16 are suitably spaced from the edge of the sheets 5 , ay by about 2-4 mm. They can be uniformly distributed along the side of the sheets 15 , or can have another distribution, for instance spaced wider apart in the middle. The spacing and distribution of the perforations 16 can be adapted according to the length of the book spine 13 , the intended number of pages, the thread specifications and the paper weight. Typical spacing of the perforations 16 is in the range 3-18 mm.
[0036] The perforations 16 are so arranged that when the collection of sheets 15 is reassembled after printing the corresponding perforations 16 can be aligned only by placing the sheets in their original orientation. This is conveniently achieved by having a perforation at one end with a different spacing than the others, so it is necessarily out of register if the sheet is inverted.
[0037] The double-sided adhesive strip 40 has a length equal to the length of spine 13 and a width of, say 80 mm which is suitable for all spine widths.
[0038] The double-sided adhesive strip 45 has a length equal to the spline-forming edge of the sheets 15 and a width of, say, 30 mm which is suitable for the thickness of the collection of sheets 15 to be bound.
[0039] The endpapers 20 a , 20 b serve for assembling the book in the traditional manner. Each endpaper 20 a , 20 b is a folded-over sheet of double the dimensions of the sheets 15 , having an adhesive on one or both of its outer faces protected by a peel-off layer 21 (see FIGS. 5 / 7 ). Having an adhesive and a peel-off layer 21 on both outer faces is advantageous from the manufacturing standpoint, as the endpaper 20 a , 20 b can be made simply by folding an adhesive sheet twice the size of sheets 15 . Having two adhesive outer sides also serves to firmly attach the bookblock 18 .
[0040] The pair of clamps 35 are simple metal or plastic butterfly clamps that serve to secure the collection of pages 15 between the cover 10 in a temporary position for facilitating sewing together of the collection of pages.
[0041] The cover jacket 25 is like those fitted on traditional books except that it can be left blank for printing by the user. It is typically made of ink-jet (or laser) quality paper say from 135 g/m 2 to 200 g/m 2 with a matt or gloss outer surface. Its dimensions exceed twice the dimensions of the book cover 10 so it can be fitted on the finished book by folding it over the edges of the front and back 11 / 12 . The cover jacket 25 will exceed A4 dimensions and is initially folded in a configuration corresponding to a flat dimension that can be accepted by a standard A4 printer. The jacket 25 is thus pre-folded to A4 dimension or less and placed in the printer with the fold entering first.
[0042] The size of the sheets 15 corresponds to the size of the cover 10 , and the number of sheets 15 included in a kit for individual sale corresponds to the width of the spine 13 . Several examples of the dimensions of the various components are tabulated below by way of example. In each case the spine 13 can be provided in several standard dimensions corresponding to a number of pages of paper of given weight in a given range. The kit will usually be supplied with the maximum number of sheets corresponding to the width of spine 13 , or more, leaving it to the user to produce a book with less pages. Excess pages can be used for trial printing.
[0043] For multiple users, the kit can be supplied with several covers 10 of the same size or of different sizes, and with packages of the perforated sheets 15 whose dimensions correspond to the size(s) of the supplied covers. These packages can be divided into the requisite number of sheets when each book with a given cover 10 is being manufactured.
[0044] The width of spine 13 determines the number of pages to be bound, for paper of a given weight. Taking 135 g/m2 paper as an example, a 7 mm spine of a hard-back cover can accomodate say about 15-25 pages; a 10 mm spine about 25-30 pages and a 12 mm spine about 30-50 pages. Soft back covers can accommodate from 5 pages.
[0045] Specimen dimensions (in millimetres) for three book formats are given by way of example in the following Tables, namely AS Portrait in Table I, AS Upright in Table II and A4 Upright in Table III. In the Tables, “Length” refers to the spine direction. Of course, any sub-A4 format can be accepted.
TABLE I BOOK FORMAT: A5 PORTRAIT Length Width Covers 11, 12 155 210 Sheets 15 148 210 Strip 40 148 80 Strip 45 148 30 Jacket 25 155 450 folded Endpapers 20a, 20b A3 cut lengthwise and folded
[0046]
TABLE II
BOOK FORMAT: A5 UPRIGHT
Length
Width
Covers 11, 12
215
148
Sheets 15
210
148
Strip 40
210
80
Strip 45
210
30
Jacket
215
320 folded
Endpapers 20a, 20b
A4, folded
[0047]
TABLE III
BOOK FORMAT: A4 UPRIGHT
Length
Width
Covers 11, 12
302
210
Sheets 15
297
210
Strip 40
297
80
Strip 45
297
30
Jacket
155
450 folded
Endpapers 20a, 20b
A3, folded
[0048] Before the kit is assembled into a stitch-bound book, the pre-perforated sheets 15 are printed by the user to create the desired content of the book consisting of text and images, using a standard A4 desktop printer. Creation of the book content according to a given theme can be assisted by software provided with the kit, as previously mentioned. For printing, the user will usually be familiar with the performance of his printer and only has to set the print command to accept the particular format of the sheets 15 (A5, 21×21 mm, or A4, for example), and orient the sheets according to the printer's specifications. The visible perforations 16 along one edge of the sheets 15 assist the user in selecting the proper feed orientation. The kit can also include instructions to assist the user in printing.
[0049] When the endpapers 20 a , 20 b are provided on both outside faces with adhesive protected by peel-off sheets 21 , the front face of the first page of the book and the rear face of the last page of the book are left blank, either by a print command or by removing these sheets from the collection of sheets to be printed and putting them back after printing. The other sheets can all be printed recto or recto-verso. For recto-verso printing, the user will follow the prescribed routine for his printer, e.g. by passing the packet of sheets 15 twice through the printer if the latter does not print recto-verso automatically. Recto-verso printing may also be assisted by the user's desktop publishing software or by software supplied with the kit.
[0050] The principal steps in the assembly of the book are illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 7 .
[0051] After printing, the pre-perforated sheets 15 are assembled in a block with their perforations 16 aligned. For this, the user collects the sheets into a block and gently taps the edges against a flat surface until a perfect register is obtained, which can be seen by looking through the perforations 16 . If a sheet is incorrectly placed, this can be seen as the corresponding perforations in the other sheets will be out of alignment. The user can then re-orient the sheet in question, re-constitute the block and bring the perforations 16 into register. The collection of printed sheets 15 is then placed in the cover 10 as illustrated in FIG. 2 and clamped in place as shown in FIG. 3 , using the clamps 35 to hold the cover's front 11 and back 12 together, with interposed pieces of cardboard 36 to protect the cover 10 . By applying a ruler against the edges of the sheets 15 just before the block is clamped, the perforations 16 can be perfectly aligned. In the clamped position, the perforated edge of sheets 15 is allowed to protrude from the cover 10 , as shown in FIG. 3 .
[0052] With the sheets 15 firmly clasped in this way, the user then sews them together by passing thread 31 through perforations 16 using the needle 30 . The thread 31 is passed through the first perforation 16 and the tail 32 of thread 31 attached to a clamp 35 . The needle 30 is then passed through each succesive perforation 16 all along the edge of the sheets 15 , and then back. The thread 31 passes from one perforation 16 to the next forming a double stitching 33 over the opposite faces of sheets 15 , leaving spine 19 free. When this double stitching 33 is finished, the thread 31 is tied with a double knot 34 as indicated in FIG. 3 a , attached to the side of the spine 19 , and the excess thread 31 cut.
[0053] At this stage, the collection of pre-perforated printed sheets 15 constitutes a bookblock 18 whose sewn spine 19 is then covered and reinforced by the strip 45 , as shown in FIG. 4 . For this, the user removes the protective peel layer 47 from one face of the adhesive strip 45 , centres it so it overlaps the spine 19 evenly, places the exposed adhesive face of strip 45 on the spine 19 and presses the adhesive edges of the strip 45 against the opposite faces of the sheets 15 adjacent spine 19 .
[0054] The next step is to attach the endpapers 20 a , 20 b to the bookblock 18 as shown in FIG. 5 . The outer protection 48 of strip 45 is removed, at least on the upper face to be attached first. The protective peel-off layer 21 on the inside of the front endpaper 20 a is also removed, uncovering its adhesive face. The inside sheet of endpaper 20 a is then stuck on the non-printed front page of bookblock 18 . The same operation is then repeated, to stick the inside sheet of the endpaper 20 b to the last page of the bookblock 18 . As shown in FIG. 6 , this forms an assembly of the bookblock 18 and endpapers 20 a , 20 b where one half of each endpaper 20 a , 20 b is stuck to the respective outer face of bookblock 18 and the other half of each endpaper 20 a , 20 b is ready to be stuck to the respective inside face of cover 10 .
[0055] Alternatively, if the endpapers 20 a , 20 b have a protected adhesive only on their outer face, the inside of the endpapers 20 a , 20 b can be stuck to the bookblock 18 by the adhesive on the outside faces of strip 45 . This leaves the front and rear page of book-block 18 uncovered, so that in this case these pages can be printed, if desired.
[0056] To attach the assembled bookblock 18 and endpapers 20 a , 20 b to the cover 10 , one of the strip 40 's protective peel-off layers is removed and the adhesive strip 40 is stuck along the spine 13 . Then the strip 40 's outer peel-off layer 41 is removed, leaving an exposed adhesive layer 42 on spine 13 . The bookblock's spine 19 is then aligned with the cover's spine 13 , making sure it is centred as accurately as possible and, of course, in the proper orientation. The bookblock spine 19 covered with the adhesive strip 45 is then applied with slight pressure against the spine 13 's adhesive layer 42 , until they are well fixed together.
[0057] Then, holding the bookblock 18 upright with the cover 10 lying flat as shown in FIG. 7 , the protective peel-off layer 21 is removed from the outside of one of the endpapers 20 a , 20 b , as indicated for illustrative purposes on the upstanding bookblock 18 . Holding the endpapers 20 a , 20 b in upright position, a ruler 23 is inserted between the two sheets of one of the endpapers, as shown for endpaper 20 b . The outer half 24 of the endpaper 20 b is then allowed to drop gently onto the inside of the cover back 12 , at the same time running the ruler 23 over the back 12 as indicated by the arrow. This sticks the endpaper's outer half 24 on the cover back 12 as a so-called board paper, without any creases. The same operation is then repeated with the remaining endpaper 20 a to stick its outer half on the front 11 .
[0058] The fully assembled book is then placed under a flat weight, for instance a pile of books, leaving the spine 19 on the exterior, for a period sufficient to consolidate the binding, say 24 hours.
[0059] The finished book has the advantageous structure of a traditional stitch-bound book characterized by the stitch-bound bookblock 18 mounted by the endpapers 20 a , 20 b , but thanks to the invention individual books or small series of books can now be manufactured at a fraction of the cost making use of available desktop publishing equipment.
[0060] The described assembly procedure can be easily mastered by adults and children with no prior book binding experience. It is even possible with a little practice to assemble a book in a comparable time to that taken for binding a book using an office hot-melt binder.
[0061] The invention unites recent desktop publishing technology with traditional bookbinding techniques to create a new and much-needed possibility of presentation for desktop publishers.
[0062] Many variations are possible. In general a stitch-bound book can be manufactured according to the invention using a bookblock formed from the collection of printed pre-perforated sheets and binding the bookblock in a cover. Preferably, the bookblock is mounted in a hardback cover using endpapers as described, but it could be mounted otherwise in a softback or in a magazine-type cover. | A kit for manufacturing a stitch-bound printed book comprises a book cover ( 10 ), a collection of pre-perforated sheets ( 15 ) that can be printed to make up a printed bookblock ( 18 ), and endpapers ( 20 a, 20 b ) for assembling the printed bookblock in the cover. The pre-perforated loose sheets ( 15 ) have along one edge that corresponds to the book's spine a series of binding perforations ( 16 ). The pre-perforated loose sheets ( 15 ) are printable on one or both sides in an A4 printer to constitute printed pages of the book. A bookblock ( 18 ) is formed by reconstituting the printed pre-perforated pages as a collection with their perforations ( 16 ) aligned and by sewing through the perforations ( 16 ). This involves stitch-binding of individual sheets ( 15 ) instead of the usual stitch-binding of folded sheets, which makes it feasible to print the prepared collection of pre-perforated sheets using desktop publishing equipment. The kit lends itself to using adhesive contact paper for the endpapers ( 20 a, 20 b ) in place of the application of glue, making binding practical and convenient. | 1 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a control for switching the current from an AC source to a load when multiple sensors determine that the load should be activated, with the sensors determining the range over which the load is activated.
Various electromechanical means have been utilized to provide control of power to a load during a portion of a sensors operating range. The load being activated when the sensor output is in a specified range. In these electromechanical devices the sensor range has been determined by mechanical means and usually covered a narrow operating range. An example of this type of electromechanical device is a thermostat where a set of contacts is closed when a preset temperature is reached; the contacts controlling power to a load. By mechanical hysteresis means the contacts remain closed until the sensor again passes through the preset temperature to a temperature point different from the preset temperature, at which time the contacts open and power is removed from the load. Controls of this type are necessary to prevent the rapid cycling of motors and other loads when controlled by sensor inputs.
Other types of control devices use electrical hysteresis to control a load over an operating range. These devices rely on the electrical hysteresis of the control to provide the operating range while the sensor provides one of the limit points of the range. The range of operation of this type control is relatively narrow.
With the foregoing in mind, it is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a new and improved limit controller that has a wide preset operating range.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a solid state controller that will energize a load with a DC or AC current over a preset operating range.
A further object of the invention is to provide a controller that has an operating range determined by at least two sensors. Still another object is to provide a controller that will activate a low or high impedance load over a predetermined operating range.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The limit controller utilizes an SCR as a switching element in a diode bridge circuit arrangement to control the flow of current from an altenating voltage source through a load. The conductivity of the SCR is controlled by two control inputs, a start-input and a maintain-input. These control inputs may be switches or variable impedance sensors. The start-input has exclusive control of initiating conduction of the SCR. The maintain-input maintains conduction of the SCR once conduction has been established by the start input. Either input can switch the SCR to the non-conducting state provided the other input is not causing the SCR to be conductive.
By selecting appropriate sensors to activate the control inputs, the limit controller will energize a load over a predetermined sensor range. The load may be AC or DC current activated depending on the connection of the load in the circuit.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the invention showing the relationship of the elements.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the invention showing the embodiment for energizing a high impedance load.
FIG. 3 is a schematic of the invention showing the circuit for energizing a low impedance load.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
As shown in FIG. 1, alternating voltage source 1 and load 2 are serially connected to input terminals 3 and 4 of diode bridge 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d. The diode bridge rectifies the alternating voltage and produces positive voltage pulses at +bridge terminal 6 and negative voltage pulses at -bridge terminal 5. Control element 8 is connected between terminals 5 and 6 and causes a unidirectional current to flow from terminal 6 to terminal 5 when control element 8 is made conductive by a signal on control input 9. Start control 12 connected to control input 9 provides a signal to make control element 8 conductive. Removal of the signal from control 12 makes control element 8 non-conductive. When control element 8 is conductive, current flow on positive cycles of voltage source 1, is through diode 7b, control element 8, diode 7c, load 2 and back to source 1. On negative cycles of voltage source 1 current flows from source 1 through load 2, diode 7a, control element 8, diode 7d and back to source 1. The resulting current flow through load 2 is an alternating current present when control element 8 is conductive. When control element 8 is non-conductive, the series paths formed by diodes 7a and 7b and 7c and 7d prevent current flow through the bridge to load 2.
Energy storage element 10 is connected to terminal 5 and maintain control 11. Control 11 provides a path for energy flow into and out of the storage element from terminal 6. When control 11 is actuated, energy is stored in element 10 during the peak values of the positive voltage at terminal 6 and released during the low voltage excursions at terminal 6. The action of maintain control 11 and storage element 10 is to keep the voltage on terminal 6 from falling below a minimum level. Although control element 8 is normally made conductive and non-conductive by a signal on its control input 9, the action of maintain control 11 and energy storage element 10 is to keep element 8 conductive once conduction has been established by start control 12 through control input 9. Devices that can be used as the control element include SCR's and TRIAC's. Removal of the signal from maintain-control 11 or start control 12 will cause control element 8 to become non-conductive provided the other control is not attempting to make control element 8 conductive. By actuating maintain-control 11 and start-control 12 from appropriate sensors a controller can be operated over a range defined by the sensors.
In FIG. 2, alternating voltage source 1 and high impedance load 28 are serially connected to input terminals 3 and 4 of diode bridge 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d. The diode bridge rectifies the alternating voltage and produces positive voltage pulses at bridge terminal 6 and negative voltage pulses at bridge terminal 5. SCR 20 is connected across bridge terminals 5 and 6 and functions to make the bridge conductive or non-conductive and thereby controls the AC current through load 28. Auxiliary diode 21a is anode connected to input terminal 4 and cathode connected to + terminal 22 and energy storage capacitor 23. Auxiliary diode 21b is anode connected to input terminal 3 and cathode connected to + terminal 22 and capacitor 23. The auxiliary diodes and storage capacitor produce a steady positive voltage at + terminal 22 through rectification and filtering of the alternating voltage from voltage source 1. The positive voltage at 22 is applied to control input 9 through start switch 26 and current limiting resistor 24, and bridge terminal 6 through maintain switch 27 and energy limiting resistor 25. In operation, the closing of start switch 26 causes SCR 20 to become conductive resulting in AC current flow through high impedance load 28. The closing of maintain switch 27 causes SCR 20 to remain conductive after start switch 26 opens. SCR 20 then remains conductive until maintain switch 27 opens. When SCR 20 is non-conductive, closing of maintain switch 27 does not cause conduction. Only the closing of start switch 26 causes SCR 20 to become conductive. The high impedance load 28 being controlled may be a relay, motor, heater, or incandescent lamp.
In the circuit of FIG. 3 alternating voltage source 1 is connected through diode bridge 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d to low impedance load 33. SCR 20 in series connection with load limit resistor 30 is connected across bridge terminals 5 and 6. Conduction of the diode bridge is determined by the conductive state of SCR 20 with the current to low impedance load 33 determined by the value of load limit resistor 30. SCR 20 is made conductive by current flow into control input 9 from bridge terminal 6 through current limiting resistor 24 and start impedance 31. When start impedance 31 is decreased to a low value, sufficient current flows into control input 9 to cause SCR 20 to become conductive. Maintain impedance 32 in series with energy limiting resistor 25 and energy storage capacitor 23 applies a voltage to bridge terminal 6. When maintain impedance 32 is decreased to a low value sufficient current flows into bridge terminal 6 to keep SCR 20 in a conductive state after initial conduction has been established by the action of start impedance 31. Start impedance 31 increasing to a higher value will not now cause SCR 20 to become non-conductive due to the action of maintain impedance 32 and energy storage capacitor 23. SCR 20 will remain conductive until maintain impedance 32 is increased to reduce the voltage applied to bridge terminal 6 below a predetermined minimum. SCR 20 will remain non-conductive until start impedance 31 is decreased to a value that will enable the control input to provide sufficient current to make the SCR conductive. The low impedance load 33 being controlled may be a light emitting diode (LED), the gate of a semiconductor or other low impedance semiconductor device.
Although the figures have shown loads connected for energization by an AC current, the loads may be connected in series with the control element and the positive terminal of the diode bridge for energization by a DC current. Operation of the start and maintain functions remain the same for the D.C. load connection.
A useful application of the invention could be the operation of an air compressor where it is desired that the compressor maintain an air pressure between a low and high limit. The pressure sensor switches are selected to be closed when the measured pressure is below the pressure sensor set point. The high pressure sensor is connected as the maintain control and the low pressure sensor is connected as the start control. The compressor motor relay coil is connected as an AC high impedance load. When the pressure is within the high and low values, the high pressure sensor is closed and the maintain control is activated. Since the maintain control cannot start conduction of the control element, the load is not energized. As pressure drops below the low limit, the low pressure sensor is closed and the start control is activated. The control element is made conductive and the load is energized. The compressor starts to increase the air pressure to the low limit, the low pressure sensor opens and the start control is deactivated, the control element remains conductive since the maintain control is still activated. As pressure increases to the high limit, the high pressure sensor opens and the maintain control is deactivated. The control element switches to the non-conductive state, the load is deactivated, and the compressor is turned off. The compressor does turn on until once again pressure falls below the low limit value. | A solid state switching controller that switches power to a load when sensor controls indicate that a controlled parameter is outside the high and low limit set by the sensors.
The controller power input is AC while the controller output is selectable as either AC or DC. The controller can be utilized to control high and low impedance loads. | 7 |
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application, pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §119(e), claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/695,975, filed on Jul. 1, 2005. That application is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The invention relates generally to hardfacing coatings on a metallic work piece. In particular, the present invention relates to hardfacing coatings on drill bits.
[0004] 2. Background Art
[0005] Rotary drill bits are generally well known in the art. These bits typically include three cone-shaped members adapted to connect to the lower end of a drill string. One example of such a drill bit is shown in FIG. 1 . The bit 10 includes three individual arms 11 that extend downward from the bit body 19 at an angle with respect to the bit axis. The lower end of each arm 11 is shaped to form a spindle or bearing pin (shown as 16 in FIG. 2 ). A cone cutter 12 , which includes a plurality of cutting elements 14 , is mounted on each spindle and adapted to rotate thereon. As the drill string rotates, the cones 12 roll on the borehole bottom and rotate on about their respective spindles, thereby disintegrating the formation to advance the borehole.
[0006] FIG. 2 shows a partial, longitudinal cross section of a leg of a rock bit. Each leg includes a journal pin 16 , on which a roller cone 12 is attached. During drilling, the roller cone 12 rotates around the journal pin 16 . The rotation may cause the roller cone 12 to grind against the journal pin 16 . Therefore, wear resistant materials are often included in critical areas on both the journal pin 16 and the inside of the roller cone 12 to minimize wear damage. In addition, bearing systems are provided to allow rotation of the cone cutter and serve to maintain the cone cutter on the spindle. These bearing systems may comprise roller bearings, ball bearings or friction bearings, or some combination of these.
[0007] As shown in FIG. 2 , the journal pin 16 includes a cylindrical bearing surface having a hard metal insert 17 on a lower portion of the journal pin 16 , while an open groove 18 is provided on the upper portion of the journal pin 16 . Groove 18 may, for example, extend around 60% of the circumference of the journal pin 16 , and the hard metal 17 can extend around the remaining 40%. The journal pin 16 also has a cylindrical nose 19 at its lower end.
[0008] The cavity (or inside surface) in the roller cone 12 typically contains a cylindrical bearing surface including an aluminum bronze insert 21 deposited in a groove in the steel of the roller cone 12 or as a floating insert in a groove in the roller cone 12 . The aluminum bronze insert 21 in the roller cone 12 engages the hard metal insert 17 on the journal pin 16 and provides the main bearing surface for the roller cone 12 on the bit body. A nose button 22 is disposed between the end of the cavity in the roller cone 12 and the nose 19 of the journal pin and carries the principal thrust loads of the roller cone 12 on the journal pin 16 . A bushing 23 surrounds the nose and provides additional bearing surface between the roller cone 12 and journal pin 16 .
[0009] As shown in FIG. 2 , a plurality of bearing balls 24 are fitted into complementary ball races in the cone and on the journal pin. The bearing surfaces between the journal pin and cone are lubricated by a grease composition. The balls 24 carry any thrust loads tending to remove the roller cone 12 from the journal pin 16 and thereby retain the roller cone 12 on the journal pin 16 .
[0010] In addition, the interface between each spindle and its cone cutter may include a device (thrust bearing) to transmit thrust (axial) forces from the cone cutter to the spindle and thence to the bit. For description of various thrust bearings, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,868,502 issued to Cariveau et al. This patent is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
[0011] The above described examples are greased bearing bits. The wear situation is even worse in non-lubricated open bearing bits. FIGS. 3 and 4 show partial, longitudinal cross sections of a leg of an open-bearing air bit. Referring to FIG. 3 , a typical mining, roller bearing, air cooled rotary cone rock bit generally designated as 30 , includes spindle 34 extending from the leg 33 forms bearing races 31 and 32 for roller bearings 35 and 36 . Intermediate roller bearings 35 and 36 , a plurality of ball bearings 37 rotatably retain the cone 38 on the spindle 34 . Spindle 34 forms a radially disposed main bearing face 39 from which a spindle bearing 40 extends. A spindle thrust bearing disc, or “thrust button,” generally designated as 41 , is pressed into a bearing cone cavity or socket 42 formed in cone spindle bearing 40 . Cone 38 includes an internal cavity adapted to receive spindle 34 and the bearings 35 , 36 , and 37 . The cone cavity includes cylindrical surfaces 43 and 44 , ball bearing race 37 a, and socket 45 . The radial end face 46 of spindle bearing 40 extends into the cone cavity adjacent cylindrical surface 44 . A cone thrust bearing disc, or “thrust button,” generally designated as 47 , is pressed into a bearing cone cavity or socket 45 formed in cone 38 . As discussed in greater detail below, cone thrust disc 47 engages spindle thrust disc 41 , with the interface therebetween forming a thrust bearing.
[0012] Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4 , spindle 34 includes a main air fluid passage 48 formed in leg 33 . Secondary air passages 49 direct air from main passage 48 to the main bearing face 50 . An axially aligned air passage 51 directs air to a cross channel 52 that is formed in the radial end face 53 of the spindle 34 . Cross channel 52 intersects and passes beneath, in this embodiment, a hardened steel bearing thrust button generally designated as 41 that is interference fitted or pressed into socket 45 formed in spindle 34 . Air passes from central passage 51 into channel 52 , thereby contacting base (not shown) of spindle thrust button 41 . Air contacting base (not shown) of thrust button 41 serves to cool thrust button 41 and adjacent cone thrust button 47 .
[0013] During operation of an open bearing, air bit, such as the one illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 , the weight of the drill string places a load on the lower face of the cone 38 . The axial component of this load generally causes contact between the radial end face or thrust face 46 of the spindle bearing 40 and the cone cavity or socket 45 formed in cone 38 on the lower, or load, side. The friction resulting from this contact between the cone 38 and the stationary support spindle 34 causes wear on the contacting surfaces that limits the useful life of the drill bit.
[0014] In greased bearing bits, the use of a lubricant on the contacting surfaces slows the rate of surface wear. However, in open bearing air bits, air is pumped through the drill pipe and through passages in the drill bit to the bearings for cooling and for keeping the bearings clean, rather than a lubricant. While air cools the outer roller bearings adequately, air cooling does not work as well in the nose area of the bit, which is subjected axial loads. The lack of lubrication and cooling on the thrust face increases heat generated by friction thereby promoting galling of the spindle and often causing premature failure of the spindle.
[0015] In addition to bearings and journal pins, the exposed, exterior parts of drill bits may also be subjected to wear. Some wear-susceptible exterior components of the drill bit include the exterior surfaces of the bit body, external surfaces of the cutting elements, and external surfaces of the roller cones on roller cone bits.
[0016] These parts, such as bit body, roller cones, and cutting elements, contact the formation during drilling and are subjected to abrasive actions. To prolong the life of a drill bit, these wear-prone surfaces should preferably be coated with a hardfacing material.
[0017] Various hardfacing materials methods are known in the art for minimizing wear on various parts of a drill bit. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,836,307 issued to Keshavan et al., and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,944,127 and 6,659,206 both issued to Liang et al. disclose various hardfacing material compositions and particle size distributions suitable for use in hardfacing inserts, teeth, or roller cones. In addition, various methods have been developed for applying hardfacing coatings to wear prone surfaces on rock bits or inserts. These methods, for example, include thermal spraying, plasma arc welding, laser cladding, or other conventional welding methods.
[0018] Materials used in combination with the hardened steel surfaces in bit journal bearings, in provided, have included precipitation-hardened copper-beryllium (shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,721,307 and 3,917,361), spinodally-hardened copper-tin-nickel (shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,976), aluminum bronzes (shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,995,917), and cobalt-based stellite alloys (shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,284). These materials offer suitable ambient temperature yield strengths for use as structural elements or inlays, and acceptable anti-galling properties against hardened steel. However, at elevated PVs they can undergo a transition to high-friction operation, and except for the stellites, these alloys typically exhibit a rapid reduction in yield strength at temperatures above about 500° F. Because such high surface temperatures are not uncommon in bit thrust bearings, especially as drilling speeds have increased, if included on bit thurst surfaces, stellites have been the structural inlay material of choice for journal surfaces.
[0019] However, the effectiveness and durability of hardfacing depend on the compositions of the hardfacing materials. In addition, the compositions of the hardfacing materials also affect the strength of the bonding between the hardfacing layers and the underlying substrates. Most hardfacing compositions comprise wear-resistant particles (e.g., carbides) and a matrix metal (or alloy). Generally, altering a composition to enhance the wear resistance of the hardfacing overlay, typically results in a decrease of the fracture toughness of the overlay and reduction in the bonding strength between the hardfacing and the substrate. On the other hand, altering a composition to enhance the fracture toughness and bonding strength between the hardfacing and the substrate, typically results in a decrease in the wear resistance of the hardfacing overlay. Thus, the hardfacing materials used in the protection of drill bits or roller cones often represent a compromise between the desired properties, i.e., wear resistance, fracture toughness, and bonding strength.
[0020] Although the prior art hardfacing application techniques are capable of providing improved wear resistance to drill bits, there still exists a need for other techniques that can provide longer lasting drill bits.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0021] In one aspect, the invention relates to a drill bit including a bit body having an upper end adapted to be detachably secured to a drill string and at least one leg at its lower end, each leg having a downwardly and inwardly extending journal bearing, at least one roller cone mounted on each journal bearing, at least one cutting element disposed on the at least one roller cone; and a hardfacing overlay on at least a portion of at least one of an inner surface of the at least one roller cone and a surface of the journal bearing, wherein a composition of the hardfacing overlay proximate an outside surface of the hardfacing overlay is different from a composition of the hardfacing overlay proximate an interface between the hardfacing overlay and the at least a portion of at least one of the inner surface of the at least one roller cone and the surface of the journal bearing.
[0022] In another aspect, the present invention relates to an open bearing drill bit that includes a bit body having an upper end adapted to be detachably secured to a drill string and at least one leg at its lower end, each leg having a downwardly and inwardly extending journal bearing, each journal bearing having an axial bearing surface and a radial bearing surface, at least one roller cone mounted on each journal bearing, at least one cutting element disposed on the at least one roller cone, and a hardfacing overlay on at least a portion of the axial bearing surface of the journal bearing, wherein a composition of the hardfacing overlay proximate an outside surface of the hardfacing overlay is different from a composition of the hardfacing overlay proximate an interface between the hardfacing overlay and the at least a portion of the axial bearing surface.
[0023] In another aspect, the present invention relates to a cutting tool for earth formation removal that includes a hardfacing overlay on at least a portion of at least one of a radial and axial load surface of the cutting tool, wherein a composition of the hardfacing overlay proximate an outside surface of the hardfacing overlay is different from a composition of the hardfacing overlay proximate an interface between the hardfacing overlay and the at least a portion of the surface of the cutting tool.
[0024] In yet another aspect, the present invention relates to a method for applying hardfacing on a cutting tool that includes forming a hardfacing overlay on at least a portion of at least one of a radial and axial load surface of the cutting tool such that a composition of the hardfacing overlay proximate an outside surface is different from a composition of the hardfacing overlay proximate an interface between the hardfacing overlay and a surface of the cutting tool.
[0025] Other aspects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0026] FIG. 1 shows an example of a conventional milled tooth drill bit.
[0027] FIG. 2 shows a partial cross sectional view of a leg of a conventional drill bit, illustrating the interface between a journal pin and a roller cone.
[0028] FIG. 3 shows a partial cross sectional view of a leg of a conventional air-cooled drill bit.
[0029] FIG. 4 is an end view taken through 4 - 4 of FIG. 3 illustrating the air fluid passages formed in the leg and journal bearing.
[0030] FIG. 5 shows a partial cross sectional view of a leg of a drill bit having a hardfacing overlay in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
[0031] FIG. 6A and 6B show a journal bearing surface having a hardfacing overlay in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
[0032] FIG. 7 shows a schematic of a prior art automatic hardfacing system.
[0033] FIG. 8 shows a milled tooth having a hardfacing overlay in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0034] Embodiments of the invention relate to methods for providing hardfacing to surfaces of a metal part that are likely subjected to wear in a graded manner such that the compositions of the hardfacing materials vary as a function of distance from the interface between the hardfacing overlay and the metal object. Some embodiments of the invention relate to metal objects that include graded hardfacing overlays. Being able to generate graded hardfacing overlays on a metal object makes it possible to design wear protection based on selected applications. In accordance with some embodiments of the invention, the hardfacing near the interface may have a composition designed for enhanced bonding to the metal object, while the compositions near the wear surface of the hardfacing overlay may be designed to be more wear resistant.
[0035] In a particular embodiment, the hardfacing overlay disclosed herein is provided to a bearing surface of a drill bit. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a single leg 105 of an open-bearing air roller-cone bit in accordance with one embodiment of this invention. The lower end of leg 105 extended into a journal bearing shaft 111 . Each journal bearing shaft 111 supports a roller cone 113 . The end face 139 of journal bearing shaft 11 extends into the cone cavity adjacent cylindrical surface 141 . The cone 113 is held on the journal bearing shaft 111 by ball elements 115 in this embodiment. A ball passage 117 extends from an outer surface of leg 105 and intersects the upper section of bearing shaft 111 . The ball elements 115 are inserted through the ball passage 117 into the aligned ball grooves 119 once the cone 113 has been placed over the journal bearing shaft 111 . A ball plug 121 then fills the ball passage 117 to retain the ball elements 115 in the grooves 119 . Retaining rings and other retaining systems are common in the field and are also compatible with this invention.
[0036] Each leg 105 of the bit has a main air passage 123 that leads through the leg 105 to the ball passage 117 . A bearing shaft air passage 127 leads from the ball passage 117 to the end of the journal bearing shaft 111 . Cylindrical roller bearings 131 are located around the journal bearing shaft 111 to reduce the friction between the journal bearing shaft 111 and the cone 113 . The roller bearings 131 are between the journal bearing shaft roller bearing grooves 133 and the aligned cone roller bearing grooves 135 . A thrust bearing 137 may be included at the end of the journal bearing shaft 111 to handle axial loads. These bearings 131 , 137 are cooled by the compressed air provided from the surface.
[0037] In one embodiment, a graded hardfacing may be provided on end face (axial bearing surface) 139 of journal bearing shaft 111 , which is subjected to axial loads. In another embodiment, a graded hardfacing may be provided on other bearing surfaces, including for example, journal bearing shaft roller bearing grooves (radial bearing surface) 133 of journal bearing shaft, which is subjected to radial loads. In yet another embodiment, a graded hardfacing may be included on similar, corresponding bearing surfaces of a greased drill bit, or open bearing bits cooled by water, which do not contain air passages.
[0038] Referring to FIG. 6A and 6B , an journal bearing assembly of a drill bit according to one embodiment of the present invention is shown. Journal bearing assembly 60 includes journal bearing shaft 62 , cylindrical roller bearings 63 are located around the journal bearing shaft 62 , and ball elements 65 located around the ball groove 64 formed in journal bearing shaft 62 . A hardfacing deposit/overlay 66 is formed in groove 67 of the axial bearing surface 68 of journal bearing shaft 62 . Hardfacing deposit/overlay is a graded hardfacing overlay, where the composition of the hardfacing overlay proximate an outside surface 66 a of the hardfacing overlay is different from a composition of the hardfacing overlay proximate an interface 66 b between the hardfacing overlay and groove 67 in the axial bearing surface 68 .
[0039] Hardfacing materials typically comprise a metal or alloy matrix and wear-resistant particles (e.g., tungsten carbides or boron nitrides). Hardfacing compositions comprising carbides are more common than boride or nitride-containing hardfacing compositions. For clarity, this description may use “carbides” (e.g., tungsten carbides, other metal carbides, or mixtures thereof) to represent general wear-resistant particles. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that “carbide” particles in the hardfacing compositions may be replaced with other wear-resistant particles (e.g., borides, nitrides, carbides or mixtures) without departing from the scope of the invention. In a hardfacing overlay, the wear resistant particles are suspended in a matrix of metal. The wear resistant particles give the hardfacing overlay hardness and wear resistance, while the matrix metal (or alloy) provides fracture toughness to the hardfacing overlay. In addition, the matrix metal also contributes to the bonding between the hardfacing overlay and the metal object (thrust faces, bearing surfaces, roller cones, or cutters).
[0040] In accordance with some embodiments of the invention, hardfacing compositions variations may have lower total alloy content near the interface with the metal object, but with higher alloy contents near the wear surface. Examples of suitable alloys include the Stellite™ family of alloys sold by Deloro Stellite Co. (Goshen, Ind.). Stellite™ alloys contain cobalt, tungsten, chromium, carbon, and are known for their wear resistance and corrosion resistance at high temperatures. Alternatively, compositions of the invention may comprise a low carbide content Stellite™ near the interface between the hardfacing overlay and the metal object and change to a Stellite™ alloy with higher carbide content near the wear surface. Other examples of graded hardfacing may include a composition having varying proportions of cast and/or sintered carbide pellets in a Ni—Cr—Si matrix varying as a function of distance from the interface. The above examples of hardfacing overlays having variations in hardfacing compositions are for illustration only. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that many other variations are possible without departing from the scope of the invention.
[0041] In addition, being able to have graded hardfacing makes it possible to match the thermal expansion coefficients and/or elastic modulus of the hardfacing material at or near the interface with those properties of the metal subject. For example, Stellite™ with lower alloy contents may have a better match of thermal expansion and modulus to the steel of the underlying metal article. With better matched thermal expansion coefficients and/or elastic modulus, the article will have less residual stress.
[0042] Many factors affect the durability of a hardfacing overlay on a metal object.
[0043] These factors, for example, include wear resistance of the hardfacing overlay and the strength of the bonding between the hardfacing overlay and the surface of the metal object. These factors are functions of the compositions of the hardfacing materials, i.e., the material compositions and physical structure (size and shape) of the wear resistant particles, the chemical composition and microstructure of the metal or alloy, and the relative proportions of the carbides to the matrix metal or alloy. While higher proportions of the wear-resistant particles (carbide or boron nitride particles) will increase the wear resistance of the hardfacing overlay, unfortunately they decreases the fracture toughness of the hardfacing overlay and weaken the bonding between the hardfacing overlay and the metal object. On the other hand, increasing the proportions of the matrix metal can increase the fracture toughness of the hardfacing overlay and enhance the bonding between the hardfacing overlay and the metal object; however, these benefits come at the expense of the wear resistance of the hardfacing overlay. As a result, prior art hardfacing application often represents a compromise between wear resistance and fracture toughness.
[0044] In accordance with embodiments of the invention, hardfacing overlay on a metal object, such as thrust bearings, drill bits, roller cones, or cutters, may have an enhanced wear resistance without sacrificing fracture toughness or bonding strength between the hardfacing overlay and the metal object, or have an enhanced bonding between the hardfacing overlay and the metal object without sacrificing the wear resistance of the hardfacing overlay. In some embodiments of the invention, a hardfacing overlay may have both an enhanced wear resistance and an increased bonding to the surface of the metal object.
[0045] Embodiments of the invention are based on “graded” hardfacing, which has different compositions in regions close to the wear surface (i.e., outside surface) of the hardfacing overlay, as compared to regions close to the interface between the hardfacing overlay and the metal object. As used herein, “graded hardfacing” generally refers to hardfacing overlays having different compositions in regions close to the wear surface, as compared to regions close to the interface. For clarity of description, the “graded hardfacing” may be referred to as having composition variations as a function of distance from the interface between the hardfacing overlay and the metal object. However, one of ordinary skill in the area would appreciate that such variations in the hardfacing compositions may also be referenced to the wear surface or outside surface of the hardfacing overlay, or the like. In accordance with embodiments of the invention, the composition differences as a function of the distance from the interface may be gradual or stepwise. The gradual variations of the compositions may be linear or non-linear (e.g., a monotonic curve). The composition differences may be achieved during the hardfacing application process.
[0046] Embodiments of the invention may use any suitable hardfacing technique(s) known in the art to achieve hardfacing composition variations. Prior art methods that may be used with embodiments of the invention, for example, may include atomic hydrogen welding, oxyacetylene welding, plasma transfer arc (“PTA”), pulsed plasma transfer arc (“PPTA”), gas tungsten arc, shielded metal arc process, laser cladding, or the like.
[0047] Welding is among the oldest methods for application of hardfacing onto a rock bit. In a typical application, a welding tube is melted by an oxyacetylene or atomic hydrogen welding torch onto the surface of the metal object that is to be protected (e.g., a cutter, roller cone, or drill bit). The welding tube comprises a filler enclosed in a steel (or other alloy) tube, in which the filler mainly comprises carbide particles (or borides or nitrides) but may also comprise deoxidizer for steel, flux, or a resin binder. When melted, the steel (or other alloy) suspends the carbide particles in the hardfacing overlay and also helps to bond the hardfacing layer to the metal object. This steel (or other alloy) may be generally referred to as “matrix metal” or “binder alloy.” In typical applications, the proportions of the filler to the steel tube may be adjusted by controlling the diameter and/or the thickness of the steel tube.
[0048] In accordance with some embodiments of the invention, the diameter and/or thickness of the steel welding tube may be varied (either gradually or stepwise) to provide different proportions of the carbide (or borides or nitrides) particles to the binder alloy. For example, the starting end of the welding tube may have a thicker wall and/or a smaller inside diameter, as compared to the other end of the welding tube, to provide a composition having a higher proportion of the binder alloy in the beginning. In accordance with other embodiments of the invention, a welding tube may have substantially the same wall thickness and/or inside diameter along its length; however, the filler therein may have different compositions (e.g., different proportions of carbide particles to binder alloy powder) along the length of the welding tube. In accordance with some embodiments of the invention, a welding rod as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,112 issued to Keshavan et al. may be used instead of a welding tube. This patent is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
[0049] Some embodiments of the invention use laser cladding or plasma transferred arc to deposit hardfacing on the metal object. Examples of the use of laser cladding in applying hardfacing to drill bits may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,781,770 issued to Kar. Examples of plasma transfer arc (PTA) techniques may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,615,936 issued to Mourik et al., while examples of pulsed plasma transferred arc (PPTA) may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,124,564 issued to Sue et al. These patents are assigned to the assignee of the present invention and are incorporated by reference in their entireties. With these techniques, energy beams, i.e., laser or plasma transferred arc, may be directed to a hardfacing composition to melt the hardfacing composition onto the metal object. In accordance with embodiments of the invention, the compositions (e.g., the proportions of the carbides to the binder alloy) of the hardfacing compositions (repeated) may be varied to produce graded hardfacing. The variation in the hardfacing compositions may be gradual or stepwise depending on the desired effects.
[0050] With laser cladding or plasma transferred arc techniques, the hardfacing compositions are often fed in a powder form. When using powder injection, a mixture of carbide particles (or boride or nitride particles) and a metal matrix powder may be injected into a plasma stream or an arc. In accordance with embodiments of the invention, the hardfacing mixtures used have varying compositions. The varying compositions may be achieved, for example, by gradually or stepwise addition of one of the components (either the carbide particles or the metal matrix powder) into an initial composition, which may comprise a mixture or a single component. Alternatively, the carbide particles and the metal matrix powder may be separately injected using separate powder feeders. With this approach, the rates of the separate powder feeders may be controlled to give the desired variations in the compositions. Powder may be fed through the interior or the exterior of the torch, arc or plasma. With multiple powder feeders, some powders may be used to feed inside the torch, arc or plasma, while the remaining powders may be fed outside the torch, arc or plasma.
[0051] Another method of feeding a hardfacing composition is by use of a wire or a rod, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,112 issued to Keshavan et al. The wire or rod may be made of a hardfacing composition (i.e., a mixture). Alternatively, the wire may be made of a matrix metal, and the outside of the wire is coated with the carbide particles, or vice versa. In accordance with embodiments of the invention, the compositions of the wires or rods are varied along the length so that the finished hardfacing overlay will have graded compositions. In some embodiments, multiple wires or rods may be used to achieve the variations in the hardfacing compositions. When multiple wires or rods are used, the variation in the hardfacing compositions may be achieved by different rates of feeding separate wires or rods, each of which may comprise a different component or composition, or by using wires or rods having different compositions along their lengths. The wires or rods may be fed inside or outside a hardfacing torch, arc or plasma.
[0052] Any apparatus adapted to apply hardfacing known in the art may be used with embodiments of the invention. For example, the automated hardfacing system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,392,190 issued to Sue et al. may be used with methods of the invention. This patent is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and is incorporated by reference in its entirety. FIG. 7 shows an automatic hardfacing system disclosed in this patent, which includes a computer-controlled robotic arm 72 for positioning a plasma transferred arc welding apparatus 74 (or other welding apparatus). The automatic system 70 can also control the hardfacing powder flow rates to produce the desired hardfacing overlay. This system can also feed multiple wires/rods or vary the wire/rod feeding speeds.
[0053] A method in accordance with embodiments of the invention may include a step of determining the pattern of hardfacing composition variations desired for the metal object (e.g., a thrust surface, bearing surface, a roller cone or a cutting element) and then applying the hardfacing material according to the desired variations. For example, the composition variations may be gradual or stepwise. The composition variations may produce more binder alloy near the interface as compared to the wear surface. Once the variation pattern is determined, a hardfacing overlay may be deposited onto the metal object according to the pattern of composition variation. To achieve the desired pattern, appropriate hardfacing compositions are used. The forming of the hardfacing overlay may use any techniques known in the art.
[0054] Embodiments of the present invention may also find use in any downhole cutting application in which there exists metal-to-metal contact that may result in wear failure. Further, while the present disclosure refers to components of a drill bit, it is expressly within the scope of the present invention, that the graded hardfacing overlays disclosed herein may be used in other downhole cutting tools including, for example, reamers, continuous miners, or other components of drill bits. One of skill in the art would recognize that cutting tools that may be provided with the graded hardfacing disclosed herein are not necessarily limited to tools using in oil and gas exploration, but rather include all types of cutting tools used in drilling and mining. For example, some embodiments of the invention relate to cutting elements, roller cones or drill bits having graded hardfacing overlays. FIG. 8 shows an exemplary cutter 80 having a steel body 82 and a hardfacing overlay 84 . The hardfacing overlay 84 has a composition near the interface 86 that is different from a composition near the wear surface 88 . For example, the composition near the wear surface 88 may be rich in carbides, while the composition near the interface 86 may be rich in matrix metal. Additionally, a graded hardfacing may be applied to cutting elements such as those described in the U.S. Patent Application entitled, “Assymetrical Graded Composite for Improved Drill Bits,” filed concurrently herewith, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
[0055] While this example shows a gradual variation of the hardfacing compositions, other embodiments of the invention may have stepwise variations in the hardfacing compositions. Furthermore, while a cutting element is shown for illustration, other embodiments of the invention may include other drill bit components or other cutting toolds having graded hardfacing.
[0056] Advantageously, embodiments of the present invention provide methods for producing bearing surfaces of drill bits having graded hardfacing overlays. In addition, methods of the invention can provide components of cutting tools and/or drill bits that include graded hardfacing overlays. An axial bearing surface having graded hardfacing overlays may allow for a hardfacing that provides both increased wear resistance and fracture toughness and/or increased bonding of the hardfacing overlays to the steel journal bearing. Methods of the invention permit the use of lower cost material near the interface between the hardfacing overlay and the metal object, reducing the cost of the hardfacing products. Being able to form graded hardfacing overlays makes it possible to tailor the coated substrate to the desired properties, such as enhanced wear resistance, and/or allow for enhanced bonding to the metal object, extending the life of the metal substrate.
[0057] While the invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art, having benefit of this disclosure, will appreciate that other embodiments can be devised which do not depart from the scope of the invention as disclosed herein. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be limited only by the attached claims. | A drill bit including a bit body having an upper end adapted to be detachably secured to a drill string and at least one leg at its lower end, each leg having a downwardly and inwardly extending journal bearing, at least one roller cone mounted on each journal bearing, at least one cutting element disposed on the at least one roller cone; and a hardfacing overlay on at least a portion of at least one of an inner surface of the at least one roller cone and a surface of the journal bearing, wherein a composition of the hardfacing overlay proximate an outside surface of the hardfacing overlay is different from a composition of the hardfacing overlay proximate an interface between the hardfacing overlay and the at least a portion of at least one of the inner surface of the at least one roller cone and the surface of the journal bearing is disclosed. | 4 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 11/787,757, filed Apr. 17, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,478,308, which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 11/280,892, filed Nov. 17, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,206,988, which application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/752,174, filed Jan. 6, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,988,237, which application is related to U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 10/184,334 filed Jun. 26, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,073,099. The disclosures of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
BACKGROUND
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to testing integrated circuits. More particularly, the present invention relates to testing integrated circuit memory using error-correction code (ECC) bits.
2. Background Information
Memory yield is a major factor in chip yield. Memory consumes half of the total chip area of today's average semiconductor, and this fraction is projected to rise dramatically in coming years. Accordingly, it is highly desirable to increase memory yield.
One conventional approach to increasing memory yield is laser repair. According to this approach, each chip includes extra memory elements such as rows, columns, and banks, which be connected by burning on-chip fuses using laser light to replace any defective memory elements found during memory test.
Another conventional approach is to accept a small number of memory defects, and to correct the data as it is read from the defective memory cells using an error-correction scheme. Conventional error-correction codes (ECC) are used to generate error-correction (EC) bits as data is written to memory. The EC bits are then used to correct the data as it is read from the memory if the number of data errors is equal to, or less than, the power of the code. Some codes can also detect errors when the number of errors is too great to correct. For example, single-error correct, double-error detect (SECDED) codes can be used to correct a one-bit error in a word of data, and to detect a two-bit error in a data word. In this specification, both types of codes are referred to as error-correction (EC) codes. The benefits of such schemes are disclosed in U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 10/184,334 filed Jun. 26, 2002, the disclosure thereof incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
FIG. 1 shows a test system 100 for a conventional integrated circuit (IC) 102 using an EC code. Test system 100 comprises an IC 102 and a tester 104 . IC 102 comprises a memory 106 comprising a plurality of memory lines 120 A through 120 N. Each memory line 120 comprises a plurality of data cells 122 each adapted to store a bit of data and a plurality of EC cells 124 each adapted to store an EC bit. Thus memory 120 comprises data cells 122 A through 122 N and EC cells 124 A through 124 N.
When data is written to memory 106 , an EC input circuit 108 generates EC bits based on the data bits using an algorithm such as the Hamming code, writes the data bits to the data cells 122 of a memory line 120 in memory 106 , and writes the EC bits to the EC cells 124 of that memory line 120 . When data is read from memory 106 , an EC output circuit 110 processes the data.
EC output circuit 110 comprises an error correction circuit 116 and an optional error detection circuit 118 . Error correction circuit 116 uses the EC bits read from a memory line 120 to correct errors in the data bits read from the memory line 120 . Optional error detection circuit 118 indicates whether the data bits contain errors that were detected but not corrected.
ICs such as IC 102 are tested by writing data to the memory 106 , reading the data from the memory 106 , and comparing the read and written data. While this approach is sufficient to detect most flaws in the data cells 122 , it cannot detect any flaws in the EC cells 124 .
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In general, in one aspect, the invention features an integrated circuit comprising a memory comprising a plurality of memory lines, each memory line comprising a plurality of data cells each to store a data bit, and a plurality of error-correction (EC) cells each to store an EC bit corresponding to the data bits stored in the data cells of the memory line; an EC input circuit to generate the EC bits based on the corresponding data bits; an EC output circuit comprising an EC correction circuit to correct errors in the bits read from the data cells of each of the memory lines in accordance with the bits read from the EC cells of the memory line; and a switch comprising first inputs to receive the EC bits from the EC input circuit, second inputs to receive test EC bits from EC test nodes of the integrated circuit, and outputs to provide either the EC bits or the EC test bits to the memory in accordance with a test signal.
Particular implementations can include one or more of the following features. The integrated circuit further comprises one or more EC output terminals to output, from the integrated circuit, the bits read from the EC cells of the memory lines. The integrated circuit further comprises one or more EC input terminals to input, to the integrated circuit, the EC test bits. The integrated circuit further comprises an EC error detection circuit to assert an error signal when the number of errors in the bits read from one of the memory lines is greater than, or equal to, a predetermined threshold. The switch comprises a multiplexer. The EC input circuit is further to generate the EC bits using a code selected from the group consisting of error-correction codes; and single-error correct, double-error detect codes. The integrated circuit further comprises a test pattern generation circuit to provide one or more vectors of test data to the memory, wherein the memory stores the vectors of the test data in one of the memory lines; and an EC error detection circuit to assert an error signal when the number of errors in the bits read from one of the memory lines is greater than, or equal to, a predetermined threshold. The integrated circuit comprises a further switch comprising first further inputs to receive the data bits, second further inputs to receive test data bits from data test nodes of the integrated circuit, and further outputs to provide either the data bits or the data test bits to the memory in accordance with the test signal. The integrated circuit comprises one or more test data output terminals to output, from the integrated circuit, the bits read from the data cells of the memory lines. The integrated circuit comprises one or more data input terminals to input, to the integrated circuit, the test data bits. The integrated circuit comprises wherein the EC correction circuit is further to output, from the integrated circuit, the bits read from the data cells of the memory lines in response to the test signal.
In general, in one aspect, the invention features a method for testing an integrated circuit comprising a memory comprising a plurality of memory lines, each memory line comprising a plurality of data cells each adapted to store a data bit and a plurality of error-correction (EC) cells each adapted to store an EC bit generated by an EC input circuit of the integrated circuit based on the data bits stored in the data cells of the memory line, the method comprising generating test EC bits; writing the test EC bits to the EC cells of one of the memory lines of the memory; reading the bits from the EC cells of the one of the memory lines of the memory; and generating a test result based on the test EC bits and the bits read from the EC cells of the one of the memory lines of the memory.
Particular implementations can include one or more of the following features. The method further comprises generating test data bits; writing the test data bits to the data cells of the one of the memory lines of the memory; reading bits from the data cells of the one of the memory lines of the memory; and generating the test result based on the test data bits, the bits read from the data cells of the one of the memory lines of the memory, the test EC bits, and the bits read from the EC cells of the one of the memory lines of the memory. The test EC bits are generated based on the test data bits using a code selected from the group consisting of error-correction codes; and single-error correct, double-error detect codes. The method further comprises providing one or more vectors of test data to the memory, wherein the memory stores the vectors of the test data in one of the memory lines.
The details of one or more implementations are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals have been used to designate like elements, and wherein:
FIG. 1 shows a test system for a conventional integrated circuit using an EC code.
FIG. 2 shows a test system for an integrated circuit according to a preferred embodiment.
FIG. 3 shows a process for testing the integrated circuit of FIG. 2 according to a preferred embodiment.
FIG. 4 shows another process for testing the integrated circuit of FIG. 2 according to a preferred embodiment.
FIG. 5 shows an integrated circuit that includes a built-in self-test circuit according to a preferred embodiment.
The leading digit(s) of each reference numeral used in this specification indicates the number of the drawing in which the reference numeral first appears.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The inventors have discovered that the architecture of FIG. 1 , because it does not permit testing of the EC cells 124 of memory 106 , not only prevents detecting flaws in the EC cells 124 , but can also hide flaws in data cells 122 unless a prohibitively large number of test patterns is used.
For example, suppose IC 102 of FIG. 1 employs an EC code with a power of one, so that EC output circuit 110 can correct for any memory line that has only a single bit error. Also suppose that one of the memory lines 120 has two bit errors, such that the two least-significant of the EC cells 124 is stuck at zero. We can represent this as EC[1:0]=00. If the test patterns applied as data bits to IC 102 always cause EC input circuit 108 to produce EC[1:0]=00, then IC 102 will pass despite the stuck bits. And if the test patterns always cause EC input circuit 108 to produce EC[1:0]=01 or EC[1:0]=10, then EC output circuit can correct this single-bit error, and IC 102 will again pass despite the stuck bits. Only a test pattern that causes EC input circuit 108 to produce EC[1:0]=11 will result in a two-bit error that EC output circuit 110 cannot correct, thereby causing IC 102 to fail. Similar arguments apply when one or both of the two stuck bits are located in the data cells 122 of the memory line 120 .
FIG. 2 shows a test system 200 for an integrated circuit (IC) 202 according to a preferred embodiment. Test system 200 comprises an IC 202 and a tester 204 . IC 202 comprises a memory 106 comprising a plurality of memory lines 120 A through 120 N. Each memory line 120 comprises a plurality of data cells 122 each adapted to store a bit of data and a plurality of EC cells 124 each adapted to store an EC bit. Thus memory 120 comprises data cells 122 A through 122 N and EC cells 124 A through 124 N.
When data is written to memory 106 , an EC input circuit 108 generates EC bits based on the data bits using an algorithm such as the Hamming code, writes the data bits to the data cells 122 of a memory line 120 in memory 106 , and writes the EC bits to the EC cells 124 of that memory line 120 .
EC output circuit 110 comprises an error correction circuit 116 and an optional error detection circuit 118 . Error correction circuit 116 uses the EC bits read from a memory line 120 to correct errors in the data bits read from the memory line 120 . Optional error detection circuit 118 indicates whether the bits contain errors that were detected but not corrected.
Preferably EC input circuit 108 and EC output circuit 110 employ a single-error correct, double-error detect (SECDED) EC code. For example, the SECDED code produces 7 EC bits for a 96-bit data word. However, other EC codes, such as ECC codes, can be used instead.
IC 202 also comprises a switch such as multiplexer 206 that allows data to be written directly to the EC cells 124 of memory 106 under the control of an EC test signal. Preferably, IC 202 comprises one or more terminals 208 A to permit EC test bits to be input into the IC by tester 204 to multiplexer 206 . IC 202 also preferably comprises one or more terminals 208 B to output the EC bits read from memory 106 . This architecture allows tester 204 to directly test the EC cells 124 of memory 106 .
In some embodiments, IC 202 also comprises another switch such as multiplexer 207 that allows data to be written directly to the data cells 122 of memory 106 under the control of the EC test signal. Preferably, IC 202 comprises one or more terminals 208 D to permit data test bits to be input into the IC by tester 204 to multiplexer 207 . IC 202 also preferably comprises one or more terminals 208 C to output the data bits read from memory 106 . In alternative embodiments, the data bits can be obtained from error correction circuit 116 by disabling error correction circuit 116 , for example using the EC test signal. This architecture allows tester 204 to directly test the data cells 122 of memory 106 .
FIG. 3 shows a process 300 for testing the IC 202 of FIG. 2 according to a preferred embodiment. Tester 204 generates test EC bits (step 302 ) and asserts the EC test signal so that multiplexer 206 connects terminals 208 A to the EC cells 124 of memory 106 . Tester 204 then writes the test EC bits via terminals 208 A to the EC cells 124 of one or more of the memory lines 120 of memory 106 (step 304 ). Tester 204 subsequently reads, via terminals 208 B, the bits from the EC cells 124 of the memory line 120 (step 306 ), and generates a test result based on the test EC bits written to the EC cells 124 of memory line 120 and the bits subsequently read from the EC cells 124 of the memory line 120 (step 308 ).
Of course, tester 204 can test data cells 122 and EC cells 124 of memory 106 at the same time. FIG. 4 shows a process 400 for testing the IC 202 of FIG. 2 according to a preferred embodiment. Tester 204 generates test data bits and test EC bits (step 402 ) and asserts the EC test signal so that multiplexer 206 connects terminals 208 A to the EC cells 124 of memory 106 and multiplexer 207 connects terminals 208 D to the data cells 122 of memory 106 . Tester 204 then writes the test EC bits via terminals 208 A to the EC cells 124 of one or more of the memory lines 120 of memory 106 , and writes the test data bits to the data cells 122 of one or more of the memory lines 120 of memory 106 (step 404 ). Tester 204 subsequently reads, via terminals 208 B, the bits from the EC cells 124 of the memory lines 120 , and reads, via terminals 208 C, the bits from the data cells 122 of the memory lines 120 (step 406 ). Tester 204 then generates a test result based on the test data bits, the bits read from the data cells 122 of the memory lines 120 , the test EC bits, and the bits read from the EC cells 124 of the memory lines 120 (step 408 ). For example, for a SECDED memory, the test results would identify any memory line 120 having more than two faulty bits.
FIG. 5 shows an integrated circuit 502 that includes a built-in self-test circuit 504 according to a preferred embodiment. Integrated circuit 502 is similar to integrated circuit 202 , except for the addition of built-in self-test circuit 504 , which comprises a test pattern generation circuit 506 and an error detection circuit 508 . Test pattern generation circuit 506 provides vectors of test data to memory 106 , which stores each vector in one of memory lines 120 . Error detection circuit 508 reads the corrected data bits and EC bits from memory 106 , and asserts an error signal at a terminal 510 when the number of errors in the bits read from one of memory lines 120 is greater than, or equal to, a predetermined threshold.
The test patterns required to test integrated circuit memories according to embodiments of the present invention depend on the test method used. For example, in one embodiment, tester 204 records the defective bits for each line during the test, and generates the test results based on an analysis of the recorded information. For this type of test method, an ordinary solid pattern is sufficient. For example, a pattern comprising a vector of all ones followed by a vector of all zeros will suffice.
However, if each memory line is analyzed individually, for example, as it is read from the memory, a more complex set of patterns is required. One such pattern is described below. This pattern requires log2(bus_size) pairs of vectors, where bus_size is the width of the bus in bits. In the nth vector pair of the test pattern, the bit values alternate every n bits. The vectors in a pair differ by being shifted n bit places relative to each other. For example, the first vector pair comprises 4b0101 and 4′b1010, the second vector pair comprises 4′b0011 and 4′b1100, and so on. These vectors need not be presented in order, and can be shifted by a number of bits, as long as all of the vectors are shifted by the same number of bits, and in the same direction.
For example, for bus_size=32 the minimal test pattern comprises the following vectors:
Alternate 1 bit: 32′h 32′h55555555 Alternate 2 bits: 32′hCCCCCCCC 32′h33333333 Alternate 4 bits: 32′hF0F0F0F0 32′h0F0F0F0F Alternate 8 bits: 32′hFF00FF00 32′h00FF00FF Alternate 16 bits: 32′hFFFF0000 32′h0000FFFF Alternate 32 bits: 32′h00000000 32′hFFFFFFFF
As another example, for bus_size=64 the minimal test pattern comprises the following vectors:
Alternate 1 bit: 64′hAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 64′h5555555555555555 Alternate 2 bits: 64′hCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC 64′h3333333333333333 Alternate 4 bits: 64′hF0F0F0F0F0F0F0F0 64′h0F0F0F0F0F0F0F0F Alternate 8 bits: 64′hFF00FF00FF00FF00 64′h00FF00FF00FF00FF Alternate 16 bits: 64′hFFFF0000FFF0000 64h0000FFFF0000FFFF Alternate 32 bits: 64′hFFFFFFFF00000000 64′h00000000FFFFFFFF Alternate 64 bits: 64′h0000000000000000 64′hFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
A number of implementations of the invention have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope of the following claims. | A system includes a first circuit generating error-correction (EC) bits based on test data. Memory comprises a plurality of memory lines each including a data portion storing the test data and an error-correction (EC) portion storing corresponding ones of the EC bits. An input receives the test data. A switching device selectively outputs one of the test data from the input and the EC bits and the test data from the first circuit to the memory. The test data comprise T pairs of test vectors. A first test vector of each of the T pairs of test vectors is an inverse of a second test vector of each of the T pairs of test vectors. Each of the first test vectors in the T pairs of test vectors is unique and each of the second test vectors in the T pairs of test vectors is unique. T is an integer greater than one. | 6 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/406,587 filed Apr. 19, 2006, now allowed, which is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/736,266 filed Dec. 15, 2000, Abandoned, which claims priority from German Application No. 199 60 849 filed Dec. 16, 1999.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a piezoceramic device wherein the device includes a stack of at least two ceramic layers and an electrode layer arranged between two ceramic layers.
[0003] Such devices may comprise a plurality of layers and uses. For example, they may be used in: actuators for effecting a low-inertia mechanical vibration of comparably high force via application of a select control voltage; bending elements to effect a high mechanical vibration of less force via application of select control voltage; or production of high electrical voltages. Piezoceramic devices may serve to detect mechanical acoustic vibrations and/or serve in their production via implementation in relevant devices.
[0004] In the manufacture of piezoceramic devices, technical solutions have up until now been predominantly based on ceramic masses of the Perovskite structure type with the general formula ABO 3 . Herein 3 the piezoelectrical characteristics are brought to bear in a ferroelectrical condition. Lead zirconate titanate ceramics Pb(Zr 1-x Ti x )O 3 =PZT, modified with select additives, have been shown to demonstrate particular advantages. The combination of ceramics and additives is tailored to the so-called morphotropic phase interface of two co-existing ferroelectrical phases: a tetragonal and a rhombodic phase. Between the ceramic layers, produced according to known methods of ceramic foil technology, precious metal internal electrodes are applied by screen printing. The electrodes may comprise Ag/Pd in the molar ratio 70/30. At up to several hundred electrode layers, the piezoceramic devices are burdened with substantial costs. The precious metal electrodes permit the elimination of thermal dispergers and binders as well as other organic additives used in the process of ceramic foil production. Likewise organic components of screen printing-metal paste of the multilayer stacks are eliminated via air depolyrnerisation and oxydation such that a later sinter condensation at approximately 1100° C. to 1150° C. is made possible without damaging effects. Such effects may for example be effected by residual carbon which negatively influences the characteristics of the ceramics due to reduction reactions.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
[0005] Examples of La 2 O 3 or Nd 2 O 3 doped Pb(Zr,Ti)O 3 ceramics are documentated in the literature, including by G. H. Haertling in the American Ceramic Society Bulletin (43(12), 875-879 (1964) and Journal of the American Ceramic Society 54, 1-11 (1971) as well as in Piezoelectric Ceramics , Academic Press, London and New York (1971) of B. Jaffe, W. R. Cook and H. Jaffe. Additional discussion may be found in Y. Xu in Ferroelectric Materials and their Applications , pages 101-163, Elsevier Science Publishers, Amsterdam (1991).
[0006] La 2 O 3 —in particular Nd 2 O 3 —additives induce the production of cation vacancies in the Pb positions of the crystal structure and at the same time increase the tendency to act as donors, particularly at insufficient oxygen partial pressure, which can lead to a depression of the insulating resistance and a rise in the dielectrcial losses, i.e., the sensitivity of the ceramic towards reduction is increased. At the same time, the additives stabilize the tetragonal phase and the kinetics of the orientation of the domains in the field direction at the polarity, i.e., the electro-mechanical behavior of the “soft piezoceramic” is influenced positively by such additives. For an advancement of the sinter condensation and prevention of evaporation losses of PbO in the ceramic, a low PbO surplus at the originally weighed-in composition is generally considered. The relationship between doping level by La 2 O 3 , in a Pb(Zr 0.47 Ti 0.53 ])O 3 —ceramic (supplied with 3 molar-% PbO surplus) is discussed in the Journal of Electroceramics 2(2), 75-84 (1998) by M. Hammer and M. Hoffmann. In the journal, the sinter behavior and structure formation associated therewith and electro magnetic characteristics (such as coupling factor) and dielectricity constant (such as curie temperature, maximum temperature for ferroelectrical) as well as associated piezoelectrical behavior are all examined.
[0007] Ceramic masses with bismuth oxide in place of lead oxide (for example (Bi 0.5 Na 0.5 )TiO 3 —KNbO 3 —BiScO 3 ) were also taken into consideration by T. Takenaka and H. Nagata in The Proceedings of the 11 th International Symposium of Applied Ferroelectrics , Montreux 1998, IEEE 98CH36245, 559-562 (1998). Herein, Pb(Ti x Zr 1-x )O 3 was combined with BiScO 3 and/or BiInO 3 . All of these ceramics are based on Perovskite mixed crystal phases which, in combination with Ag/Pd internal electrodes, produce a relatively positive behavior for the purpose of a piezostack when the debindering (the removal of the binder or binders) and the sinter condensation is performed.
[0008] Piezoelectrical ceramic masses of the general composition (Pb 1-x-∝-y SR x NR ∝ M y ) a [(Nb b Y c Cr d Co e Sb B ) f Ti g Zr 1-f-g ]O 3 are set out in U.S. Pat. No. 5,648,012 and are distinguished by high electro-mechanical coupling factors, whereby M is at least a rare earth metal of La, Gd, Nd, Sm and Pr and the parameter areas 0.005<x<0.08, 0.002<y<0.05, 0.95<a<1.105, 0.47<b<0.70, 0.02<c<0.31, 0.11<d<0.42, 0.01<e<0.12, 0.02<f<0.15, 0.46<g<0.52, 0<∝<0.005, 0<β<0.13 such that b+c+d+e+β=1.00 are effected.
[0009] The publication WO 97/40537 discloses the production of green foils for piezoceramic multilayer devices. The green foils are based on a piezoceramic powder of the type PZT, to which a stochionietric surplus of a heterovalent rare earth metal (up to a content from 1 to 5 molar-%) and a stochiometric surplus of an additional 1-5 molar-% lead oxyde is added. In addition, it is disclosed in above publication that Ag + -ions from the area of Ag/Pd internal electrodes diffuse into the ceramic layers of the multilayer devices such that the heterovalent doping produced cation vacancies are occupied and accordingly result in a filled up Perovskite structure. This structure may be: Pb 0.99 Ag 0.01 La 0.01 [Zr 0.30 Ti 0.36 (Ni 1/3 Nb 2/3 ) 0.34 ]O 3 or Pb 0.96 Ag 0.02 Nd 0.02 (Zr 0.54 , Ti 0.46 )O 3 . Herein, a piezoceramic is produced with a comparatively high Curie temperature for applications of up to 150° C. Furthermore, solidity between the Ag/Pd internal electrode (70/30) and the ceramic, as well as growth during the sintering, are positively influenced by building silver into the ceramic.
[0010] U.S. Pat. No. 5,233,260 discusses piezoactuators which are not produced in the traditional monolithic manner. Rather, the ceramic layers are separately sintered and only then stacked and agglutinated. This production method is costly. Furthermore, these piezoactuators have the disadvantage that the glue used has a negative effect on the electrical characteristics.
[0011] Cao et al. in the journal American Ceramic Society 76(12) 3019 (1993) discuss a donor doped ceramic and in particular, a Cu foil laid between pre-made ceramic segments Pb 0.988 (Nb 0.024 Zr 0.528 Ti 0.473 )O 3 . The sandwich arrangement is subject to sintering at 1050° C. under vacuum. The composite between the ceramic and Cu internal electrode and the absence of the migrational effects (such as those observed at Ag electrodes on air) are emphasized in the article. However, the disclosed method does not lend itself to the requirements of an efficient production, including foil multilayer technology, and is therefore not appropriate for a mass production.
[0012] Kato et al. teach, in Ceramic Transactions Vol. 8, pages 54-68 (1990), the production of multilayer condensators with Z5U based on ceramics having the general formula (Pb a —Ca b ) Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 ) x Ti y (Ni 1/2 W 1/2 ) z O 2+a+b (a+b>1, x+y+z=1) with Cu internal electrodes, wherein a copper oxide screen-printing paste is used. Air-debindering is thereby made possible. The carbon formation, which would inevitably come into effect under nitrogen at a well tolerated metallic copper (with oxygen) partial pressure, and afterwards at the sinter condensation, leads to a reductive degradation of the ceramic with Cu/Pb alloying production the eutectic melting point lying at TS=954° C. is thereby avoided. After the debindering, the sinter condensation is then carried out at 1000° C. by additional dosage of hydrogen at an oxygen partial pressure of 10 −3 Pa and the copper oxide is accordingly reduced to copper. The process is interference-prone, because of the shrinkage during the reduction from copper oxide to copper and resulting delamination and has up to now not been technologically converted into products.
[0013] DE 19749858 C1 sets out the production of COG with internal electrodes formed of a ceramic mass with the general composition B a II 1−y Pb y ) 6−x Nd 8+2x/3 Ti 18 O 54 +zm-% TiO 2 +pm-% Glas at lower PbO content (0.6<x<2.1; 0<y<0.6, 0<z<5.5 and 3<p<10). A sufficient elimination of the organic components by feeding steam into the nitrogen flux with <10 −2 Pa oxygen partial pressure at temperatures up to 680° C. and the sinter condensation at 1000° C. is reached by apt glass frit additives.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0014] An advantage of the present invention provides an alternative to the expensive Ag/Pd internal electrodes used in the related art. It is a further advantage to provide a substitution which does not oxidize and remains relatively stable during production. It is still a further advantage to provide a method which can be implemented to enable mass production at reasonable engineering effort and expense and with maximally replicable component characteristics. These and other advantages are realized by the present invention wherein, copper is substituted for Ag/Pd for use in a PZT-type piezoceramic multilayer element. Copper has been shown not to reduce or oxidize and otherwise remain stable under conditions, including temperatures around 1000° C. under low oxygen partial pressure of <10 −2 P a .
[0015] The present invention encompasses methods of making all piezoceramic devices available in a monolithic multilayer formation, and in particular Perovskit ceramic. Modifications by mixed crystal formation via building in cations on the-A positions and/or substitution of the B-cations with suitable replacement cations or combinations thereof can be effected. Ceramic foil production techniques may be employed along with sintering techniques in the formation of the present invention. For example, screen printing can be used for making the copper or copper mixted internal electrodes.
[0016] Such piezoceramic multilayer devices can be realized for example as actuators by an apt process guide, by which the debindering of the green foil stacks is carried out by steam thereby avoiding the oxidation of the copper containing internal electrodes. The following sinter condensation to a monolithic multilayer device can be carried out in an advantageous ways at about 1000° C., i.e., below the melting temperature of the copper.
[0017] A further advantage of the present invention may be found in that for a PZT ceramic mass, copper-containing internal electrodes are applied in place of the normally used Ag/Pd internal electrodes (70/30) on the basis of the multilayer foil technique, whereby the practically complete debindering can be successfully done before effecting the sinter condensation, and under inert conditions, in such a way that a lot of steam is supplied to the inert atmosphere during the debindering thereby permitting only a set oxygen partial pressure, and hence leaving the copper containing internal electrodes relatively intact. Accordingly, by the present method, piezoactuators are created which have the same if not superior quality to those currently available. Likewise, the presence of the copper electrodes do not have any deliterious effects on the piezoactuators.
[0018] A preferred step in the present method includes a step wherein cations are built in on A-positions of the ceramic and at which cations on B-positions are replaced by apt other cations or combinations of cations. For example, on A-positions of the ceramic bivalent metal cations M II may be built. These can be selected for example from a group of elements, which contain barium, strontium, calcium, copper and bismuth. Bivalent metal cations M II from a group of elements including scandium, yttrium, lantanum or from group of lanthanides can be considered for the A-positions of the ceramic.
[0019] Further, monovalent cations can be built in on the A-positions of the ceramic, which are selected advantageously and from a group of elements which contains silver, copper, sodium and potassium. In addition it is also possible, to build in combinations of bivalent metal cations M II and monovalent cations on A-positions.
[0020] Furthermore, a preferred embodiment includes the partial substitution of the quadrivalent cations Zr and Ti on the B-positions of the ferroelectrical Perovskite ceramic. In fact, combinations of mono- and quintvalent metal cations M 1 1/4 M V 3/4 with M 1 =Na, K and M V =Nb, Ta or two- and quintvalent metal cations M II 1/3 M V 2/3 with M II =Mg, Zn, Ni, Co and M V =Nb, Ta or three- and quintvalent metal cations M III 1/2 M V 2/3 with M III =Fe, In, Sc, heavier lanthanide-elements and M V =Nb, Ta or combinations M III 2/3 M V I 1/3 with M III =Fe, In, Sc, heavier lanthanide-elements and M VI =W resp. M II 1/2 M Vi 1/2 with M II =Mg, Co, Ni and M VI =W may be employed.
[0021] Still a further advantage includes the composition of the ceramic with the general formula Pb 1-x-y SE x Cu y V ′″x/2( Zr 0.54-z Ti 0.46+z) O 3 wherein 0.01<x<0.05, −0.15<z<+0.15 and 0<y<0.006, whereby SE is a rare earth metal, V is a vacancy and a PbO-surplus is set from 1 up to maximally 5 molar-%.
[0022] Yet further, atop the ceramic an additive of CuO may be included.
[0023] The invention includes the realization that the by donors, e.g., a rare earth metal doped piezo ceramic on the basis of PZT, because of the formation of cation vacancies on the A-positions of the Perovskit structure, e.g., according to the composition Pb II 0.97 Nd III 0.02 V″Pb,0.01( Zr 0.54 Ti 0.46) O 3 (V″ meaning an empty space), develops a certain affinity to absorb copper from the internal electrodes without destroying them by elimination of equivalent PbO-shares, whereby the latter combination acts as a sinter aid and up to some percentage of PbO is separately added to the ceramic anyway.
[0024] The sinter condensation is supported by the known mobility of the copper ions and leads, by the copper migration, to a solid adhesion between the electrode layer and ceramic such that determinations can be effectively avoided.
[0025] It is still further an advantage to already add some CuO within the limits 0<y<0.15 to the original mixture of the used recipe for piezostacks, e.g., on the basis of PZT with Cu-internal electrodes corresponding to the general formula Pb II 1-x-y SE III x Cu y V″ x/2 (Zr 0.54−z Ti 0.46+z )O 3 with 0.005<x<0.05 and −0.15<z<+0.15 (SE=Rare Earth Metal). The piezoelectrical characteristics, like the high value for the electromechanical coupling factor can be maintained at corresponding adjustment of the parameter z to the morphotropic phase interface.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0026] Some of the features, advantages, and benefits of the present invention having been stated, others will become apparent as the description proceeds when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:
[0027] FIG. 1 depicts temperature control during debindering and sintering;
[0028] FIGS. 2 a and 2 b depict a partial cross section of a multilayer stack with alternating sequence of PZT ceramic foils and Cu-internal electrodes;
[0029] FIGS. 3 a and 3 b depict a measuring curve of copper content of piezoceramic layer and a section view of the piezoceramic layer;
[0030] FIG. 4 depicts a diagram of an excursion curve for a polarized PZT-piezoactuator with Cu-internal electrodes; and
[0031] FIG. 5 depicts a calculation of thermodynamic data as curves for different H 2 /H 2 O concentrations.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0032] A piezoceramic Perovskite-mixed crystal phase is built according to the following steps: TiO 2 , ZrO 2 (each may be from a mixed precipitation produced precursor (Zr, Ti)O 2 ) and PbCo 3 (e.g., Pb 3 O 4 and dopants like La 2 O 3 or from another oxyde of the rare earth metals) and if necessary an additive of CuO based raw material mixture is set in its composition on the morphotropic phase interface with a PbO-surplus of maximally 5% to support the sinter condensation; for even distribution, the component undergoes a grinding step in diluted suspension and is calcinated after the filtering; and drying occurs at 900 to 950° C. To obtain sinter condensation in 2 to 4 hours at about 1000° below the melting temperature of copper, a pulverization to a medium grain size <0.4 μm is necessary. The sinter activity of the powder is normally sufficient to guarantee a condensation of >96% of the theoretical density at both sufficient grain growth and adequate mechanical solidity in the ceramic structure.
[0033] The finely ground powder is suspended in a diluted slip with approx. 70 m-% solid substance content by use of a disperger, thus corresponding to approximately 24 vol.-%. For this, the optimal dispersing dispergator portion is separately determined in a series of tests, which can be recognized by obtaining a certain viscosity minimum. For the formation of the piezoceramic-green foils, approximately 6 m-% of a commercial binder is added to the dispersed suspended solids, which is thermohydrolytically degradable. Accordingly, a diluted polyurethane dispersion has been shown to have advantage effects. It is mixed in a disperse mill and accordingly provided for the process of “foil-pulling” (in particular for the production of a spraying granular apt slip).
[0034] Compact green discoids (produced from the granular) or small square multilayer printed boards (“MLP” produced by stacking and laminating 40 to 50 μm thick green foils without print and with Cu-electrode paste) can be debindered up to a residue carbon content of 300 ppm in a H 2 O-steam containing inert atmosphere at a defined oxygen partial pressure, which fulfills the condition of the coexistency of PbO and in particular Bi 2 O 3 -containing piezoceramic and copper.
[0035] The hydrolytical separation of the binder takes place primarily at a low temperature of 200+50° C. and at a steam partial pressure larger than 200 mbar. The oxygen partial pressure is set to a value which is well-tolerated by the copper containing electrodes. This is done by gettering the oxygen from the flow of gas at surfaces of Cu or by adding H 2 . During the debindering by oxidation, the flow of gas avoids damage to the ceramic. Although the electrode layers support the debindering, because preferred paths for a binder transportation is created by them, there is still a considerable debindering time necessary, particularly for the actuators with 160 electrodes (measurements 9.8*9.8*12.7 mm 3 ).
[0036] The invention enables herewith the production of actuators with more than 100 internal electrodes, which has the advantage of a highly obtainable actuator-excursion. Examples for a debindering control are found in Table 1 by indicating the residue carbon content of the obtained devices. The dew point for steam of both debindering programs lies at 75° C., the partial pressure of the steam corresponds to 405 mbar.
[0000]
TABLE 1
Debindering of ceramic samples MLP and actuators
Profile
Conditions (R: ramp, H: holding time)
Samples
C
EK1
R: 30 K/h H: 220° C./10 h R: 30 K/h H: 500° C./20 h,
Ceramic
240
at 100 1/h N 2 , 30 g/h H 2 O, with Cu-gettering
samples MLP
EK2
R: 30 K/h H: 220° C./40 h R: 30 K/h H: 500° C./20 h,
Actuator 160
300 ± 30
at 100 1/h N 2 , 30 g/h H 2 O, with Cu-gettering
electrodes
[0037] The soaking time at 220° C. is prolonged to 40 h for actuators with 160 layers (EK 2). Afterwards a condensation of the ceramic at 1000° C. without detrimental reductive degradation is effected with the residue carbon of 300+30 ppm in the indicated sinter profile.
[0038] FIG. 1 shows the temperature control during the debindering and sintering. The steam partial pressure supplied with the nitrogen flux corresponding to a dew point of 75° C. is indicated as well. At such debindered PZT-ceramic samples, the sinter condensation is effected at 1000° C. without creating a reductive degradation of the ceramic. The dielectrical and especially the piezoelectrical characteristics of the obtained samples with the measurements of approximately 10.10 mm 2 and 0.7 (in particular 2 mm consistency) are measured after contacting by sputtering of Au-electrodes and compared with the air-debindered (sintered at 1130° C.) samples of the same geometry.
[0039] For air-sinterings of ceramic samples MLP without internal electrodes with the composition Pb II 0.97 Nd III 0.02 V′″ 0.01 (Zr 0.54 Ti 0.46 )O 3 and under inert conditions, whereby the latter correspond to the requirements of a common sintering with copper, the results of the electrical measurings are compiled in Table 2. Measurements of the polarized samples are set out in Tables 3 to 5. In addition, the codes of a CuO-doped ceramic mass during sintering under inert conditions are also set out.
[0040] Table 2 includes characteristics of square ceramic samples MLP (edge length 1 , consistency h): Samples (a), (b) and (c) with the composition Pb 0.97 Nd 0.02 (Zr 0.54 Ti 0.46 )O 3 . Sample (d) with the composition Pb 0.96 Cu 0.02 Nd 0.02 (Zr 0.54 Ti 0.46 )O 3 (a) powder pre-ground to a medium grain size d50%=0.53 μm, air-sintering at 1120° C.; (b), (c) and (d) powder finely ground to a medium grain size d50%=0.33 air-sintered (b) at 1000° C. resp. (c) and (d) at 1000° C. under N 2 /H 2 O-steain are also set out.
[0000]
Sample
MLP
h/mm
1/mm
C/nF
ε
Tan δ
R IS /Ω
ρ/Ωcm
(a)
0.59 ± 0.02
10.8 ± 0.1
2.20 ± 0.05
1268 ± 30
2.1 ± 0.1%
1 * 10 11
2 * 10 12
(b)
0.70 ± 0.01
10.6 ± 0.1
1.60 ± 0.03
1137 ± 58
2.8 ± 0.2%
2 * 10 11
3 * 10 12
(c)
0.71 ± 0.02
11.0 ± 0.8
1.62 ± 0.07
1132 ± 81
2.8 ± 0.6%
5 * 10 9
9 * 10 10
(d)
0.70 ± 0.01
11.3 ± 0.1
1.92 ± 0.01
1196 ± 8
1.9 ± 0.3%
7 * 10 10
1 * 12 12
[0000]
TABLE 3
Characteristics of square ceramic samples MLP (edge length 1, consistency
h) with the composition according to Table 2 after the polarity
with 1200 V (a) resp. 1400 V ((b) and (c) and (d)).
Sample
MLP
h/mm
1/mm
C/nF
ε
Tan δ
R IS /Ω
ρ/Ωcm
(a)
0.59 ± 0.02
10.8 ± 0.1
2.54 ± 0.13
1460 ± 134
1.9 ± 0.1%
1 * 10 11
2 * 10 12
(b)
0.70 ± 0.01
10.6 ± 0.1
1.70 ± 0.03
1207 ± 58
2.1 ± 0.1%
1 * 10 11
2 * 10 12
(c)
0.71 ± 0.02
11.0 ± 0.8
1.75 ± 0.05
1238 ± 69
2.3 ± 0.1%
2 * 10 11
5 10 12
(d)
0.70 ± 0.01
11.3 ± 0.1
2.11 ± 0.01
1317 ± 69
10.2 ± 0.8%
8 * 10 10
1 * 10 12
[0041] The characteristic values prove that PZT ceramic samples, which were not air-bindered and were sintered, show comparable dielectrical characteristics.
[0042] The results of Table 4 are based on electro-mechanical vibration measurements with the aid of an impedance measuring bridge, whose evaluation from the parallel and serial resonance frequency fp, f s of the resonant circuit is effected according to the following:
[0000]
f
s
=
1
2
π
·
1
C
1
L
1
f
p
=
1
2
π
·
C
0
+
C
1
C
0
C
1
L
1
[0000] thereby permitting calculation for each vibration mode of the MLP sample of the effective coupling factor according to:
[0000]
K
eff
2
=
f
p
2
-
f
s
2
f
p
2
=
C
0
+
C
1
C
0
C
1
L
1
-
C
0
C
0
C
1
L
1
C
0
+
C
1
C
0
C
1
L
1
=
C
1
C
0
+
C
1
[0043] As such, the proportion of the mechanical energy for the entire energy is indicated by C 1 /(C 0 +C 1 ).
[0044] Table 4 depicts effective piezoelectrical coupling factors of the MLP samples from Table 3 for two fundamental vibrations, determined from the measurement of each 3 MLP samples, sintered under the indicated conditions (a), (b), (c) and (d) in Table 2.
[0000]
Planar vibration
Consistency mode of vibration
MLP
f S/kHz
f p/KHz
k eff
f S/kHz
f p/kHz
k eff
(a)
158 ± 1
191 ± 2
0.56 ± 0.01
3293 ± 15
3848 ± 79
0.52 ± 0.03
(b)
166 ± 2
198 ± 4
0.54 ± 0.01
2900 ± 78
3197 ± 25
0.42 ± 0.05
(c)
163 ± 1
189 ± 5
0.51 ± 0.04
2830 ± 111
3100 ± 108
0.40 ± 0.02
(d)
154 ± 2
186 ± 2
0.56 ± 0.03
2668 ± 36
3048 ± 47
0.48 ± 0.03
[0045] The measurement of the Curie temperature at samples (c) show a value of 339±2° C.
[0046] Electromechanical coupling factors which are in the area of the air-sintered samples are accrued from the produced samples sintered commonly under these conditions with copper. The results of an excursion measurement on ceramic samples MLP are listed in Table 5. The excursion Δh was determined parallely to the polarized direction 3 , in which the measuring voltage was set. The excursion measurement was carried out by inductive path measuring by setting up an electrical field E with a field strength of 2000 V/mm. Prior to this measurement, the samples were impinged by a field strength of 2000 V/mm in the polarized direction to rule out after-polarity effects and increased hysteresis because of the bedding after the polarity.
[0047] The relative density S of the ceramic samples MLP is calculated from the measured excursion Δh divided by the sample consistency h. From this, the piezoelectrical coefficient d 33 results for the equation:
[0000]
S
3
=d
33
*E
3
[0000] wherein d 33 is a geometrically independent value for the piezoelectrical large signal characteristics of the examined ceramic.
[0048] Table 5 sets out an excursion measurement of square ceramic samples ML: (edge length 1 , consistency h) with the composition according Table 2 by setting a voltage of 2 kV/mm. Electrical measurement voltage U, excursion Ah, and the piezoelectrical constant d 33 are indicated.
[0000]
Sample MLP
h/mm
U/V
Δh/μm
d 33 · 10 −12 m/V
(a)
0.59 ± 0.02
1180 ± 4
0.88 ± 0.01
747 ± 10
(b)
0.70 ± 0.01
1400 ± 4
0.99 ± 0.01
712 ± 10
(c)
0.71 ± 0.02
1420 ± 4
1.03 ± 0.06
723 ± 40
(d)
0.70 ± 0.01
1400 ± 4
1.03 ± 0.01
739 ± 4
[0049] In case of printing on Cu-internal electrodes, a Cu-screen print paste is preferable which has a metal content as high as possible of approx. 75 m-% and is processed with a special high-polymer and is thereby a very viscous binder (which produces at already <2m-%, related to the solid substance content, a viscosity as thixotrope as possible, preferably >2000 mPa*s). First, multilayer samples “VS” with up to 20 internal electrodes are produced for sampling purposes. Thereafter, piezostacks with 100 to 300 Cu-internal electrodes are built up in a second step and are debindered and sintered under the above mentioned conditions of a defined oxygen partial pressure in the presence of steam.
[0050] The piezoceramic green foils are produced in a consistency, which produces, by considering the linear shrinkage during the sintering of typically 15%, a piezoceramic consistency from 20 to 200 The Cu-electrodes have a layer consistency from 1 to 3 μm after the sintering.
[0051] FIGS. 2 a and 2 b depict a schematic cross section of a multilayer stack with an alternating sequence of PZT ceramic foils and Cu-internal electrodes in 500 times ( FIG. 2 a ) and in 1000 times ( FIG. 2 b ) enlargement.
[0052] FIG. 3 b shows a measuring curve for the Cu-content of the piezoceramic layer, shown in FIG. 3 a , about the layer consistency after the sintering of a piezostack on the basis of the used original composition Pb II 0.97−y Nd 0.02 Cu y V″ 0.01 (Zr 0.54−z Ti 0.46+z )O 3 . It can be seen that the copper content in the ceramic layer dissolves starting from the border. The calibration produces in the middle of the ceramic layer the minimal amount of y=0.001. At the borders there is a value which is 20 times higher. Some lead oxide is displaced from the combination as a result of the influence of diffused Cu-ions. The good connection of the Cu-internal electrodes to the ceramic is thereby set out.
[0053] The electrical characteristics of the multilayer ceramic components VS of the original composition Pb 0.97 Nd 0.02 V 0.01 (Zr 0.54 Ti 0.46 )O 3 after the sintering at 1000° C. with 16 Cu-internal electrodes—and for comparison with 20 Ag/Pd-internal electrodes (70/30) after the air-sintering at 1120° C.—are indicated in Table 6. Table 6 sets out electrical characteristics of PZT multilayer ceramic samples VS on the basis of the original composition Pb II 0.97 Nd III 0.02 V″ 0.01 (Z 0.54 Ti 0.46 ) O 3 :(a) powder pre-ground, medium grain size d50%=0.53 μm, 20 internal electrodes Ag/Pd (70/30), air-sintering at 1120° C., (c) powder finely ground, medium particle size d50%=0.33 μm, 16 Cu-internal electrodes, sintering at 1000° C. under inert conditions by N 2 /H 2 O steam.
[0000]
Sample
ε before
ε after
tan δ after
ρ IS / Ωcm after
VS
Comments
C/nF
polarization
polarization
polarization
polarization
(a)
Ag/Pd(70/30:
125 ± 5
1104 ± 54
1561 ± 92
0.015
7.9 * 10 11
Debindering/air-
sintering 1120° C.,
Cu-finished.
(c1)
Cu-internal
110 ± 4
908 ± 35
953 ± 37
0.027
2.7 * 10 10
electrodes:
Debindering/sintering
under N 2 /H 2 O
steam, Cu-finished.
(c2)
Cu-internal
114 ± 4
946
1013
0.026
1.6 * 10 10
electrodes:
Debindering/sintering
under N 2 , H 2 O
steam, Cu-finished.
[0054] Production of a piezo actuator from a ceramic of PZT type with Cu-internal electrodes.
[0055] For the production of piezo actuators with 160 Cu-internal electrodes, the green foils produced according to the method of the consistency from 40 to 50 μm are further processed according to the multilayer ceramic condensators method. The printing of the square cut PZT ceramic foils is done mechanically by screen printing technique (400 mesh) with the piezo actuators common electrode design by usage of a commercial Cu-electrode paste. The stacking is done such that on every two non-printed foils a printed one follows. 100 piezo actuators in a green condition are received from the block, after laminating, and pressing or sawing.
[0056] The debindering is carried out according to the FIG. 1 shown temperature time diagram in nitrogen stream by adding steam and hydrogen so that there is a target value from 5*10 −2 to 2*10 −1 Pa for the O 2 partial pressure produced in the area of 500° C. Essentially, lower oxygen partial pressures occur locally during the debindering. The ceramic is not subject to the reductive degradation in the temperature area of the debindering, because the equilibrated oxygen partial pressure is lowered as well, conditioned thermodynamically, and the reduction processes are kinetically sufficiently obstructed. The green parts of the multilayer piezo actuators still show a residue content of carbon of 300 ppm after the debindering and are afterwards ready to be sintered in the same set atmosphere without causing a reductive degradation which lead to cracking, delamination and eventually to drifting of the internal electrodes because of the production of a low melting Cu/Pb-alloy.
[0057] Steam and forming gas are added to the nitrogen flux (N 2 +−5% H 2 ). The dissociation of the steam according to
[0000] H 2 O H 2 +½O 2
[0000] is used for setting a certain oxygen partial pressure. Corresponding to the law of mass action
[0000]
K
D
=
p
(
O
2
)
1
/
2
·
p
(
H
2
)
p
(
H
2
O
)
[0000] a certain oxygen partial pressure is thereby determined at a given temperature for a defined partial pressure ratio of steam and hydrogen. The calculation of the thermodynamic data produces the data depicted in FIG. 5 , namely the curves for different H 2 /H 2 O ratios of concentration.
[0058] Normally the gas composition is selected in such a way, that the requested oxygen partial pressure is produced at sinter temperature T Sinter . This condition is for example depicted in FIG. 5 . Starting from this value the p(O 2 ) runs parallel to the other curves with decreasing temperature. However, the p(O 2 ) value is low for T<T Sinter , which is still tolerable if needed. The gas control curve Cu1 according to Table 7 corresponds to this process. The equilibrium of Pb/PbO falls short starting at approx. 900° C., conditioned by the narrow thermodynaniic window through which metallic lead is produced if there is sufficient kinetic activity.
[0059] Alternatively, p(O 2 ) was set with different forming gas dosage corresponding to the gas control Cu 2 —the actual course of the oxygen partial pressure at up to 400° C. lay in the thermodynamic window. This way of process is good for the little reductive solid PZT mixture. The used adjustments Cu1 and Cu2 for the gas control are indicated in Table 7. FIG. 5 shows the calculated course of the partial pressure for the different ratios of concentration of the gases.
[0000]
TABLE 7
Gas control Cu1 and Cu2
Cu1
Dosage
Cu2
Dosage
N 2
Entire sintering
90
1/h
Entire sintering
1200
1/h
H 2 /H 2 O
Entire sintering
40
g/h
Entire sintering
100
g/h
N 2 + 5%H 2
Entire sintering
256
ml/h
25-650° C.
25
ml/h
650-900° C.
85
ml/h
900-1000° C.
200
ml/h
Dewing point 36° C.
Dewing point 48° C.
[0060] The sinter profile is as follows: the holding time at maximal temperature lies between 2 and 12 hours. The heating up ramp and the cooling down ramp are effected at 5 K./min; and the actuators are slowly heated up at 1 K/min. The in steps adjusted set-up of the oxygen partial pressure ( FIG. 5 ) runs in conformity with the temperature curve, which is obtained by an alteration of the forming gas flow meter. Thereby, the steam partial pressure (100 g/h) is constant.
[0061] The obtained ceramic is tightly sintered to >96% and shows mostly homogenous low porosity. The sinter grains grow according to the piezoelectrical characteristics with an advantageous medium grain size of 0.8-5 μm. Intact and crack-free actuators are obtained. The sequence of the internal electrodes and PZT ceramic layers is shown in a section in FIGS. 2 a and 2 b . The medium grain size in the ceramic structure is d 50 =1.6±0.3 μm.
[0062] The piezo actuators are ground and polished for the finishing and contacted in the area of the exiting internal electrodes according to applications common to Cu-paste and burned-in at 935° C. according to a preset temperature time curve. The piezo actuators respond to the electrical measuring after the application of wires by known Bond technology.
[0063] The diagram of a vibration curve for a polarized PZT-piezoactuator with 160 Cu-internal electrodes is depicted in FIG. 4 . A density of 0.123% is produced by a voltage setting of 140.6 Volt at a consistency of 70 μm of the PZT ceramic layers. The piezoelectrical coefficient in direction to the applied field d 33 is 614.6*10 −12 m/V.
[0064] 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. | The invention concerns a method for making a piezoelectrical device, whose electrode layers contain copper. The usage of copper in the electrode layers is enabled by a debindering process, which is carried out by steam. | 8 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This patent application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/623,417, filed on Jan. 16, 2007 which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 10/915,933, filed on Aug. 10, 2004, and claims priority thereto under 35 U.S.C. §120.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to compounds which are useful as therapeutic agents. Among other potential uses, these compounds are believed to have properties which are characteristic of prostaglandins.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Description of Related Art
Ocular hypotensive agents are useful in the treatment of a number of various ocular hypertensive conditions, such as post-surgical and post-laser trabeculectomy ocular hypertensive episodes, glaucoma, and as presurgical adjuncts.
Glaucoma is a disease of the eye characterized by increased intraocular pressure. On the basis of its etiology, glaucoma has been classified as primary or secondary. For example, primary glaucoma in adults (congenital glaucoma) may be either open-angle or acute or chronic angle-closure. Secondary glaucoma results from pre-existing ocular diseases such as uveitis, intraocular tumor or an enlarged cataract.
The underlying causes of primary glaucoma are not yet known. The increased intraocular tension is due to the obstruction of aqueous humor outflow. In chronic open-angle glaucoma, the anterior chamber and its anatomic structures appear normal, but drainage of the aqueous humor is impeded. In acute or chronic angle-closure glaucoma, the anterior chamber is shallow, the filtration angle is narrowed, and the iris may obstruct the trabecular meshwork at the entrance of the canal of Schlemm. Dilation of the pupil may push the root of the iris forward against the angle, and may produce pupilary block and thus precipitate an acute attack. Eyes with narrow anterior chamber angles are predisposed to acute angle-closure glaucoma attacks of various degrees of severity.
Secondary glaucoma is caused by any interference with the flow of aqueous humor from the posterior chamber into the anterior chamber and subsequently, into the canal of Schlemm. Inflammatory disease of the anterior segment may prevent aqueous escape by causing complete posterior synechia in iris bombe, and may plug the drainage channel with exudates. Other common causes are intraocular tumors, enlarged cataracts, central retinal vein occlusion, trauma to the eye, operative procedures and intraocular hemorrhage.
Considering all types together, glaucoma occurs in about 2% of all persons over the age of 40 and may be asymptotic for years before progressing to rapid loss of vision. In cases where surgery is not indicated, topical β-adrenoreceptor antagonists have traditionally been the drugs of choice for treating glaucoma.
Certain eicosanoids and their derivatives have been reported to possess ocular hypotensive activity, and have been recommended for use in glaucoma management. Eicosanoids and derivatives include numerous biologically important compounds such as prostaglandins and their derivatives. Prostaglandins can be described as derivatives of prostanoic acid which have the following structural formula:
Various types of prostaglandins are known, depending on the structure and substituents carried on the alicyclic ring of the prostanoic acid skeleton. Further classification is based on the number of unsaturated bonds in the side chain indicated by numerical subscripts after the generic type of prostaglandin [e.g. prostaglandin E 1 (PGE 1 ), prostaglandin E 2 (PGE 2 )], and on the configuration of the substituents on the alicyclic ring indicated by α or β [e.g. prostaglandin F 2α (PGF 2β )].
Prostaglandins were earlier regarded as potent ocular hypertensives, however, evidence accumulated in the last decade shows that some prostaglandins are highly effective ocular hypotensive agents, and are ideally suited for the long-term medical management of glaucoma (see, for example, Bito, L. Z. Biological Protection with Prostaglandins , Cohen, M. M., ed., Boca Raton, Fla., CRC Press Inc., 1985, pp. 231-252; and Bito, L. Z., Applied Pharmacology in the Medical Treatment of Glaucomas Drance, S. M. and Neufeld, A. H. eds., New York, Grune & Stratton, 1984, pp. 477-505. Such prostaglandins include PGF 2α , PGF 1α , PGE 2 , and certain lipid-soluble esters, such as C 1 to C 2 alkyl esters, e.g. 1-isopropyl ester, of such compounds.
Although the precise mechanism is not yet known experimental results indicate that the prostaglandin-induced reduction in intraocular pressure results from increased uveoscleral outflow [Nilsson et. al., Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci . (suppl), 284 (1987)].
The isopropyl ester of PGF 2α has been shown to have significantly greater hypotensive potency than the parent compound, presumably as a result of its more effective penetration through the cornea. In 1987, this compound was described as “the most potent ocular hypotensive agent ever reported” [see, for example, Bito, L. Z., Arch. Ophthalmol. 105, 1036 (1987), and Siebold et al., Ocular Surgery News 1989 Feb. 1; 7(3):3,31].
Whereas prostaglandins appear to be devoid of significant intraocular side effects, ocular surface (conjunctival) hyperemia and foreign-body sensation have been consistently associated with the topical ocular use of such compounds, in particular PGF 2α and its prodrugs, e.g., its 1-isopropyl ester, in humans. The clinical potentials of prostaglandins in the management of conditions associated with increased ocular pressure, e.g. glaucoma are greatly limited by these side effects.
In a series of United States patents assigned to Allergan, Inc. prostaglandin esters with increased ocular hypotensive activity accompanied with no or substantially reduced side-effects are disclosed. Some representative examples are U.S. Pat. No. 5,446,041, U.S. Pat. No. 4,994,274, U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,624 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,034,413 all of which are hereby expressly incorporated by reference.
GB 1,601,994 discloses compounds having the formula shown below
in which A represents a CH═CH group;
B represents a-CH2-CH2-, trans-CH═CH— or —C≡C— group,
W represents a free, esterified or etherified hydroxymethylene group, wherein the hydroxy or esterified or etherified hydroxy group is in the- or A-configuration, . . . or W represents a free or ketalised carbonyl group,
D and E together represent a direct bond, or D represents an alkylene group having from 1 to 5 carbon atoms or a —C≡C— group, and
E represents an oxygen or sulphur atom or a direct bond,
R 3 represents an aliphatic hydrocarbon radical, preferably an alkyl group, which may be unsubstituted or substituted by a cycloalkyl, alkyl substituted cycloalkyl, unsubstituted or substituted aryl or heterocyclic group, a cycloalkyl or alkyl-substituted cycloalkyl group, or an unsubstituted or substituted aryl or heterocyclic group, e.g. a benzodioxol-2-yl group, and
Z represents a free or ketalised carbonyl group or a free esterified or etherified hydroxymethylene group in which the free, esterified or etherified hydroxy group may be in the α- or β-configuration.
JP 53135955 discloses several compounds such as the one shown below.
DE 2719244 discloses several compounds such as the ones shown below.
For the top compound (I), R=H, C 1-4 alkyl, or H 2 HC(CH 2 OH) 3 ; R 1 , R 2 =H or Me; and R 3 =a heterocycle (often substituted).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,055,602 discloses several compounds such as the one shown below,
wherein n=2-4; R═H or OH; R 1 , R 2 ═H, F, Me; and Ar=aryl. The '602 patent also discloses the compound shown below, and others like it.
DE 2626888 discloses several compounds such as the one shown below.
Other references, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,119,727, disclose similar compounds.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
A compound comprising
or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt, or a prodrug thereof;
wherein the dashed line indicates the presence or absence of a bond;
A is —(CH 2 ) 6 —, or cis —CH 2 —CH═CH—(CH 2 ) 3 —, wherein 1 or 2 carbons may be substituted with S or O;
J is —OH or ═O;
or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or a prodrug thereof, is disclosed herein.
Also disclosed herein are compounds having an α and an ω chain comprising
or a derivative thereof,
wherein said derivative has a structure as shown above except that 1 or 2 alterations are made to the α chain and/or the ω chain, and
wherein an alteration consists of:
a. adding, removed, or substituting a non-hydrogen atom, or b. changing the bond order of an existing covalent bond without adding or deleting said bond;
or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt, a tetrazole, or a prodrug thereof.
Also disclosed herein are methods of treating diseases or conditions, including glaucoma and elevated intraocular pressure. Compositions and methods of manufacturing medicaments related thereto are also disclosed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES
FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate one method of preparing the compounds disclosed herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
A person of ordinary skill in the art understands the meaning of the stereochemistry associated with the hatched wedge/solid wedge structural features. For example, an introductory organic chemistry textbook (Francis A. Carey, Organic Chemistry, New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company 1987, p. 63) states “a wedge indicates a bond coming from the plane of the paper toward the viewer” and the hatched wedge, indicated as a “dashed line”, “represents a bond receding from the viewer.”
In relation to the identity of A disclosed in the chemical structures presented herein, in the broadest sense, A is —(CH 2 ) 6 —, or cis —CH 2 CH═CH—(CH 2 ) 3 —, wherein 1 or 2 carbons may be substituted with S or O. In other words, A may be —(CH 2 ) 6 —, cis —CH 2 CH═CH—(CH 2 ) 3 —, or A may be a group which is related to one of these two moieties in that any carbon is substituted with S or O. For example, while not intending to limit the scope of the invention in any way, A may be an S substituted moiety such as one of the following or the like.
Alternatively, while not intending to limit the scope of the invention in any way, A may be an O substituted moiety such as one of the following or the like.
In other embodiments, A is —(CH 2 ) 6 — or cis-CH 2 CH═CH—(CH 2 ) 3 — having no heteroatom substitution.
Since J can be —OH or ═O, compounds of the structures shown below are possible, or pharmaceutically acceptable salts or prodrugs thereof
A “pharmaceutically acceptable salt” is any salt that retains the activity of the parent compound and does not impart any additional deleterious or untoward effects on the subject to which it is administered and in the context in which it is administered compared to the parent compound. A pharmaceutically acceptable salt also refers to any salt which may form in vivo as a result of administration of an acid, another salt, or a prodrug which is converted into an acid or salt.
Pharmaceutically acceptable salts of acidic functional groups may be derived from organic or inorganic bases. The salt may comprise a mono or polyvalent ion. Of particular interest are the inorganic ions, lithium, sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. Organic salts may be made with amines, particularly ammonium salts such as mono-, di- and trialkyl amines or ethanol amines. Salts may also be formed with caffeine, tromethamine and similar molecules. Hydrochloric acid or some other pharmaceutically acceptable acid may form a salt with a compound that includes a basic group, such as an amine or a pyridine ring.
A “prodrug” is a compound which is converted to a therapeutically active compound after administration, and the term should be interpreted as broadly herein as is generally understood in the art. While not intending to limit the scope of the invention, conversion may occur by hydrolysis of an ester group or some other biologically labile group. Ester prodrugs of the compounds disclosed herein are specifically contemplated. While not intending to be limiting, an ester may be an alkyl ester, an aryl ester, or a heteroaryl ester. The term alkyl has the meaning generally understood by those skilled in the art and refers to linear, branched, or cyclic alkyl moieties. C 1-6 alkyl esters are particularly useful, where alkyl part of the ester has from 1 to 6 carbon atoms and includes, but is not limited to, methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, sec-butyl, iso-butyl, t-butyl, pentyl isomers, hexyl isomers, cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, and combinations thereof having from 1-6 carbon atoms, etc.
A “tetrazole” as disclosed herein is meant to be a compound wherein a carboxylic acid is substituted with a tetrazole functional group. Thus, a tetrazole of a compound of the structure
would have the structure shown below.
Tetrazoles are known in the art to be interchangeable with carboxylic acids in biological systems. In other words, if a compound comprising a carboxylic acid is substituted with a tetrazole, it is expected that the compound would have similar biological activity. A pharmaceutically acceptable salt or a prodrug of a tetrazole is also considered to be a tetrazole for the purposes of this disclosure.
Another embodiment comprises
or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt, a tetrazole, or a prodrug thereof. In other embodiments, the compound is the acid or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt, and not a tetrazole or a prodrug.
Another embodiment comprises
or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt, a tetrazole, or a prodrug thereof. In other embodiments, the compound is the acid or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt, and not a tetrazole or a prodrug.
One embodiment comprises derivatives of
wherein said derivative has a structure as shown above except that 1 or 2 alterations are made to the α chain and/or the ω chain, wherein an alteration consists of 1) adding, removed, or substituting a non-hydrogen atom, or 2) changing the bond order of an existing covalent bond without adding or deleting said bond. Salts, tetrazoles, and prodrugs of the depicted compound or derivatives thereof are also contemplated.
Thus, a compound having the structure above is contemplated, as well as a pharmaceutically acceptable salt a prodrug, or a tetrazole thereof.
In making reference to a derivative and alterations to a structure as shown above, it should be emphasized that making alterations and forming derivatives is strictly a mental exercise used to define a set of chemical compounds, and has nothing to do with whether said alteration can actually be carried out in the laboratory, or whether a derivative can be prepared by an alteration described. However, whether the derivative can be prepared via any designated alteration or not, the differences between the derivatives and the aforementioned structure are such that a person of ordinary skill in the art could prepare the derivatives disclosed herein using routine methods known in the art without undue experimentation.
The α chain is the group in the solid circle in the labeled structure above. The ω chain is the group in the dashed circle in the labeled structure above. Thus, in these embodiments said derivative may be different from the formula above at the α chain, while no alteration is made to the ω chain, as for example, in the structures shown below.
Pharmaceutically acceptable salts, tetrazoles, and prodrugs of these compounds are also contemplated.
The derivatives may also be different from the formula above in the ω chain, while no alteration is made to the α chain, as shown in the examples below.
Pharmaceutically acceptable salts, tetrazoles, and prodrugs of these compounds are also contemplated.
Alternatively, the derivatives may be different in both the α and ω chains, as shown in the examples below.
Pharmaceutically acceptable salts, tetrazoles, and prodrugs of these compounds are also contemplated.
Changes to the structure can take several forms, if a non-hydrogen atom is added, the structure is changed by adding the atom, and any required hydrogens, but leaving the remaining non-hydrogen atoms unchanged, such as in the two examples shown below, with the added atoms in bold type.
Pharmaceutically acceptable salts, tetrazoles, and prodrugs of these compounds are also contemplated.
If a non-hydrogen atom is removed, the structure is changed by removing the atom, and any required hydrogens, but leaving the remaining non-hydrogen atoms unchanged, such as in the two examples shown below, with the previous location of the missing atoms indicated by arrows.
Pharmaceutically acceptable salts, tetrazoles, and prodrugs of these compounds are also contemplated.
If a non-hydrogen atom is substituted, the non-hydrogen atom is replaced by a different non-hydrogen atom, with any necessary adjustment made to the number of hydrogen atoms, such as in the two examples shown below, with the substituted atoms in bold type.
Pharmaceutically acceptable salts, tetrazoles, and prodrugs of these compounds are also contemplated.
Changing the bond order of an existing covalent bond without adding or deleting said bond refers to the changing of a single bond to a double or triple bond, changing a double bond to a single bond or a triple bond, or changing a triple bond to a double or a single bond. Adding or deleting a bond, such as occurs when an atom is added, deleted, or substituted, is not an additional alteration for the purposes disclosed herein, but the addition, deletion, or substitution of the non-hydrogen atom, and the accompanying changes in bonding are considered to be one alteration. Three examples of this type of alteration are shown below, with the top two examples showing alteration in the double bond of the α chain, and the bottom example showing alteration in the C—O single bond of the ω chain.
Pharmaceutically acceptable salts, tetrazoles, and prodrugs of these compounds are also contemplated.
If a derivative could reasonably be construed to consist of a different number of alterations, the derivative is considered to have the lowest reasonable number of alterations. For example, the compound shown below, having the modified portion of the molecule in bold, could be reasonably construed to have 1 or 2 alterations relative to the defined structure.
By one line of reasoning, the first alteration would be to remove the hydroxyl group from the carboxylic acid functional group, yielding an aldehyde. The second alteration would be to change the C═O double bond to a single bond, yielding the alcohol derivative shown above. By a second line of reasoning, the derivative would be obtained by simply removing the carbonyl oxygen of the carboxylic acid to yield the alcohol. In accordance with the rule established above, the compound above is defined as having 1 alteration. Thus, an additional alteration could be made to the structure to obtain the compounds such as the examples shown below.
Pharmaceutically acceptable salts, tetrazoles, and prodrugs of these compounds are also contemplated.
In one embodiment, O or S is substituted for CH 2 , as seen in several of the examples disclosed previously herein, as well as in the examples below.
Pharmaceutically acceptable salts, tetrazoles, and prodrugs of these compounds are also contemplated.
Certain compounds comprise C═O, i.e. the bond order of the C—O bond is increased from a single to double bond as in the compounds shown below.
Pharmaceutically acceptable salts, tetrazoles, and prodrugs of these compounds are also contemplated.
Other embodiments comprise no Br, i.e. it is removed or another atom is substituted for it, as in the examples shown below.
Pharmaceutically acceptable salts, tetrazoles, and prodrugs of these compounds are also contemplated.
Other embodiments comprise no CH 3 , i.e. it is removed or another atom is substituted for it, as in the examples shown below.
Pharmaceutically acceptable salts, tetrazoles, and prodrugs of these compounds are also contemplated.
In many embodiments, the compound comprises a thienyl or substituted thienyl moiety. A number of examples of these compounds are given above. However, certain embodiments may have a substituted furyl, phenyl, or other aromatic moiety, such as the examples shown below.
Pharmaceutically acceptable salts, tetrazoles, and prodrugs of these compounds are also contemplated.
Another embodiment comprises (Z)-7-{(1R,2R)-2-[(E)-(S)-5-(4-Bromo-5-methyl-thiophen-2-yl)-3-hydroxy-pent-1-enyl]-5-hydroxy-cyclopentyl}-hept-5-enoic acid.
The compounds of disclosed herein are useful for the prevention or treatment of glaucoma or ocular hypertension in mammals, or for the manufacture of a medicament for the treatment of glaucoma or ocular hypertension.
Those skilled in the art will readily understand that for administration or the manufacture of medicaments the compounds disclosed herein can be admixed with pharmaceutically acceptable excipients which per se are well known in the art. Specifically, a drug to be administered systemically, it may be confected as a powder, pill, tablet or the like, or as a solution, emulsion, suspension, aerosol, syrup or elixir suitable for oral or parenteral administration or inhalation.
For solid dosage forms or medicaments, non-toxic solid carriers include, but are not limited to, pharmaceutical grades of mannitol, lactose, starch, magnesium stearate, sodium saccharin, the polyalkylene glycols, talcum, cellulose, glucose, sucrose and magnesium carbonate. The solid dosage forms may be uncoated or they may be coated by known techniques to delay disintegration and absorption in the gastrointestinal tract and thereby provide a sustained action over a longer period. For example, a time delay material such as glyceryl monostearate or glyceryl distearate may be employed. They may also be coated by the technique described in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,256,108; 4,166,452; and 4,265,874 to form osmotic therapeutic tablets for control release. Liquid pharmaceutically administrable dosage forms can, for example, comprise a solution or suspension of one or more of the presently useful compounds and optional pharmaceutical adjutants in a carrier, such as for example, water, saline, aqueous dextrose, glycerol, ethanol and the like, to thereby form a solution or suspension. If desired, the pharmaceutical composition to be administered may also contain minor amounts of nontoxic auxiliary substances such as wetting or emulsifying agents, pH buffering agents and the like. Typical examples of such auxiliary agents are sodium acetate, sorbitan monolaurate, triethanolamine, sodium acetate, triethanolamine oleate, etc. Actual methods of preparing such dosage forms are known, or will be apparent, to those skilled in this art; for example, see Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences, Mack Publishing Company, Easton, Pa., 16th Edition, 1980. The composition of the formulation to be administered, in any event, contains a quantity of one or more of the presently useful compounds in an amount effective to provide the desired therapeutic effect.
Parenteral administration is generally characterized by injection, either subcutaneously, intramuscularly or intravenously. Injectables can be prepared in conventional forms, either as liquid solutions or suspensions, solid forms suitable for solution or suspension in liquid prior to injection, or as emulsions. Suitable excipients are, for example, water, saline, dextrose, glycerol, ethanol and the like. In addition, if desired, the injectable pharmaceutical compositions to be administered may also contain minor amounts of non-toxic auxiliary substances such as wetting or emulsifying agents, pH buffering agents and the like.
The amount of the presently useful compound or compounds administered is, of course, dependent on the therapeutic effect or effects desired, on the specific mammal being treated, on the severity and nature of the mammal's condition, on the manner of administration, on the potency and pharmacodynamics of the particular compound or compounds employed, and on the judgment of the prescribing physician. The therapeutically effective dosage of the presently useful compound or compounds is preferably in the range of about 0.5 or about 1 to about 100 mg/kg/day.
A liquid which is ophthalmically acceptable is formulated such that it can be administered topically to the eye. The comfort should be maximized as much as possible, although sometimes formulation considerations (e.g. drug stability) may necessitate less than optimal comfort. In the case that comfort cannot be maximized, the liquid should be formulated such that the liquid is tolerable to the patient for topical ophthalmic use. Additionally, an ophthalmically acceptable liquid should either be packaged for single use, or contain a preservative to prevent contamination over multiple uses.
For ophthalmic application, solutions or medicaments are often prepared using a physiological saline solution as a major vehicle. Ophthalmic solutions should preferably be maintained at a comfortable pH with an appropriate buffer system. The formulations may also contain conventional, pharmaceutically acceptable preservatives, stabilizers and surfactants.
Preservatives that may be used in the pharmaceutical compositions of the present invention include, but are not limited to, benzalkonium chloride, chlorobutanol, thimerosal, phenylmercuric, acetate and phenylmercuric nitrate. A useful surfactant is, for example, Tween 80. Likewise, various useful vehicles may be used in the ophthalmic preparations of the present invention. These vehicles include, but are not limited to, polyvinyl alcohol, povidone, hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose, poloxamers, carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose and purified water.
Tonicity adjustors may be added as needed or convenient. They include, but are not limited to, salts, particularly sodium chloride, potassium chloride, mannitol and glycerin, or any other suitable ophthalmically acceptable tonicity adjustor.
Various buffers and means for adjusting pH may be used so long as the resulting preparation is ophthalmically acceptable. Accordingly, buffers include acetate buffers, citrate buffers, phosphate buffers and borate buffers. Acids or bases may be used to adjust the pH of these formulations as needed.
In a similar vein, an ophthalmically acceptable antioxidant for use in the present invention includes, but is not limited to, sodium metabisulfite, sodium thiosulfate, acetylcysteine, butylated hydroxyanisole and butylated hydroxytoluene.
Other excipient components which may be included in the ophthalmic preparations are chelating agents. A useful chelating agent is edetate disodium, although other chelating agents may also be used in place or in conjunction with it.
The ingredients are usually used in the following amounts:
Ingredient
Amount (% w/v)
active ingredient
about 0.001-5
preservative
0-0.10
vehicle
0-40
tonicity adjustor
1-10
buffer
0.01-10
pH adjustor
q.s. pH 4.5-7.5
antioxidant
as needed
surfactant
as needed
purified water
as needed to make 100%
For topical use, creams, ointments, gels, solutions or suspensions, etc., containing the compound disclosed herein are employed. Topical formulations may generally be comprised of a pharmaceutical carrier, cosolvent, emulsifier, penetration enhancer, preservative system, and emollient.
The actual dose of the active compounds of the present invention depends on the specific compound, and on the condition to be treated; the selection of the appropriate dose is well within the knowledge of the skilled artisan.
Example 1
Compounds of Table 1 were prepared according to the following procedures. Compound 1 was prepared by methods disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,124,344, incorporated by reference herein.
(Z)-7-[(1R,2R,3R,5S)-2-[(E)-(S)-5-(4-Bromo-5-methyl-thiophen-2-yl)-3-(tetrahydro-pyran-2-yloxy)-pent-1-enyl]-3,5-bis-(tetrahydro-pyran-2-yloxy)-cyclopentyl]-hept-5-enoic acid methyl ester (2). An acetone (24 mL) solution of acid 1 was treated with DBU (1.4 mL, 9.36 mmol) and methyl iodide (0.6 mL, 9.63 mmol). The reaction was stirred for 21 h and then 50 mL 1 M HCl was added and the mixture extracted with ethyl acetate (3×50 mL). The combined ethyl acetate solution was dried (Na 2 SO 4 ), filtered and evaporated to leave a brown oil that was used directly in the next step.
(Z)-7-{(1R,2R,3R,5S)-2-[(E)-(S)-5-(4-Bromo-5-methyl-thiophen-2-yl)-3-hydroxy-pent-1-enyl]-3,5-dihydroxy-cyclopentyl}-hept-5-enoic acid methyl ester (3). A mixture of the crude ester (2) in methanol (16 mL) was treated with pyridinium p-toluenesulfonate (2.625 g, 10.4 mmol). After 21 h, the solvent was evaporated in vacuo and the residue purified by flash chromatography on silica gel (90% ethyl acetate/hexanes→95%) to give 3 (3.453 g, 6.9 mmol, 86% for the two steps).
(Z)-7-[(1R,2R,3R,5S)-2-[(E)-(S)-5-(4-Bromo-5-methyl-thiophen-2-yl)-3-(tert-butyl-dimethyl-silanyloxy)-pent-1-enyl]-3-(tert-butyl-dimethyl-silanyloxy)-5-hydroxy-cyclopentyl]-hept-5-enoic acid methyl ester (4). A dichloromethane (14 mL) solution of 3 (3.452 g, 6.9 mmol) was treated with triethylamine (2.9 mL, 20.8 mmol), DMAP (211 mg, 1.73 mmol) and TBSCl (2.130 g, 14.1 mmol). The reaction was allowed to stir for 22 h and then was quenched by addition of 100 mL saturated NaHCO 3 solution. The mixture was extracted with CH 2 Cl 2 (3×75 mL) and the combined CH 2 Cl 2 solution was dried (Na 2 SO 4 ), filtered and evaporated. Purification by flash chromatography (10% ethyl acetate/hexane→20%) gave 4 (3.591 g, 4.9 mmol, 71%).
(Z)-7-[(1R,2R,3R)-2-[(E)-(S)-5-(4-Bromo-5-methyl-thiophen-2-yl)-3-(tert-butyl-dimethyl-silanyloxy)-pent-1-enyl]-3-(tert-butyl-dimethyl-silanyloxy)-5-oxo-cyclopentyl]-hept-5-enoic acid methyl ester (5). A mixture of alcohol 4 (3.591 g, 4.9 mmol), 4A molecular sieves (2.5 g), and NMO (867 mg, 7.4 mmol) in dichloromethane (10 mL) was treated with TPAP (117 mg, 0.33 mmol). After 1 h, the mixture was filtered through celite and the filtrate evaporated in vacuo. Purification by flash chromatography (5% ethyl acetate/hexanes→7.5%) gave 5 (2.984 g, 4.1 mmol, 84%).
(Z)-7-{(1R,2S)-2-[(E)-(S)-5-(4-Bromo-5-methyl-thiophen-2-yl)-3-hydroxy-pent-1-enyl]-5-oxo-cyclopent-3-enyl}-hept-5-enoic acid methyl ester (6). A mixture of 5 (1.486 g, 2.03 mmol), HOAc (20 mL), H 2 O (10 mL) and THF (10 mL) was stirred at 70° C. for 17 h. The reaction was then poured into 750 mL saturated NaHCO 3 solution and the resulting mixture was extracted with ethyl acetate (4×200 mL). The combined ethyl acetate solution was dried (Na 2 SO 4 ), filtered and evaporated. Flash chromatography (50% ethyl acetate/hexanes) gave 6 (497 mg, 1.03 mmol, 51%).
(Z)-7-{(1R,2S)-2-[(E)-(S)-5-(4-Bromo-5-methyl-thiophen-2-yl)-3-(tert-butyl-dimethyl-silanyloxy)-pent-1-enyl]-5-oxo-cyclopent-3-enyl}-hept-5-enoic acid methyl ester (7). A dichloromethane (6 mL) solution of 6 (497 mg, 1.03 mmol) was treated with 2,6-lutidine (143 μL, 1.22 mmol) and TBSOTf (0.26 mL, 1.13 mmol). After 1.5 h, 50 mL saturated NaHCO 3 was added and the resulting mixture was extracted with 25 mL CH 2 Cl 2 . The CH 2 Cl 2 layer was washed with 50 mL 1 M HCl and 50 mL brine. The CH 2 Cl 2 solution was then dried (Na 2 SO 4 ), filtered and evaporated. Purification by flash chromatography (8% ethyl acetate/hexanes→10%) gave 7 (553 mg, 0.93 mmol, 90%).
(Z)-7-{(1R,2R)-2-[(E)-(S)-5-(4-Bromo-5-methyl-thiophen-2-yl)-3-(tert-butyl-dimethyl-silanyloxy)-pent-1-enyl]-5-oxo-cyclopentyl}-hept-5-enoic acid methyl ester (8). A solution of 7 (170 mg, 0.28 mmol) in 4 mL toluene was added, by cannula, to a −40° C. mixture of hydrido(triphenylphosphine)copper(I) hexamer (300 mg, 0.15 mmol) in 4 mL toluene, rinsing with 0.5 mL toluene. The temperature was allowed to warm to 0° C. over 1 h and then was allowed to warm to room temperature. After a further 1 h, the reaction was quenched by addition of 15 mL saturated NH 4 Cl solution. The mixture was extracted with ethyl acetate (3×15 mL) and the combined ethyl acetate solution was dried (Na 2 SO 4 ), filtered and evaporated. Purification by flash chromatography (8% ethyl acetate/hexanes→10%) gave the title ketone (150 mg, 0.25 mmol, 89%).
(Z)-7-{(1R,2R)-2-[(E)-(S)-5-(4-Bromo-5-methyl-thiophen-2-yl)-3-(tert-butyl-dimethyl-silanyloxy)-pent-1-enyl]-5-hydroxy-cyclopentyl}-hept-5-enoic acid methyl ester (9H,L). A methanol (0.8 mL) solution of ketone 8 (150 mg, 0.25 mmol) was treated with NaBH 4 (15 mg, 0.40 mmol). After 1 h, the reaction was quenched with 15 mL 1 M HCl and the resulting mixture was extracted with dichloromethane (3×15 mL). The combined dichloromethane solution was dried (Na 2 SO 4 ), filtered and evaporated to give the alcohols 9H,L which were used directly in the next step.
(Z)-7-{(1R,2R)-2-[(E)-(S)-5-(4-Bromo-5-methyl-thiophen-2-yl)-3-hydroxy-pent-1-enyl]-5-hydroxy-cyclopentyl}-hept-5-enoic acid methyl ester (10H,L). A solution of the crude alcohols 9 in HOAc (2 mL)/H 2 O (1 mL)/THF (1 mL) was heated at 70° C. for 2 h and then was quenched by addition of 100 mL saturated NaHCO 3 solution. The resulting mixture was extracted with ethyl acetate (4×100 mL) and the combined ethyl acetate solution was dried (Na 2 SO 4 ), filtered and evaporated. Flash chromatography (45% ethyl acetate/hexanes) followed by preparative TLC (42% ethyl acetate/hexanes) gave the two C9 diastereomers: high R f 29 mg (0.06 mmol, 24% for 2 steps) and low R f 53 mg (0.11 mmol, 43%).
(Z)-7-{(1R,2R)-2-[(E)-(S)-5-(4-Bromo-5-methyl-thiophen-2-yl)-3-hydroxy-pent-1-enyl]-5-hydroxy-cyclopentyl}-hept-5-enoic acid (11H). A THF (1.3 mL) solution of 10H (27 mg, 0.055 mmol) was treated with 0.5 M LiOH (0.33 mL, 0.17 mmol). The reaction was allowed to stir for 18 h and then 10 mL 1 M HCl was added. The resulting mixture was extracted with dichloromethane (3×15 mL) and the combined dichloromethane solution was dried (Na 2 SO 4 ), filtered and evaporated. Purification by flash chromatography (5% methanol/dichloromethane) gave 11H (20 mg, 0.042 mmol, 77%). 300 MHz NMR (CDCl 3 , ppm) δ 6.58 (1H, s) 5.6-5.3 (4H, overlapping m) 4.3-4.1 (2H, overlapping m) 2.8-2.7 (2H, m) 2.32 (3H, s) 2.4-1.3 (16H, overlapping m).
TABLE 1
FUNCTIONAL DATA (EC50 nm)
Rf
STRUCTURE
HFP
HEP1
HEP2
HEP3A
HEP4
HTP
HIP
HDP
High
2069
NA
NA
>10 5
NA
1868
NA
NA
Low
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
High
>10 5
NA
793
>10 5
96
NA
NA
Low
>10 5
NA
NA
>10 5
832
>10 5
NA
NA
Example 2
The biological activity of the compounds of Table 1 was tested using the following procedures.
Methods for FLIPR™ Studies
(a) Cell Culture
HEK-293(EBNA) cells, stably expressing one type or subtype of recombinant human prostaglandin receptors (prostaglandin receptors expressed: hDP/Gqs5; hEP 1 ; hEP 2 /Gqs5; hEP 3A /Gqi5; hEP 4 /Gqs5; hFP; hIP; hTP), were cultured in 100 mm culture dishes in high-glucose DMEM medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum, 2 mM 1-glutamine, 250 μg/ml geneticin (G418) and 200 μg/ml hygromycin B as selection markers, and 100 units/ml penicillin G, 100 μg/ml streptomycin and 0.25 μg/ml amphotericin B.
(b) Calcium Signal Studies on the FLIPR™
Cells were seeded at a density of 5×10 4 cells per well in Biocoat® Poly-D-lysine-coated black-wall, clear-bottom 96-well plates (Becton-Dickinson) and allowed to attach overnight in an incubator at 37° C. Cells were then washed two times with HBSS-HEPES buffer (Hanks Balanced Salt Solution without bicarbonate and phenol red, 20 mM HEPES, pH 7.4) using a Denley Cellwash plate washer (Labsystems). After 45 minutes of dye-loading in the dark, using the calcium-sensitive dye Fluo-4 AM at a final concentration of 2 μM, plates were washed four times with HBSS-HEPES buffer to remove excess dye leaving 100 μl in each well. Plates were re-equilibrated to 37° C. for a few minutes.
Cells were excited with an Argon laser at 488 nm, and emission was measured through a 510-570 nm bandwidth emission filter (FLIPR™, Molecular Devices, Sunnyvale, Calif.). Drug solution was added in a 50 μl volume to each well to give the desired final concentration. The peak increase in fluorescence intensity was recorded for each well. On each plate, four wells each served as negative (HBSS-HEPES buffer) and positive controls (standard agonists: BW245C (hDP); PGE 2 (hEP 1 ; hEP 2 /Gqs5; hEP 3A /Gqi5; hEP 4 /Gqs5); PGF 2α (hFP); carbacyclin (hIP); U-46619 (hTP), depending on receptor). The peak fluorescence change in each drug-containing well was then expressed relative to the controls.
Compounds were tested in a high-throughput (HTS) or concentration-response (CoRe) format. In the HTS format, forty-four compounds per plate were examined in duplicates at a concentration of 10 −5 M. To generate concentration-response curves, four compounds per plate were tested in duplicates in a concentration range between 10 −5 and 10 −11 M. The duplicate values were averaged. In either, HTS or CoRe format each compound was tested on at least 3 separate plates using cells from different passages to give an n≧3.
The results of the activity studies presented in the table demonstrate that the compounds disclosed herein are prostaglandin receptor agonists, and are thus useful for the treatment of glaucoma, ocular hypertension, the other diseases or conditions related to the activity of the prostaglandin receptors.
The foregoing description details specific methods and compositions that can be employed to practice the present invention, and represents the best mode contemplated. However, it is apparent for one of ordinary skill in the art that further compounds with the desired pharmacological properties can be prepared in an analogous manner, and that the disclosed compounds can also be obtained from different starting compounds via different chemical reactions. Similarly, different pharmaceutical compositions may be prepared and used with substantially the same result. Thus, however detailed the foregoing may appear in text, it should not be construed as limiting the overall scope hereof; rather, the ambit of the present invention is to be governed only by the lawful construction of the appended claims. | A compound comprising
or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or a prodrug thereof,
having the groups described in detail herein is disclosed.
Also disclosed herein are compounds comprising
or derivatives thereof, or pharmaceutically acceptable salts, tetrazoles, or prodrugs of compounds of the structure or derivatives thereof, said derivatives being described in detail herein.
Also disclosed herein are methods of treating diseases or conditions, including glaucoma and elevated intraocular pressure. Compositions and methods of manufacturing medicaments related thereto are also disclosed. | 2 |
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention generally relates to an electronic gaming machine and, more particularly, to an electronic gaming machine incorporating an illuminated player interface dashboard.
BACKGROUND
Gaming machines such as mechanically driven slot machines have been a staple of the gaming and entertainment industries for years. Such electronic devices continue to grow in popularity with the development of enhanced computer-generated graphics presented on colorful displays with special sound effects, making them more attractive to a wider audience of participants. The problem that arises, however, is that players quickly tire of a particular game. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for new and innovative concepts associated with electronic gaming machines that serve to continuously attract new participants.
SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a casino-style gaming machine having an illuminated player interface dashboard mounted on the machine's face. The dashboard is fabricated from a relatively thin piece of transparent plastic such as polycarbonate or acrylic, with polished surfaces and edges and openings for allowing access to certain of the machine's components such as a bill acceptor and a ticket printer. Further, various text may be etched into the dashboard to identify the location of the bill acceptor and/or ticket reader or to provide other instructions to the player.
A light source, such as incandescent bulbs, halogen bulbs or light emitting diodes, is positioned along one or more edges of the dashboard. This configuration allows light to pass through the dashboard from edge to edge. The differences in the varying indexes of refraction across the dashboard resulting from the aforementioned opening and etchings cause a unique lighting effect.
Clearly, some alternative embodiments may exhibit advantages and features in addition to, or in lieu of, those mentioned above. It is intended that all such alternative embodiments be included within the scope of the present invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Many aspects of the invention can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale. Instead, emphasis is placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the invention. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
The various embodiments in accordance with the present invention are generally described below as an illuminated interface dashboard for a gaming machine. For the sake of expediency, the following description generally makes reference to a gaming machine as typically utilized in establishments such as video game parlors and casinos. However, it will be understood that the apparatus described herein are equally pertinent to many other applications, gaming as well as non-gaming, that incorporate an illuminated interface dashboard.
FIG. 1 shows a first exemplary embodiment of a gaming machine incorporating an illuminated player interface dashboard in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 2 shows a detailed view of the illuminate player interface dashboard in accordance with the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The various embodiments in accordance with the invention are generally described below as a gaming machine utilizing an illuminated player interface dashboard for machines. Consequently, for the sake of expedience, the following description mostly refers to gaming systems that are typically utilized in establishments such as casinos and other gaming facilities. However, it will be understood that the methods and systems described herein are equally pertinent to many other applications, gaming as well as non-gaming, that incorporate such a dashboard.
FIG. 1 shows an exemplary gaming machine 100 in accordance with the present invention. The gaming machine 100 includes a cabinet 102 housing a display 104 for displaying game events. Typically, the display 104 is a flat panel LCD monitor. However, any display means known in the art may be employed.
Proximate to the display 104 are a series of electromechanical buttons 106 positioned on the cabinet for use as a user interface for controlling game play such as selecting a bet amount, commencing play and cashing out (i.e., terminating game play and retrieving the monetary value corresponding to the remaining game credits). The specific arrangement and function of each of the electromechanical buttons 106 is dependent upon the specific rules of the game being played on the gaming machine 100 .
Gaming machine 100 also includes a wager input interface 108 , such as a bill acceptor into which a player inserts paper currency and receives credit on the gaming machine 100 for the amount deposited. In alternate embodiments, the wager input interface 108 can be a ticket reader, a magnetic card reader, or similar mechanisms, into which the player places a ticket or magnetic card encoded with a monetary value purchased from a cashier's station or vending machine. In certain embodiments, gaming machine 100 includes a ticket printer 110 . In such a system, when a player indicates his or her intent to retrieve any remaining game credits or currency from gaming machine 100 , a paper ticket is generated by ticket printer 110 . The player may then exchange the ticket for the value printed thereupon or use it for future game play.
Overlaid onto the face of gaming machine 100 is an illuminated player interface dashboard 112 consisting of a clear or colored transparent panel with polished surfaces and edges. Typically, dashboard 112 is a polycarbonate or acrylic material. Mounted along at least one of the edges dashboard 112 is a light projection source 114 arranged to direct light toward the interior of the panel, as further illustrated in FIG. 2 .
Referring to FIG. 2 , dashboard 112 has one or more voids 202 that allow access to certain of the components, described above. In one embodiment, voids 202 are positioned so as to align over wager input interface 108 and ticket printer 110 . Such a configuration allows the passage of materials such as paper currency and tickets through dashboard 112 to the respective components.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, text 204 may etched into dashboard 112 . Alternatively, text 204 may constitute a closed cavity within dashboard 112 with a frosted or opaque surface to enable the refraction and dispersion of white or colored light.
Mounted along at least one of the edges of dashboard 112 is a light projection source 114 , comprising a mounting surface 212 and light production means 214 , arranged to direct light toward the interior of the dashboard 112 . In the preferred embodiment, light production means 214 comprises one or more light emitting diodes, either white or colored, although any light source may be used. In operation, the differences in the varying indexes of refraction across dashboard 112 resulting from the presence of aforementioned voids 202 and/or text 204 opening and etchings creates a unique lighting effect. In one embodiment, a dark-colored opaque panel 210 is positioned directly behind dashboard 112 to enhance the visual effect of the illumination.
It should be understood that the foregoing discussions merely relate to illustrative, exemplary embodiments of the invention. Therefore, it should be further understood that various modifications may be made to the exemplary embodiments herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, which will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in light of the disclosure herein. | A display system includes a cabinet, a transparent dashboard and a lighting system. The dashboard is fabricated to have at least two refractive indices such that when light from the lighting system is projected therethrough, a unique lighting effect is created. | 6 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to manufacturing tools and automation. More particularly, the present invention relates to rail-mounted machine tools and automated positioning systems.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Classic aircraft production has, since early in the history of hard-skinned aerostructures, involved making templates and aligning them on fuselage and flight surface skins, then drilling through holes in the templates using hand-held drills to prepare the aerostructure for installation of rivets and screws. Placement of holes in the structure has thus generally been limited to human speeds, and has required extensive inspection.
In theory, a massive robotic apparatus could be developed that could autonomously place holes at any location on a workpiece such as an aerostructure, with the robotic apparatus placed, for example, on a monument base separated from the workpiece, and with each hole drilled with accuracy limited by the position sensors in the robotic apparatus. Such apparatus, however, has not been developed or shown to be economically feasible for general use. However, it has been demonstrated that a manufacturing apparatus with some degree of automation, attached directly to a portion of a workpiece under construction, can be practical, where desirable criteria of practicality include accuracy, adaptability, speed, low manufacturing cost, and light weight and compact size for ease of positioning,.
For generally flat and/or straight surfaces, which can occur, in a limited number of cases, along the longitudinal axis of a fuselage, a variety of robotic tools can be effective. For example, in an early version, a substantially rigid rail was temporarily attached to a workpiece using common fasteners such as screws. A drill could be moved along the rail, by hand or using a motorized positioner, to successive locations adjacent to the rail, at which locations the drill could be caused to drill a clean, straight hole. The drill could then be advanced until all of the needed holes along that straight line had been drilled.
The process and apparatus described above has strengths, namely that a series of holes can be drilled with quite good precision and decent speed, but also has several drawbacks. For example, there must first be correctly located mounting holes to which to attach the rail. Further, installation and removal of the rail may easily mar the workpiece. Also, alignment is critical and may be time-consuming. As well, only a small percentage of needed holes are likely to fall on any one line, so devising the drilling patterns, preparing mounting holes, and repeatedly repositioning the rail can be tedious. In addition, as noted, a rigid rail cannot traverse curves, so the above-described tool could not be positioned circumferentially on fuselages, for example, or typically in any direction other than spanwise on wings.
An additional drawback, not only to the apparatus described above but to other apparatus in existence, involves limited excursion range for a drilling component of the apparatus. Typical tools may use two rails to provide a secure base, then translate a toolhead across a workpiece. Even if the toolhead can move between the rails as well as along the rails, no work can be performed outside an excursion envelope established by the two rails.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a flexible rail machine tool method and apparatus that conforms to a workpiece surface that may have significant curvature, which flexible rail machine tool can drill holes within a work zone on the workpiece. It is further desirable that such a tool be able to traverse a surface along at lease one axis without manual repositioning and to drill holes normal to a surface substantially without manual intervention. It is further desirable that such a tool be able to drill holes outside the excursion envelope defined by the rail system attachment footprint. It is further desirable that such a tool be able to translate desired hole locations from a reference coordinate system to an as-affixed coordinate system. It is further desirable that such a tool be readily mounted and demounted from the workpiece.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The foregoing needs are met, to a great extent, by the present invention, wherein, in one embodiment, a flexible rail machine tool method and apparatus is provided that is able to conform to a workpiece surface that has significant curvature and is able to perform machining operations such as drilling holes within a work zone on the workpiece. In another aspect, the flexible rail machine tool method and apparatus is further able to traverse a surface along at lease one axis without manual repositioning and is able to perform machining operations such as drilling holes normal to a surface. In yet another aspect, the flexible rail machine tool method and apparatus is further able to perform machining operations such as drilling holes outside the boundaries of its attachment device. In still another aspect, the flexible rail machine tool method and apparatus is further able to translate desired hole locations from a reference coordinate system to an as-installed coordinate system. In another aspect, the flexible rail machine tool method and apparatus can be readily mounted and demounted from the workpiece.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a flexible rail machine tool for performing operations on a workpiece comprises a primary rail coupled to the workpiece, a toolhead, an end effector on the toolhead, wherein the end effector is a mechanism that performs a machine tool function, and a first support mechanism attaching and supporting the toolhead with respect to the primary rail, wherein the first support mechanism is situated between a first maximum lateral extent of the toolhead and a second maximum lateral extent of the toolhead.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a flexible rail machine tool for performing operations on a workpiece comprises means for removably coupling a primary rail to the workpiece, means for performing cutting, holding, measuring, heating, and other processing on the workpiece, and means for positioning the means for performing processing with respect to the workpiece.
In accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention, a method for performing machine-tool operations upon a workpiece comprises the steps of positioning a primary rail with respect to the workpiece, spacing the primary rail at a uniform distance with respect to the workpiece, removably coupling the primary rail to the workpiece, fixing a machining tool with respect to the primary rail, and performing cutting, holding, measuring, heating, and other processes on the workpiece using the machining tool.
There have thus been outlined, rather broadly, certain embodiments of the invention, in order that the detailed description thereof herein may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional embodiments of the invention that will be described below and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of embodiments in addition to those described and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein, as well as the abstract, are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods, and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a first perspective view illustrating a flexible rail machine tool according to a preferred embodiment of the invention configured for drilling between the rails, with external covers shown in place.
FIG. 2 is a closer view of the flexible rail machine tool of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 3 is a second perspective view of the flexible rail machine tool according FIG. 1 configured for cantilever machining, with several covers shown removed.
FIG. 4 is a side view of the flexible rail machine tool, with several covers, the frame, and some additional hardware elements omitted, but showing all three rails.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the flexible rail machine tool from the viewpoint of FIG. 3 , with some additional frame elements omitted and all rails included.
FIG. 6 is an end view of the flexible rail machine tool in FIG. 1 , with structural devices and housings omitted.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view from below the flexible rail machine tool of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a reaction foot used in place of a second rail in accordance with an alternate embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the flexible rail machine tool with a variety of end effectors suitable for use with embodiments of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
An embodiment in accordance with the present invention provides a rail system for positioning a toolhead above a workpiece that may have significant curvature in one or more axes. Smooth motion of the toolhead on a rail suspension system is achieved in the exemplary embodiment through use of a main rail system comprising one or more relatively long and wide, flat, flexible rails with vee-shaped rail edge faces contacted by mating bearing devices, such as rollers, on the toolhead. Motorized drive of the toolhead along a rail system axis parallel to the rail edge faces—hereinafter the longitudinal axis—in the exemplary embodiment is achieved using a pinion gear on the toolhead and a rack formed into the primary rail.
The toolhead may be capable of self-driven motion along and about multiple axes. In addition to having rollers and a motor drive to permit traversing the longitudinal extent of the main rails, the toolhead may be equipped with cross rails, which may preferably be configured at right angles to the main rails, and for which a motor drive that may be separate from the longitudinal motor drive may permit autonomous transverse positioning. In addition, motorized rotation of a chuck or mandrel for machining is a preferable capability. Similarly, a toolhead with a machine tool such as a drill is generally required to plunge the tool into and out of the workpiece using another motor drive. Further, tilting the toolhead to adjust the angle of penetration with respect to the toolhead may be desirable, and may call for yet another motor drive. Additional desirable capabilities may include replacement of one type of machine tool with another, or addition of multiple tools and accessory devices for measuring position, inserting and steadying fastenings from a dispenser into a hole previously prepared, or a variety of other useful operations.
For the purposes of this disclosure, the term “end effector” is used as a term of summary, incorporating, for example, “drill” as well as “grinder,” “inserter,” “measuring probe,” and any other suitable functions for which a flexible rail machine tool may be employed.
For the purposes of this disclosure, translation along the longitudinal axis of the main rails is also termed X-axis motion. Transverse motion with respect to the main rails, still substantially parallel to the mean surface of the workpiece, is termed Y-axis motion. Stroke motion of the end effector penetrating the workpiece is termed Z-axis motion. Tilting the end effector with respect to the toolhead X-axis, so that the end effector enters the workpiece at an angle with respect to the toolhead, is termed A-axis motion. The exemplary embodiment does not feature tilt of the end effector about the Y-axis, which would be B-axis motion. End effector spindle rotation about the Z-axis is termed C-axis motion. In addition to these motions, there is provision for applying a pressure preload to the workpiece. Also, there is provision for a compensator to make fine adjustments to the orientation of the entire toolhead about the A-axis.
Attachment of the primary rail to the workpiece preferably uses vacuum cups with spacing pins. The described rail, which is relatively long, wide, and thin, may be relatively rigid with respect to lateral flexure while allowing bending and twisting to conform to the workpiece. General conformance to contours of the workpiece can be realized with a multiplicity of rigid spacing pins, preferably of uniform height, attached to the rail and drawn against the workpiece. Such height uniformity may promote consistent rail-to-workpiece spacing, which in turn may maximize X-axis positioning accuracy. The holding force can come from any of a variety of sources, one of which is vacuum from an external vacuum source fed to a resilient cup surrounding each spacing pin or group of spacing pins. The use of a sufficiently large total vacuum cup surface area can permit the flexible rail machine tool to be attached to a workpiece at effectively any orientation.
The toolhead may include automated position detection for one or more of its motions, so that the location of a tool with respect to the workpiece may be known with good precision. This capability may be extended to include computational correction of position, so that, for example, a detector on a toolhead can identify reference positions on a workpiece and deliver them to a processor that can calibrate its positioning commands to the toolhead, effectively performing coordinate transformation and automatically drilling holes where desired irrespective of initial rail placement uncertainty.
Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be further described with reference to the drawing figures, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout.
FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a flexible rail machine tool 10 comprising a toolhead 12 and resting on a primary rail 22 and a second rail 38 coupling the toolhead 12 to a workpiece 14 .
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the flexible rail machine tool 10 of FIG. 1 , further detailing the toolhead 12 and showing the toolhead 12 riding on short segments of the two rails 22 and 38 . It may be observed that the apparatus of FIG. 2 is shown with multiple covers (including those identified as 16 , 18 , and 20 ) installed. The primary rail 22 , located near the center of the toolhead 12 , is incised with a gear tooth rack 24 , and is fitted beneath with spacing pins 26 and vacuum cups 28 . The first side frame member 30 provides structural integration for the toolhead 12 . Also visible are vee rollers 32 , a first primary rail roller support arm 34 , and a first primary rail pivot 36 . Vee rollers 32 include a circumferential female vee groove 33 that bears against a male vee groove 23 along the edge of the primary rail 22 .
In the foreground of FIG. 2 is a second rail 38 , which is herein termed a spanned rail, since the placement of the two rails in this configuration spans the reach of the end effector 40 . The spanned rail 38 is, like the center rail 22 , equipped with spacing pins 42 and vacuum cups 44 , of which vacuum cups 44 two are shown in part in FIG. 1 . A vacuum source 128 is shown schematically, connected by hoses 130 to vacuum cups 28 and 44 to provide attachment force. The spanned rail support mechanism 46 for the spanned rail 38 is shown, comprising spanned rail vee rollers 48 to provide direct support to the spanned rail 38 , a short transverse rail 50 joining the spanned rail vee rollers 48 , spanned transverse vee rollers 52 that allow the toolhead 12 to move independently of the spanned rail 38 , and a spanned support bracket 54 to affix the spanned rail support mechanism 46 to the toolhead 12 . The spanned rail vee rollers 48 include a circumferential female vee groove 49 that bears against a male vee groove 39 along the edge of the spanned rail 38 . and the spanned transverse vee rollers 52 include a circumferential female vee groove 53 that bears against a male vee groove 51 along the edge of the transverse rail 50 .
The direct coupling of the primary rail 22 to the toolhead 12 allows free rotation of the toolhead 12 about the A-axis only. The looser coupling of the second rail 38 allows the toolhead 12 to float laterally (in the Y-axis direction) with respect to the second rail 38 , as well as having A-axis rotation and unencumbered X-axis motion. This permits the primary rail 22 to serve as a reference, while the second rail 38 provides stability and support. The second rail 38 is thus permitted to follow a non-parallel path over a complexly curved workpiece 14 without causing binding of the coupling apparatus.
The coupling mechanism for the second rail—which, in the exemplary embodiment, is the spanned support bracket 54 shown—has mounting slots 55 . Bolts through such slots 55 can permit adjustments to be made to the stance of the toolhead 12 . Should it be desired to make such stance adjustments dynamically, such as under computer control during operations, a motorized, sensor-equipped actuator can be interposed between the spanned support bracket 54 and the toolhead 12 .
FIG. 3 is a third perspective view of the flexible rail machine tool 10 with some covers ( 16 , 18 , and 20 of FIG. 2 ) omitted, in which view the spanned rail 38 has been removed and a cantilever rail 56 has been added, equipped with spacing pins 58 and vacuum cups 60 , and attached to the toolhead 12 using a cantilever rail support mechanism 62 comprising cantilever rail vee rollers 64 to provide direct support to the cantilever rail 56 , a short transverse rail 66 joining the cantilever rail vee rollers 64 , cantilever transverse vee rollers 68 that allow the toolhead 12 to move independently of the cantilever rail 56 , and a coupling mechanism—in this exemplary embodiment, a cantilever support bracket 70 —to affix the cantilever rail support mechanism 62 to the toolhead 12 . The cantilever rail vee rollers 64 include a circumferential female vee groove 65 that bears against a male vee groove 57 along the edge of the cantilever rail 56 , and the cantilever transverse vee rollers 68 include a circumferential female vee groove 69 that bears against a male vee groove 67 along the edge of the transverse rail 66 .
As in the spanned configuration, the cantilever support bracket 70 shown has mounting slots 72 . Adjustment of bolts through such slots 72 can permit adjustments to be made to the stance of the toolhead 12 . If it should be desired to make such stance adjustments dynamically, such as under computer control during operations, a motorized, sensor-equipped actuator can be interposed between the cantilever support bracket 70 and the toolhead 12 .
Switching from spanned to cantilever configuration can permit the end effector 40 to operate near a workpiece edge or in a region of excessive curvature or weaker underlying structural support, thereby extending the capability of the flexible rail machine tool 10 . It will be observed that the attachment hardware for the two configurations may differ, so that conversion from one to the other configuration may require different components in some embodiments, although use of the same components for both may be preferable in other embodiments.
FIG. 3 shows additional features of the flexible rail machine tool 10 . The end effector spindle 76 may in some embodiments be powered (C-axis motion) using belt feed 78 from a motor 80 . Advance of the end effector spindle 76 (Z-axis motion) is shown driven by a rotary actuator 82 using a toothed belt 84 from a toothed drive pulley 86 to a pair of toothed driven pulleys 88 , applying torque to drive screws and drive nuts (enclosed within uprights 90 ), and raising and lowering a transverse spindle support arm 92 .
FIGS. 4–7 show both the spanned rail 38 and the cantilever rail 56 for reference. Although typical embodiments may use one or the other, use of both may be preferable for some embodiments.
FIG. 4 is a side view showing the above features and the mechanism for tilt of the drive spindle 76 (A-axis motion). Tilt can be realized using a tilt actuator 94 , which is connected by a spherical bearing 96 to the end effector 40 . An arced rail 98 allows the spindle 76 to pivot substantially about the point of contact 100 with the workpiece.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing key elements in their operation orientation. In this view, the transverse (Y-axis) actuator 102 and one of the transverse rails 104 may be seen, along with parts of the two arced rails 98 and the associated tilt actuator 94 . The transverse rail 104 is attached to the toolhead 12 frame, the end units 106 and 108 and intermediate unit 110 of which are visible in part in this view.
FIG. 5 also shows more detail of the primary rail 22 with its rack 24 , spacing pins 26 , and vacuum cups 28 . A drive mechanism, which includes a motor and may, depending on embodiment details, include a gear reducer, an encoder, and motor drive electronics, is shown housed in a longitudinal drive housing 112 . A pinion gear is enclosed within a pinion gear shroud 114 . The drive housing 112 and pinion gear shroud 114 form an integrated assembly with a second primary rail roller support arm 116 .
FIG. 6 presents substantially the same view as FIG. 5 with more mounting apparatus omitted. In this view, the first primary rail roller support arm 34 and the second primary rail roller support arm 116 , as well as the third primary rail roller support arm 118 , may be seen, along with the primary rail drive coupling spring 120 that ties the three arms 34 , 116 , and 118 together. As noted, the first primary rail roller support arm 34 is coupled to the first side frame member 30 by a pivot 36 ; an equivalent pivot can be used to support the third primary rail roller support arm 118 . These two arms can carry the weight of the toolhead 12 , while the second primary rail roller support arm 116 couples the longitudinal axis force from the X-axis drive mechanism to the primary rail 22 .
A pitch plane of a rack—corresponding to the pitch line of a planar projection of a circular gear—is the effective plane through which the drive pinion acts in coupling motion between the two components of a rack and pinion. The neutral plane of a flexing object with thickness is a surface, ordinarily within the object, that does not change dimension in a direction of interest during flexure. This may, for example, be the midplane of a flexible slab formed of a material that is substantially uniform in composition in the direction of interest.
With proper fabrication, the pitch plane of the machined rack 24 may preferably lie on the neutral plane of the primary rail 22 . As a result, primary rail 22 flexure to conform to workpiece 14 (see FIG. 1 ) curvature can leave the length of the driven axis substantially unchanged, substantially eliminating this error term from position computations. Thus correlation between the angular position of the pinion gear and longitudinal position of the toolhead 12 on the workpiece 14 may be based on the known surface length of the workpiece 14 without a curvature correction.
Torsional limberness in the coupling spring 120 allows twist in the workpiece 14 to be accommodated through twist in the primary rail 22 with minimal torsional loading error on the end effector 40 . Since the primary rail 22 is used as a dimensional reference, the second rail 38 can conform to a portion of the workpiece surface that differs appreciably in orientation, with the reaction function of the second rail 38 substantially unaffected.
Alternative embodiments of coupling spring 120 are possible, including for example cables in tension, rods, and a cross-slot in the frame that couples to the second support arm 116 . Each such embodiment allows the X-axis force from the pinion to be coupled to the toolhead 12 .
FIG. 7 is a bottom view of a preferred embodiment of the flexible rail machine tool, in which again both the spanned and cantilevered rails are shown. In this view, first and second normalizing sensors 121 A and 121 B, respectively, are shown along with an end effector preload mechanism 122 . The normalizing sensors 121 A and 121 B can be used to detect whether the end effector spindle 76 (see FIG. 3 ) is oriented normal to the workpiece within an acceptable tolerance range. Assuming that workpiece 14 surfaces are curved essentially uniformly over a range such as the span between the two normalizing sensor 121 A and 121 B, having the displacement of the two sensors 121 A and 121 B approximately equal implies that they are meeting the workpiece 14 surface on either side of a point approximately normal to the end effector spindle 76 axis. This assumption is generally valid over a wide range of surfaces to be worked with machine tools. In use, a processor can accept measurements from the two sensors 121 A and 121 B and generate a correction function, directing the tilt (A-axis) actuator 94 (see FIG. 4 ) to adjust the end effector 40 angle for normality, that is, perpendicularity, to the workpiece. Y-axis compensation may be required to assure that holes are placed at the desired locations including the normality compensation; this correction can be incorporated into a position control processor algorithm.
A second axis of normality can be detected by adding another pair of sensors to measure B-axis error. With suitable transducer placement, one of the B-axis sensors can be sensor 121 A or sensor 121 B, with its measurement used a second time. Adding B-axis motion may require an additional bearing system and actuator.
The preload mechanism 122 can apply an initial force to the workpiece approximately equal to a total force to be applied during a machine process such as drilling. As tool force is subsequently applied, the preload 122 can be adjusted to keep the total force substantially constant throughout the tool cycle.
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of another embodiment showing a reaction foot 124 with a pneumatic actuator 126 to counter the force applied by the preload mechanism 122 during tool actuation. Although an embodiment of the flexible rail machine tool 10 is shown in FIGS. 1–7 using rail configurations with at least two sets of vacuum cups, it will be appreciated that it is likewise feasible either to use a reaction foot 124 attached to the toolhead 12 in place of a second rail or to use a second rail without vacuum cups to function as a nontranslating reaction element.
Although the flexible rail machine tool 10 is useful for aerospace manufacturing, it will be appreciated that it can also be used for manufacturing and construction in shipbuilding, civil engineering, and other industries. Likewise, the size of the tool disclosed herein is appropriate for aerospace manufacturing, but it will be appreciated that far larger tools may be appropriate for larger construction projects, while very small tools achieving proportional precision and autonomous operation may be desirable for miniature applications. Operation in hostile environments such as under water may similarly be a desirable feature of other embodiments of the invention. Attachment of the apparatus in space or other hard-vacuum environments and to rough or porous surfaces, as well as in other environments not suitable for vacuum use, may require recourse to mechanical clamps or fasteners, or to magnetic or eddy-current coupling devices.
The toolhead in the exemplary embodiment is shown configured as a drill. Adaptation of this toolhead to other functions is possible. For example, a drill with multiple bits can include automatic change of bits, whether to drill a variety of sizes of holes or to use several bits for a specified number of holes each, setting aside worn bits until resharpened or discarded. Similarly, tools may include, for example, gauges, fastener inserters, grinders, welders, adhesive applicators, heaters, curing lamps, pressure pads, ultrasonic testers, and any other tools that may be suitable for automated or remotely controlled use.
The many features and advantages of the invention are apparent from the detailed specification, and thus, it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such features and advantages of the invention which fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and variations will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation illustrated and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to that fall within the scope of the invention. | A flexible rail machine tool couples temporarily to a structure by vacuum cups and positions a tool head at any desired point over an area. The toolhead can perform operations such as drilling, bolt insertion, and acquisition of dimension data. The flexible rail can conform to surface curvature in one or more axes. Tool head perpendicularity to the structure can be sensed and adjusted as needed. The as-attached position of the rail may be compensated for through coordinate transformation, allowing holes, for example, to be placed with substantial precision. | 8 |
DESCRIPTION
This invention relates to the treatment and prevention of swine dysentery, and to products for use therein.
Swine dysentery (also known as vibrionic dysentery, bloody scours, or hemorrhagic dysentery) is an enteric disease primarily characterised by muco-hemorrhagig diarrhea with lesions usually restricted to the large intestine. The disease is worldwide and is a major disease problem among swine producers all over the world.
The earlier consensus was the Vibrio coli was the primary causative agent. Recent evidence suggests, however, that a spirochete, Treponema hyodysenteriae is involved with the disease and may in fact be the primary etiologic agent.
Currently, control measures are based on constant feeding of antibacterial agents with therapy based on use of high levels of these drugs. The drugs used include furazolidone, neomycin, oxytetracycline, tylosin, carbadox, virginiamycin and arsanilic acid. Unfortunately, these drugs give erratic results, even when used at abnormally high levels.
Accordingly there is a continuing need for new drugs of low toxicity and high potency to combat swine dysentery.
It has now been discovered that a substituted pyrazine of that formula: ##STR2## hereinafter referred to as "D-compound" is useful in veterinary therapy for the treatment and prophylaxis of swine dysentery. This compound selectively combats the swine dysentery-causing organisms without deleteriously affecting the balance of other desired organisms, e.g. in the internal biological system of swine, such as the intestinal flora.
The antibiotic substance D-aspergillic acid which has been isolated from cultures of Aspergillus flavus conform to the aforesaid formula.
In the method of the present invention, the D-Compound is administered to swine in an amount effective to combat dysentery. It can be advantageously incorporated in a swine feed-stock to provide a swine feed composition for combatting dysentery. It can be incorporated in the swine feed-stock generally at a level of from about 25 g/ton to about 500 g/ton. The preferred level, however, particularly in the absence of the disease, is about 100 to 200 g/ton for prophylaxis, advantageously for a period of 3 to 21 days. However, it there has been an outbreak of the disease, or if new animals whose history is not known have been introduced into a herd, the higher level of 200 to 500 g/ton is preferred until the health of the herd is assured. Generally, however, the prophylactic treatment is continued until the animals are ready for market. The D-Compound can also be administered by incorporation into drinking water provided for swine.
The D-Compound is useful for combatting swine dysentery-causing organisms, e.g. dysentery caused by Vibrio or Treponema organisms, or both. The D-Compound is of a low order of toxicity and is suitable for use by oral administration for prophylactic or therapeutic treatment of swine dysentery. It is not nitrogenic.
A swine feed-stock for oral administration of D-Compound according to this invention can be readily prepared by intimately admixing the D-Compound alone or as a premix with a conventional swine feed composition to provide a homogeneous feed product.
The term feed-stock means any food provided for the swine. Preferably the D-Compound is thoroughly mixed with the feed-stock so that it is uniformly dispersed throughout. However, it may also be sprinkled on the daily food supplies in the form of a powder or as pellets. Thus, the invention is not limited to any particular mode of administration.
The following Example illustrates the invention.
EXAMPLE
The D-Compound was tested against five strains of Vibrio cholerae at concentrations of 10, 30 and 100 micrograms per milliliter. The results are given in Table 1 below.
Tests were also run to see if the compound was effective against Vibrio cholerae El Tor Ogawa 6 in the presence of sewage. Sewage samples were obtained from the sewer system of the city of Modena, Italy. They were centrifuged to separate solids and the supernatant liquid was used in the tests. The results are given in Table 2.
At 10 mcg/ml of D, there was no growth of 3 of the organisms after 48 hours, and only marginal growth of the remaining two at 100 mcg/ml.
D was tested in vitro against Treponema hyodysenteriae by a known method. The minimum inhibitory concentration (the lowest concentration of compound in a dilution series where growth is inhibited) was 0.1 mcg/ml. The minimum bactericidal concentration (the lowest concentration of compound in which no viable treponemes are observed upon dilution and subculture from the broth onto blood agar plates) was greater than 0.1 mcg/ml but less than 1 mcg/ml.
The compound was tested for acute toxicity by several modes of administration in four species, namely mice, rat, guinea pig, and rabbit. The compound was found to be of a low order of toxicity. The results are given below in Tables 3, 4, 5 and 6.
In view of the favourable acute toxicity data, the compound was administered orally in sub-acute, but relatively large, doses to mice and rats for 15 days. Data were collected on the effects on death rate, weight, liver, and kidneys. The data are given in Tables 7 and 8.
In view of the favourable results on chronic toxicity, a teratogenic study was conducted with male and female mice and rats. The number of young delivered live at birth was comparable with controls. No malformations in either group were observed. The data are given in Table 10.
TABLE 1______________________________________Con- Effect on Various Strains of Vibrio Cholerae centra- Classical Classical El Tor El Tor El TorCom- tion Inaba Ogawa Ogawa Ogawa Inabapound μg/ml 35 41 6 8 4______________________________________D 100 - - ± - ± 30 - - - - ++ 10 - - ++ - ++______________________________________ - No growth after 48 hours at 37° C. ± Just noticeable growth + Evident growth but to a smaller extent than in untreated control experiments ++ Same degree of growth as in untreated control experiments.
TABLE 2______________________________________ Concentration Effect AfterSample of D 24 hours 48 hours 5 days______________________________________Control + Vibrion -- +++ +++ +++Sewage -- --- --- ---Sewage + Vibrion -- +++ +++ +++Sewage + Vibrion 5γ/ml --- --- ---Sewage + Vibrion 10γ/ml --- --- ---Sewage + Vibrion 20γ/ml --- --- ---Sewage + Vibrion 30γ/ml --- --- ---______________________________________
TABLE 3______________________________________ Acute Toxicity of D in female MiceDosage Dead/Treated Animals aftermg/kg 1 day 2 days 4 days 7 days______________________________________ Endoperitoneal Administration2000 6/6 6/61000 6/6 6/6 500 6/12 250 0/18 Esophageal Administration0 (x) 0/64000 1/12 1/122000 0/121000 0/12______________________________________ (x) By gastric lavage and receiving only the vehicle.
TABLE 4__________________________________________________________________________ Acute Toxicity of D in the Rat__________________________________________________________________________a. First Experiment Route of Dead/Treated Body weight (m ± SEM) StatisticalSex Administration mg/kg within 21 days in g. start Termination Significance(.sup..)__________________________________________________________________________M Esophageal 4000 0/4 234.5 ± 13.8 288.7 ± 13.8 t 0.05M Esophageal 0 (x) 1/4 233.7 ± 3.7 331.0 ± 0.5F Esophageal 4000 0/4 201.2 ± 4.2 238.2 ± 12.1 t 0.05F Esophageal 0 (x) 1/4 189.2 ± 3.9 230.0 ± 10.5M Endoperitoneal 500 1/4 234.0 ± 6.2 314.3 ± 10.3 t 0.05M Endoperitoneal 0 (x) 0/4 230.0 ± 5.7 324.0 ± 8.7F Endoperitoneal 500 2/4 206.2 ± 8.7 286.0 - 272.0 t 0.05F Endoperitoneal 0 (x) 0/4 207.5 ± 4.3 253.5 ± 7.7__________________________________________________________________________ (x) Only the vehicle was administered by the same route. (.sup..) Student's t test.b. Second ExperimentRoute of Dead/Treated Body weight (±SE)Sex Administration mg/kg within 7 days in g. start Termination__________________________________________________________________________M Esophageal 4000 0/4 222.5 ± 6.2 231.7 ± 15.7F Esophageal 4000 0/4 252.0 ± 16.6 253.5 ± 12.1M Intraperitoneal 500 2/4 226.2 ± 6.8 225.0 - 212F Intraperitoneal 500 0/4 232.5 ± 5.9 218.2 ± 7.0__________________________________________________________________________c. Cumulative Data Regardless of Animal SexRoute ofAdministration mg/kg Dead/Treated within 7 days__________________________________________________________________________Esophageal 0 (x) 0/8Esophageal 4000 0/16Intraperitoneal 0 (x) 0/8Intraperitoneal 500 4/16__________________________________________________________________________ (x) Only the vehicle was administered.
TABLE 5______________________________________Acute Toxicity of D in the Guinea PigBy Esophageal AdministrationDosagemg/kg Dead/Treated within 21 days______________________________________ 500 0/41000 1/42000 5/64000 6/60(x) 0/13______________________________________ (x) Only the vehicle was administered.
TABLE 6______________________________________Acute Toxicity of D in the RabbitBy Esophageal AdministrationDosage Dead/Treated Body Weight (m ± SE)mg/kg within 7 days in g. start Termination______________________________________2000 0/2.sup.(.) 2250 - 2150 2180 - 21401000 0/4 2037 ± 104.3 1922.5 ± 71.50(x) 0/4 2135 ± 75 2262 ± 215 500 0/2 2000 - 2100 1650 - 1550______________________________________ (x) Only the vehicle was administered. (.sup..) There were two dead out of seven treated animals, within 4 days.
TABLE 7______________________________________Subacute Toxicity of D in the MouseDaily Dose: 500 mg. CO-1 by gastric lavage for 15 days______________________________________ % Body Weight Fresh Organ-to-Body Dead/ Change Weight RatioOral Treatment Treated (m + SE) Liver Kidneys______________________________________Vehicle 0/10 20.4 ± 4.2 5.2 ± 0.2 1.4 ± 0.1CO-1, 0/10 -8.1 ± 3.9 5.9 ± 0.3 1.5 ± 0.1500 mg/kg/day______________________________________a. Mortality and Body WeightDaily Dose: 1 g/kg/day for 15 days Dead/ % BodyOral Treatment Treated Weight Change______________________________________Vehicle (H.sub.2 O) 0/12 24.54 ± 0.64CO-1 in H.sub.2 O, 1 g/kg/day 2/12 18.5 ± 0.75Vehicle (adraganth gum) (x) 0/12 25.04 ± 1.18CO-1 in adraganth gum 3/12 16.27 ± 1.31______________________________________b. SGOT and SGPT (24 hrs. after last dose) Units/mlOral Treatment SGOT SGPT______________________________________Vehicle:Water 116 4Adraganth gum 119 6CO-1 in water 124 9CO-1 in adraganth gum 132 10______________________________________
TABLE 8______________________________________Subacute Toxicity of D in Female Rats______________________________________Daily Dose: 22 g/kg/day of D by gastric lavage for 21 days Body Weight in g (m ± SE)Oral Treatment Dead/Treated Start Termination______________________________________Vehicle 2/6(x) 200.0 ± 4.1 233.2 .sub.5/8 5.1D, 2 g/kg/day 1/6(x) 204.1 ± 2.0 210.6 ± 9.6______________________________________ (x) Death caused by a mistake in esophagus incannalutation. This diagnosi was confirmed at the postmortem examination.
Daily Dose: 2 g/kg/day of D by gastric lavage for 21 daysOral Average Percent Weight of Fresh Organs (m + SE)Treatment Lung Liver Kidneys______________________________________Vehicle 0.85 ± 0.06 3.45 ± 0.07 0.95 ± 0.04(3 animals)D, 1.07 ± 0.09NS 4.54 ± 0.10NS(x) 1.04 ± 0.03NS(5 animals)______________________________________ (x) Death caused by a mistake in esophagus incannalutation. This diagnosi was confirmed at the post mortem examination.
In view of the favourable sub-acute toxicity, the chronic toxicity in female mice was studied. The results are given in Table 9.
TABLE 9______________________________________Chronic Toxicity in the Female MouseDaily treatment by gastric lavage for18 weeks (4.5 months)______________________________________a. Mortality and Body Weight Dead/ Body Weight in g(m ± SE)Oral Treatment Treated Start Termination______________________________________Vehicle 3/10 28.2 ± 1 33.0 ± 1.1D, 500 mg/kg/day 2/10 30.4 ± 0.9 30.0 ± 0.7D, 250 mg/kg/day 0/10 27.3 ± 0.5 26.7 ± 0.7______________________________________b. Urine excretion.Urine amount excreted by 6 animals in 6 hoursOral Treatment Urine Amount (ml)______________________________________Controls 6D, 500 mg/kg/day 7D, 250 mg/kg/day 6.5______________________________________c. Blood glucose. Mean values for 6 animals. Bloodsamples were taken 24 hours after the last doseOral treatment Blood Glucose______________________________________Controls 1.14D, 500 mg/kg/day 1.06D, 250 mg/kg/day 1.10______________________________________d. SGPT and SGOT. Mean values for 6 animals. Blood sampleswere taken 24 hours after the last dose Units/mlOral Treatment SGOT SGPT______________________________________Controls 125 5D, 500 mg/kg/day 159 6D, 250 mg/kg/day 118 5______________________________________Chronic Toxicity of D in the Female Mousee. Fresh Weights of OrgansOral Fresh Organ-to-Body-Weight RatioTreat- (m ± SE, 4 animals)ment Kidneys Heart Liver Lungs______________________________________Con- 0.938 ± 0.044 0.481 ± 0.055 4.57 ± 0.15 0.674 ± 0.044trolsD, 500mg/ 1.07 ± 0.04 0.47 ± 0.02 4.66 ± 0.91 1.011 ± 0.110kg/dayD, 250mg/ 0.87 ± 0.08 0.60 ± 0.08 4.57 ± 0.25 0.731 ± 0.035kg/day______________________________________
TABLE 10__________________________________________________________________________ Teratogenetic study__________________________________________________________________________a. Animal Species: Mouse, Male and female mice housed together for 10days.Oral treatment from 3rd day to 13th days. Pregnant/ No. of living Body Weight No. of Treated Foetuses per of Foetuses Foetuses withOral treatment Animals Delivery (m ± SE) in g (m ± SE) malformations__________________________________________________________________________D, 250 mg/kg/day 3/10(x) 10.3 ± 0.6 1.42 ± 0.05 0Controls 9/10 9.0 ± 0.9 1.46 ± 0.07 0__________________________________________________________________________ (x) On the basis of our wide experience, the above result might be casual The study should be repeated to determine whether CO1 actually prevents pregnancy.
b. Animal Species. Rat. Same experimental conditions as with the mouse. Pregnant/ No. of Living Body Weight No. of Treated Foetuses per of Foetuses Foetuses withOral Treatment Animals Delivery (m ± SE) in g (m ± SE) malformations__________________________________________________________________________D, 250 mg/kg/day 7/10 10.8 ± 0.86 7.08 ± 0.19 0Controls 6/10 11.3 ± 1.12 6.82 ± 0.40 0__________________________________________________________________________ | A substituted pyrazine having the formula ##STR1## is useful for treating and preventing swine dysentery. It may be administered to swine in an effective but non-toxic amount in the form of the drug per se, or a feed composition. Such feeds may be made with the aid of premixes containing the said compound. | 0 |
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to an absorbent body which is intended to form the absorbent element of an absorbent article, such as a diaper, an incontinence guard or a sanitary napkin, and includes a first absorbent layer which is based on cellulose fluff-pulp and which is intended to face towards the wearer in use, i.e to lie proximal to the wearer, and a second absorbent layer which is also based on cellulose fluff-pulp and which is intended to lie distal from the wearer in use, i.e. to face away from the wearer, and which has a high liquid-dispersion capability.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
An absorbent body, or pad, intended for absorbent articles such as disposable diapers, sanitary napkins and incontinence guards is normally formed of one or more layers of cellulose fluff-pulp and often contains so-called superabsorbents, which are polymers that are capable of absorbing several times their own weight of water or body liquid. The absorbent body may also include other constituents, for instance constituents which improve its liquid-dispersing properties or which increase its ability to hold together and its ability to resist deformation in use.
One serious problem, primarily encountered with diapers and incontinence guards which are intended to receive and absorb relatively large quantities of liquid, is that the articles often begin to leak before their total absorption capacity has been utilized to the full.
Although the use of superabsorbents in absorbent bodies will impart thereto a high absorption capacity and also improve their ability to retain the liquid absorbed, even when the absorbent body is subjected to external pressure forces, present-day superabsorbents have a low absorption rate. Since urination often results in the discharge of large quantities of liquid in the course of some few seconds, the absorbent body will often become temporarily saturated with liquid in local areas, such that further urine discharged by the wearer will leak from the absorbent body.
This premature leakage is, of course, highly irritating to the wearer and also to his/her medic.
Another problem encountered with absorbent sanitary articles of the aforedescribed kind is one of keeping the surface of the article which lies against the wearer in use as dry as possible during the whole of its use period and to prevent so-called rewetting, i.e. to prevent liquid that has already been absorbed being pressed back out of the absorbent pad and rewetting the wearer's skin or giving rise to leakage. The rewetting properties of an absorbent article are improved to some extent when the absorbent body includes superabsorbents which bind the absorbed liquid chemically, even when the article is subjected to external pressure, for instance when the user sits down. However, one difficulty in this regard is in constructing the absorbent body in a manner which will enable the liquid to spread within the absorbent body and reach the superabsorbent material.
Swedish Patent Application No. 9100274-1 describes an absorbent body which includes at least two different cellulose fluff-pulps, wherein the fibre structure of the first absorbent layer is comprised chiefly of a first type of fluff-pulp having an open fibre structure and a low liquid-dispersing capability and a critical bulk which exceeds 8 cm 3 /g at 2.5 kPa, whereas the fibre structure of the second absorbent layer is comprised chiefly of a second type of fluff-pulp having a critical bulk which is beneath 8 cm 3 /g at 2.5 kPa and having a higher liquid-dispersing capability than the fluff-pulp in the first absorbent layer.
As a result of its open fibre structure, the first absorbent layer is able to accommodate a large amount of liquid between its fibres and is therefore able to receive large quantities of liquid over a short period of time, i.e. has a high instantaneous liquid-absorption capability.
The second absorbent layer, which has a higher liquid-dispersing capability than the first absorbent layer, is able to drain liquid from the first layer and spread the liquid through the second layer.
It is also proposed that the second absorbent layer and possibly also the first absorbent layer shall include a superabsorbent material and it is suggested that this material is admixed essentially uniformly in the fluff-pulp within at least one region of the layer. In this way, there has been produced an absorbent body which has a high instantaneous absorption capacity and the ability to counteract rewetting of the wearer's skin by the liquid already absorbed.
Hitherto, an absorbent body in which superabsorbents have been admixed generally uniformly in the fluff-pulp and the absorbent body then compressed has normally been considered to provide the best absorption properties, see for instance EP-B-0 122 042.
SUMMARY AND OBJECTS
An object of the present invention is to provide an absorbent body of the kind defined in the introduction which possesses further improved absorption properties. This object has been achieved with an absorbent body in which the first layer includes a superabsorbent material of high gel-strength which is admixed essentially uniformly in the fluff-pulp within at least one area of the layer, and in which the second layer includes at least one layer of superabsorbent material.
By admixing a superabsorbent material of high gel-strength in the first layer of the absorbent body, the layer will retain its open fibre structure even when the superabsorbent becomes wet and swells. Thus, instead of expanding so as to block the pores of the capillary system when becoming wet, the superabsorbent will push the fibres apart as it expands, so that the pores in the capillary system will also expand. As a result, further liquid delivered to the absorbent body will be readily taken-up by the fibre structure in the first layer.
The superabsorbent material in the second layer of the absorbent body is applied in the form of a layer instead of in admixture with the fibres as in the case of the first layer. It has surprisingly been found that this results in improved liquid dispersion, improved coherency and improved absorption rate in the second layer. The superabsorbent material in the second layer will preferably also have a high gel-strength, so that optimum liquid-dispersion properties are obtained.
The rate of absorption of a cellulose body which has superabsorbent material mixed therein will be lower than a cellulose body which contains no superabsorbent. This is essential in order for the first layer to function as a liquid-receiving layer which is able to receive large quantities of liquid.
On the other hand, when a layer of superabsorbent material is placed between cellulose layers, the dispersion properties of the purely cellulose body are retained and the liquid is therefore able to reach the superabsorbent material distributed in the second layer more easily, this second layer functioning as a liquid-dispersion layer.
Further features of the invention and advantages afforded thereby will be evident from the depending Claims and from the following description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to exemplifying embodiments thereof and also with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a top view of a diaper as seen from the side which lies proximal to the wearer in use.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line II--II in FIG. 2.
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
The diaper illustrated in FIG. 1 is comprised of a liquid-permeable casing sheet 1, for instance a non-woven or perforated plastic film, a liquid-impermeable casing sheet 2, for instance a plastic film or a hydrophobic non-woven material, and an absorbent body 3 enclosed between the two layers 1, 2.
The diaper is intended to embrace the lower part of the wearer's trunk, in the manner of a pair of absorbent underpants. To this end, the diaper is provided with a back part 4 which, when the diaper is worn, will be located rearwardly on the wearer, a front part 5 which, when the diaper is worn, will be located forwardly on the wearer, and a narrower crotch part 6 which extends between the back part 4 and the front part 5 of the diaper and which, when the diaper is worn, is located in the crotch region of the wearer, between the thighs thereof. Fastener taps 7, 8 are provided on the side edges 9, 10 of the back part 4 extending in the longitudinal direction of the diaper, close to the rear waist edge 11 of said diaper, so as to enable the diaper to be secured in the desired pants-like form. When the diaper is to be used, the fastener tabs 7, 8 are fastened to the outer surface of the front diaper part 5, close to the forward waist edge 12, thereby holding the diaper together around the wearer's waist.
The diaper illustrated in FIG. 1 also includes pre-stretched elastic devices 13, 14 which extend over the diaper in a V-shaped pattern, with the apex of the V located on the forward waist edge 12 of the diaper. The elastic devices 13, 14 may consist of any suitable material, such as elastic foam, elastic bands or covered elastic threads. For the sake of convenience, the elastic devices 13, 14 have been shown in a stretched state. However, as soon as the tension is removed, the elastic devices will contract and therewith form elastic leg openings on the diaper.
The absorbent body 3 is comprised of a number of mutually different layers. Nearest to the liquid-permeable casing sheet 1 is a thin cellulose fluff-pulp layer 15 of high critical bulk, large pore volume and low liquid-dispersion ability. By critical bulk is meant the bulk at which a cellulose body will neither collapse nor expand when becoming wet. A cellulose fluff-pulp of high critical bulk will retain an open structure of large pore volume even when wet.
Seen in a direction towards the liquid-impermeable casing sheet 2, there then follows a first absorbent layer 16 which is comprised of cellulose fluff-pulp of large pore volume, high wet resiliency and low liquid-dispersion ability, and a second absorbent layer 17 comprised of cellulose fluff-pulp of low pore volume, low wet resiliency and high liquid-dispersion ability. Both absorbent layers also include superabsorbent material.
The cellulose fluff-pulp layer 15 lying closest to the liquid-permeable casing layer 1, and also the second absorbent layer 17 have a T-configuration with the cross-member of the T being located at the front diaper part 5. The first absorbent layer 16, on the other hand, has an oval shape and is located generally in the crotch part 6 of the diaper, around the so-called wetting point.
It will be understood that the illustrated and described diaper is merely intended to exemplify the invention and shall not be considered to limit the scope of the invention. For instance, the shape of the diaper and its construction in other respects may be varied. Similarly, the first absorbent layer 16 may full cover the second absorbent layer. Furthermore, the thin cellulose fluff-pulp layer 15 located nearest the liquid-permeable casing layer 1 can be omitted.
The wetting point is that area of the diaper surface onto which the discharged body liquid first comes into contact. As will be understood, it is not possible in practice to establish any specific point or area in this regard, although it can be generally accepted that the body liquid will be delivered to the diaper within a given, limited area thereof. In general, this area is displaced slightly towards the front diaper part, in the case of both men and women wearers. Since the dispersion of the liquid in the first absorbent layer 16 is only slight, it is sufficient for this layer to cover solely the area of the diaper in which wetting is most likely to occur.
The first absorbent layer 16 thus functions as a receiving area for discharged body liquid. Because the fibre structure in this layer is porous, the liquid is able to quickly penetrate into the layer 16 and be collected thereby.
A chemi-thermo mechanical cellulose fluff-pulp, so-called CTMP, has generally a greater pore volume, higher wet-stability and lower liquid-dispersing ability than a chemically manufactured fluff-pulp. The fact that the fluff-pulp has a large pore volume signifies that the capillaries between the fibres are coarse, which is naturally one reason why the liquid-dispersing ability is low, since this ability reduces with increasing capillary sizes. The liquid-dispersing ability of the fluff-pulp and its affinity to liquid is also due to the fact that the wood substances that remain in the fluff-pulp impart to the fibres of CTMP-pulp other surface properties than the fibres of chemical pulps.
One reason for the high wet-stability of the CTMP-pulps is because they contain relatively thick or coarse fibres having a fibre weight between 180 and 600 mg/km. Furthermore, CTMP-pulp contains lignin, which functions as a cellulose-fibre stiffening element. Since lignin retains its structure even when wet, fibres which have a high lignin content are relatively rigid, even in a wet state. Consequently, a fibre layer which is comprised substantially of such fibres will have good wet-stability and a high critical bulk, above 8 cm 3 /g at 2.5 kPa.
Consequently, CTMP fluff-pulp is suitable for use in the first absorbent layer 16. This layer may consist entirely, or at least to a substantial part, of CTMP fluff-pulp or some other fluff-pulp which has similar properties, e.g. Southern pine. It is also conceivable to use chemical pulp in the first absorbent layer 16, despite the high liquid-dispersing capacity of the chemical pulp, since this capacity is lowered when superabsorbent material is admixed with the pulp. Naturally, absorbent materials other than fluff-pulp are conceivable, such as synthetic fibres or mixtures of synthetic fibres and fluff-pulp.
The first absorbent layer 16 contains between 2 and 30%, preferably between 2 and 15%, superabsorbent 18, calculated on the total dry weight of the layer in that area in which the superabsorbent is mixed. The superabsorbent is distributed generally uniformly in the layer, within at least one area or region thereof, and is intended to absorb and to bind any liquid that remains in the layer, even after the layer has been drained by the second absorbent layer 17. Because the first absorbent layer 16 includes superabsorbents, there is obtained a very dry surface, since the fibre interspaces in the layer are emptied of liquid practically completely.
As before mentioned, the superabsorbent 18 in the first absorbent layer shall have a high gel-strength, so that the layer will retain an open fibre structure even when becoming wet.
The second absorbent layer 17 also contains superabsorbent material, in this case in the form of one or more layers 20 of flakes, fibres, granules, powder or the like. This layer 20 extends either over the whole of the absorbent layer 17 or is restricted to at least one area thereof. This area 19 may, for instance, be slightly larger than the first absorbent layer 16 and, similar to said layer, may be limited essentially to the crotch part of the diaper.
The proportion of superabsorbent included in the second absorbent layer 17 will preferably be between 2 and 60%, preferably between 10 and 50%, calculated on the total dry weight of the layer.
The superabsorbent in the second absorbent layer 17 will preferably have a high gel-strength, i.e. has the ability to swell substantially unaffected by normal occurring pressure forces, so as not to block and impede dispersion of the liquid. Characteristic of these superabsorbents is that they have a high degree of cross-linking which renders them more difficult to compress in comparison with a gel that has a lower degree of cross-linking.
Other important properties of the superabsorbents suitable for use with the present invention are high absorbency under pressure and a high absorption rate.
The fluff-pulp in at least the layer 17a of the second absorbent layer 17 which is proximal to, or faces towards, the first absorbent layer 16 will preferably be comprised substantially of fluff-pulp or some other absorbent material having a high liquid-dispersion capability. Chemically produced fluff-pulps generally have good liquid-dispersing capability. Since chemical fluff-pulps are chiefly comprised of solely cellulose material, the fine fibres have a weight of 140-190 mg/km, a low degree of stiffness and low wet-stability, and a critical bulk beneath 8 cm 3 /g at 2.5 kPa. A fibre structure which is comprised chiefly of chemically produced cellulose fluff-pulp will have a large number of fibres per unit volume, which provides a dense structure with fine capillaries. When such a fibre structure becomes wet, the fibre structure collapses because of the low wet-rigidity of the fibres and forms a structure which has a relatively low absorption capacity but a high liquid-dispersing capacity. At least 60% of the layer 17a may comprise a chemical fluff-pulp.
Because, in accordance with the preferred embodiment, there is a difference in capillary size between the fluff-pulps in the first absorbent layer 16 and the fluff-pulp layer 17a of the second absorbent layer 17, said layer 17a lying proximal to the first absorbent layer 16, liquid is actively transported from the layer 16 to the layer 17, since the capillary forces constantly act to transport liquid in a direction away from the coarser capillaries to the finer capillaries. These capillary differences also counteract rewetting of the skin by liquid that has already been absorbed in the second absorbent layer 17.
Thus, discharged body liquid is first collected in the first absorbent layer 16, which functions as a buffer or reservoir, this layer being successively drained as the second absorbent layer 17 absorbs and disperses liquid.
The second fluff-pulp layer 17b in the second absorbent layer 17 may consist of a chosen fluff-pulp, for instance CTMP-pulp or chemical pulp.
When forming the second absorbent layer 17, there is preferably used a suction drum whose outer cylindrical surface is provided with forming recesses. The drum interior is placed under vacuum conditions and the bottom surfaces of the forming recesses have a sieve-like configuration. The second absorbent layer 17 is formed in three stages. In a first stage, airborne pulp fibres are delivered to the forming recesses and the resultant layer is compressed to some extent by the vacuum prevailing in the drum. In a second step, superabsorbent material is strewn over the pulp layer. The vacuum is discontinued in this second stage, so that the pulp fibres will loosen from one another to some extent and therewith allow the superabsorbent particles to penetrate slightly in between the fibres. This results in a better bond between pulp layer and superabsorbent layer. In a third stage, a layer of pulp is formed over the layer of superabsorbent and the absorbent layer 17 is compressed to some extent with the aid of a vacuum, prior to said layer being placed together with the first absorbent layer 16, whereafter the layers are finally compressed.
Comparison tests have been carried out between an inventive absorbent body and an absorbent body in which the superabsorbent was mixed generally homogeneously with the fluff-pulp fibres in both absorbent layers.
EXAMPLE 1
Rewetting
Rewetting was tested for two fluff-bodies A and B, each comprised of two absorbent layers, an upper layer comprised of a softwood-type CTMP-pulp and a lower layer comprised of chemical softwood pulp. The upper absorbent layer of body A had a surface weight of 350 g/m 2 and contained 1.2 g superabsorbent which was mixed generally homogeneously with the fluff-pulp fibres. The lower absorbent layer of body A was comprised of two fluff-pulp layers, each having a surface weight of 350 g/m 2 , and an intermediate layer of 4.8 g superabsorbent of high gel-strength.
The upper absorbent layer of the body B had a surface weight of 400 g/m 2 and contained 1.2 g superabsorbent of the same type used in body A. This superabsorbent was mixed generally homogeneously with the fluff-pulp fibres. The lower absorbent layer of body B had a surface weight of 700 g/m 2 and contained 4.8 g superabsorbent of the same type used in body A. The superabsorbent was mixed generally homogeneously with the fluff-pulp fibres.
The test bodies were compressed to a bulk of 7 cm 3 /g.
Tests were also carried out on two other fluff-pulp bodies C and D which were constructed in a manner corresponding to bodies A and B, but with the difference that the fluff-pulp in the lower absorbent layer also comprised CTMP softwood pulp.
3*28 ml of sample liquid (0.9% NaCl solution) were poured onto the wetting point through a pipe at intervals of 20 and 40 minutes respectively. Filter paper was placed over the wetting point and loaded with a weight of 1.1 kg (2.8 kPa) for 15 seconds. The filter papers were weighed before and after being subjected to load and rewetting was recorded.
The results are shown in the following Table 1.
TABLE 1______________________________________Sample Pulp Superabsorbent(g) upper/ applied in upper/body lower core lower core Rewetting______________________________________A CTMP/CP mix/layer 1.3B CTMP/CP mix/mix 1.5C CTMP/CTMP mix/layer 5.1D CTMP/CTMP mix/mix 9.4______________________________________
EXAMPLE 2
A comparison test was also carried out with respect to the second absorbent layer 17. This comparison was made between test bodies in which pulp fibres and superabsorbent particles were mixed essentially homogeneously with one another and in which the superabsorbent particles were applied in a layer as described in the aforegoing in accordance with the invention. The test bodies weighed 14 g, excluding superabsorbent. The pulp used was a chemical softwood pulp and the superabsorbent was of the kind which exhibits a high gel-strength. All test bodies had a bulk of 12 cm 3 /g.
Instantaneous absorption, rewetting, horizontal liquid dispersion and coherency were measured in respect of test bodies that contained 10 or 30% superabsorbent either mixed essentially homogeneously in the pulp or placed in layers.
The analyses were carried out in the following manner.
Instantaneous Absorption
Four quantities of liquid (0.9% NaCl solution), each of 28 ml, were delivered to the bodies at 20-minute intervals. The time taken for all liquid to be absorbed was measured (visual observation). The results obtained after the last delivery are shown in Table 2.
TABLE 2______________________________________Superabsorbent (%)(s) Mix/Layer Instantaneous Abs.______________________________________0 -- 34.010 mix 10.110 layer 7.130 mix 7.530 layer 5.5______________________________________
Rewetting
Rewetting tests were carried out in respect of test bodies corresponding to the test bodies used in the instantaneous absorption test. The tests were carried out in a manner corresponding to the method applied in the rewetting test described in Example 1. The results are shown in Table 3.
TABLE 3______________________________________Superabsorbent (%) Mix/Layer Rewetting (g)______________________________________0 -- 11.410 mix 9.310 layer 4.730 mix 2.730 layer 2.8______________________________________
These results show that with 10% superabsorbents, a much lower rewetting tendency is obtained with the superabsorbents placed in layers in comparison with superabsorbents that are mixed with the pulp fibres. With 30% superabsorbents, the result obtained with layered superabsorbents was essentially the same as that obtained with superabsorbents that were mixed with the pulp fibres.
Horizontal Dispersion
The dispersion test was carried out with test bodies that corresponded to the above-mentioned. The test were carried out in the following manner: 3*28 ml test liquid (0.9% NaCl solution) were poured through a pipe onto the wetting point at 20-minute intervals. The horizontal dispersion was measured in cm after 60 min. from the time of the first addition.
The results are shown in the following Table 4.
TABLE 4______________________________________ Horizontal DispersionSuperabsorbent (%) Mix/Layer (cm)______________________________________0 -- 2810 mix 23.310 layer 27.530 mix 12.530 layer 19.3______________________________________
The results show a high liquid dispersion in those test bodies in which the superabsorbents were laid in layers in comparison with the test bodies in which the superabsorbents were mixed with the pulp fibres. This enables the liquid to reach a large proportion of the superabsorbent particles distributed in the absorbent body.
Retentiveness
The retentiveness of test bodies corresponding to those used in the above tests was measured, i.e. the amount of liquid that respective test bodies were able to retain when subjected to load. The tests were carried out in the following manner: The test bodies were weighed and then submerged in test liquid for 5 minutes, after which they were removed from the liquid. The test bodies were then subjected to a load of 10 kPa for 1 minute and then weighed. The liquid retentiveness of the bodies was determined as: (m 2 -m 1 )/m 1 (g/g), where
m 1 =pulp dry test
m 2 =pulp wet test
The results are shown in Table 5.
TABLE 5______________________________________Superabsorbent (%) Mix/Layer Retentiveness /g/g)______________________________________0 -- 7.210 mix 8.810 layer 9.130 mix 11.830 layer 13.4______________________________________
The results show a higher degree of retentiveness in those test bodies in which the superabsorbents were present in layers than those test bodies in which the superabsorbents were mixed with the pulp fibres.
In summary, it can be established that the tests carried out show improved absorption properties in respect of test bodies corresponding to the inventive second absorbent layer in which the superabsorbents were placed in a layer between layers of pulp fibres. In combination with an upper absorbent layer having an open fibre structure and low liquid dispersion ability and which therewith is able to receive large quantities of liquid over a short period of time, an absorbent body which possesses very good absorption properties has been produced in accordance with the invention. | An absorbent body intended to form the absorbent element of an absorbent article, such as a diaper, an incontinence guard or a sanitary napkin, includes a first fibre-based absorbent layer which lies proximal to the wearer in use, and a second, fibre-based absorbent layer which is intended to lie distal from the wearer in use, this second layer having a high liquid-dispersing ability. An absorbent body exhibiting particularly good absorption properties has been obtained by including in the first layer (16) a superabsorbent material (18) of high gel-strength and by mixing this superabsorbent essentially uniformly in the fibre material within at least one area of the layer, and by including between the fibre layers (17a, 17b) of the second layer (17) a layer (20) of superabsorbent material. | 0 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to a concrete finishing tool, more specifically, to a bull float handle attachment device that allows for the pivotable attachment of an elongated handle to a bull float plate which can be rotated by the user to tilt the bull float plate on one edge or to change the pitch of the plate during its usage and application.
Bull floats are used in the construction industry by laborers and concrete finishers to smooth and finish slabs or sections of wet concrete. Numerous styles of concrete floats and other tools for finishing concrete have been available for sometime. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,952,398 to Tullis discloses a road tool in the nature of a box channel having an elongated handle. U.S. Pat. No. 3,162,881 to Negwer shows a type of adjustable bull float. U.S. Pat. No. 3,090,984 to Dunnigan provides a type of float used to finish plaster applied overhead. U.S. Pat. No. 3,082,460 to Haivala provides a concrete working tool having a channel member and an elongated handle connected thereto.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,397,581 to Jarvis provides an improvement to a bull float assembly having a groover connectable with the bull float. U.S. Pat. No. 5,115,536 also to Jarvis, provides the improvement in a bull float comprising an adjustable handle mounting bracket which allows adjustment of the handle in various angles relative to the plate portion of the bull float assembly.
The prior art bull float assemblies have various drawbacks. For example, when finishing or smoothing a broad expanse of wet concrete, it may be desirable to have one or more laborers or concrete finishers on each side of the poured slab. One laborer can work the float across the concrete surface and then pass the long handle across to his counterpart so the other laborer can work the float across the other half of the wet slab. Unless the handle is pivotable, the flat surface of the float must be tilted putting one edge on the concrete surface thereby cause damage to the previously finished surface and require more time and labor to complete the job.
There are times, however, in finishing concrete, that it may be desirable to tilt the plate portion of the bull float on edge and draw the edge of the plate, rather than the entire flat surface of the float, across the wet concrete to impart a different texture or finish to the concrete. Using the edge also facilitates the finishing process at an extreme end or border of a poured slab. With most prior art bull float assemblies, it is necessary to apply downward pressure on the handle, using the handle as a lever, to tilt the float plate on edge so as to lift the flat surface of the plate off the wet concrete. This maneuver imparts unwanted downward pressure on the edge of the float plate resulting in a groove or crease in the wet concrete that must be repaired.
Furthermore, it is often desirable to change the angle of the bull float plate relative to the handle (e.g. the "pitch") so that the laborer can finish a slab that is not flat. With many conventional bull float assemblies, the laborer must either lift the handle to impart the proper pitch or bend down and lower the handle to the bull float. It is desirable, therefore, to have a bull float apparatus wherein the pitch of the bull float plate can be varied while the relative angle of the handle to the float remains the same so that the laborer can maintain a convenient hip and foot level without bending or lifting.
Some prior art bull float assemblies employ a pair of opposed chains wrapped helically around the lower end of the elongated handle and around the neck of the handle mounting bracket so that a rotational force of the handle imparts a pivotal force on the float plate so that twisting the handle will raise the float plate up on an edge and change the pitch without changing the angle of the handle to the float. Limited rotation in an opposite direction allows the float to return to a flat position. One such bull float assembly is known as the Hustler® by Goldblatt®.
The above described device that allows for the tilting of the float by applying torque to the handle employing the helical chain arrangement has obvious drawbacks. The exposed chains allow the accumulation of wet concrete in the chainlinks which may interfere with its function and is very difficult to clean. Furthermore, the chains prevent complete pivoting of the handle relative to the float plate so that the handle cannot be pivoted from one side of the plate to the other side of the plate and is thus inconvenient to use on a broad expansive wet concrete in the manner previously described.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A principal object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for connecting an elongated handle to a bull float that allows the tilting of the float plate to change pitch by rotating the handle.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for connecting an elongated handle to a bull float plate in which the means for translating the torque on the handle to a tilting force on the float plate is a bevel gear assembly.
Still a further object of the invention is to provide a device for connecting an elongated handle to a bull float plate in which the bevel gear assembly is housed in a protective body.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a device for connecting an elongated handle to a bull float plate which allows for the pivoting of the handle to each side of the plate in an arc of at least 180°.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a device for connecting an elongated handle to a bull float plate wherein the handle can be tightly secured at any angle relative to the float.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for attaching an elongated handle to a bull float plate that will accommodate a handle of varying lengths.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a device for connecting an elongated handle to a bull float plate which is economical to manufacture, light in weight, durable, applicable to any length of bull float plate, and is well suited for its intended purpose.
Briefly stated, a device for connecting an elongated handle to a bull float plate having a body, a bracket means pivotably connected to the body for removably attaching the body to a bull float plate, a rotatable connector means to removably connect one end of the elongated handle to the body attached to the body on a side opposite the bull float plate, and a bevel gear assembly housed within the body, cooperatively connecting the handle connector means to the bracket means disposed to translate the rotational movement of the handle connector means into a pivotal movement of the bracket means thereby effecting the pivotal movement of the float plate to change the pitch of the plate.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the bull float and its functional mechanism disclosing how the handle, shown in phantom line, can be pivoted to vary the pitch of its plate;
FIG. 2 provides an isometric view, from an opposite angle, showing how the handle can be pivoted in an opposite direction, and provide a variation in the pitch of its plate;
FIG. 3 provides an exploded view of the bull float mechanically actuated connected device;
FIG. 4 is a top view of the connecting device and operating gears of the bull float assembly, with its shroud removed;
FIG. 5 is a right side view of the bull float as shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 6 is a right side view, with the shroud removed, showing how turning of the handle can cause the plate of the bull float to tilt, to its fullest extent; and
FIG. 7 provides a view of the bull float as applied flush to the concrete surface during its usage and application for functioning as means for smoothing the wet concrete surface.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to the drawings, and in particular referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a bull float assembly 1 is shown, having the connecting device of the present invention shown generally at 3 mounted thereon to pivotably attach an elongated handle 5, shown in phantom, to the assembly. It should be noted that the elongated handle may have a length of a few feet up to as many as ten to fifteen feet. In addition, if additional sections of handle lengths are required, additional segments of the handle may be engaged together, in a manner as known in the art, to supplement the length of the handle, and determine the distance the worker may locate from the bull float during its manipulation. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the connector device 3 of the present invention allows pivoting of handle 5 to either side of bull float assembly 1, for a full 180° pivot, so that the bull float can be manipulated from either side.
Bull float assembly 1 has a generally elongated plate 4, having a generally planar top surface 6 and generally flat bottom surface 11. Top surface 6 has two opposed, raised right-angle integral members 8 located centrally on surface 6 and extending horizontally the entire length thereof forming a generally inverted T-shaped channel 7 between members 8 to slidingly accept the connector device as will be explained below. Plate 4, as stated above, has a generally flat bottom surface 11 (FIGS. 6, 7) for contacting and smoothly finishing a surface of wet concrete. Although plate 4 is shown in the illustrations as generally flat, plate 4 can be formed slightly convexed so as to prevent the development of any vacuum or suction when bottom surface 11 is gliding over wet concrete. It should be noted that plate 2 can be formed of any useful configuration, without departing from the scope of this invention. For example, the bull float plate could have front or back raised edges or the lower surface could have a groover formed therein. The novelty of the present invention lies in the unique connecting device 3 that may be used with any number of designs of bull float plates without departing from the scope of the invention.
The various operating components of the connector device 3 of the present invention are best illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 5. Device 3 is comprised of a generally squared C-shaped housing 13 having a removable complimentary generally squared C-shaped shroud 15. One side of housing 13 has a plurality of grooves 16 formed therein to accommodate the nip of a set screw 65 as will be explained below. When assembled, housing 13 and complimentary shroud 15 define an interior space 19 (FIG. 6). Housing 13 has pivot rod holes 20 formed in each opposed wall. Various fastening bolts 21 and complimentary nuts extend through holes 18 in housing 13 and shroud 15 to secure shroud 15 to housing 13. Housing 13 and shroud 15 can be made of magnesium, aluminum or a magnesium/aluminum alloy or any other appropriate lightweight but durable material. It should be noted that any securing means may be used in place of the nut and bolt assembly, but, preferably a securing means should be used that allows the disassembly of the housing and shroud so as to allow access to space 19 and the components therein for maintenance or repair.
Two separate attachment means are operatively connected to housing 13, one such handle connector means is provided to pivotably attach an elongated handle to the housing and the other bracket means is provided to attach a bull float to the housing and thereby connect the bull float to the elongated handle as will now be described.
The handle connector means is comprised of a hollow sheath 24 defining a longitudinal bore 25. Bushing 27 and dowel 29 are located within one end of horizontal bore 25. Dowel 29 having flats 30 and threaded hole 31 on one end thereof seats in bore 26 of bushing 27 with hole 36 aligning with opposed holes 32 and extends through opening 14 formed in boss 17 on the upper surface of housing 13, through spacer 38 through opening 34 with flats 35 formed thereon in gear 33. Dowel 29 is attached to generally C-shaped pivot member 37 by threaded screw 41 which engages threaded hole 31 or by other appropriate attachment means. It should be noted that if a screw assembly is used to attach pivot member 37 to dowel 29, the screw or other attachment means should enter a hole (not shown) in pivot member 37 and be recessed therein so as to not interfere with the pivotal movement of member 37.
Sheath 25, as well as bushing 27, are secured to dowel 29 and thus to housing 13 by pin pivot 39 which extends through holes 28, 20, 32 and 36 of sheath 24, housing 13, bushing 27 and dowel 29 respectively. A handle locking means 43 formed from an essentially V-shaped piece of spring steel or similar material having arms 45 and 47 biased apart, is inserted into bore 25 so that rounded buttons 49 which can be integral with or attached to the ends of arms 45 and 47 are biased outward through opposed holes 23 in sheath 25. A handle, as shown at 5, having a pair of opposed holes 10 and an internal bore 25 formed therein is sized to accept sheath 24 into bore 25. When handle 5 is slid down over sheath 24, buttons 49 are compressed against the bias force exerted by arms 45 and 47 and are pressed into holes 23 to allow downward movement of handle 5 over the sheath. Holes 10 are positioned over buttons 49 so the buttons are biased outward through holes 10 to secure handle 5 in position. Likewise, to remove handle 5, the user depresses buttons 49 forcing them out of holes 10 until handle 5 is released for removal. The various components of the handle connector means just described, can be fashioned from magnesium, aluminum, or a magnesium/aluminum alloy, or any other light weight, durable material unless otherwise noted.
The bracket means for attaching the bull float plate to the housing is best illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 7. Bracket 51 has a generally flat base portion 53 with holes 55 formed therein and two opposed bracket arms 57 and 59 at right angles to lower portion 53. Bracket arm 59 has a hole 63 formed therein and bracket arm 57 has a flattened hole 61 at the upper end therethrough. Bracket arm 59 has a boss 60 with threaded hole 62 formed therethrough to accept threaded set screw 65. Pivot rod 67, with flats 69 at one end, engages flattened hole 74 in bevel gear 75 and extends through spacer 76 so that flats 69 engage flattened hole 61 in bracket arm 57. The opposite end of pivot rod 67 extends through hole 63 in bracket arm 59. Cotter pins 77 and 79 extend through holes 71 and 73 in each end of rod 67 to prevent lateral movement and to keep the assembly in place. As illustrated in FIG. 3, gear 33 engages gear 75 within space 19 in a conventional bevel gear arrangement with a one-to-one gear ratio.
A square headed bolt 81 with associated nut 83 extends up through hole 52 in bottom bracket 53 and square headed bolt 85 with associated nut 85 extends up through hole 56 in the opposite end of lower bracket section 53. The heads of square head bolts 81 and 85 are designed to slidingly engage channel 7 in plate 4 so that nuts 83 and 87 can be tightened drawing bolts 81 and 85 tight against right angle members 8 to secure the bracket assembly to plate 4. It should be noted, that in instances where plate 4 is exceptionally long, more than one device 3 can be employed in the channel 7 so, for example, two handle assemblies can be mounted on one long bull float plate. Moreover, the unique design allows the connector to be positioned at any appropriate position on the bull float plate. The various components of the bracket means, unless otherwise designated, can be made from magnesium, aluminum, magnesium/aluminum alloy or any other appropriate light-weight, durable material.
FIGS. 5 to 7 illustrate the relationship of the above described elements of the unique handle connector device in use. FIG. 4 illustrates plate 4 engaging a flat surface of wet concrete shown generally at C. Often, the laborer wishes to change the pitch of plate 4 as he works it across concrete, for example, to work with the edge as shown in FIGS. 6 or to work on an incline as shown in FIG. 7, without bending or lifting to change the angle of handle 5. With the present invention, rotation of handle 5 by the user causes a rotation of dowel 29. Flats 30 on dowel 29 engage the flats 35 in opening 34 in gear 33, and gear 33 thus rotates as shown by arrow 90. Gear 33 engages gear 75 causing gear 75 to turn in the direction of arrow 92. Flattened opening 74 of gear 75 engages the flat of rod 67 and flat 69 of rod 67 engages the flattened hole 61 in bracket arm 57, and the rotational movement of gear 75 is imparted to rod 67 and thus to the bracket 51 through arm 67 thereby pivoting bracket 51 as well as the attached plate 4, as shown to its fullest extent in FIGS. 6 and 7. Any degree of pivot, even so slight, can be attained. The user can stand back from the bull float, and, with a simple rotation of the handle, tip the bull float plate on an edge as shown as E or change the pitch as shown in FIG. 7 without having to change the angle of the handle relative to the plate. This allows the user to maintain the handle in a comfortable and constant working position.
Referring again to FIGS. 1 and 2, handle 5 can be pivoted at least 180° from one side of plate 4 to the other. Pivot member 37 and housing 13, with handle 5 pivotally attached as previously described on pivot rod 67. While rod 67 remains stationary with flats 69 secure in flatten hole 61 in bracket arm 57.
To lock the assembly in a position with handle 5 in one desired angle relative to plate 4, set screw 65 can be tightened until it engages an appropriate groove 16 on the side of housing 13 thereby releaseably locking the housing 13 and bracket 51 in place in any chosen angular relationship.
Variations or modifications to the subject matter of this invention may occur to those skilled in the art upon reviewing the subject matter of this disclosure. Such variations or modifications, if within the spirit of this invention, are intended to be encompassed within the scope of any claims to patent protection issuing upon this development. The description of the preferred embodiment set forth herein and as depicted in the drawings, are provided for illustrative purposes only. | A device for connecting an elongated handle to a bull float plate having a hollow body formed from four opposed walls, a bracket pivotally connected to the body for attaching the body to the top side of a bull float, a rotatable connector to removably attach an elongated handle on the body opposite the bracket, and a bevel gear assembly within the body cooperatively connecting the connector and bracket and disposed to translate the rotational movement of the handle connector into pivotable movement of the bracket thereby effecting the slight pivotal movement of the bull float and its plate. | 4 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention generally relates to residential furnace diagnostic systems. More particularly, the invention pertains to a method for measuring, storing, reporting and analyzing furnace diagnostic information as well as the electronic circuitry and software capable of implementing such method.
[0002] The complexity of modern heating systems has complicated the diagnosis and repair of faults from which such systems may suffer. Misdiagnosis and the replacement of the wrong components is both expensive and time consuming and can pose a substantial nuisance to all involved. On the one hand, the homeowner is subjected to a continued malfunction of the heating system and must accommodate repetitive service calls. On the other hand, the service provider must expend time and labor to repeatedly send personnel into the field to address the problem while the furnace manufacturer may be called upon to supply replacements for components that are in fact fault free and fully operational.
[0003] Some progress has previously been made to facilitate a more comprehensive analytical approach to the operation of furnace systems and to thereby allow problems to be more quickly and efficiently diagnosed and the underlying faults to be correctly identified. This has included both the modification of furnace configurations to actively accommodate the monitoring of various functions as well as the development of external analytical tools that are capable of probing the operation of existing furnace systems. However, none of the heretofore known approaches have provided an adequately comprehensive system that exploits all of the tools that are currently available to thereby allow problems to be identified as quickly and accurately as possible.
[0004] In certain previously known systems, monitoring and diagnostic systems have been integrated within a furnace to thereby provide for a data collection and memory capability. Operating data, including malfunctions are logged and can be accessed by a service technician using a portable, hardwired data reading unit.
[0005] Other systems have been devised wherein an integrated electronic furnace control arrangement incorporates a self test feature which shuts down the furnace in the event of any one of a number of possible sensed faults. This system tests furnace sensors for false indications both while the sensor should be detecting a particular burner parameter as well as when the sensor should not be sensing that parameter and in the event of a discrepancy, performs a safety interrupt and lockout command to shut down the furnace. Additional features that may be present include a multipurpose display for selectively showing component indicative failure codes, temperature setback schedules, time of day, and day of the week.
[0006] Systems have been described that incorporate a direct ignition gas burner control system using a microcomputer and related circuitry for controlling the energizing of the ignitor and valves and for numerous checks on the integrity of the system components. Such systems may include an ignition control processor which transmits coded data signals to a portable display module via a hard-wire conduit connection. The portable display module contains a processor to process the signals received from the ignition control processor and to control a display device to display selected operating modes and last known failure conditions in human-readable form. Residence appliance management and communication systems are also known that include an interface module installed on each home appliance. In the case of the furnace, the interface module interfaces with the furnace microprocessor and reports furnace component status and failures to a central controller.
[0007] However, while such systems aid in the diagnosis of certain faults a furnace may suffer from, none of the systems that have previously been described enable a technician to enjoy the full benefit of computerized analysis of real time as well as historical data. A system is needed wherein all such capabilities can simultaneously be brought to bear on a particular problem to allow an underlying fault to be quickly and accurately identified. Such system must not only be efficient in its operation but must be easy to transport and use in the field.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The present invention provides a novel method and apparatus for acquiring, reporting and analyzing diagnostic information for furnaces to facilitate troubleshooting and repair. The invention is couched in the recognition that a number of different factors can contribute to a misdiagnosis, including a technician's inability to quickly and easily test a system's various functions to thereby identify faults in real time. Additionally, in the event a particular failure mode is intermittent, an inability to recall the circumstances relating to previous malfunctions can prevent positive identification of the problem. A technician's unfamiliarity with the failure and repair history of the particular unit subject to the malfunction may additionally inhibit a quick and accurate diagnosis. Finally, the inability to quickly and properly analyze a particular set of symptoms in the context of the past history of the individual heating system as well as the whole population of such systems may thwart efforts to accurately diagnose and hence quickly and efficiently remedy a particular problem.
[0009] The present invention addresses each of the above-described sources of or reasons for misdiagnosis. Moreover, the invention enables a technician to quickly and easily generate and retrieve all relevant data from the furnace and avails the analytical power of remote diagnostic facilities to analyze the data. As such, the system of the present invention includes various sensors that are integrated throughout a furnace that monitor its various functions, is capable of storing data generated by such sensors to create a fault history and allows a technician to access such data via a remote, handheld device. The handheld device additionally allows the technician to control the system's various functions and thereby generate real time data relevant to its operation. The handheld device serves to analyze the data to diagnose the underlying problem. Finally, the system allows data to be transferred to a remote centralized computing facility for further processing. Such centralized facility is capable of storing a large body of data pertaining to the operation and fault history of the entire population of individual furnace systems in the field. The ability to draw from such database provides further assistance for the technician to enable him to more quickly and accurately correlate a particular set real time and/or historical data with an underlying fault.
[0010] Thus, briefly and in general terms, in one aspect the present invention is directed to a plurality of sensors in combination with electronic circuitry for measuring various furnace parameters.
[0011] In another aspect, a software system is provided to reside on a microcontroller and interface with the electronic circuitry to access the acquired diagnostic information, and to further interface with a portable handheld device to provide the information to a system user.
[0012] In another aspect, electronic circuitry and software is provided that is capable of storing data pertaining to the operation of the furnace for future access thereto.
[0013] In a further aspect, the invention consists of a microcontroller based furnace controller for a residential furnace with various sensors and a wireless hand held display device (such as a PalmOS™ device). Both real time data as well as stored historical data is accessible by the handheld device for analysis. The invention thereby makes the integrates detailed diagnostic information and the latest in computing technology for the benefit of the service technician.
[0014] In another aspect, the invention imparts an ability to the technician to control the operation of the furnace via the handheld device to thereby generate real time data points without having to physically access the furnace control circuits.
[0015] Finally, in a further aspect, the invention provides for the storage of and access to performance/fault data from a population of similar furnace systems in a centralized database to further enhance the system's diagnostic ability.
[0016] These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, which taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrate by way of example the principles of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] [0017]FIG. 1 presents a block diagram of a furnace diagnostic system in accordance with the present invention;
[0018] [0018]FIG. 2 is a logic control diagram depicting generally the method-of the present invention;
[0019] [0019]FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the IGNITION portion of the control diagram of FIG. 2;
[0020] [0020]FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the BURNER portion of the control diagram of FIG. 3;
[0021] [0021]FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the COOL portion of the control diagram of FIG. 2;
[0022] [0022]FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the LOCKOUT portion of the control diagram of FIG. 2;
[0023] [0023]FIG. 7 is an electronic circuit diagram depicting one preferred embodiment of a device to perform the functions of the method of the present invention; and
[0024] FIGS. 8 A-M depict the various lockout codes, and associated diagnostic messages presented to the user, including possible actions to be taken by the user, associated with the LOCKOUT control diagram of FIG. 6.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0025] The present invention discloses a new method of communicating controls and historical as well as real-time diagnostic information between a residential furnace controller and a portable hand held device carried by a service technician. The system provides a method of interrogating the furnace while operating, diagnosing the real time information as well as stored historical data on the furnace operations, controlling furnace components and monitoring the resulting response in real-time, and providing knowledge based troubleshooting assistance to the service technician in an expeditious manner. One preferred embodiment of the method provides infrared communication ports on the furnace controller and handheld device to obviate the need to make physical attachments to the furnace. A wireless link not only makes access quicker and more convenient but allows electronic controls to be accessed without the risk of inadvertently affecting the operation of the furnace control circuitry with physical attachments which may possibly mask the cause of a malfunction. The handheld device, containing a microcontroller, display, and keyboard, provides the logic that interprets the diagnostic information from the furnace and presents the field technician with instructions for troubleshooting and quickly repairing malfunctions. The system also allows a centralized computing facility with a performance/fault database pertaining to an entire population of such furnace systems to be accessed to further enhance the system's diagnostics capability.
[0026] Thus, in one preferred embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the present invention is directed to an electronic control system 10 and associated software for use as a diagnostic tool in a residential furnace application targeted for 100,000 BthU, 80% efficiency residential furnaces. The invention provides a detailed diagnostic capability to a residential furnace controller 30 installed on the furnace 20 . During normal operations, the furnace controller 30 interfaces with thermostat 50 to receive manual furnace control signals and also interfaces with furnace control elements and sensors to provide the required operation. During troubleshooting and diagnostic operations, an infrared communication port 31 on the furnace controller interfaces via an infrared link with an infrared communication port 41 on the service technician's handheld device 40 . Using the infrared link, the service technician has the ability to read troubleshooting advice on the hand held device 40 display 42 and issue commands using the hand held device 40 key pad 43 at the same time that the furnace 20 is operating. The hand held device 40 uses a knowledge base to correlate the types of errors found and gives the technician suggestions about where to start looking for problems. This helps identify at what point in the control cycle there is a failure and what component or subsystem could be the cause. The system additionally includes a centralized computing facility 45 with which is accessible via modem 60 . Such facility includes a database of the fault history of the entire population of similar furnaces as well as advance diagnostics capabilities to thereby extend the diagnostic capability of the handheld device.
[0027] As shown in FIGS. 2 - 6 , the system provides the following diagnostic support:
[0028] Furnace Control Status: The furnace controller 30 communicates to the hand held device 40 the current state of the control system.
[0029] Real-time Help: The hand held device 40 correlates the current state of the control system to the appropriate potential problem causes in the troubleshooting scheme.
[0030] Inducer Function: In addition to automatic monitoring, the technician can turn on the inducer fan and “see” the state of the pressure switch when the controller does.
[0031] Ignitor Function: In addition to automatic monitoring, the technician can turn on the hot surface ignition device and “see” the amount of current drawn.
[0032] Manifold Pressure: In addition to automatic monitoring, the technician can monitor the magnitude of the manifold gas pressure.
[0033] Filter Differential Pressure: In addition to automatic monitoring, the technician can monitor the pressure differential across the filter for identifying a clogged filter.
[0034] Ignition Function: in addition to automatic monitoring, the technician can launch an ignition sequence to observe events or troubleshoot a particular component.
[0035] Circulation Function: In addition to automatic monitoring, the technician can turn on the various speeds of the circulation blower to aid in troubleshooting the motor.
[0036] Read Thermostat Signals: In addition to automatic monitoring, the technician can verify the signals that the furnace controller 30 “sees” from the thermostat 50 .
[0037] With reference now to FIG. 7, the electronic circuit diagram depicts the preferred embodiment of a control device for performing the method of the invention. The controller contains a 24V DC power supply consisting of diode CR 1 and capacitor C 1 . The 24V DC power supply provides power to the relays. The controller also has a 5V DC power supply consisting of diode CR 2 , three-terminal 5V regulator U 11 , and capacitor C 2 . The 5V DC power supply provides power to the rest of the circuit.
[0038] A relay driver, U 3 , is used to pull-down the relays to ground. In order to give additional protection from a fault enabling the gas valve relay K 6 , a 1 kHz signal is applied to an integrator to bias on the relay driver for the gas valve. The integrator consists of capacitors C 6 and C 7 , diodes CR 3 and CR 4 , and resistors R 30 and R 31 . This integrator, in conjunction with a steady signal applied from the microprocessor U 1 through resistor R 13 to the base of the transistor Q 1 , provides the ground path to the gas valve relay K 6 . Another unique and novel feature of this circuit is the ability to verify the condition of transistor Q 1 and the relay driver U 3 . This is accomplished by providing a 2.5V DC reference signal through resistor R 34 and reference diode CR 13 . This 2.5V DC signal is fed through resistor R 33 to the net between the emitter of Q 1 and the open collector output of U 3 . The signal is also fed back to an analog input of the microprocessor U 1 . If both of these drivers are off, the 2.5V DC signal can be read by the microprocessor and can be used as a calibration for the analog to digital converter. If transistor Q 1 is turned on the signal will rise to near 5V DC. If the relay driver, U 3 , is turned on by feeding a 1 kHz signal to the integrator, the signal at the microprocessor will be reduced to approximately 0.7V DC.
[0039] Transformer T 1 , diode CR 11 , capacitors C 4 and C 5 , and resistors R 54 and R 55 generate a voltage that is proportional to the igniter current. This voltage is fed into an analog input to the microprocessor. This allows the microprocessor to measure the igniter current.
[0040] The circuit also uses a unique method of measuring flame current. The flame sense circuit consists of capacitors C 8 and C 9 , resistors R 23 , R 24 , R 25 , R 26 , R 27 and R 28 , and transistors Q 2 and Q 3 . An AC signal is fed to the flame sense circuit by capacitor C 8 . In the presence of flame, a negative DC current will be introduced on the flame sense input. This DC current is enough to discharge capacitor C 9 until it is low enough to bias the FET Q 3 off, thus indicating the presence of flame. The circuit is automatically adjusted to its maximum sensitivity by the microprocessor pulsing transistor Q 2 on and off. When transistor Q 2 is turned on, capacitor C 9 is charged to 5V DC. The pulse width of the signal going to transistor Q 2 starts at a 50% duty cycle. If flame is not detected, the duty cycle is decreased by a factor of two repeatedly until flame is detected. Then the pulse duty cycle is gradually increased until C 9 is discharged sufficiently to bias the FET Q 3 on and flame sense is no longer detected. The pulse width just before flame sense is no longer detected is directly proportional to the flame current.
[0041] The circuit also has two pressure transducers that are interfaced to the microprocessor U 1 . These pressure transducers, U 6 and U 7 , are amplified through U 2 and various gain resistors to provide an analog voltage on the microprocessor that is proportional to the pressures being measured.
[0042] The standard external thermostat 50 contacts R, W, Y, and G are monitored to determine if the thermostat is calling for heat, cool, or if a manual fan is on. The inputs from the thermostat contacts are resistor divided and are clamped to the 5V DC and ground levels through the diode array U 8 . Also, the circuit monitors the high limit thermostat, rollout switches, and a pressure switch. These inputs are also resistor divided and clamped to 5V DC and ground by diode array U 8 and diodes CR 12 and CR 13 .
[0043] Within the furnace controller 30 , the circuitry for controlling and monitoring functions such as air circulation blower heat speed, cool speed and manual fan speed, igniter, gas valve, and induced draft blower are connected to connector blocks or terminals for easy connection to a furnace. A four-position DIP-switch is used to select various fan on and off delays. The circuit also has a flash programming port. This allows the microprocessor to be reprogrammed while in circuit.
[0044] The circuit also has methods of communicating to other computers. The first method is through an IRDA interface. The serial input and output leads from the microprocessor are routed through analog bilateral switch U 9 to the HSDL-7001 infrared communications controller U 4 . U 4 then connects to HSDL-3610, an infrared transolver that provides the infrared input and output of the circuit. This infrared communications port is shown as item 31 in FIG. 1. The other method of external communications is with an RS232 interface. A DCE RS232 connection is accomplished by taking the serial input and output leads from the internal UART of the microprocessor and switching them through the analog bilateral switch U 9 to the MAX232E, U 10 . RS232 voltage levels are attained through U 10 and capacitors C 10 , C 11 , C 12 and C 13 . These signals are then routed to the SUB-D9 connector. This port is shown as item 32 in FIG. 1 and can be used to connect to a modem 60 so that historical data can also be gathered over a phone line or over the Internet.
[0045] The communication capabilities provided above are one of the important novel features of the method and device of the present invention, and they allow the control device to be accessed through either the IRDA interface 31 or the RS232 interface 32 . This access provides the service technician the capability to troubleshoot the furnace controller 30 and measure various parameters without touching any of the circuits. In a preferred embodiment, a software interface is implemented on a hand held device 40 that allows the technician to operate portions of the furnace controller circuit on demand, as well as identify possible problems through various diagnostic messages displayed on the hand held device display 42 as shown in FIGS. 8 A-M. This greatly enhances the technician's ability to troubleshoot and diagnose what is wrong with the circuit. The software also allows the technician to generate a call for heat, in which instance the controller 30 operates as if the thermostat 50 has been turned up and a call for heat has been generated.
[0046] The two-way interface also provides real time data on the conditions within the appliance (e.g. the furnace). The igniter current, flame sense current, manifold pressure, inlet pressure, etc. can be read in real time. When a call for heat is generated, the handheld device 40 can display all of the measured information in real time.
[0047] The controller 30 microprocessor U 1 also stores historical data. The historical data is then transferred to the handheld device 40 . This data can then be archived to provide information on the history of the controller. Data such as number of cycles, number of successful ignition cycles on first attempt, second attempt, third attempt and number of times in various lockouts, flame sense loss, etc. is stored for later retrieval. The controller gives this data over the life of the controller and since the last interrogation by the handheld device 40 .
[0048] The following is a summary of the software features:
[0049] 1. The software is designed for safety critical applications and will be compliant with Underwriters Laboratory (UL) 1998 table 7 specification for software safety. Other features are added above and beyond UL 1998 to ensure reliability and robust performance.
[0050] Software recovery from noise and transients. This enables recovery without a hard reset if possible.
[0051] 2. The software is designed as a state machine controlling all stages of gas ignition in furnace applications.
[0052] WAIT STATE
[0053] PRE PURGE STATE
[0054] WARMUP STATE
[0055] IGNITION STATE
[0056] BURNER STATE
[0057] INTER PURGE STATE
[0058] POST PURGE STATE
[0059] COOL STATE
[0060] 3. The software kernel is designed to be generic in order to function in multiple hardware configurations.
[0061] All port I/O in the main kernel program is generic in order to add a layer of abstraction to port definitions.
[0062] Software library routines are used to assign port definitions for specific products. This allows new products to be added without changing the main kernel software.
[0063] All configuration information will be read from EEPROM in order for the main kernel program to remain generic.
[0064] 4. The software is designed to provide the following diagnostic capability to a hand held device 40 via an infrared port:
[0065] Real-time data availability on the hand held device display 41 .
[0066] System State and timings
[0067] Ignitor Current
[0068] Flame Current
[0069] Gas Inlet Pressure
[0070] Gas Valve Differential Pressure
[0071] Manifold Pressure
[0072] Air Filter Differential Pressure
[0073] System primitive activation capability from the hand held device 40 for troubleshooting
[0074] ACB Manual Fan On/Off
[0075] ACB Heat Speed On/Off
[0076] ACB Cool Speed On/Off
[0077] Inducer blower On/Off with pressure switch Open/Closed feedback
[0078] Igniter On/Off with amperage reading
[0079] Historical data will be available to the hand held device 40 . This will include data relating to all critical aspects of furnace control and maintenance over time.
[0080] Number of heat, cool, and manual fan cycles
[0081] Number of first, second, and third ignition attempts
[0082] Number of retries following flame loss
[0083] Lockouts and associated reasons for error
[0084] Appendix A attached hereto contains a listing of source code for the software system described above. In particular, the HEADER program contains configuration data for implementing the method of the invention on an Atmel microcontroller, MAIN contains the functional code for operating the system, PROTO contains function prototypes used by the compiler to define for the compiler which functions to compile, RF2001 contains application specific definitions such as which microcontroller pins are assigned to what functions in the system, and SERIAL contains the code necessary for the infrared and RS232 communication for the system.
[0085] While a particular form of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is not intended that the invention be limited except by the appended claims. | A furnace diagnostic system includes sensors that monitor various functions of the furnace. Data generated by such sensors may be stored for subsequent transfer or may be transferred in real time via an infra red link to a remote handheld device with which an analysis thereof is performed. The handheld device additionally allows the technician to control various furnace functions to facilitate the generation of relevant real time data. In order to further enhance the system's diagnostics capabilities, the communication may be established with a centralized computing facility which includes a data base containing data relating to an entire population of similar furnaces. | 5 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
The present application is a continuation-in-part patent application of U.S. Nonprovisional patent application Ser. No. 14/106,123 filed Dec. 13, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,415,160 B2, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/869,826, entitled “Fluid Filtration Device” filed Oct. 29, 2013, and is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/476,041 entitled “Fluid Filtration Device and System” filed May 21, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,608,816 B2 which claims the benefit of Provisional Application No. 61/584,897, entitled “Method and Device for Fluid Filtration” filed Jan. 10, 2012; which are all hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to fluid filtration and more specifically to methods and devices for fluid filtration in a medical environment.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
With reference to the corresponding parts, portions, or surfaces of the disclosed embodiment, merely for the purposes of illustration and not by way of limitation, provided is a medical fluid filter system ( 100 ) comprising a housing ( 120 ) comprising: a liquid trap chamber ( 128 ) having a volume; a filter media chamber ( 138 ); a filter media ( 143 ) arranged within the filter media chamber; the liquid trap chamber having a liquid trap outlet port ( 131 ) in fluid communication with the filter media chamber; the liquid trap outlet port configured and arranged within the liquid trap chamber to inhibit flow of liquid from the liquid trap chamber to the filter media chamber and configured and arranged to allow gas to flow from the liquid trap chamber to the filter media chamber; a filter system inlet ( 117 ) passing through the housing for intake of fluid originating from a surgical site; and a filter system outlet ( 134 ) passing through the housing for fluid exhaust.
The liquid trap outlet port may be generally near the center of volume of the liquid trap chamber.
The liquid trap outlet port may be above a lowest position within the liquid trap chamber for any orientation of the system in a gravitational field.
The liquid trap outlet port may be arranged in a position separated from an inner surface of the liquid trap chamber towards a generally central region of the liquid trap chamber.
The liquid trap chamber may have an inlet port in communication with the system inlet configured and arranged within the liquid trap chamber to inhibit flow of liquid from the liquid trap chamber out of the inlet port.
The liquid trap chamber may have an inlet port in fluid communication with the system inlet and configured and arranged within the liquid trap chamber to inhibit flow of liquid from the liquid trap chamber out of the inlet port, and the fluid trap inlet port may be generally near the center of volume of the liquid trap chamber.
The filter media may be configured and arranged to filter surgical smoke.
The medical fluid filter system may further comprise a sliding valve ( 133 ).
The medical fluid filter system may further comprise a blower ( 370 ).
The system may be configured and arranged to use an inertial force caused by a circular flow path to separate liquid from the fluid.
In another aspect, a medical fluid filter system ( 100 ) is provided comprising: a filter system inlet ( 117 ) for intake of fluid originating from a surgical site; a housing ( 120 ) in fluid communication with the filter system inlet, the housing having: a filter media chamber ( 138 ) for receiving a filter media ( 143 ); a liquid trap chamber ( 128 ) for retaining liquids from the fluid and the liquid trap chamber having a volume; a generally tubular liquid trap outlet ( 131 ) extending into the volume and in fluid communication with the filter media chamber; and a filter system outlet ( 134 ) passing through the housing for fluid exhaust.
The liquid trap outlet has an end located generally near the center of volume of the liquid trap chamber.
The liquid trap outlet port and the fluid trap inlet port may share a common wall.
The liquid trap chamber and the filter media chamber may share a common wall.
The system may further have a filter media ( 143 ) configured and arranged to filter surgical smoke.
The system may further contain a moisture indicator ( 321 ) for indicating when the filter media is wet.
The liquid trap chamber may contain an inner peripheral surface for containing a liquid in at least two orientations of the medical fluid filter system.
The system may further contain a sliding valve ( 133 ).
The system may further contain a blower ( 370 ).
The system may be configured and arranged to use an inertial force caused by a circular flow path to separate liquid from the fluid.
In another aspect, a liquid trap system ( 120 ) is provided comprising: a system inlet ( 123 ); a system outlet ( 134 ); a hollow liquid trap chamber ( 128 ) having: an outer boundary ( 129 ), a liquid trap chamber inlet ( 151 ) in fluid communication with said system inlet, and a liquid trap chamber outlet ( 131 ) in fluid communication with said system outlet; said liquid trap chamber outlet arranged in a position separated a distance from said outer boundary towards a generally central region ( 150 ) of said liquid trap chamber.
The liquid trap system may further have a filter media chamber arranged between the liquid trap chamber outlet and the system outlet and may have a filter media arranged within the filter media chamber. The filter media may be pleated and may be configured and arranged to filter surgical smoke.
The liquid trap system may further have a valve. The valve may be a sliding valve.
The liquid trap system may further have a moisture wick, a liquid capturing gel, an attachment clip, and/or an attachment loop. The liquid trap chamber may be transparent. The filter media may have an antimicrobial substance.
The liquid trap system may further have a pump, a blower, and/or an impeller. The liquid trap system may further have a liquid exit port and may have a container for storage of liquid from the liquid exit port. The liquid trap system may further have a moisture indicator for indicating when the filter media may be wet.
The liquid trap chamber may be in a generally cylindrical shape or a generally rectangular prism shape, for example. The liquid trap system may further have an obstruction between the system inlet and the system outlet. The liquid trap system may further have a hydrophobic media arranged across the fluid trap outlet.
The system may be configured and arranged to use a centrifugal force caused by a fluid flow to separate liquid from the fluid.
The liquid trap system may further have a biodegradeable material. The system may be sterile.
The system may be configured for connection to a wall suction unit. The liquid trap system may further have a power source. The power source may be a battery.
In another aspect, provided is a fluid filter system ( 100 ) having: a housing ( 120 ); a filter system inlet ( 117 ); a filter system outlet ( 134 ); a liquid trap chamber ( 128 ) having an outer boundary ( 129 ) and a liquid trap inlet ( 151 ) in fluid communication with the system inlet ( 117 ); the liquid trap outlet ( 131 ) arranged in a generally central region of the liquid trap chamber ( 150 ); a filter media chamber ( 138 ) in fluid communication with the liquid trap outlet; a filter media ( 143 ) arranged within the filter media chamber; and the filter media chamber having an outlet ( 136 ) in fluid communication with the filter system outlet.
The liquid trap chamber outlet may be above a lowest position within the liquid trap chamber for any orientation of the system in a gravitational field. In addition, the liquid trap chamber inlet may be arranged in a position separated from the outer boundary towards a generally central region of the liquid trap chamber. The liquid trap chamber outlet may be arranged in a position which may be not in a direct flow path out of the liquid trap chamber inlet into the liquid trap chamber.
The filter media may be pleated and/or may be configured and arranged to filter surgical smoke. The filter system may further have a valve. The valve may be a sliding valve. The filter system may further have a moisture wick, a liquid capturing gel, an attachment clip, an attachment loop. The liquid trap chamber may be transparent. The filter media may have an antimicrobial substance.
The filter system may further have a pump, a blower, and/or an impeller. The filter system may further have a liquid exit port and may have a container for storage of liquid from the liquid exit port.
The filter system may further have a moisture indicator for indicating when the filter media may be wet.
The housing may be in a generally cylindrical shape or a generally rectangular prism shape. The filter system may further have an obstruction between the system inlet and the system outlet. The filter system may further have a hydrophobic media arranged across the fluid trap outlet.
The system may be configured and arranged to use a centrifugal force caused by a fluid flow to separate liquid from the fluid.
The filter system may further have a biodegradable material. The system may be sterile. The system may be configured for connection to a wall suction unit. The filter system may further have a power source. The power source may be a battery.
The filter medias may have a first portion and a second portion. One of the filter portions may be pleated to maximize surface area, and/or may be configured as a sleeve. One of the filter portions may be odor reducing, harmful gas/substance adsorbing/absorbing/detoxifying, antimicrobial, hydrophilic, hydrophobic, and/or optimized to prevent passage of smoke. One of the filter portions may be activated carbon, and/or made of fibers. One of the filter portions may be a ULPA filter. A filter media cap may be provided to interface with one or more of the filter media portions.
The filter system input may include a tube. The tube may be made of clear material and may be configured to aid in viewing inside the tube to see flow blockages. The tube may be flexible and may be configured to block fluid flow when pinched with a clamp valve. The input may contain an input adapter and the input adapter may be a Luer-Lock adapter and/or may contain friction ridges, or screw threads. The input may contain a housing connection adapter and the housing connection adapter may also be a Luer-Lock adapter and/or may contain friction ridges, or screw threads.
The input may include an internal wick for absorbing or blocking liquid or moisture. The wick may contain a hydrophobic material or a liquid retaining material such as sodium polyacrylate. The wick may be configured and arranged to partially or substantially obstruct fluid flow in order to prevent a large pressure drop across the filter system for a given flow rate. The wick may be optimized to prevent the passage of materials which may damage the filter media.
The filter system may contain a valve. The valve may be a sliding valve, a roller valve, a pinch valve, or a rotary valve. The sliding valve may contain friction ridges to aid in user ergonomics. The valve may be adapted to maintain peritoneal distention when the filter system is used in laparoscopic surgery. The valve may contain indicia for indicating when the valve is open, closed, or positioned at some quantitative level.
The liquid trap input and output may be arranged such that flow of liquid out of the input and into the chamber will not be directly in line with the liquid trap output. The direction of flow from the liquid trap input into the chamber may be directed to flow directly into a wall of the liquid trap chamber. The liquid trap may be configured and arranged to partially or substantially obstruct fluid flow and/or to prevent a large pressure drop across the filter system for a given flow rate.
The filter system housing may have an output adapter configured for attachment to a tube. The output adapter may be a Luer-Lock adapter and/or may contain friction ridges, or screw threads.
The attachment clip may contain an elastic member, friction ridges, and/or may be configured and arranged for attachment to a drape.
The attachment loop may be configured and arranged to be clamped or attached to a carabiner. The attachment loop may be a carabiner, or may contain VELCRO brand (hook and loop) straps.
The housing and/or other filter system components may be made of a special material that is light weight, strong, antimicrobial, biodegradable, or radiation proof. The material may be a plastic, polymer, polyethylene, lead, or other similar material. The material may be clear in order to view whether the liquid trap is filled with fluid or whether flow is blocked.
The housing may be welded together in order to make connections air tight. The housing and other filter system components may be ultrasonically welded.
The filter system may be configured and optimized for having its input connected to a high pressure surgical chamber and/or its output releasing to ambient air. The output may be configured and optimized to be connected to a suction unit or standard medical wall suction. The filter system may contain a balloon or bag for capturing the fluid that passes through the filter system.
The filter system may contain an RFID tag. The filter system may include an electronic data storage containing filter information. The filter system may contain an indicator for indicating a usage level of the filter system. The indicator may react through atmospheric exposure.
The filter system may contain a one way valve, and/or the one way valve may be configured and optimized to prevent material captured by the filter media from exiting the filter system input. The filter system may contain pressure valves at each of its ports to prevent contents from exiting the filter system unless a nontrivial pressure is applied across each valve. The valves may be configured to not allow any fluid flow through the system, even if the system is connected to a pressurized surgical site, unless a pressure differential from a suction unit is provided. The filter system may be configured and optimized for continuous use during a surgical procedure.
The filter system may contain a powered suction unit. The powered suction unit may be configured to provide a substantial or all of the pressure differential for driving fluid through the filter system. The fluid flow rate through the filter system may be about 3 liters per minute.
In addition the filter system may contain an RF transponder for communication with a trocar, an insufflator, or a smartboom. The filter system may further contain one or more one-way valves, and the valves may be placed at the liquid trap chamber inlet and/or outlet, the filter chamber inlet and/or outlet, and/or the filter system inlet and/or outlet. The valves may also be automatic valves or electronic valves. The valves may also be biased to be normally closed to prevent any fluid in the filter system from exiting the system when the flow drive is off.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side view of a first embodiment fluid filter system.
FIG. 2 is an exploded isometric view of the fluid filter system shown in FIG. 1 .
FIG. 3 is a close up exploded partial view of the fluid filter system shown in FIG. 1 .
FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the fluid filter system shown in FIG. 1 .
FIG. 5 is a section view of the fluid filter system taken along line 5 - 5 in FIG. 4 .
FIG. 6 is a section view of the fluid filter system shown in FIG. 1 being used in a first orientation.
FIG. 7 is a section view of the fluid filter system shown in FIG. 1 being used in a second orientation.
FIG. 8 is a section view of the fluid filter system shown in FIG. 1 being used in a third orientation.
FIG. 9 is a section view of the fluid filter system shown in FIG. 1 being used in a fourth orientation.
FIG. 10 is a partial bottom view of the fluid filter system shown in FIG. 1 with the valve slide removed.
FIG. 11 is a rear view of the fluid filter system shown in FIG. 1 .
FIG. 12 is a left side view of the fluid filter system shown in FIG. 1 .
FIG. 13 is a right side view of the fluid filter system shown in FIG. 1 .
FIG. 14 is a side partial view of a second embodiment fluid filter system.
FIG. 15 is an exploded isometric view of the filter system shown in FIG. 14 .
FIG. 16 is a side view of a third embodiment filter system.
FIG. 17 is a perspective exploded view of a fourth embodiment filter system.
FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the filter system of FIG. 17 .
FIG. 19 is a perspective view of the flow selector and filter holder of the system of FIG. 17 .
FIG. 20 is an elevational view of the flow selector.
FIG. 21 is another elevational view of the flow selector.
FIG. 22 is a sectional view taken along lines 22 - 22 of FIG. 20 .
FIG. 23 is an elevational view of the filter holder.
FIG. 24 is a sectional view taken along lines 24 - 24 of FIG. 23 .
FIG. 25 is a perspective view showing the arrangement of the filter holder and the fluid trap.
FIG. 26 is a rear perspective view of a fifth embodiment filter system.
FIG. 27 is a rear perspective view of the fifth embodiment system with a luer lock and tubing attached to the outlet of the filter system.
FIG. 28 is a rear perspective view of the fifth embodiment system with a passive secondary filter attached to the outlet of the filter system.
FIG. 29 is a rear perspective view of another embodiment with a diverter capable of alternating between a first passageway in an active mode and a second passageway in a passive mode.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
At the outset, it should be clearly understood that like reference numerals are intended to identify the same structural elements, portions or surfaces consistently throughout the several drawing figures, as such elements, portions or surfaces may be further described or explained by the entire written specification, of which this detailed description is an integral part. Unless otherwise indicated, the drawings are intended to be read (e.g., cross-hatching, arrangement of parts, proportion, degree, etc.) together with the specification, and are to be considered a portion of the entire written description of this invention. As used in the following description, the terms “horizontal”, “vertical”, “left”, “right”, “up” and “down”, as well as adjectival and adverbial derivatives thereof (e.g., “horizontally”, “rightwardly”, “upwardly”, etc.), simply refer to the orientation of the illustrated structure as the particular drawing figure faces the reader. Similarly, the terms “inwardly” and “outwardly” generally refer to the orientation of a surface relative to its axis of elongation, or axis of rotation, as appropriate.
Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 discloses a first embodiment 100 of a device and/or system for filtering a fluid. Fluid filter system 100 comprises an input hose portion 110 and filter housing (or filter capsule or cartridge) 120 .
As shown in FIG. 2 , input hose portion 110 contains input adapter 113 , flexible tube 111 , and wick 112 . Input adapter 113 has input side 114 and opposite output side 115 . Input side 114 acts as a system inlet for attachment to a fluid source for inwards fluid flow 117 . In this embodiment, adapter input side 114 is a Luer-Lock adapter, but other similar alternative adapters may be used. Adapter output side 115 is connected to a first input side end of tube 111 through compressive engagement. In this embodiment, tube 111 is a clear flexible tube. Within tube 111 is arranged wick 112 . In one embodiment, wick 112 is made of a moisture absorbent or adsorbent material such as PVA.
As shown in FIG. 2 , tube 111 has an output side end which compressively engages filter cartridge inlet portion 121 at external inlet 123 . External inlet 123 contains friction ridges which help prevent tube 111 from disconnection and also helps to make an air tight seal.
FIG. 3 is a close up exploded isometric view of filter cartridge 120 . Filter cartridge 120 contains three housing portions: inlet side portion 121 , body portion 127 , and end portion 145 . Tubular external inlet 123 passes through housing inlet side portion 121 and connects to tubular inlet inner portion 125 . Housing inlet portion 121 is ultrasonically welded to housing body portion 127 to form liquid trap chamber 128 . Liquid trap chamber 128 has inner surface 129 which acts as an outer boundary for any liquid captured within liquid trap 128 . Liquid trap outlet internal side 131 is supported by housing body portion 127 . Liquid trap inlet internal side 125 and liquid trap outlet internal side 131 protrude into a generally central region of liquid trap chamber 128 . Liquid trap outlet 131 forms a conduit between liquid trap 128 and filter chamber 138 .
Filter chamber 138 is formed between housing body portion 127 and housing end portion 145 . Housing end portion 145 is ultrasonically welded to housing body portion 127 . Arranged within filter chamber 138 of one embodiment are first filter media 139 , second filter media 141 , and third filter media 143 . First filter media 139 is hydrophobic fibrous filter media. Second filter media 141 is activated charcoal media. Third filter media is a pleated fibrous filter media. Other embodiments may include one or two of the foregoing media and/or other similar media.
Housing body portion 127 connects to valve slide retainer 135 . Valve passage 134 is disposed on the outer surface of housing body portion 127 facing valve slide retainer 135 . Valve slide 137 is arranged to selectively block passage 134 as will be discussed in greater detail below. Also shown in FIG. 3 is attachment clip portion 149 .
FIG. 4 is a bottom view of filter cartridge 120 showing opening 136 and valve slide 137 .
FIG. 5 is a vertical section of filter system 120 showing the flow of fluid from first into filter system in the direction of arrow 117 through the filter system and out of the system in the direction of arrow 119 . As shown in FIG. 5 , tube 111 has a larger diameter than wick 112 . This allows fluid to flow inwards in the direction of arrow 117 through tube 111 . Moisture that is in fluid passing past wick 112 may be absorbed or adsorbed by wick 112 . Fluid flow continues rightwards and passes from tube 111 through liquid trap inlet outer side 123 . Flow continues rightwards through fluid trap inlet inner side 125 and out in the direction of arrow 151 of inlet inner side 125 into liquid trap chamber 128 . Straight inertial flow of fluid out of liquid trap 125 does not flow directly into filter trap outlet 131 . Rather, fluid flow is forced to circulate within chamber 128 before passing out of chamber 128 . Liquid within the flow in the direction of arrow 151 falls within chamber 128 and pools at a lower region 120 of liquid trap 130 . Liquid trap inlet 125 and liquid trap outlet 131 are arranged in the central region 150 of liquid trap chamber 128 . After fluid circulates within chamber 128 , pressure causes it to pass out through liquid trap outlet 131 . Fluid flow continues rightwards in the direction of arrow 153 out of outlet 131 into filter chamber 138 . Flow within filter chamber 138 first must pass through first filter media 139 . Since filter media 139 is hydrophobic, any liquid remaining in the flow may be prevented from passing further rightwards.
In one embodiment, flow next passes through filter media 141 , which absorbs/adsorbs/deactivates odors, and/or chemicals contained within the flow. Flow next passes through filter media 143 . The pleats of filter media 143 create a large surface area which allows the use of ULPA media, for example, with very small pores while keeping flow resistance lower than a similar unpleated media. Flow continues rightwards towards the right boundary of housing end portion and passes into passageway 157 . Passageway 157 directs flow towards valve 133 . More specifically, flow continues through passageway 157 out through opening 136 in housing body portion and out of the filter system 119 . The horizontal position of valve slide 137 affects the flow rate by selectively blocking opening 136 . When slide 137 is pushed fully leftwards, opening 136 will be completely blocked fully stopping fluid flow through system 100 . When slide 137 is pushed fully rightwards, opening 136 is not obstructed by valve 137 at all and flow is not obstructed by valve 133 .
FIGS. 6-9 demonstrate how the liquid trap will work in any orientation. Fluid will collect at a lower region 130 within the fluid trap. Because liquid trap inlet 125 and liquid trap outlet 131 are located in the central region 150 within liquid trap chamber 128 , lower liquid region 130 will always be separated from the outlet and inlet.
FIGS. 10 and 11 show attachment loop 161 and attachment clip 163 . Attachment loop 161 is useful for attachment to an IV pole or other similar object. Attachment clip 163 is useful for attachment to a drape.
FIGS. 12 and 13 illustrate the left side view and the right side view of fluid filter cartridge 120 .
FIG. 14 shows second embodiment filter system 200 . Filter system 200 has flexible input tube portion 210 , filter cartridge portion 220 , system inlet 217 , and system outlet 219 . As shown in the exploded isometric view of FIG. 15 , system 200 has input adapter 213 , compressively connected to tube 211 , which compressively connects to inlet outer side 223 . Inlet outer side 223 is held by housing inlet portion 221 . Within filter cartridge 220 are filter first media 239 , filter cap 241 , second filter media first layer 243 , and second filter media second layer 244 . Filter cartridge inlet portion 221 is ultrasonically welded to filter cartridge outlet portion 245 .
In this embodiment, first filter media 239 is a cylindrical sleeve of activated carbon media. Second filter media first layer 243 and second layer 244 form a pleated ULPA media. Media cap 241 is arranged adjacent first and second media and blocks direct flow from inlet 223 to outlet 219 . The volume generally between cartridge inlet portion 221 and end portion 245 inner walls and the outer cylindrical surface of filter media 239 creates a liquid trap. More specifically, since the outer cylindrical diameter of the filter media is less than the inner diameter of the cartridge housing, liquid will fall into the region below the filter media. In order to pass out of the filter cartridge housing, liquid would need to go up against gravity through the filter media to flow out 219 .
Shown in FIG. 16 is third embodiment filter system 300 . System 300 is similar to systems 100 and 200 and also contains suction unit 370 configured and arranged to provide vacuum suction. System 300 generally includes inlet 317 , input tube portion 310 , filter cartridge 320 , and suction unit 370 . Input tube portion 310 is similar in the first and second embodiments. Suction unit 370 is a blower, a pump, or an impeller such as a Multicomp USA, Part # MC32897 impeller. Suction 370 is configured to provide suction to aid the flow of fluid from inlet 317 out through outlet 375 . System 300 can be used in a laparoscopic surgical setting in which inlet 317 is connected to a pressurized surgical site, and 375 is fed into ambient air. However, blower 370 can be configured such that it provides the substantial portion of the fluid flow drive through system 300 . System 300 can also be configured such that it does not use any portion of the pressure differential between the surgical site and ambient air for causing fluid flow.
In FIG. 17 , a fourth embodiment filter system 400 for use with a vacuum source 401 provides for smoke evacuation from a pressurized surgical site. The pressurized surgical site may comprise a pneumoperitoneum having a pressure above ambient such as 5 to 20 mm Hg. The surgical site may be maintained above ambient by insufflation as will be evident to those of ordinary skill in the art based on this disclosure. The vacuum source 401 may generate a pressure in the range of approximately −100 to −400 mm Hg (although other pressures such as −600 mm Hg may also be used). Starting at the right hand side of the figure, a Luer lock 403 may be connected to a conduit or trocar leading to a pressurized surgical site such as a laparoscopy with a pneumoperitoneum. The Luer lock 403 is attached to a conduit 406 that provides an input passageway to the filter system 400 . The conduit 406 connects to a fluid trap 412 . Carbon 415 or other odor removing media and particulate filters 418 and 421 are disposed inside the body 430 of the filter system. A filter holder 424 holds the carbon 415 and filters 418 and 421 in position against the outlet end 413 of the fluid trap 412 . The filter holder 424 receives a flow selector 427 at its outlet end 425 ( FIG. 19 ). The flow selector 427 is rotated by the user by means of the body 430 . The body 430 has markings 431 indicating the flow level and that align with position indicator 431 . The outlet of the filter system 400 may be connected to conduit 433 that may be connected to the vacuum source 401 by means of suction connector 436 . The vacuum source 401 may be a standalone unit or a wall suction unit. The inlet of the filter system 400 connects via the Luer lock 403 to a conduit and/or a trocar leading to the pressurized pneumoperitoneum which may have a pressure of approximately 5 to 20 mm Hg. The vacuum source 401 for the filter system 400 may operate between −100 to −600 mm Hg. The vacuum pressure applied to the filter system 400 provides for fluid flow through the system and resulting evacuation of smoke during minimally invasive surgical procedures such as laparascopy, during which cautery or a laser is used. The flow selector 427 provides for adjustment of the flow through the filter system 400 generated by the vacuum source 401 without deflating the peritoneal cavity.
Turning to FIG. 18 , the body 430 of the filter system 400 has marking 431 indicating the flow settings and has a position indicator 432 on a front portion 409 . The filter system 400 has an opening 439 for receiving the conduit 406 . As shown in FIG. 19 , the flow selector 427 has a hollow body portion 440 with an inlet 442 . The inlet 442 is formed in the shape of an elongate curved opening. At the left hand side of the inlet 442 , the opening is largest and moving to the right the inlet size becomes smaller. The flow selector 427 has an outlet 428 disposed in the center at the top. The flow selector 427 also has a flange 445 that engages with the inside of the body 430 such that rotation of the body 430 causes the flow selector 427 to rotate. The filter holder 424 has a central opening 429 that receives the body portion 440 of the flow selector 427 . As described in greater detail below, there is an opening 475 ( FIG. 24 ) in the filter holder 424 that selectively aligns with the inlet 442 to provide for greater or less fluid flow through the system 400 . As shown in FIGS. 20 and 21 , the outlet 428 of the flow selector 427 has a tube stub 455 for receiving the conduit 433 that leads to the vacuum source 401 . The body 440 of the flow selector 427 makes an air tight connection with the filter holder 424 such that the only passage of fluid between the two elements is through the inlet 442 . The inlet 442 has an elongate curved opening that is rounded at a larger end 490 and an upper edge 493 and lower edge 495 converge toward a smaller end 497 .
Turning to FIG. 22 , the hollow body 440 of the flow selector 427 includes a central axial opening 498 that extends to an axial channel 499 that extends to the end 500 of the outlet 428 . The outlet 428 has a tube stub 455 for receiving the conduit 433 thereon.
FIGS. 23-25 show the filter holder 424 and its connection to the fluid trap 412 . As shown in FIG. 23 , the filter holder 424 has a hollow body 460 that extends to a lower flange 463 . The flange 463 has a tab 466 extending downward from the body 460 . The tab 466 fits inside a groove 503 in the outside of the fluid trap 412 . As shown in FIGS. 23 and 24 , a first opening 469 in the side wall of the body 460 aligns with two additional openings 472 and 475 . Opening 475 provides a pathway for fluid to flow from the central chamber 478 into the inside of the flow selector 427 through the inlet 442 . When the flow selector 427 is rotated such that inlet 442 aligns with opening 475 a fluid flow pathway is established. If the selector 427 is rotated such that opening 475 aligns with the largest part of inlet 442 , the maximum fluid flow is achieved. The flow of fluid may be varied by rotation of selector 427 into position where different portions of the inlet 442 align with opening 475 . As shown in FIG. 25 , the filter holder 424 and fluid trap 412 may be sealingly connected such that no fluid may escape except through the central passageway 478 . The two parts may be welded together or the like.
In FIGS. 26-29 , a fifth embodiment filter system 500 may be converted between active and passive modes. The filter system 500 may be constructed as described above in connection with the fourth embodiment filter system 400 . Rotation of the body 505 relative to the flow adjustment knob 502 disposed on the body 505 causes an internal flow selector (e.g. flow selector 427 ) to align a variable sized inlet 442 in the flow selector 427 with an opening 475 in the filter holder 424 to create an internal passageway to provide for different flow rates through the filter system 500 as described above. Conduit 508 may be connected to the filter system 500 by a Luer lock at one end and may connect on the opposite end 510 (far left side of figure) to a trocar leading to a pressurized surgical site such as a laparoscopy with a pneumoperitoneum. The conduit 508 provides an input passageway to the filter system 500 . On the opposite side of the filter system 500 , a Luer lock connection 511 at outlet 513 may provide for quick changing between an active and a passive mode as described below.
Turning to FIG. 27 , in the active mode, a Luer lock 514 positioned at the end of tubing 517 may be attached to the Luer lock connection 511 on the filter system 500 . The tubing 517 attaches at a first end to the outlet 513 of the filter system 500 and attaches at a distal end 519 to a vacuum source 520 .
Turning to FIG. 28 , in the passive mode, a secondary passive filter 526 is attached to the filter system 500 by means of the Luer lock connection 511 . The secondary passive filter 525 may have a large surface area and be useable with low pressure. The secondary passive filter 526 has openings 527 for exhausting the filtered gases and surgical smoke to atmosphere.
In FIG. 29 , as an alternative to the structure described above, a switch mechanism such as a diverter valve 555 may be operated manually or electronically to divert the flow from a first passageway in an active mode to a second passageway leading to a secondary filter 559 and out through openings 566 to ambient in a passive mode. As an alternative, the active and passive pathways may be divided inside the filter body and the passive mode may include an opening to ambient from inside the filter body.
In addition, each of the disclosed filter system embodiments may be modified to also contain an RF transponder for communication with a trocar, a insufflator, or smartboom. The disclosed embodiments may further contain one or more one way valves and the valves may be placed at the liquid trap chamber inlet and/or outlet, the filter chamber inlet and/or outlet, and/or the filter system inlet and/or outlet. The valves may also be automatic valves or electronic valves. The valves may also be biased to be normally closed to prevent any fluid in the filter system from exiting the system when the flow drive is off.
The described embodiments provide a number of unexpected results and advantages over the prior art. For example, filter media life may be prolonged by preventing moisture and fluid from in the fluid flow from reaching the filter media. In another aspect, if during laparoscopic surgery blood or other body fluids is passed out of the trocar, it may be intercepted by the wick or the liquid trap before reaching and damaging the filter media. Additionally, the variable valve in certain embodiments allows the filter system to be used in a variety of operating conditions, flow rates, and pressure differentials. Further the clip and clamp provide significant usability improvements by allowing the device to be easily mounted, reducing the strain on the very sensitively held trocar. The filter system has a small form factor, made possible through the combined use in certain embodiments of filter media pleating and filter media lifetime enhancement from the moisture capture techniques. Finally, the efficient combination of elements of the filter system produces a highly economical device that is appropriate for disposable use.
Therefore, while the presently-preferred form of the method and device for a filter system has been shown and described, and several modifications discussed, persons skilled in this art will readily appreciate that various additional changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. | A medical fluid filter system is provided comprising a housing having: a liquid trap chamber having a volume; a filter media chamber; a filter media arranged within the filter media chamber; the liquid trap chamber having a liquid trap outlet port in fluid communication with the filter media chamber; the liquid trap outlet port configured and arranged within the liquid trap chamber to inhibit flow of liquid from the liquid trap chamber to the filter media chamber and configured and arranged to allow gas to flow from the liquid trap chamber to the filter media chamber; a filter system inlet passing through the housing for intake of fluid originating from a surgical site; and a filter system outlet passing through the housing for fluid exhaust. | 1 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a non-provisional application of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/521,437, filed on Apr. 26, 2004, which is incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND
The present disclosure relates generally to food waste disposers, and more particularly, to grinding mechanisms for food waste disposers.
Food waste disposers are used to comminute food scraps into particles small enough to safely pass through household drain plumbing. A conventional disposer includes a food conveying section, a motor section, and a grinding mechanism disposed between the food conveying section and the motor section. The food conveying section includes a housing that forms an inlet for receiving food waste and water. The food conveying section conveys the food waste to the grinding mechanism, and the motor section includes a motor imparting rotational movement to a motor shaft to operate the grinding mechanism.
The grind mechanism that accomplishes the comminution is typically composed of a rotating shredder assembly with lugs and a stationary grind ring. The motor turns the shredder plate and the lugs force the food waste against the grind ring where it is broken down into small pieces. Once the particles are small enough to pass out of the grinding mechanism, they are flushed out into the household plumbing.
Grind mechanisms that utilize a fixed lug on the rotating shredder assembly are often susceptible to jams when grinding hard food waste, such as beef bones. The use of an induction motor may contribute to the probability of experiencing a jam because of its relatively low stall torque. To reduce the occurrences of jams, swivel, or rotatable, lugs that move out of the way before a jam can occur are employed. However, with swivel lugs, the energy displaced to the food waste is less and therefore can result in compromised grind performance.
The present application addresses shortcomings associated with the prior art.
SUMMARY
Among other things, a grind mechanism for a food waste disposer that includes an impact mechanism for freeing jams is disclosed. The impact mechanism uses the stored energy in the disposer's rotating elements to be transmitted to the disposer's motor shaft from an impact member to a part of the rotating shredder assembly. This energy is then transmitted to the lug and to the fixed lugs and to the food waste particle that is creating the jam. The impact energy then breaks up the food waste particle, freeing the jam.
In accordance with certain teachings of the present disclosure, a shredder assembly for a food waste disposer includes a rotatable shaft and an impact member fixedly attached to the shaft to rotate therewith. A shredder disk is attached to the shaft via a clutch allowing the shredder disk to slip relative to the shaft when the shredder disk jams, wherein the impact member strikes the shredder disk to transfer rotational energy to the jam. In certain exemplary embodiments, the shredder disk includes a support member attached thereto, wherein the impact member strikes the support member when the shredder disk slips.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an exemplary food waste disposer including a grinding mechanism in accordance with the present disclosure.
FIGS. 2 and 3 are perspective views of a grinding mechanism embodying aspects of the present disclosure.
FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the grinding mechanism illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 .
FIGS. 5 and 6 are perspective views of an alternative grinding mechanism embodying aspects of the present disclosure.
FIG. 7 is an exploded view of the grinding mechanism illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6 .
FIGS. 8A and 8B are top and side views of an exemplary t-bar impact mechanism disclosed herein.
FIG. 9 is an exploded view of a grinding mechanism having an alternative impact mechanism.
FIG. 10 is an exploded view of a grinding mechanism having another alternative impact mechanism.
FIGS. 11-13 illustrate yet another alternative impact mechanism.
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the description herein of specific embodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Illustrative embodiments of the invention are described below. In the interest of clarity, not all features of an actual implementation are described in this specification. It will of course be appreciated that in the development of any such actual embodiment, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which will vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.
FIG. 1 is a sectional view illustrating portions of an exemplary food waste disposer embodying certain teachings of the present disclosure. The food waste disposer 100 includes a food conveying section 102 and a grinding mechanism 110 , which is disposed between the food conveying section and a motor section 104 . The food conveying section 102 includes an inlet for receiving food waste and water. The food waste is conveyed to the grinding mechanism 110 , and the motor section 104 includes a motor 119 imparting rotational movement to a motor shaft 118 to operate the grinding mechanism 110 .
The grinding mechanism 110 includes a stationary grind ring 116 that is fixedly attached to an inner surface of the housing of the grind mechanism 110 . A rotating shredder plate assembly 112 is rotated relative to the stationary grind ring 116 by the motor shaft 118 to reduce food waste delivered by the food conveying section to small pieces. When the food waste is reduced to particulate matter sufficiently small, it passes from above the shredder plate assembly 112 , and along with water passing through the food conveying section, is then discharged from the disposer.
FIGS. 2 and 3 are top and bottom perspective views, respectively, showing the shredder plate assembly 112 and motor shaft 118 . FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the shredder plate assembly 112 and shaft 118 . The particular shredder plate assembly 112 illustrated in FIGS. 2-4 includes multiple, stacked plates to provide a plurality of levels for multi-stage chopping or cutting of food waste. The illustrated embodiment includes two stacked shredder disks 121 , 122 and a support plate 126 . Fixed lugs 114 extend upwards from the upper shredder disk 121 , as well as swivel lugs 115 , which are attached by swivel rivets 130 to the assembly 112 .
The lower disk 122 defines teeth 124 about the periphery of the disk 122 for chopping food wastes. Further, the lower disk 122 defines a radius larger than the upper disk 121 , such that the teeth 124 extend beyond the periphery of the upper disk 121 to provide an “under cutting” arrangement, in which the lower disk 122 extends below a portion of the grind ring 116 . FIGS. 5-7 show various views of an alternative embodiment having a single disk 121 for the rotating shredder plate.
As noted above in the Background section hereof, fixed lugs in general can be prone to jams with hard objects such as bones. To address this, the illustrated embodiment includes an impact member 200 that is secured directly to the shaft 118 of the motor so as to rotate with the shaft. In the exemplary illustrated embodiments, the impact member 200 comprises a “T-bar.” FIGS. 8A and 8B show top and side views illustrating one exemplary T-bar 200 . In certain embodiments, the shaft 118 includes a square drive portion 220 that is received by a corresponding square opening 221 extending through the impact member 200 .
The shredder assembly 112 is not fixedly attached to the shaft 118 , but rather, is attached such that it slips if the disposer load increases beyond some predetermined level, such as when the disposer jams. In the illustrated exemplary embodiment, the support plate 126 is captured by a series of components that create a slip clutch. This clutch allows the rotating shredder assembly 112 to turn with the shaft 118 when not under load, but when the disposer is loaded or meets with a jam, the clutch slips allowing the assembly 112 , which includes the support plate 126 , to be impacted by the T-bar 200 . Since the T-bar 200 is fixedly attached to the rotating shaft 118 , it continues to rotate with the shaft 118 when the shredder plate assembly 112 stops rotating due to the clutch slipping. The impact member 200 rotating with the shaft 118 strikes the support plate 126 of the shredder plate assembly 112 , transferring rotational energy to the jam to free the jam, or material creating the load.
More specifically, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3-8 , the impact member 200 defines tabs 202 that extend upwardly towards the bottom of the shredder plate assembly 112 . When a jam occurs causing the clutch to slip, the tabs 202 of the rotating impact member 200 contact downwardly extending tabs 204 of the support member 126 .
The clutch consists of a thrust washer 210 immediately above the T-bar 200 and another thrust washer 212 immediately above the support plate 126 . A cupped spring, or Belleville, washer 214 and a cap nut 216 secure the clutch and rotating shredder assemblies 112 on the shaft 118 . The Belleville washer 214 maintains the predetermined preload so as to maintain a controlled slip point in the clutch. The thrust washers 210 , 212 may be made of a polymeric material that is non-corrosive, non-hydroscopic and abrasion resistant. All metallic components preferably are stainless steel to avoid corrosion. The T-bar 200 , support plate 126 and the square drive portion 220 of the shaft 118 are heat treated to increase the mechanical properties to acceptable levels.
An impact mechanism 300 in accordance with an alternative embodiment is shown in FIG. 9 . A rotating shredder plate assembly 312 includes a shredder disk 121 and a support plate 126 . The impact mechanism 300 includes sliding lugs 314 that are retained by rivets 316 extending through the rotating shredder assembly 312 . The rivets 316 extend through a slot 318 in the lugs 314 , through openings in the shredder disk 121 , and through spacers 320 . The impacting occurs between the rivets 316 and the lugs 314 . In essence, the lugs 314 slide concentrically to the rotating shredder assembly 312 about the lug retaining rivets 316 .
Another alternative embodiment is illustrated in FIG. 10 . An impact mechanism 400 includes a cup-shaped anvil 410 secured directly to the motor shaft by a bolt 412 . The anvil 410 is situated between the shredder disk 121 and the support plate 126 . Thrust bearings 414 are positioned above and below the support plate 126 , with a thrust washer 416 below the lower thrust bearing 414 . Lugs 420 on the anvil 410 impact mating lugs 422 integral to the support plate 126 to dislodge jams.
Another impact mechanism shown in FIGS. 11-13 includes a two piece anvil system. A lower anvil 450 has tabs 452 extending therefrom that are slidably received by grooves 454 in an upper anvil 456 . One of the anvil members is fixedly attached to the shaft 118 to rotate therewith, while the other anvil member is attached via the clutch so that it slips relative to the shaft upon a disposer jam. The two anvils 450 , 456 are thus movable relative to each other, with the tabs 452 impacting the ends of the grooves 454 to dislodge jams.
The particular embodiments disclosed above are illustrative only, as the invention may be modified and practiced in different but equivalent manners apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings herein. Furthermore, no limitations are intended to the details of construction or design herein shown, other than as described in the claims below. It is therefore evident that the particular embodiments disclosed above may be altered or modified and all such variations are considered within the scope and spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the protection sought herein is as set forth in the claims below. | A shredder assembly for a food waste disposer that includes an impact mechanism for freeing jams. The impact mechanism uses the stored energy in the rotating portion of the disposer's rotating elements to be transmitted from the rotor shaft via an impact member to a part of the rotating shredder assembly. The shredder assembly includes a rotatable shaft and an impact member fixedly attached to the shaft to rotate therewith. A shredder disk is attached to the shaft via a clutch allowing the shredder disk to slip relative to the shaft when the shredder disk jams, wherein the impact member strikes the shredder disk to transfer rotational energy to the jam. | 4 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention is concerned with improvement in the way vehicle elevating apparatus is constructed and assembled.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Elevating mechanism or vehicle service racks have been constructed for many years in a way that requires moving the separate pieces and parts to a job site and then going through the tedious process of fitting the parts together in a final assembly which must then be operated to determine if the parts fit as intended and perform the task of raising and lowering a vehicle, usually the heaviest vehicle permitted.
It is very important to be sure that the lifting motion of a pair of runways which support the right and left side wheels of a vehicle is coordinated to equalize that motion so the vehicle will remain substantially level. Usually, elevating apparatus is provided with a fluid pressure power source that effects the elevating and lowering motion, and some means is required so the fluid pressure applied to each runway will cause the runways to move up or down substantially the same amount so that no tipping of the vehicle can result. Fluid flow pressure systems require some means to establish equality of motion to the runways.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A principal object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle elevating apparatus in which preassembled components are easily brought into cooperation to complete an operative apparatus.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle elevating apparatus with a pair of vehicle wheel receiving runways supported from separate bases by spaced legs which together form a parallelogram, and to integrate the same with a torsionally stiff control device that operates to keep the wheel receiving runways substantially level and at the same height.
A preferred embodiment of the vehicle elevating apparatus comprises a pair of parallelogram assemblies with wheel supporting runways, motor means for raising and lowering the wheel supporting runways, and means to maintain the runways at substantially the same elevation for both directions of movement.
It is also a preferred embodiment of the present invention to provide components for vehicle elevating apparatus that will lend themselves to a method of fabrication in which the operating parts consist of preassembled components that may be brought together and joined to make up a complete operative apparatus, whereby the shipping of the components to a job site is greatly simplified so as to reduce shipping and handling expense.
Other objects of the present invention will appear as the details thereof are set forth and explained.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A presently preferred embodiment of the vehicle elevating apparatus and the method of its assembly is disclosed in the drawing accompanying this specification, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevation of one of a pair of substantially identical runway assemblies on which a vehicle may be elevated;
FIG. 2 is a fragmentary end view of the pair of runway assemblies, as seen along line 2--2 in FIG. 1 with only so much of the structure shown that will illustrate the operating components and the method of assembly of those components;
FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic layout of a fluid pressure system associated with the pressure fluid motor means seen in FIG. 1 which elevates and lowers the runways;
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view of a typical joining of the components making up an assembly with respect to the base and leg of one of the runway assemblies;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the torsion bar motion equalizing means seen in FIG. 2; and
FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of a detail of the motion equalizing means of FIG. 5.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 it can be seen that the vehicle elevating apparatus, or what may be called a service rack, comprises a pair of assemblies 10 that are intended to be brought into spaced side-by-side positions as in FIG. 2. Each assembly 10 consists of an upwardly facing channel shaped base 11, a vehicle wheel supporting runway 12, and a pair of spaced apart legs 13A and 13B. The legs 13B are shown in FIG. 2 for reasons that will appear presently. Each leg 13A is pivoted at pin 14 to the base channel 11 and is pivoted at pin 15 to the runway at the forepart 12A thereof where a vehicle front wheel support plate 16 is mounted. The rearmost leg 13B of each assembly 10 is pivotally connected by pin 17 to a rear portion of the runway 12, and the lower end of each leg 13B is pivotally connected by an elongated pin 18 which provides an extension 18A for a purpose to appear.
The view of FIG. 1 includes a pressure fluid motor means 20 supported by bracket 21 at the underside of the runway 12 in position to have its actuator rod 22 connected to a load carrying bracket 23 attached to the leg 13A. The source of pressure fluid, similar to the earlier application of Hunter, Ser. No. 831,262, filed Feb. 20, 1986 (now abandoned), has been modified as shown in FIG. 3 which includes a pump 24 driven by electric motor M. The pump 24 has a suction line 25 from the reservoir 26, and a delivery line 27 running to a solenoid operated direction control valve 28 which has its outlet line 29 connected to normally closed main valves 30 at the actuating motor means 20 which effects the elevation and lowering of the runways 12. A pressure fluid branch line 31 running to pilot control valve 34 is connected by similar branches 31A to pressurize normally closed pilot valves 32 which are intended to open the main valves 30 for lowering the runways 12. There is a fluid drain line 33 from valve 28 which runs through a velocity control valve 40, and then to reservoir 26.
A suitable control center is connected through depressing start buttons B and by electrical lead 36 to motor M for starting pump 24 to supply pressure fluid to line 27. At the same time the solenoid operated direction control valve 28 is spring activated in the raised direction open so pressure fluid can reach main valves 30 at the motor means 20. Currently, pressure fluid in lines 29A flows to the pilot valves 32 and cause main values 30 to open. When pilot valves 32 open the main valves 30, the motor means 20 are free to elevate the runways 12. However, should there be a loss of pressure in line 29 either by stoppage of the motor M or a break in the line 29, the main valves 30 will close and trap fluid thereby preventing collapse of the runways 12. The pressure fluid actuated motor means 35 will be unloaded and that will allow the shoes LS to engage the teeth in the safety rack SR, thereby locking the runway against dropping. In a normal situation when runways 12 need to be lowered the operator will push buttons S at the control center 35 and the circuits in the control center will cycle the pump 24 to supply pressure fluid to the direction control valve 28 so the motor means 20 will lift the runways 12 and take the weight of the lock shoes LS. The control system also actuates solenoid valve 34 by lead 38 so pressure fluid can actuate motor means 35 which raise and hold lock shoes LS (see FIG. 4) away from the safety rack SR so the strut S is free and the leg is also free to pivot and allow the runways 12 to rise and then descent. The circuit will only cycle this unloading of the shoes LS for a very short time and then by lead 37 actuate direction control valve 28 to begin the draining of the pressure fluid from motor means 20 through the velocity control valve 40 and back to the reservoir 26. The pump 24 is maintained operative to allow the central control circuit to signal the pilot valves 32 opening the main valves and to maintain pressure fluid on motor means 35 to hold the lock shoes LS free of the safety rack SR.
While the foregoing discloses the control system, the source of pressure fluid for operating the motor means to elevate the runways 12 is necessary to make an operating apparatus, the improvement residing in this invention is disclosed in connection with the means seen in FIGS. 2, 4, 5 and 6. Attention is now directed to those drawings where a runway motion equalizing subassembly component 41 is provided for the purpose of assuring that the elevating and lowering of the runways 12 is substantially equal or the same so that a vehicle will be supported in a level position.
That subassembly component 41 consists of an elongated torsionally stiff bar 42 having adjacent its opposite ends crank arms 43. The bar 42 is formed in its opposite ends with a socket 44, and the ends are also formed with shaped projections 45 which in the view of FIG. 6 are square or four sided, although six or eight sided projections may be employed. The purpose for shaped end projections 45 is to furnish a connection for a similarly shaped socket 46 in one end of the crank arms 43, the opposite end of each crank arm 43 is formed with a cylindrical socket 47. Each crank arm 43 is secured in position on the projections 45 by a circular line of welding W. The mechanical connection resulting between the shape end projection 45 of bar 42 and the similarly shaped socket 46 of crank arm 43 is such that any load imposed on the crank arm 43 is transmitted into the torsionally stiff bar member 42, whereby the crank arms are held in substantially the same angular positions. That is to say, if a load imposed on one crank arm 43 tends to displace it and twist the bar member 42 the opposite crank arm 43 will respond and undergo a substantially similar displacement.
As is seen in FIGS. 2 and 4, the bases 11 for each of the parallelogram side assemblies 10 connect the bottom ends of the legs 13B on special pivot shafts 18 which have the inwardly directed ends 18A projecting beyond the base 11. Also, the legs 13B are provided with pins 18B which project inwardly and are spaced from the pivot shafts 18. The shaft 18 and pins 18B are parallel and have a spacing equal to the center-to-center spacing of the centers of the sockets 44 and 47 for each crank arm. The angular relationship of the crank arms 43 to the axis of the torsion bar member 42 is critical so that one crank does not lead or lage the other crank. Thus, the crank arms 43 must be carefully angularly aligned so that the sockets 47 will be in alignment.
Having made the subassembly component 41 as detailed above, what remains is to follow the method of mounting one end of the component 41 (see FIG. 2) on the projection 18A and pin 18B, followed by moving the opposite side assembly 10 into position so its projection 18A and pin 18B will be received in the sockets 44 and 47. That method is assisted by having the legs 13B in the same positions, either lying down on the respective bases 11 or propped up at the same angle while moving the components into the final assembly. Thereafter any movement of either leg 13B will be transmitted through the component 41 to the opposite leg 13B in substantially an equal degree of movement. The final procedural steps are to use a check gauge to align the bases 11 in as precise a parallel alignment as possible. Then the bases 11 can be suitably anchored to the working surface as is well understood.
As is shown in FIG. 3 the two motor means 20 are in fluid coupled relation to the single pressure fluid pump 24 so that it can be expected that the resulting displacement of the motor means 20 will be greatest in the one that offers the least resistance, resulting in an imbalanced load applied to the runways 12. This problem is overcome by means of the component shown in FIGS. 2 and 5 which limits the independence of motion of one runway 12 and its parallelogram assembly relative to the opposite runway 12 and its parallelogram assembly. The torsion bar member 42 reacts to a small difference in the angular between the two crank arms 43 and transfers approximately half of the load imbalance to the lighter loaded runway 12 and its parallelogram assembly. This action of the torsion bar member 42 results in substantial equality of displacement for both motor means 20. In addition to the foregoing characteristics of the component 41, there is the safety aspect of having a device which can transfer the gross payload of one runway 12 to the opposite runway in the event of catastrophic failure of one of the motor means 20. This failure condition will result in a difference in the height of the runways 12 due to the torsional elasticity of the bar 42, but the runway 12 associated with the failed motor means 20 will remain supported. The construction of the component 41 and its ability to transfer loads between two independent runways 12 is unique due to its ability to safeguard vehicles that are placed on the elevating apparatus. It is unique also in the ability of the torsion bar member 42 to be disconnected from the parallelogram assemblies so the latter assemblies can be separately shipped to the place of installation.
The foregoing disclosure is not intended to unnecessarily limit the scope of the invention or its field of use. | A vehicle elevating apparatus constructed with a pair of independent runway carrying parallelogram assemblies each being provided with raising and lowering motor of pressure fluid type, and a torsionally stiff component operatively connecting the parallelogram assemblies so that in the event of failure of one of the motors the torsionally stiff component will transfer the load and substantially equalize the position of the runways and prevent a catastrophic accident. | 1 |
FIELD
Wireless data networks and their operation.
BACKGROUND
Seismic surveys are extensively used in the oil and gas industry to understand the subsurface and to provide structural images of the geological formation within the earth using reflected sound waves. The results of the survey are used to identify reservoir size, shape and depth as well as porosity and the existence of fluids. Geophysicists and geologists use this information to pinpoint the most likely locations for successfully drilling for oil and natural gas.
The seismic survey is conducted by placing a large number of geophones in the area of interest. They are set up in lines or in grids. Using shakers or small explosives, the ground is shaken and the geophones acquire the reflected sound data from the different sub-layers in the ground. A huge amount of data is collected in a given seismic survey which can cover 40 sq km and take days to gather.
The amount of data which is retrieved during a seismic survey is quite large. In an exemplary case a geophone measures three axes at a sampling rate of 4 bytes per millisecond (each byte is 8 bits giving a resolution of 24 bits which is the accuracy required by the seismic survey). In this case, the data rate per geophone is:
4 bytes/msec×8 bits/byte×3=96 kbps (Kilobits per second)
If the survey is using 1000 geophones, the data rate is then 96 Mbps (Mega bits per second). Because wireless systems have overhead and error correction to operate reliably, even the highest data rate broadband wireless systems can't accommodate this data rate in traditional configurations such as point to multipoint or pure mesh systems.
Several patents are known that use wireless links in a seismic network, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,424,931; 6,041,283; 6,219,620; and 7,224,642. However, there is room for improvement in the manner in which data is collected and delivered for processing.
SUMMARY
Methods and apparatus for collecting data from a wireless sensor network are provided. The methods and apparatus apply for example to seismic networks, but may be applied to other wireless sensor networks.
In one embodiment, a wireless network is provided, that may comprise wireless sensor units organized in chains of wireless sensor units. Each wireless sensor unit may comprise plural sensors and at least a wireless transceiver connected to communicate by wires or wirelessly with the plural sensors; each chain of wireless sensor units including a terminal wireless sensor unit and intermediate wireless sensor units, each intermediate wireless sensor unit being configured to relay data along the chain of intermediate wireless sensor units towards the terminal wireless sensor unit; the terminal wireless sensor unit in each chain of wireless sensor units being adapted to communicate wirelessly with at least one backhaul unit of plural backhaul units; and the backhaul units being adapted to communicate with a central computer.
In another embodiment, a method of collecting data from wireless sensor units arranged in a network is provided in which the wireless sensor units are organized in chains of wireless sensor units. Each chain of wireless sensor units may include a terminal wireless sensor unit and intermediate wireless sensor units. The method may comprising the steps of initiating distribution of control signals to the wireless sensor units; acquiring data with the wireless sensor units by sensing one or more physical parameters; each of the wireless sensor units transmitting the acquired data in response to the control signals along at least one of the plural chains of wireless sensor units towards a corresponding one of the terminal wireless sensor units; each of the terminal wireless sensor units forwarding the acquired data from the wireless sensor units in the corresponding chain to at least one of plural backhaul units; and each of the backhaul units collecting and forwarding the acquired data from the terminal wireless sensor units towards a central computer.
Methods of prioritizing sending of data in wireless sensor networks are also provided.
These and other aspects of the network and method are set out in the claims, which are incorporated here by reference.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
Embodiments will now be described with reference to the figures, in which like reference characters denote like elements, by way of example, and in which:
FIG. 1 shows an exemplary wireless sensor unit which includes a wireless capable data collection box connected to several sensors, in this case, geophones.
FIG. 2 shows an exemplary distribution of wireless sensor units in a wireless mesh network.
FIG. 3 shows a 2D wireless network with wireless links to feed data back to a control van.
FIG. 4 shows a 3D wireless network with wireless links to feed data back to a control van.
FIG. 5 shows a wireless network with balloon based coverage.
FIG. 6 shows a wireless network operation.
FIG. 7 shows an example of arbitrary grouping of wireless sensor units that allow the operator to selectively pull data from an arbitrary group of boxes.
FIG. 8 shows an algorithm for prioritizing sending of data from wireless sensor units over a wireless network, in this case using a random back-off algorithm.
FIG. 9 shows an algorithm for prioritizing sending of data from wireless sensor units over a wireless network, in this case using a greedy download algorithm.
FIG. 10 shows a scenario in which a greedy download algorithm may be used.
FIG. 11 shows an algorithm for prioritizing sending of data from wireless sensor units over a wireless network, in this case sending high priority data first, then following with low priority data.
FIG. 12 shows a data prioritization method: Send critical ‘X’ data first, and then follow later (or offline) with low priority ‘Y’ and ‘Z’ data.
FIG. 13 shows a data prioritization method using interlaced data samples: Send “320” data first, then follow later with “330” data.
FIG. 14 shows a data prioritization method using resolution reduction: Send “ 420 ” data first, then increase the resolution later by sending “ 430 ” data.
FIG. 15 shows a combination of prioritization methods: Send High bits ( 520 ) of interleaved words ( 540 ), then follow later filling in with higher resolution and more data.
FIG. 16 shows a method of awakening wireless sensor units from sleep.
FIG. 17 shows a method of a wireless sensor unit transitioning between dormant and active.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless sensor unit 20 . Many different wireless sensor configurations may be used. In the example shown, wireless sensor unit 20 comprises several sensors 22 , in this case six, connected by wires to a data collection box 24 . The data collection box 24 is wired to a wireless transceiver 26 . In some embodiments, instead of six sensors, there may be one or more sensors. In some embodiments, the wired connections shown in FIG. 1 may be wireless. In some embodiments, any combination of the sensors 22 , data collection box 24 and wireless transceiver 26 may be incorporated in a single housing. In some embodiments, the sensors 22 may be geophones.
In FIG. 1 , the data collection box 24 is connected to six digital geophones 22 capable of sampling data from three directions—X, Y, and Z. There are 3 geophones 22 connected in series and attached to each side of the box 24 via a cable. Each geophone 22 may for example sample the signal at 1 millisecond (ms.) interval, and each sample consists of 4 bytes of data per millisecond. The wireless transceiver 26 may be connected to the data collection box 24 via RS-232 and SCSI ports. These connections may be generalized to other types of ports including (but not limited to) USB, FireWire, parallel, synchronous serial, etc.
Since there are 3 directions of motion sampled simultaneously, the data acquisition rate per geophone is
4 bytes/msec×8 bits/byte×3=96 kbps (Kilobits per second)
With 6 geophones 22 attached per box 24 , the data rate received by a box is therefore 576 kbps.
In a seismic network, the acquisition may occur over a period ranging from a minimum of 5 seconds to a maximum of 20 seconds, each acquisition followed by an 8 second interval. Therefore the data rate to be transmitted back to the central control unit will have a minimum data transmission rate of
576
kbps
×
5
sec
5
+
8
sec
=
222
kbps
And a maximum of
576
kbps
×
20
sec
20
+
8
sec
=
412
kbps
Therefore the maximum data rate for real time data transmission is 412 kbps per box 24 . Given that there are sometimes hundreds of boxes 24 active at the same time, the amount of data flowing simultaneously through the network at the time of acquisition is quite substantial and requires careful management of the data flow throughout the network. Embodiments disclosed here are intended to provide real-time transmission of the data if required. Real-time in this case being defined as data transmission occurs substantially during the seismic data acquisition period. The network may offer the user the ability to tailor the performance to their specific requirements and their specific application. In some cases, they may not need to meet the real time requirement and the system enables the user to utilize it in a non-real time way.
In an embodiment, a hybrid wireless mesh/cellular network configuration may be used with standards-based equipment. Equipment based on the standards can be configured to operate at different frequencies, thus allowing for extremely high data rates while avoiding problems of self-interference or limited bandwidth. However, any type of radio may be used which has the capability to transmit the amount of data required and is capable of being connected in mesh or cellular networks. As an example of a custom radio with such capabilities, Wi-LAN's VIP 110-24 is capable of forming a mesh network as required by this invention even though it is not based on a standard product.
In an embodiment, a Hybrid Mesh network system uses wireless units based on IEEE 802.11g standard capable of transmitting 36 Mbps (we will use an effective bandwidth of 27 Mbps to account for overhead) of data to distances determined by the following Friis equation:
P r =P t G t G r (λ/4 πR ) 2 , where:
P r is the received power,
P t is the transmitted power,
G t is the transmitter gain,
G r is the receiver gain,
R is the distance between routers, and
λ is the signal wavelength.
With 20 dBi transmit power, 36 Mbps links up to 500 m away can be attained within the advertised required fade margin of a typical off-the-shelf router, or, 24 Mbps links may be attained up to 1,000 m with a fade margin within the advertised required fade margin of a typical off-the-shelf router. By using a mesh configuration, each box is able to receive data from another box in its immediate vicinity and re-transmit it to a box further down the line until all the data from all the boxes reaches its final destination. Boxes that are downstream from others have to transmit their own data as well as the data received from the boxes located upstream from them. At the network level, this means the total transmit time is equal to approximately half the time available. As a result the total number of boxes that can be connected in a single line or in a mesh configuration could be limited to about 32 boxes. Thus for every 32 boxes we will need a backhaul unit to get the data back to the central control unit. Furthermore, because of certain system inefficiencies, we may have to limit this to a maximum of 25 boxes per each backhaul unit. A backhaul unit comprises a transmitter and a receiver with highly directional antennas. These are clearly exemplary numbers.
A mesh network architecture may be used either to connect geophones directly to each other, or to relay boxes, which are in turn connected to a data collection van some distance away. In some embodiments, higher level mesh networks are overlaid upon these local mesh networks in a backhaul network based on a more cellular approach.
A hybrid mesh network configuration is very well suited for seismic surveys. In one embodiment, the network self-configures into linear meshes by means of each unit discovering and connecting to its nearest neighbors. All of the mesh units may use omni-directional antennas (antennas which cover 360 degrees of azimuth). If deployed, the backhaul units may use directional antennas with relatively wide beamwidths, say, 90 degrees or 120 degrees, to increase antenna gain and reduce interference. This allows them to be pointed in generally the right direction but without requiring an enormous amount of setup.
In FIG. 3 , wireless sensor units 20 in plural chains of wireless sensor units 20 in a wireless mesh network 29 communicate with each other and one of the wireless sensor units 20 communicates with a corresponding backhaul unit 28 . While the backhaul unit 28 is shown more or less centrally in relation to its corresponding chain of wireless sensor units 10 , the backhaul unit 28 may be located at the end of its corresponding chain, as in FIG. 6 or in any other suitable location. The backhaul units 28 in turn relay data from the wireless sensor units to a central control unit 36 . In this case, IEEE 802.11g may be used for the mesh network 29 and IEEE 802.11a may be used for backhaul.
One implementation involves connecting a number of geophones to each other using short-range radios, and a relay box may incorporate a compatible short-range radio to collect the data from locally placed geophones and relay the data via a second mesh based on a longer-range radio (e.g. IEEE 802.11g). The maximum number of relay boxes is then determined by the capacity of the longer-range radio. When that number is reached, a backhaul unit would then transmit all the data collected in either a cellular network or a point-to-point link (e.g. IEEE 802.11a or 802.16) back to a computer at the control truck for collection, storage and interpretation. The backhaul units would also have two radios: one radio to communicate with the last relay box in the mesh and the second radio to relay data to the control truck.
In FIG. 4 , a 3D network is shown in which wireless sensor units 20 communicate through respective backhaul units 28 (see FIG. 3 ), and the backhaul units communicate with a control truck 36 . In this case, short-range radio such as IEEE 802.15.4 may be used to provide a wireless connection between the geophones and the box in each wireless sensor unit 20 , longer-range radio such as IEEE 802.11g may be used for the mesh network (communication between wireless sensor units 20 ), and an alternative system on a separate channel, such as IEEE 802.11a may be used for backhaul to the control truck 36 .
Another method is shown in FIG. 5 , in which a tethered (or un-tethered) balloon carrying carries a wireless mesh node. The node 30 , functioning as a backhaul unit, attached to the balloon 32 would be within range of the sensor units 20 in a large geographical area 34 and therefore would provide excellent coverage of rough terrain. Each node 30 communicates with the control truck 36 (see FIG. 6 ).
The wireless sensor unit 20 may use off the shelf components modified according to the disclosed methods. The mesh network provides a virtual connection between the control van and each data collection box in the field.
The hybrid mesh network may be applied both to existing analog geophones and to future digital geophones. Future implementations may require the use of short-range radio equipment to create the small local network using a number of geophones. One such short-range radio is the IEEE 802.15.4 (ZigBee) system. Although the 802.15.4 system has too low a throughput and range to handle the full survey, it has enough capability to connect a few geophones 22 (which are less than 100m apart and which require an aggregate data throughput of less than 256 kbps, a relatively low data rate). Thus, in one embodiment, a limited number of geophones 22 are connected to each other, transmitting all their data to a box 24 with a higher-capacity (e.g., 802.11g) radio 26 . The box 24 incorporates memory to buffer the data. This memory could be a hard drive, flash memory, or some other storage device, depending on the requirements of the system. The boxes 24 are then connected to their own mesh network as described above, and the data is backhauled using either other channels of the local system (e.g., 802.11g) or some other (IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.16, cellular) backhaul.
In the case where the system is being retrofitted to analog geophones, the radios 26 or the data control box 24 may incorporate an Analog-to-Digital converter to enable the digitization of the data from the geophones.
In FIG. 6 , a method of operation of the network is disclosed. At t 1 the odd numbered radios 38 transmit while the even numbered ones 40 receive. In this example, the backhaul radio 28 is receiving therefore the control truck 36 radio is idle. Then at t 2 , the even numbered radios 40 are transmitting and the odd numbered ones 38 are receiving. In this case the last radio 42 in the line is idle, while the backhaul radio is transmitting the data it has collected to the control truck. Then at t 3 the same situation as t 1 occurs and so on until all the data has been transmitted back to the control truck.
As shown in FIG. 6 , when the network self-configures after installation, each radio may be allocated a number representing its location in each line. For example, radio number 25 in line 1 would be allocated “1-25”. This numbering may start from the radio closest to the backhaul unit, which would be number xx-1. As soon as the seismic acquisition begins, all odd numbered radios begin transmitting and all even radios receive. Radio number 1 transmits to the backhaul unit. Once they have transmitted all their data, the odd numbered radios receive while the even ones transmit. The transmission is always from number N to number N−1. Thus, the data is passed on from one radio to the next. The radios downstream effectively relay all the data for their system as well as all other systems upstream from them. Each unit has sufficient data storage to buffer the data it receives prior to the next transmission. This process continues until all the acquired data has been collected at the control truck. Control truck 36 is shown for each chain of wireless sensor units 20 , but generally, there will be a single control truck 36 , with a computer system, and one or more radios as required by the connection to the backhaul units. The connection to the backhaul units may be wired or wireless.
Another technique is to group seismic boxes 20 based on their location in the mesh. This technique is shown in FIG. 7 . In order to reduce mesh relay loads, groups 44 are configured so that data sent from a remote box to the control van uses a “quiet” path through the mesh and through backhaul units 28 ( FIG. 3 ). This way, several boxes may download their data without causing excessive collisions in the network.
One issue with wireless replacement of data collection cables is the large amount of bandwidth required for every seismic data record. Immediately following each seismic event (usually triggered by an explosive device or other physical means to send a seismic shock wave into the area being measured), a very large amount of data is ready for transmission back to the data collection equipment. Because all of the sensors are triggered by the same event, the wireless network suddenly goes from a quiescent state to near or beyond capacity. FIG. 2 shows a mesh 130 of sensor units 20 triggered by an event 120 so that most of the units have data and are active 110 , while some units 140 may not have received data or may have already transmitted their data.
In order to prevent the overloading of the network, a random back-off may be used in some embodiments to stagger the start of transmission for each set of sensors in the array. The unique condition where a starting point is well defined allows a predictable uniform distribution of data upload start times throughout the array of sensors. Each mesh device delays in step 54 transmission of its own data for an amount of time generated randomly in step 52 , based, for example, on the device's serial number or a timer. Timing may be initiated at the detection in step 50 of the start of a new seismic event. Although the device may be relaying data from other parts of the mesh, during the timer period, the device does not inject its own data into the mesh. Once the time-out period has been reached, the device begins in step 56 to transmit its own data (in addition to relaying any other data passing through the mesh) to the control van.
The Usage is generally extensible to any triggered event that will cause a significant increase in bandwidth usage due to the plurality of devices all attempting to communicate simultaneously (triggered by the event). The algorithm for this technique is shown in FIG. 8 .
There are cases where the control may initiate a full download of all mesh data. Using a broadcast message, each box is instructed in step 60 to transmit all of its data back to the control van. The execution of this command would result in a flood of network traffic and a very high collision rate. In order to reduce the collision rate, each box employs a “greedy” technique to ensure that its data is transmitted before it has to relay data from other boxes.
To employ this technique, the box examines broadcast messages before relaying them to nearby nodes. If in step 62 the broadcast message is a download message and the box has data to download, the box initiates the download procedure 56 but does not relay in step 64 the broadcast message until in step 66 its download is complete.
PERFORMANCE EXAMPLES
Example 1
If each mesh node 70 is within range of two other nodes, and the control van 36 is within range of four mesh nodes, this technique results in a linear download where only one node in each chain is downloading at a time. Nodes further down the chain are idle, and nodes between the downloading box and the control van are relaying one box's data. At the control van, the four mesh nodes within range would be simultaneously transmitting data, which is a very light load.
Example 2
If each mesh node 70 is within range of three other nodes and the control van 36 is within range of four mesh nodes, the first four nodes in the chain download their data before passing the broadcast message to the links following in the chain. If each node reaches two other nodes further down the chain, this results in eight nodes simultaneously transmitting at the second level, and the amount of data simultaneously transmitted doubles with each additional layer. In this scenario, if there are two hundred (200) boxes in the field, the first download cycle has four devices transmitting simultaneously, the second cycle has eight, the third has sixteen, and so on. After five cycles of downloading and broadcast message forwarding, the field of devices has downloaded all data. On the fifth cycle, 64 boxes are simultaneously transmitting back to the control van. On the sixth cycle, 76 boxes are simultaneously transmitting back to the control van. This technique is illustrated in FIG. 10 .
Although Example 2 still results in a large link load as the broadcast message spreads through the network, it is still far better than if the broadcast message reached all nodes at roughly the same time. Further, the most typical network configuration is that of Example 1, where nodes are chained in a linear fashion and rarely can a given node see more than the node linking it to the control van and one other node further out in the field. Finally, if there are many other nodes in the vicinity, other transmission reduction techniques outlined in this disclosure can be used to reduce the network load.
This technique may be extended to groups within the network. A group of boxes may be defined as a subset of the entire network. This group may be a cluster physically located near each other, it may be a set of strategically placed nodes throughout the network, or it may be some other arbitrary grouping. The broadcast message may still be required to initiate download, but nodes not in the group would simply relay the message. Allowing grouping provides more flexibility for data retrieval and also presents another technique for reducing network load. If, in the above Example 2, there were four groups defined for the 200 nodes, the size of each group is 50 nodes. The maximum download load would then be 22 simultaneously transmitting nodes. Once the operator has finished receiving data for a group, a broadcast message may be sent, initiating download for a new group.
Transmission Load Reduction Using Interlacing
The interlace techniques defined here are methods of reduction of the initial amount of data to be transmitted, while maintaining a quality of information that will be useful to an operator to determine an estimated quality of the incoming data as well as knowledge that the sensors and system are operating as expected. This may be accomplished using one or more of the specific techniques listed below. Generally, the method is to prioritize specific data to be sent immediately, and remaining data is sent on a low priority basis. Selecting the higher priority data using one of the methods listed below will allow the operator to receive real time information on the current shot without burdening the network with lower priority data. Once the network settles down from the initial burst of data, the lower priority data can be sent for a more detailed or higher resolution picture of the seismic measurements.
FIG. 11 shows an embodiment of a prioritization algorithm, where a data reduction method is applied and all critical data are sent before non-critical data. The data is separated in step 101 into critical data 80 and non-critical data 82 . While in step 84 the critical data has not all been sent, the wireless sensor unit 20 sends in step 86 critical data 80 . Once all the critical data is sent, it sends in step 86 non-critical data 82 .
A three-dimensional seismic sensor produces data samples for the X, Y, and Z axis at a given sample rate per second. For immediate (short-term) analysis of the overall quality of the data record, only one dimension (say, the X axis) may be required. By assigning high priority to X axis samples, the data collection equipment is assured a much faster response (and analysis) of the data. Lower priority data (say the Y and Z axis data) would be uploaded between shots or during pauses in active seismic collection. FIG. 12 shows the original X, Y, and Z data 210 , which have been separated into critical X data 220 , and non-critical Y and Z data 230 .
The Usage is generally extensible to any triggered event that will cause a significant increase in bandwidth usage due to the plurality of devices all attempting to communicate simultaneously (triggered by the event), and where the data could be categorized according to short and long term value.
Extensible Usage 1: Interlaced Data: Data to be uploaded is all of “equal value” but may be decimated for a lower resolution (but still useful) sample of the overall data quality. Decimation is performed before the wireless uplink and the remaining data are transmitted between shots or during pauses in active seismic collection. In FIG. 13 , there is a 3-1 reduction in the amount of critical data sent, as the original burst 310 , is reduced by first selecting periodic or aperiodic data 320 , for initial transmission, then selecting the remaining data, 330 , for transmission at lower priority.
Extensible Usage 2: Reduction of Resolution: As shown in FIG. 14 , initial upload data, 410 , is reduced in size by trimming the lower order bits 430 of each word, effectively reducing the resolution of the information. High order bits 420 are transmitted first, and the remaining bits are transmitted between shots or during pauses in active seismic collection.
Extensible Usage 3: Combination of Interlacing, Reduction of Resolution (see FIG. 15 ): Data size is further reduced by a combination of the techniques described above. The interlacing described above is performed, and the reduction of resolution is used on the original data, 510 , to create high priority data 520 , and low priority data 530 . The high priority interleaved data 540 , is sent first, and then the low priority interleaved data 550 is sent later, as time permits.
Power Saving Methods
Conventional seismic data collection is performed through wired connections between the seismic sensors and the data collection and analysis equipment. One issue with wireless replacement of data collection cables is power consumption. Batteries power the remote systems, but these batteries must be able to provide power for 2-3 days of use, even in extremely low temperatures. Because the data processing devices and radio equipment represent a large draw on the available power supply, it is critical to minimize power consumption wherever possible. While there exist methods for reduction of power consumption in radio devices such as cellular telephones, the characteristics of the seismic collection system present opportunities for unique new methods for power saving.
Power saving can be accomplished by turning off any unused devices at the appropriate time. Prior art often focuses on methods of “wakening” a system that is in low power consumption (or “sleep”) mode, including techniques where the device periodically wakes up and transmits a message to see if the system should become active, or wakes up, receives, and decodes messages looking for indications that data is ready to be transmitted or received. Embodiments of a wireless data network are disclosed that allow power saving modes to operate efficiently.
Immediately following each seismic event (usually triggered by an explosive device or other physical means to send a seismic shock wave into the area being measured), a very large amount of data is ready for transmission back to the data collection equipment. Because all of the sensors are triggered by the same event, this event can also be used to switch the wireless portion of the system from sleep state to functional state. When a sensor detects an event in step 90 , it triggers a processor interrupt in step 92 to take the radio out of sleep mode in step 94 . The radio then transmits data in step 96 and then returns to sleep mode in step 98 (see FIG. 16 ). Because the radio system is not required to periodically check for network status, and because a given radio may enter sleep mode immediately after it has finished uploading its data, power save mode is much more efficient than conventional techniques.
Another technique stems from the fact that, at the end of the day, the system operator is aware that no more seismic tests will be conducted, and a single “sleep” message can be sent out through the network in step 152 , allowing all radios to shut down transmission and in step 154 set the processors into a modified sleep mode. In this mode, the processor may awaken periodically in step 156 to sample the data at the radio receiver (which consumes much less power than the transmitter). When the operator is ready to use the wireless network, he transmits a signal to the nearest node of the mesh. This node, upon receiving the “wake up” signal, wakes in step 158 and in turn begins to transmit the signal to neighboring nodes. In a ripple fashion, the network moves from a dormant state to an active state 150 (see FIG. 17 ). Again, this is a novel way to utilize the fact that the entire network should be switched to dormant or active state at the same time.
In the claims, the word “comprising” is used in its inclusive sense and does not exclude other elements being present. The indefinite article “a” before a claim feature does not exclude more than one of the feature being present. Each one of the individual features described here may be used in one or more embodiments and is not, by virtue only of being described here, to be construed as essential to all embodiments as defined by the claims. Immaterial modifications may be made to the embodiments described here without departing from what is covered by the claims. | A wireless network is provided, that may comprise wireless sensor units organized in chains of wireless sensor units. Each wireless sensor unit may comprise plural sensors and at least a wireless transceiver connected to communicate by wires or wirelessly with the plural sensors. Each chain of wireless sensor units may include a terminal wireless sensor unit and intermediate wireless sensor units, each intermediate wireless sensor unit being configured to relay data along the chain of intermediate wireless sensor units towards the terminal wireless sensor unit. The terminal wireless sensor unit in each chain of wireless sensor units is adapted to communicate wirelessly with at least one backhaul unit of plural backhaul units; and the backhaul units are adapted to communicate with a central computer. | 6 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to munitions or launch capsules and, more particularly, a payload ejection mechanism for use in conjunction with such capsules.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Some launch capsules carry payloads that are intended to be separated from the capsule in flight. This familiar process of deploying munitions or the like from a capsule is depicted in FIGS. 1A through 1C .
[0003] FIG. 1A depicts the launch of capsule 100 . In this illustration, capsule 100 contains booster 108 , which provides the thrust required for launch. In this example, the payload is an unmanned aerial vehicle, usually referred to as a “UAV.” The UAV is not visible in FIG. 1A since it is within shell 102
[0004] At some predetermined altitude or time, shell 102 of capsule 100 opens in preparation for releasing UAV 110 , as depicted in FIG. 1B . Typically, explosive bolts or similar mechanisms are used to open the capsule. As the capsule opens, UAV 110 is released from launch restraints so that it is free to separate from the capsule. The release mechanism can be, for example, explosive bolts or the like.
[0005] Aerodynamic forces assist with the continued opening of capsule 100 and deployment of UAV 110 . More particularly, once capsule 100 partially opens, air resistance forces segments 104 and 106 of shell 102 further apart. The force of the air against segments 104 and 106 also slows capsule 100 . Since UAV 110 has been released from its restraints so that it's no longer coupled to the capsule, its forward motion is not retarded at the same rate as capsule 100 . As a consequence, UAV 110 separates from the capsule, as depicted in FIG. 1C .
[0006] There are several important considerations regarding capsule-deployed payloads. One consideration is that the payload must be able to withstand the axial shock of the capsule's launch. To that end, the launch capsule typically incorporates a shock isolation system that substantially isolates the payload from axially-aligned shock (e.g., due to the high rate of acceleration that is required for launch).
[0007] A second consideration relates to the specifics of payload deployment. For some applications, the success of the deployment operation will depend upon how quickly the payload separates from the capsule. In this regard, one concern relates to the presence of debris, which is often produced when the capsule opens. This debris can damage the payload. A second concern applies to payloads that deploy wings to sustain flight. If the payload doesn't rapidly clear the capsule, the wings can be damaged during deployment.
[0008] Payload separation can be particularly problematic during low-speed deployments, wherein relatively diminished aerodynamic forces are available to brake the capsule. In such cases, the payload and capsule might not separate enough to permit safe wing deployment or for the payload to clear debris, etc.
[0009] There is a need, therefore, for a way to reduce the risks to payloads that are deployed from launch capsules.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] The present invention provides a combined shock absorption and payload ejection mechanism that reduces the risks to capsule-deployed payloads.
[0011] In accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the invention, the combined mechanism is disposed within a launch capsule. The mechanism is capable of reducing the shock that a payload would otherwise be exposed to upon launch and is also capable of increasing the separation distance between the payload and capsule upon deployment faster than in the prior art.
[0012] In the illustrative embodiment, the payload ejection mechanism comprises a movable housing that houses an energy-storing element. In the illustrative embodiment, the energy-storing element is a resilient member, such as a coil spring. A damping system that includes a piston and cylinder is also at least partially housed within the movable housing.
[0013] The payload is disposed on the movable housing. Due to the rapid acceleration of the capsule upon launch, the movable housing moves “downward.” Since both the resilient member and the piston are operably coupled to the housing, the downward movement of the movable housing compresses the resilient member and results in further insertion of the piston into the cylinder. The former action stores energy (as potential energy in the compressed spring) and the latter action results in damping that provides shock isolation for the payload.
[0014] A locking mechanism maintains the compression of the resilient member until the capsule opens to deploy the payload. As the capsule opens, a restraint decouples from the locking mechanism and permits the resilient member to expand. Expansion of the resilient member causes the movable housing to move. Since the payload is disposed on the movable housing, it is propelled forward, such that the separation distance between the payload and the capsule increases more quickly than in the absence of payload ejection mechanism.
[0015] The illustrative embodiment of the invention is an apparatus comprising:
[0016] a damping system;
[0017] an energy-storing element, wherein energy is stored within the energy-storing via compression of a resilient member; wherein:
(1) in response to a first force, the damping system provides damping action and the energy-storing element stores energy; and (2) the damping system and the energy-storing element are configured so that, in response to the first force, the damping action and the storing of energy occurs substantially simultaneously; and
[0020] a locking mechanism for maintaining compression of the resilient member.
[0021] A method in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the invention comprises:
[0022] compressing a resilient member in response to an accelerating force that accelerates a capsule;
[0023] advancing a piston into a cylinder in response to the accelerating force, wherein the compressing and advancing occur substantially simultaneously;
[0024] maintaining compression of the resilient member until a shell of the capsule opens;
[0025] opening the shell, thereby releasing the compression of the spring.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0026] FIGS. 1A through 1C depict the deployment of a payload from a capsule, in accordance with the prior art.
[0027] FIGS. 2A through 2C depict the deployment of a payload from a capsule, wherein the capsule contains a payload-ejection mechanism in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention.
[0028] FIG. 3 depicts details of a payload ejection mechanism in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the invention.
[0029] FIG. 4 depicts the payload ejection mechanism after an energy-storing element has absorbed energy during launch of a capsule that contains the payload ejection mechanism and a payload.
[0030] FIG. 5 depicts the payload ejection mechanism after release of the energy that is stored in the energy-storing element.
[0031] FIG. 6 depicts a method in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0032] The following terms are defined for use in this specification, including the appended claims:
Operatively-coupled means that the operation, action, movement, etc. of one object affects another object. For example, consider a spring that abuts a plate.
[0034] When the plate is moved, downward, the spring is compressed. The plate and the spring are considered to be “operatively-coupled.” Operatively-coupled devices can be coupled through any medium (e.g., semiconductor, air, vacuum, water, copper, optical fiber, etc.) and involve any type of force. Consequently, operatively-coupled objects can be electrically-coupled, hydraulically-coupled, magnetically-coupled, mechanically-coupled, optically-coupled, pneumatically-coupled, physically-coupled, thermally-coupled, etc.
Resilient and its inflected forms, refers to a tendency to return to a reference or original state (e.g., shape, position, etc.). Resilience, as a characteristic of a member, can arise in several ways. In some cases, resilience arises from a particular structural configuration (e.g., a coil spring, a cantilever, etc.). In some other cases, the resilience of a member arises due to the nature of the material(s) that form the member (e.g., rubber, etc.). The term “resilient,” as used herein, is intended to encompass resilience that arises in any manner.
[0036] FIG. 2A depicts the launch of capsule 200 , wherein the capsule contains payload-ejection mechanism 208 (see, e.g., FIGS. 2B and 2C ) in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention. The capsule can be launched via a “hot launch” technique, such as by using a booster. Alternatively, capsule 200 can be launched via various “cold launch” techniques, including pressurized gas, electromagnetics, and the like. The manner in which capsule 200 is not germane to an understanding of the invention and those skilled in the art will be able to design and implement a suitable launch system for launching capsule 200 .
[0037] As described further in conjunction with FIGS. 3 and 4 , payload-ejection mechanism 208 within capsule 200 includes an energy-storing element. The energy-storing element stores some of the energy of launch. In the illustrative embodiment, energy is stored by compressing a resilient member.
[0038] At some predetermined altitude or time after launch, capsule 200 opens in preparation for deploying payload 210 , as depicted in FIG. 2B . Shell 202 of capsule 200 is adapted to separate into two or more segments 204 and 206 to enable deployment. Explosive bolts or other such devices are used to open shell 202 in known fashion.
[0039] In accordance with the illustrative embodiment, while shell 202 remains closed, the energy-storing element is restrained from releasing its energy. The opening of shell 202 releases a locking mechanism, which, in turn, enables the compressed resilient member to return to its uncompressed state. As it does so, the launch energy stored in the resilient member is converted to kinetic energy; that is, the movement of the resilient member.
[0040] Payload 210 is operably coupled to the resilient member and, as a consequence, some of the kinetic energy of the re-expanding resilient member is imparted to payload 210 . The payload is propelled away from open shell 202 , as depicted in FIG. 2C , as a result of this energy transfer.
[0041] FIG. 3 depicts detail of payload-ejection mechanism 208 within capsule 200 . FIG. 3 depicts the payload-ejection mechanism in a pre-launch state. The portion of capsule 200 that is depicted in FIG. 3 shows capsule housing 340 and the lower portion of shell segments 204 and 206 . As depicted in FIG. 3 , shell segments 204 and 206 are pivotably coupled to capsule housing 350 at hinges 354 and 356 . Payload 210 is not depicted for the sake of clarity.
[0042] Payload-ejection mechanism 208 , which is disposed within and extending from capsule housing 350 , includes movable housing 312 , housing restraint 320 , energy-storing element 322 , locking mechanism 324 , lock restraint 334 , and damping system 336 , interrelated as shown.
[0043] Movable housing 312 is a cylindrical wall that terminates, at its upper end, in platform 314 . Coupling 316 is disposed on top of platform 314 for engaging a complementary coupling (not depicted) that depends from payload 210 . These couplings enable the payload to be positively restrained for pre-launch activities (e.g., transportation, etc.). At launch, or as the shell opens, the coupling is released so that payload 210 is able to separate from capsule 200 . The couplings can be decoupled via explosive bolts or other mechanisms.
[0044] Energy-storing element 322 comprises a resilient member. In the illustrative embodiment, the resilient member is a coil spring. In some further embodiments, the resilient member comprises a resilient material (e.g., rubber, etc.), but is not in the form of a coil spring.
[0045] Energy-storing element 322 is disposed beneath movable housing 312 . In the illustrative embodiment, the upper end of energy-storing element 322 abuts the lower surface of platform 314 . The lower end of energy-storing element 322 contacts base 352 of capsule housing 350 .
[0046] In the illustrative embodiment, locking mechanism 324 is implemented as a “collar” or toroid that encircles a portion of movable housing 312 . The locking mechanism is seated on the upper edge of capsule housing 350 . The collar comprises inner circular wedge 326 , outer circular wedge 330 , and resilient layer 328 , the latter sandwiched between the inner and outer circular wedges. Inner circular wedge 326 abuts the surface of movable housing 312 .
[0047] Locking mechanism is a “one-way” mechanism such that, when engaged as in FIG. 3 , it permits movement of movable housing 312 in only one direction. In particular, locking mechanism 324 permits movable housing 312 to move “downward,” when urged, into capsule housing 350 . The engaged locking mechanism will not, however, permit movement of movable housing 312 “upward,” out of capsule housing 350 .
[0048] In some embodiments, this one-way behavior is provided by providing ridges and grooves (not depicted) on facing surfaces of locking mechanism 324 and movable housing 312 . The ridges and grooves on the inner surface of inner circular wedge 326 are angled downward toward base 352 of capsule housing 350 . The ridges and grooves on the outer surface of movable housing 312 are angled upward. As a consequence, and with the application of sufficient force, the upward-facing ridges on the outer surface of movable housing 312 will “slide” over the downward facing ridges on the inner surface of inner circular wedge 326 . Resilient layer 328 between the two wedges facilitates sufficient “play” at the interface of the wedge 326 and movable housing 312 to enable this movement. As a ridge on the outer surface of movable housing 312 slides over a ridge on the facing surface of inner circular wedge 326 , it seats in a downward-facing groove (on the inner surface of inner circular wedge 326 ). Consequently, movement in the reverse direction is prevented.
[0049] As described later in conjunction with FIG. 4 , in the absence of some form of restraint for locking mechanism 324 , energy-storing element would not be able to store energy. To this end, lock restraint 334 is provided. The lock restraint, when engaged, prevents locking mechanism from moving upward.
[0050] In the illustrative embodiment, lock restraint 334 is implemented as inward-extending ridge on the inner surface of shell segments 204 and 206 . When the shell segments are closed, the ridge overlies locking mechanism 324 such that it is prevented from moving upward.
[0051] Housing restraint 320 is disposed on inner wedge 326 of locking mechanism 324 . When engaged, housing restraint 320 restrains movable housing 312 from moving. Typically, housing restraint 320 is engaged for pre-launch activities. When launch of capsule 200 is imminent, housing restraint is released. As discussed in conjunction with FIG. 4 , release of housing restraint 320 enables damping system 336 and energy-storing element to function. Housing restraint 320 can be released by firing explosive bolts, etc.
[0052] Damping system 336 is disposed beneath and operably engaged to movable housing 312 . In the illustrative embodiment, damping system 336 comprises piston 338 and cylinder 340 .
[0053] The upper end of piston 338 abuts the lower surface of platform 314 of movable housing 312 . The lower circular portion of piston 338 extends into underlying cylinder 340 . The cylinder is disposed on base 352 of capsule housing 350 .
[0054] In the illustrative embodiment, locking mechanism 324 , movable housing 312 , energy-storing element 322 , piston 338 , and cylinder 340 are co-axial with respect to one another.
[0055] As previously noted, FIG. 3 depicts payload-ejection mechanism 208 in a pre-launch state. On the other hand, FIG. 4 depicts payload-ejection mechanism 208 directly after launch and before shell segments 204 and 206 have opened. Although it is not shown for the sake of clarity, payload 210 is understood to be resting on platform 314 .
[0056] During launch, capsule 200 is accelerated upward rapidly. The presence of payload 210 on platform 314 forces the movable housing 312 downward. This forces piston 338 into cylinder 340 , which provides shock absorption for payload 210 . At the same time that the piston is driven into the cylinder, energy-storing element 322 is compressed. Locking mechanism 324 maintains the compression of energy-storing element 322 until shell segments 204 and 206 separate.
[0057] FIG. 5 depicts payload-ejection mechanism 208 after shell segments 204 and 206 separate. As depicted in FIG. 5 , the capsule opens as shell segment 204 pivots about hinge 354 and shell segment 206 pivots about hinge 356 . As this occurs, lock restraint (ridge) 334 loses contact with locking mechanism 324 . Once this occurs, energy-storing element 322 is free to return to its uncompressed state, which it does. As this occurs, payload 210 is propelled forward, or capsule 200 is propelled backward (i.e., slowed), as a function of the relative masses of the payload and the capsule. In either case, the separation distance between payload 210 and capsule 200 is increased.
[0058] As previously indicated, piston 338 is operably engaged to platform 314 in the sense that when the platform moves downward, the piston is likewise forced downward. In the illustrative embodiment, piston 338 is not affixed to platform 314 , so that when energy-storing element 322 expands, piston 338 does not travel with platform 314 . If piston 338 and platform 314 were affixed to one another, the piston would withdraw from the cylinder when energy-storing element 322 expands. The latter scenario is disadvantageous since this would reduce the velocity of expanding energy-storing element, thereby providing a reduced impulse to payload 210 (or capsule 200 ).
[0059] FIG. 6 depicts method 600 in accordance with the illustrative embodiment. As depicted in FIG. 6 , method 600 includes the operations of:
602 : compressing the resilient member in response to an accelerating force that accelerates the capsule; 604 : advancing the piston into the cylinder in response to the accelerating force, wherein the compressing and advancing operations occur substantially simultaneously; 606 : maintaining compression of the resilient member until the shell of the capsule opens; 608 : opening the shell, wherein opening the shell causes the release of compression of the resilient member.
[0064] It is to be understood that the above-described embodiments are merely illustrative of the present invention and that many variations of the above-described embodiments can be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, in this Specification, numerous specific details are provided in order to provide a thorough description and understanding of the illustrative embodiments of the present invention. Those skilled in the art will recognize, however, that the invention can be practiced without one or more of those details, or with other methods, materials, components, etc.
[0065] Furthermore, in some instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the illustrative embodiments. It is understood that the various embodiments shown in the Figures are illustrative, and are not necessarily drawn to scale. Reference throughout the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” or “some embodiments” means that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment(s) is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention, but not necessarily all embodiments. Consequently, the appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment,” “in an embodiment,” or “in some embodiments” in various places throughout the Specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics can be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. It is therefore intended that such variations be included within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents. | An apparatus that provides shock absorption and ejection for a payload that is to be deployed from a launch capsule is disclosed. The payload ejection mechanism comprises a movable housing that houses a resilient member and a shock-damping system. The rapid acceleration of the capsule upon launch causes the movable housing to move, which compresses the resilient member, thereby storing energy. Movement of the housing also provides shock damping behavior. A locking mechanism maintains the compression of the resilient member until the capsule opens to deploy the payload. As the capsule opens, a restraint decouples from the locking mechanism and permits the resilient member to expand. Expansion of the resilient member causes the movable housing to move, thereby propelling the payload away from the capsule. | 5 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a device for controlling the movement of a fluid, and to the use of this device in ink jet printing technology.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In ink jet printing technology, the main issues are to improve the quality and speed of printing.
Almost all the printing technologies developed today have the objective of producing high quality copies as fast as possible. In the case of ink jet technologies, one way to achieve fast printing is to multiply the number of nozzles that can eject ink drops on the head surface to print a larger number of points in parallel on the receiving support. However, the number of nozzles on the head surface is limited either because of problems related to heat dissipation in methods involving heating the ink to a high temperature, or because of problems related to dimensional instability due to the vibrations in methods using piezoelectric technologies.
One of the conventional technologies for producing ink jet heads comprises heating the ink found in a channel to a temperature, of usually from 300 to 400° C., in a very short time such as a few microseconds. This leads to local vaporization of the ink that causes the expulsion as drops of the liquid part of the ink found between the vaporization zone and the surface of the ink jet head. This method requires thermal energy in the volume of the ink jet head itself, and this thermal energy must then be dissipated.
Other techniques, such as described European Patent Application 771,272, comprises the step of bringing the fluid into contact with a ring-shaped heating element located at the opening periphery of the channel linking a reservoir containing the fluid to the opening at the surface of the ink jet head. Pressure is applied to the reservoir in order to allow the ink to be carried through the channel and spread out onto the ring-shaped heating surface of the ink jet head. When the heating element of the ink jet head is raised to a temperature of about 130° C., there follows a significant alteration of the surface tension of the ink drop found in contact with the heating element. This alteration of the surface tension causes a decrease in the radius of curvature of the ink drop meniscus thus enabling it to run freely through the channel and to form a drop of the size suitable for the printing required. Once formed, this drop is then ejected by a means such as an electrostatic field between the ink jet head and the print media, for instance a sheet of paper. This technique, which has the advantage of considerably lowering the temperature required to eject a unit volume of ink, is thus more suitable for manufacturing highly integrated ink jet heads. In theory, it is only necessary to heat the surface of the ink drop meniscus to obtain the alteration of its radius of curvature and thus its ejection; but in practice, it is necessary to heat the whole volume of the ink drop, and therefore a much higher energy is required to eject an ink drop. On the other hand, as the whole volume of the ink drop is heated, part of the energy supplied to the ink drop is still contained in it on ejection, and this facilitates the dissipation of this energy which thus does not remain confined in the ink jet head.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide a device to control the movement of a fluid, for example an ink, which minimizes the amount of energy used to eject a drop of this fluid and allows a precisely set volume of fluid to be ejected.
The device for controlling fluid movement according to the present invention comprises a fluid conduit through which fluid can flow; a solid electrolyte having the properties of conducting O 2 — ions when subjected to an electric current and to heat, said electrolyte being disposed relative to the fluid conduit so as to control fluid flow through the conduit; and an electrode adapted to selectively apply electrical field to the electrolyte.
The invention further relates to a process for controlling the movement of a fluid, this process using a solid electrolyte whose O 2 — ion conducting properties can be selected under the action of electric current and at a temperature such that oxygen from the air can be conducted by the solid electrolyte, and this oxygen being used as a means to control fluid movement.
The process comprises the steps of:
(i) heating and energizing a solid electrolyte that is a conductor of O 2 — ions to create an electric field in the solid electrolyte which extracts oxygen from the air in an enclosure and the oxygen acting to control the fluid movement;
(ii) reversing polarity of the solid electrolyte to effect suppression of oxygen pressure in the enclosure, and;
(iii) the repetition of the cycle of operations (i) and (ii).
The operations (i) and (ii) of the above process can be repeted at least several hundreds of time per second.
The invention further relates to a printing fluid jet head comprising:
a) at least one means for feeding printing fluid;
b) at least one channel ending with a nozzle open to the outside;
characterized in that it further comprises:
c) a means for moving printing fluid comprising a solid electrolyte whose O 2 — ion conducting properties can be selected under the action of electric current and temperature.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 represents diagrammatically a part of a printing fluid jet head, provided with the means to control the fluid movement according to the invention.
FIG. 2 represents diagrammatically an embodiment of a device comprising the means to control fluid movement according to the invention.
FIG. 3 represents another embodiment of a device to control fluid movement according to the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The solid electrolyte used according to the invention is described in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,227,257. This electrolyte is a substance derived from Bi 4 V 2 O 11 comprising a gamma phase structure, and whose Bi and/or V elements have been replaced by substitution elements to permit O 2 - ion conductivity without altering the gamma phase. The formula for the solid electrolyte is:
(Bi 2−x M x O 2 )(V 1−y M′ y′ O z )
where,
M represents one or more Bi substitution metals, having an oxidation level less than or equal to 3.
M′ represents one or more V substitution elements, selected from the class constituted by the alkaline metals, alkaline-earth metals, transition metals, metals in groups IIIa to Va, metals in groups IIIb to Vb, and the rare earths;
The limit values of x, y, x being a function of the nature of the M and M′; and
x plus y is greater than zero.
These solid electrolytes used according to the invention can be connected to a current source and heated to a temperature of less than 500° C. and preferably between 150 and 300° C., the temperature at which they become conductors. When the solid electrolyte becomes a conductor, and a potential difference is applied to it, each face of the cell behaves like an electrode. Molecular oxygen dissociates at the surface of the cathode by forming O 2 — ions that cross the solid electrolyte and recombine as molecular oxygen on arriving on the other face which behaves as an anode. As a result, the solid electrolyte extracts oxygen from the air in an enclosure or chamber and the oxygen extracted is acting to control the fluid movement. Once the polarity is reversed, the migration of O 2 — ions is reversed. This reversal is almost instantaneous, so that by alternating the polarity successively, the migration of the O 2 - ions can be reversed several hundreds or thousands of times a second.
These solid electrolytes are described in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,227,257 and are referred to in the literature under the generic name Bimevox, or according to the metal combined with the Bismuth, under the names Bicuvox, Bicovox, Biznvox, etc.
FIG. 1 represents an embodiment of a device for controlling the movement of a fluid according to the present invention. In this embodiment, a volume of oxygen is produced by a cartridge ( 100 ) comprising a solid electrolyte such as a Bimevox element (not represented). This volume of oxygen is introduced in chamber ( 101 ). Then, the gas pressure thus produced in a first chamber ( 101 ) is used to distort a membrane ( 102 ), which itself by its distortion causes a movement of the fluid contained in a second chamber ( 103 ) that is contiguous with ( 101 ). A system of inlet and outlet check valves ( 104 a ) and ( 104 b ) completes the device by allowing the movement of a preset amount of fluid as a function of the rhythm of the membrane's pulses, which are themselves controlled by oxygen extracted by the element ( 100 ).
FIG. 2 represents another embodiment of a device for controlling the movement of a fluid, comprising a mixer with an input for a first fluid ( 204 ), and an input for a second fluid ( 205 ). The mixer chamber comprises a Bimevox cartridge ( 200 ) provided on each face with a flexible membrane ( 202 a ) and ( 202 b ), capable of defining the oxygen volumes ( 201 a ) and ( 201 b ), respectively. The device is shown in the configuration where the element ( 200 ) has formed an oxygen bubble in chamber ( 201 a ) defined by the membrane ( 202 a ). Because of this, the oxygen bubble blocks the access ( 204 ). In the next configuration (not shown), the polarity of the element ( 200 ) is reversed so that an oxygen bubble is released in chamber ( 201 b ) defined by the flexible membrane ( 202 b ), blocking the fluid access ( 205 ), whereas the access ( 204 ) is cleared.
FIG. 3 represents still another embodiment of a device to control the movement of a fluid according to the invention, which is a micropump activated by oxygen bubbles produced by an element ( 300 ) having three Bimevox cartridges ( 300 a ), ( 300 b ) and ( 300 c ). Each cartridge is combined with a flexible membrane ( 301 a ), ( 301 b ) and ( 301 c ), capable of containing an oxygen bubble produced by the associated Bimevox cartridge. For example, starting from what is represented in FIG. 3 an oxygen bubble is generated in the chamber defined by the membrane ( 301 a ). Then, the next step consists in activating the cartridge ( 300 b ) at the same time as the polarity of the cartridge ( 300 a ) is reversed. Thus, the bubble initially formed in ( 301 a ) disappears at the same time as a new oxygen bubble forms in the chamber defined by the membrane ( 301 b ). The continuation of this operational cycle causes the fluid to circulate in the chamber ( 303 ). Such a device works like a fluid delivery micropump which can for instance find applications in the medical field.
A Bimevox-containing cartridge such as ( 100 ) in FIG. 1 or the corresponding elements in the FIGS. 2 or 3 , usually has a solid electrolyte pellet in contact with electrodes that are themselves linked to a source of electric current. The solid electrolyte/electrode assembly must be combined with a heating means that enables the Bimevox to be operated at the required temperature. This temperature is between 150 and 500° C. This operating temperature allows the heat produced to be dissipated by the usual techniques, particularly as the Bimevox heating means is isolated from the fluid to be moved by the chamber where the gas is produced.
According to one embodiment, a compacted Bimevox pellet is made, in which are inserted two metal grids flush with each surface of the pellet and acting as electrodes. According to a preferred embodiment these grids are made with a noble metal such as gold. This can be done by chemical vapor deposit (using a plasma). Such a solid electrolyte can function below 500° C., at a voltage of 1 to 30 V, advantageously 1 to 15 V, and with a current density of 100 to 1500 mA/cm 2 , for example with 200 mA/cm 2 , with very fast polarity reversal cycles, as mentioned above.
The presence of the membrane allows the oxygen extracted by the solid electrolyte to be prevented from being in contact with the fluid to be moved, in so far as the latter is sensitive to oxygen. To the extent that this fluid is resistant to oxidation, the presence of the membrane can become optional, as the gas bubbles allow the fluid movement to be controlled.
The fluids are especially the inks used in ink jet printing devices. These inks are compositions comprising water, solvents, water soluble dyes, surfactants, antiseptics, antifoam agents, bactericides or fungicides etc. Their viscosity, which is variable, can be between 2 cp and 8 cp for water-based inks, and can be adjusted, according to the constituents, with thickening agents. Typical compositions are for instance described in Progress and Trends in Ink-jet Printing Technology by Hue P. Le, Journal of Imaging Science and Technology 42; pages 49-62 (1998). | The invention relates to a device for moving fluids. The invention device includes an enclosure, a solid electrolyte which can produce oxygen in the enclosure so as to distort a membrane that acts to move a fluid in an enclosure. This device is useful to produce a head for ink jet printing. | 1 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates generally to devices for clamping workpieces in a vise and, more particularly, to modified parallels for use in simply and elegantly, accurately clamping and positioning workpieces in any vise.
2. Description of Related Art
It is common for a machinist to expend considerable time and effort in "squaring" stock prior to other machining operations. In general, the surfaces of stock as received from a mill deviate somewhat from flat, parallel and/or square. At least three adjacent faces (the X, Y, and Z planes) must generally be brought to a flat, square and parallel condition prior to performing other machining operations. To accomplish this, a universal device for clamping various shaped workpiece properly and securely in various vises, without damaging the workpiece, and to enable the workpiece to be easily squared in such vises, has long been sought by machinists and others.
Currently, in the machining industry, standard "parallels", consisting of various size, elongated rectangular steel bars that have been hardened and ground, are generally used for work-holding applications in machine vises. These rectangular parallels are normally used by placing them in the vise, setting selected angles. Additionally, since there is an inherent tendency for the movable jaw of a vise to lift the workpiece slightly as the vise is tightened, either against the workpiece directly, or against the standard parallels, the standard rectangular parallels do not compensate for this lifting. Furthermore, these standard parallels do not press on a strategic point of a workpiece being clamped, to allow the workpiece to "tilt" or "rock" so as to align the workpiece against the fixed or solid jaw of the vise, or down against the bottom of the vise, as the case may be. Machinists, therefore, have to take special, time consuming steps to attempt to compensate for this lifting, and/or failure to rock or tilt, of a workpiece, as the movable jaw of a vise is tightened against it.
Some experienced machinists try to use full round bars or hardened (spherical) tooling balls in an attempt to clamp irregular workpieces in position to compensate for lifting, and to make sure the workpiece sits flat against the solid vise jaw, and/or down against the bottom of the vise. But, even when using these devices, it is quite difficult, if not impossible, to quickly, easily and reliably clamp even fully squared workpieces in a vise. Furthermore, it is generally impossible to properly clamp irregular or odd shaped workpieces with these devices.
Many other holding devices which support workpieces in vises, such as angle blocks, support or holding apparatus, V-blocks, vise jaw faceplates, and the like, are also known. Additionally, some vises are provided with movable jaw sections, or an integral, angularly movable jaw, or related parts, to facilitate holding specifically shaped workpieces, or workpieces at desired angles.
However, a disadvantage of the above mentioned workpiece holding devices is that they are limited for use in specific circumstances, cannot be used in all vises and with all workpieces, and cannot quickly or easily, if at all, compensate for jaw lifting, nor do they locate the pressure point in a position aqainst the workpiece where it allows the workpiece to align itself against the fixed or solid jaw of a vise, or down against the bottom of the vise, as mentioned above.
A further disadvantage of these present holding devices, is that they are complicated, not always easy to use, and are not low enough in cost to be adapted for use in particular vises, or to simply and easily, accurately hold workpieces in a vise, without damaging such workpieces.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,994,422, 2,409,936, 2,485,876, 2,553,802, 2,938,414, 4,711,439, 4,767,110, 4,804,171, 4,834,356 and 4,854,568 disclose some prior art devices of the type discussed above, for holding workpieces in a vise. However, none of these prior art devices disclose an apparatus, system or method for quickly, reliably and precisely positioning and clamping various workpieces in substantially any vise, between the jaws of such device, as provided by the present invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a means for accurately holding a workpiece 10 between the jaws of a standard vise. It is a more particular object of the present invention to provide a pair of specifically shaped bars for placement in a vise for accurately holding a workpiece between the jaws thereof. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a pair of specifically shaped bars that are adapted to be used with other readily available devices for quickly and accurately positioning and holding a workpiece between the jaws of a vise. It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a system comprised of a specifically shaped bar that may be used alone, in pairs, and/or with other devices to accurately position and hold a workpiece between the jaws of a vise. And it is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a three point parallel bar system for placement between the jaws of a vise in a variety of arrangements to position and hold various workpieces in specific alignments in the vise.
In accordance with the present invention there is provided a means and method for accurately and securely holding workpieces between the jaws of a vise, consisting of a modified "parallel", having three locating points, used alone, in pairs, or in arrangements with other devices (hereinafter called a "three point parallel", or "three point parallels"). These three point parallels allow secure clamping of irregular shaped workpieces against the fixed jaw of a vise, in substantially any arrangement; and allowing such a workpiece to "tilt" itself into proper alignment or position against the solid jaw of a vise, or the bottom of the vise, because of the arcuate shape of the third locating point of the parallel.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The objects and features of the present invention, which are believed to be novel, are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The present invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, together with further objects and advantages, may best be understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 A is an end elevational view of a single three point parallel of th invention;
FIG. 1 B is a partial left side elevational view of the three point parallel of FIG. 1;
FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an example of how an irregular workpiece may be securely clamped between a pair of three point parallels in a vise;
FIG. 3 is a schematic view, similar to FIG. 2, showing an irregular workpiece securely clamped by a single three point parallel in a vise;
FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing an example of how an extruded structural shaped workpiece may be securely clamped by a single three point parallel in a vise;
FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing an example of how a workpiece may be securely clamped between a pair of three point parallels, at an angle, in a vise; and
FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing an example of how a workpiece may be securely clamped between a single three point parallel and a standard V-block, at an angle, in a vise.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The following description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention and sets forth the best modes contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention. Various modifications, however, will remain readily apparent to those skilled in the art, since the generic principles of the present invention have been defined herein specifically to provide for a means and method for quickly and easily, accurately and securely, positioning and holding various workpieces in a vise.
Turning first to FIGS. 1 A and 1 B, there shown is a three point parallel device 10 for use in positioning and securing workpieces in vises. The three point parallel device 10 is basically a specifically shaped loose elongated bar means that may be quickly and easily used by being dropped or placed between the jaws of substantially any available vise. The device of the present invention may be used alone or in pairs, with or without a further device or workpiece holding means, of a type known to those skilled in the art. The three point parallel 10 includes an elongated body having three distinct exterior surface areas extending along the entire length thereof. Two of these distinct exterior surface areas are comprised of accurately machined and finished, flat exterior side surface portions 12 and 14, preferably meeting each other at an angle, at a single corner. The angle of meeting at this single corner is preferably 90°. The machining, finishing and heat treating of these flat exterior side surface portions, can be accomplished in any manner known to those skilled in the art, to provide these flat side surface portions with extremely close tolerances, so as to be at least as square and flat as known parallels, or other workpiece holding and/or positioning devices. The third distinct exterior surface portion is comprised of an arcuate portion 16, which connects together the outer ends (opposite from the single corner where the flat side surfaces meet) of each of the flat, finished exterior side surface portions 12 and 14, at two further corners, to thereby complete the exterior of the three point parallel 10. These three distinct surface portions provide a device which is both square and concentric. The exterior surface of the arcuate portion 16 is also finished, in any manner known to those skilled in the art, to provide as smooth, accurate and concentric an outer surface, having a radius R, (shown in FIG. 1 A), as is deemed possible and necessary, for its intended use.
In a preferred embodiment of the modified parallel 10, the elongated length 1 of the device is approximately 6 inches, with the radius R being measured from the centerline of the device to the exterior surface of the arcuate portion 16. Additionally, the height of both flat side surfaces 12 and 14, as shown in FIG. 1A, are preferably, approximately 1.25 R. It is to be further understood, however, that the dimensions of the device 10, such as the height of the flat side surfaces 12 and 14, the length 1, and/or the radius R may be changed to any convenient size, depending on the intended use of the device 10. However, it has been found that the device is preferably used by machinists in pairs, in three standard sizes. These standard sizes all have a length 1 of approximately 6", while the radii R are preferably 0.375", 0.500" and 0.750".
The three point parallels 10 may be made from any known or to be discovered material, but are presently preferably made from a hardened metal or plastic, such as, 01 tool steel having a 62 Rockwell C hardness, with a ground finish, that makes it square and concentric within extremely close tolerances, such as 0.0005".
To lighten the three point parallel 10 for easier use, or to facilitate handling and transport, a central bore 17 can be provided therein, in any known manner, extending along the entire length thereof. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the central bore 17 is circular, with a radius that is approximately 0.35 R. Additionally, when it is desired to precisely set the positioning angle when using devices 10, a precise hole 19 is formed extending along a diameter therethrough, so that a precision angle meter, of a type known to those skilled in the art, may be mounted to the device, in the hole 19. One or more holes 19 may be formed along the length 1, in any desired location, of any selected size. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, two holes 19 are formed along the length, square to the surfaces 16 and 14, with each of the holes being approximately 3/16 R, in diameter.
Turning now to FIGS. 2 through 6, examples of how three point parallel devices 10 may be used in a vise 20 having a fixed or solid jaw 22 and a movable jaw 24, are set forth. Specifically, FIG. 2 illustrates a workpiece 18, having 4 irregular sides, securely clamped in a vise 20 between the jaws 22 and 24 and a pair of three point parallels 10. By using the pair of three point parallels of the invention, as shown, with the smooth flat surfaces 12 and 14 of each device against a base 26 and flat interior surfaces 25 and 27, respectively, of jaws 24 and 22, while the arcuate surfaces 16 of each device 10 are against opposite irregular sides of workpiece 18, the workpiece is firmly and securely clamped in position with its lower surface held down against base 26. This position is especially important with larger workpieces that already have one side that is flat or close to flat and it is desired to use such a flat side or close to flat side as a reference or starting side. It can be seen that each of the three point parallels 10 contact the workpiece 18 and the vise 20 at three points: namely, a point where the arcuate surface 16 abuts against a side wall of the workpiece, and two further points where the surfaces 12 and 14 abut against the base 26 and one of the interior surfaces 25 or 27 of the jaws 22, 24. This three point contact of each three point parallel will prevent the workpiece 18 from being lifted up when movable jaw 24 is being tightened to clamp the workpiece in position. In this manner, a top surface 23 of workpiece 18 may be more accurately machined when held in the vise 20, without requiring further adjustment or alignment, as is currently the case with known holding and positioning means.
The three point holding and positioning of the workpiece 18 may also be accomplished by changing the orientation of each of the devices 10, such as by rotating each device a predetermined angle depending on the shape and size of a workpiece held in the device. For example, each device 10 may be rotated approximately 120°, so that the corner where the two flat surfaces 12 and 14 meet, is in contact with an opposite side wall of the workpiece; one of the corners of each of the devices where the arcuate portion 16 meets a flat surface 12 or 14 is resting against the base 26; and the arcuate portion 16 of one of the devices contacts the interior face 25 of movable jaw 24, while the arcuate portion 16 of the other of the devices contacts the interior face 27 of fixed jaw 22.
FIG. 3 illustrates a workpiece 28, having 3 irregular sides or surfaces, and a machined or flattened and squared side or surface 29, securely clamped in vise 20 between the jaws 22 and 24 and a single three point parallel 10. Because of the arcuate portion 16 of the three point parallel 10, the squared side surface 29 of workpiece 28 is forced against the interior surface 27 of fixed jaw 22, as by rocking or tilting of the workpiece, thereby enabling top surface 30 thereof to be more accurately machined and squared with respect to surface 29. The single three point parallel 10 could also be used to accomplish the same results by rotating it in any desired direction, such as approximately 120 in the counter clockwise direction when looking at the drawing, so that the corner where the two flat surfaces 12 and 14 meet contacts the side wall of the workpiece shown contacted by arcuate portion 16 in the drawing; a further corner of the device, where the arcuate portion meets the end of one of the flat surfaces 12 or 14, contacts the base 26, and arcuate portion 16 contacts the interior surface 25 of movable jaw 24.
Turning now to FIG. 4, there shown is an odd or irregular shaped workpiece, such as an extruded structural shaped workpiece 32 having at least one side or top surface 33 to be machined or operated on. The workpiece 32 is securely clamped in vise 20 between the jaws 22 and 24, by an outer surface 34, which may be previously machined or not, forced against interior face 27 of fixed jaw 22, by means of a single three point parallel 10, in the same manner as explained above. This odd or irregular workpiece 32 will not be damaged, lifted, etc. by movable jaw 24 when being clamped in position, but rocked or tilted to the desired position, thereby enabling top surface 33 thereof to be more accurately and easily machined, when held in the vise 20, as shown. If the extruded structural shaped workpiece 32 is to be clamped in the vise 20 with a surface 33 or 34 of one of its legs against the base 26 to machine an end of the other of the legs thereof, and the leg captured within the vise is longer than the space provided by the single three point parallel 10 and the thickness of the other leg, a further device, such as a standard parallel, may be placed between the interior surface 25 of movable jaw 24 and a flat surface of the three point parallel 10 resting against the interior surface of the upstanding leg of the extruded structural shaped workpiece 32.
FIG. 5 shows a workpiece 36, having 4 sides or surfaces 37, 38, 39 and 40, which may be squared or not, securely clamped in a vise 20, at an angle between the jaws 22 and 24 and a pair of three point parallels 10. By using the pair of three point parallels of the invention, as shown, with one of the smooth flat surfaces 12 and 14 of each pressed against opposite side surfaces 38 or 40 of the workpiece 36, and arcuate surfaces 16 of each device 10 against the flat interior surfaces 25 and 27, respectively, of jaws 24 and 22, the workpiece is firmly and securely clamped in any required angular position. The lower surface 39 of the workpiece 36 will, of course, be held at an angle to base 26. With the workpiece 36 securely held at the desired angle between the jaws 22 and 24, the top surface 37 thereof may be accurately machined or operated on at the desired angle with respect to the remaining surfaces 38, 39 and 40 thereof. This method of securing the workpiece 36 at an angle in the vise is easily and quickly performed. Furthermore, the angle of the workpiece 36 may be easily adjusted and conformed in a variety of ways, such as by the use of a protractor 42, shown in broken line, set onto a machine table 44, in a manner known to those skilled in the art. It can be seen that by holding the workpiece 36 between two parallel three point devices of the present invention, the workpiece can be easily adjusted to and securely held at the desired angle, such as, for example, approximately 15° to each side of a vertical line passing therethrough, or an approximately 30° total range of adjustment, without requiring the use of further devices or tools, and/or adjustment or alignment, as is currently the case with known holding and positioning means.
Turning now to FIG. 6, there shown is an extruded structural shaped workpiece 46, similar to workpiece 32, having an edge 47 to be machined or operated on. The workpiece 47 is securely clamped between the jaws 22 and 24 of vise 20, sandwiched between a standard V-block 48 and a single three point parallel 10. Because of the use of the three point parallel 10, this odd or irregular workpiece 46 will not be damaged, lifted, etc. by movable jaw 24 when being clamped in position, thereby enabling edge 47 thereof to be more accurately and easily machined, when held in the vise 20, as shown. The three point parallel 10 could, of course be rotated within the device to hold workpiece 46 in different positions, or for use with other odd or irregular shaped workpieces.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various adaptations and modifications of the just-described preferred embodiment and examples can be configured without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore, it is to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced other than as specifically described herein. | A means and method for accurately and securely holding workpieces between the jaws of a vise is disclosed. It consits of a system comprising a pair of three point parallels, either used alone, in pairs, or in predetermined arrangements with other devices, to securely clamp substantially any shaped workpiece against the fixed jaw of substantially any vise, in substantially any arrangement, including at selected angles. | 1 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO PRIOR APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/US2004/017531, filed on Jun. 3, 2004, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by express reference thereto.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates generally to a novel card game, and, more particularly, to a means and method for playing a game that uses cards and dice, and that has educational features about the environment and recycling or other educational features.
[0003] Card games are popular forms of entertainment. Not only are cards easily transported and stored, but also they provide a fairly economical method of passing the time alone or with friends.
[0004] Another popular game is the hand game, “rock, paper, scissors.” This game is often played as an alternative to a coin toss for making a decision. However, although the game helps to develop some insight into the strategies of other players, it is not otherwise educational. Furthermore, a player may inadvertently make a different hand gesture than the one she intended based on the speed of the game. Accordingly, one possessing more hand-eye coordination than another may unfairly dominate the game. Furthermore, one having a good instinct as to what another will gesture may quickly change their gesture to beat the other. Finally, one may try and deceive the other player after both hands are drawn by quickly changing the hand gesture before the other player is aware of it. There exists a need, therefore, for the players to become evenly matched.
[0005] Consequently, by incorporating a game such as the “rock, paper, scissors” game into a card game, and further enhancing the game with educational features, players can play the game more deliberately and other variations of the basic idea of the game become possible.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The following presents a simplified summary of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention. It is not intended to identify key or critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.
[0007] The present invention is a card game and a method for playing a card game. The card game includes a deck of cards showing icons that represent elements of a transcendental set of elements. Each card of the deck of cards shows the icon corresponding to one element of the transcendental set and that particular icon will appear on plural cards of the deck of card. Each element is represented on plural cards of the deck.
[0008] A transcendental set of elements is a set of elements in which each element has a value only with respect to other elements of the set. Each element will have a higher value than at least one other element and a lower value than at least one other element; there is no element that has the highest value and no element that has the lowest value. In a three-element transcendental set, each element has a higher value than one of the other elements and a lower value than the remaining element. Play involving two players may involve chance drawing of cards, with the winner of each trick being the player who draws the higher value card, if any, or may involve choices by each player from a hand held by that player in order to win tricks. The object of the game is to accumulate the most points (tricks).
[0009] The icons represent the elements pictorially on the cards of the deck. In the transcendental set containing the three elements rock, paper, and scissors, the icons on the cards will look like a rock, a sheet of paper, and a pair of scissor, respectively. The relative value of an element represented on a card with respect to the other elements is indicated on a card by showing the element it will beat, as a key, or portion of the transcendental set rule that governs the relationship of the values of the elements of the transcendental set. For example, on the rock card, the rock icon will be shown beating the scissors icon because the scissors element has a lower value than the rock element; by implication the rock element does not beat the sheet of paper element because it can only beat one element of the three-element transcendental set. The scissor icon on the scissor card will be shown to beat the paper icon because the value of the scissors element is higher than the value of the paper element. As will follow, the paper card will show the paper icon beating the rock icon because the paper element has a higher value than the rock element. The transcendental rule would be rock>scissors>paper>rock.
[0010] Other transcendental element sets can be used in place of the rock-paper-scissor set.
[0011] Each card in the preferred embodiment will have an additional statement related to the environment. In particular, the statement will be an educational statement such as a fact or tip or recommendation that relates specifically to the environment, the effects of pollution, and recycling. For example, the rock card may include a fact related to how much recyclable material is wasted.
[0012] In an exemplary embodiment, each card from a set of cards has one icon selected from the three-element transcendental set including rocks, papers, and scissors. The icon of a rock, paper, or scissors will appear at the top of the card to indicate which element is represented by that card. Below this icon is the key, namely, the portion of the transcendental set rule, indicating which of the other two elements the element represented by this card will beat. Finally, below the explanation is included an educational fact regarding the environment. Of the cards in the deck, typically one third will represent each element of the transcendental set. A deck might have 51 cards, 17 of each element.
[0013] In an alternative embodiment, the cards can include elements represented by animal icons. For example, the card game can include an icon of a mouse, a snake, and an elephant. The transcendental set rule among these elements would be mouse>elephant>snake>mouse. The additional statement on each card can describe a fact associated with the environment.
[0014] In another alternative embodiment of the invention, the deck of cards can be based on prehistoric animal elements such as dinosaurs, wherein each dinosaur element can eliminate one of the other elements and can be eliminated by the remaining element in the card deck.
[0015] A feature of the present invention is the use of a deck of cards having a combination of a transcendental set and a learning statement on the cards. Because of the ease of the card game, the present invention is particularly suited towards playing by those of a young age. Not only can children learn about counting, as well as picture recognition, but also the use of learning statements can help children practice reading, while teaching them relevant facts about the environment and recycling. The card game can be played in any setting, and is also easy for both children and their parents to transport, clean up, and store once playing has finished.
[0016] Another feature of the present invention is the use of simple playing cards in combination with the hand game “rock, paper, scissors.” As discussed, the hand game is not particularly educational. Furthermore, a player may sometimes make a different hand gesture than intended based on the speed of the game. Accordingly, by combining this game with playing cards, the players become more evenly matched.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from a careful reading of the Detailed Disclosure of the Preferred Embodiment presented below and accompanied by the drawings.
[0018] FIG. 1A is a front view of a card from a set of cards according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
[0019] FIG. 1B is a front view of a card from a set of cards according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
[0020] FIG. 1C is a front view of a card from a set of cards according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
[0021] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a die according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
[0022] FIG. 3A is a front view of a card from a set of cards according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention;
[0023] FIG. 3B is a front view of a card from a set of cards according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention;
[0024] FIG. 3C is a front view of a card from a set of cards according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention;
[0025] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a die according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention;
[0026] FIG. 5A is a front view of a card from a set of cards according to another alternative embodiment of the present invention;
[0027] FIG. 5B is a front view of a card from a set of cards according to another alternative embodiment of the present invention;
[0028] FIG. 5C is a front view of a card from a set of cards according to another alternative embodiment of the present invention;
[0029] FIG. 5D is a front view of a card from a set of cards according to another alternative embodiment of the present invention;
[0030] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a die according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention;
[0031] FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a method of playing cards according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
[0032] FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a method of playing cards according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention; and
[0033] FIG. 9 is a flow chart of a method of playing cards according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0034] In an exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1A-1C , the set of cards includes a first card 10 , a second card 12 , and a third card 14 . Each card depicts a different icon from a three element transcendental set to represent one of the elements in the set. Preferably, first card 10 depicts a first icon 16 that represents a rock as a first element, second card 12 depicts a second icon 18 that represents a piece of paper as second element, and third card 14 depicts a third icon 20 that represents a pair of scissors as a third element. As discussed, there is no one element from the transcendental set that has a higher value or a lower value than both the remaining elements of the three-element set. Each element has a value that is higher than one other element from the three-element transcendental set and lower than the remaining element of the set.
[0035] In addition to first, second, and third icons, 16 , 18 , 20 , each card includes a key or transcendental set rule to show how the relative value of each element compares to one other element. As shown, first card 12 shows a first key 22 in which a rock element is valued higher than the element of a pair of scissors. Second card 14 shows a second key 24 in which a sheet of paper element is valued more than a rock element. Finally, third card shows a third key 26 in which a pair of scissors element is valued more than a piece of paper element.
[0036] An educational feature may also be included in the card game in the form of a statement added to the card. As shown, first card 10 , second card 12 , and third card 14 can also include a first learning statement 30 , a second learning statement 32 , and a third learning statement 34 , respectively. These learning statements relay facts or trivia, tips or recommendations that correlate with the environment, the effects of pollution, and recycling.
[0037] A first method of playing a card game with the set of cards illustrated in FIGS. 1A-1C can include the following steps: 1) shuffling the deck of cards; 2) placing each card from the shuffled deck face down in a side-by-side orientation; 3) a single player turning over two cards from the face down cards at one time in an attempt to match the two cards; 4) in the case that the two cards turned over match, removing these cards from the face down cards; 5) repeating steps 3-4 until no cards remain face down. This method is shown in FIG. 7 .
[0038] Another method of playing a card game with the set of cards illustrated in FIGS. 1A-1C can include the following steps: 1) shuffling the deck of cards; 2) placing the shuffled deck between two players; 3) drawing by each player one card from the deck of cards; 4) each player laying down her drawn card face-up; 5) determining which of the two cards laying face up is of greater value based on the set rule shown on the cards; 6) the player having the card with the higher value then winning the trick and taking the two cards; 7) if the cards drawn by players result in a tie, repeating steps 3 and 4 until a player wins the trick and then takes all cards drawn since the previous trick was won; 8) repeating steps 3-7 until the entire deck of cards has been played; and 9) computing a score in accordance with a scoring rule, such as the player who has accumulated the most cards wins.
[0039] In an alternative method of play, shown in FIG. 8 , the steps would be substantially similar to the steps of the forgoing method, except that on step 7), rather than repeating steps 3 and 4, the players would instead take turns rolling a die 50 to resolve the tie. The player that wins the trick then takes all cards drawn since the trick was won. As shown in FIG. 2 , the die 50 is preferably a six-sided die having an element represented by an icon on each of the six sides. Similar to the cards from the deck, three faces of the six-sided die 50 depict a different icon from a three element transcendental set to represent one of the elements in the set. The opposing faces of these three faces preferably include the same three icons, or matching icons. Depending on the particular rules of the game, the icons of the die 50 can match those of the cards. For example, if the game included cards having first icon 16 representing a rock as a first element, second icon 18 representing a piece of paper as second element, and third icon 20 representing a pair of scissors as a third element, then the die 50 used would include a first face 52 having a first icon 56 representing a rock as a first element, a second face 54 having a second icon 58 representing a piece of paper as a second element, and a third face 55 having a third icon 60 representing a pair of scissors as a third element. As discussed, the remaining three faces of the six-sided die 50 would also include first, second, and third icons 56 , 58 , and 60 , wherein the opposing faces of the die 50 would include matching icons. Alternatively, the icons of the die 50 can be different than those of the cards. However, if the icons of the die 50 do match the icons of the cards, then the same transcendental set rules applicable to the cards are applicable for the die 50 .
[0040] Regardless of the icons represented on the die 50 , during a tie-breaking round, the players each take a turn rolling the die 50 . Depending on the particular transcendental set rule governing the 50 , the player that rolls the higher valued icon wins the tiebreaker. If the die 50 rolling also results in a tie, the players simply keep rolling until one of the players rolls a higher valued icon.
[0041] As an alternative to the foregoing game, two players playing the game can first be dealt a hand of cards, such as seven, and then each player selects one card from her hand to play against the card selected by her opponent from the opponent's hand. Simultaneously, the two players throw down their selected cards face up. The higher valued card takes the trick; in the event of a tie, the “diebreaker” or the six-sided die 50 may be used to resolve the tie.
[0042] In FIG. 9 , alternative methods of playing a card game with the deck of cards illustrated in FIGS. 1A-1B by more than two players are shown. For example, the steps can be: 1) shuffling the deck of cards; 2) dealing to each of three or more players a number of cards from the deck of cards; 3) placing the remainder of the deck of cards face down between the three or more players; 4) turning the top card from the deck face up; 5) then, taking turns among the players in either a clockwise or counterclockwise fashion, laying down one card from number of cards in hand; 6) removing both cards facing up if, during that player's turn, the played card has a higher value than the top card on the deck of cards; 7) if the player successfully took that trick, she is dealt a replacement card; 8) repeating steps 4-7 until all the cards from the deck of cards have been played; and 9) computing a score in accordance with a scoring rule, such as the player who has taken the most cards wins. In the case that the player cannot beat the card facing up when it is her turn, then all the players can roll the die 50 to determine the winner of the trick. First, the player taking her turn rolls the die 50 , and next the player next to her rolls the die 50 . The winner of the trick between those players rolls the die 50 against the remaining third player, if the game only includes three players. If there are more than three players, these steps are repeated until a final winner is determined among the players rolling the die 50 . Once the winner among all the players is determined, the player next to the player originally having a turn takes her turn. These tie-breaking steps are repeated as needed until all the cards have been played. If the die 50 used in this game includes elements matching those of the cards, an alternative tie breaking step would be to simply allow the player taking a turn to roll the die 50 against the top card on the deck of cards. If that player cannot beat the top card, then the player simply passes to the next player. If, after all three players have taken a turn, the top card of the deck still cannot be beaten, then rolling commences by the first player until the top card is beaten.
[0043] In a first alternative embodiment, the cards of the set of cards can use animals as elements. As illustrated in FIGS. 3A-3C , first card 10 ′ can include first icon 16 ′ that represents an elephant as a first element. Second card 12 ′ can include second icon 18 ′ that represents a mouse as a second element. Third card 14 ′ can include third icon 20 ′ that represents a snake as a third element. Below first, second, and third icons, 16 ′, 18 ′, and 20 ′ can also be included first learning statement 30 ′, second learning statement 32 ′, and third learning statement 34 ′, respectively. Finally, first, second, and third cards, 10 ′, 12 ′, and 14 ′, can include first, second, and third keys, 22 ′, 24 ′, 26 ′, which designate the values of each element and how the elements interrelate.
[0044] When playing with this alternative deck of cards, the die 50 ′ (shown in FIG. 4 ) used could include a first face 52 ′ having a first icon 56 ′ representing an elephant as a first element, a second face 54 ″ having a second icon 58 ′ representing a mouse as a second element, and a third face 55 ′ having a third icon 60 ′ representing a snake as a third element. The remaining three faces of the six-sided die 50 ′ would also include first, second, and third icons 56 ′, 58 ′, and 60 ′, wherein the opposing faces of the die 50 ′ would include matching icons.
[0045] In a second alternative embodiment, the cards of the set of cards can include elements represented by icons of prehistoric animals. As illustrated in FIGS. 5A-5D , first card 10 ″ can include first icon 16 ″ that represents a pterodactyl as a first element. Second card 12 ″ can include second icon 18 ″ that represents a triceratops as a second element. Third card 14 ″ can include third icon 20 ″ that represents a raptor as a third element. Below first, second, and third icons, 16 ″, 18 ″, and 20 ″ can also be included first, second, and third keys, 22 ″, 24 ″, 26 ″, which designate the values of each element and how the elements interrelate. Learning statements relating to the prehistoric animals can also be included on each card of the set of cards. Alternatively, a fourth card 40 can be included in the set of cards that can act as a wild card. As shown in FIG. 3D , fourth card 40 can include a fourth icon 42 that represents a tyrannosaurus rex as a fourth element. This card can also include a fourth key 43 and a fourth learning statement 45 . In the case that the set of cards includes first card 10 ″, second card 12 ″, third card 14 ″, and fourth card 40 , methods for playing cards as previously described are not altered except that fourth card 40 is given the highest value among all the cards in the set. Although the number of
[0046] cards included within a set is not relevant to the present invention, the set of cards can include seventeen first cards 10 ″, seventeen second cards 12 ″, seventeen third cards 14 ″, and six fourth cards 40 .
[0047] When playing with this alternative deck of cards, the die 50 ″ (illustrated in FIG. 6 ) used could include a first face 52 ″ having a first icon 56 ″ representing a pterodactyl as a first element, a second face 54 ″ having a second icon 58 ″ representing a triceratops as a second element, and a third face 55 ″ having a third icon 60 ″ representing a raptor as a third element.
[0048] The remaining three faces of the six-sided die 50 ″ would also include first, second, and third icons 56 ″, 58 ″, and 60 ″, wherein the opposing faces of the die 50 ″ would include matching icons. It is contemplated that the dice 50 , 50 ′, and 50 ″ of the present invention can be interchanged with the alternative decks of cards. In other words, the elements of the dice used in the tie breaking steps of the methods for playing cards need not necessarily match the elements of the deck of cards. In this instance, a separate set of transcendental set rules apply for the particular die used than apply to the cards used. This separate set of transcendental set rules can be presented in the form of instructions for the game.
[0049] It is also contemplated that the dice of the present invention, 50 , 50 ′, and 50 ″, respectively, can be played without the use of the deck of cards. For example, two players could take turns rolling one of the dice and play in a similar fashion to the hand game “rock, paper, scissors.” Furthermore, although a six-sided die 50 is shown and described, this is only an exemplary embodiment of the die that could be used in the present invention. For example, dice of varying numbers of faces, ranging from 3-sided and above, could also be employed.
[0050] Furthermore, it is contemplated by the present invention that the playing cards could be incorporated into a computer game or video game. Such a game could only enhance the learning of small children who will certainly require computer skills considering the current direction in which technology is moving.
[0051] Those skilled in the art of card games will recognize that many substitutions and modifications can be made in the foregoing preferred embodiment without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. | A game and method for playing same is based on a deck of cards, each card of which uses an icon to represent one element of a transcendental set of elements. Preferably there are three elements in the transcendental set of elements, each one having a value higher than that of one other element of said set and having a value lower than that of the remaining element. Each card also includes a key or transcendental set rule, or portion thereof, so that the players are reminded of which element beats which other element, and an additional statement that relates to the element and provides a fact, tip or recommendation of interest to the player. Several different card games can be played with the deck, including the well-known rock-paper-scissor type of game played traditionally with hand signals, but here with cards. | 0 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention concerns a heating system and a method of heating a body of a preform comprising a material thickness bounded by a first surface and a second surface.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Preforms, in particular plastic preforms, are widely used for producing a variety of products ranging from curved surfaces to beverage bottles, for instance. Commonly, before forming such preforms into a desired shape, they have to be heated up to a temperature close to the melting point of the material of the preform. Shaping tools will then alter the shape so that a completely new product evolves. Such shaping methods include deep-drawing or blow-moulding of plastic preforms.
A well-known application of (blow-)moulding heated preforms is the production of PET (polyethylene therephthalate) bottles which are used for a variety of beverages such as mineral water, juices, lemonade and beer. In order to produce such bottles, a PET preform having a tubular shape is heated by means of halogen lamps. FIG. 1 shows a schematic sectional view of such a heating arrangement according to the state of the art. A body 1 of a preform having a first, outer, surface 2 and a second, inner surface 4 is heated by three halogen lamps 5 . For that purpose, mirrors 7 are used to reflect parts of the divergent light 3 emitted by the halogen lamps 5 and to direct the light rays essentially into a traversal direction T of the preform 1 . The traversal direction T is defined by a shortest direct line between the first surface 2 and the second surface 4 at a point where the light is coupled into the body 1 . Because the light 3 is divergent, i.e. undirected or only partially directed, and consisting of light of many different wavelengths, it does not completely traverse the body 1 in the traversal direction T, but this direction is nevertheless the principal direction of traversal in general. Usually, preforms are moved on a production line along which a multitude of halogen lamps 5 are arranged. This leads to an increase of the temperature to a point where the preforms can be shaped by blowing them inside a mould or also by merely pressing them into the mould.
Halogen lamps emit a broad spectrum of visible and invisible light rays which ranges into the infrared region, as can be seen in FIG. 2 . Here, the wavelength spectrum of a halogen lamp (in nanometers) is plotted on the x-axis, while the left y-axis refers to the corresponding absorption spectrum of PET in % and the right y-axis refers to the emission energies of typical halogen lamps in Watts. The first curve A corresponds to the PET absorption spectrum (left y-axis) while the second curve B corresponds to the emmission energy spectrum (right y-axis). It can be observed that the absorption of PET is notably low in the visible and near infrared wavelength ranges up to about 1010 nm, while a higher absorption rate of PET can be realized in between 1010 nm and 2000 nm. Above 2000 nm, PET is basically opaque. The wavelength spectrum of halogen lamps therefore produces an in homogenous heating result, since a significant portion of the halogen lamp spectrum is at wavelengths with a very high absorption by PET, i.e. above 2000 nm. Therefore, the larger portion of the emitted light is absorbed at the outer part of the preform, while its inner part is heated to a much lower extent. For that reason, it is often necessary to cool down the outside of a preform, for instance by spraying water on it, while prolonging the heating process at the same time in order to get the inside of the preform heated up as well. In sum, this leads to a more energy-consuming and longer heating process than would be necessary if a homogeneous heating was applied.
A way to circumvent these drawbacks is to choose a different light emitting system, such as lasers, which only operates at a certain wavelength. This way, the wavelength can be adjusted to the necessities of the heating process, which are mainly determined by the material and the thickness of the preform. For instance, heating a PET preform by means of laser wavelengths at an absorption rate by PET of less than 50% would mean that a more continuous absorption could be achieved, resulting in a lower overall energy input being necessary, i.e. the heating process could be carried out in a more effective way. However, such suitable laser wavelengths are not emitted by typical lasers for everyday use which emit at typical wavelengths of 800 or 970 nm. Unfortunately, in this wavelength range, only a quite low absorption rate of PET of about 15% can be achieved.
Against this background, it is highly desirable to provide a possibility to heat a body of a preform by means of a laser beam—or more broadly—by means of a directed light beam, more effectively and with less regard to the wavelength of the light beam which a light source emits.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To this end, the present invention describes a heating system for heating a body of a preform having a material thickness bounded by a first surface and a second surface, which heating system comprises at least the following elements:
a light source arrangement which is arranged to emit a number of directed light beams, a coupling arrangement arranged to deliberately couple the light from the light source arrangement in a specific direction into the body during at least a certain minimum period such that the light is essentially guided along a longer path between the first and second surface.
Thus, instead of simply aiming a laser beam or a similar directed beam at a body of a preform so that the beam passes directly through the preform, the invention utilizes a coupling arrangement with which it is possible to deliberately couple light into the body, with the effect that the light is guided inside that body along a longer path than in the case of the prior art. In addition, the light source arrangement may comprise one or several light sources, so that one or several light beams can be produced and coupled in by the coupling arrangement.
As for the length of the path along which such light beam(s) is or are guided, this can generally be characterized as a “longer path”. This expression basically signifies that the light does not pass through the two surfaces of the object in the direct shortest line from the entry point at one surface to the other surface, as it would typically do in state of the art solutions. Instead, a longer path is a path which is multiple times, at least twice, as long as the shortest distance between the first and second surfaces (measured at the entry point of the light into the body). Preferably, the longer path is significantly longer than this shortest distance, i.e. at least four times, most preferably at least ten times the shortest distance. In other words, the light is deliberately guided or coupled into the body of the preform so that the light will cover a longer path or trajectory within the body before ultimately exiting the body and/or before being completely absorbed. As there is usually a certain loss of light rays of a light beam—even of a directed light beam—due to scattering effects, it may be noted that essentially guiding such light beam(s) along a longer path or trajectory means that the main part, i.e. at least half of the rays of a light beam, is transported along that path.
A special remark should be made regarding the definition of the expression “to couple in deliberately”. In contrast to an accidental coupling, coupling directed light beams into the body deliberately in the manner described above means an intended coupling specifically aimed at making that light beam enter into the body in that specific manner. In particular, this implies a choice of coupling means of the coupling arrangement suitable for coupling in the light beam so that the beam will stay within the body for at least a minimum period and will be guided along the longer path. For that purpose, the coupling means may comprise control means to exactly determine the direction and/or angle at which the light beam is to be coupled into the body and/or physical means that facilitate the exact coupling in the way which is desired.
Concerning the duration of coupling light into the object, a certain minimum period is necessary. Typically, such a period would be exactly the amount of time needed to heat the body of the preform to the desired temperature. In special cases, however, it may be considered necessary to heat the body in a stepwise manner or successively by different light sources. Thus, the minimum period can be considered to be preferably at least one second, more preferably at least two seconds. This way it is ensured that the light is not just accidentally coupled into the body, but deliberately as intended according to the invention. During that minimum period the light can be coupled into the body continuously or in a pulsed manner by light beams originating from one or from several light sources, in parallel and/or successively.
The invention also describes a method of heating a body of a preform comprising a material thickness bounded by a first surface and a second surface, wherein a number of directed light beams from a light source arrangement is sent, i.e. transmitted, through the body, which light from the light source arrangement is deliberately coupled in a specific direction into the body within at least a certain minimum period such that the light beam is essentially guided along a longer path between the first and second surface.
The dependent claims and the subsequent description disclose particularly advantageous embodiments and features of the invention.
With the heating system and method according to the invention, it is now possible, for example, to use a conventional laser source with an emission wavelength of 800 and/or 970 nm to heat up a body of a preform with very little loss of energy, since the light is guided within the body itself and absorbed there more homogeneously than can be achieved with state of the art approaches. In fact, the absorption is low enough not to overheat the body, so that additional cooling of the preform is usually not necessary. This is all the more so because the heating does not only take place in a concentrated manner on the surface of the body, but throughout the area between the two bounding surfaces where the light beam is guided through. Therefore, in a very preferred embodiment of the invention, the light source arrangement comprises at least one laser emitting light source, which most preferably emits laser light at a wavelength of 800 nm and/or 970 nm.
According to a preferred embodiment, the coupling arrangement is arranged such that the light from the light source arrangement, i.e. one or more of the number of light beams, is coupled into the body at an angle within an acceptance angle range of the material of the body and such that it is guided between the first and second surface by total internal reflection. For that purpose, the coupling arrangement may, for example, comprise a laser source that directs a laser beam at the body in an appropriate angular direction. Once coupled into the body, the light beam is guided in such a way that it is essentially completely (i.e. for its main part) internally reflected at the bounding surfaces so that it remains within the body for a longer time and thus travels a longer path. The acceptance angle will vary depending on the material of the body of the preform. For instance, the refraction index of air is approximately 1, while that of PET is in the range of 1.54 to 1.575. A suitable angle for coupling in the light beam depends on the refractive indices of the material of the preform, of the material from which the light beam is coupled in and of the material in the environment of the preform at the point where total reflection is to occur, as well as on the shape of the preform along the path where the light beam is intended to travel.
It is thus particularly preferred that the coupling arrangement be arranged such that the light from the light source arrangement is guided between the first and second surfaces until it is essentially absorbed along the path. That means that at least half, more preferably at least 80%, of the energy of each light beam is absorbed by the preform body while the beam is travelling within the body. In this way it is ensured that the energy of the light beam is used as effectively as possible, which can be realized in particular by the use of total internal reflection, as noted above.
In order to control the process of coupling in the light beam, it is particularly preferred that the coupling arrangement is arranged such that the light from the light source arrangement, e.g. a light beam, is coupled into the body at a previously defined entry point and/or along a previously defined entry line, wherein an “entry line” can be essentially regarded as a sequence of entry points. A previous definition in this context means that a deliberate coupling at that entry point and/or line is envisaged which is foreseeable beforehand; i.e. by aiming a light beam at such a point and/or line. When the body of the preform remains in the same position throughout the process, there will preferably be an entry point, while an entry line would preferably be used in case the body is being moved with respect to the light source arrangement and/or coupling arrangement. For instance, when a PET preform for producing a bottle is to be heated, it can be rotated about a rotation axis defined by the middle axis of the tubular shape of the preform's body. In this case, a directed light beam would be aimed at one particular first entry point and then, by rotating the preform, an entry line will be automatically described by the preform's rotary motion, which entry line is the line from the first entry point along the surface of the preform in the direction of the rotation. Instead of using a single light beam, it is also possible to aim several light beams simultaneously or successively at such an entry point or line.
In a preferred embodiment of the heating system the light source arrangement comprises at least one light source and at least one optical fibre to transport a number of light beams in the direction of the body. The optical fibre can be considered to be an extension of the light source itself which transports a light beam from its point of origin, i.e. the light source, to an emission point, i.e. the end of the optical fibre, from where the beam is directed toward and coupled into the body of the preform. Optical fibres in this context offer the possibility to change the direction of the light beam and/or to further direct light beams so that the coupling of the beam into the body can be easily controlled at any time.
It is further preferred that the coupling arrangement is arranged such that the light from the light source arrangement is coupled into the body in a direction angular to a traversal direction defined by a shortest direct line between the first surface and the second surface at the point where the light, e.g. a light beam, is coupled into the body. Such angular direction to the traversal direction (as defined above) can be tangential from a side of the body of the preform or also perpendicular to the traversal direction, for example light coming from below or above the object and travelling right in between the two surfaces. In the latter case, this implies that the light beam need not necessarily be reflected by total internal reflection but may be directed in a parallel path to the first and second surfaces, if these two surfaces are parallel, too. However, as even a directed light beam often spreads out when being released from a light source, at least part of its light will probably be reflected at the surfaces even in such a case. In the former case, total internal reflection is a very preferred method of achieving that the light beam stays within the body of the preform.
It is generally possible to couple the light beam into the body directly, or via an air gap, from the light source or from an optical fibre connected to the light source of a light source arrangement. In such a case, the distance between the emitting end of the light source arrangement and the body of the preform is preferably at most some centimeters.
However, it may be of great advantage if the coupling arrangement comprises an intermediate coupling material through which the light from the light source arrangement can be guided by direct contact from the light source arrangement into the body. Such intermediate coupling material will thus be in contact both with an emission point of the light source arrangement and with a surface of the object at the point where a light beam is coupled into the body.
Concerning the material used for such intermediate coupling material, its physical characteristics may be of relevance, in particular its flexibility to adapt to the surface of the body of the preform and its capability to stick to both the body of the preform and the emitting end of the light source arrangement.
According to a first preferred alternative, such a coupling material is a transparent polymer, preferably a flexible polymer, e.g. silicone, while a second alternative consists of a coupling arrangement wherein the coupling material is a liquid, preferably water or an oil.
The choice of the material used for the coupling material highly depends on the material of the body of the preform, in particular on its refractive index. It is thus preferred that the coupling material has a refractive index between a refractive index of the body of the preform and a refractive index of a light emitting surface material of the light source arrangement.
A liquid, in particular water, may be preferred for another reason than its light transmission characteristics: When a certain critical temperature of the preform has been reached, i.e. about 100° C., the water will readily evaporate and thus automatically decouple the light beam input into the preform. As PET preforms should not be heated far above 100° C., water has been found to be a preferred coupling material in the context of heating PET materials. Naturally, for preforms with different melting points, other liquids with an analogous evaporation temperature will be preferred. So applying a droplet of a liquid in between the emission point of the light source arrangement and the body of the preform is an effective way to couple light beams into and de-couple light beams from the preform.
In order to avoid a re-coupling of the light beam in a backward direction at the point where the light beam is coupled in, it is further preferred that the coupling arrangement is arranged such that an angle at which the number of light beams is coupled into the body is such that the main part of the light from the light source arrangement does not return to the point where the light is coupled into the body. Referring, for illustration, to a tubular body of a preform with a longitudinal extension perpendicular to a round cross-sectional shape of the body, coupling in a light beam in such way that it is not redirected to the point where light is coupled in can be realized, for example, by directing it into the preform at an angle which is different from an angle which is exactly perpendicular to the longitudinal extension. That way, the light is guided along the circumference of the body in a helix while “climbing” upwards or downwards along the longitudinal extension rather than hitting the point again where it has been coupled in.
The method according to the invention can be realized with a single light source and/or only one light emitting surface from which directed light is coupled into the body. In many circumstances, however, it may be considered advantageous to have a heating system with a plurality of light emitting surfaces, at which a directed light beam is emitted. This way, the preform can be heated more effectively and more rapidly and different regions of the preform can be heated exactly according to their need for heating energy. Such light emitting surfaces can be distributed so as to be at a constant distance with respect to each other. However, those distances can also be varied and adapted to the special needs with respect to particular shapes of preforms. An unequal distribution may make sense, for example, in a case where a preform per se is of uneven shape and thus comprises regions with a higher need for energy input and regions with a lower need for energy input.
According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the heating system comprises transfer means arranged to move the body along a route while being heated. In analogy with today's heating systems in which preforms are usually also moved along a production line system, the system according to the invention may also use such transfer means in order to transport the preforms during the heating process up to a moulding system where the heated preforms are brought into their desired shape.
In such a case, it is especially preferred that the coupling arrangement is arranged such that the light from the light source arrangement is coupled into the moving body at a pre-defined entry point or entry line. This means that the light beam moves together with the moving body, which can be realized for example by moving the emission direction of the light source arrangement. However, it is particularly advantageous to have a light source arrangement and/or a coupling arrangement arranged in such way as to be moved at least partially synchronously with the body. This can either be realized by such a light source arrangement being integrated in a moving part of such a production line or by moving the light source arrangement and/or the coupling arrangement entirely or in part synchronously by means of another moving device. For example, an optical fibre as part of the light source arrangement can be moved along a route in parallel with the preform. In any case, such synchronous movement makes sure that the heating takes place at a constant energy imput rate throughout the moving and heating process. This way it can be guaranteed that the preform, although moving, will have reached its intended temperature at the time when it arrives at the moulding system.
As an alternative to moving either the light source arrangement or the coupling arrangement, these elements of the heating arrangement can alternatively be stationary, which is a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention because of the ease of handling and reduced necessity of mechanical movement of parts apart from the preforms themselves. In such a case, the preforms will move along the route, passing the emitting surface(s) of the heating system from where light is coupled into their bodies when the prerequisites, in particular the suitable coupling angle, are met. In order to ensure that a deliberate coupling takes place, the orientation of the light emitting surface will be accordingly and/or there may be control devices to control the position of the bodies of the preforms in order to detect when light beams can be coupled into a body of a particular preform under the required circumstances. This would then trigger a pulsed output of a light beam in the direction of this particular preform's body. The invention therefore also comprises a heating system with a control device arranged to control the timing of an output of directed light from the light source arrangement and/or the coupling arrangement such that light is output from a light emitting surface when a body of a preform is in a light path of that light emitting surface, i.e. when light can be emitted into the body from that light emitting surface in the way according to the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows a schematic sectional view of a heating system according to the state of the art.
FIG. 2 shows a graph in which the wavelength spectrum of a halogen lamp is plotted on the x-axis, while the left y-axis refers to the corresponding absorption rate of PET and the right y-axis refers to the wavelength spectrum of a halogen lamp.
FIG. 3 shows a schematic sectional view of a first embodiment of a heating system according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of the same embodiment as in FIG. 3 .
FIG. 5 shows a schematic sectional view of a second embodiment of a heating system according to the present invention similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 .
FIG. 6 shows a schematic sectional view of a third embodiment of a heating system according to the present invention.
FIG. 7 shows a schematic sectional view of a fourth embodiment of a heating system according to the present invention including a production line system.
FIG. 8 shows a schematic sectional view of a fifth embodiment of a heating system according to the present invention including a production line system.
FIG. 9 shows a schematic top view of a possible bottom part of the fifth embodiment.
In the drawings, like numbers refer to like objects throughout the description. Objects are not necessarily drawn to scale.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
FIGS. 1 and 2 have already been discussed above.
FIGS. 3 and 4 show a first embodiment of a heating system 13 according to the invention, which is used for heating up the body 1 of a preform of the kind as depicted in FIG. 1 , i.e. with a tubular shape. It may be understood, however, that preforms can have all kinds of shapes, mainly depending on the intended final shape of the resulting piece after a moulding process which is carried out after the heating of the preform.
The heating system 13 comprises a light source arrangement 12 and a coupling arrangement 15 . The light source arrangement 12 includes a light source 9 —in this case a laser diode emitting laser light of a wavelength of 970 nm—and an optical fibre 11 which leads the laser light to the coupling arrangement 15 . In the depicted example, the coupling arrangement 15 comprises a silicone end piece 22 (which can be seen in FIG. 4 ) which functions as an optical material similar to an optical fibre.
A laser light beam 17 is emitted from light source 9 and passes through the optical fibre 11 into the coupling arrangement 15 and further into the body 1 of the preform, thereby entering the body 1 at an entry point 18 on the first surface 2 . It is guided along a longer path 19 within the body 1 of the preform, describing a helical path in an upward direction. This causes the light beam 17 to be absorbed by the material of the body 1 , which means that the body is heated up.
In order to deliberately couple in the light beam 17 in a way that ensures that it remains within the two surfaces 2 , 4 over a longer distance, the silicone end piece 22 has a shape at its end facing towards the body 1 of the preform which automatically defines an angle α in the sectional plane of FIG. 3 at which it can be brought into direct physical contact with the body 1 of the preform. As can be seen in FIG. 4 , the coupling arrangement 15 is in contact with the body 1 via its silicone end piece 22 at an angle 13 with respect to the normal 20 of the circular shape of the first surface 2 at the entry point 18 . Angle β is chosen such that light enters the body 1 within the acceptance angle range of the material of body 1 . Therefore, a light beam 17 will stay in the body 1 because of total internal reflection. This is guaranteed because an angle γ of the light beam in the body with respect to normal 24 is above the critical angle at which the light beam would be coupled out of the body 1 . Thus, as it travels further within the body 1 , the light beam 17 is reflected at the first surface 2 by total internal reflection several times until it is finally completely absorbed. This way it describes a longer path 19 within the surfaces 2 , 4 of the body 1 .
Because the angle α at which the light beam is coupled in is unequal 90° with respect to the first surface 2 and with respect to the longitudinal axis of the preform, it is also avoided that the light beam returns to the entry point 18 where it might be coupled out of the body 1 in an uncontrolled manner.
FIG. 5 shows a heating system comparable to the one described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 , with the further improvement that several light source arrangements 12 (which can also be considered to be one light source arrangement comprised of several sub-arrangements 12 ) and coupling arrangements 15 (which can be defined accordingly as one light source arrangement) are provided. It can also be observed that in an upper part of the body 1 of the preform there are three evenly distributed, i.e. evenly spaced, coupling arrangements 15 , while in the lower part of the body 1 the coupling arrangements 15 are unevenly spaced and further apart. Using such an improved heating system 13 with multiple light source arrangements 12 and coupling arrangements 15 , i.e. with several light emitting surfaces, it is even easier to guarantee a high precision of the heating process with respect to local differences of the preform such as shape and/or material thickness and or composition. Apart from that, heating can be carried out a lot more rapidly and thus more effectively.
It may be noted that the coupling arrangement 15 can also be realized in many other ways. In particular, not shown in the Figures, a droplet of water could be used instead of the silicone end piece.
FIG. 6 shows an alternative embodiment of a heating system 13 according to the present invention. In this case, the heating system is integrated in or connected to a preform holder 23 which holds the body 1 of the preform while it is being heated. During the heating process, the body 1 of the preform can also be moved by moving the preform holder 23 . In this case, the two light source arrangements 12 of the embodiment are only comprised of two light sources 9 , again realized as laser diodes emitting at 970 nm. These light sources 9 are attached to the bottom of the preform holder 23 and are each directed into a cavity 16 within the preform holder 23 . Also within the cavity 16 , there are coupling arrangements 21 in the form of lenses which are positioned in such way that the light beam 17 emitted by a light source (arrangement) 9 / 12 is directed right into the bottom of the body 1 of the preform. This way, the light beam 17 is coupled into the body 1 in a direction which is exactly perpendicular to the traversal direction T which has been mentioned above, i.e. in parallel with the longitudinal extension of the two surfaces 2 , 4 . This particular form of arrangement of a heating system 13 according to the present invention thus provides a possibility to make guidance of the light beam 17 through the body 1 by means of total internal reflection not essentially necessary. However, total internal reflection may still play a considerable role, because the beams 17 will most probably spread apart, particularly through the effect of the lenses 21 , which means that part of the rays of the light beams 17 will be reflected by total internal reflection. Only those rays which are exactly parallel to the longitudinal extension of the two surfaces 2 , 4 need not be reflected.
This embodiment according to the present invention is particularly advantageous insofar as the light source arrangement 12 and the coupling arrangement 21 are integral parts of the preform holder 23 and therefore can be fixedly installed, enabling the coupling angle at which the light beam 17 is coupled into the body to be accurately predetermined for a longer period of time without any further ado. In addition (not shown), water can be inserted into the preform holder 23 to provide direct physical contact between the body 1 of the preform and the preform holder. Thus, water would serve as a coupling medium and hence as part of a coupling arrangement.
FIG. 7 shows an embodiment according to the invention using two production lines 25 , 27 . Both production lines 25 and 27 are moved simultaneously along rolls 29 a , 29 b and 29 c , 29 d , respectively. While the first production line 25 moves bodies 1 of preforms, the second production line 27 moves light sources 9 in parallel.
The arrangement of the heating system 13 is based on the principle of the invention as depicted in FIG. 3 , i.e. coupling a laser beam 17 into a body of a preform from a side and at a suitable angle which is in the acceptance angle range of the material of the body 1 . However, no direct physical contact between the body and the heating system is made, so that the coupling arrangement 15 exists only in the sense that the light beams 17 are emitted at a certain angle with respect to the bodies 1 of the preforms, which is realized by the simultaneous movement of the light sources 9 together with the respective production line 27 . In this sense, the second production line 27 and a control unit (not shown) which guarantees the simultaneous movement of the second production line 27 and the first production line 25 constitutes the coupling arrangement 15 .
FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of the present invention, in which the bodies 1 are moved along a route. In this case, they are transported by means of a (symbolized) transport system 37 . The bodies 1 are moved in between a top side 42 and a bottom side 41 of the heating system 13 . On the top side there is attached a light ray transmitter 31 , while at the corresponding end of the bottom side 41 , there is positioned a light ray receiver 33 . These two elements, together with a control device in the form of a control circuit 39 which receives sensing signals SS, make up a photoelectric barrier. This barrier is used for sensing when a body 1 enters the heating system 1 . Depending on the sensing signals SS, the control circuit 39 triggers triggering signals TS to light sources 9 which are positioned on the bottom side 41 and directed towards the top side 42 . The triggering signals TS will trigger a light emission from those light sources 9 above which a body 1 of a preform is currently positioned. Thus, a directed light beam 17 is sent deliberately in the direction of the preforms. The heating system 13 may be realized by a bottom side 41 shaped like a basin in which water or another suitable liquid is stored as a coupling medium. The light sources 9 may be arranged below a transparent part of the basin.
For example, in a first preferred embodiment, the cross section of the basin can be realized as depicted in principle in FIG. 6 with respect to the preform holder. In this case, the transport system 37 may be realized e.g. by moving rubber rolls, which initiate a rolling movement of the preforms, such that the preforms are rotated and every point of the side wall of every preform is exposed along its circumference to light beams from the light sources 9 for a sufficient time period during the movement of the preform along the production line.
FIG. 9 shows in a top view how such a bottom side 41 can be realized advantageously according to a second embodiment. The light sources 9 (see FIG. 8 ) are arranged in an array over which bodies 1 of preforms are moved. Only the light sources 9 , over which a preform body is currently positioned are activated. Therefore, there is a distinction between inactive light sources 43 and activated light sources 45 . Upon moving the preforms along their path, different light sources 9 will be activated according to the triggering signals TS.
Although the present invention has been disclosed in the form of a number of preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that additional modifications or variations could be made to the described embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the moving devices may be altered in many ways as well as the arrangement of light sources and of coupling arrangements. As could be seen with reference to the Figures, a light source arrangement may comprise several sub-arrangements as may also be the case with coupling arrangements.
For the sake of clarity, it is to be understood that the use of “a” or “an” throughout this application does not exclude a plurality, and “comprising” does not exclude other steps or elements. A “unit” can comprise a number of units, unless otherwise stated. It is especially noted that “a number of light beams” may be made up of a single light beam or a plurality of light beams. | The invention describes a heating system ( 13 ) for heating a body ( 1 ) of a preform having a material thickness bounded by a first surface ( 2 ) and a second surface ( 4 ). The heating system ( 13 ) comprises at least a light source arrangement ( 12 ) which is arranged to emit a number of directed light beams ( 17 ) and a coupling arrangement ( 15, 21 ) realized to deliberately couple light from the light source arrangement ( 12 ) in a specific direction into the body ( 1 ) during at least a certain minimum period such that the light is essentially guided along a longer path ( 19 ) between the first ( 2 ) and second surface ( 4 ). Furthermore, the invention concerns a method of heating a body ( 1 ) of a preform. | 1 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims priority to German Patent Application No. 101 56 734.0, filed Nov. 19, 2001, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a device for strengthening a conveyable fiber lap made, for example, of cotton, synthetic fibers or the like. The device comprises at least one endlessly circulating conveying device having, for example, two rollers. The outer surfaces of the rollers can convey the fiber lap and are provided with elements that engage the fiber lap and have a strengthening effect on the fiber lap.
In practical operations, fiber laps are subjected to repeated needle treatments with needle boards for strengthening the laps. In the process, the lap is stressed in a lap movement direction since the needles plunging into the lap during the needle treatment delay the lap relative to a continuous lap movement. In many cases, this leads to an undesirable longitudinal stretching of the lap. U.S. Pat. No. 5,909,883 discloses a withdrawing roller drive control that reduces the withdrawing speed during the needle intervention to take into account the lap withdrawing resistance which increases as a result of the entering needles. However, the design and control expenditure required for the drive control is comparably high.
Austrian Patent No. 259 246 B1 discloses reducing the tensional stress of the fiber lap during the needle insertion by designing one of a pair of withdrawing rollers such that it has diametrically opposite arranged driver cams for the fiber lap. Depending on the lift frequency of the needle board, a frictional connection between the withdrawing rollers and the lap results only if the lap is released by the :needle board. An intermittent lap conveying drive of this type represents an advantageous precondition for a low-draft needle-treatment of the fiber lap, but also requires an even lap thickness that cannot be ensured in practical operations. Unavoidable thick and thin areas in the lap cause irregularities in the lap advancement, thus resulting in an irregular needle-treatment. In addition, thick areas in the lap can result in surface damage to the lap caused by the driver cams for the withdrawing roller which impacts the lap, possibly leading to a mechanical overload for the withdrawing rollers, particularly in the bearing region.
The known intermittent needle insertion has the further disadvantage of preventing a high operating speed. A previous suggestion called for the needles to be arranged rigidly on the outside surface of a belt that endlessly circulates around two deflection rollers. In the process, the fiber material is drawn, meaning a relative movement takes place between the needles and the fiber material. While the needles are inserted into and pulled out of the fiber material, at the two deflection locations, additional relative movements occur between the needles and the fiber material because the needles are positioned at a slant relative to the fiber material. These movements lead to drafts in a longitudinal direction and, in particular, to an uneven structure of the fiber material.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Thus, it is an object of the invention to create a device of the above-described type that avoids the aforementioned disadvantages and, in particular, permits a high strengthening speed and a higher strengthening of the fiber lap.
Particular embodiments of the invention provide an endlessly circulating conveying device for strengthening a conveyable fiber lap. The device has first and second converging rollers for conveying the fiber lap. Each roller has an outer surface and at least the first roller is provided with profile elements on its outer surface. The rollers are for subjecting the fiber lap to a pressure when the fiber lap passes through a gap between the rollers, and strengthening the fiber lap by exerting the pressure by the converging rollers and the profile elements.
The invention makes it possible to realize a high strengthening speed and high strengthening of the fiber lap. Two cooperating rollers permit a high circumferential speed and thus a high conveying speed for the fiber lap. The profiled rollers make it possible to have a high strengthening without damaging the fiber lap. In particular, the movement through the converging roller gap results in a pre-strengthening and the profile elements locally (in some locations) cause a main strengthening of the pre-strengthened fiber lap.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention is explained below in further detail with the aid of exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevation view of a carding machine provided with a device according to the invention;
FIG. 2 is a partial side elevation view of the carding machine according to FIG. 1, with two ascending gathering rollers;
FIG. 3 is a front view of the card discharge according to FIG. 1, comprising two profiled rollers that are connected downstream of the withdrawing rollers;
FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the invention having a profiled roller and a smooth roller;
FIG. 5 a shows two profiled rollers installed downstream of a sliver trumpet;
FIG. 5 b is a front view of a profiled roller according to FIG. 5 a;
FIG. 6 a is a side view of sawtooth clothing for the profiled roller(s);
FIG. 6 b is a section along line I—I in FIG. 6 a through two teeth of the sawtooth clothing, arranged side-by-side with wire in-between;
FIG. 6 c shows the teeth according to FIG. 6 b , without the wire in-between;
FIG. 7 is a front view of a profiled roller, composed of side-by-side arranged toothed disks with spacers inserted between them;
FIG. 8 shows a first embodiment of the toothed disks according to FIG. 7 with approximately trapezoid profile projections along the circumference;
FIG. 9 shows a second embodiment of the toothed disks according to FIG. 7 with convex curved profile projections along the circumference;
FIG. 10 is a front view of a profiled roller with profile elements;
FIG. 11 is a schematic representation of the distances between the basic roller bodies and the profile elements for the pre-strengthening and the main strengthening; and
FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a fiber lap (sliver) trumpet with a rectangular discharge region.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 shows a carding machine, for example a high-performance Model DK 903 by the company Trützschler in Mönchengladbach, Germany. The carding machine comprises a feed roller 1 , licker-ins 3 a , 3 b , 3 c , a main carding cylinder 4 , a doffer 5 , a stripping roller 6 , a lap-gathering element 7 , withdrawing rollers 11 , 12 (roller 11 being behind roller 12 and, therefore, not visible in FIG. 1 ), two profiled rollers 21 , 22 , and traveling flats 13 with slowly circulating flat bars 14 . Curved arrows indicate the rotational directions of the rollers while arrow A indicates the operating direction (fiber material flow direction).
Two gathering rollers 18 , 19 , which gather the fiber material to form a heavy fiber lap, are arranged between the doffer 5 and the stripping roller 6 . The stripping roller 6 rotates clockwise and drops the fiber material from above into the lap-gathering element 7 . The lap-gathering element 7 in this example is funnel-shaped (see FIG. 3) and is positioned vertically. The two withdrawing rollers 11 , 12 (see FIG. 3) are positioned at the lower end of the lap-gathering element 7 and are followed (in a downward direction) by the two profiled rollers 21 , 22 (see FIG. 3 ).
As shown in FIG. 2, the gathering rollers 18 and 19 and the stripping roller 6 are arranged in ascending order, following the doffer 5 . The fiber material is raised to a specific height and the lap-gathering element 7 can be arranged underneath the stripping roller 6 . The released fiber lap then drops downward, aided by the forces of gravity, and into the lap-gathering element 7 , which supports the flow of material. The withdrawing rollers 11 , 12 withdraw the strengthened fiber lap from the discharge opening of the lap-gathering element 7 . The two profiled rollers 21 , 22 (FIG. 3) or one profiled roller 22 and one smooth roller 21 ′ (FIG. 4) can be used.
As seen in fiber material flow direction, the lap-gathering element 7 shown in FIG. 3 is provided with a lap-gathering region and a lap-strengthening region. In FIG. 3, the lap-gathering element 7 has a lap-guide element 9 that forms the lap-gathering region and a lap trumpet 10 that forms the lap-strengthening region. The lap-guide element 9 and the lap trumpet 10 are, in this example, closed on all sides, except for the respective intake and discharge openings for the fiber material. The intake opening for the lap-guide element 9 is arranged at a distance f to the stripping roller 6 , for example approximately 50 mm. The profiled rollers 21 , 22 , which convey the fiber material further and strengthen it, are arranged downstream from the withdrawing rollers 11 , 12 . In this example, roller 12 is spring-loaded by spring 20 . The axes for the withdrawing rollers 11 , 12 and the profiled rollers 21 , 22 are aligned parallel to each other. The fiber lap exiting from the trumpet 10 respectively passes with its broad side (corresponding to a in FIG. 12) through the gap between the rollers 11 , 12 and 21 , 22 .
In the example shown in FIG. 4, the lap-gathering element 7 ′ has a one-piece design. The discharge region for the lap-gathering element 7 ′ corresponds to the discharge region 10 a (see FIG. 12) of the fiber lap trumpet 10 and extends into the gap between the immediately following roller pair, in this example profiled roller 22 and smooth roller 21 ′.
All wall surfaces of the lap-gathering element 7 , 7 ′ shown in the embodiments of FIGS. 3 and 4, are stationary during the operation, meaning the fiber material glides along the inside wall surfaces of the lap-gathering element 7 , 7 ′. Curved arrows indicate the rotational directions of the rollers 11 , 12 and 21 , 22 .
FIG. 5 a shows two profiled rollers 21 , 22 , provided with an endless solid-steel clothing 21 a or 22 a , which is respectively oriented toward the roller body 21 b or 22 b . The roller 21 rotates according to the arrow 21 c in a counter-clockwise direction and the roller 22 rotates corresponding to arrow 22 c in a clockwise direction. The discharge from the lap-gathering element 7 extends into the gap between the profiled rollers 21 , 22 . The lap-gathering element is followed immediately by the two profiled rollers 21 , 22 . The front view of the roller 22 in FIG. 5 b shows how the clothing 22 a is wound helically around the basic roller body 22 b.
One example of geometric data of the sawtooth clothing 21 a , 22 a , selected according to DIN (German Industrial Standard) 64 125, is shown in FIGS. 6 a , 6 b . In another embodiment of the invention, the clothing consists of wire needles.
The sawtooth clothing is shown in FIG. 6 a as a stretched wire with a plurality of teeth 21 ′ 1 , for example having a height h 1 of 2.5 mm. Each tooth 21 ′ 1 has a short, straight zone 1 s at the tooth tip 21 ′ 4 , for example 0.6 to 1.5 mm, which is oriented parallel to the base plane 21 ′ 9 of the tooth base 21 ′ 2 . Each tooth 21 ′ 1 furthermore has a tooth front 21 ′ 5 and a tooth back 21 ′ 6 . The front angle α is 0°. The angle δ, the angle between the straight zone of the tooth tip 21 ′ 4 and the perpendicular line relative to the tooth base plane 21 ′ 9 of the tooth base 21 ′ 2 , amounts to 90°.
The back angle γ, the angle between the straight zone 21 ′ 4 and the perpendicular line is 90°. The tooth region above the tooth base 21 ′ 2 is given the reference 21 ′ 3 and has a height h 2 . A tooth gap 21 ′ 7 respectively exists between a tooth front 21 ′ 5 and a tooth back 21 ′ 6 of two adjacent teeth 21 ′ 1 . The tooth gap 21 ′ 7 has two arcs of approximately one fourth of a circle and a gap bottom 21 ′ 8 that connects the two arcs. The radii of the two arcs for the tooth gap 21 ′ 7 are identical to the tooth radii r′ z and r″ z , for example amounting to approximately 0.6 mm. The tooth gap height h 3 is approximately 0.6 mm to 1.5 mm. The tooth division t (on the stretched wire) is approximately 2.45 mm to 2.85 mm.
The two teeth 21 ′ 1 , shown in a sectional view in FIG. 6 b , have a pitch P. A spacing wire 31 is arranged between the teeth 21 ′ 1 which is wound endlessly around the roller body 21 b , in the same way as the sawtooth clothing. However, according to FIG. 6 c the teeth 21 ′ 1 can also be arranged immediately adjacent to each other, without any spacing in-between. The tip width b s of tooth 21 ′ 1 , for example, can be more than 0.2 mm and less than 1 mm. The base width b F of the tooth 21 ′ 1 can be more than 1 mm and less than 4 mm, for example 2 mm. The tooth density T=10/t can be approximately 3.5 to 4.0/cm. The number of windings per unit z=10/b F can be approximately 4.8 to 5.2/cm and the density=G×T can be approximately 18.5 to 19.5 cm 2 .
As shown in FIG. 7, the profiled roller 21 , 22 can be configured as a disk-type roller. Profiled disks 24 , 25 (see FIGS. 8, 9 ) are arranged side-by-side on a shaft 23 , wherein one spacing disk 26 is provided between two adjacent disks 24 , 25 . Holding elements 27 a , 27 b are respectively arranged on the two ends of the disk packet. The holding elements are secured, for example, with screws and hold together and press together the disks 24 , 25 and spacers 26 .
In the example shown in FIG. 8, the profile elements 24 a along the circumference of disk 24 are shaped in the manner of a trapeze or pyramid. Disk 24 is provided, in this example, with a keyed hole 24 b for mounting on shaft 23 . In the example shown in FIG. 9, the profile elements 25 a along the circumference of disk 25 are shaped approximately semi-circular or semi-spherical. Disk 25 is provided, in this example, with a keyed hole 25 b for mounting on shaft 23 . Different profile element shapes that are suitable for the primary strengthening can be used as well.
FIG. 10 shows an embodiment where the profile elements 24 a ′ and 25 a ′ are arranged directly on the basic roller body. In FIG. 10, the profile elements 24 a ′, 25 a ′ are arranged offset to each other. The lap strengthening can be improved by such a roller. The spacing of the profile elements in a width direction is indicated by d and the offset in the rotational direction between adjacent profile elements is indicated by e.
In FIG. 11, the pre-strengthening occurs between the outer surface 12 b of roller 12 and the outer surface 24 b of disks 24 and the main strengthening occurs between the outer surface 24 b and the exposed end of the profile element 24 a . The distance between the outer surface 12 b and the outer surface 24 b is indicated by f and the distance between the outer surface 12 b and the exposed end of the profile element 24 a is indicated by g. The pre-strengthening and the main strengthening occur in the same way as for the profiled rollers with sawtooth clothing, shown in FIGS. 5 a , 5 b and 6 a , 6 b .
According to FIG. 12, the discharge opening 10 a of the fiber lap trumpet 10 has a height b of approximately 2 to 3 mm. The width a of the discharge opening 10 a for the trumpet 10 is at least approximately 30 to 100 mm, preferably approximately 2 to 30 mm. Wall elements 10 c and 10 d define sides of the discharge opening 10 a . The width a can be changed by displacing wall element 10 c in the region of the discharge opening 10 a in the direction of arrows D, E. The rectangular region 10 a is designed with sharp edges. In this way, the flat fiber lap that exits the lap trumpet has a sharp-edged cross-sectional shape.
The invention has been described in detail with respect to preferred embodiments and it will now be apparent from the foregoing to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention in its broader aspects. The invention, therefore, is intended to cover all such changes and modifications that fall within the true spirit of the invention. | An endlessly circulating conveying device is provided for strengthening a conveyable fiber lap. The device has first and second converging rollers for conveying the fiber lap. Each roller has an outer surface and at least the first roller is provided with profile elements on its outer surface. The rollers are for subjecting the fiber lap to a pressure when the fiber lap passes through a gap between the rollers, and strengthening the fiber lap by exerting the pressure by the converging rollers and the profile elements. | 3 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a 371 National Stage Application of PCT/EP2013/053480, filed Feb. 21, 2013. This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/603,975, filed Feb. 28, 2012, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. In addition, this application claims the benefit of European Application No. 12156431.4, filed Feb. 22, 2012, which is also incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and systems for the reproduction of color documents; the invention especially concerns color management. The invention is particularly suitable for the accurate, stable and continuous reproduction of objects defined by a mixture of inks.
2. Description of the Related Art
Definition and Explanation of Terms
Today, more and more output systems are developed for the reproduction of color images and/or colored text. Several display and printing technologies are used such as CRT's, LCD's, plasma display panels (PDP), electroluminescent displays (ELD), carbon nanotubes, quantum dot displays, laser TV's, Electronic paper, E ink, projection displays, conventional photography, electrophotography, thermal transfer, dye sublimation and ink jet systems, 3D color inkjet systems to name a few. Also the conventional printing technologies such as offset printing, rotogravure, flexography, letterpress printing, and screen-printing are developed for the reproduction of color images and/or colored text. In the rest of this document, these systems will be referred to as color devices or color reproduction devices.
All these systems can be described as multidimensional color devices with n colorants such as CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) inks of an ink jet system, electrophotography, thermal transfer, dye sublimation, conventional printing systems or RGB (Red, Green, Blue) in case of a display system such as CRT's, LCD's, plasma display panels (PDP), electroluminescent displays (ELD), carbon nanotubes, quantum dot displays, laser TV's, Electronic paper, E ink, projection displays. In this document it is assumed that the colorant values for ink based printers, not addressed with RGB values, range from 0% (no colorant laid down on paper) to 100% (maximum amount of colorant laid down on paper or substrate where the ink based printer is printing on). For RGB based systems such as displays, the values range from 0 to 255. In the rest of this document, mainly a printer will be used as an example of a color device, however, it is well known in the art of color management systems that aspects of the invention, which are disclosed further below, can be easily extended to other color devices, such as displays, color devices which are not RGB based systems and not CMYK based systems, color scanners and digital color cameras.
With colorant space is meant an n-dimensional space with n the number of independent variables with which the color device can be addressed. In the case of an offset printing press the dimension of the colorant space corresponds to the number of inks of the press. As normally CMYK inks are used, the dimension of the colorant space is four. Colorant spaces are also referred to as device dependent spaces. In the rest of this document for ink based color devices CMYK is used as colorant space but also other ink combinations can be used to reproduce color images or colored text.
In the rest of this document for display systems RGB is used as colorant space but also other color combinations can be used to reproduce color images or colored text.
The colorant gamut is defined by all possible combinations of colorant values, ranging from 0% to 100% for non-RGB color devices and from 0 to 255 for RGB based systems. If there are no colorant limitations, the colorant gamut is an n-dimensional cube. However, in most cases also one or multiple ink combinations have to be taken into account as a number of colorant combinations are not acceptable to be printed. Hence the colorant gamut is reduced by these ink limitations. Ink limitations can be any limitation on the colorant combinations to be taken into account. In this document, only linear ink limitations are considered, but all aspects of linear ink limitation can be easily extended to any combination of linear and/or non-linear ink limitations.
With color space is meant a space that represents a number of quantities of an object that characterize its color. In most practical situations, colors will be represented in a three-dimensional space such as the CIE XYZ space, CIELAB or CIECAM02 as color values. However, also other characteristics can be used such as multi-spectral values based on filters that are not necessarily based on a linear transformation of the color matching functions. The values represented in a color space are referred to as color values. Color spaces are also referred to as device independent color spaces wherein a color may be unambiguously specified without reference to external factors. It is well known in the art of color management systems that a method that is using a device independent color space such as the CIE XYZ space, also shall be applicable for other device independent color spaces such as CIE LAB space, CIECAM02, multi-spectral value spaces.
A printer model is a mathematical relation that expresses color values in function of colorant values for a given color device. The variables for the colorants are denoted as c 1 , c 2 , . . . , c n with n the dimension of the colorant space. In this document, a printer model defined for a given colorant gamut in colorant space with dimension n is referred to as the n-ink model of the color device. For displays, scanners and digital cameras such a model is also called an n-colorant model. It is well known in the art of color management systems that a method that is using an n-ink model also is applicable for an n-colorant model. It is assumed that the n-ink model is a continuous function from colorant space to color space. Characteristics are defined in most cases for n-ink models, however, as the n-ink model describes the color behavior of the corresponding color device, characteristics defined for the n-ink model are also defined indirectly for the color device. E.g. if the n-ink model is regular, it is said that also the color device is regular. Also the gamut, defined for the n-ink model, is assumed to be the gamut of the color device.
Common general knowledge on the subject matter of color management and printer models are presented by the following standard science handbooks: “Digital Color Halftoning” by Henry R. Kang, 1st edition, ISBN 08194 3318 7, co-published by SPIE, The International Society for Optical Engineering (Year 1999), herein incorporated by reference in its entirety and “Digital Color Imaging” by Gaurav Sharma, ISBN 08493 0900 X, published CRC Press (Year 2003), herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The n-ink model is often based on a printer target. Such a target comprises a number of uniform color patches, defined in the colorant space of the color device. In a next step the printer target is printed and measured as color values in a color space, and based on the values of the patches in colorant space and the measured color values, the n-ink model is made. This is also called the profiling or color profiling the printer. A printer target is normally characterized by the sampling points along the different colorant axes. Based on the sampling points a regular grid can be constructed in colorant space of which a number of grid points are contained by the printer target. Hence a target can be said to be complete or incomplete. We refer to patent application EP-A-1 146 726 for more information on grids, complete and incomplete printer targets, and related terms. The positions in the regular grid in the colorant space from the printer and the corresponding color values of a color space, calculated out the measuring of the printer target is as forward look-up-table calculated by the n-ink model. A regular grid is not necessarily needed but it makes the complexity of calculations for color transformations and/or inverting this LUT easier. The measurements of the printer target can also become part of the n-ink model as forward measurement look-up-table. The measurements of the printed targets depend on several printing parameters such as half-toning techniques, pigmentation of the inks, and absorption of the substrate whereon the printed target is printed.
With inverting an n-ink model is meant that for a given color in color space colorant values are looked for that map to the given color by making use of the n-ink model. The transformation of an n-ink model to color space on the other hand is equivalent to the transformation of the corresponding colorant gamut to color space by making use of the n-ink model.
We refer to patent application EP A 1 083 739, “Inverse problems in color device characterization” by Bala Raja, published in PROCEEDINGS OF SPIE, US, vol 5016 23 Jan. 2003, pages 185-195”, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, “Optimization of the spectral Neugebauer model for printer characterization” by R. Balasubramanian, JOURNAL OF ELECTRONIC IMAGING, SPIE/IS&T, vol 8, no. 2, 1 Apr. 1999, pages 156-166, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,195 (MAHY MARC), 2 Mar. 1999, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, for more information on colorant spaces, color spaces, inverting n-ink models and other relevant terms.
Based on an n-ink model, forward and inverse look up tables are constructed. These tables are also referred to as tables or color tables. A forward table transforms colorant values to color values whereas the inverse table transforms color values to colorant values. Inverse tables are also called separation tables or color separation tables. The forward, inverse look up tables and alternatively together with a look up table with the measurements of the print target and their corresponding colorant values can be stored as a profile on 1 or several positions of a computer readable medium. A profile is also called a color profile. For printing systems a profile is also called an output profile or output color profile. For display systems, scanners and digital cameras a profile is also called an input profile or input color profile. A look up table with the measurements of the print target and their corresponding colorant values stored on 1 position of a computer readable medium is called a measurement file.
The International Color Consortium (ICC) specified in 2010 a profile format to include a color profile to provide a cross-platform profile format for the creation of interpretation of color and/or colorant values. Such color profiles can be used to translate between different colorant spaces and/or color spaces and transform colorant values created using a color device into another color device's native colorant space. It is allowed to embed this profile format in page description language-data and/or image-data. International Color Consortium—Specification ICC 1:2010, REVISION of ICC.1:2004-10, (Profile version 4.3.0.0) (Year 2010), herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. This specification is common general knowledge for the engineer on the subject matter of color management.
The routines to calculate and create color profiles from the calculation of an n-ink model out the data of the measurement file and the inverse n-ink model are part of a profile creator, a software application, also called profile maker which is preferably part of a color management system.
Several techniques to create n-ink models are known as prior art and they are mainly based on or combinations of Neugebauer equations, Murray-Davies equations, Yule-Nielsen model, area coverage-density relationship, Clapper-Yule model, dot-gain and preferably piecewise-linear n-ink-model whether or not extended with spectral extensions.
A n-ink model and/or a color profile are used to convert a first colorant values from a first colorant space in a color image or colored text to another colorant value from a second colorant space with as purpose to reproduce the first colorant value in the second colorant space with approximately the same color value of the first colorant value which is the basic of a color management system.
When rendering colors on color devices, in most cases separation tables are made for CMY (with C cyan, M magenta and Y yellow), RGB (with R red, G green and B blue) and CMYK (with C cyan, M magenta, Y yellow and K black) color devices. These tables are in general based on a regular grid in color space that defines per grid point the colorant values to be printed to obtain the correct color for that grid point on the color device. The colorant values are calculated by constructing an n-ink model and a technique to invert the n-ink model for the color corresponding to the grid points. This is in general done grid point by grid point without explicitly checking if a colorant combination of a given grid point to a succeeding grid point is continuous. This is important as at the moment the separation table is applied, an interpolation technique will be used to get the colorant values for the colors between the given grids points. If the interpolation between the grid points in reality does not correspond to the color reproduction behavior of the color device, the resulting color will not be color-accurate.
For an RGB or CMY three-ink model, there is in general a one to one relation between the three-dimensional colorant values and the color values ( FIG. 1 ). In this case the three-ink model and the corresponding color device is said to be regular. Hence, for a regular color device or three-ink model, a well-chosen interpolation between two succeeding color values of a corresponding separation table is automatically stable, accurate and continuous.
However, there are several exceptions. Three-ink models for which the 300% overlay of colorants is not transparent or almost not transparent, results in a number of double solutions of certain colors ( FIGS. 2 and 3 ). These three-ink models and corresponding color devices are said to be singular (i.e. an n-ink model and corresponding color device that is not regular is called singular). Another class of examples are non conventional three ink combinations different from previously mentioned RGB or CMY colorants. An example is a Yellow, Green and Cyan (YGC) color device, where some combinations of yellow and cyan match a certain percentage of green. Hence, for these color devices, some color values are made with multiple colorant combinations. In general a finite number of colorant combinations will be found, and typically there will be two. If however, a continuous set of colorant combinations for a three-ink model result in the same color value, the three-ink model and corresponding color device is said to be degenerated. This situation will not be discussed in this document, as in general a degenerated three-ink model can be easily converted into a non-degenerated three-ink model by modifying some model parameters slightly. If there are two neighboring color values in a separation table for which one color value can only be reproduced with one colorant combination but for the other one multiple solutions exist, in general only for one solution the interpolation between both grid points results in a continuous color change in print. Hence, with the current state of the art, the wrong colorant combination can be selected so that prints based on these separation tables will show severe banding artifacts and unexpected rainbow effects ( FIG. 4 ).
For a conventional CMYK four-ink model, a unique relation is expected between a color value and a connected path in colorant space. If the color lies inside the color gamut, there is a connected path in the colorant space with which this color can be obtained, and that starts and ends at the colorant boundary ( FIG. 5 ). If the color lies at the color gamut boundary, there is exactly one colorant combination with which this color can be reproduced ( FIG. 6 ). The selection of the proper colorant combination for a given color value is based on the GCR/UCR selection (Remark: GCR stands for gray component replacement and UCR for under color removal; these well-known techniques pertain to replacing CMY values that add to gray by K, and in how far to replace them. For GCR/UCR and also for other terms with respect to color management and color reproduction, we refer to Yule, “Principles of Color Reproduction”, Wiley & Sons, 1967). As GCR/UCR selection values are changed continuously in color space, the colorant combinations between two succeeding grid points in separation tables are changing slowly too, so that for most used interpolation techniques nowadays the interpolation results in smooth color separations. Hence a smooth relation between color values and colorant values is obtained. If however, the GCR/UCR settings are changed suddenly, suppose from the minimum K solution to the maximum K solution, from one grid point to the next one, the interpolated colorant values between both grid points are likely to be incorrect. By a proper selection of GCR/UCR values, the separations for CMYK four-ink models will result in stable, accurate and smooth color printing. In other words, for a proper selection of GCR/UCR values every connected path in color space is mapped to a connected path in colorant space ( FIG. 7 ).
However, also for CMYK four-ink models, a number of assumptions are made in making separation tables that are not always valid. In applying GCR/UCR settings, it is often assumed that there is a unique relation between the K value and the path in colorant space that results in the same color; i.e. if the path is projected on the K axis, there is always one point on the path with a given K-value between the minimum and maximum K value of the projection. This also means that one end point of the path maps to the minimum K-value whereas the other end point maps to the maximum K-value. If for a given color there is one connected path, but the relation to the K axis is not as explained above, this might result in non-continuous separations. In general, if a four-ink model is inverted for a given color, often first of all the minimum and maximum K solution are looked for. A given GCR/UCR setting is than applied as a percentage between the minimum and maximum K solution. Hence, in some cases this results in two, three or more than three possible colorant combinations if the path in colorant space that maps to the given color values goes up and down along the K-axis in colorant space ( FIG. 8 ). Also in this case, the interpolation between two succeeding grid points results in severe banding or rainbow effects if for one grid point the “wrong” colorant combinations are selected compared to the other grid point (i.e. in case multiple solutions for a given GCR/UCR value are available for one of them).
For some four-ink models, the colorant combinations in colorant space resulting in a given color in color space, do not belong to one connected path but to multiple non-connected paths in the colorant domain. In this case, a given GCR/UCR value (and hence a corresponding K-value) can not always be reached if the projection of both paths on the K-axis is disconnected and one path contains the minimum K solution and the other the maximum K solution ( FIG. 9 ). In other cases, these paths project partially on the same region along the K value so that again multiple solutions can be obtained for a given GCR/UCR setting ( FIG. 10 ). Also in this case, the interpolation between two succeeding points can result in severe banding and rainbow effects as there is no continuous relation between the color values and the colorant values.
Another assumption for CMYK four-ink models is that K exchanges for CMY combinations, i.e. if a color can be obtained with a given combination of CMYK values, the same color can be obtained by increasing the K value and decreasing the CMY values (and vice versa). Calculations however indicate that this is not always the case. In general this occurs for neutrals but for non-neutrals this assumption is not always valid. Hence all GCR/UCR techniques that are based on this assumption will fail to get accurate colors. Also imposing ink limitations are often applied in this way, i.e. increasing K-values often means a reduction of the CMY colorant values so that less ink is used. Ink limitations based on this technique therefore will also fail to maintain the correct color.
For non-CMYK four-ink models on the other hand several types of non conventional printing behavior occur. Hence, there is no guarantee that a separation table results in smooth color printing, stable color reproduction and accurate colors.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention can reduce or eliminate deficiencies and problems associated with the prior art devices and methods. Embodiments of the herein disclosed methods and systems can be used to render colors on color devices in such a way that the color is reproduced in a stable way, and/or accurately, and/or such that the relation between color values and colorant values is continuous.
Embodiments of the present invention also relate to software, firmware, and program instructions created, stored, accessed, or modified by processors using computer-readable media or computer-readable memory. The methods described may be performed on a variety of computing devices, and peripherals, including color devices preferably displays and more preferably printing devices.
FIG. 19 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a system 1900 using one or more computing devices 1910 a 1910 b coupled to an output device, which is shown as exemplary printer 1970 , according to disclosed embodiments. Note that, in general, the methods disclosed may be performed on any graphic processing device that is capable of performing color conversion operations including computing device 1910 , exemplary printer 1970 shown in system 1900 in FIG. 19 , and/or other devices that perform color space conversions, color management, and/or color translations. In some embodiments, the devices may receive input in a first colorant space and produce output in a second colorant space, which in some instances may be different from the first colorant space. The methods and apparatus described in this document may also be applied to the above device types with appropriate modifications and in a manner consistent with embodiments disclosed herein as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. For simplicity and ease of explanation, however, the methods are described with reference to exemplary printer 1970 .
In general, printer 1970 may be any printing system. Printer 1970 may have image transmitting/receiving function, image scanning function, and/or copying function, as installed in facsimile machines and digital copiers. The methods and apparatus described in this document may also be applied to these various printer device types with appropriate modifications and in a manner consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.
A printer 1970 may contain one or more input-output ports 1975 , and printer 1970 may be able to communicate with and access resources on computing device 1910 using I/O ports 1975 and connection 1920 . Printer 1970 may receive input print data, including colorant or color values and other data from one or more computing devices 1910 a , 1910 b . For example, a computing device 1910 a , 1910 b may be a general purpose computer that includes a monitor to display the input color or colorant values.
One or more of the computing devices 1910 a 1910 b may be coupled to printer 1970 via a wired or wireless connection 1920 using conventional communication protocols and/or data port interfaces. In general, connection 1920 can be any communication channel that allows transmission of data between the devices. In one embodiment, for example, the devices may be provided with conventional data ports, such as parallel ports, serial ports, Ethernet, USB™, SCSI, FIREWIRE™, and/or coaxial cable ports for transmission of data through the appropriate connection. The data port may be a wired or wireless port.
The printer 1970 may further include bus 1974 that couples CPU 1976 , firmware 1971 , memory 1972 , print engine 1977 , and secondary storage device 1973 . Printer 1970 may also include other Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), and/or Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) 1978 that are capable of executing portions of routines from 1 or more the computing devices and color management routines.
The printer 1970 may also be capable of executing software including a printer operating system and other appropriate application software, including software to perform color management functions and image data processors.
The CPU 1976 may be a general-purpose processor, a special purpose processor, or an embedded processor. CPU 1976 can exchange data including control information and instructions with memory 1972 and/or firmware 1971 . Memory 1972 may be any type of Dynamic Random Access Memory (“DRAM”) such as but not limited to SDRAM, or RDRAM. Firmware 1971 may hold instructions and data including, but not limited to, a boot-up sequence, pre-defined routines, routines to perform color management, including color space conversions, luminance computations and part of routines from 1 or more of the computing devices 1910 a , 1910 b . The code and data in firmware 1971 may be copied to memory 1972 prior to being acted upon by CPU 1976 . In some embodiments, data and instructions in firmware 1971 may be upgradeable.
The firmware 1971 may also include routines to perform color or colorant space conversion related computations, profile creation, profile regularization and part of routines from 1 or more of the computing devices 1910 a , 1910 b , and store the values and profiles in memory 1972 . The routines may include code that can be executed by CPU 1976 and/or computing device 1910 to perform portions of computations related to the determination, profile or n-ink-model creation and processing of in-gamut and out-of-gamut colors. Routines in firmware 1971 may also include code to process the input color and related color space or the input colorant and related colorant space information received from computing device 1910 , as well as gamut-mapping functions.
It is also contemplated that portions of routines to perform one or more color management related computations may be stored on a removable computer readable medium, such as a hard drive, computer disk, CD-ROM, DVD ROM, CD.+−.RW or DVD.+−.RW, USB flash drive, memory stick, or any other suitable medium, and may run on any suitable subsystem of printer 1970 . For example, portions of applications to perform computations related to profile and n-ink-model calculation, gamut mapping and processing may reside on a removable computer readable medium and be read and acted upon by CPU 1976 using routines in firmware 1971 that have been copied to memory 1972 .
The CPU 1976 may act upon instructions and data and provide control and data to ASICs/FPGAs 1978 and print engine 1977 to generate printed documents. In some embodiments, ASICs/FPGAs 1978 may also provide control and data to print engine 1977 . FPGAs/ASICs 1978 may also implement one or more of translation, compression, and color conversion algorithms and part of routines to create color profiles.
Exemplary secondary storage 1973 may be an internal or external hard disk, Memory Stick™, a computer readable medium or any other memory storage device capable of being used in and/or coupled to printer 1970 . Memory to store computed values, look-up tables and/or color profiles may be a dedicated memory or form part of a general purpose memory. The memory may be dynamically allocated to hold the look-up tables and/or profiles as needed. The memory allocated to store the look-up tables may be dynamically released after processing.
1 or more of the computer devices may include an image data processing system, preferably a raster image processor and it may include a profile maker.
The routines for storing and/or reading a color profile, forward look-up-table, inverse look-up-table and/or measurement file on/from a computer readable medium, memory or secondary storage by using I/O ports 1975 may be included in 1 or more of the computing devices. Selecting one of the look-up-tables such as a forward look-up-table, inverse look-up-table or measurement file of a color profile and storing on a computer readable medium, memory or secondary storage by using I/O ports 1975 may also be included in 1 or more of the computing devices. The file management of the stored profiles, forward look-up-tables, inverse look-up-tables and/or measurement files is done by a profile file manager which includes preferable a profile database wherein also extra information about the color profiles such as date of printing the printer target, version number of profile creator, version number of profile regularizator, version number of printer target, name of printer 1970 , characterization of the printer is managed and stored.
The routines to create an n-ink model out a profile or a measurement file, to inverse an n-ink model may be included in 1 or more of the computing devices or to regularize an n-ink model may be included in 1 or more of the computing devices. The routines to regularize an n-ink model are part of a profile regularizator and may be stored on a computer readable medium.
In order to overcome the problems of the prior art, preferred embodiments of the present invention provide a regularization method as described below, an image data processing system as described below, a computer program and a computer readable medium as described below.
The use of a matt varnish, gloss varnish on printer systems and preferably inkjet printers and more preferably UV inkjet printers to enhance the print quality is well known in the graphical industry. By using a printed printer target comprising uniform color patches with extra sampling points so a regular grid can be constructed in a n-dimensional space with (n−x) the number of independent variables with which the color device can addressing color and x independent variables with which the color device can addressing the amount of varnish or primer and by measuring the printed printer target in a space that represents a number of quantities of an object that characterized its color and gloss, according to the embodiments of the present invention it can easily be extended with the gloss characterization. The forwarded, inverted LUT and other LUT as defined in the Specification ICC 1:2010 of the ICC can be preferably adapted to extent the color and colorant values with the gloss characterization. The embodiments of the invention can be extended with this gloss characterization and gloss measurement alongside of the colorant and color values. The embodiments of the invention can be extended with other characterization and measurements alongside the colorant and color values such as mottle, coalescence, matt-effects, relief structures, color bleeding, matt-effect, gloss or metamerie. The forwarded, inverted LUT and other LUT as defined in the Specification ICC 1:2010 of the ICC can than be preferably adapted to extent the color and colorant values with 1 of more of these characterizations.
Embodiments of the invention provide a technique that guarantees that a color separation table is well-behaving; i.e. the separation table generates accurate colors, stable color reproduction by limiting the colorant domain properly and a smooth relation between color values and colorant values so that smooth color gradations or vignettes are well reproduced.
If a color separation table also called inverse look-up-table of a color profile is well-behaving, the color profile is called a well-behaving color profile. The color separation table is than called a color well-behaving separation table.
If a color separation table also called inverse look-up-table of a color profile is regular, the color profile is a well-behaving color profile and also called a regular color profile. The color separation table is than s color well-behaving separation table also called a color regular separation table.
To obtain well-behaving color separation tables, there is a need
for a check to see if an n-ink model is singular or if the behavior is due to measurement errors; for a check based on a measurement file to see which measurements are anomalous (e.g. not properly measured) and which measurements really represent the behavior of the color device; to adjust a measurement file so that a regular n-ink model is obtained; to limit the colorant space properly if the n-ink model is singular in certain parts of the colorant domain; to make an n-ink model regular; to check if a separation table is well-behaving or not for a technique that indicates which part of the separation table is not well-behaving; for a technique to select a colorant combination out of a set of colorant combinations to make well-behaving separation tables; to detect the paths that map to the same color in color space; for a generalized concept for GCR/UCR settings; a regular n-ink model remains regular after a closed loop iteration.
The profile regularization can be used while creating a color profile in a profile creator, after the creation of a color profile, before rendering an image from a first colorant space to a second colorant space or during rendering an image from a first colorant space to a second colorant space. The profile regularizator includes 1 or more routines of color profile characteristics which indicate the regularity of a profile and/or N-ink-model.
According to an aspect of the invention, the invention provides in one of the embodiments the following method and system: generating a color profile, which include a forward look-up-table and an inverse look-up-table for a printing device comprising the steps of:
(a) creating an n-ink model out the data of a measurement file created for the color device or out the data of the forward look-up-table of a color profile from the color device which is suitable for transferring a set of colorant values in colorant space to a set of color values in color space; (b) creating an inversed n-ink model from the n-ink model or from the inverse look-up-table of the color profile, also called a color separation table; (c) converting the n-ink model in a forward look-up-table; (d) converting the inverse n-ink model in a inverse look-up-table;
Characterized by extra steps after creating the n-ink model:
(e) selecting a color profile characteristic; (f) determining if the n-ink model is not regular based on the color profile characteristic with one or more values and/or value ranges; (g) optimizing by modifying the n-ink model if the n-ink model is not regular; (h) optionally repeating step (e) until (f) until the n-ink model is regular
Steps (a) until (d) are common general knowledge on the subject matter of color management and may be computer implemented method. The routines for these steps (a)-(h) may be included in 1 or more of the computing devices. These parts may be part of a profile creator or profile regularizator but preferably part of an image data processor, more preferably part of a raster image processor and most preferably part of a color management system on the color device. After the creation of the profile the profile shall be stored on the color device on a computer readable medium, memory or secondary storage of the color device.
The method can also be used to modify the n-ink model if the n-ink model in a part of color space and/or colorant space of the n-ink model is regular. Or the method can also be used to modify the n-ink model in a close-loop until the n-ink model is in a part of color space and/or colorant space of the n-ink model is regular.
The n-ink-model is preferably based on a piecewise-linear n-ink-model but other techniques based on or combinations of Neugebauer equations, Murray-Davies equations, Yule-Nielsen model, area coverage-density relationship, Clapper-Yule model, dot-gain and preferably piecewise-linear n-ink-model whether or not extended with spectral extensions can also be used.
The optimizing of the n-ink model may include constructing of an error functional R and preferably minimizing the error functional R which is preferably done by using the gradient method.
If the color device is a three-ink-color device and wherein the n ink model is a three-ink model, the method and system comprises further the steps of:
decomposing the three dimensional colorant cube into a union of tetrahedrons; approximating an original three-ink model for the three-ink color device by said piecewise linear three-ink model, wherein said piecewise linear three-ink model comprises a plurality of Jacobian matrices, of the original three-ink model, for the tetrahedrons;
and wherein said color profile characteristic is the plurality of signs of the determinants of the plurality of Jacobian matrices.
The routines for these steps may be included in 1 or more of the computing devices.
If the color device is a four-ink-color device and wherein the n ink model is a four-ink model, the method and system comprises further the steps of:
decomposing the four dimensional colorant cube into a union of pentahedrons; composing said piecewise-linear four-ink model of a plurality of linear models defined in said pentahedrons; determining a characteristic vector field of said four-ink model defined in said pentahedrons;
wherein the color profile characteristic is the sign signature of the characteristic vector field.
The routines for these steps may be included in 1 or more of the computing devices.
If the color device is a n-ink-color device wherein n is larger than four wherein the selected n-ink model comprises a plurality of piecewise linear four-ink models, each piecewise linear four-ink model being for a subset of four of the n inks, and wherein the color profile characteristic is the plurality of sign signatures of the characteristic vector fields of said plurality of piecewise linear four-ink models.
The routines for these steps may be included in 1 or more of the computing devices.
Further explanation and definitions of a regular n-ink model, color profile characteristics, error functionals and examples of optimizing techniques to modify a n-ink model to a regular n-ink model can be found in following description.
Regular Three-Ink Model
A three-ink model is regular if there is a one to one relation (bijective transformation) between the three-dimensional colorant space and the three-dimensional color space.
Regular Four-Ink Model
A four-ink model is regular if
all colorant combinations resulting in the same color in color space lie on one connected path in the colorant gamut. all paths resulting in the same color in color space start and end at the boundary of the colorant cube. for all colors at the boundary of the color gamut, there is just one colorant combination at the boundary of the colorant domain to obtain this color.
Strictly Monotonic Regular Four-Ink Model
A regular four-ink model is called a strictly monotonic regular four ink model if the projection of every path, that maps to the same color in color space, on each colorant axis is strictly increasing or decreasing. For a CMYK four-ink model in particular, the path is expected to be decreasing along the K-axis and increasing along the cyan, magenta and yellow axes ( FIG. 11 ).
Criteria for n-Ink Models
To define and check criteria for n-ink models, the n-ink model is approximated by a piecewise-linear model. As the piecewise-linear model is assumed to reflect the behavior of the n-ink model, the criteria for the n-ink model are assumed to be similar to those defined and checked for the piecewise-linear model. In reality this is not always the case, but in practice this assumption is valid for a large number of n-ink models. Hence, only criteria have to be defined and checked for piecewise-linear models.
In a number of cases, criteria can be defined and evaluated for non piecewise-linear models. The localized Neugebauer equations (see Yule, “Principles of Color Reproduction”, Wiley & Sons, 1967) are an example of such an n-ink model. However, in this document we will not give examples of more complicated n-ink models as the piecewise-linear approximation can be used in all circumstances; i.e. the accuracy of the approximated piecewise-linear model can be increased to any desired level by splitting up the colorant domain in sufficient small regions. In general, any n-ink model can be approximated by a piecewise linear model where each linear model is based on the Jacobian matrix of the n-ink model.
To define if an n-ink model is regular or not, one or multiple characteristics of the n-ink model, also referred to as printer characteristics or profile characteristics or color profile characteristics, are defined and evaluated compared to a set of one or more values and/or ranges for the printer characteristic, also called color profile characteristics. Criteria with the required values and or ranges used to check if a color device is regular or not will be referred to as regularity criteria. As discussed before, regularity criteria will be dined mainly for piecewise-linear n-ink models, however in most cases these concepts can be easily extended for non piecewise-linear models.
The above and other elements, features, steps, characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows a wanted behavior of a three-ink process with the colorants red, green and blue: there is a unique mapping 900 between color values 201 and colorant values 101 .
FIG. 2 shows a problem to be avoided for a three-ink process with the colorants red, green and blue: case in-gamut color 201 in color space 200 that can be obtained with two colorant combinations 101 inside the colorant cube 800 in the colorant space 100 .
FIG. 3 shows a problem to be avoided for a three-ink process with the colorants red, green and blue: case color 202 at gamut boundary 801 in color space 200 that can be obtained with two colorant combinations 101 , 102 in the colorant cube 800 ; one inside 101 and one 102 at the boundary of the colorant cube 800 .
FIG. 4 shows a rainbow effect to be avoided for a three-ink process with the colorants red, green and blue, if per color multiple colorant combinations are available: succeeding sampling points 203 , 204 of a separation table in color space map 201 to improper colorant combinations 103 , 104 .
FIG. 5 shows a wanted behavior of a four-ink process with the colorants cyan, magenta, yellow and black: in-gamut color 201 in color space 200 that can be obtained with a connected path 105 inside the colorant space 110 that starts and ends at the colorant boundary 810 .
FIG. 6 shows a wanted behavior of a four-ink process with the colorants cyan, magenta, yellow and black: a color 202 at the gamut boundary 801 can be obtained with one colorant combination 112 at the colorant boundary 810 .
FIG. 7 shows a wanted behavior of a four-ink process with the colorants cyan, magenta, yellow and black: a continuous path 205 in color space 200 maps 900 to a continuous path 115 in colorant space 110 .
FIG. 8 shows a problem with a four-ink process with the colorants cyan, magenta, yellow and black: an in-gamut color 201 can be obtained with one path 225 in colorant space 120 but there is no unique relation between the path and K-values.
FIG. 9 shows a problem with a four-ink process with the colorants cyan, magenta, yellow and black: an in-gamut color 201 can be obtained with two paths 226 in colorant space 120 , where the colorant combinations are not connected 224 .
FIG. 10 shows a problem with a four-ink process with the colorants cyan, magenta, yellow and black: an in-gamut color 201 can be obtained with two paths 227 in colorant space 120 , where the colorant combinations are not connected and both paths have the same black value 223 for some points.
FIG. 11 shows a strictly monotonic regular four-ink process with the colorants cyan, magenta, yellow and black: a continuous path 205 in color space 200 can be obtained by monotonic decreasing paths 225 in colorant space 120 so the black values decrease and CMY values increase.
FIG. 12 shows a division of a three-dimensional cube into 6 tetrahedrons 601 , 602 , 603 , 604 , 605 , 606 .
FIG. 13 shows a division of a three-dimensional colorant cube 1350 in cells 1351 and an example of an internal face 1301 and a boundary face 1302 .
FIG. 14 shows a singular face 901 for a three-dimensional colorant space 130 and its mapping to the color space 230 .
FIG. 15 shows the characteristic vector field in a four-colorant space 120 with the colorants cyan, magenta, yellow and black where per simplex the vector field is constant and is tangent to the path in colorant space mapping to the same color in color space 200 .
FIG. 16 shows a singular face for a three-ink process where one colorant is black and its mapping 906 to color space 240 .
FIG. 17 shows singular faces for a regular three-ink process where one colorant is black and their mappings 906 to color space 240 .
FIG. 18 shows how a two-dimensional colorant space 150 is splitted 1810 into simplices defined by some color combinations 1801 .
FIG. 19 shows in system 1900 an exemplary printer 1970 that perform color space conversions, color management, color translations and print images from colorant space or color space to the colorant space of the printer 1970
LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS
21 : axis of the cyan, magenta and yellow colorant
22 : axis of the black colorant
31 : axis of the red colorant
32 : axis of the green colorant
33 : axis of the blue colorant
41 : axis of the cyan colorant
42 : axis of the black colorant
43 : axis of the yellow colorant
44 : axis of the magenta colorant
100 : colorant space of a three-ink process with as colorants red, green and blue
101 : colorant value inside the colorant cube
102 : colorant value at the colorant boundary (RGB ink process)
103 : colorant values that are mapped with color 203
104 : colorant values that are mapped with color 204
105 : a path in colorant space between 2 colorant values
112 : colorant value at the colorant boundary (CMYK ink process)
115 : a path in colorant space between 2 colorant values
120 : colorant space presentation for a four-dimensional colorant space in two-dimensions
130 : colorant space
141 : axis for colorant 1
142 : axis for colorant black
143 : axis for colorant 2
144 : boundary face
145 : singular face
146 : normal vector
147 : normal vector
148 : singular faces
150 : colorant space of a two-dimensional colorant space with colorant 1 and colorant 2 as colorants
151 : axis for colorant 1
152 : axis for colorant 2
200 : color space
201 : in-gamut color
202 : color value at the boundary of the color space
205 : a path in color space between 2 colors
210 : separation table in color space
221 : minimum black value
222 : maximum black value
223 : multiple colorant combinations for the given black value
224 : no colorant combinations for the given black value
225 : path in colorant space of a color value
226 : part of a path in colorant space of a color value
227 : part of a path in colorant space of a color value
230 : color space
240 : separation table in color space
601 : tetrahedron 1
602 : tetrahedron 2
603 : tetrahedron 3
604 : tetrahedron 4
605 : tetrahedron 5
606 : tetrahedron 6
800 : colorant cube for a three-dimensional colorant space
801 : boundary of the color space
810 : colorant cube in three-dimensions for a four-dimensional colorant space
820 : colorant cube for a three-dimensional colorant space where black is one of the colorants
900 : unique mapping between color values and colorant values
901 : singular face
902 : not a unique mapping between color values and colorant values
903 : mapping between color values and colorant values for a CMYK ink process
905 : mapping between color values and colorant values for a CMYK ink process
906 : mapping to color space
1301 : internal face
1302 : boundary face
1350 : three dimensional colorant cube
1351 : cell
1500 : path in colorant space (=R) that maps on color 1510
1501 : path in colorant space (=S) that maps on color 1511
1502 : path in colorant space (T) that maps on color 1512
1503 : path in colorant space (=U) that maps on color 1513
1510 : color value
1511 : color value
1512 : color value
1513 : color value
1801 : colorant combination
1810 : splitting into simplices
2400 : color value of white
2401 : color value of black
2402 : color value of colorant 1
2403 : color value of colorant 2
2404 : color value of the ink combination of colorant 1 and black
2405 : color value of the ink combination of colorant 1 and black
2406 : color value of the ink combination of colorant 1 and black and colorant 2
2407 : color value of the ink combination of colorant 1 and colorant 2
6000 : P 0,0,0
6001 : P 0,0,1
6010 : P 0,1,0
6011 : P 0,1,1
6100 : P 1,0,0
6101 : P 1,0,1
6110 : P 1,1,0
6111 : P 1,1,1
Further advantages and embodiments of the present invention will become apparent from the following description.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Piecewise-Linear Approximation of an n-Ink Model
Consider a colorant space W n with n colorants, W n ={(c 1 , . . . , c n )|0<c 1 <100, . . . , 0<c n <100}, and a color space R 3 with dimension 3, R 3 ={(y 1 ,y 2 ,y 3 )|−∞<y 1 <+∞, . . . , −∞<y 3 =+∞}.
An n-ink model renders a combination of colorants (c 1 , . . . , c n ) into the corresponding color values (y 1 ,y 2 ,y 3 ). It means that an n-ink model can be described by the map F: W n →R 3 |F(c 1 , . . . , c n )=(y 1 ,y 2 ,y 3 ) with W n the colorant cube.
In practice the n-ink model is based on a printer target, that is printed and measured. The printer target comprises a number of color patches described by the finite set {w i }⊂W n , i.e., a mesh of fixed points w i , i=1, . . . , N, inside the colorant cube W n . The corresponding measurements can be represented by the set {p i }εR 3 ={(y 1 ,y 2 ,y 3 ), −∞<y 1 ,y 2 ,y 3 <∞}; i.e. F(w i )=p i .
We call this mesh the measurement data of the n-ink model. Hence, a measurement data is a discrete map f: {w i }→{p i } such that f(w i )=p i =F(w i ) for i=1, . . . , N.
For simplicity, we restrict ourselves to the case of a regular grid defined in the colorant cube as follows: W n =[0, 100]× . . . ×[0,100].
For k=1, . . . , n consider the finite sets Z k ={c k 0 , . . . , c k N(k) }, 0=c k 0 < . . . <c k N(k) =100, of N(k)+1 real numbers.
The product mesh {w i }=Z 1 × . . . ×Z n ⊂W n of N points with N=[N(1)+1][N(2)+1][N(3)+1] . . . [N(n)+1] defines the regular grid in the colorant cube.
The most difficult problem in making color separation tables is the inversion of the n-ink model, i.e. to find a continuous map g: F(W n )→W n , being the inverse map to F, i.e., the composition of the maps g and F is the identical map of the set F(W n ), F ∘ g=Id F(W) .
Definition simplex: Suppose the colorant cube W n is decomposed into a union of K sets Δ j , W n =∪ j=1, . . . , KΔj with the set Δ j , j=1, . . . , K, an n-dimensional simplex. The intersection of any two simplices Δ j and Δ k is either empty, Δ j ∩Δ k =Ø, or is a boundary simplex (with dimension <n) of one of these simplices.
A simplex in a three-dimensional (resp. four-dimensional) space is called a tetrahedron (resp. pentahedron).
Definition Piecewise-Linear Map: A continuous map F: W n →R 3 , is called piecewise-linear if there exists a simplex decomposition W n =∪ j=1, . . . , KΔj of the n-dimensional colorant cube W n such that for all j the restriction F|Δ j :Δ j →R 3 of the map F to simplex Δ j is a linear map.
In other words, F|Δ j (c)=a j +B j c, where c=(c 1 , . . . , c n ) T is an n-dimensional vector of colorant values, B j is a 3×n matrix, and a j is a three-dimensional vector, a j εR 3 , for j=1, . . . , K.
If a non piecewise-linear n-ink model F=(F 1 (c), F 2 (c), F 3 (c)) is approximated by a piecewise-linear n-ink model, the matrices B j are obtained by the Jacobian matrix of the non-piecewise linear model, i.e.
B j kl = ∂ F k ∂ c l ( c )
with k=1, 2, 3 the row and l=1, . . . , n the column of the matrix B j .
The vectors a j on the other hand are obtained from the evaluation of the non piecewise-linear n-ink model for a given set of colorant values, typically for one of the vertices of the simplex Δ j .
Definition non-degenerate piecewise-linear map: The piecewise-linear map F is called non-degenerate if the matrices B j are non-degenerate for all j=1, . . . , K, i.e. det(B j )≠0.
Piecewise-Linear Three-Ink Model for a Three-Ink Color Device
Let a finite set {w i }⊂W 3 of points w i , i=1, . . . , N, inside the colorant cube W 3 be a regular mesh. Consider a discrete map f: {w i }→{p i } of measurement data, where p i =f(w i )=F(w i ) for i=1, . . . , N.
To approximate the given discrete map f by a continuous map F: W 3 →R 3 , piecewise-linear interpolation is used. Here only tetrahedral interpolation is described, but similar results can be obtained by making use of other linear interpolation techniques, non-linear interpolation formulae or other models.
By definition of a regular mesh, for k=1, 2, 3 there exist the one-dimensional meshes Z k ={c k 0 , . . . , c k N(k) }, with 0=c k 0 < . . . <c k N(k) =100, of N(k)+1 real numbers such that {w i }=Z 1 ×Z 2 ×Z 3 ⊂W 3 and N=[N(1)+1][N(2)+1][N(3)+1].
It means that the three-dimensional colorant cube W 3 can be decomposed into the union
W 3 = ⋃ i = 1 , … , N ( 1 ) , j = 1 , … , N ( 2 ) , k = 1 , … , N ( 3 ) ∏ i , j , k
of the mesh parallelepiped cells Π i,j,k =[c 1 i-1 ,c 1 i ]×[c 2 j-1 ,c 2 j ]×[c 3 k-1 ,c 3 k ], i=1, . . . , N(1), j=1, . . . , N(2), k=1, . . . , N(3). Inside each of these parallelepiped cells the continuous approximation F of the measurement discrete map f is constructed in the following way:
Consider an arbitrary three-dimensional rectangular parallelepiped Π=[0, 100]×[0, 100]×[0, 100]={(c 1 , c 2 , c 3 ), 0≦c 1 ≦100, 0≦c 2 ≦100, 0≦c 3 ≦100}. There is an obvious one-to-one correspondence of the 8 vertices to the rectangular parallelepiped Π and the 8 vertices (0,0,0), (0,0,1), (0,1,0), (0,1,1), (1,0,0), (1,0,1), (1,1,0), (1, 1, 1) to the unit three-dimensional cube Π 1 ={(c 1 , c 2 , c 3 ), 0≦c 1 ≦1, 0≦c 2 ≦1, 0≦c 3 ≦1}. Numerate all the 8 vertices of the rectangular parallelepiped Π by means of the corresponding vertices of the unit cube Π 1 , c 000 , c 001 , c 010 , c 011 , c 100 , c 101 , c 110 , c 111 . Apply the same numeration to the values of the discrete map f, i.e., put p ijk =f (c ijk ) for i, j, k=0, 1. Define the map F inside the rectangular parallelepiped Π, y l =F l (c 1 ,c 2 ,c 3 )=p l 000 +r l 1 Δc 1 +r l 2 Δc 2 +r l 3 Δc 3 , where l=1, 2, 3, is the number of component of the map F in three-dimensional color space R 3 and Δc i =(c i −c i 0 )/(c i 1 −c i 0 ) for i=1, 2, 3. The coefficients r l i , i=1, 2, 3, are determined in correspondence with the following table:
No
Conditions
r 1 1
r 1 2
r 1 3
1
Δc 1 ≧ Δc 2 ≧ Δc 3
p 1 100 -p 1 000
p 1 110 -p 1 100
p 1 111 -p 1 110
2
Δc 1 ≧ Δc 3 ≧ Δc 2
p 1 100 -p 1 000
p 1 111 -p 1 101
p 1 101 -p 1 100
3
Δc 3 ≧ Δc 1 ≧ Δc 2
p 1 101 -p 1 001
p 1 111 -p 1 101
p 1 001 -p 1 000
4
Δc 2 ≧ Δc 1 ≧ Δc 3
p 1 110 -p 1 010
p 1 010 -p 1 000
p 1 111 -p 1 110
5
Δc 2 ≧ Δc 3 ≧ Δc 1
p 1 111 -p 1 011
p 1 010 -p 1 000
p 1 011 -p 1 010
6
Δc 3 ≧ Δc 2 ≧ Δc 1
p 1 111 -p 1 011
p 1 011 -p 1 001
p 1 001 -p 1 000
The interpolation has a pure geometrical sense. We decompose a three-dimensional rectangular parallelepiped into six tetrahedrons ( FIG. 12 ). These tetrahedrons are defined by the conditions in the second column of the table above. Inside each tetrahedron the map F is constructed by linear interpolation of the values p ijk , i, j, k=0, 1, of the discrete map f at the vertices to the tetrahedrons.
Piecewise-Linear Four-Ink Model for a Four-Ink Color Device
Let a finite set {w i }⊂W 4 of points w i , i=1, . . . , N, inside the colorant cube W 4 be a regular mesh. Consider a discrete map f: {w i }→{p i }, of measurement data, where p i =f(w i )=F(w i ), for i=1, . . . , N.
To approximate the given discrete map f by a continuous map F: W 4 →R 3 , piecewise-linear interpolation is used. Here only pentahedral interpolation is described, but similar results can be obtained by making use of other linear interpolation techniques, non-linear interpolation formulae or other models.
By definition of a regular mesh, for k=1, 2, 3, 4 there exist the one-dimensional meshes Z k ={c k 0 , . . . , c k N (k) }, 0=c k 0 < . . . <c k N(k) =100, of (N(k)+1) real numbers such that {w i }=Z 1 ×Z 2 ×Z 3 ×Z 4 ⊂W 4 and N=[N(1)+1][N(2)+1][N(3)+1][N(4)+1].
It means that the four-dimensional colorant cube W 4 can be decomposed into the union
W 4 = ⋃ i = 1 , … , N ( 1 ) , j = 1 , … , N ( 2 ) , k = 1 , … , N ( 3 ) , l = 1 , … , N ( 4 ) ∏ i , j , k , l
of the mesh parallelepiped cells Π i, j, k =[c 1 i-1 , c 1 i ]×[c 2 j-1 , c 2 j ]×[c 3 k-1 , c 3 k ]×[c 4 k-1 , c 4 k ], i=1, . . . , N(1), j=1, . . . , N(2), k=1, . . . , N(3), l=1, . . . , N(4). Inside each of these parallelepiped cells the continuous approximation F of the measurement discrete map f is constructed in the following way:
Consider an arbitrary four-dimensional rectangular parallelepiped Π=[0, 100]×[0, 100]×[0, 100]×[0, 100]={(c 1 , c 2 , c 3 , c 3 ), 0≦c 1 ≦100, 0≦c 2 ≦100, 0≦c 3 ≦100, 0≦c 4 ≦100}. There is an obvious one-to-one correspondence of the 16 vertices to the rectangular parallelepiped Π and the 16 vertices (0,0,0,0), (0,0,0,1), (0,0,1,0), (0,0,1,1), (0,1,0,0), (0,1,0,1), (0,1,1,0), (0,1,1,1), (1,0,0,0), (1,0,0,1), (1,0,1,0), (1,0,1,1), (1,1,0,0), (1,1,0,1), (1,1,1,0), (1,1,1,1) to the unit four-dimensional cube Π 1 ={(c 1 , c 2 , c 3 , c 4 ), 0≦c 1 ≦1, 0≦c 2 ≦1, 0≦c 3 ≦1, 0≦c 4 ≦1}. Numerate all the 16 vertices of the rectangular parallelepiped Π by means of the corresponding vertices of the unit cube Π 1 , c 0000 , c 0001 , c 0010 , c 0011 , c 0100 , c 0101 , c 0110 , c 0111 , c 1000 , c 1001 , c 1010 , c 1011 , c 1100 , c 1101 , c 1110 , c 1111 . Apply the same numeration to the values of the discrete map f, i.e., put p ijkl =f(c ijkl ) for i, j, k, l=0, 1. Define the map F inside the rectangular parallelepiped Π, y 1 =F 1 (c 1 , c 2 , c 3 , c 4 )=p 1 000 +r 1 1 Δc 1 +r 1 2 Δc 2 +r 1 3 Δc 3 +r 1 4 Δc 4 , where l=1, 2, 3, is the number of the component of the map F in three-dimensional color space R 3 and Δc i =(c i −c i 0 )/(c i 1 −c i 0 ) for i=1, 2, 3, 4. The coefficients r 1 i , i=1, 2, 3, 4, are determined in correspondence with the following table:
No
Conditions
r 1 1
r 1 2
r 1 3
r 1 4
1
Δc 1 ≧ Δc 2 ≧ Δc 3 ≧ Δc 4
p 1 1000 -p 1 0000
p 1 1100 -p 1 1000
p 1 1110 -p 1 1100
p 1 1111 -p 1 1110
2
Δc 1 ≧ Δc 2 ≧ Δc 4 ≧ Δc 3
p 1 1000 -p 1 0000
p 1 1100 -p 1 1000
p 1 1111 -p 1 1101
p 1 1101 -p 1 1100
3
Δc 1 ≧ Δc 4 ≧ Δc 2 ≧ Δc 3
p 1 1000 -p 1 0000
p 1 1101 -p 1 1001
p 1 1111 -p 1 1101
p 1 1001 -p 1 1000
4
Δc 4 ≧ Δc 1 ≧ Δc 2 ≧ Δc 3
p 1 1001 -p 1 0001
p 1 1101 -p 1 1001
p 1 1111 -p 1 1101
p 1 0001 -p 1 0000
5
Δc 1 ≧ Δc 3 ≧ Δc 2 ≧ Δc 4
p 1 1000 -p 1 0000
p 1 1110 -p 1 1010
p 1 1010 -p 1 1000
p 1 1111 -p 1 1110
6
Δc 1 ≧ Δc 3 ≧ Δc 4 ≧ Δc 2
p 1 1000 -p 1 0000
p 1 1111 -p 1 1011
p 1 1010 -p 1 1000
p 1 1011 -p 1 1010
7
Δc 1 ≧ Δc 4 ≧ Δc 3 ≧ Δc 2
p 1 1000 -p 1 0000
p 1 1111 -p 1 1011
p 1 1011 -p 1 1001
p 1 1001 -p 1 1000
8
Δc 4 ≧ Δc 1 ≧ Δc 3 ≧ Δc 2
p 1 1001 -p 1 0001
p 1 1111 -p 1 1011
p 1 1011 -p 1 1001
p 1 0001 -p 1 0000
9
Δc 3 ≧ Δc 1 ≧ Δc 2 ≧ Δc 4
p 1 1010 -p 1 0010
p 1 1110 -p 1 1010
p 1 0010 -p 1 0000
p 1 1111 -p 1 1110
10
Δc 3 ≧ Δc 1 ≧ Δc 4 ≧ Δc 2
p 1 1010 -p 1 0010
p 1 1111 -p 1 1011
p 1 0010 -p 1 0000
p 1 1011 -p 1 1010
11
Δc 3 ≧ Δc 4 ≧ Δc 1 ≧ Δc 2
p 1 1011 -p 1 0011
p 1 1111 -p 1 1011
p 1 0010 -p 1 0000
p 1 0011 -p 1 0010
12
Δc 4 ≧ Δc 3 ≧ Δc 1 ≧ Δc 2
p 1 1011 -p 1 0011
p 1 1111 -p 1 1011
p 1 0011 -p 1 0001
p 1 0001 -p 1 0000
13
Δc 2 ≧ Δc 1 ≧ Δc 3 ≧ Δc 4
p 1 1100 -p 1 0100
p 1 0100 -p 1 0000
p 1 1110 -p 1 1100
p 1 1111 -p 1 1110
14
Δc 2 ≧ Δc 1 ≧ Δc 4 ≧ Δc 3
p 1 1100 -p 1 0100
p 1 0100 -p 1 0000
p 1 1111 -p 1 1101
p 1 1101 -p 1 1100
15
Δc 2 ≧ Δc 4 ≧ Δc 1 ≧ Δc 3
p 1 1101 -p 1 0101
p 1 0100 -p 1 0000
p 1 1111 -p 1 1101
p 1 0101 -p 1 0100
16
Δc 4 ≧ Δc 2 ≧ Δc 1 ≧ Δc 3
p 1 1101 -p 1 0101
p 1 0101 -p 1 0001
p 1 1111 -p 1 1101
p 1 0001 -p 1 0000
17
Δc 2 ≧ Δc 3 ≧ Δc 1 ≧ Δc 4
p 1 1110 -p 1 0110
p 1 0100 -p 1 0000
p 1 0110 -p 1 0100
p 1 1111 -p 1 1110
18
Δc 2 ≧ Δc 3 ≧ Δc 4 ≧ Δc 1
p 1 1111 -p 1 0111
p 1 0100 -p 1 0000
p 1 0110 -p 1 0100
p 1 0111 -p 1 0110
19
Δc 2 ≧ Δc 4 ≧ Δc 3 ≧ Δc 1
p 1 1111 -p 1 0111
p 1 0100 -p 1 0000
p 1 0111 -p 1 0101
p 1 0101 -p 1 0100
20
Δc 4 ≧ Δc 2 ≧ Δc 3 ≧ Δc 1
p 1 1111 -p 1 0111
p 1 0101 -p 1 0001
p 1 0111 -p 1 0101
p 1 0001 -p 1 0000
21
Δc 3 ≧ Δc 2 ≧ Δc 1 ≧ Δc 4
p 1 1110 -p 1 0110
p 1 0110 -p 1 0010
p 1 0010 -p 1 0000
p 1 1111 -p 1 1110
22
Δc 3 ≧ Δc 2 ≧ Δc 4 ≧ Δc 1
p 1 1111 -p 1 0111
p 1 0110 -p 1 0010
p 1 0010 -p 1 0000
p 1 0111 -p 1 0110
23
Δc 3 ≧ Δc 4 ≧ Δc 2 ≧ Δc 1
p 1 1111 -p 1 0111
p 1 0111 -p 1 0011
p 1 0010 -p 1 0000
p 1 0011 -p 1 0010
24
Δc 4 ≧ Δc 3 ≧ Δc 2 ≧ Δc 1
p 1 1111 -p 1 0111
p 1 0111 -p 1 0011
p 1 0011 -p 1 0001
p 1 0001 -p 1 0000
Also in this case the interpolation has a pure geometrical sense. We decompose a four-dimensional rectangular parallelepiped into 24 pentahedrons. These pentahedrons are defined by the conditions in the second column of the table above. Inside each tetrahedron the map F is constructed by linear interpolation of the values p ijkl , i, j, k, l=0,1, of the discrete map f at the vertices to the pentahedrons.
Gamut Description of a Three-Ink Model
Consider a piecewise-linear three-ink model F: W 3 →R 3 of a given three-ink color device. From a mathematical point of view, the gamut of the three-ink model is represented as the image F(W 3 ) of the piecewise-linear map F.
By definition of a piecewise-linear map F, we have the simplex decomposition of the three-dimensional colorant cube W 3 into the union of N tetrahedrons Δ j , W 3 =∪ j=1, . . . , NΔj .
Each tetrahedron has four two-dimensional faces. These faces are triangles and each triangle either belongs to one or several tetrahedrons of the set {Δ j }.
Definition Boundary Face:
Fix a tetrahedron Δ l , l=1, . . . , N, and consider a two-dimensional boundary triangle δ of Δ l . The face δ is called a boundary face of the colorant cube if it does not belong to any other tetrahedron of the set {Δ j }, i.e., δ Δ k for k=1, . . . , l−1, l+1, . . . , N ( FIG. 13 ).
Definition Internal Face:
The face δ is called internal if their exists a tetrahedron Δ k from the set {Δj } such that δ belongs to both Δ l and Δ k , i.e., δ ⊂ Δ l ∩ k ( FIG. 13 ).
Denote the set of all the boundary faces of the colorant cube W 3 by Θ.
The set Θ of all the boundary faces is independent of the three-ink model. The union of all these faces always coincides with the boundary ∂W 3 of the three-dimensional colorant cube, ∪ δεΘ δ=∂W 3 . These boundaries are also called physical boundaries in patent application EP 0 763 927.
Suppose the three-ink model under consideration is non-degenerate, i.e., the corresponding piecewise-linear map F is non-degenerate. By definition, it means that all the restrictions F|Δ j :Δ j →R 3 , of the map F to tetrahedrons Δ j are non-degenerate linear maps F|Δ j (c)=a j +B j c.
In other words, the determinant of the corresponding matrix B j is either positive, i.e. det B j >0, or negative, i.e. det B j <0.
Definition Singular Face:
Fix a tetrahedron Δ l , l=1, . . . , N, and consider a two-dimensional internal face, a triangle δ. The internal face δ is called singular if there exists a tetrahedron Δ k from the set {Δ j } such that δ belongs to both Δ l and Δ k , δ ⊂ Δ l ∩Δ k . and the determinants of the corresponding matrices B l and B k have different signs, i.e., either (det B l >0 and det B k <0) or (det B l <0 and det B k >0) ( FIG. 14 ).
Denote the set of all the singular faces of the given three-ink model by Σ.
In contrast to the set Θ of all the boundary faces, the set Σ of all the singular faces essentially depends on the choice of the three-ink model, i.e., on the choice of the corresponding piecewise-linear map F. For example, for some three-ink models this set is empty and for some it is not. These faces of set Σ are also called natural boundaries in patent application EP 0 763 927.
It is possible to describe the gamut of a non-degenerate three-ink model in terms of boundary and singular faces. The following theorem can be proven:
Theorem 1: For any non-degenerate three-ink model the boundary of the gamut is a subset of the images of all the boundary and singular faces, i.e. ∂F(W 3 ) ⊂ F(Θ)∪F(Σ).
In reality, these boundary and singular faces not always constitute a nicely closed surface. If singular faces are present, some boundary and singular faces intersect and hence the gamut boundary can be obtained by taking the outer boundary of all boundary and singular faces. If no singular faces are present, theoretically it is still possible that the boundary faces intersect. Hence in this case the gamut is obtained by taking the outer boundary of all boundary faces. However, if no singular faces are present and the boundary faces do not intersect, the gamut is defined by all the boundary faces, which all together define the gamut boundary (no outer boundary to be taken).
Gamut Description of a Four-Ink Model
Consider a piecewise-linear four-ink model F: W 4 →R 3 , of a four-ink color device.
Definition Proper Four-Ink Model:
If the image of the boundary ∂W 4 of the four-dimensional colorant cube coincides with the image of the whole cube W 4 , i.e., F(W 4 )=F(∂W 4 ), then the four-ink model is called proper.
In this section the gamut of a proper non-degenerate four-ink model is described, i.e., the image F(W 4 ) of the corresponding piecewise-linear map F in color space.
By definition of a piecewise-linear map, we have the simplex decomposition of the four-dimensional colorant cube W 4 into the union of N, N>0, simplices Δ j , W 4 =∪ j=1, . . . , N Δ j .
Each pentahedron has five three-dimensional faces. These faces are tetrahedrons and each tetrahedron either belongs to one or several pentahedrons of the set {Δ j }.
Definition Boundary Face:
Fix a pentahedron Δ l , l=1, . . . , N, and consider a three-dimensional boundary tetrahedron δ of Δ l . The face δ is called a boundary face of the colorant cube if it does not belong to any other pentahedron of the set {Δ j }, i.e., δ Δ k for k=1, . . . , l−1, l+1, . . . , N.
Denote the set of all the boundary faces of the colorant cube W 4 by Θ.
The set Θ of all the boundary faces does not depend on the choice of the four-ink model, i.e., on the choice of the corresponding piecewise-linear map F. The union of all these faces always coincides with the boundary ∂W 4 of the four-dimensional colorant cube, ∪ δεΘ δ=∂W 4 . These boundary faces are also obtained by the eight boundary three-ink models of the four-ink model.
By definition of the piecewise-linear map F, all the restrictions F|Δ j :Δ j →R 3 , of the map F to pentahedrons Δ j are linear maps, i.e., F|Δ j (c)=a j +B j c, where B j is a 3×4 matrix for j=1, . . . , N.
Let B j i be the 3×3 matrix obtained by omitting the i-th column of the 3×4 matrix B j and let χ j =(det B j 1 , −det B j 2 , det B j 3 , −det B j 4 ) for j=1, . . . , N.
Definition Characteristic Vector Field:
Consider the four-ink model corresponding to the piecewise-linear map F. The vector field χ on the colorant cube W 4 such that χ|Δ j =χ j for j=1, . . . , N is called the characteristic vector field of the four-ink model.
By definition, the characteristic vector field of any four-ink model is a four-dimensional piecewise-constant vector field on the four-dimensional colorant cube W 4 , as it is defined for a piecewise-linear four-ink model. As a result, per pentahedron Δ j , with j=1, . . . , N, the vector field is constant and equal to the matrix B j . The geometrical meaning of the vector χ j itself can be expressed as follows: all colors along a line within the pentahedron Δ j with direction defined by this vector χ j map to the same color in color space. Hence the characteristic vector field is the derivative along the one-dimensional path in colorant space of which all colorant combinations map to the same color. Colorant combinations at the boundary of multiple pentahedrons in general have multiple derivatives. The four-ink model is non-degenerate if and only if the corresponding characteristic vector field χ is non-degenerate, i.e., χ j ≠0 for all j=1, . . . , N ( FIG. 15 ).
Hence, the concept of characteristic vector field can be extended for non piecewise-linear four-ink models as follows: assume that all colorant combinations that map to a given color in colorant space lie along a one-dimensional path in colorant space. The derivative along this path is defined as the characteristic vector field. This derivative χ is obtained as follows: calculate the Jacobian matrix for a given colorant combination, i.e. a 3×4 matrix B j , and set χ=(det B j 1 , −det B j 2 , det B j 3 , −det B j 4 ).
On the boundary ∂W 4 of the four-dimensional colorant cube W 4 there exists the normal vector field ν to this cube. Let δ j , j=1, . . . , N, be a boundary face of the four-dimensional colorant cube W 4 belonging to the pentahedron Δ j . Denote by ν j the restriction of the normal vector field ν to this face, i.e., ν j =ν|δ j .
Let δ k and δ l be boundary faces of the four-dimensional colorant cube W 4 such that δ k ⊂Δ k and δ l ⊂Δ l for some pentahedrons Δ k and Δ l , k, l=1, . . . , N. By definition, these boundary faces are tetrahedrons. Suppose they have a two-dimensional face, a triangle δ, in common, δ=δ k ∩δ l .
Definition Singular Face:
The two-dimensional face δ is a singular face of a non-degenerate four-ink model corresponding to the piecewise-linear map F if the inner products (ν k ,χ k ) and (ν l ,χ l ) of the normal vector field ν and the characteristic vector field χ have different signs, i.e., either ((ν k ,χ k )>0 and (ν 1 ,χ l )<0) or ((ν k ,χ k )<0 and (ν l ,χ l )>0).
Denote the set of all the singular faces of the given four-ink model by Σ.
On the contrary to the set Θ of all the boundary faces, the set Θ of all the singular faces essentially depends on the choice of the four-ink model, i.e., on the choice of the corresponding piecewise-linear map F. Moreover, a boundary face is a three-dimensional simplex, i.e. a tetrahedron, whereas a singular face is a two-dimensional simplex, i.e. a triangle.
For some three-ink model the set Σ of all the singular faces can be empty. For any four-ink model the set Σ of all the singular faces is not empty and it is possible to describe the gamut of a proper non-degenerate four-ink model in terms of singular faces only. The following theorem holds:
Theorem 2: For any proper non-degenerate four-ink model the boundary of the gamut is a subset of the images of all the singular faces, i.e., δF(W 4 ) ⊂ F(Σ).
The concept of a singular face is shown in FIG. 16 , that represents the mapping from a three-ink model c 1 c 2 K to a two-dimensional color space with a global ink exchange (definition “global ink exchange” see section “Regular three-ink models”) between c 1 c 2 and K.
Also for four-ink models, the singular faces may intersect and hence in general the gamut of a proper non-degenerate four-ink model is obtained by taking the outer boundary of all singular faces.
Regular Three-Ink Models
Consider a piecewise-linear three-ink model F: W 3 →R 3 of a three-ink color device.
Definition regular three-ink model: The three-ink model is called regular if the piecewise-linear map F is an injection.
Lemma: Let a topological space W be compact and a map F, F: W→F(W), be a continuous injection. Then there exists the unique continuous inverse map g=F −1 :F(W)→W. In other words, then the map F is a homeomorphism.
Since the three-dimensional cube W 3 is a compact topological space the lemma under consideration gives a satisfactory approach to construction of solutions to the inverse problem of modeling of regular three-ink models.
By definition of a piecewise-linear map, we have the simplex decomposition of the three-dimensional colorant cube W 3 into the set of N tetrahedrons Δ j , W=∪ j=1, . . . , n Δ j , such that all the restrictions F|Δ j :Δ j →R 3 , of the map F to tetrahedrons Δ j are linear maps, i.e., F|Δ j (c)=a j +B j c, where B j is a 3×3 matrix, c and a j are three-dimensional vectors for j=1, . . . , N.
Definition Strictly Non-Degenerate Three-Ink Model:
A three-ink model is called strictly non-degenerate if all the determinants of the matrices B j are of the same sign, i.e., either det B j >0 for all the indices j=1, . . . , N, or det B j <0 for all the indices j=1, . . . , N.
Any strictly non-degenerate three-ink model is non-degenerate. The inverse statement is false. By definition of a singular face, a three-ink model is strictly non-degenerate if and only if the set Σ of all its singular faces is empty, Σ=Ø.
There is an effective criterion of a three-ink model to be regular.
Theorem 3: Let F: W 3 →R 3 be a piecewise-linear model of a three-ink model. This three-ink model is regular if and only if it is strictly non-degenerate and the restriction F|∂W 3 :∂W 3 →R 3 of the map F to the boundary of the three-dimensional colorant cube W 3 is an injection.
As a consequence, the gamut of a regular three-ink model is defined by the boundary faces. These faces constitute a closed oriented surface with Euler number equal to 2 (no outer boundary to be taken).
Regular Four-Ink Model
Consider a piecewise-linear four-ink model F: W 4 →R 3 of a four-ink color device.
Definition Regular Four-Ink Model:
The four-ink model is called regular if the following three properties hold for the piecewise-linear map F:
The gamut F(W 4 ) is homeomorphic to the closed three-dimensional disk D 3 . For any internal point p of the gamut F(W 4 ), pεint F(W 4 ), the preimage F −1 (p) is homeomorphic to a segment [0, 100], and the intersection of this preimage and the boundary ∂W 4 of the colorant cube W 4 , F −1 (p)∩∂W 4 , consists exactly of the two boundary points to the preimage F −1 (p). For any boundary point p of the gamut F(W 4 ), pε∂F(W 4 ), the preimage F −1 (p) consists exactly of one point.
If a four-ink model is regular then it is non-degenerate and proper. Of course, the inverse statement is false.
Let χ be the characteristic vector field of the four-ink model under consideration. By definition, it is a piecewise-constant vector field such that χ|Δ j =χ j , where χ j =(det B j 1 , −det B j 2 , det B j 3 , −det B j 4 ) for j=1, . . . , N.
Definition Strictly Non-Degenerate Four-Ink Model:
A four-ink model is called strictly non-degenerate if it is non-degenerate and at any point c of the four-dimensional colorant cube W 4 each of the four coordinates of the characteristic vector field χ has the same sign. In other words, for all j=2, . . . , N the i-th coordinate χ j i =(− 1 ) i+1 det B j i of the characteristic vector field χ at j-th simplex has the same sign as the i-th coordinate χ 1 i =(−1) i+1 det B 1 i of the characteristic vector field χ at the first simplex for i=1, 2, 3, 4.
It is possible to show that for a strictly non-degenerate four-ink model the set of singular faces Σ only consists of two-dimensional faces of the colorant cube W 4 . These two-dimensional faces are obtained by the intersection of two physical ink limitations of the colorant cube, e.g.
C i =minimum and C i =minimum=>6 two-ink planes
C i =minimum and C i =maximum=>12 two-ink planes
C i =maximum and C i =maximum=>6 two-ink planes
with i≠j and i,j=1, 2, 3, 4.
These are the 24 two-dimensional faces of the three-dimensional faces of the colorant cube. Hence, the set of all the singular faces of a strictly non-degenerate four-ink model is homeomorphic to the two-dimensional sphere S 2 .
The sign characteristic of the vector field is also referred to as the global ink exchange. For a conventional CMYK four-ink model, the sign characteristic is + for CMY and − for K (or vice versa), so we say that CMY exchanges for K. Practically, this means that for an in-gamut color, the color is retained if all CMY values increase (resp. decrease) and K decrease (resp. increase). For a four-ink model there are 7 different possibilities for a global ink exchange, i.e.
A. c 1 ,c 2 ,c 3 c 4
B. c 1 ,c 2 ,c 4 c 3
C. c 1 , c 3 ,c 4 c 2
D. c 2 ,c 3 ,c 4 c 1
E. c 1 ,c 2 c 3 ,c 4
F. c 1 ,c 3 c 2 ,c 4
G. c 1 ,c 4 c 2 ,c 3
The 2-ink boundary faces c i c j that define the gamut for the different exchanges types are represented in the table below:
c i , c j = 0
c i = 0, c j = 1
c i = 1, c j = 0
c i , c j = 1
c 1 , c 2
A B F G
C D E
C D E
A B F G
c 1 , c 3
A C E G
B D F
B D F
A C E G
C 1 , c 4
B C E F
A D G
A D G
B C E F
c 2 , c 3
A D E F
B C G
B C G
A D E F
c 2 , c 4
B D E G
A C F
A C F
B D E G
c 3 , c 4
C D F G
A B E
A B E
C D G F
This table is interpreted as follows: c 1 =c 2 =0 is a boundary face for the cases, A, B, F and G. And c 1 =0, c 2 =1 is a boundary face for the cases, C, D and E. Here it is indicated that 12 of the 24 2-dimensional boundary faces define the gamut, i.e. a closed oriented surface with Euler number 2.
There is a sufficient condition for a four-ink model to be regular.
Theorem 4: If a four-ink model is strictly non-degenerate and the restriction F|Σ of the piecewise-linear map F to the set Σ of all its singular faces is an injection, then this four-ink model is regular.
In FIG. 17 a number of characteristics are shown for a regular three-ink model c 1 c 2 K to a two-dimensional color space with a global ink exchange between c 1 c 2 and K. The mapping of the three-dimensional colorant space to the two-dimensional color space can be seen as a projective transformation of a deformed colorant cube onto the two-dimensional color space. For a regular four-ink model the singular faces, which are line segments in this example, divide the boundary of the colorant cube into two parts. The meaning of this division can be illustrated as follows: for every in-gamut color there is a path in colorant space that starts and ends at the boundary of the colorant cube. For every path, the starting point is always located in one part whereas the end point is always found in the other part. Colors at the gamut boundary can only be obtained with one set of colorant values. Here it is also obvious that the gamut boundary is obtained by the intersection of two physical ink limitations, for a regular model from a three-dimensional to a two-dimensional color space the gamut boundary is defined by 6 intersections of two ink limitations.
Regularization of a Three-Ink Model
Consider a piecewise-linear three-ink model F: W 3 →R 3 of a three-ink color device. By definition of a piecewise-linear map we have the simplex decomposition of the three-dimensional colorant cube W 3 into the set of N, N>0, tetrahedrons Δ j , W=∪ j=1, . . . , N Δ j , such that all the restrictions F|Δ j :Δ j →R 3 , of the map F to tetrahedrons Δ j are linear maps, i.e., F|Δ j (c)=a j +B j c, where B j is a 3×3 matrix, and a j is a three-dimensional vector for j=1, . . . , N. Based on theorem 3, this three-ink model is regular if all the determinants of the matrices B j have the same sign. In other words, either det B j >0 for all the indices j=1, . . . , N, or (exclusive) det B j <0 for all the indices j=1, . . . , N. An algorithm forcing a three-ink model to be strictly non-degenerate can be implemented as follows:
At the first step count the number n pos of positive determinants and the number n neg of negative determinants. Assume that n pos >n neg
At the second step define a positive threshold ε, ε>0, usually a small real number, and construct an error functional R, R=R(p 1 , . . . , p M )=Σ j=1, . . . , N R j (p 1 , . . . , p M ), where R j =R j (p 1 , . . . , p M )=0 if det B j ≧ε and R j =R j (p 1 , . . . , p M )=(ε−det B j ) 2 if det B j <ε for j=1, . . . , N. Here p 1 , . . . , p M are the three-dimensional points in color space, forming the measurement data of the three-ink model. By construction of the piecewise-linear map F, all the determinants det B j are third order polynomials with respect to measurement data p 1 , . . . , p M for j=1, . . . , N. Hence, all the functions R j for j=1, . . . , N and the error functional R=R(p 1 , . . . , p M ) are smooth with respect to the measurement data p 1 , . . . , p M .
If n pos <n neg , at the second step define a positive threshold ε, ε>0, usually a small real number, and construct an error functional R, R=R(p 1 , . . . , p M )=Σ j=1, . . . , N R j (p 1 , . . . , p M ), where R j =R j (p 1 , . . . , p M )=0 if det B j ≦−ε and R j =R j (p 1 , . . . , p M )=(ε+det B j ) 2 if det B j >−ε for j=1, . . . , N.
At the third step minimize the error functional R with respect to measurement data p 1 , . . . , p M , R(p 1 , . . . , p M )→min by making use of an minimum optimizing algorithm and preferably a gradient method (see Numerical recipes in C, The art of scientific computing, second edition, W. H. Kress et al., Cambridge University Press, 1992), herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. A gradient method in optimizing techniques is an algorithm to solve problems of the form
min x ∈ ℜ n f ( x )
with the search directions defined by the gradient of the function at the current point. Examples of gradient method are the gradient descent and the conjugate gradient. The minimizing algorithm maybe a function to minimize, a vector of fixed parameters to the function, and a vector of variable parameters to the function are input. The algorithm finds the values of the variable parameters for which the function is minimized.
The resulting argument (p 1 0 , . . . , p M 0 ) of the minimal value is the measurement data of the regularized three-ink model.
By construction, the error functional R is not convex, its minimal value is zero and the solution is not unique. The resulting solution (p 1 0 , . . . , p M 0 ) obtained by the minimization process has zero value of the error functional R (p 1 0 , . . . , p M 0 )=0, which means that it satisfies the regularity condition. Thus by construction (p 1 0 , . . . , p M 0 ) is the measurement data of the regularized three-ink model. By nature of the gradient method, this data will be as close as possible to the original measurement data (p 1 , . . . , p M ). In some cases however, the minimization process does not result in a zero value for the error functional in a given amount of processing time. Nevertheless, the error functional is reduced significantly and the minimization process finishes with a small non-zero value for the error functional. The dimension of the space of measurement data is 3M.
Other techniques to minimize the error functional can be used too, but the gradient method in general converges to zero or a minimal value in a minimum number of iterations.
Thus we have obtained a 3M-dimensional non-convex minimization problem. Solution of this problem by gradient method gives the measurement data (p 1 0 , . . . , p M 0 ) for the regularized three-ink model. By nature of the gradient method, this data will most likely be as close to the initial measurement data (p 1 , . . . , p M ) as possible.
In this optimization procedure, a number of color values can be retained, i.e. they are not changed during the optimization procedure. Typically this is done for the color of the medium (e.g. the printing paper), and the primary inks.
Regularization of a Four-Ink Model
Consider a piecewise-linear four-ink model F: W 4 →R 3 of a four-ink color device. The characteristic vector field χ of the four-ink model under consideration is defined as χ|Δ j =χ j , where χ j =(det B j 1 , −det B j 2 , det B j 3 , −det B j 4 ) for j=1, . . . , N.
At the first step count the number n i pos of positive i-th coordinates and the number n i neg of negative i-th coordinates of the characteristic vector field χi=1, 2, 3, 4.
Assume that n i pos >n i neg for i=1, 2, 3 and n 4 pos <n 4 neg . This sign signature is represented as (+,+,+,−).
At the second step define a positive threshold ε, ε>0, usually a small real number, and construct an error functional R, R=R(p 1 , . . . , p M )=Σ i=1, 2, 3, 4, j=1, . . . , N R j i (p 1 , . . . , p M ). Here R j i =R j i (p 1 , . . . , p M )=0 if (−1) i+1 det B j i ≧ε and R j i =R j i =R j i (p 1 , . . . , p M )=[ε−(−1) i+1 det B j i ] 2 if (−1) i+1 det B j i <ε for i=1, 2, 3. For i=4 R j 4 =R j 4 (p 1 , . . . , p M )=0 if det B j 4 ≧ε and R j 4 =R j 4 (p 1 , . . . , p M )=(ε−det B j 4 ) 2 if det B j 4 <ε for j=1, . . . , N. In both cases are the three-dimensional points in color space, forming the measurement data of the four-ink model. By construction of the piecewise-linear map F, all the determinants det B j i are third order polynomials with respect to measurement data p 1 , . . . , p M for j=1, . . . , N and i=1, 2, 3, 4. Hence, all the functions R j i are smooth for j=1, . . . , N, i=1, 2, 3, 4, and hence the error functional R=R(p 1 , . . . , p M ) is smooth with respect to measurement data p 1 , . . . , p M too.
For the other case, assume that n i pos <n i neg for i=1, 2, 3 and n 4 pos >n 4 neg . This sign signature is now represented as (−,−,−, +).
Now, at the second step define a positive threshold ε, ε>0, usually a small real number, and construct an error functional R, R=R(p 1 , . . . , p M )=Σ 1,2, 3, 4, j=1, . . . , N R j i (p 1 , . . . , p M ). Here R j i =R j i (p 1 , . . . , p M )=0 if (−1) i+1 det B j i ≦−ε and R j i =R j i (p 1 , . . . , p M )=[ε+(−1) i+1 det B j i ] 2 if (−1) i+1 det B j i >−ε for i=1, 2, 3. For i=4 R j 4 =R j 4 (p 1 , . . . , p M )=0 if −det B j 4 ≧ε and R j 4 =R j 4 (p 1 , . . . , p M )=(ε+det B j 4 ) 2 if −det B j 4 <ε for j=1, . . . , N.
For CMYK four-ink models the characteristic vector field χ, has the characteristic n i pos >n i neg for i=1, 2, 3 and n 4 pos <n 4 neg . However, for other ink combinations, e.g. OMYK with O orange, M magenta Y yellow and K black, n i pos >n i neg for i=2, 3 and n i pos <n i neg for i=1, 4. For different sign characteristics of the characteristic vector field the previous second step can be easily adapted by a person skilled in the art who has the disclosures in the present document at his disposal.
At the third step minimize the error functional R with respect to measurement data p 1 , . . . , p M , R(p 1 , . . . , p M )→min by making of an minimum optimizing algorithm and preferably a gradient method. A gradient method in optimizing techniques is an algorithm to solve problems of the form
min x ∈ ℜ n f ( x )
with the search directions defined by the gradient of the function at the current point. Examples of gradient method are the gradient descent and the conjugate gradient. The minimizing algorithm maybe a function to minimize, a vector of fixed parameters to the function, and a vector of variable parameters to the function are input. The algorithm finds the values of the variable parameters for which the function is minimized.
The resulting argument (p 1 0 , . . . , p M 0 ) of the minimal value is the measurement data for regularized four-ink model, analogously to the regularization of a three-ink model discussed above.
By construction, the error functional R, is not convex, its minimal value is zero and the solution is not unique. The dimension of the space of measurement data is 3M.
Thus we have obtained a 3M-dimensional non-convex minimization problem. Solution of this problem by gradient method gives the measurement data (p 1 0 , . . . , p M 0 ) for regularized four-ink model. By nature of the gradient method, this data will most likely be as close to the initial measurement data (p 1 , . . . , p M ) as possible.
In this optimization procedure, a number of color values can be retained, i.e. they are not changed during the optimization procedure. Typically this is done for the color of the medium (e.g. the printing paper), and the primary inks.
In addition it is advantageous to build-in extra conditions such as:
a maximal deltaE per color patch, so that the maximum deltaE is limited during the minimization search.
limitations on the global ink exchange. For a CMYK four-ink model, the exchange between CMY and K is restrained within predefined limits. If K changes with 1 percent, the change for CMY is limited between I min and I max percent for the CMY values. In this way the separations do not change drastically if the GCR is modified smoothly.
The angle between the characteristic vectors of neighboring simplices are limited to obtain smooth paths in colorant space mapping to the same color in color space
For some four-ink models however, there is not always a global ink exchange for the entire colorant gamut. In those cases, the colorant gamut can be divided into several parts with each their own global ink exchange. The error functional in this case is the sum of the error functionals of the separate parts, each reflecting its particular global ink exchange. During the optimization procedure this error functional is minimized.
In the previous paragraphs, i.e. the regularization for three- and four-ink models, it is assumed that the vertices of the piecewise-linear n-ink model are given by the measurement data upon which the n-ink model is based. In practice, however, it is advantageous that the mesh defining the piecewise-linear n-ink model is a regular grid in colorant space. In most cases, the mesh defining the piecewise-linear model is not always a subset of the measurement data and hence missing vertices have to be calculated, typically based on neighboring colorant combinations. Both interpolation and extrapolation techniques are used to get color values for the missing vertices. During the regularization, these interpolated or extrapolated colors can either be taken into account by considering the inter- or extrapolation model used (so these colors are not modified independently during the regularization as the interpolation for these colors is explicitly built into the error functional), or these vertices can be seen as independent variables.
Gamut Calculation and Ink Limitations
For a three-ink model, the ink limitations, which are considered to be linear limitations of the colorant domain, redefine the boundary of the colorant cube. The concepts of inner and outher boundary faces can easily be applied to the colorant cube with ink limitations. Specifically, for a regular three-ink model, the gamut boundary is defined by the boundary faces.
Also for a four-ink model, the concepts of boundary and singular faces can be easily extended for a number of additional ink limitations.
Regularization and Ink Limitations for Four-Ink Models
If a four-ink model is regularized, the four-ink model is not necessarily regular if ink limitations have to be taken into account.
If a four-ink model is regular for a given colorant domain, it is also regular for ink limitations for single inks. For example a CMYK four-ink model that is regular for the domain ranging from 0 to 100% for all ink values, then the four-ink model is also regular if the K value is limited to 95%.
However, a four-ink model that is regular for the domain ranging from 0 to 100% for all ink values, is not necessarily regular for any ink limitation.
A TAC (Total Area Coverage) is a linear ink limitation limiting the normal domain of ink values defined as follows:
c 1 +c 2 +c 3 +c 4 <=TAC
with (c 1 ,c 2 ,c 3 ,c 4 ) the colorant values of the four-ink model and with TAC the maximum amount of ink, a value between 0 and 400%.
To make a four-ink model regular for any TAC, the following additional criterion is added to the minimization problem:
As discussed before, all colorant combinations that map to the same color constitute a connected path in colorant space that starts and ends at the colorant boundary.
To create a regular four-ink model that is also regular for any TAC, it is imposed that the path of colorant combinations that map to a given color does not start or (exclusive or) does not end in the hyperplane defined by the ink limitation.
Which criterion to choose can be based on checking the four-ink model at hand, i.e. whether for a given ink limitation a path typically starts or ends in the hyperplane defined by the ink limitation.
This condition is expressed as follows:
χ 1 j +χ 2 j +χ 3 j +χ 4 j <−ε or χ 1 j +χ 2 j +χ 3 j +χ 4 j >ε
If the first condition is selected, then the error functional R is added with the following term R gil j per simplex j:
χ 1 j +χ 2 j +χ 3 j +χ 4 j <−ε=>R tac j =0
χ 1 j +χ 2 j +χ 3 j +χ 4 j ≧−ε=>R tac j =(χ 1 j +χ 2 j +χ 3 j +χ 4 j +ε) 2
If the second condition is selected, the error functional R is added with the following term R tac j per simplex j:
χ 1 j +χ 2 j +χ 3 j +χ 4 j ≧ε=>R tac j =0
χ 1 j +χ 2 j +χ 3 j +χ 4 j <ε=>R tac j =(χ 1 j +χ 2 j +χ 3 j +χ 4 j −ε) 2
with ε a small strictly positive value
For general ink limitations a 1 c 1 +a 2 c 2 +a 3 c 3 +a 4 c 4 <a 0 , a four-ink model is made regular as follows based on the conditions
a 1 χ 1 j +a 2 χ 2 j +a 3 χ 3 j +a 4 χ 4 j <−ε or
a 1 χ 1 j +a 2 χ 2 j +a 3 χ 3 j +a 4 χ 4 j >ε
with a 0 , a 1 , a 2 , a 3 , a 4 real values
If the first condition is selected, then the error functional R is added with the following term R gil j per simplex j:
a 1 χ 1 j +a 2 χ 2 j +a 3 χ 3 j +a 4 χ 4 j <−ε=>R gil j =0
a 1 χ 1 j +a 2 χ 2 j +a 3 χ 3 j +a 4 χ 4 j ≧−ε=>R gil j =( a 1 χ 1 j +a 2 χ 2 j +a 3 χ 3 j +a 4 χ 4 j +ε) 2
If the second condition is selected, the error functional R is added with the following term R gil j per simplex j:
a 1 χ 1 j +a 2 χ 2 j +a 3 χ 3 j +a 4 χ 4 j ≧ε=R gil j =0
a 1 χ 1 j +a 2 χ 2 j +a 3 χ 3 j +a 4 χ 4 j <ε=>R gil j =( a 1 χ 1 j +a 2 χ 2 j +a 3 χ 3 j +a 4 χ 4 j −ε) 2
with ε a small strictly positive value
If multiple general ink limitations are defined, an additional term is added to the error functional R per ink limitation, as explained above.
Colorant Limitations
For a number of measurement files, the regularization process results in rather large color changes. Evaluation of some color devices indicates that the color device in reality does not behave regularly, so that regularization is not the proper action to take. As singular n-ink models often result into non-continuous separations for some color variations, it is preferred to reduce the colorant domain so that the n-ink model is regular for the remaining colorant domain.
First of all, it is checked whether an n-ink model can be regularized. This is done by checking the required color changes to make the n-ink model regular. If these changes are unacceptably high for a given application, it can be concluded that the n-ink model cannot be regularized. In that case, simplices resulting in singular printing behavior can be identified and eliminated from the colorant domain of the n-ink model. This is preferably done in such a way that the reduced domain is connected and by preference also convex.
In another approach the most singular simplices, e.g. as defined by the error functional R j of simplex j, are eliminated, preferably resulting in a connected and by preference also convex colorant domain, however often there are still some simplices that are slightly singular and hence the n-ink model is regularized for the reduced colorant domain.
Another approach might be to eliminate some vertices and reconstructing a piecewise-linear n-ink model based on the remaining vertices, and apply one of the before mentioned regularization approaches. This elimination of vertices amounts to a local coarsening of the model's grid.
Another advantage of the regularization is obtained during closed loop characterization as described in patent application EP 1596576. In this approach, additional simplices are added to the existing piecewise-linear n-ink model making the n-ink model more accurate in some regions of the colorant cube. This can be seen as a local refinement of the model's grid. The additional criterion to be checked to add a new vertex is preferably based on the regularization criteria as discussed in this patent application. If due to adding one or multiple vertices the n-ink model becomes singular in the neighborhood of these vertices, these vertices are preferably not added. Another approach could be to regularize the new n-ink model after adding a number of vertices. Only if a regularized n-ink model can be obtained without changing the colors too much, the vertices will be added.
Regularity of an n-Ink Model
In a number of cases it is advantageous to know if an n-ink model is regular or singular, also referred to as the regularity of the n-ink model and corresponding color device. Referring to the regularization technique discussed above, a first regularity criterion to take is the error functional for a very small value of E (going to zero).
Another approach to check the regularity of an n-ink model is based on the definition of regular n-ink models and gamut characteristics. Here different regularity criteria are obtained for three- and four-ink models.
For a three-ink model the following criteria can be used to check the regularity:
Sign Criterion
Define p min the number of simplices with determinant B j <0 Define p zer the number of simplices with determinant B j =0 Define p pos the number of simplices with determinant B j >0
The three-ink model is regular if (p min =0 or p pos =0) and (p zer =0) and (the boundary faces of the colorant cube do not intersect in color space).
By definition a three-ink model is singular if it is not regular, i.e. the three-ink model is singular if one of the following conditions is fulfilled:
P neg ≠0 and p pos ≠0 P zer ≠0 the boundary faces of the colorant cube intersect in color space.
Gamut Criterion
The three-ink model is singular if one of the following conditions is fulfilled
there is at least one singular face the boundary faces of the colorant cube intersect in color space
Inversion Criteria
The three-ink model is singular if one of the following conditions is fulfilled:
there is at least one color that can be obtained with multiple colorant combinations there is a color at the gamut boundary that can be reached with a colorant combination inside the colorant domain.
For a four-ink model the following criteria can be used to check regularity:
Sign Criterion
The four-ink model is regular if
For all simplices j, the characteristic vector field χj has the same sign signature and all components are non-zero.
By definition a four-ink model is singular if it is not regular, i.e. the four-ink model is singular if one of the following conditions is fulfilled
there are at least two simplices j and k, of which the characteristic vector fields χj and χk have a different sign signature there is at least one simplex j of which at least one component of the characteristic vector field χj is zero.
Gamut Criterion
The four-ink model is singular if one of the following conditions is fulfilled
there is at least one singular face the boundary faces of the colorant cube intersect in color space
Inversion Criteria
The four-ink model is singular if one of the following conditions is fulfilled
there is at least one color that can be obtained with multiple non-connected paths in the colorant domain there is a color at the gamut boundary that can be reached with multiple colorant combinations there is a color at the gamut boundary that can be reached with a colorant combination inside the colorant domain.
These regularity criteria are based on either sign criteria, gamut characteristics or inversion properties of the n-ink model. There are however many more ways to check the regularity of an n-ink model based on the previous discussion about regular n-ink models.
In practice, not all criteria provided in the previously given definitions of a regular three-ink model an four-ink model have to be taken into account for the regularity criteria. As some conditions are extremely rare to occur, it is save to leave them out. Typically, for a conventional 3-ink model, e.g. a color device with CMY or RGB colorants, only the sign of the determinant B j is evaluated and the regularization is based n this criteria only as it is extremely rare that boundary faces intersect in color space. For the same reason, regularization of a four-ink model is based only on the sign criterion as for conventional CMYK four-ink models the singular faces rarely intersect (F|Σ injection into the color space) if the model is strictly non-degenerate. Hence, regularity criteria in general don't have to be based completely on the previously given definitions of regular processes.
Also the previously discussed regularization approach to create a strictly non-degenerate four-ink model is too severe. A four-ink model for which the gamut is constructed by the singular faces that do not intersect in color space, and for which every in-gamut color all colorant combinations with which this color can be reached constitute a connected path in colorant space starting and ending at the colorant boundary, are other criteria to check if a model is regular. Also regularization can be based on these criteria. In practice, the regularization is based on splitting up the colorant domain in regions with a uniform ink exchange and applying the previously discussed regularization approach per region. Also the connectivity of colorant paths mapping to the same color has to be checked. This can be easily done as per pentahedron the path is constant and hence a finite number of tests are required. For two neighboring regions, every path in the first region that ends at the common boundary of both regions, continues in the second region.
In practice well-behaving separation tables can be constructed based on n-ink models for which the error functional after regularization are reduced significantly but not necessarily zero. Hence it is also acceptable to apply a regularization even if the required values are not reached.
It is also advantageous that during the regularization process it is guaranteed that at least the n-ink model is non-degenerated. This means:
for three-ink process the rank of Bj is three for four-ink processes the characteristic vector field is never parallel with one of the hyperplanes defining the colorant boundary. Mathematically this can be expressed as the requirement that the scalar product between the characteristic vector field and the normal of the ink limitation is zero. In particular for the limitations per ink it means that the components of the characteristic vector field are always non-zero.
In this way, a three-ink model can always be inverted for any simplex. For a four-ink model, there is always an inversion for the three-ink boundary processes, and per pentahedron there is a one-dimensional path along which all colorant map to the same color (characteristic vector field is non-zero). The error functional imposing one of these conditions can be defined in a similar way as for the regularization of n-ink models. Preferably with gradient optimization techniques, an n-ink model is obtained with the before mentioned local inversion characteristics. But also other minimizing optimization techniques can be used. A gradient method in optimizing techniques is an algorithm to solve problems of the form
min x ∈ ℜ n f ( x )
with the search directions defined by the gradient of the function at the current point. Examples of gradient method are the gradient descent and the conjugate gradient. The minimizing algorithm maybe a function to minimize, a vector of fixed parameters to the function, and a vector of variable parameters to the function are input. The algorithm finds the values of the variable parameters for which the function is minimized.
As a result, several regularity checks can be constructed to check the regularity of an n-ink model and a corresponding regularization process can be designed make the model regular.
In this document, a printer characteristic, also called color profile characteristics, for a given n-ink model is a characteristic that indicates the regularity of the n-ink model. A printer characteristic, also called color profile characteristics comprises a set of one or more measures and a corresponding set of one or more values and/or ranges for these measures (i.e. to each measure corresponds a value or a range). The regularity criteria discussed above are typical examples of printer characteristics, also called color profile characteristics. E.g., a printer characteristic, also called color profile characteristic, for a CMY three-ink model is the set of the signs of the determinants of the Jacobian matrices for all simplices; if these signs are all negative, the three-ink model is regular. For a CMYK four-ink model, a typical printer characteristic, also called color profile characteristic, is given by the sign signature, e.g. (+,+,+,−), of the characteristic vector field of the four-ink model. As discussed above, a printer characteristic, also called color profile characteristic, that is selected for the n-ink model is then evaluated, e.g. a piecewise-linear three-ink model for e.g. a three-ink model. If it follows from the evaluation that the three-ink model is regular (e.g. all the signs of the determinants of the Jacobian matrices for all simplices are negative, for the piecewise linear model), then the three-ink model can be used as such. If it follows from the evaluation that the n-ink model is not regular, the n-ink model is modified; e.g. the procedure as explained above under the “Regularization of a three-ink model” is followed, and a modified n-ink model is made, based on the data (p 1 0 , . . . , p M 0 ) obtained by solving the minimization problem.
A practical example of a regularity check is given for a three-ink model addressed via a GDI driver. In this case, typically RGB data is sent to the color device, but an internal look-up table is used to convert e.g. the RGB colorant values to CMYK colorant values. To check the color behavior of this color table, an RGB target is printed and measured. Based on this data a piecewise-linear three-ink model is made and one of the regularity checks for three-ink model is applied. If this model is singular, there are some color gradations that can not be reproduced in a continuous way and hence there are some RGB colors that are reproduced with some deltaE. If the three-ink model is singular it also means that this color device can not be color-managed properly. For example, this color device could not be used for color-accurate applications such as contract proofing in graphic arts.
Quality Forward Color Tables, Measurement Files and n-Ink Models
Based on splitting up a given domain in a number of simplices, the number of singular simplices (simplex j with error functional R j different from zero) and the error functional R can be calculated (see e.g. the regularization of a three-ink model discussed above).
For forward color tables, e.g. as defined in color profiles (as defined by IS0 15076), a regular mesh is defined as hence the colorant domain can be easily split up in simplices as discussed before. In a similar way, this can be done for measurement files, even though no regular mesh is available. And finally for n-ink models, a number of colorant and color combinations can be retrieved resulting in a mesh of “measurement data”. Again for this mesh, the colorant domain is split up a number of simplices, upon which a piecewise-linear n-ink model can be constructed. In FIG. 18 a two-dimensional colorant space is split up in a number of simplices based on a set of colorant combinations indicated by the black dots.
The value of the error functional R of a piecewise-linear n-ink model is a measure for the quality of this color table, since R is a measure the distance from regularity. The larger the value of R, the poorer the quality of the table.
Regularization for n-Ink Models with n>4
As separations for n-ink models are based on the separation of a number of four-ink models, the error functional will be the sum of the error functional of the separate four-ink models. For the CMYKOG six-ink model (with C cyan, M magenta, Y yellow, K black, O orange, G green), the four-ink submodels CMYK, OMYK and CGYK are used. Each submodel has a typical global ink exchange, that defines its error functional. The error functional of the n-ink model is the sum of the error functional of the four-ink submodels.
Also in the very general case, the different four-ink submodels can be divided into different parts with each having a particular global ink exchange. The error functional to be minimized is again the sum of the error functionals of the four-ink subprocesses.
Wide-Gamut CMYK Four-Ink Model
For some applications, a wide-gamut CMYK four-ink model is needed in some PDF workflows to encode the color of a number of source objects. These objects can be defined in different color spaces such as Adobe RGB, CMYK, CIELAB and by preference are large enough in gamut to encompass the gamut of most color devices including ink jet devices with additional inks such as orange, green and blue. The most simple way to encode such a wide-gamut CMYK device can be done as follows:
Map (0,0,0,0) to CIELAB (100, 0, 0)
Map (100,100,100,100) to CIELAB (0, 0, 0)
Select the CIELAB values for the primaries Red, yellow, green, cyan, blue and magenta according a wide-gamut RGB color space, e.g. Adobe RGB.
Red: map (0,100,100,0) to Adobe RGB (255,0,0)
Yellow: map (0,0,100,0) to Adobe RGB (255,255,0)
Green: map (100,0,100,0) to Adobe RGB (0,255,0)
Cyan: map (100,0,0,0) to Adobe RGB (0,255,255)
Blue: map (100,100,0,0) to Adobe RGB (0,0,255)
Magenta: map (0,100,0,0) to Adobe RGB (255,0,255)
Map the primaries and secondaries with 100% K as follows
Hue (c 1 ,c 2 ,c 3 ,100) same as hue (c 1 ,c 2 ,c 3 ,0)
Lightness (c 1 ,c 2 ,c 3 ,100) smaller than lightness (c 1 ,c 2 ,c 3 ,0)
Chroma (c 1 ,c 2 ,c 3 ,100) smaller than chroma (c 1 ,c 2 ,c 3 ,0)
with c 1 ,c 2 ,c 3 all possible combinations of 0 and 100 except (0,0,0) and (100,100,100) and such that most before discussed gamuts can be enclosed
These 14 colors define the gamut of a CMYK four-ink model with a global ink exchange CMY to K. The remaining two colorant combinations (0,0,0,100) and (100,100,100,0) have to be in-gamut. These colors are mapped as follows:
(0,0,0,100) is a neutral color
(100,100,100,0) is a neutral color
The lightness values for both colors are not that important.
To obtain a regular CMYK four-ink model, the four-ink model is regularized. In this way an artificial wide-gamut CMYK space is constructed based on the 16 Neugebauer primaries, with a well-defined gamut and inversion properties such that smooth and continuous separations are obtained for any color gradation in color space.
While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it is to be understood that variations and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. The scope of the present invention, therefore, is to be determined solely by the following claims. | A method including the steps of selecting an n-ink model for a color device, for transferring a set of colorant values in colorant space to a set of color values in color space; selecting a printer characteristic of the n-ink model, wherein the printer characteristic indicates the regularity of the n-ink model; evaluating, for the n-ink model, a set of one or more values and/or ranges for the printer characteristic, thus determining the regularity of the n-ink model; and modifying the n-ink model such that the modified n-ink model is regular, if, based on the evaluation, the n-ink model was not regular. | 7 |
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present invention relates to wireless signalling and in particular to a method of extending information exchange in wireless communication.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Currently in Wireless LAN (WLAN) setups mobile stations select the access point based on radio link parameters and the network identity broadcasted in special signalling messages, so called beacons. This information is, however, in some cases inadequate to base the selection on of which access point to connect to. The user of the mobile station may have other preferences, such as price, while the applications need to know the available QoS (Quality of Service) etc.
[0003] WLAN access points broadcast beacons on a regular basis, normally every 100 milliseconds. Extending the beacons with extra information increases their size and thus wastes the available bandwidth on the channel. Including all desired information into the beacons would therefore not be desirable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method, device, and signal for interchanging information between a mobile station and an access point.
[0005] Wireless LAN signalling can be used to automatically obtain network characteristic parameters prior to when the node establishes a connection to the network. Network characteristic parameters in this context refer to information such as price, network utilization and network access provider information that may affect the user's selection of a preferable network.
[0006] The present invention may in a first aspect be realized as a method of communicating information to a mobile station in a wireless network, comprising the steps of:
broadcasting a signal with an information tag alerting mobile stations that additional information is available from an access point to listening mobile stations within communication range; receiving the beacon at a mobile station arranged to interpret the information tag; sending an information request from the mobile station to the access point; and sending the additional information from the access point to the mobile station.
[0011] The additional information may be at least one of access point ownership, network load status, cryptographic network identities, roaming related information, available services, routing information, geographical location information, commercial information and any other relevant information.
[0012] The additional information may be cached in the access point or may be collected from network connected to the access point.
[0013] The signal may be a beacon message prepared in the access point.
[0014] Another aspect of the present invention, an access point in a wireless network is provided, comprising
a wireless communication interface for communicating with mobile stations; a communication interface for communicating with a network;
wherein the access point is arranged to prepare a beacon with an information tag alerting the mobile stations that additional information is available.
[0017] The additional information may be at least one of access point ownership, network load status, cryptographic network identities, roaming related information, available services, routing information, geographical location information, and commercial information.
[0018] Yet another aspect of the present invention, a mobile station in a wireless network is provided, comprising a wireless-communication interface for communicating with at least one access point, wherein the mobile station is arranged to interpret an information tag present in a beacon signal sent from the access point; the information tag alerting of additional information available in the access point, arranged to send a request for the additional information and further arranged to decide which access point to connect to based on the additional information.
[0019] Still another aspect of the present invention, a beacon signal in a wireless network is provided, comprising a type-length-value (TLV) tagged parameter list comprising at least information about transmitter identity and an information tag alerting of additional information available at the transmitter, wherein the flag comprise two bytes of information; a tag number and a tag length.
[0020] The present invention may also be realized as an instruction set in a mobile communication device for deciding a gateway to connect to, comprising;
an instruction set for receiving a beacon including an information tag alerting of additional information available in a gateway; an instruction set for sending a request for the additional information to the gateway; an instruction set for receiving the additional information; an instructions set for using the additional information in the decision of which gateway to connect to.
DEFINITIONS
[0025] RA—Router advertisement
WLAN—Wireless Local Area Network
QoS—Quality of Service
[0000]
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0026] In the following the invention will be described in a non-limiting way and in more detail with reference to exemplary embodiments illustrated in the enclosed drawings, in which:
[0027] FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a network according to the present invention;
[0028] FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of communication messages in the network from FIG. 1 ;
[0029] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a device according to the present invention; and
[0030] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a method according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0031] FIG. 1 illustrates a network topology wherein the present invention may find application. A mobile station 1 desires to connect to a network 4 or 5 via one connection point 2 or 3 using a wireless interface 6 or 7 . In order to establish the best connection, the mobile station 1 may use a number of different parameters in a decision process for deciding which connection to use. Therefore it is of interest to obtain adequate information about the connection points, for instance information relating to the decision about which connection point to use.
[0032] Connection points may be for instance an access point in a wireless local area network (WLAN), a master in Bluetooth network, a base station in a mobile phone network, or a gateway in other wireless based communication networks. Below, an example of the present invention in a WLAN network will be given.
[0033] In the solution according to the present invention, a beacon signal is first extended with a flag which indicates that the access point 2 or 3 is capable of delivering extra information before standard WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) attachment frames are interchanged. If the mobile station supports using this extra information, it may send a special information request frame to the access point. The access point can then send the requested extra information in one or more special information reply frames. These information reply frames may contain any information that can help the mobile station to select the access point. The actual attachment process with the access point follows the normal WLAN procedure.
[0034] The access point constructs the beacon according to standard format; however, it also inserts a new TLV-encoded (Type Length Value) tagged parameter into a tagged parameters list part of the beacon signal. This tagged parameter is, for example 2 bytes long, comprising a tag number (1 byte long) and a tag length (1 byte long).
[0035] Referring to FIG. 2 , when the mobile station 1 receives a beacon, it examines whether it contains this tagged parameter. If the mobile station 1 doesn't recognize the new tagged parameter or the received beacon doesn't contain it, the WLAN access selection and attachment process continues according to standard procedures, for instance according to standard specifications according to IEEE 802.11 family protocol (i.e. all IEEE 802.11 protocol members, e.g. 802.11a, b, g, n and so on). Other standard protocols may be IEEE 802.15 and IEEE 802.16 families.
[0036] If the tagged parameter is detected, the mobile station 1 can send an information request frame 10 or 11 to the access point 2 or 3 . Upon receiving the information request frame the access point 2 or 3 can reply with the information reply frame 20 or 22 . It should be noted that this frame is sent only to the requesting mobile station 1 (i.e. unicasted) unlike the beacon, which is sent to all mobile stations on the channel (i.e. broadcasted) within the range of the access point.
[0037] The information sent in the information reply frames 20 or 22 may be collected from any number of information sources. This information may optionally be cached by the access point until it is expired.
[0038] An example, illustrated in FIG. 2 , of such an information source is a IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) neighbour discovery message, namely Router Advertisement messages (RA) 31 or 41 , which are sent by routers 30 or 40 connected to the same network 4 or 5 as the access point 2 or 3 . The access point may cache the contents of these RA messages 31 or 41 so that it can reply immediately. The RA message contains e.g. the IPv6 network prefixes, but it may also contain additional information (such as price), as RA options. New RA options can easily be defined without affecting the interoperability of the existing IPv6 implementations.
[0039] It should be noted, however, that the invention is not IPv6-specific. Information sent in the information reply messages may contain any type of information, such as access point ownership, network load status, cryptographic network identities, roaming related information, available services, routing information, geographical location information, and commercial information. Access point ownership may be of importance for billing purposes, the user may want to connect to a “home” based access point as a first choice in order to receive as low costs as possible for the connection; with “home” based is meant either the users own access point located at home or in an office part of a company or institution to which the user has relation to, or it may mean a commercial network operator to which the user has business relation to, such as for instance a hot spot network of access points installed at various places to which the user may roam to due belonging to the operator owning the hot spot network. Network load status may be important in order to receive as reliable and high quality connection as possible, which may be important for a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) connection. The user may be interested in specific available services within a network and may desire to primarily connect to networks with these specific services available. Commercial information may for instance be advertisements for available shops or business operations within a certain area.
[0040] The invention makes it possible to acquire network characteristic information as part of the existing process which takes place automatically when a WLAN mobile station is discovering the access points. The solution can be implemented in a way that it will be compatible with legacy nodes and rest of the network. A legacy node is a node which does not implement the teachings of the present invention.
[0041] In addition, the information can be obtained without the need to apply network settings of the network being connected to. In this way the user doesn't have to go through possible authentication and configuration processes in order to obtain the information that may affect the way the user uses the network.
[0042] FIG. 3 illustrates a mobile station 300 according to the present invention, comprising a computational unit 301 , storage unit 302 , and communication unit 305 . It may also comprise further functionality in the form of further storage units 303 and user interface units 304 . However, the list of functionality and units is not complete since the invention may be utilized in a number of different devices communicating according to the present invention. This may be appreciated by the person skilled in the art. Other forms of devices where the present invention may find applicability are: in mobile phones, in stand alone measurement devices, personal digital assistants (PDA), and MP3 players or similar music or video storage units adapted for communicating with a network. The access point has a similar structure with a processing unit controlling the essential features of the access point and in connection with other functional units in the access point, e.g.; storage unit(s), at least one communication unit for communicating with mobile stations 1 , and at least one communication unit for communicating with an external network (e.g. Internet) 4 , 5 .
[0043] The computational unit may be any type of suitable computational unit, including, but not limited to, a microprocessor, an FPGA (field programmable gate array), an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit) or similar devices. The storage unit may be any volatile or non-volatile memory type, e.g. RAM (random access memory), ROM (read only memory), hard disk, flash disks and so on as understood by the person skilled in the art.
[0044] Communication from the access point to the external network 4 , 5 may be of either wired or wireless type, e.g. Ethernet, ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode), LMDS (Local Multipoint Distribution System), DSL (Digital Subscription Line), PTSN (Public Switched Telephone Network), WLAN, GPRS (General Packet Radio System), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telephony System), or backbone systems for mobile telephony systems.
[0045] The present invention may be realized as instruction sets in a software code run in the computational unit 301 and for instance stored in the storage unit 302 .
[0046] Turning now to FIG. 4 , a method of interchanging communication will be discussed. An access point transmits a beacon including a flag indicating that additional information is available ( 401 ). A mobile station receives this beacon and interprets the flag correctly ( 402 ). The mobile station then sends a request to the access point, asking the access point to transmit the additional information ( 403 ). The access point receiving the request sends a response to the mobile station with the requested information ( 404 ). Steps 401 to 404 may not be repeated for all access points within the communication range of the mobile station. When a suitable access point is found, the station can then proceed to step ( 406 ) without repeating the steps for remaining access points. This is due to the fact that there are two options, whether to collect all information before doing the selection (as described in the current application) or to do selection after each response, e.g. the station may search for an access point with certain characteristics.
[0047] If all access points are searched and when all access points have sent their respective information, the mobile station decides on which access point to connect to ( 405 ) and then initiates normal-connection procedures ( 406 ).
[0048] It should be noted that the word “comprising” does not exclude the presence of other elements or steps than those listed and the words “a” or “an” preceding an element do not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements. It should further be noted that any reference signs do not limit the scope of the claims, that the invention may be implemented at least in part by means of both hardware and software, and that several “means”, “units” or “devices” may be represented by the same item of hardware.
[0049] The above mentioned and described embodiments are only given as examples and should not be limiting to the present invention. Other solutions, uses, objectives, and functions within the scope of the invention as claimed in the below described patent claims should be apparent for the person skilled in the art. | The present invention relates to a method, device, instruction set, and signal for communicating the availability of additional information in access points relevant for determining in a mobile station which access point to connect to. An information tag is inserted into a beacon signal alerting of the additional information available; mobile stations not implemented with the present invention may operate as if the information tag was not present and thus ensuring compatibility between systems. | 7 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/938,543, filed on Nov. 11, 2015, and entitled “Process for Forming an Artificial Reef”, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,403,287 on Aug. 2, 2016. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/938,543 is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/291,958, filed on May 30, 2014, and entitled “Process for Forming an Artificial Reef”, presently pending.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not applicable.
NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT
Not applicable.
INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIALS SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC
Not applicable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to artificial reefs. Additionally, the present invention relates to processes for forming such artificial reefs. More particularly, the present invention relates to processes for forming artificial reefs in which a sprayable concrete is used for the formation of the artificial reef. Additionally, the present invention relates to the use of cinder blocks in conjunction with artificial reefs.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98.
An artificial reef is a man-made structure typically built to promote marine life in areas having generally featureless bottoms. Artificial reefs are used to control erosion and/or to improve surfing. Many reefs are built by using objects that were built for other purposes, for example, by sinking oil platform jackets, scuttling ships, or by deploying rubble or construction debris.
Scuttling ships is an extremely costly and time-consuming way to produce an artificial reef since there are many logistical hurdles to be overcome due to stringent governmental regulations. The ships must be stripped clean of any and all potential pollutants. As a result, the engines and fuel tanks must be removed. PCBs are common substance in many older ship designs. These PCBs must be removed before the ship is scuttled. There also minimum depth requirements set forth by the USCG which makes the structures undesirable for deployment in waters less than 150 feet.
The Rigs-to-Reefs program has been very successful as a result of state fishery agencies working closely with oil companies to help defray the cost of deploying these offshore large structures. This can be attractive to oil companies since many times the cost of deploying is less than the cost of bringing the rigs back inshore and sold for scrap. This type of reef has minimum depth requirements, stringent regulations regarding the removal of contaminants, and is very costly to deploy.
Designed artificial reefs can be placed in shallower waters and are meant to provide the underlayment for the development of what eventually will considered a “natural” reef by incorporating elements conducive to making this happen. Artificial reefs divert the current flow in order to provide adequate cover and refuge so as to allow small marine creatures to gain a foothold instead of being continually swept along with the ocean currents. These artificial reefs are placed above the flat, featureless ocean floor. Artificial reefs are designed to stand alone or be deployed in unison with a number of other reefs and/or placement of low relief material, such as rubble or concrete culverts. Concrete is a good material used for artificial reef construction, but it has inherent issues since it lacks correct pH values in addition to being too hard for benthic marine organisms to bore into. As such, it is very important to provide natural soft limestone as a primary surface materials.
Artificial reefs are somewhat expensive to be produced. Typically, a metal infrastructure is required for the artificial reef. Typically, a metal infrastructure is installed within a mold and concrete is poured around the metal infrastructure. Unfortunately, this metal infrastructure can degrade over time because of contact with salt water. As a result, the artificial reef can degrade over time. Typically, the construction of such artificial reefs requires a number of persons to complete. The curing time for the concrete can be several days. As such, production of such artificial reefs is very expensive, time-consuming and labor-intensive. Still further, where metal infrastructure is utilized in the artificial reef, welding is required. This welding will degrade because of contact with the saltwater. Additionally, the cost of steel associated with such a metal infrastructure makes the artificial reefs very expensive.
In certain circumstances, solid triangular blocks of concrete are utilized as artificial reefs. Typically, these solid blocks can cause proper interruption of the ocean current, but lack an area on the interior thereof whereby small marine animals can develop. In those artificial reefs that have an internal chamber, turtles can become trapped. As such, such structures lack proper turtle escape hatches whereby turtles can escape from the interior of such artificial reefs. Still further, the bottoms of such artificial reefs can be relatively small. As such, they can sink into the ocean floor or become swept away with strong ocean currents. As such, a need has developed so as to provide an artificial reef which overcomes the problems associated with the prior art.
In the past, a variety of patents have issued with respect to such artificial reefs. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,069,715, issued on Feb. 2, 1937 to J. P. Arpin, is an early patent dealing with artificial reefs. This structuring includes an elongated U-shaped member that is substantially triangular in cross-section and hollow. The outer longitudinal edges at the base portion have inclined soil-penetrating toes. The portion of the base intermediate the longitudinal edges are provided with penetrating lugs.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,888,209, issued on Jun. 10, 1974 to E. R. Boots, describes a method and apparatus for preventing erosion of a beach. This method and apparatus includes an artificial reef for subsurface placement adjacent a shoreline. The artificial reef is made of a base reef set on the seabed and an upper reef preformed and mounted to the base reef.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,311, issued on Mar. 5, 1991 to T. A. Van Doren, describes an artificial reef that employs a dome-shaped, thin-walled enclosure of plastic material having apertures therein to permit aquatic life to enter and exit. The enclosure has a circular perimeter that is provided with a circumferential trough integrally formed with the enclosure. A concrete ballast is poured into the trough to form a perimetrical weight which holds the reef in position on the desired underwater surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,173,006, issued on Dec. 22, 1992 to W. R. Lowe, provides an artificial reef structure in the form of a truncated pyramid structure. This artificial reef is assembled on site. The artificial reef structure is comprised of identical panels forming openings at the top and bottom of the artificial reef and forming an opening in the side of the artificial reef at a variable distance from the bottom of the structure so as to control the sinking of the structure and the sand held by the structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,259,695, issued on Nov. 9, 1993 to B. J. Mostkoff, provides an artificial reef having an equilateral tetrahedron and having four equilateral sides in which an equilateral triangle is disposed. Tire chips are placed within the artificial reef and held in place by cement. The artificial reef is formed with an open-ended three-sided mold.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,454,665, issued on Oct. 3, 1995 to R. K. Hughes, shows an artificial reef for use in a body of water. The reef is formed by providing an anchoring structure which is submerged. The anchoring structure has a weight sufficient to anchor the artificial reef to the floor of the body of water. Each of the reef assemblies is formed from a base which is secured to the anchoring structure. A flexible elastomeric sleeve is coupled to a lower end of a buoyant elongated member formed from a substantially rigid polymeric material so that the elongated members are held in a generally upright position.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,464,429, issued on Oct. 15, 2002 to M. D. Moore, provides an artificial reef module for coral reef remediation. The artificial reef includes a central body having an upper settling plate, a middle settling plate, and a lower settling plate. A plurality of primary tines extend from the central body and include a plurality of secondary tines extending therefrom. The primary tines include the supporting tines, the stabilizing tines, and the space-filling tines. The branching of these tines closely replicates the appearance of natural branching coral.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,896,445, issued on May 24, 2005 to E. Engler, discloses a modular artificial reef that can be placed in stacked structures along the floor of a body of water. The artificial reef includes a top wall, a bottom wall and opposed sidewalls and end walls which are interconnected to form a hollow interior. Each of the walls is formed with one or more openings having a size suitable to allow access by marine life and to permit the passage of sunlight therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,828,493, issued on Nov. 9, 2010 to C. Brignac, describes an artificial reef structure that utilizes an axle rod supporting a plurality of buoyant reef bodies rotatably mounted on the axle rod. The axle rod and buoyant sections are suspended at a desired level above a water bottom by anchors attached to the anchor lines. A plurality of distally projecting rods is mounted on the buoyant reef bodies.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,186,702, shows another type of artificial reef. The artificial reef is created by pouring concrete into a mold comprised of an inner form and an outer formed with multiple black out creating triangular windows. This artificial reef is deployed alone or with a smaller scale reef inside for fitted with shelves. This is a relatively complex design which is difficult to deploy correctly and easily. The configuration has a smooth surface that is not conducive to attracting marine growth.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,513,711, describes another type of artificial reef. This artificial reef employs the use of soft limestone rock on surface panels. The construction method utilized is a costly and time-consuming method that requires casting six structural elements separately and casting three panels separately. Once all of the components are cured sufficiently over a period of days, they can be lifted and placed together so as to be cast together as a single unit.
The present Applicant is the owner of U.S. Pat. No. 9,403,287, issued on Aug. 2, 2016. This patent describes a process for forming an artificial reef which includes the steps of forming a form having a geometric shape, applying at least one blockout onto a surface of the form such that the blockout extends outwardly of the surface of the form, applying the sprayable concrete over the form and the blockout, curing the sprayable concrete on the form for a period of time, removing the blockout from the surface of the form and from the cured sprayable concrete, and removing the form from the cured sprayable concrete. A base is formed having an upper surface. The lower end of the form is positioned upon the base. A sprayable concrete is sprayed over the upper surface of the base.
During the process of manufacturing the artificial reefs in accordance with the process of U.S. Pat. No. 9,403,287, the present Applicant has discovered that the use of the polymeric blockouts could create difficulties during the manufacturing process. In particular, these blockouts tended to adhere to the sprayable concrete material. As such, additional efforts would were required in order to separate the blockouts from the cured sprayable concrete. Under certain circumstances, the efforts to remove these blockouts often damaged the integrity of the blockouts. As such, the process often required a large number of replacement blockouts for the continued manufacture of the artificial reef.
Additionally, and furthermore, it was found that the use of the blockouts actually reduced the amount of available material on the artificial reef. In other words, that area which was defined by the blockout in the sprayable concrete did not provide a surface for the underwater species to thrive. As such, it was felt that the addition of outwardly extending and relatively irregular surfaces on the exterior of the reef enhanced the ability of the subsea organisms to thrive. Additionally, and furthermore, it was found that the blockouts actually added a significant cost to the artificial reef. In particular, the cost was enhanced when the blockouts needed to be continually repaired and/or replaced. As such, a need developed so as to provide an artificial reef which minimize the cost of the blockout while providing additional surfaces upon which the subsea organisms could thrive.
It is a object of the present invention to provide an artificial reef and process for forming such an artificial reef which minimizes the time and labor requirements for the formation of the artificial reef.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an artificial reef and a process for the forming of the artificial reef that avoids any welding operations.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an artificial reef and a process for forming the artificial reef which minimizes the amount of steel and avoids the cost of such steel.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an artificial reef and a process for forming the artificial reef which includes limestone surfaces suitable for allowing marine organisms and microorganisms to hold onto.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an artificial reef and a process for forming the artificial reef which creates a large footprint in order to avoid sinking into the floor of the body of water or being swept away by ocean currents.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an artificial reef and a process for forming the artificial reef in which the artificial reef is attractive to marine life.
It is still further object of the present invention to provide an artificial reef and a process for the forming of the artificial reef which provides greater longevity to the artificial reef.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an artificial reef and a process for the forming of the artificial reef in which the artificial reef is stronger than prior artificial reef structures.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an artificial reef and a process for the forming of the artificial reef which creates an artificial reef which allows water circulation therethrough and for small animals to enter into the interior of the artificial reef.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an artificial reef and a process for forming the artificial reef which provides outwardly extending surfaces for which subsea organisms can thrive.
It is still a further object of the present invention provide an artificial reef and a process for forming the artificial reef which minimizes the cost of the artificial reef structure.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the attached specification and appended claims.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a process for forming an artificial reef. This process includes the steps of: (1) forming a form having a geometric shape; (2) applying at least one blockout onto a surface of the form such that the blockout extends outwardly of the surface of the form; (3) applying a sprayable concrete over the form and over a portion of the blockout; (4) curing the sprayable concrete on the form for a period of time such the sprayable concrete adheres to the blockout; and (5) removing the cured sprayable concrete and the blockout from the surface of the form.
In the present invention, the blockout is formed of a cast concrete material. In particular, this cast concrete material is a cinder block. The blockout has openings therethrough such that the openings open to the interior of the artificial reef.
A rod can be applied onto the form so as to have a portion extending outwardly of the surface of the form. The step of applying concrete include spraying the sprayable concrete over a portion of the rod.
The step of forming includes forming a generally pyramid-shaped form having an upper end and a lower end, forming a base, and then placing the lower end of the generally pyramid-shaped form upon the base. The base has an upper surface extending outwardly of a perimeter of the lower end of the generally pyramid-shaped form. The sprayable concrete is sprayed onto the upper surface of the base outwardly of the perimeter of the lower end of the generally pyramid-shaped form.
In the process of the present invention, a plurality of limestone surfaces can be applied on to an outer surface of the sprayable concrete during the step of curing. A concrete release agent can also be applied on to the form prior to the step of applying the sprayable concrete.
The present invention is also an artificial reef that comprises a structure formed of a concrete material and a plurality of cast concrete members affixed to the structure. Each of the plurality of cast concrete members has an aperture therethrough. The aperture communicates between the interior and exterior of the structure.
In the artificial reef of the present invention, each of the plurality of cast concrete members is a cinder block. Each of these plurality of cast concrete members has a portion extending outwardly of an outer surface of the structure. The structure has a top that is substantially open to an interior of the structure. The structure has a generally pyramid-shaped configuration. The structure has a base that extends outwardly from a bottom of the structure in a generally horizontal plane. The base has an opening therein that opens to the interior of the structure. The concrete material is a sprayable concrete. A plurality of limestone surfaces are adhered on to the exterior of the structure.
The present invention effectively serves to overcome the problems associated with the prior art. In particular, the use of a sprayable concrete, such as GUNITE™ or SHOTCRETE™, provides a superior technique in terms of cost, durability, and strength. This technique also allows for the creation of the maximum available surface area of limestone rock thereon so as to successfully promote marine growth. The process of the present invention creates an artificial reef for the purposes of attracting marine growth, such as corals, fans, banacles and other aquatic life. This, in turn, can form the foundation upon which a balanced reef ecological system can thrive in order to enhance a full spectrum of marine life deployment, from benthic worms to large plagic fish. By providing the maximum surface area of limestone, which is comprised of at least 80% calcium carbonate, these artificial reefs will provide a naturally-occurring compound found in the marine environment that marine wildlife can bore into or attach themselves to gain a foothold on life.
The foregoing Section is intended to describe, with particularity, the preferred embodiment of the present invention. It is understood that modifications to this preferred embodiment can be made within the scope of the present invention. As such, this Section should not to be construed, in any way, as limiting of the broad scope of the present invention. The present invention should only be limited by the following claims and their legal equivalents.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the form as used in the process for forming the artificial reef of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the sprayable concrete is applied on to the surface of the form.
FIG. 3 is a side elevational view showing the artificial reef of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a side elevational view showing the artificial reef of the present invention as having limestone surfaces applied to the exterior thereof.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to FIG. 1 , there is shown the form 10 as used in the process for forming the artificial reef of the present invention. The form 10 can be made of any rigid material, such as wood, polymer, steel, or other materials. The form 10 includes a plurality of surfaces 12 , 14 and 16 that are arranged in a generally pyramid-shaped configuration. In other words, the form 10 has an upper end 18 and a lower end 20 . A base 22 is positioned below the lower end 20 of the form 10 . The base 22 has an upper surface 24 upon which the lower end 20 of the form 10 resides. A wall 26 extends upwardly from the top surface 24 so as to define the outer perimeter of the base 22 . It can be seen that the outer perimeter of the base 22 is greater than the outer perimeter of the lower end 20 of the form 10 . As such, as will be described hereinafter, the sprayable concrete can be utilized so as to cover the upper surface 24 of the base 22 .
In FIG. 1 , it can be seen that there are a plurality of blackouts 28 that extend outwardly of the outer surface of the form 10 . Each of these blockouts 28 is of a cast concrete material. In particular, each of the blackouts 28 is a common cinder block. Each of the blockouts 28 has openings 32 formed therethrough. These openings 32 are conventional holes that are formed in conventional cinder blocks. The blockouts 28 can be secured to the outer surface 30 of the form 10 by a variety of techniques. In particular, small hooks, nails, pegs, or other small projections can extend outwardly of the outer surface 30 so as to be received by one of the openings 32 of the blockouts 28 .
These blockouts 28 are conventional cinder blocks which are concrete blocks made from cast concrete, e.g. Portland cement and aggregate, usually sand and fine gravel for high-density blocks. Lower density blocks may use industrial waste, such as an aggregate. Lightweight blocks can also be produced using aerated concrete.
As can be seen in FIG. 1 , there is a first set of blockouts 28 which extend in a generally vertical orientation. A second level of blockouts 28 extend in a generally horizontal configuration. A third level of blockouts 28 are shown arranged in pairs in a generally vertical configuration. Although this is the preferred technique for applying the cinder blocks onto the outer surface 30 of the form 10 , a wide variety of other configurations of blockouts, such as the cinder blocks, can be utilized in association with the form 10 of the present invention.
A cover 36 is secured to the upper end 38 of the form 10 . Cover 38 can cover the interior of the form 10 so as to avoid the introduction of the sprayed concrete into the interior of the form. Additionally, the cover 36 assures that the top of the artificial reef that is produced upon the form 10 is open. The cover 38 can be removed from the form 10 after the concrete has cured upon the form 10 .
FIG. 2 shows the form 10 with a sprayable concrete 40 sprayed over the outer surface 30 of the form 10 . The sprayable concrete 40 is sprayed so as to substantially cover the outer surface of the form 10 and also be sprayed onto a portion of each of the blockouts 28 . As such, the sprayable concrete 40 will adhere to the blockouts 28 and will extend over the outer surface 30 of the form 10 . A release agent should be applied to the outer surface 30 of the form 10 prior to the application of the sprayable concrete.
The sprayable concrete 40 is in the nature of the GUNITE™ or SHOTCRETE™. The sprayable concrete preferably contains an embedded fiber mesh material that enhances the structural integrity of the structure and minimizes or eliminates the need for the use of steel rebar. The sprayable concrete is dispensed by pneumatic energy so as to be distributed over the outer surfaces of the form 10 . The sprayable concrete 40 also serves to fill the area 42 between the lower end 20 of the form 10 and the wall 26 of the base 22 . The sprayable concrete 40 is retained within the base 22 by the wall 26 .
Ultimately, the sprayable concrete 40 will be cured for a period of time. Once cured, the sprayable concrete will be solid and will adhere to the blockouts 28 . As such, the blockouts 28 will be rigidly affixed to the cured sprayable concrete 40 . The sprayable concrete 40 is retained over the form 10 by the cover 36 .
Unlike U.S. Pat. No. 9,403,287 to the present inventors, the blockouts 28 are fixedly secured to the sprayable concrete 40 . As such, there is no need to remove the blockouts after the sprayable concrete 40 has cured. As such, there is no risk of damage to such blockouts. Furthermore, the cost of forming the blockouts is not necessary with the present invention. Additionally, the time and labor required to remove the blockouts is avoided. The cinder blocks, which serve as the blockouts 28 , are very inexpensive and readily available. Experimentation has shown that the artificial reef of the present invention, with the cinder blocks, is ultimately less expensive to manufacture than the manufacture of the artificial reef using removable blockouts. Since each of the blockouts 28 has apertures 32 extending therethrough, each of the cinder blocks provides an easy pathway for marine organisms so as to enter the interior of the artificial reef.
FIG. 3 shows that the artificial reef 50 has been removed from the form 10 . The artificial reef 50 includes a structure 52 formed of the concrete material. The structure 52 has an exterior 54 formed of the sprayable concrete and an interior 56 . The plurality of blockouts are actually cast concrete members 58 that are affixed to the structure 52 . Each of the cast concrete members 58 includes apertures 60 extending therethrough. These apertures 60 will communicate between the interior 56 and the exterior 54 of the structure 52 . It can be seen that each of the cast concrete members 58 has a portion which extends outwardly of the outer surface of the structure 52 . This outwardly extending surface creates an irregularity in the outer surface of the artificial reef 50 . As such, this provides an additional area upon which marine organisms can thrive. It also enhances the ability for coral to grow thereon.
It can be seen that the structure 52 has a generally pyramid-shaped configuration. The base 64 extends outwardly from the bottom 66 of the structure 52 in a generally horizontal plane. The base 64 will have an opening in a center 68 thereof which opens to the interior of the structure 52 .
FIG. 4 shows a further development in the artificial reef 70 of the present invention. Artificial reef 70 has a structure similar to that described herein previously. However, in FIG. 4 , it can be seen that there are a plurality of limestone surfaces 72 that are adhered to the sprayable concrete material 74 . These limestone surfaces 72 are applied to the sprayable concrete 74 during the curing of the sprayable concrete. The blockouts 76 are illustrated as extending outwardly of the outer surface of the artificial reef 70 . The base 80 extends in a generally horizontal plane. In FIG. 4 , the base 80 is illustrated as resting upon the sea floor 82 .
A metal rod 84 is illustrated as extending outwardly of the top 86 of the artificial reef 70 . In relation to the previous illustrations, the metal rod 84 has an inverted V-shaped configuration. The metal rod 84 can be applied to the outer surface of the form. The sprayable concrete 74 can then be applied over a portion of the metal rod 84 . This portion of the metal rod 84 will be the legs of the V-shaped configuration. The vertex of the metal rod 84 extends outwardly and upwardly above the sprayed concrete material 74 . Once the sprayable concrete 74 has fully cured, the metal rod 84 can be utilized for the hoisting, lifting, and manipulating of the artificial reef 70 .
In relation to the artificial reefs shown herein, the artificial reef will have a pyramidal-shaped interior which was previously occupied by the form 10 . As such, the various openings that are created through the use of the cast concrete members can communicate with this interior so as to allow small fish and organisms to swim therein. In particular, this allows for a small fish to develop and to seek refuge therein by preventing large fish from entering the interior of the artificial reef. As such, the present invention effectively promotes marine growth.
In each of the previous embodiments, it can be seen that the base is formed at the lower end of the pyramid-shaped structure. This base will have a relatively large surface area relative to the lower end of the pyramid-shaped structure. The wide area of the base serves to prevent any sinking of the artificial reef into the subsea floor and prevented the drifting of the artificial reef by way of ocean currents. Additionally, this wide area provides additional surface area for the limestone.
The bent rod 84 extends above the top end 86 of the artificial reef 70 . This rod 84 facilitates the ability to manipulate the artificial reef 70 . As such, a suitable crane can be used offshore so as to deploy the artificial reef 70 . If it is necessary to move the artificial reef 70 , then a hook can be utilized so as to grasp the bent portion of the rod 84 for lifting and maneuvering of the artificial reef 70 .
The artificial reef in each of the previous embodiments is constructed of the sprayable concrete material so as to provide a hard substrate for the purpose of attracting marine growth, such as algae, truncates, hard and soft corals, fans, sponges, barnacles, oysters and other aquatic life. The structure can be manufactured in a variety of shapes such as tetrahedra, cones, cubes, cylinders, domes, or other shapes. The openings through each of the cast concrete members can also be of different shapes such as circles, squares, rectangles, triangles etc. Calcium carbonate components, such as limestone and/or oyster shell, are also an integral component of the surface. Such calcium carbonate components provide almost 100% coverage of the surface. This provides additional surface area and a suitable material with a proper pH marine growth. The use of the sprayable concrete as the primary structural element allows the unit to be constructed in one step, instead of the multiple steps required by prior art artificial reefs. This provides a substantial savings in time and cost during the manufacturing process. Additionally, the artificial reef described in the embodiments herein is stronger and has greater longevity than previous artificial reefs.
Since the artificial reefs of the present invention utilize a minimal amount of metal or steel, there is little or no metal or steel to degrade over time in seawater. As such, the structural integrity of the artificial reef will have enhanced longevity. The surface area of the footprint of the artificial reef serves to prevent subsidence or scouring in comparison with previous artificial reef designs. The openings in each wall of the cast concrete members in each wall of the artificial reef will allow for an adequate water circulation. This promotes entry into the interior by smaller fish. As such, the smaller fish are provided with refuge and protection from predation.
The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention is illustrative and explanatory thereof. Various changes in the details of the illustrated construction, or the steps of this described process, can be made within the scope of the present claims without departing from the true spirit of the invention. The present invention should only be limited by the following claims and their legal equivalents. | A process for forming an artificial reef includes forming a form having a geometric shape, applying at least one blockout onto a surface of the form such that the blockout extends outwardly of the surface of the form, applying a sprayable concrete over the form and over a portion of the blockout, curing the sprayable concrete on the form for a period of time such that the sprayable concrete adheres to the blockout, and removing the cured sprayable concrete and the blockout from the surface of the form. The blockout is of a cast concrete material such as a cinder block. The blockout has openings therein so as to open to an interior of the artificial reef. | 8 |
RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/008,339 filed Feb. 9, 1993 and now abandoned.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a lampholder switch assembly which can be selectively fitted with a three way, two circuit switch for operating a two filament lamp, a single circuit on/off switch for operating a single filament lamp or provided without an internal switch for operating a single filament lamp from a remote external switch.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The lampholder of the present invention comprises a top housing member and a bottom housing member connectable to each other, with the top housing member comprised of a top housing portion and an access portion or door coupled to the top housing portion and non-separably movable with respect thereto. In a preferred embodiment shown herein, the lampholder housing is entirely plastic and can be made of any thermoplastic or thermoset material. Also in this preferred embodiment, the bottom housing member and the access door each have arcuate sections, with inner threads if necessary, at their end portions such that, when the lampholder is completely assembled, the arcuate sections face each other to forth a passage for a conduit containing a pair of lamp wires which are then connected to contacts in the interior of the lampholder. The conduit may have threads on its outer surface or be unthreaded and of round, square, octagonal, hexagonal, or other cross-section with the access door and the bottom housing member being provided with suitable threads, unthreaded or configuration for accommodating any of these shapes. The access door is mounted to the top housing portion by a guide member which comprises two outwardly directed legs that fit within grooves in the top housing portion to slideably connect the access door to the top housing portion. The access door can be moved from a substantially upright position, substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the top housing portion to a position where its longitudinal axis is substantially parallel with the longitudinal axis of the top housing portion.
A captured self-tapping screw in the access door can now be advanced into a hole provided in the lower housing member. The force of the rotating screw is applied to the access door which forces each of the pair of lamp wires into insulation displacement terminals, cutting through the insulation surrounding such wires, allowing the bare wire conductors to make contact with and be held securely within the terminals. A "hot" or phase contact and a "shell" or neutral contact each have leads which contact the bare wire conductors of the lamp wires after the wires are inserted into the lampholder. The other end of the shell contact makes electrical contact with the threads of an incandescent bulb which is screwed into the opposite end of the lampholder. The second end of the phase contact makes electrical contact with a communator to selectively apply the supply voltage to one or two lamp filaments or to a single filament directly with a remote switch controlling the on/off state of the lamp. Also, the bottom housing member and access door respectively have cooperating teeth and raised ribs which, when the access door is closed, push the pair of wires into respective branch channels and hold them therein with sufficient force to replace the knot required to meet Underwriters Laboratories' standards.
A pair of eyelets or rivets connect the top housing member to the bottom housing member. The aforementioned self-tapping screw is passed through the top of the access door and tightened to finish the aforementioned insulation displacement on the insulated lamp wires from the conduit inserted into the lampholder.
The aforementioned construction results in a capability for capturing and connecting within the lampholder the aforementioned threaded conduit and insulated lamp wires from a lamp fixture or body, by simply placing the threaded conduit and wires therein within the lampholder, closing the aforementioned access door, and tightening the aforementioned single self-tapping screw to capture the access door in a closed position.
The aforementioned preferred embodiment of the lampholder of the present invention also comprises a phase contact, a center contact, a brush contact integral with a secondary contact, and a metal commutator which distributes electricity between contacts and is engageable with the aforementioned center contact, secondary contact, and phase contact. All three of these contacts are brush-type contacts.
In the aforementioned preferred embodiment of the lampholder, a selection turn knob is fitted into the outside of the bottom housing member and connects internally with a mandrel which in turn mates with a ratchet such that turning of the knob turns the mandrel which in turn turns the ratchet, which in turn orients the commutator to define which contacts are being engaged electrically. The turn knob is a circular rod with a slightly angled surface. The turn knob is recessed into the switch body preventing the internal mandrel from being seen.
In the aforementioned preferred embodiment of the invention, the outside surface of the lampholder has a configuration which is circular at the point of lamp insertion and gradually flows downward to two flat surfaces continuing further down to a smaller circular configuration. There are also a plurality of decorative depressed grooves arranged around the body surface.
In this preferred embodiment the shell contact connecting element is of one-piece construction with a wire insulation displacement type terminal forming one end of the connecting element and a shell contact forming the other end of the connecting element. The phase or line contact connecting element is also of one-piece construction with a line brash contact forming one end of the connecting element and a wire insulation displacement type terminal forming the other end.
Another advantage of the aforementioned preferred embodiment includes the severing of the conductor insulation to permit electrical contact with the central conductor which obviates the need for any snipping of the insulation from the aforementioned lamp wires which are stranded copper conductors in the aforementioned preferred embodiment. This saves labor, but more importantly, it eliminates any problems with stray strands of wire causing short circuits between the phase and neutral conductors.
Other advantages of the aforementioned preferred embodiment include the use of a square polarized insulated conductor to be inserted into a square hole behind one of the aforementioned insulation displacement terminals. Also, a round insulated conductor in inserted into a round hole behind another insulation displacement terminal. This construction including, both round and square holes, includes means for holding the wires securely in place as these leads are bent at an approximately 90 degree angle with respect to the plane across the holes, across the aforementioned insulation displacement terminals, and into a unique channel with pointed retaining ribs.
The aforementioned conduit from the lamp fixture can be threaded on its external surface to mate with threads on the interior surface of the lampholder to place it in a position ready for clamping. The conduit from the lamp fixture can have different cross-sectional shapes such as square, rectangular or octagonal shapes or be round but without external threads.
An optional conduit locking mechanism, consisting of a square, rectangular, circular or other cross-sectional shaped elastomeric material which fits into a mating recess, in either the access door or bottom housing member or in the conduit external threads in the mounting area. The elastomeric material is distorted in the threads and securely locks the lampholder in place on the conduit.
The aforementioned access door has two sets of ribs which perform two entirely different functions. One function is to force the conductors into the insulation displacing terminals of the contacts and the second is to provide strain relief for the conductors. Also, the guide member to which it is attached permits it to hold the access door in a closed position to facilitate shipping and to hold the access door in an open position when it is being wired to a lamp fixture. As discussed previously, after the wires are in position within the lampholder, the access door will be rotated through approximately 90 degrees and be moved in a downward direction until it stops when abutting the insulated conductors. The captured self-tapping screw in the access door can now be advanced into the unthreaded aperture provided in the lower housing member. The rotating screw forces the access door against the insulated conductors pushing them into respective ones of the aforementioned insulation displacement terminals which terminals cut into the insulation of the conductors allowing the bare central wire conductors to make contact with and be held securely within the terminal. In the same downward movement of the access door, the raised ribs will force the insulated conductors into individual channels. The rib and channel combination grips the insulated conductors with sufficient force to provide the desired strain relief and obviate the need for a knot such as is customarily required in lampholders by Underwriters Laboratories. At the same time, the door closing action firmly clamps the threaded conduit from the lamp fixture to the lampholder.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a lampholder constructed in accordance with the concepts of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the housing of the lampholder of FIG. 1 with the top and bottom housings separated from each other;
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the lampholder shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary top plan view of the lampholder bottom housing member shown in FIGS. 1-3 with lamp wires being captured as would occur after the access door had been closed.
FIGS. 5A-5H show perspective views of various arrangements for the decorative ridges, grooves, flat areas, etc. which can be placed around the outside surface of the inventive lampholder.
FIG. 6A is a top plan view of an alternate conduit entrance for the lampholder housing of FIG. 1.
FIG. 6B is top plan view of another conduit entrance for the lampholder housing of FIG. 1.
FIG. 6C is a top plan view of still another conduit entrance for the lampholder housing of FIG. 1.
FIG. 7 is a top plan view of a modified commutator device for use with a single filament lamp.
FIG. 8 is a fragmentary top plan view of the lampholder of FIG. 1 without a switch and arranged for operation with a remote switch.
FIG. 9 is a fragmentary top plan view of the bottom housing member of FIG. 4 with a portion of the installed conductors removed to better appreciate the details of such bottom housing member.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Corresponding elements are identified by the same reference numerals throughout the drawings.
As shown in FIGS. 1-3, lampholder 10 comprises a top housing member 12, a bottom housing member 14 which is connected to the top housing member 12 in the assembled lampholder, and an access door 16 which is movably attached to top housing member 12 and which can be moved from an open position (FIG. 2) allowing easy placement of lamp wires within the lampholder 10 to a closed position (FIG. 1) which, with the rotation of self-tapping screw 28, into the bottom housing member 14 pulls access door 16 and bottom housing number 14 together to complete the insulation displacement of the insulated conductors by severing the insulation and allowing the terminals and the central conductors to make electrical contact, and which securely holds the conductors within lampholder 10.
As best shown in FIG. 3, a pair of eyelets or rivets 18, 20 are used to connect together top housing member 12 and bottom housing member 14. Thus, eyelet 18 is passed first through aperture 22 in top housing member 12 and then through aperture 24 in bottom housing member 14. Likewise, eyelet 20 is passed through an aperture (not shown) in top housing member 12 and then through aperture 26 in bottom housing member 14. The eyelets are then rolled over to hold the top and bottom housing members 12, and 14 together.
The self-tapping screw 28 enters access door 16 through aperture 30 and, in the completed assembly of the lampholder 10, cuts threads in the walls of aperture 31 in the bottom housing member 14, which is made of Bakelite or urea, and thus locks access door 16 to bottom housing member 14 to hold the insulation displaced insulated conductors 32, 34 (FIG. 4) securely within the lampholder 10. Screw 28 can be made of stainless steel plated with nickel and the eyelets 18 and 20 can be made of polished aluminum or steel or brass. The screw head 29 is of the type which can accommodate either a Phillips cross-type or a flat blade screwdriver.
As shown in FIG. 4, bottom housing member 14 has an inner holding member 36 comprising a central aperture 38 into which self-tapping screw 28 is advanced forming threads as shown at 40. Inner holding member 36 may optionally have a pair of teeth 44, 42 for respectively holding in place insulated conductors 32 and 34 in branch channels 66 and 64. Corresponding outer holder members 48 and 46 in bottom housing member 14 respectively have teeth 52, 50 opposite teeth 44, 42. These teeth hold the conductors 32 and 34 in the places shown in FIG. 4 after the access door 16 is in its closed position. These teeth will retain conductors 32, 34 in their places in the event access door 16 is opened to inspect the lampholder interior. Branch channel 64 is defined by inner holding member 36 and outer holding members 46 and 49 while branch channel 66 is defined by inner holding member 36 and outer holding members 48 and 47.
As shown in FIG. 3, guide member 54 has a pair of oppositely directed legs (only leg 55 shown) which fit into grooves 93, 95 in top housing member 12 and thus slideably attach access door 16 to top housing member 12. Guide member 54 also includes a bottom tab 68.
As best shown in FIG. 4, the contact arrangement of the three way switch lampholder 10 comprises a "hot" or phase contact 60 and a neutral or "shell" contact 62 which have terminal slots 88, 86, respectively, to cut through and displace the insulation on insulated conductors 34 and 32 and make electrical contact with the metal conductors therein and aid in holding the insulated conductors 34 and 32 within respective channels 64, 66 of bottom housing member 14. The insulated conductors 32, 34 are respectively laid into branch channels 66, 64 and when the access door 16 (shown in FIG. 2) is closed, the raised ribs 154, 156 on the access door 16 engage the insulated conductors 32, 34, held in branch channels 66, 64 respectively, and hold them compressed in an "anvil-type" fashion between such channels 66, 64 and the raised ribs 154, 156 so as to provide sufficient strain relief so that the aforementioned U.L. knot can be omitted. Also, as shown in FIG. 2, the access door 16 has protuberances 160, 162 formed on its under surface. Protuberance 160 engages insulated conductor 32 adjacent the insulation displacing terminal 86 and when access door 16 is forced into position by assembly screw 28, protuberance 160 forces the insulated conductor 32 into terminal 86 which causes electrical contact between terminal 86 and the central metal conductor of insulated conductor 32 and thereafter retains conductor 32 in terminal 86. In a similar fashion, protuberance 162 forces insulated conductor 34 into terminal 88 so that terminal 88 is electrically connected to the central metal conductor of conductor 34 and held in place with respect thereto. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the actual surfaces of the guide channels of top housing member 12, which make physical contact with and displace the insulation on wires 32 and 34, are flared (they could be chamfered) walls 96 and 98 which respectively define the lower bottom outermost walls of slots 93 and 95. Also, as shown in FIG. 3, protuberances 56 and 58 help to orient the top housing member 12 in correct alignment with access door 16. Again referring to FIG. 3, top tab 100 of guide member 54 latches into a dimple (not shown) in the plastic inner surface of access door 16 such that of guide member 54 is held in access door 16. The two legs 55 of guide member 54 slide along the grooves 93 and 95 of top housing member 12 while the oppositely, outwardly directed leg ends ride along the interior of top housing member 12 adjacent the slots 93 and 95. It should be noted that slots 93 and 95 extend into the flat region of top housing member 12.
When lampholder 10 is shipped the guide member 54 tends to keep the access door 16 closed against bottom housing member 14. To wire the lampholder 10, the access door 16 is slid up the perpendicular face of the top housing member 12 with the legs 55 of guide members 54 traveling in the grooves 93 and 95 while the oppositely, outwardly directed leg ends ride the interior of the top housing member 12 adjacent grooves 93 and 95 preventing separation of access door 16 from top housing member 12. When the leg 55 ends engage the interior surface of the flat top of top housing member 12, the access door 16 is rotated 90° with respect to the perpendicular face of the top housing member 12 to come to rest upon the flat portion of top housing member 12 as is shown in FIG. 2.
Once the insulated conductor 32 and 34 are in place, the access door 16 is rotated 90° frown the position shown in FIG. 2 and the access door 16 is slid down towards the bottom housing member 14 with the legs 55 of guide member 54 following grooves 93 and 95 to prevent separation of access door 16 from top housing member 12 and to insure that access door 16 is properly aligned with bottom housing member 14. The screw 28 can now be operated to complete the assembly.
Center contact 70 is a one piece contact and brush contact that has a leg 71 that serves as a brush contact which is engageable with the commutator 72. Commutator 72 is also engageable with "hot" contact 60 through brush contact 73 and intermediate contact 76 through brush contact 74 and thus distributes the electrical input from one contact to the other. Intermediate contact 76 is integral with brush contact 74 by means of a dimple 81 frown intermediate contact 76 fitted into aperture 78 in brush 74 to prevent brush 74 from floating.
Neutral or shell contact 62 bypasses commutator 72 while respective brush contacts 73,71 and 74 of contacts 60, 70, and 76 can be brought into contact with commutator 72 depending on its relative orientation. It is the orientation of commutator 72 with respect to the aforementioned brush contacts of contacts 60, 70, and 76 which determines the state of the three way switch of the lampholder 10. The position of the commutator 72 is determined by rotation of the knob 79 which rotation turns the mandrel 80 which in turn rotates the ratchet 82 made of insulating material which is in contact with commutator 72 made up of metal segments 72a, 72b and 72c which is turned by ratchet 82 to provide different combinations of electrical contact. FIG. 4 shows the switch in a "high" position from which it can be changed to "off" or "low" or "medium" position by rotation of commutator 72.
The high position of a two circuit switch for operating a two filament lamp is the one where both filaments are supplied with line current. Medium is the position where the higher wattage filament is connected to line current while in low the lower wattage filament is de-activated. In the off position neither filament is supplied with line current. In FIG. 4, one line, 32 is connected to the neutral or shell contract 62 which means that one end of each of the two filaments is connected to one line of the AC supply. The second line of the AC supply, line 34, is connected to hot or phase contact 60 which applies it to commutator segment 72a via brush contact 73. Since all segments 72a, 72b and 72c are part of the same overall commutator 72, current is applied via segment 72b, brush contact 71 to central contact 70 which is in contact with the second end of the higher wattage filament of a three-way bulb (not shown) causing this filament to light. Segment 72c is in contact with brush contact 74 of secondary contact 76 which is in contact with the second end of the lower wattage filament of the three way bulb (not shown) causing this filament to light.
Rotation of the commutator 72 in the counter clockwise direction brings the exposed segment of ratchet 82 into contact with brush contact 73 of hot or phase contact 60. Since the ratchet 82 is made of insulating material no current is applied to the commutator 72 and none of the bulb filaments are lit. One further step is the counter-clockwise direction brings segment 72c into contact with brush contact 73. Segment 72a is in contact with brush contact 74 of secondary contact 76 so that current is applied across the lower wattage filament corresponding to the low switch 79 setting.
The next counter-clockwise rotation of ratchet 82 causes segment 72b to be engaged by brush contact 73 of contact 60 and segment 72c to engage brush contact 71 of center contact 70 to apply current to the higher wattage filament corresponding to the medium position of the switch 79. A final counter-clockwise step brings the knob 79 to its high position with both lamp filaments lit.
FIG. 7 shows a modified arrangement of the commutator 180 which is used for a single circuit-on-off switch for operating a single filament lamp. The single filament of such a lamp (not shown) is connected at one end to the metal base shell and the second end is connected to the central contact or button. Thus only two contacts are necessary in the lampholder. As with the 3-way lamp discussed above, one AC supply conductor is connected to the shell or neutral contact 62 (not shown) which also contacts the lamp base shell. The other AC supply conductor is connected to hot or phase contact 60. The commutator 180 is modified to have only two segments 180a and 180b. When the ratchet 182 positions the segments 180a and 180b as shown in FIG. 7, current flows from contact 60 to brush contact 73 to the commutator segment 180a. This current is applied to center contact 70 via brush contact 71 and segment 180b which it engages. As a result current flows through the lamp filament and the lamp lights. Advancing the commutator 180 by one step of ratchet 182 puts the insulation portion of the ratchet 182 under both brush contacts 73, 71 preventing the lamp from lighting. Thus there is provided a simple on-off switch for a single filament lamp.
To permit the lamp to be lit from a remote location, the commutator 72, ratchet 82 arrangement is omitted entirely. As shown in FIG. 8 brush contacts 73, 71 are omitted entirely and contact 60' is contacted directly to contact 70'. Conductor 32 from contact 62 is connected to one side of plug 184 which in turn is connected to an AC supply (not shown) through the usual receptacle. Conductor 34 is connected to one terminal 186 of a conventional single pole, single throw switch 188. The second terminal 190 of switch 188 is connected to plug 184. With contactor 192 in the open position as shown in FIG. 8 no current flows to the lamp in lampholder 10' and the lamp is extinguished. However, when contactor 192 is closed on terminal 186, current flows to lampholder 10' to light the lamp therein.
It should be noted that intermediate contact 76 is stationary and provides no insulation displacement on any of the wires. The insulation displacement is respectively accomplished by shell contact 62 and "hot contact" 60. Also, knob 79 can be designed in different shapes to accommodate the user's grip and for aesthetic reasons.
Top housing member 12 has inner threads (not shown in FIG. 4) which correspond to inner threads 84 of bottom housing number 14 such that a bulb can be screwed into lampholder 10 at the end opposite that of lamp insulated conductor entry.
One important advantage of the present invention is that, instead of a lampholder construction like those of the prior art wherein the switch assembly has its own socket housing which in turn is situated in the lampholder housing, the present invention has a single socket housing with the switch mechanism incorporated therein. The construction facilitates manufacture by eliminating a large percentage of parts.
Another important advantage of the lampholder of the present invention over the prior art is the insulation displacement of insulated conductors 32 and 34 by contacts 62 and 60. This occurs because, when access door 16 is closed, insulated conductors 32 and 34 are respectively forced into terminals 86 and 88 (FIG. 3) of contacts 62 and 60 by a set of raised ribs.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is that the all plastic molded housing is easily adapted for a great variety of designs by, for example, incorporating sleeves with user named logos, labeling by putting inserts into the mold prior to the molding of the housing, using extruded aluminum, brass, or stainless steel rings and knobs of various colors, etc.
As shown in FIG. 2, a threaded conduit (not shown) from the lamp fixture with wires 32, 34 therein can be placed into the molded threads 166 of bottom housing member 14 ready for clamping. The terminal slots 86 and 88 as shown in FIG. 3 are arranged to handle round insulated conductors with generally round conductors. Access door 16 also has complementary threads 168 formed therein. In addition to clamping the lampholder on the threaded conduit, the lampholder and conduit can be joined by threadedly engaging the lampholder and conduit. A locking pad 171 (see FIG. 2) of deformable elastomeric material or the like can be placed in the threads 166, 168 lock the lampholder 10 to the conduit (not shown). The pad 171 deforms to prevent the threads 166, 168 loosening with respect to the conduit. The pad 171 also takes up any initial looseness. Alternatively a set screw could be used by placing a threaded aperture transverse to the longitudinal axis of lampholder 10 in conduit entrance 11.
If desired the aperture in conduit entrance 11 can be left unthreaded, that is, the interior surfaces of the bottom housing member 14 and the access door 16 that define the aperture 13 of conduit entrance 11 can be smooth and unbroken as at 170 in FIG. 3. Although not visible in FIG. 3, the inner surface of the conduit entrance portion of access door 16 would be similarly smooth and unbroken. Further, the conduit entrance aperture does not have to be circular, it can be rectangular or square as at 172 in FIG. 6A, hexagonal as at 174 in FIG. 6C or octagonal as at 176 in FIG. 6b connected to shell neutral contact 62 and the round insulated conductor 99 being connected to "hot" contact 60. In addition to altering the terminal slots 86,88 to handle square and round conductors, the channels 66 and 64 can be shaped to accommodate the respective square and round insulated conductors 92, 94. To facilitate the mounting of the insulated conductors 92, 94 in the insulation displacing terminals 86 of neutral or shell contact 62 and 88 of hot or phase contact 60, a square aperture 194 is placed below the end of branch channel 66 and a round aperture 196 is placed below the end of branch channel 66 and a round aperture 196 is placed below the end of branch channel 64. To install insulated conductor 92, a short length of insulated conductor 92 is separated from insulated conductor 94. The ends of both conductors 92 and 94 should be square cut, that is cut perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the conductors. The end of insulated conductor 92 is then inserted into square aperture 194 which extends into the plane of the paper of FIG. 9 perpendicular to the plane of tile paper. Insulated conductor 92 is then bent 90° to parallel the plane of the paper and led across terminal slot 86, along channel 66 over teeth 44, 52 to the conduit entrance 11. The end of round insulated conductor 94 is positioned in round aperture 196, then bent 90° and made to cross terminal slot 88 and continue along channel 64 over teeth 42, 50 to the conduit entrance 11. When the access door 16 is closed and screw 28 tightened, the square insulated conductor 92 will be driven into terminal slot 86, which slices through the insulation and makes contact with the central metal conductor and conductor 92 will be pushed below teeth 44, 52 which will retain conductor 92 in channel 66. At the same time round insulated conductor 94 will be driven into terminal slot 88 which will separate or displace the insulation to leave the central metal conductor in contact with contact 60 and conductor 94 will be pushed below teeth 42 and 50 to retain conductor 94 in channel 64. Thus if the access door 16 is opened to permit inspection of the conductors therein, conductors 92 and 94 will remain in their desired positions.
FIGS. 5A to 5H show various surface treatments of the exterior of the lampholder 10. In FIG. 5A lampholder 102 has a generally cylindrical body with built-up areas 118 on both sides (only one of which is visible in the figure). An eyelet or rivet 116, is used to assemble the two housing members 200, 202 and a raised rib 204 surrounds the housing adjacent the lamp entry. The lampholder 104 of FIG. 5B is similar to lampholder 102 except that housing members 206, 208 have fiat sections 120 (only one of which is visible in the figure) and rib 212 is moved further from the lamp entry.
Lampholder 106 of FIG. 5C is generally circular and has a series of three raised annular rings 214 separated from each other by recesses 216. A flat 124 extends across rings 214 on both sides of the housing (only one side is visible in the figure). Recesses 122 are formed in the central ring 214 where a eyelet or rivet can be placed to assemble the housing members. A raised annular ring 218 surrounds the lamp entry.
Lampholder 108 of FIG. 5D is similar to lampholder 106 of FIG. 5C but omits flats 124 and recess 122.
Lampholder 116 of FIG. 5E has a cylindrical body portion 220 followed by an enlarged section 222 of varying diameter being largest at the center of its length along the longitudinal axis of lampholder 116 followed by a cylindrical body portion 224 having a diameter in excess of that of body portion 220. A raised rib 204 surrounds the lamp entrance.
Lampholders 110, 112, and 114 of FIGS. 5F, 5G and 5H are generally similar having a uniform cylindrical body 230, with a raised portion 130 on each side (only one side is visible in the figures). An eyelet or rivet 128 on each side is used to assemble body members 232 and 234. The housing members 232, 234 of lampholder 110 have continuous flat portions 132, whereas housing members 232, 234 of lampholder 114 have interrupted flat portions, portion 136 on top housing member 232 and portion 138 on access door 236. FIG. 5G has a series of ribs 134 formed on housing members 232, 234.
The embodiments of the present invention herein described and disclosed are presented merely as examples of the invention. Other embodiments coming within the scope of the invention will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the an and shall be deemed to come within the scope of the appended claims. | A unitary lampholder (10) including a lamp socket (12,14) as well as a multi-position switch which can take the form of a three-way, two circuit switch for operating a two filament lamp, a single circuit switch for operating a single filament lamp or arranged to permit the switch to be operated from a remote point. The lampholder has a bottom housing (14) and a top housing (12) which includes an access door (16) which is slidably and rotatably mounted to the remainder of the top housing by a guide member 54 which moves within slots (93,94) and permits the access door 16 to be rotated from a position on and perpendicular to the top housing axis to one parallel to that axis in which position it can be slidably moved towards the bottom housing. Upon slidably moving the access door towards the bottom housing, projections (160, 162) on the base of access door force insulated conductors (92,94) into the insulation displacing terminals (86,88) of the contacts (60,62) to make electrical contact therewith. Other projections (154,156) securely grip the conductors to provide strain relief. A square aperture (194) and a round aperture (196) can be placed in bottom housing member (14) to accept the ends of shaped conductors (92, 94) to correctly position them with respect to their terminals (86, 88). | 7 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation of U.S. non-provisional application Ser. No. 10/596,984, filed May 8, 2007, which is the national stage entry of international application serial no. PCT/GB05/03552, filed Sep. 14, 2005, which claims priority to United Kingdom application serial no. 0420468.1, filed Sep. 14, 2004.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle glazing panel cut out technique.
State of the Art
Vehicle glazing panels such as vehicle windscreens (windshields) are typically bonded in supporting frames by adhesive bonding material such as polyurethane, applied in a continuous bead about the periphery of the glazing panel and frame.
Wire cutting techniques have been previously proposed and used to effect glazing panel removal (for replacement or otherwise). Exemplary techniques are disclosed in, for example, EP-A-0093283, Canadian Patent Specification 2034221, U.S. Pat. No. 6,616,800, German Patent 4012207 and PCT Publications WO86/07017 and WO98/58779.
An improved technique and apparatus has now been devised.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to a first aspect, the present invention provides a winder unit for use with a cutting wire in cutting out a vehicle glazing panel, the unit having:
mounting means for mounting the unit; first and second winder spools for winding cutting wire; and, at least one wire wrap around guide element spaced from the winder spools and/or the mounting means.
The wrap around guide element is preferably positioned to the side of a respective proximal winder spool.
The wrap around guide element preferably comprises a guide wheel or pulley rotatably mounted with respect to the unit. Preferably, the winder spools are arranged in side by side arrangement and a respective guide wheel or pulley is positioned outwardly of each respective winder spools. The guide wheel is preferably rotatably mounted relative to the unit. The guide wheels or pulleys are all preferably in the same plane, defined by the position of the wire. It is preferred that at least one of the winder spools includes a ratchet arrangement enabling in one or other direction to be inhibited. Beneficially, the ratchet is releasable to permit rotation in the inhibited direction. The mounting means desirably comprises on or more suction mounts. In one embodiment the unit may include four guide wheels or pulleys, to guide the wire, the guide wheels or pulleys being provided substantially at notional corners of a polygon.
The unit may be used with a wire to remove a glazing panel. Typically ends of the wire cross over and are connected to respective ones of the winding spools.
In certain techniques and embodiments the winder unit may beneficially be used in combination with a guide arrangement.
According to a further aspect, the invention provides a method of cut out of a vehicle glazing panel bonded in a frame by means of interposed bonding material, the method comprising:
setting a wire winder unit on the windscreen, the winder unit including a plurality of winder spools and at least one wire wrap around guide element positioned proximate a corner of the glazing panel; setting a wire guide arrangement on the windscreen spaced from the wire winder unit, the wire guide arrangement including respective wire wrap around guide elements positioned proximate respective corners of the glazing panel; looping a cutting wire about the periphery of the glazing panel and inserting first and second ends of the wire through the bonding material; winding the wire from opposed ends by means of the winder spools.
It is preferred that the set position of the wire winder unit and the wire guide arrangement relative to the glazing panel remains substantially fixed throughout the cut out procedure. There is therefore no requirement to necessarily reposition the apparatus during the procedure.
Beneficially, the winder spools are spaced and the opposed end portions of the cutting wire are wound around respective spools, such that a wire crossover portion is created adjacent the winder spools.
The wire winder unit and wire guide arrangement are preferably set on the glazing panel internally of the vehicle, the cutting wire desirably being looped around the periphery of the glazing panel externally of the vehicle.
It is preferred that the one or more wrap around guide elements comprise rotatably mounted guide wheels.
In a preferred embodiment, the wire guide arrangement includes a mounting arrangement comprising one or more suction mounts.
In a preferred embodiment, the wire winder unit includes a mounting arrangement comprising one or more suction mounts.
Beneficially, in set up, the cutting wire is inserted to pass through the bonding material at a position proximate a corner of the glazing panel, more preferably at a position to the same side of the glazing panel as the wire winder unit, more preferably still, at a position substantially directly below the wire winder unit.
It is preferred that the wire wrap around guide elements of the guide arrangement are positioned to the same side of the glazing panel.
In a preferred technique, at set up, a longer length of cutting wire extends around the wrap around guide elements of the guide arrangement and is wound on a first winding spool of the winder unit, a shorter length of cutting wire extending around a wrap around guide element of the winder unit and being wound on a second winder spool of the winder unit. The wire beneficially defines a cross over point proximate the winder spools. It is preferred that, the spool connected to the shorter length of wire is first wound in to effect a first cut phase; the spool connected to the longer wire length being subsequently wound in.
Beneficially, during the procedure a ratchet of one of the spools is released facilitating slackening or more preferably unwinding (reverse winding) of a previously wound portion of the cutting wire.
The guide arrangement preferably includes a mount and a pair of positioning limbs extending from the mount at an apex defined by the proximal ends of the limbs, each said limb carrying at its distal end a respective wrap around guide element for the cutting wire. Desirably, the wrap around guide elements comprise guide wheels rotatably mounted to the respective limbs. Beneficially, the limbs are pivotally connected to the mount such that the angle between the limbs can be varied. The limbs are preferably pivotally connected to the mount such that the limbs can pivot in two mutually perpendicular axes. In a preferred embodiment, the pivotal mount comprises a ball and socket type connection. It is preferred that the apex mount comprises a suction mount.
It is preferred that one or both (preferably both) limbs is provided with a further mount intermediate the opposed ends of the limb. Desirably, the further mount comprises a suction mount. The further mount is preferably adjustable to be secured at various positions along the length of the limb. Alternatively or additionally, the further mount is adjustable with respect to its angular orientation about the longitudinal axis of the limb. It is preferred that the further mount is adjustable to the position of the mount below the limb.
The winder unit preferably comprises:
mounting means for mounting the unit; first and second winder spools for winding cutting wire; and, at least one wire wrap around guide element positioned away from the mounting means.
Beneficially, the wrap around guide element comprises a guide wheel rotatably mounted with respect to the unit. Desirably, the mounting means comprises on or more (preferably a pair of) suction mounts.
According to a further aspect, the present invention provides apparatus for use in cutting out a vehicle glazing panel using cutting wire, the apparatus comprising:
a winder unit comprising:
mounting means for mounting the winder unit; first and second winder spools for winding the cutting wire; and, at least one wire wrap around guide element positioned away from the mounting means; and,
a guide arrangement including mounting means for mounting the guide arrangement and a pair of positioning limbs extending from the mount at an apex defined by the proximal ends of the limbs, each said limb carrying at its distal end a respective wrap around guide element for the cutting wire.
Preferred features of the apparatus are as described and exemplified herein.
The invention will now be further described in a specific embodiment by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which;
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a winder unit of an exemplary cut out system in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of a guide arrangement for use with a winder unit in accordance with an exemplary cut out system of the invention;
FIGS. 3 a and 3 b are detailed views of a parts of the guide arrangement of FIG. 2 ;
FIGS. 4 to 8 are schematic representations in sequence of a cut out technique in accordance with the invention;
FIGS. 9 to 11 are schematic representations in sequence of an alternative technique in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 12 is a schematic representation of a further technique in accordance with the invention; and
FIGS. 13 and 14 are schematic representations of a further alternative technique in accordance with the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to the drawings, and initially to FIGS. 1 to 3 , there is shown a cut out system particularly for use in cut out of bonded vehicle glazing panels such as windscreens. The cut out system comprises a winder unit 1 and a guide arrangement 2 . A flexible cutting wire is looped around the outside of a windscreen glazing panel to lie peripherally adjacent the bonding bead (typically a polyurethane bonding bead) which is sandwiched between the glazing panel and the support frame of the vehicle. Opposed ends of the cutting wire are fed through a pierced channel made through the bonding bead as will be described in detail and the free ends are then each wound around a separate winder spool 4 , 5 of the winder unit. As will be described the long end of the wire is passed around the guide pulley wheels 6 , 7 of the guide arrangement 2 and a first one 8 of the guide pulleys of the winder unit 1 ; the shorter end of the cutting wire being passed around the other of the guide pulleys 9 of the winder unit.
The winder unit 1 comprises a pair of releasable suction cup mounts 10 , 11 enabling the winder unit to be releasably secured to the windscreen. The suction cup mounts comprise a rigid plastics cup 12 and underlaying flexible rubber skirt membrane 13 . Respective actuation/release levers 14 enable consistent suction to be applied and released. Such suction mounts are commonly employed in windscreen replacement and repair technology. The suction cup mounts 10 , 11 are pivotably/tiltably mounted to the support bracket 15 of the winder unit to ensure that both mounts 10 , 11 can locate in good engagement with the windscreen despite the curvature of the windscreen. The main body of the support bracket 15 carries a pair of underslung winding spools 4 , 5 in side by side relationship. The spools are connected to axial winding shafts which are supported in bearings 16 , 17 provided on the winder unit. The spools 4 , 5 are driven axially rotationally either manually via a hand winder or by means of a mechanical actuator such as a motorised winding or winching tool. Drive bosses 18 are provided with female sockets 19 (square bores) for receiving the male driving tool. Positioned outwardly of the winding spools are respective wire guide pulley wheels 8 , 9 of low friction plastics material. The pulley wheels are mounted to be rotatable about respective rotational axes. The guide pulleys rotate as the cutting wire is drawn tangentially across the pulleys as will be described. The winder spools 4 , 5 are held to rotate in one direction only (each in opposite senses) by respective ratchet mechanisms. Each mechanism includes ratchet override permitting prior tightened wire to be slackened, or unwound (reverse wound).
The guide arrangement 2 comprises an apex suction cup mount 20 from which extends angularly spaced arms 21 , 22 each of which carry at their respective distal ends a respective distal guide pulley wheel 6 , 7 . The distal guide pulley wheels 6 , 7 are manufactured of low friction plastics material and mounted rotatably to the distal ends of the arms on respective support bosses 23 , 24 . each pulley wheel includes a peripheral channel 25 within which the cutting wire locates. Each arm 21 , 22 is provided with a respective distal suction cup mount 26 , 27 . The distal suction cup mounts 26 , 27 are slidable along the respective arms 21 , 22 and provided with securing clamps 28 actuated by a turn handle 29 to secure the respective distal suction cup mount at the desired position along the length of the respective arm. The securing clamps also permit angular rotation of the distal suction cups about the circumferential outer surface of the rod (arrow A in FIGS. 2 and 3 a ) comprising the respective arm. The depth of the suction cup mounts below the respective arms is also adjustable (arrow B in FIGS. 2 and 3 a ) by means of the suction cup mount including an upstanding post 31 about which the clamp 28 relatively slides and secures by means of a grub screw 30 . The suction cup mount 26 , 27 can also pivot about the upstanding support post 31 (arrow C in FIG. 3 a ). The proximal ends of the arms are mounted to the apex suction mount 20 by means of respective spherical surface profile bosses 35 about which part spherical annular bushed bearings 37 are mounted. These mountings permit the angle between the arms to be adjusted (arrow D in FIG. 2 ) to suit the configuration and size of the subject windscreen. Also the angle between the arm axis and the surface of the windscreen can be varied to suit the curvature of the windscreen (arrow E in FIG. 3 b ). The arrangement of the guide system as described ensures that the distal guide pulley wheels 6 , 7 can be accurately positioned in close proximity to the corners of the windscreen, and that the distal suction cup mounts 28 can be conveniently located to provide secure support proximate the distal pulley wheels 6 , 7 . Because the arms 21 , 22 are both mounted to the apex suction cup mount 20 the whole guide arrangement is securely held to the windscreen the arms taking up the considerable bracing forces exerted by the cutting wire in tension. In view of the large forces generated in the wire during winding, it is important that the guide arrangement is sufficiently securely held secured to the windscreen and of sufficient structural integrity.
Referring to FIGS. 4 to 8 in which operation of the system to cut out an exemplary body such as a vehicle windscreen is described. The present technique enables the positioning of the system apparatus to achieve cut out with little or no subsequent re-positioning of the system apparatus. The set up is therefore an important phase of the technique.
The guide arrangement 2 is initially attached via the suction cup mounts 20 , 28 to the inside of the windscreen as shown in FIG. 4 . The aim is to position the pulley wheels 6 , 7 as far into the upper and lower corners of one side of the windscreen as possible, with as little separation between the glass and the pulley wheel as possible. Usually the guide arrangement pulley wheels 6 , 7 are positioned to the non-driver side of the vehicle. In the right hand drive embodiment shown the guide arrangement pulley wheels 6 , 7 are positioned in the upper and lower left hand corners of the windscreen. The suction pads are positioned with this consideration and the adjustable clamps used to fine tune the positioning.
The winder unit 1 is secured to the underside of the windscreen to the opposite side of the windscreen, along the top edge with the pulleys in side by side relationship such that one of the pulley wheels (pulley wheel 9 ) is positioned as far into the top corner as possible. This arrangement is shown in FIG. 5 .
The cutting wire preferred for use is generally square in cross section as is known for use in other modalities of windscreen removal. With the winder unit and guide arrangement in position as described, the cutting wire is looped around the outside of the windscreen to lie peripherally adjacent the bonding bead which is sandwiched between the glazing panel and the support frame of the vehicle. Opposed ends of the cutting wire are fed through a pierced channel made through the bonding bead in the corner of the windscreen (x) below the position of the winder unit 1 . A longer end length 40 of the wire is pulled through to the interior of the vehicle and passed around the two pulley wheels 6 , 7 of the guide arrangement and connected for winding to the winder spool 4 of the winder unit closest to the corner in which the winder unit is mounted. The shorter end length 41 of the wire is fed adjacent the inside of the windscreen and passed around the pulley wheel 9 of the winder unit closest to the corner in which the winder unit is mounted before being connected for winding to the other winder spool 5 (the ends of the wire therefore cross in order to connect to the respective winder spools 4 , 5 of the winder unit. The situation as described is shown in FIG. 6 . This concludes the set up phase of the technique.
The first phase in the cutting procedure is to wind the wire shorter end length 41 by winding in on the left hand winding spool 5 ; this causes the cut line to move upwardly through the bonding bead and around the upper corner of the windscreen proximate to the winder unit, passing along a short portion of the upper edge of the windscreen. The shorter end length takes up sequential positions as shown by the dashed line in FIG. 7 . At this point the ratchet is released and the spool is rewound a little until the wire becomes slightly slack. The reason for this is described later in the procedure.
Operation of the other winder spool 4 of the winder unit 1 effects a cut along the bottom edge of the windscreen up the side of the windscreen proximate the guide arrangement and along the top edge of the windscreen. The sequential interior wire length positions are shown in dashed line in FIG. 8 . Initially, after the wire has come clear of the lower guide pulley wheel, the ratchet previously released from the first operated winder spool is reactivated. Continued operation of the second winder spool 4 moves the cut line around the top corner of the windscreen and along the upper edge of the windscreen (from left to right as shown in the drawings) crossing over the shorter wire length portion above the winder unit to effect complete cut out of the windscreen.
As described above the ratchet of the first used winder spool 5 is released following the first, short length cut. This is because in the second cut stage in which the longer length wire is wound in and in which the cut line moves from right to left along the lower edge of the windscreen in the drawings, the thicker excess bonding material that is likely to be encountered in this region of the windscreen will be tough to cut through, increasing the forces transmitted through the system. By deactivating the ratchet of the first winder spool 5 , the wire will slip/slide at this point, feeding back off the first spool to an extent resulting in a cutting slicing action that aids the cut effectiveness at this point. When the tougher cut has been accomplished, the wire will again follow the path of least resistance and resume cutting normally (and the wire will stop back feeding off the first winder spool). This system tweak reduces the likelihood of the wire breaking due to excessive tension. The ratchet can then be reapplied. The point at which the ratchet should be reapplied and deactivated typically comes down to operator skill, experience and judgement.
In the technique shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 , the glazing panel is removed using a wire 41 and the winder unit 1 only (no additional guide, such as guide 2 is required). In this technique the winder unit is initially secured to the steering wheel side of the glazing panel, positioned above the steering wheel as shown in FIG. 9 . With the winder unit and guide arrangement in position as described, the cutting wire is looped around the outside of the windscreen to lie peripherally adjacent the bonding bead which is sandwiched between the glazing panel and the support frame of the vehicle. Opposed ends of the cutting wire are fed through a pierced channel made through the bonding bead in the corner of the windscreen (x) below the position of the winder unit 1 .
A length 41 of the wire is pulled through to the interior of the vehicle and passed around pulley wheel 9 of the winder unit and connected for winding to the winder spool 5 of the winder unit. A free end length of wire 47 is pulled through, being of length sufficient to reach the upper left hand corner of the glazing panel. Winder spool 5 is then operated to cause the wire length 41 to cut through the bonding bead upwardly along the side of the windscreen, until the cut line has passed around the upper right hand corner of the screen. At this juncture, the unit 1 is removed from the screen and repositioned on the glazing panel in the upper left hand corner as shown in FIG. 10 . Prior to repositioning the unit 1 , the ratchet of winder spool 5 is released to permit the wire to be wound out from the spool as it is moved across the glazing panel to be repositioned. The ratchet is subsequently re-engaged and spool 5 once again operated to wind in the wire from the position shown in FIG. 10 until it reaches the position shown in the dashed line in FIG. 10 .
Next the unit 1 is moved around the corner of the glazing panel and through substantially a right angle, to the position shown in FIG. 11 , where it is secured to the glazing panel. In order to enable this the ratchet of spool 5 is again released and subsequently re-engaged when the unit is in position as shown in FIG. 11 . The end of the free length of wire 47 is then wound around pulley 8 and connected to winder spool 4 and the spools 4 and 5 operated either sequentially (or simultaneously) to complete the cut. As shown in FIG. 11 . The lengths of wire cross at Z in order to complete the cut. The presence of the pulleys 8 , 9 spaced outwardly from the respective spools 4 , 5 aids in operation of the winder unit during the cutting process.
In FIG. 12 there is shown a modified winder unit 1 having additional wrap around pulleys 108 , 109 , positioned to provide a respective pulley at four respective corners. The unit is mounted as shown in FIG. 12 approximately central to the glazing panel. The wire is looped around the exterior of the panel with two ends of the wire passing through a channel at X into the interior of the vehicle. The free ends are secured to respective spools 4 , 5 with a wire crossover at 115 . Operation of the spools 4 , 5 to wind in respective lengths of wire from the position shown results in cut through being effected about the entire periphery of the glazing panel.
In a modification to this technique the four pulley winder unit is used as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 . The unit is initially positioned as shown in FIG. 13 , and pulley wheel 4 initially operated to wind the wire around the upper left hand corner of the glazing panel. Subsequently the unit is repositioned to the position shown in FIG. 14 and both winder spools 4 and 5 operated (typically in sequence) to complete the cut through process.
The present invention provides the benefits of wire cutting systems without over complex system apparatus arrangements or the need to re configure the apparatus significantly following initial set up. The technique can be used by operators of relatively little experience or physical strength following an initial set up routine of minimal complexity. | A winder unit is disclosed for use with a cutting wire in cutting out a vehicle glazing panel. The unit is capable of being mounded to the glazing panel and includes first and second winder spools for winding cutting wire. At least one wire wrap around guide element (typically a pulley) is positioned away from the mounting means. The unit may be used in various techniques either alone or with an auxiliary guide arrangement. | 8 |
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